The Medics
The Lonely Prince and The Thief
‘You think he’s alive?’
The voice was very faint, the sounds around slowly coming back to him, Chansung finding little strength to get his eyes open, a slight view of two people standing in front of him coming into view. They moved around; JR’s body being seen as well as Chansung’s eyes tried to focus on what was going on. He was sure he had passed out when sitting against the tree, another wave of pain sending him into an comfortable unconscious state; his body probably laying on the ground and he was now just waking up. He could tell the two people above him were female, their bare legs pretty much the only thing he could see from the ground where he lay. Everything remained fuzzy in his eyes as he felt a slight pain run up his sides, he hissed in pain, catching the females attention, one quickly turning his way and darting over to him, her body knelt down beside him.
‘This ones alive!’
She told her companion, her voice much more clear than it was before, he was slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. The female now reached into her pack, pulling out a strange small bottle, the top being popped off before being brought towards Chansung’s mouth. Chansung was wide awake by then, his eyes going wide as he quickly pushed himself off the ground, though his entire being protested as pain washed over him, his body crumbling to the ground again, how long had he been laying there for his body to get this stiff. The taste of iron came to his tongue, the female approaching quickly,
‘Stop it you dumb . You’re obviously badly hurt, this is just medicine, I’m not going to kill you or anything.’
The girl spoke, her eyes narrowing, the bottle being held up to show him the dark color liquid, Chansung hissed in protest, but didn’t have much of a choice when the female practically gripped his hair, pulling his head back, his mouth opening and the liquid was poured down his mouth. The stuff was absolutely horrible, and the taste mixed with blood; he had to gag, practically coughing up a storm, but at least she wasn’t pulling at his head anymore, her fingers slipping through his hair, a sweet smile on the females face as she stood up, turning to look towards her friend who seemed to be pouring the same liquid down JR’s throat.
‘I’m guessing he’s alive too?’
She asked, the curly haired female looking up from where she was, giving a simple nod. She turned back to Chansung now, her hands placed on her hips; Chansung finally free from his coughing, he was on his hands and knees, his eyes staring at the ground for a moment. Why wasn’t he still in pain? What the hell had this girl given him? Looking up towards the girl, she was still all smiles; though he was confused, and he was sure to make it show.
‘You’re welcome~ Specialty of the Gyerim tribe. Just a simple healing potion, that’s all~’
She replied to his confusion, outstretching a hand towards Chansung… Of course he hesitated for a moment, what if these females were working for that Nichkhun guy, and JR was in on the whole plan to instantly kill him and find Junsu.
‘My names Suzy, we aren’t here to hurt you, just heard your ship crash and was a little worried about the forest. We didn’t expect to find any survivors. Do you know if there are any more of you?’
She asked, Chansung already reaching a hand up, he had a feeling these two weren’t with anyone that would harm him or Junsu… Once he found him that is.
‘There probably are… I’m not sure actually…’
He responded, allowing Suzy to help him up, though his body no longer in pain, it still felt stiff, moving around was something he definitely needed. Looking over Suzy’s shoulder, he eyed the curly haired female, the one attending to JR, who wasn’t standing up like he was. Suzy turned to look as well,
‘That’s Fei, she’s a medic, the one that makes the potions.’
She told him, Chansung watching, Fei carefully sitting JR up, her hands resting on his forehead, before being pulled away, she looked towards Suzy, who in turn rose an eyebrow in her direction.
‘He’s definitely worse than that guy, we are going to have to bring him back to the village to get him better medicine.’
Fei spoke, Chansung lifting his chin as he watched the girl, her body kneeling down, she wasn’t going to try to pick him up was she? She looked barely even bigger than him! Sure JR was tiny, but she wasn’t any bigger than him.
‘I can carry him if you need me to.’
Chansung spoke, Fei pausing in her action, staring at Chansung for a moment before chuckling, continuing on with her former actions, JR’s body seeming to lift off the ground with ease, Fei placing him over her shoulder, his body hanging limp like a rag doll, at least he wasn’t bleeding. Chansung stared wide eyed as the female turned toward Suzy, giving her one glance then looking to Chansung again, she smiled; Suzy laughed.
