Journey into the Knight Ch 12

TaeOh woke early, the sun was still on the horizon. His head hurt, so much information swirling around, so many emotions fight in his head. Trying to pretend he didn’t care about his mother as much as he did, hearing her heart breaking story. But then still hating her in some way, feeling like he was forgotten, abandoned, and then replaced. He felt uncomfortable being here, he didn’t want to be in this village any longer, he wanted to take Byul and run, go back to the forest, fight for their place in the army, but he knew YongSun needed to be here and he wasn’t about to abandon her. She had become an important person in his life.

TaeOh finally got out of bed. He felt like it was a statement that he walked into this room last night and closed the door, but he just needed time to think alone. He cracked the door as quietly as he could, knowing the girl’s needed rest. When his eyes found them, there was a short pain that went through his chest. Byul was laying on the floor, curled up very close to the couch YongSun was sleeping on. YongSun was laying on her stomach, face pieceful, arm dangling from the couch, within inches of Byul. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much, it is not like he caught them cuddling, but the closeness of their bodies radiated some sort of connection he was not apart of. He took a quick breath, shedding the feeling from his heart, ing the pack he made with Byul about letting YongSun choose what her heart wanted, even if it wasn’t either of them.

He exited the house and stepped into the morning chill. Even though it was early, the village was not asleep. Many people were already bustling about, he could smell fresh foods being cooked. A group of people were chopping wood nearby. He could hear the steady clanking of a hammer on metal, no doubt from the armory he spotted yesterday on his quest to find the girls when he woke up alone. He made his way to the mess hall. It was vacant of people, WheeIn did mention that most people ate at their own home. The back wall had some counters with baskets of fresh fruits, he grabbed an apple and a slice of bread from the loaf sitting there. He considered sitting at one of the tables to eat but it felt sort of lonely, and his body did not want him to stop moving. He went to the bathing rooms. It was a long building, sort of. There were two sets of doors, one for men and one for women. He walked into the men’s side, door swinging closed behind him, he walked the small hallway, it took a left turn and then opened up into a large room with no back wall. The first part of the room had four bathing tubs, all still steaming from whoever had filled them. The back part of the room was the most breath taking part, a full waterfall and small body of water made up where the back wall should have been. A large wooden fence separated the two sides of the baths. The waterfall was lined with rocks. TaeOh wasn’t sure how it stayed warm, he has a suspicion is was some sort of magic, but he didn’t really care. He took off his clothes and slide into the rushing waters. The heat penetrating his skin and relaxing his muscles. He grabbed a nearby bar of soap and began to wash away the long night he had. This was definitely the best part of the village so far, it was way better than the day old water they had at the castle. The water seemed to wash away his worries, making everything so much more bearable.

TaeOh left the bathing rooms feeling so much better. The sun had finally left the horizon and was making its journey across the sky. On the way back to the house, he felt a thousand times better than when he left it. He decided to take a different way around, trying to get a sense of the village layout, Byul had done this yesterday on her search of YongSun when they woke up in the house alone, comparing the layout later on. Always know your surroundings.

He ed a series of houses not unlike the one he was staying in, some were larger, some were smaller. He walked past a bonfire pit that was blocked off with two walls of wood. Finally, he walked by a garden, it was full of every type of plant you could think of and more. He stopped a moment to look at the buds forming on a nearby branch in the shapes of stars. He touched it with one of his fingers, it was fuzzy to the touch. “It’s a Starburst flower.” TaeOh spun fast, blade from his sheath and pressed up against the neck of the person who came up behind him. His eyes met a set of emerald ones, challaning him. Red hair framed her face that held a look like she was bored. She slowly held up her hands. “Easy hot shot you could have threatened a child.” She slowly lowered her arms and crossed them over her chest, waiting.

TaeOh held on for a second longer before lowering it. “Sorry.” He said not really meaning it as he put his weapon away.

The girl didn’t step away. “Don’t worry, I understand that a warrior is always on guard, I am just saying watch out because pulling a blade on a child is punishable around here.” She shifted her weight on her feet. “Actually no one but the guild is meant to carry weapons.”

Her eyes still challenged him. “Joon gave us permission.” She nodded slowly. “Was there something you wanted or…”

“No not really, just keeping an eye on you and your friends.” She said it without humor.

TaeOh smiled humorlessly. “Do I at least get to know my stalkers name?”

She gave a short laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself hot shot, I am on orders from WheeIn to make sure you all stay out of trouble.”

