Taemin looked at the few men that stood before him. He could tell that they didn’t quite respect him, but they were under orders to obey him. He looked at the line of the fighters. He had Jaejoong line them up in order of prowess so that he could properly assign their tasks.

He pointed to the last four in the line, “You guys will target the crew in the belly of Key’s ship. Take them out. I would prefer if you didn’t kill them, but if you must, make it as painless for them as possible.”

The men nodded, swords in hand.

Taemin looked at the five in the middle and front of the group, “You guys will take the rest of the crew. Same goes for them. Kill them quickly, but only if you absolutely have to.” Taemin looked at the front man in the line, “You will be my right hand. You will protect me and help me take down Key and Jonghyun.”

The man nodded.

Taemin leaned in close to the soldier, “And if all goes well, you can have your way with me tonight.” He watched as the blush crept up Kai’s neck and colored his cheeks.

~

He led them to the shore closest to the ship under the cover of darkness. Taemin took out the reed that he had pulled from the marshes. He followed the other soldiers as they dove into the water and swam in the direction of the ship. Taemin made sure to breathe through the reed slowly and carefully so as to not absorb water. They swam for a few minutes toward the ship until they had reached the hull. Taemin summoned his ability and slowly floated up along the side of the ship until he reached the deck. He looked down to see the rest of his men climbing up the side in expert fashion.

As he waited for the others, he walked about the deck. He cased the ship just like he would when he and his crew worked a job. He found the captain’s quarters on the top deck as expected, and he found the rest of the crew asleep in the brig. He got back to the edge as his men had reached the starboard deck. He met Kai just as the elder reached the middle of the ship. He released his men to do their assigned jobs. He watched them head towards the brig and turned to the taller man as they disappeared.

He felt cold steel at his neck as he began to lay out his plan to Kai.

“Turn around slowly.”

Taemin put his hands up and did as he was told. He was lucky that he had told Kai to dress completely in black. He watched the elder duck into the shadows unnoticed He followed the sword to it’s owner, Key. He smirked, “Are you a light sleeper too?”

Key gave a half hearted smile and drove his blade deeper into Taemin’s neck. “What are you doing on my ship?”

Taemin felt a trickle of blood fall down his neck, “I thought I’d stop by.” He looked behind his assailant’s back and saw, much to his chagrin, Jonghyun. “I wanted to know if my friend here was giving you a nice .”

Jonghyun drew in a sharp breath.

Taemin smirked at the chord he had obviously hit with his traitorous comrade. He looked at Key who was becoming angrier by the second, “So? How are things?”

Key tightened his hold on the sword and nudged Taemin toward the brig, “Move, Twinkle Boy.”

Taemin raised his hands in surrender and walked in the direction that he was given, “Yes, Captain.” He walked down the steps of the ship to find his men tied up and locked in the cells on the far side of the ship.

The First Mate walked up to Key, “Sir, we found these men trying to sneak into the treasure room. They put up a fight, but we eventually were able to subdue them.”

Key looked at Taemin, anger plastered all over his face. “You thought that you could get back at me by taking my treasure right out from under my nose? Well, you failed, and quite epically might I add.”

Taemin smiled devilishly, “Now I have you where I want you.”

The soldiers tied up on the floor jumped up and lunged at the Captain’s crew. They managed to throw some punches and restrain them within seconds.

Taemin did his part by drawing the small dagger that he had hidden in his waistband. He knocked Key’s sword aside, but the elder was fast to react. They began in a clash of steel, their strikes creating sparks. Taemin nodded to the other men to head to the deck as he continued to fight with the Captain. They circled each other as they continued to fight, metal sparking everywhere. Taemin kept half of his mind on the fight and the other half on the sparks, he watched as they hit the floor and sizzled out. He saw a spark hit the floor but this one didn’t sizzle out.

Taemin had positioned himself just below the stairs. He summoned his power and flew up to the deck. He flew out over the water and turned to look at the ship. He watched as the vessel exploded with all of the violence of a ship full of gunpowder. He smiled as his plan had gone exactly as it was supposed to.

