Yun wrapped his arms around Kris, holding him back from throwing another angry punch at Sergi.

          “Let me go!”

          “Calm down, Kris! He’s just provoking you, there are more important things to handle rather than having a brawl with this jackass!” Yun reminded, his placid demeanor utterly gone now as he narrowed his eyes at Sergi, rage swirling in his eyes.

          A loud gunshot pierced through the air, instantly capturing the three men’s attention, all of them glancing outside the broken window. A second later, Yun and Kris noticed a devilish smirk on Sergi’s face as he faced them, glee evident in his eyes.

          “See, unlike you, Kris, I’ve known Winters for years and I can predict her actions, it took me a long time to understand her and she’s just where exactly I thought she would be.” He said, stepping backwards slowly, his mind focused on getting to the window behind him.

          Kris noticed his movements, extricating himself out of Yun’s grip but it was too late, Sergi was already preparing to leap off.

          “You are a step too late.” Sergi smirked grew wider as he leaped off, doing a shoulder roll across the floor as he startled the people around him.

          Yun frowned at those words, watching Kris chase after him towards the window. Cursing out loudly and he gestured to one of his comrades to follow after Sergi.

          “Yun! Where did you last see Emi head off to?” Kris questioned in a flustered manner and Yun observed him, taken aback from his flustered state.

          “Yun!” Kris shook Yun by the shoulders and Yun recovered from his surprised state.

          “Streets! The streets! I lost her among the crowd!”

          Yun hastily trailed behind Kris, who held an expression on his face that Yun has never seen before.

          I’ve never ever seen Kris this flustered before, over anything or anyone.

          “Where are we going?”

          “The stables!”

          “What? Why?”

          “That’s where Emi would be if she wanted to escape!” Kris replied, shoving roughly at the crowd, not bothering to apologise for his rudeness. They were in the streets, where Sergi was a few seconds ago and Kris clicked his tongue in annoyance, different emotions coursing through him.

          Emi.

          Emi Winters!

          Yun continued studying his leader, his close friend, the person he considered as a brother, furrowing his eyebrows.

          Kris, you…

          You like Emi, probably more than what everyone thinks.

          Kris clenched his fists, the sense of urgency in him rising rapidly and he quickened his pace.

          Emi!

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

          An elegant horse cantered across the gravel path, a woman dressed in a light-brown cloak riding on it. She glanced behind, an anxious look on her face as she caught a glimpse of someone behind her.

          Whoever shot at me is still after me.

          Feeling apprehensive at the person riding on the horse behind her, she casted a discreet look towards the forest, beside her. Leaning down, she whispered softly into Luna’s ear and she slowly veered Luna into the woods, digging out an object from her bag.

          I have to outrun him or lose him, somehow.

          “Be careful, Luna.” Emi muttered, the horse slowing its pace down as they maneuvered through the woods, Emi praying that she would lose her pursuer. When she felt it was safe, she would tie the object around the tree, which was a thin piece of ebony-coloured ribbon.

          She could still sense her pursuer around. She clutched tightly onto the reins, biting on her lip, the ribbon trailing after her.

          “!” Bartholomew cursed, caught off guard by Emi heading into the woods and he eventually lost her trail. It didn’t help that it was night time, where visibility was poor. Everywhere Bartholomew went, it looked exactly the same and he continued wandering throughout the woods.

          Fortunately, the ribbon was hardly visible and Bartholomew didn’t notice it, despite the number of times he searched throughout the forest. Emi, on the other hand, retraced her path back to the exit by using her ribbon, sighing in relief for her memory and sharp eyes. She would have used the lighter in her knapsack, but it would have been risky if Bartholomew spotted her.

          Cantering off, she glanced behind once more, relaxing her stiff stance when she noticed no one behind her. After a few moments of peaceful silence, Emi was finally able to comprehend her current situation as her eyes slowly grew larger and larger.

          I am…alone.

          No Sergi, no Dragoons, no one.

          I don’t have any need to steal from anyone anymore.

          “Whoa, whoa.” Emi choked out and Luna slowed to a stop, neighing loudly as Emi climbed down from her. Unfortunately, due to her wobbling legs, Emi collapsed to the ground roughly but the pain didn’t register in her mind.      

          She raised her hands to , covering it as her hands trembled slightly. Her horse rolled her eyes, settling down next to her owner and allowing her owner to rest on her.

          “…Luna, I am…” Emi whispered out hoarsely, turning her heads towards her horse, tears blurring her vision.

          I am…free.

          “Oh my god.” Emi sobbed, tears of happiness sliding down her face and onto her hands, plopping down onto the gravel.

          I am…free!

          Wailing loudly into her horse, Emi cried her heart out, for all the suffering and torment she had to go through. Going against her morals to ensure her own survival, Emi had never felt so relieved in her entire life.

          Finally, I have my own freedom.

          “…thank you…”

          Emi wasn’t sure who she was thanking but she didn’t care, all she knew that she has finally achieved the one thing she has wished for in her entire life.

          Freedom.

          Nevertheless, somewhere deep in her mind, an image of a familiar man popped out. This stopped her crying as she blinked rapidly, tears still sliding down her face.

