Do or Die

Something’s wrong here.

Emi laid awake in her bed, a sense of unease rumbling in her abdomen. Sitting up on her bed slowly, Emi frowned, glancing around the room and she stood up to her feet.

“Tch.” Emi clicked her tongue, scouring the room for an object and her eyes stumbled upon the chair. Glancing at the door once again, she proceeded to drag the chair, the tip of the chair jamming the door handle.

Strolling back to the small table, she carefully packed the contents of her backpack that were spilled out onto the table; a cautious look on her face.

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

The owner of the inn blinked his eyes at the cloaked stranger an uncomfortable expression on his face. “I’m sorry, sir. I am not allowed to give out personal information of my customers.”

The cloaked stranger twitched, startling the owner when he leaned in closer. The owner flinched when the cloaked stranger grabbed him roughly by his shirt collar, a fierce look in his eyes.

“Where is she?” The cloaked stranger asked calmly, placing a bag of gold coins on the table before letting the owner go.

“He-here’s the room key.” The owner stuttered nervously, his eyes wide in alarm as he shrunk back cowardly. The cloaked stranger just snatched the key from his hands, storming off.

The owner let out a sigh of relief, when his mind suddenly registered the stranger’s looks.

Isn’t that man…?

Bartholomew, the infamous thief, rival of the Shadow Rogue.

The inn owner’s eyes widened further in panic as he quickly got up from his seat, hurrying to warn the authorities.

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

Landing her feet on the floor, Emi lifted her head up, her eyes meeting a pair of shocked ones. She knew the room beside her belonged to a young woman, which benefitted her and she hastily rushed towards the woman, who was on the verge of screaming.

“Shh, don’t move.” Emi covered instantly, she wasn’t surprised that she was panicking, after all Emi intruded into her room via the window.

“Make a noise and I won’t be the only one dying here.” Emi warned her and the young woman stiffened, immediately nodding in fright.

Releasing the young woman, Emi narrowed her eyes at her, ready to tackle her if she makes any sudden movements or noise. The young woman cowered timidly, her eyes welling up in tears and Emi sighed, making her way to her wardrobe.

Opening it, she was pleased to find an abundance of clothes, hurriedly tossing them onto the bed. Forming them into a long, straight line, she began to improvise on an escape route, ignoring the painful throbbing in her leg.

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

Marching up the stairs, Bartholomew’s mouth curved into an impish smirk as his eyes landed on Emi’s room number.

Come on now, Emi, you think I wouldn’t know that you would hide in the nearest town.

Wrapping his calloused hand around the doorknob, he twisted it and pushed against the door, expecting it to open. He frowned, wondering why the doorknob was jammed, twisting it once more and his eyes widened in shock.

She knows!

“!” Bartholomew cursed softly, knowing that if he missed Emi this time, Sergi would be enraged.

Bartholomew breathed in deeply, taking a few steps back before he charged towards the door, ramming his shoulder against it. The pain was immediate in his shoulder and he groaned out in pain, squeezing his eyes close.

“Damn it, the door is too damn sturdy.” Bartholomew muttered in pain, rubbing at his throbbing shoulder which was probably swollen by now.

Hearing a commotion in the room beside him, Bartholomew furrowed his eyebrow, directing his eyes to the room beside him. A suspicious look appeared on his face as he hurried to the door, knocking on it.

“Excuse me, is everything okay in there? I’m one of the staff and we heard a loud commotion from this room.” Bartholomew’s voice was muffled against the door, but the voice was enough to make Emi glare at the woman, a finger on her lips.

Bartholomew.

Of course he will know to look for me at the nearest town.

Climbing onto the window, Emi spun around quickly, slowly dropping herself down as she held tightly onto the cloth. Staring intently at the timid woman once more, Emi smoothly rappelled down the makeshift rope, which was made using the abundance of clothes the woman owned.

The woman rushed to the door, pulling it open. She didn’t bother looking at the man, only pointing her finger shakily at the window.

Bartholomew barged into the room, dashing towards the window and he cursed once again. He noticed the makeshift rope, instantly rappelling down without hesitation.

Emi was already reaching the stables, her backpack bouncing against her back as she sprinted across the deserted streets, the night providing her extra coverage. She knew Bartholomew was chasing right behind her and she pushed on, finally reaching the stables. Without hesitation, she skillfully hopped onto Luna, shouting at her to rush off.