‘You well enough to walk? Or am I going to have to carry you?’
Suzy asked, Chansung cocking an eye brow, he would have the doubts in his mind about this girl carrying him… If Fei hadn’t been able to lift JR with ease that is, Chansung crossed his arms over his chest,
‘I have my dignity and pride to keep ladies, I wouldn’t let you carry me even if I was dying.’
He spoke, Suzy grinning as Fei shook her head, mumbling something about men before heading towards part of the forest that was rather heavily wooded, Chansung frowned.
‘We are going through the thicker part of the forest? Isn’t that dangerous?’
Chansung asked, following Suzy as she began to walk, Fei not bothering to look over her shoulder, her arms firmly around JR as they moved along,
‘Well yeah, that’s were our village is. There really isn’t any other way there.’
She responded, Chansung seeming a bit surprised,
‘You haven’t heard of the Gyerim tribe that lives out in this forest have you?’
She asked, Chansung shaking his head in response; Suzy gave him a disappointed look,
‘To bad, we’ve got some interesting stories about us~ Like the famous one! Actually now that I think about it, mostly only certain travelers know about us, we aren’t in any books or anything. But I do remember hearing the most famous one from a traveler that passed by here a few years ago. Apparently people think we are practically devils, and that anyone that tries to walk through this forest get’s killed~ It’s even said we’ve killed over 100 soldiers!’
She spoke enthusiastically, like the idea was fascinating, Chansung chuckled, the stories were probably no worse than those he heard about his own thief band, he’d heard some pretty gruesome things when he was with them, it was actually quite interesting to have the weaker people a little afraid of you, but also a little lonely when no one trusted you.
‘So, are you guys really devils though? Did you really kill 100 soldiers?’
Chansung asked, Suzy glancing at him from her side view, a simple smile on her face, he could tell she was about to respond, but Fei spoke up instead.
‘Actually, the people got it wrong. We didn’t kill 100 soldiers, we saved 100 soldiers, from a terrible attack by enemies that were trying to invade the land. We actually helped them keep this place safe. We aren’t devils, we are medics.’
She responded, her voice serious; she didn’t turn to look at either of them, Suzy pouting at the sudden change in mood, the atmosphere seeming a little distaste full as they made there way farther and farther into the forest. So they were medics… How would a bunch of medics help him find the prince? Would they even know he was the prince of Daegu? Would they side with his reasoning’s if he told them why he had kidnapped the man? He wasn’t sure what they were actually going to think now that he thought about it, they might just not care.
‘What are you thinking about?’
Suzy asked, her face passive as she stared at Chansung from where she was, their strides practically in sync as they locked eyes. Chansung frowned,
‘My friends…’
He replied, looking away now, Suzy tilting her head,
‘I’m unsure if any of them are alive, or if I’ll be able to even find them out in this giant forest.’
Chansung clenched his fists tight, his feet having to stop walking, why did all of this have to happen? Why did he have to feel like he was loosing someone he was close to again. He felt his heart ache, what if Junsu really was out there dead? And it would of practically been all his fault, just like when Jay died, he would of killed another person he loved!
His body jumped when he felt a hand on his forearm, Suzy standing in front of him, her eyes closed, Fei had long stopped walking and was now turned around in their direction, she wasn’t really making any emotion, but she wasn’t the one he really cared about. Suzy wasn’t moving as she inhaled deeply, her pony tail being slightly rustled in the random wind, as she took one last deep breath before opening her eyes.
‘I can feel every single one of their presence here in this forest. They are all alive. Our people are scattered looking at multiple locations that the ship crashed near. They are bound to find them, and bring them back to the village,’
She spoke, her face serious as she forced Chansung too look her in the eyes, a chill running through his body as her hand was removed from him. He wasn’t sure what the hell had just happened, or whether or not to believe what Suzy had just told him, but he nodded his head in her direction, lifting a hand to grab at his forearm. Suzy flicked her pony tail with a grin before turning around, Fei again leading the way.