~

“You want us to do what?” asked the soldier.

“I want you to get caught. You have to go downstairs and act like you’re going to break into the treasure room, but instead I need you to move a trail of gunpowder to the stairs. When you’re done, wake them up on ‘accident’ and let yourselves get caught, but don’t make it too easy. Put up a bit of a fight, but only enough to get you captured.”

Taemin turned to Kai, “You’re going to break into the Captain’s quarters while I distract him downstairs. Save my mother, and take anything else of value.”

Kai nodded, “What about you?”

“I’m going to fight with Key in the brig, with my flint dagger. The steel of Key’s sword is going to cause sparks to fly, ignite the gunpowder, and blow up the ship. My fight with him will give you guys enough time to dive off of the ship and swim to shore.”

Satisfied with the plan, the soldiers prepped for the attack and made their way to the shore.

~

Taemin landed on the shore and walked over to Kai. He hugged the elder to his chest and whispered in his ear, “Thank y--”

A sharp pain in his chest stopped his speech. Taemin looked down to see blood blooming on his shirt. But that wasn’t all. The blade poking out of his chest was also inside Kai’s. The sword was pulled from his chest and both he and Kai fell to the ground. Taemin looked up to see Jonghyun standing above him.

The elder was severely burned and he had tears streaming down his cheeks. “You killed him! You killed the only man who would ever love me, and because of that, you’re going to lose your own love.”

Taemin looked up at his ex-friend. He watched as Jonghyun drew the sword up to deliver the death blow, but before he could, an arrow sprouted in Jonghyun’s chest. The elder collapsed and breathed his last breath.

Taemin rolled over and found some loose seaweed on the sand, he drew the life from them, turning them black and stiff. He felt his wound begin to heal but it wasn’t enough. He saw Onew and Minho climbing down the cliff face towards him and Kai. He stumbled to his feet and was assisted by Minho.

Onew went over to a bleeding Kai and felt his pulse, “He’s alive, but not for long. If you open a portal to a hospital, we can get him looked at.”

Taemin shook his head, “Too many variables. They’ll report his injury to the police. Even if we were able to get around the cops, I am not strong enough to summon a portal. Get me to the trees.”

Taemin laid his hand on the large maple before him. He channeled the life from the tree to himself within seconds. His wound closed faster than before, but he was still running low on time.

As though the universe were reading Taemin’s mind, Onew called out, “His pulse is fading, Taemin, he’s dying.”

The white-haired boy felt his heart drop to his chest. He looked at the pale face of Kai and felt tears pool in his eyes. He didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. He tore at his clothes ripping them to shreds. He had to breathe. He looked down at his ribs and eyed the small scar from the first time he was stabbed. It was then that an idea popped into his head. “Bring him over to me.”

Taemin laid his hand on Kai’s chest and felt for the life of the tree. He moved the flow of life from the tree and into his own body, but when he felt it enter his own body, it pooled in his stomach with no wound to go to. He felt for the pool and tried to move it. He moved it into his shoulder and down his arm. The concentration needed to do this was tiring him, but he had to go on. Unconsciousness pulled at his mind, but he fought to stay awake. He moved it through his fingertips and into Kai’s wound. He watched the skin knead together until it was smooth. He pulled away from the tree and watched Kai’s eyes flutter open.

The elder smiled weakly.

Taemin, exhausted, the side of Kai’s face, “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.” He gave himself up to sleep, knowing that everything was going to be okay.

~

He felt a warmth beside him, and, seeking more, turned into it. He wanted to bask in this warmth forever, but as he was about to fall asleep again, the warmth moved away. He sought it out, but in his half-asleep state, he was lost.

“Look who’s awake.” Kai said slowly. He had moved to the edge of the bed to wake the smaller man.

Taemin gave a whine and climbed atop the elder, “Stay with me, I’m never going to lose you again.”

The End

A/N

Thank you for reading!! If you liked this story feel free to check out Eternity of Sin, my latest and greatest piece! Please enjoy ^-^