2. AU (Wheel of Time AU, Rated R for graphic violence, fantasy)

It’s been many years since they’ve had any rain this close to the Waste, but Baekhyun recognizes the sharp acrid scent in the air, the first warning that a storm is headed their way. He’s not the only one who notices the change, and all around him, many of the merchants begin to pack up their wares, waving off the Aiel who had gathered to buy or trade with them. The Maiden whom Baekhyun had been flirting with, in hopes that he could convince her to part with her pendant in exchange for the bolt of Domani silk he had risked bringing across the lands, narrows her eyes in distrust.

Still, she parts with the silver pendant eventually, and lifts the bolt of silk onto her shoulder without breaking sweat; her other hand grips the wooden shaft of her spear as she nods in greeting to Baekhyun, before disappearing over the rocks towards where she had come from.

Sweating, Baekhyun looks at the sky, and makes a decision. He yells at his helpers to load up the wagon hastily, while planning their new destination. By the time the sky turns a deep grey, he’s two miles deep into the woods, away from the dreary Waste and closer to where he’s sure to find a hot meal and perhaps someone willing to warm his bed for him.

The Wandering Harp is oddly empty, but then again, Baekhyun knows that in a few hours, the merchants and farmers would be filling up the common room, demanding food and ale and music. He sends his helpers off with a little coin to make sure the wagon is kept out of the impending rain, and for the horses to be looked after, before he hunts down the owner of the inn.

“So you’re still alive, Baekhyun,” the owner greets him warily. “I would have thought the Trollocs would have gutted you and added you to their soup pot by now.”

“No Trolloc is fast enough to catch me,” Baekhyun replies flippantly. “I see you’re still as cheerful as ever, Kyungsoo. Any room for a poor, hungry merchant with barely any coin in his pocket?” He bats his eyelashes at Kyungsoo.

The man doesn’t budge. Or blink. “All the rooms have been taken up, unless you’re willing to share with someone else.”

Baekhyun sighs. “I don’t suppose you’re willing to kick the other occupant out out for a little more--” he shakes the small pouch at his belt, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kyungsoo snorts. “Last offer, Baekhyun. I’m sure someone else would be willing to take the space--” Baekhyun almost flings the gold coin at Kyungsoo in his haste.

The room is small, and cramp. There are two cots in the room, and one looks already occupied, with someone’s traveling bags placed on top of the blankets. Baekhyun dumps his own bags, checking to make sure that his most prized item still lay hidden in his pocket, and makes his way to the common room.

Dinner is a bowl of beef broth, so thin that it tastes almost like water, and accompanied by a poor excuse of a slice of ham and two-day old bread. Baekhyun enjoys it as though it’s a meal fit for the palace however; Kyungsoo’s stingy cook had a notorious temper, and Baekhyun still bore the scars from being too slow to dodge the rolling pin the last time he had made a poor choice of commenting on her cooking.

The storm hits just around midnight, when Baekhyun is fast asleep in his cot after having worked his way through several tankards of ale downstairs. He wakes with a start at the bright flash of lightning and a foul smell, and finds himself sitting upright in bed, face-to-face with the most hideous creature he had ever seen.

With a yell, he falls off his bed, landing painfully on his side.

Snarling, the creature reaches for him, but Baekhyun already has his dagger out, slashing wildly. He strikes with success, and the creature howls, staggering back with its arm cradled against it chest. Baekhyun feels a moment of triumphant; but the moment is short-lived when someone - or rather, something steps into the room.
It’s a man, or it should be, except that whatever this was, it stood a full two or three heads taller than Baekhyun. Its skin was pale, too pale, a sickly pallor; and where there should have been eyes - there were none.

Baekhyun finds himself unable to move as the damn thing glides towards where he’s crouched against the wall, trembling with the dagger still held out like a shield. The pale creature stops in front of him, looming over Baekhyun.

“Where is it?” The voice is hoarse, the sound of it brushing down Baekhyun’s spine like sandpaper. “Where is the amulet?”

“I--I don’t know,” Baekhyun squeaks out. “P-please… I’m just a simple merchant. Please--” He holds out his dagger, still shaking in fear. He’s too young to die. He’s never been across the ocean, never fallen in love, never had a chance to see the sunrise from the top of Tar Valon. Things that seem impossible yet possible would never be, because he would die, here in this inn just south of the Waste--

A loud roar echoes in his ears, one that he has never heard before. The creature’s head snaps up.

“No--” is the last thing it utters, before the singing sound of metal slices through the air, cutting off its words. The head, still devoid of eyes, rolls onto the floor just before the rest of it body follows, landing heavily.

“Blood and ashes!” Baekhyun swears, and he looks up to find another man standing behind the fallen creature. “What the hell was that!” He scrambles away from the headless torso, and onto his feet. “And who in the bloody ashes are you?”

“Minseok,” Kyungsoo’s voice interrupts them. “You picked a fine time to make an entrance.” He steps into the room, holding a cudgel as big as Baekhyun’s head. Maybe bigger. “And you,” he points at Baekhyun accusingly, “You couldn’t stay out of trouble for just one day in my inn, could you?”

“There was a Fade, Master Kyungsoo.” Minseok’s voice was smooth, and calm, an odd contrast to the meticulous way he leans down to inspect the fallen creature - the… Fade as he had called it - wiping his blade on its cloak in the process. “A Fade, and a Trolloc. Which, of course, will no longer be a problem to us.”

Trolloc? Baekhyun glances around the room wildly, and his eyes land on another body nearby. The… the horrible thing that he had woken up to. “Burn me,” he swears again, and Minseok sighs.

“Got quite a mouth on you, haven’t you, boy?” he asks, sheathing his sword before leaning down to help Baekhyun onto his feet.

Baekhyun glares at him. “I’m not a boy,” he snaps, and tries to get up on his own - but his legs, still wobbly from fright, refuse to cooperate. He almost falls back down, but Minseok is suddenly there, catching him in his arms.

“No, apparently you are not.” Minseok’s voice is soft against his ear, and to Baekhyun’s dismay, he finds his face turning hot. “Do forgive me, good merchant.” His body - treacherous even under these circumstances! - began to stir in interest.

“Light save us all,” he hears Kyungsoo mutter, but Baekhyun ignores him for the sake of Minseok's smile and pretty eyes.