‘Now let’s go before that medicine wears off and you start coughing up blood and it begins to rain, it sopping through mud!’
--
Junsu’s body shivered, his arms wrapping around his torso, , knees being pulled up to his chest. He was shaking pretty bad as the wind picked up and chilled his soaking wet body. Wooyoung was no better off, he was trying to squeeze the water from the giant sheet they had use to escape the ship with, but it was pretty much no use, even with no water, it was still damp and the wind only made it cold. Wooyoung grunted as he threw the cloth down on the ground with a loud growl.
‘ing , it’s going to rain soon, we are soaking wet and it’s ING COLD!’
He shouted, uncaring that it echoed through out the darkening forest, Junsu didn’t respond as he placed his head between his knees, taking in a deep breath in hopes to get the shaking to maybe stop. This cold feeling was unbearable. He was bound to get sick if he stayed like this for two long, and the sickness wouldn’t probably be an easy one to get over, not with no medication or herbs to help him. Coughing roughly, Junsu lifted his head when Wooyoung’s foot steps headed his way.
‘Damnit, you haven’t even been out here long and you look so pale.’
He mumbled, taking Junsu’s face between his hands, Wooyoung’s hands were so warm, Junsu was thankful as he sighed with content.
‘Okay… I know it’s not going to make much of a difference, but at least take your shirt off, you’ll only be colder if you keep those soaked clothes on. I’m going to do the same so…’
He spoke, Junsu whining when Wooyoung removed his hands, they felt like his only source of heat. Wooyoung snickered at the response, but began removing his shirt, Junsu taking a moment, but eventually began doing the same thing, slowly getting to his feet, pushing past all the shaking as he managed to remove his shirt and toss it to the ground. At a time like this, he was sure he would be blushing up a storm, his body not something he usually liked to expose, but at a time like this, he didn’t have time to think like that, his arms crossing over his chest, just a drop of rain plopped down on his shoulder.
Wooyoung was cursing up a storm by the time it began to practically down pour, the river water splashing up onto shore, Junsu and Wooyoung quickly moving to underneath a near by tree, away from the down pour of rain. Wooyoung had finally quieted down now that the rain wasn’t practically pelting them, but they were soaked again.
‘ing great…’
Wooyoung cursed again, leaning against the tree as Junsu did the same, his eyes closing, he was beginning to feel way to tired for this crap.
‘Stay awake Junsu… I can’t drag you through this rain, sorry.’
Wooyoung grumbled, Junsu forcing his eyes open as he looked out in the direction where the forest got deeper… His eyes lingered there for the longest moment, he wasn’t sure why, maybe he was hoping something would appear? Chansung maybe? Or even Taecyeon… Taecyeon would be the impossible choice, he wouldn’t be able to find him with the injuries over his eyes. Junsu frowned to himself, turning his gaze away from the distance and back to Wooyoung who seemed to be talking to himself, he stopped when Junsu spoke up.
‘So what do we do now?’
He asked, his body not feeling as cold as it had been, it felt like it was going numb, he knew that wasn’t a good thing, but hell, it was better than being freezing. Wooyoung’s head hung before rolling back, his neck crackling along the way before he sighed.
‘I don’t know… I would say we could move, but I don’t know where we are, we could get lost and being lost is worse than anything.’
Wooyoung spoke, rubbing the back of his neck, Junsu huffing, he glanced towards the river that had calmed a little, the rain not as bad,
‘D-Do you think the river leads to outside the forest?’
Junsu asked, Wooyoung shaking his head,
‘I highly doubt it.’
He spoke, Junsu feeling defeated a little, if Wooyoung wasn’t confident, how was he supposed to be? Not even the thought of Chansung was helping him feel better right now.
‘This isn’t good.’
Junsu muttered, Wooyoung about half way through nodding his head when he froze, his body stiffening, his fists instantly rising. Junsu had been pulled behind him just as the sound of feet hitting the wet mud came to his ears. Junsu placed both hands on Wooyoung’s shoulders as he looked over them, two figures appearing through the rain.
‘I found two!’