Luna felt the urgency in her master’s voice, breaking out into a gallop. She started to canter down the street, into the outside once again.

“Emi! Turn back! Running away from Sergi would only make it worse!” Bartholomew exclaimed at the top of his voice. Emi’s determined expression contorted into anger, gritting her teeth together.

“Screw the both of you! I’d rather die than go back to him!” Emi roared, urging Luna to go even faster.

I just got the freedom that I longed for.

Going back? Regretting it?

As if! Over my dead body!

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

Just like Bartholomew, Kris predicted that Emi would have a quick rest at the nearest secluded town. However, he was a few minutes too late.

Whereas, the inn owner was still disorientated from the whole event. Especially with the authorities questioning everyone, including him.

“What’s with everyone trying to find this woman today?” The inn owner grumbled as Kris asked him, showing him the familiar portrait of the same beautiful woman.

“What did you just say?” Kris narrowed his eyes at the inn owner.

“Look kid, just because the woman is beautiful, doesn’t mean that you should dedicate your life to her.” The inn owner rambled on. Yun stood at the side, stifling his laughter as Zak sighed, shaking his head.

“What did you just say?” Kris growled out, taking a step closer towards the inn owner, who found himself in the same frightening situation again.

“Hey, look, just tell us who was the other person that came looking for her, and we’ll be on our way.” Zak said in a composed manner, while Kris was just a flustered mess beside him.

“Yeah, and you better hurry up, this man here is really scary when he gets mad.” Yun gestured to Kris, who narrowed his eyes at all of them, clenching his fists tightly.

“Bart-Bartholomew, that infam-infamous theif came looking for her.” The inn owner confessed and all of them tensed up, especially Kris.

“Did you just say Bart-“ Kris loomed in closer, the inn owner cowering back in fear now but he was interrupted by his two comrades.

“Alright, let’s go.” Yun placed one hand on Kris’ shoulder, dragging him away.

“Indeed.” Zak nodded his head, placing his hand on Kris’ other shoulder.

Kris’ eyes was malicious as he stared intently at the frightened inn owner, who was trembling slightly. Both of his comrades couldn’t help but be amused at Kris’ flustered state, despite the predicament Emi was in.

“Wh-what did I do to deserve this kind of treatment?” The pitiful inn owner squeaked out.

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

Cantering across the gravel path, Emi soon found herself surrounded by nothing but trees and bushes again. Frustrated at not being able to find information about her mother’s whereabouts.

Guess I have no other choice.

Heading into the forest, she hoped she wouldn’t stumble upon a cliff. She knew that this area was definitely near a water body; either a river or an ocean.

“Emi! Give up, you have nowhere to run!” Bartholomew hollered and Emi bit on her lip. Navigating her way carefully around the forest, she knew that Bartholomew couldn’t spot her easily, due to the lack of light.

Run.

I have to get away, somehow.

Come on.

Come on, Emi.

A shocked gasp escaped Emi’s lips as she screeched Luna to a stop, waves loudly crashing against a cliff and Emi knew her worst fear had come true. Clutching tightly onto the horse’s reins, Emi buried her head into Luna’s mane, her choked cry muffled by her beloved horse’s mane.

Behind her, she could hear a satisfied chuckle and she lifted her head. Turning Luna around, she came face to face with Bartholomew.

“Oh, what luck! To think that you’ll be stopped by nature! Everything is pointing at you to return back, Emi Winters.” Bartholomew said in a sardonic manner.

“Damn it!” Emi growled out in frustration, deciding that she had no other choice but to fight.

“Fine, I’ll go back.” Emi responded, taking off her backpack and dropping it onto the grass.

“Oh?” Bartholomew raised an eyebrow, sounding doubtful of Emi’s words.

“But don’t expect me to go back without a fight.” Emi barked out, jumping down carefully from her horse due to her injured leg straightening herself. Taking out her dagger hidden inside the cloak, she spun it around her hand adeptly, a determined look on her face.

“Now that’s more like the Emi Winters I know, bitter about the whole world, going against all odds to free herself of this life.” Bartholomew grinned, jumping down from his horse too as he took out his own dagger.