          “…but you, Emi Winters, you are an exception.”

          “Are you okay?” 

          “Emi!”

          “I won’t let him take you.”

          …why…

          “Wh-why am I…?” Emi stuttered out, the memories of someone unexpected replaying in her mind.

          “I said it because I wanted to welcome you too.”

          Why am I thinking of you?

          The sudden memory of their very first meeting appeared in her mind, where she remembered him disguising as the guard she saw at the entrance.

          “I just want to know more about you, because I want to.”

          “Kris.” Emi said softly, her tears coming to a stop as she felt her heart skipping a beat just thinking of his name.

          Kris?

          That’s right, they welcomed me into their family and Kris, he…

          Before her thoughts could wander any further, Emi was snapped back to reality by Luna snorting and she shook her head, slapping herself gently. Hurriedly climbing onto Luna, she urged her to go and she shook her head once again, frowning.

          Why am I thinking about them? About him?

          “It’s fine, forget it, that’s not the important thing now, Emi.” She muttered to herself, lifting her head up and gazing straight ahead; a determined look on her face.

          Where should I go from here?

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

          On their way to the stables, Yun and Kris managed to bump into Zak, who hastily informed them of the events that transpired. Yun nodded at Zak, casting a concerned look at Kris, whose expression was unfathomable.

          “…she got…shot?” Kris asked and Zak hesitated, before nodding solemnly.

          “But she still managed to escape, somehow, on her horse.”

          “…where is she?” Kris mumbled to himself and Zak furrowed his eyebrows, leaning closer towards Kris.

          “What did you say, Kris?”

          “Where is she?” Kris exclaimed, lifting his head up and placing his hands on Zak’s shoulders, shaking him.

          Wide-eyed, Zak could only point towards the direction she went, unable to form any words. Kris’ expression was a mixture of concern and sadness, and Zak swore he heard Kris’ voice cracking a little at the end.

          Without delay, Kris hopped onto his horse, riding off in that direction and Yun only called out to him. However, Yun’s protests didn’t get through him as he persisted on and Yun ran a hand through his hair.

          “He’s being reckless again.” Yun spoke in a frustrated tone and marched towards his horse, gesturing to Zak to come along.

          “…I’ve never seen Kris acting like this before. He’s always-” Zak said after sometime, hopping effortlessly onto their horses.

          “Calm, rational?”

          “Yeah.” Zak nodded in agreement and they both rode off on their horses, heading in the same direction.

          “Only once, once in my life, have I ever seen him like this.”

          Zak raised an eyebrow at Yun’s statement, still surprised that Yun ever saw their leader behaving in this manner before.

          “It was when his whole family died.” Yun stated and Zak wasn’t surprised at the information. Everyone knew about it but what they didn’t know was how his whole family died.

          “But that still doesn’t explain how you knew about it, were you related to him in anyway?” Zak questioned and Yun shook his head, urging his horse to go faster.

          “I was his family’s personal bodyguard.” Yun admitted and Zak’s grip on his reins loosened, almost knocking him off balance from his horse.

          “Bo-bodyguard?” Zak repeated in disbelief and Yun let out a wry smirk, recalling the tragic events that descended upon Kris.

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

          10 years ago.

          In a backyard garden, there were two adolescent boys sparring against one another in a hand-to-hand combat.

          “Ugh!” One of the boys landed a kick against the other, causing the dark-brown haired boy to skid back and fall ungracefully to the ground.

          “You think you can beat me, Kris?”

          “Shut up, Yun!”

          Kris struggled to stand up, wiping at his mouth and getting into a defensive stance. Yun provoked Kris further, making Kris’ eyebrow twitch in annoyance as he charged at Yun.

          Yun dodged him with ease, sidestepping him and Kris swung his fist at empty air, causing him to tumble forward onto the ground. Yun grinned in amusement, purposefully letting out a yawn and Kris roared loudly, dashing towards Yun again.

          After a few more rounds of brawling, both of them collapsed to the ground in exhaustion as they panted heavily. Yun sustained a few injuries compared to Kris who sustained twice as much, but that didn’t deter them from grinning happily at one another.

          “Father is back!” Kris’ mother announced and both of them scrambling into the house, dusting themselves off.

          “My goodness! You should have cleaned yourselves up before greeting him!” Kris’ mother reprimanded them, clicking her tongue in disappointment.

          Both of them smiled sheepishly at her and Kris’ father, overhearing the conversation just chuckled in response, waving it off.

          “They are young, honey, let them have some fun.”

          Kris’ mother let out a resigned sigh, shaking her head. Both of his parents has wrinkles evident on their faces, along with the white hair sprouting out from their black hair.

          “I have got some great news.”

          Kris’ eyes lighted up in excitement as he questioned his father eagerly, while Yun rolled his eyes at his best friend.

          “We are going to Europe!” His father announced and all of them eyed him in amazement.

          “Europe?” They all repeated and his father nodded, beaming at his whole family, including Yun.

          Unfortunately, this was the choice that the whole family made that led to their downfall and changed Kris’ personality entirely.

I'm back, sorry for the long wait, I had examinations ;x. I hope you guys liked this chapter ^^!