The shorter of the figures spoke, it was obviously a female, soaked pigtails being the first noticeable thing as a young looking female stepped from the fog of the rain, she looked rather undressed as she waved two fingers over her shoulder, a taller, more built women coming to her side.
‘Ahhh, good job IU~ Perfect senses as always~’
The women spoke, the one known as IU grinning cutely before stepping closer, Wooyoung hissed, causing both the females to stop, their eyes wide.
‘Oh, wait hun, we aren’t here to hurt you. We came to help you!’
The taller women spoke, IU quickly nodding her head, Wooyoung bearing his teeth, he was about to step forward when both women threw there hands in the air.
‘We promise, we aren’t here to hurt you or do whatever you think we might do. We are from the Gyerim Tribe that lives in this forest, medics that work with the plants that it provides for us~’
IU stated, never dropping her hands, the taller women, who still hadn’t been identified agreeing simply. Junsu was beyond confused, there was a Gyerim tribe within the Gyerim forest? None of the books he had read upon the forest stated anything about a tribe.
‘Gyerim Tribe… We are in the Gyerim Forest…’
Wooyoung spoke, as if he was trying to remember something, and just like that, it was like he remembered, a huge grin spreading across his face, Junsu frowned deeply.
‘The Gyerim tribe! I remember you guys! A few years back! When I was traveling through for my boss!’
Wooyoung stated, both IU and the women eyeing each other before they looked back, their eyes narrowing, then going wide before the taller women pointed,
‘Oh, wait, is that you Jang Wooyoung?’
She called, Wooyoung relaxing his stance, allowing Junsu to stand by his side now,
‘This rain makes everything so hard to see, but judging by that voice I believe you are Ailee correct?’
Wooyoung spoke, Ailee seeming excited as she nodded her head, IU cocking an eye brow, it was obvious she was confused, but then so was Junsu, her arms still tight over his chest, a shiver ran through him again, another not so good sounding cough coming from his throat. All excitement seemed to fall as Wooyoung placed a hand on Junsu’s back, the cold chills returning as he began to shiver.
‘We’ll have to talk later. He’s getting sick… Here both of you drink this, it will help till we get back to the village and can get you something better. I’m sorry we don’t have any clothes on hand, but we can get you something warm once we get there.’
Ailee spoke, reaching into her pouch, pulling out two bottles filled with dark thick liquid; Junsu made a face as he was handed one, Wooyoung taking no time to drink it down, before turning to Junsu. He took the bottle from his hands and managed to pop it open, forcing Junsu to take the liquid whether he liked it or not. Junsu gagged as it made it’s way down,
‘Yeah, it’s pretty bad when you first drink it, but it’s something you get use to.’
Wooyoung explained, Junsu coughing again, thankfully not as bad as he had been before, Ailee was at his side now though, a sweet smile graced across her face, even though strands of water ran down her cheeks and over her curved lips.
‘I’ll help you if you need it at all, so let’s get going so we can get you into something warmer. I’m afraid you’re probably already sick, but it’s definitely nothing we can’t cure~’
She spoke, Junsu blinking a few times, hesitating with his nod as he and Wooyoung were lead into the thicker part of the forest.
--
‘Thank you so much for helping us SunYe.’
Taecyeon spoke, he sat perched on a small stool as close to the fire as possible, the warmth giving his cold body what it needed as Sunye applied ointment to now cleaned wounds, Taecyeon slowly opening his eyes once the girl had pulled away, her smiling face causing him to smile.
‘No problem at all, I’m just glad we found you when we did, with your injuries it would have been difficult to maneuver through the forest, even with the help of a guide… Though, sorry we had to knock her out…’
Sunye spoke, eyeing Min who lay unconscious on a nearby mattress, her wounds being tended to by a man who Taecyeon had learned to be Sunye’s husband to be. Taecyeon shrugged his shoulders,
‘No worries, when she’s kicking and screaming cause she thinks you guys are going to kill her, well I was about ready to knock her out too.’
Taecyeon laughed, Sunye giving her attention to Taecyeon who couldn’t help but wince, his eyes may have been cleaned, but the wounds still stung and the ointment felt sticky, but at least he could see now.