“Sadly, Sergi doesn’t want me to hurt you seriously. He doesn’t want anything to interfere or slow you down once you go back to stealing again.” Bartholomew shrugged, his hand lingering on his gun before he released it, spinning the dagger around his hand expertly.

“Shut up, Bart, I hate chatting.” Emi hissed out and Bartholomew smiled at her, however, his smile wasn’t reaching his eyes.

Without warning, he charged straight at her and attacked her relentlessly but Emi managed to block every one of his assaults, the clanging of the daggers ringing throughout the air. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins, temporarily forgetting the wound on her leg.

“Oh, you improved in fighting, as well as dodging. Looks like someone did some training with those mercenaries.” Bartholomew commented, slightly impressed.

At those words, Emi paused and Bartholomew noticed her faltering slightly, a dazed look on her face.

Hmm?

Oh…

She must have gotten attached to them, somehow.

Emi found herself back at a familiar training area, hearing the familiar laughter, chatter and the same people she gotten herself comfortable with.

The people that considered her as family.

“Ugh!” Emi landed roughly on the ground, wincing in pain.

“Tsk, tsk.” Zak shook his head disapprovingly, reaching his hand out to help Emi up, Emi narrowed her eyes at him, pushing his hand away as she stood up herself.

“Again?” Zak grinned cheekily at her and she twitched at his provocation, dashing towards him.

A few seconds later, she was back on the ground, frustrated at getting beat up countless times. She wasn’t particularly good at fighting, since she was only trained meticulously to escape, not fight.

This time, someone helped her up without permission and she stumbled, glaring at the man behind her.

“Don’t touch me without permission, Yun.” Emi growled out and Yun raised his arms up in surrender.

“Hey, just wanted to give a word of advice.” Yun answered and he smiled at her while she gave him a suspicious look.

“Here, let me teach you some easy tricks.”

After an hour of teaching, Emi finally managed to learn the trick and she even managed to use one of them to beat Zak down once. Her face glowed with pride and it was evident to everyone she was glowing, despite her trying her best to hide it.

“See, you can do it if you practice, right Kris?” Yun glanced towards Kris, changing his tone to a mischievous one as he turned to Kris, his hand resting on Emi’s shoulder.

“Hmph.” Kris huffed out, observing them from the tree behind them, his arms folded across his chest.

Without a word, he started walking towards them and Emi faltered at the broody look on his face. She recoiled back when Kris reached out to her, only to be surprised when he removed Yun’s hand from her shoulder.

“Do you really have to keep touching her?” Kris muttered to Yun, but Emi was able to hear it clearly and she frowned in confusion.

Her eyes met Kris for a second, both of them blinking in shock before they both looked away. Gazing at his hand in an awkward manner, Kris hurriedly walked away from them, with an amused Yun watching the both of them.

“Hah, I don’t think I’ll ever regret having you in this family, Emi.”

Emi glanced away from Kris, staring blankly at Yun.

“All of you will regret it soon enough.” Emi stated emotionlessly and Yun chuckled, shaking his head.

“Nah, not in this entire lifetime.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Hmm, just a feeling.” Yun hummed, grinning at Emi who remained puzzled.

“Distracted now, are we?” Bartholomew’s voice snapped Emi out of her stupor. She gasped silently, her small smile disappearing from her face.

“Emi Winters, getting attached to a couple of mercenaries, how shocking. I never thought I’ll see a day where the infamous and bitter Shadow Rogue decides to trust another human being.”

“Now that you are back to reality, let’s settle this duel, shall we?” Bartholomew questioned. He didn’t bother to wait for Emi’s response as he attacked her once again.

“Once you dodge the enemy’s attack, they’ll take some time to recover from it.”

“If you’re close enough, aim for the leg that is a step forward from the other.”

Yun’s trick at fighting rang clearly in her mind and she held her breath, recalling his words.

“It’s simple, look here, first, you duck.”

She ducked from Bartholomew’s attack, just like what Yun taught her. She winced slightly at the sharp pain piercing her leg, disregarding it.

“Spot the leg that is further in front and aim.”

Clutching onto the dagger more tightly, Emi readied herself for her attack as she breathed out.

“And you go in for the finishing move.”

