Emi’s eyes drifted to the object Sergi was holding in his hand, a sense of fear coursing through her body.

          A gun.

          “Come on now, Winters, you had it all along didn’t you? That’s why you tried to escape that day, only to end up being captured by the Dragoons.” Sergi smirked, tutting mockingly at Emi who only remained rooted to the ground. Her eyes remained trained on the gun in Sergi’s hand that was pointed towards her.

          “Have you forgotten the punishments for disappointing me?” Sergi added, raising an eyebrow and taking another step forward. The glass shards crunching loudly under his foot.

          A chill ran down Emi’s spine and she widened her eyes. Her body instinctively tensing up at the memory as she felt her heart skipping a beat.

          I should have ran away, I should have just ran for my life.

          Terror was evident in Emi’s eyes, her mind recalling her younger days when she was just an amateur thief, failing all her missions. Her stoic face expression twisted into an unsettled one as she staggered backwards.

          I can’t go back.

          No, I’m never going back to him.

          He’ll kill me, slowly and I’ll never get my freedom.

          No, please, no!

          Emi’s breathing quickened as her wide eyes stared at the gun, she knew he would shoot her in places that wouldn’t kill her, but make her feel tremendous amount of pain. The frightening thought of it almost made her lost her balance, a whimper on the verge of escaping from .

          However, someone stepped in front of Emi, slightly snapping her out from her panicked state. She looked up, a hand wrapping around hers.

          “You were in this area from the very beginning, that explains how you arrived here so quickly.” Kris mused, standing protectively in front of Yun and Emi, his hand lingering above his sword.

          Sergi’s eyes glanced between Emi and Kris, delight sparkling in his eyes.

          So Bart was telling the truth after all.

          How amusing.

          “Bart and I must have an impeccable timing.” Sergi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. Kris narrowed his eyes at him, glancing discreetly to Emi, noticing her distraught state before focusing back on Sergi.

          At the same time, Emi turned towards her left side. Seeing Yun offering her a comforting smile as he squeezed her hand slightly.

          “Are you alright? You are completely pale and your hands are trembling.” Yun frowned in concerned and Emi finally realised how her hands were trembling slightly. The realization immediately making her switch back to her stoic state as she tugged her hand away from Yun.

          “Yes, I’m fine.” Emi answered quickly, glancing away as she inhaled in deep breaths, trying to regain her composure.

          “Do you really expect a sword to win against a gun?” Sergi snorted as Kris withdrew his sword, a ringing sound piercing through the air.

          “Of course it can’t.” Kris smirked. Before Sergi could comprehend the meaning behind his words, he felt something sharp stabbing into his back, letting out a pained yelp.

          “Go!” Kris exclaimed to Yun and Emi, Yun nodded to his command, dragging Emi away who only stared back with a frown on her face.

          Kris.

          Is he going to be alright?

          Wait, this isn’t the time to be concerned about him, I need to get away from here as fast as possible.

          Unbeknownst to Emi’s intentions, Yun was suddenly knocked off balance by Emi abruptly stopping. He couldn't react in time to the situation, only feeling her leg stomping onto the back of his knee, making him fall to the ground.

          Yun groaned in pain, hurriedly standing back up only to be punched in the face and he collapsed back onto the ground. In his blurry daze, he observed Emi dashing past him and he tried to stand up, slightly disorientated by her fierce punch.

          “Emi! Wait!”

          Emi glanced back, a miserable expression on her face as she mouthed an apology to him, shaking her head and continuing pushing herself forward even faster.

          I won’t trust anyone.

          No one will protect me, only I will protect myself. Everyone eventually abandons one another, when they fear for their own safety.

          Trusting someone is asking them to break your trust.

          Emi heard the weak footsteps behind her but she knew that Yun was still affected by her punch, managing to outrun him easily. She burst into the main hall, shocking the innkeeper and the people inside, dodging them swiftly.

          “Emi! Bart may still be out there! You aren’t safe!”