He figured as much, WheeIn didn’t seem to like him very much and it was not like he was trying to get on her good side. “So you don’t have a name?” He smiled for real now, in his charming way that always made girl’s fall.

She laughed and his face fell a bit. “Was that supposed to impress me or something? She patted his shoulder. “You’re not my type doe eyes.”

“Luna?” They both looked back, a girl that looked around ten, stood there holding a basket of vegetables, hair like the sunset.

The other girl, Luna turned to him. “Catch you next time hot shot.” She saluted him and jogged toward the little girl. TaeOh watched as they walked away, anger growing in his veins, he really didn’t like her, or any of WheeIn’s friends. He gave one more look at the garden and then walked off.

Byul and YongSun were awake when he got back. They were sitting at the small table laughing about something as he walked in. They were sharing some fruit and bread and the scene made him feel sour once again. “There you are.” Byul said as he walked in. “We were wondering where you went.” Not worried enough to come looking. He shook that thought from his head.

He pulled out the last chair and took a grape from Byul’s plate. “Where did you get the food.”

“SoMin dropped it off not long ago.” YongSun answered, TaeOh caught himself staring at her again, she was a very beautiful girl.

TaeOh nodded as he ate, he wasn’t sure how he felt about SoMin yet. “Did you know we are being watched by WheeIn’s minions?” He asked Byul, the look on her face told him she knew.

Byul sliced some more bread and handed it out. “Which did you have the unfortunate fortune of running into?”

“I think her name is Luna, red hair, green eyes, attitude problem.”

Byul nodded. “That sounds like Luna, YooRa and JiSun are the ones to look out for, they are particularly not nice. Krystal seems okay. HyeJin hasn’t spoken enough to get a full reading on but i’d put her more on the side of friend rather than foe.” TaeOh nodded along with her analysis.

“I think we should steer clear of all of them as much as we can.” he added.

Byul shrugged. “That might prove to be difficult and not the message we want to send to the village, that we don’t get along with their protectors.” He hated when she was right.

He leaned back in his chair. “Fine but we should try to keep our distance, we are here for one reason and that is for YongSun.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw her cheeks turn red and that made his heart flip.

Byul brushed the crumbs off her hand. “Agreed.” She stood up. “We should go see Ernesto, it had been almost a full day since we last saw him, I want to know his progress.” They all agreed and got up from the table. It was time to see what Ernesto had figured out.

Ernesto had is own house in the village despite not being here a lot. The trio knocked and was called in by him. His living room was a mess of tables and tools. Some held books, some open, some closed. There was a series of plants and roots scattered about. Ernesto sat at the furthest table, glasses on the end of his nose, reading a book with a large bowl next to him. He barely looked over at them as they entered. Byul began picking through the various random items as YongSun went straight to the table the old man was sitting at. TaeOh just kind of stood back, watching all three of them at once.

Byul almost dropped what she had in her hands, TaeOh wanted to laugh. “So, is the potion almost ready?” She asked pretending that she wasn’t touching anything.

YongSun looked over his shoulder, eager to see what was going on. Ernesto looked up at them all and pulled of his glasses. “The potion must steep for twelve hours.” He said a little absent. “I have an hour left to wait, then I dip the sunstone into it and it will be ready to drink.”

The room went silent. “So I will drink it in an hour?” YongSun asked while backing up a bit, TaeOh wanted to out himself between her and the potion.

Ernesto stood up. “It would be ideal if you drank it when the sun reaches its apex.” He moved around her and picked up another bowl from a different table. “You will take it here, in the spare room. It is unsure how long you will be asleep for. Some take hours, some days, in rare cases, weeks.” TaeOh could see YongSun and Byul’s face pale, while feeling his own heart drop.

Byul cleared her throat. “So we have a few hours.” She was confirming.

He nodded slowly. “Yes, we really should not put it off any longer, the more the potion sits the more dangerous it is. She could end up sleeping for a months if it gets strong enough, and then the results are unpredictable.”

“What do you suggest we do in the meantime?” TaeOh asked.

Ernesto shrugged. “Go out and enjoy the day, but be back here right before midday.” They nodded in understanding.

“Thank you.” YongSun said sounding very scared. Byul reached for her and ushered her back to the door, her arm going around her shoulders as they ed TaeOh, leaving him to follow.

TaeOh couldn’t help but think that ever since they arrive at the village that Byul’s actions toward YongSun were becoming more bold. He had noticed a few touches here and there but he couldn’t help but notice they were increasing the longer they were here. He wasn’t sure what Byul was thinking, they had promised each other that they wouldn’t pursue YongSun, especially before the unbinding. He trusted his sister fully but there was something in the back of his head that told him he needed to act before she drank the potion, before everything changed, which means he only had a few hours to do so.