Emi pushed herself forward quickly, slashing at Bartholomew’s lower right leg, close to the ankle. A large gash was visible on his leg as he cried out in pain, stumbling back. The throbbing on her wounded leg only grew more incessant but she disregarded it, feeling accomplished.

“Well done, Emi.”

Emi’s face glowed with pride once again as she broke out into a tiny smile, quickly going back into a defensive stance.

Bartholomew’s body shook with laughter. Emi quickly reverted back to her solemn state, her smile wiped from her face.

“Oh, you’ve done it now, Emi.” Bartholomew laughed darkly. He charged at her once again, his movements sluggish due to the injury.

Unfortunately, the attack didn’t seem to make Bartholomew any weaker in terms of physical strength, it only made him stronger. After countless time of dodging and blocking, the dagger flew out of Emi’s hands and she cried out in alarm, her strength was growing weak due to her injured leg. She was clearly fatigued.

“No!”

Bartholomew smirked, slashing at her but she was avoided it narrowly but to her horror, she felt half of her feet stepping on empty air.

“So, what will you do now, Shadow Rogue? Will you return or will you jump down and leave your life in the hands of fate?”

Emi gulped, peeking down at the cliff, the rough waves crashing against the bottom of the cliff and the strong wind began blowing at her hair.

Jump or return?

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

Kris halted abruptly, almost causing Zak and Yun to bump into him with their horses.

“Kris! Don’t stop so suddenly, you almost caused a disaster!” Yun exclaimed as Zak sighed in relief, both of them managing to stop in time.

“No, look here, the tracks, they just disappear without a trace.” Kris said, pointing towards the horse tracks that stopped halfway.

“So, which means, they must be somewhere inside here.” Yun spoke, directing his eyes towards the forest beside them.

A second later, a faint ringing sound pierced through the air and all of them looked towards each other. They knew those sounds, it was way too familiar to them to not know what it was.

“Hurry, go!” Kris barked, hastily urging his horse into the forest and the other two did the same.

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

“So, what will you choose? Hmm?” Bartholomew probed and Emi hesitated, not knowing which to choose.

If I jump, it’s a life and death situation, no, there’s a high chance I would die.

If I return, I have no idea what to expect, other than going back to the life of stealing.

Emi’s eyes widened when she recalled her days of stealing. The words that haunted her wherever she went.

“Monster! How could you ruin someone like this?!”

“You useless piece of trash!”

“You don’t deserve to exist!”

“You deserve to die!”

“Rot in hell!”

“Your existence is a sin, Shadow Rogue!”

“Vermin!”

Emi shook her head, her breath shaky as she unconsciously took a step back. Bartholomew immediately noticed that movement.

“O-oi, Emi, don’t te-tell me you are actually serious about-“

A horse neighing loudly interrupted Bartholomew and Emi managed to recover, standing as still as she could.

From the shadows, she saw a figure emerge and it was a horse, followed by a rider, a very familiar rider. Emi’s breathing hitched as her eyes landed on the rider, her surroundings fading away and the only thing she could focus on was him.

Kris.

“E-Emi.” Kris stuttered out, his eyes tracing every part of her. Relief overcoming him as he realised that this beautiful woman was safe and sound.

“Emi.” Kris said again, his expression softening. Emi felt butterflies fluttering around wildly around her stomach at his expression.

Kris.

Emi heart thudded loudly against her chest and she blinked, her expression changing into a small smile.

“Kris.” Emi whispered out, her smile growing bigger.

I see, so that was why I kept thinking of him.

I care for him, I really do care for him.

Yun and Zak arrived behind Kris, hastily getting down from their horse. At the same time, Kris and Emi continued gazing at one another.

“Kri-“

“Oh .” Bartholomew panicked, taking out his other dagger. However, in that process, he shoved Emi by accident and her words were abruptly cut off.

Horrified at what he did, Bartholomew spun around, reaching out to grab onto Emi but he was a second too late.

Losing her balance, Emi felt her world tilting as her mind captured Kris’ expression changing into one of terror, along with his terrified cry. Her injured leg only contributed further to her loss of balance.

“EMI!”

Hellooo lovely readers, so sorry for the long wait, I was super busy with examinations D:
I hope you enjoyed this long chapter <3, and once again, I'm really really sorry!