‘I’m sorry we were to late to save the wound from scaring.’
She spoke, Taecyeon shaking his head,
‘It’s fine, I was needing some war wounds anyways~’
He joked, this time stopping himself from laughing as Sunye grinned, standing up as she crossed over to where Min lay, patting her husbands shoulder before moving over to the window. She stared out into the pouring rain with a frown,
‘I do hope my girls are all right while looking for more survivors… And I hope they can also find your friends as well.’
She spoke, Taecyeon huffing, his cheeks hollowing at the thought of never seeing his prince again, what would the queen say? Would he be able to go home after all of this just to tell her that her son no longer is on this world. He grimaced before running fingers through his hair, he looked up again towards Sunye who was now facing the door of the small house that they occupied. She had told him earlier that some of the people here in the Gyerim village had ways of sensing others when they were approaching, she of course were one of those people, along with a few other girl’s, who among them, one girl had the ability to touch ones body and feel all those he had come in contact with and tell where they were alive or no longer with us, or simple just not in the area, if he remembered correctly Sunye had told him her name was Suzy and she was out looking through the forest so he hadn’t exactly gotten to meet her, but that was besides the point right now.
He watched Sunye’s body as she edged towards the door, the sound of voices now being heard, and an easy smile graced her face; there was no knocking as a tall, very pretty girl entered with grace, an aura of excitement coming from her as she practically skipped through the house.
‘Sunye! You will never believe who I found while searching the forest!’
She practically shouted, hopping right in front of Sunye, taking her hands and cheering loudly, Sunye smiled, calming the girl down before allowing her to speak again.
‘Jang Wooyoung! Do you remember him, really handsome guy from that thief band! He’s returned!’
She spoke, Taecyeon instantly on his feet without a second thought, Wooyoung’s name being announced causing his heart to leap. Could Junsu possibly be with him? Or was he alone? Or maybe he was with Chansung? Sunye looked in Taecyeon’s direction,
‘Is Jang Wooyoung one of your friends dear?’
She asked, Taecyeon staring at the door as a smaller girl entered, leading two other men into the room, one at which caused Taecyeon’s heart to flutter as Junsu carefully looked around the room before making careful eye contact with Taecyeon. And though he looked seriously pale, and probably not in the best of moods to be worked up, Junsu straightened out.
‘T-Taecyeon!’
Junsu shouted, pushing past Wooyoung and IU as he dashed for his guard, Taecyeon accepting him with open arms as he encased him. Taecyeon held him tightly, though he had never done this before to the prince, now seemed like a very suitable time.
‘I t-thought you had died!’
Junsu stuttered, Taecyeon feeling the man’s cold body through his clothing that had almost been warm. Taecyeon frowned.
‘June… What happened to your clothes, you are soaked! And freezing!’
Taecyeon announced, Sunye already by his side without anyone having time to blink an eye, her hand on Junsu’s forehead.
‘You are getting sick… And not a good type of sickness… IU dear, fetch these boys some dry close. Honey, I need you to brew up that pot we put away earlier, and free up a bed, he going to have to rest for a little while, we need to catch this before it get’s worse.’
Sunye spoke, taking her hand away from Junsu’s forehead, allowing him to snuggle against Taecyeon again, Taecyeon only smiled.
‘Keep him warm for now until IU get’s back with fresh clothing. Ailee, have you seen or heard anything from Suzy and Fei?’
She asked, concern written on her face as Ailee nodded,
‘They are on the outskirts of the village, I think they had two more people, I’m not sure though, I couldn’t see really well through the rain.’
She spoke, Sunye nodded, now making eye contact with Wooyoung, who was already heading in the direction of the fire,
‘I’m afraid we’ll have to catch up later friend.’
She spoke, Wooyoung shrugging his shoulders, helping himself to the warmth of the fire until he would receive new clothing.
‘Ailee, do me a favor and go make sure Suzy and Fei don’t need help with anything, I’m sure they found survivors as well.’
She spoke, Ailee giving her an okay sign before skipping off out of the house to go give any help needed.
'Today seems like it's going to be a very busy, rainy day...'
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