          Without hesitation, Emi vaulted over the table, shoving the plates and cups onto the ground without any care as she sprinted to the door, slamming it open. The streets weren’t crowded as the other streets she has been too, but it was enough for her to camouflage in it as she slowed down to a walk, blending in with the crowd.

          “Excuse me, pardon me.” Emi muttered out, purposefully bumping into people as she expertly pickpocketed a wallet and a pocket watch, she sensed that Yun was probably searching through the crowd for her, biting on her lip.

          She quickly headed towards her destination, which were the stables located at the back of the inn. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, wondering why she ran the wrong way and she glanced at the alley, deciding to cut through it to reach the stables faster.

          Knowing she was asking for trouble, Emi wasn’t surprised to find a couple of drunkards roaming around the alley, leering at her along with a few ruffians. They whistled at her as she walked by them hastily, ignoring their calls as she marched to the end of the alley.

          “Hey, girlie, where do you think you are going?” One of them asked, smirking wolfishly at her. He laid his hand on her shoulder, making her grit her teeth.

          Throwing him over her shoulder, she instantly expected the rest of the ruffians to attack her, since one of their comrades were assaulted by her. Just as she predicted, loud incoherent shouts and cry were heard, followed by a punch directed at her as she avoided it with ease.

          She noticed another ruffian behind her and she lifted her leg up, kicking at his knee as she countered the ruffian’s punch in front of her, hitting him in the jaw. Taking opportunity of their weakened states, she bolted forward, sliding under the ruffian’s legs and managing to land a critical hit on his groin. Without delay, she continued towards the stables and was pleased that she didn’t meet any more inconvenience on the way.

          ******************************************************

          Kris smirked at Sergi who kneeled on the ground, his arrogant expression contorting into a pained one. Kicking his gun away from his grip, Kris folded his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow.

          “A little careless for a bandit leader, don’t you think?”

          Sergi chuckled in response, causing Kris’ victorious expression to falter as he held a hint of confusion in his eyes.

          “Bandits don’t play fair, Dragoon or should I say, Kris Wu.” Sergi lifted his head up, sneering at Kris as he reached for his back, wrenching the arrow out.

          “Agh!” Sergi cried out in pain and Kris took a shocked step back, blinking incredulously.

          I underestimated him.

          Pulling an arrow out from yourself hurts more than an arrow going in.

           Kris recovered from his surprise, Sergi’s words finally sinking in. He tensed up, starting to feel perturbed.

          No, don’t listen to him.

          Yun is with her, they are going to just fine.

          A few moments later, Yun scurried into the room, panting heavily. He stared at Kris with an anxious look, Kris' heart plummeting at the sight of it. 

          “Kris, she’s gone! She caught me off guard and escaped by herself, I couldn’t find her anywhere!” Yun said, his tone panicked and Kris’ breathing hitched. A fierce glare covered his face as he turned towards Sergi, who stood up amidst their conversation.

          “What did you do to her?” Kris hissed as he grabbed Sergi by the collar of his shirt.  

          Sergi chuckled humourlessly and Kris clenched his fists at his mocking answer. “I can’t believe it, Bart was actually right! Out of all women, this is the one you become infatuated with, I am one fortunate man.”

          “Stop spouting nonsense and tell me what the hell you did to her!” Kris roared at him and Sergi grinned diabolically.

          “See, Kris, I didn’t do anything, she did everything on her own didn’t she? She ran away from you, because she simply didn’t trust you and I just stationed Bart at where I guess she might be.”

          “What the hell do you know about her?”

          “Everything, because I was the one who trained her to be that way, when she was already broken all along. I just simply…added more to her broken self. A young broken girl, all alone in this world and I took her in, trained her to be my greatest asset! My god, the riches I managed to earn because of her!”

          Kris was shaking violently, outraged at Sergi’s explanation for partially making her the person she is today. Yun saw the resentment in Kris’ eyes, a disconcerted feeling rising in him as he took a step forward.