They walked around the village some more, they arrived at a fenced off area, a group of bodies moving about inside. It was WheeIn and her gang, using sticks to fight one another. They stopped walking to watch them, they were actually pretty good fighters, not on the level of his men but they had the magical advantage. More than one of them noticed they had stopped to watch, it was hard to tell who because they were all dressed in their black outfits, complete with hoods and bandanas around their mouths, they were too far away to distinguish eyes. One of them made their way over to the edge of the fence. “If you want to in, we could always use new people to beat up.” That was WheeIn.

Byul scoffed. “Beat up? You are very confident.”

WheeIn leaned against the railing. “Oh yeah? Why don’t you come test my theory?” TaeOh was concerned because she was still healing from her cut, and he never knew Byul to back down from a fight.

YongSun must have been feeling the same because she laid her hand on Byul’s arm. Byul looked down at it, the look in her eyes made TaeOh taste something bitter. “I’d say show them what you got.” TaeOh regretted the words, Byul’s eyes set in a determined look, YongSun glared at him.

Byul smiled over at WheeIn. “Bring it on.” Byul climbed the fence and hopped down the other side.

“Why did you do that?” YongSun asked when she got far enough away. “She is still healing.”

He felt a surge of anger. “Byul can hold her own, even with an injury.”

And he was right, Byul got in that ring and had no problem taking on one of the girls, then another girl, then WheeIn herself. She didn’t beat WheeIn, she wasn’t at full strength for that but WheeIn clapped her on the back when it was over and congratulated her. A thought crossed TaeOh’s mind as he saw the rest of them distracted. “YongSun?” She looked over at him, thankfully not angry anymore. “Will you walk with me for a moment, I want to show you something.”

She looked between him and the group. “What about Byul?”

He looked over. “We won’t be long don’t worry.”

He immediately regretted asking her, he felt like he was doing something wrong as well as being very nervous. Not far away from where they were was a small clearing her noticed earlier. It was far enough away from everyone that is was secluded, and it was lined with the most beautiful trees and flowers. They walked side by side into the clearing. He watched as she looked over the nature in awe. “This place is beautiful.” She sounded breathless and that made him smile. She walked around for a bit longer, then realized he was standing in the middle of the clearing so she walked up to him. “Why didn’t we invite Byul to this place?”

TaeOh felt the feeling again, one that made him angry but ashamed he was jealous of his sister. “Because I wanted to say something to you.” She looked over at him oblivious to what he was going to say to her. “I know we got off on the wrong foot.” YongSun rolled her eyes at him. “But over the last  month we’ve spent together you’ve become more important, less princess Solar and more YongSun.”

She smiled up at him. “I am glad we are getting closer.” TaeOh got the feeling that she wasn’t getting what he was saying, not in the way he meant it.

He took a step closer to her. Her eyes clouded with confusion. “I don’t want to live a life where you are not around.” He felt like they were so close they were breathing the same air. He slowly put one hand up to her face, his heart beating loudly in his chest. He closed the gap between them, slowly. He didn’t feel YongSun move away so he moved in, lips gently brushing her’s. The second their lips made he felt her hands press against his chest, pushing him away, hard. TaeOh backed up and opened his eyes, YongSun stood there, hand over her mouth, eyes brimming with tears.

She took a shaky step back. “I-I am sorry.” Before he could respond she turned and ran out of the clearing, TaeOh just let her go. He wasn’t sure if it was a rejection or not, she allowed him to kiss her, but then changed her mind. Was she scared? Was she confused?

Clapping sounded behind him, he turned to see Luna leaning against a tree, dressed in her warrior outfit, smile that made him want to punch her. “Nice moves hot shot.”

TaeOh felt fire in his veins. “What are you doing here?” He growled.

Luna waved around here. “This is my post, I am on duty.”

“How much did you see?” How much did she hear?

She shrugged. “Enough.”

More fire in his blood. “You better keep your mouth shut about this.” The last thing he needed was this getting back to Byul.

She shrugged again. “Whatever you say hot shot.” She pulled her hood back up and vanished into the trees.

TaeOh looked in the direction YongSun went, hoping he didn’t just mess everything up.

