❝ If we are caught, you are deaf and I do not speak Korean. ❞

 the bloodthirst six 
chapter iii

The once clean and sparkly stream has been dirtied by blood and Yeon Young pales. Oh , what did Elder Oh say? ‘If you spot anybody, or you want to hunt an animal, remember, don’t dirty the stream. It takes at least two whole days for the blood and dirt to clear out, get it brat?’ Yeon Young gulped at the state of mess the place was in. How was she going to explain this that old hag?

“Jihun,” She shot an unnaturally nice smile towards the leader and he backed away from her. “…What?”

“Whatever happened just now, you take credit for it, okay?”

“Why?” His tone was full of suspiciousness, and she growled at him, “What why?”

“Okay, chill! But this is your territory, and if my grandpa finds out that I have been coming here without permission, I’m dead.” Jihun’s grandfather was Solaris village's chief, and he was a hardworking but strict elder. Jihun didn’t want to know nor incur his wrath.

“He doesn’t need to know. I’m just going to tell Elder Oh you did this. It’s a win-win situation for us, right? So you pretend you don’t know anything if questioned.” Yeon Young grinned at them, “Please?”

“What win-win situation? We are walking into a death trap…” Jihun muttered.

“It’s settled. Let’s go.” One flying kick to Seungjun and another bribe to Jihun, they started heading over to Yeon Young’s village from Exacter Woods.

“What? You brats fought near the stream?” Elder Oh screamed and pointed at Jihun, “You! What’s the use of being a leader if you can’t do it well?”

Yeon Young her lips, looking guiltless as she stood behind Elder Oh, being as quiet as she could. Heck, she wished she were non-existent right now. The glare Jihun was so indiscreetly giving her was rather painful.

“I’ll forgive you this time round, so don’t do it again, you hear me?” She pulled on all of their ears as she left, an indescribable amount of anger boiling in her. The same thing could be said for Kim Jihun. The boy attempted to stand up from his kneeling position, but due to staying in that form for the longest time, he tripped over his numb legs and fell, face first to the floor.

He doubled over in pain and massaged his red nose. He stared at the ceiling and Yeon Young came into view.

“Yah.” She hummed in response.

“You owe me, Tinkerbell.”

“Got your back, Peterpan,” She winked at him, and left the small, warm hut. Jihun half-smiled, half-snorted at her retreating form before getting some shut-eye.

Yeon Young stretched and sighed in satisfaction, glad that she was out of the stuffy place. She felt even better that she had escaped Elder Oh’s nagging right under her nose! She circled the huts and houses, wanting to find food for dinner, but came to the village’s centre, only to see a fight between two of the villager’s fighters, Hoya and Dongwoo, happening. The lighted flame candles decorated the arena, and the emerging and disappearing shadows of the two fighters made the scene much more spectacular and entertaining. The dizzy clashes made Yeon Young brighten up, and she took a seat to watch them fight.

To be honest, if she had to choose, Yeon Young would have chosen the vigor and excitement of a swords fight over any other work any day. She would have taken this as her calling if not for her unbounded love for sleeping.

With a last strike, Dongwoo’s sword flew away and it was obvious that Hoya had won the battle. Everyone applauded for both fighters and Dongwoo praised Hoya for a job well done. Yeon Young was about to leave, seeing that the fight ended, but Elder Oh shouted out to her to come to the centre. She did as she was told, not wanting to incur the elder’s rage after the incident that just occurred.

“Yes?” Elder Oh glared at her for her lack of honorifics.

“Have a spar with Hoya.” I’m dead tired, and Hoya is practically our village’s best! What does she want from me? Winning isn’t an option, is it?

“Just do your best, brat.” Elder Oh noticed her worried expression and gave the girl a huge encouraging smack on her back. Ah well, here goes nothing.

Yeon Young readied her stance as her hands found its usual way around the grip. I’m counting on you, Aza.

“And, start!”

The sword immediately found its opponent and it was a power of sheer stamina before Yeon Young backed off with a somersault. She bared her teeth at Hoya, and the guy sent back a competitive glance. Yeon Young spared with Hoya quite frequently, and if there was one thing she liked about scuffling with him was that his endurance was top-notch. More often than not, she got knocked out before he did. And when he did, it was only because of her under-handed methods. Here, it was just a damn circle with no forest shrubs to hide her, no vines to climb; it was just her and Aza.

Difficult to win, but everyone loves a challenge, didn’t they?

Hoya took an accurate swing at the girl and managed to cut off an inch of her hair. Yeon Young hissed, not because her hair was cut, but because she realized she forgot to tie her hair. No wonder it’s so hard to move!

Hoya took the chance and used his free hand to push the girl to the ground with a controlled amount of strength. He was about to point the sword at her neck to signify his victory but winning is never easy. Yeon Young made a straight upper kick from her pushed down position and cleanly hit Hoya’s neck, landing him on his . The two exchanged eye contact and smiled with a hint of menace. This was going to be a long battle, and neither was going to back down until they won.

Ten minutes passed or so, and Seungjun walked out of the tent, feeling that it was too suffocating for five growing teens to share. As he walked down the uneven village path, he could hear mutters and pleased sighs coming from the village ladies, and he chuckled as a picture of Yeon Young doing that to him surfaced in his head.

Speaking of which, where was she? He was inattentively following the cacophony of the village, and soon came to the centre. Seungjun didn’t need to push pass them for him to see that Yeon Young and Hoya were currently in battle. He was tall, but that wasn’t the top of his concerns right now. Tinkerbell just fought the bandits and now she’s fighting again? I swear that idiot is going to faint! He impolitely shoved himself to the front and found her clashing swords with Hoya once again. On closer inspection, it was clear that her muscles were tensed and overworked, and she looked pale enough to be sick, although the fire and the glow on her cheeks were hiding it.

Yeon Young knew it herself, she wasn’t dumb. She had to end this soon if not she was going to faint on the spot. As it is, she was seeing spots in her vision. Hoya had so far reflected all her moves because he was so used to them in practice.

But, he hasn’t seen this.

Yeon Young went dangerously near to him, her sword swinging limply at the side, and her lack of defense caught Hoya by surprise. As fast as she could, she took the moment he loosened his grip on his own sword and knocked it away, and pinned him down under her. With ragged breaths, she smirked at him with a sword at his throat, before she came collapsing down on him.

The last thing she heard was someone shouting her name frantically.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Gasping for air because action scenes are just ack. mianhe for the low quarity lmao. see ya people with the next chapter. want to guess which member she will meet first? i'll give you 20 karma? (i'm poor) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

◯ darkmoon