          “Ahh…but I wonder if you already knew that, probably not, since she wouldn’t tell you a thing about herself. She hates the world and everyone in it, she trusts no one either and the reason for her staying alive in this dreadful world is because she still has-“

          “You goddamn bastard!” Kris yelled, flinging a punch at Sergi who stumbled backwards, rubbing at his mouth and smirking arrogantly at Kris. Sergi’s reaction only contributed more to Kris’ anger as he charged mindlessly at Sergi.

          “Kris!” Yun called out in alarm, rushing forward to stop Kris.

          This is so amusing.

          Emi Winters, I was right in choosing you.

          ************************************************

          Letting out a sigh of relief, Emi arrived at the stables, seeing Luna still over there, waiting peacefully for her to arrive. Jogging up towards Luna, she neighed excitedly at the sight of her owner and Emi petted her, quickly taking the bag that was hung around her, grateful for herself bringing some extra clothes.

          It never hurts to be cautious and resourceful.

          Extracting a light-brown cloak from her bag, she wore it, observing her surroundings warily and nodded to herself reassuringly once she confirmed that no one followed her. Preparing to climb up Luna, Emi heard a thunderous bang and she flinched, turning around to look only to kneel onto the floor when she felt a sharp pain at her leg.

          It started throbbing excruciatingly and tears started to form in her eyes. She immediately discovered a huge graze near her ankle.

          Gunshot.

          Someone is here, waiting for me and preventing me from leaving.

          Upon the realization, Emi slowly limped towards Luna and grabbing her bag, collapsing onto the haystack as she took advantage of the shadows. Swiftly withdrawing her medical supplies, she dressed her wounds and wrapped a bandage around her ankle to stop the bleeding.

          I’m not going to be so careless this time.

          Carefully standing up, Emi dragged Luna into the shadow. Partially hiding her as she quietly climbed onto her.

          “You have to be quick, Luna. Someone’s here.” Emi whispered to her and inhaled in a deep breath, closing her eyes.

          “Ready…go!” Emi commanded, opening her eyes as Luna jumped over the wooden fence, breaking out into a gallop as she rode out of the stables onto the gravel path out of the small town.

          Another thunderous gunshot was heard and this time, it grazed Emi’s cheek as her heart thumped loudly against her chest. Meanwhile, in the lush greenery of the forest, someone hid in the shadows, sitting on the thick tree branch as something glinted in his hand.

          “Alright, that was the last warning…” The unknown adversary said, the moon shone through the leaves, revealing it to be Bartholomew. He held a gun in his hands, squinting his eyes as he closed it on one side.

          His aim was on Emi, her horse cantering away into the distance. Kicking his lip, he prepared to press the trigger.

          “Here we go.” Bartholomew murmured out, pressing on the trigger however, something stabbed into his shoulder. His bullet pierced straight into the gravel instead of the intended target, the ear-splitting gunshot resounding throughout the forest. He moaned in pain, clicking his tongue when he noticed that Emi was already too far ahead of him now. He decided to risk it, ignoring the sudden interruption and lifted his gun up again, aiming it at her.

          Unfortunately, upon activating the trigger, he heard a clicking sound, informing him that he had already ran out of bullets.

          “! She got away again, twice! Who was the damn bastard that interfered with me?” Bartholomew barked, spinning around and saw a small piece of rock on the floor.

          “Agh! I don’t have time to think through this, I have to go after her!” Bartholomew ruffled his hair in frustration, holstering his gun and leaping down from the tree. He whistled loudly and soon after, a horse appeared as he hopped onto it, urging it to set off.

          After a few minutes he departed, another person leaped down a tree and he stepped out from the shadows. The slingshot in the person’s hands glistened in the moonlight as he threw it up into the air, skillfully catching it.     

          “Wasn’t that Emi?” Zak muttered to himself, frowning as he flung his slingshot into the air again, catching it.

          “What the hell is going on here?” Zak mumbled, glancing back and forth at the direction to the inn and the direction that Emi disappeared to.

          “And why is she getting shot at?”

Sorrry for the late update! I'm busy with school, exams are approaching and I am also currently working on another story >< I will try my best to update every 5-7 days :)! Thanks for all the lovely comments for every chapter, I love you guys <3!