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YongSun hurried back to where they left Byul. She was momentarily relieved when she noticed TaeOh had not followed her back, she wasn’t sure how she was going to explain things to him. She knew she didn’t have to explain anything to him but she felt the need to stammer through excuses. The truth was, she wanted him to kiss her, so deeply she wanted him to kiss her, but the second his lips touched hers there was  a voice in her head that screamed, no, as they connected. It was so loud and powerful that she had immediately pushed him away. Now she felt like going back to the house and hiding, crying, she was so confused as to why she stopped him and she felt so bad about it.

Byul rushed over to her from the group she was chatting with. “There you are.” She smiled innocently, oblivious to what had just happened a few feet away. She looked behind her. “Where is TaeOh?”

YongSun felt a pain in her heart. “I think he said something about the bathroom.” She could see Byul’s face fall a bit when YongSun’s lie wasn’t totally convincing.

She looked YongSun in the eye, voice sounding a bit dangerous. “Are you okay, did something happen?”

YongSun shook her head, forcing the mask she use to wear as princess on her face. “I saw someone that reminded me of my dad.” Her voice cracked on his name, it was still a lie and now she felt even more sorry for saying it.

Concerned Byul reached out and rubbed a hand down YongSun’s arm, the gesture warming her but also making her feel worse for some reason. “We should go get you something warm to drink, it might help.” Before YongSun could argue, Byul said goodbye to the group and lead her to the mess hall.

The girls drank tea, YongSun only sipped on it, too nervous something would mix with the potion she was about to drink. They weren’t there long before TaeOh ed them again, thankfully his excuse matched YongSun’s but she didn’t miss the look Byul gave the both of them, but she said nothing. TaeOh pulled some food out from the storage area and made YongSun eat some of it, saying she will need her strength, YongSun accepted it without looking at him. Byul seemed to catch onto something but pretended she didn’t know, instead she engaged TaeOh in conversation as people filed in to get some lunch, most of them ignoring the trio, a few saying hello. They didn’t sit there for much longer as midday was quickly approaching and they needed to get back, the small amount of food YongSun consumed turning into a whirlpool in her stomach. She was about to change her whole life.

Ermesto was waiting for them when they got back. He was nonchalantly drinking tea on his front porch as they approached. He left his porch and lead them into the house, YongSun’s eyes couldn't help but find the potion, gold in colour, now in a cup waiting for her. “Go get comfortable in bed YongSun and I will bring it to you.”

YongSun felt the urge to run, or throw up, or both. Her feet remained glued to the floor. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. Byul came up next to her, TaeOh on her other side. “Don’t worry YongSun we will be with you.” She whispered to her.

YongSun still wasn’t sure about it but she allowed them to lead her into the room and she sat down on the bed. She shifted back and pulled the green blanket up with her. “We will be here until you wake up.” TaeOh added, making her heart hurt because of the events that had just happened and he was still here for her.

Ernesto came into the room with the golden drink. YongSun stiffened at the sight. Seeing the look on YongSun’s face he paused. “You don’t have to do this YongSun.” She knew those words were hard for him, because he wanted her to experience her destiny.

YongSun took a shaky breath. “No, I want to do this, I am just scared.” She smiled wearily.

“We will protect you.” Byul said, their eyes locking, YongSun saw the truth and determination, she nodded slowly.

YongSun took the drink in her hands, it was surprisingly warm. It looked as if Ernesto liquified pure gold and put it in the cup for her to drink. She gave everyone one last look before she brought the cup up to her lips. The first splash of liquid was thick and warm as it ran down her throat. It tasted like honey on her tongue and before she knew it, she had drank the whole glass. There was a moment of silence. “How do you feel?” Ernesto asked.

She thought about it. “Full, as if I just ate an entire buffet.” The others laughed. Her eyes increasingly got heavy and her body felt like a weight. “A little tired now.”

Byul moved across the room and sat next to her, YongSun’s body feeling heavier, her eyes drooping. “Don’t worry I have you.” She said quietly into her ear. YongSun tried to nod but her whole body was not responding. The last thing she saw before her eyes shut completely was Byul’s concerned look. Everything went black.

A screech pulled YongSun from her sleep. She expected to see Byul or TaeOh when she awoke, maybe even Ernesto, the last thing she thought she would see was an orange sky. It wasn’t a dawn or dusk orange, it was a thick cloud of smoke covering the blue that was supposed to be there. She sat up slowly, more aware now that she was laying on wet grass. Now sitting she noticed something, yes she was in a field, and that field was covered in flames, and YongSun was trapped in the centre of it.

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It has officially been a year since I started this story... Dam I write slow