"kyungsoo." 

the voice rings out in the middle of the clearing, emptying out my brain as the familiar word echoes inside my head. everyone stiffens, a few people from other tables turn to look at me with sympathetic eyes. baekhyun chokes out a cry before covering his face with his hands, falling into chanyeol's frozen arm. 

"this whole process isn't fair, why have the chief's family never been picked from in all the years of eckso's tribe?" junmyeon stands up, throwing his corn down and yelling at the chief standing in front of the tribe, hands placed behind his back. 

"don't be disrespectful towards the chief, he does so much for our tribe. why don't you try doing it some day?" a familiar woman shouts back, glaring at junmyeon with fiery eyes. the tribe recognizes her as hwayoung, a lady with a pretty face but a nasty personality. "why don't you volunteer yourself huh? it's not so simple is it! keep unnecessary comments to yourself, kyungsoo doesn't even hunt!" 

her comment sparks groans and angry remarks from the best hunters in the tribe, all of them suddenly focusing full attention on hwayoung. 

"he's the only reason we find so much food in the first place. our whole tribe should be greatful to how much he works for us and how he provides for our family." amber shouts out, sending fiery eyes at the grimacing woman. "you on the other hand don't do anything. you'd be a much better candidate for sacrifice, all you do is work that pretty little mouth of yours for the wrong purposes." the hunting group next to amber known as effex all roll their eyes at the scoff that hwayoung returns. 

"i'll have you know-" 

"enough." the chief holds his hand up, scanning his tribe before his eyes land on mine. "i understand this time of the year is always the hardest but no matter what, we must do this for the duty of our empire. i am terribly sorry for the loss of our tribe and hope that our three candidates will prosper in the afterlife." my eyes widen in disbelief, tears threatening to spill from the surface. the reality of the situation smacks me across the face and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, i avoid all the pathetic stares i recieve from the rest of my group as i stare at my food, untouched and cold. 

-------------------------------------

cold morning air hits my face as i walk out of my dwelling for the last time. i turn to look at my group mates, all of them forced to stay in their beds as procedure but staring back at me with silent cries embedded into their eyes. baekhyun has turned around again, back facing towards me and shoulders shaking in desperation. chanyeol sends me a sad and broken smile, jongdae does the same. yixing wipes at his nose, staring up at me with redder eyes than the usual and clenching his own arm as if he was restraining himself. sehun is crying. minseok and junmyeon stand up to give me a hug, uncaring of the officials yelling at them from outside the door. 

"kyungsoo we love you, if the gods have any mercy let them have mercy on you, for you are more deserving than any one here." 

they're torn away by the guards and pushed back into their beds harshly. 

there are two other tribunes among me, a large and proud man named taecyeon and a frail woman called jennie. taecyeon, who's famous for his obsolete bravery and stiff body seems shaken, his eyes are bloodshot and heavy bags hang under his eyes. jennie is crying, small and narrow shoulders shaking in fear and clenching to her own body as if it was the last thing she had left. we are pushed onto carts, pulled by enslaved men who's shoulders seem to cry for mercy. i pass by them on my way out and massage their shoulders in sympathy, sending a sad smile to the ones who look back up at me. 

once we arrive, all three of us are pushed into separate dwellings, each one of them lavish and decorated with shiny objects and beautiful colors. i'm pulled harshly by an older woman, forcing me into a small enclosed area to change out of my "rags" and into more royal clothing. the outfit is a soft white fabric, held onto my shoulder by a cold golden object. its tightly wrapped around my body, exposing only my left shoulder and a bit of my torso. the bottom hangs only just above my ankles, looking more like a female's gown than anything else. they wash my face with water and clean up  the dirty bits of my hair, making it seem much more 'tame' than it was before. i step outside, sitting in front of the river side as i stare at my own reflection. i look much more royal, the pale skin going hand in hand with the pearly white cloth. the golden piece only accentuates my skintone more, brash and bright against the white background. my arm aren't too frail, yet they aren't too thick as well, again, looking like a female's arm. 

im pushed out into the clearing once more, finally taking in the rest of the similarily designed dwellings who were gradually spitting out more tribunes, dressed liked me. they push us into different carts, wheeling us to our final destination inside the heart of the empire. i look around at the well-dressed people, pointing and murmuring to us in pity and sympathy. i resist the urge to roll my eyes at each remark. 

we are told to stay in the dwellings near the palace for 4 days before we will be brought to the temple alongside the prince to be sacrificed. my body trembles in fear, registering that i had only 4 days to live life before i meet the cold blade of death. i ventured around the halls, looking at the different designs in the structure and brushing my fingers against any decorations that seemed memorable. 

i hear murmurs when i near the corner before i hear footsteps approaching me. 

crap they told me not to leave the dwelling.

i turn around, preparing to run the other way. i only run a few steps before i hear a loud cough and an order to stop before i screech to a halt, cringing at the authority in the voice. i turn my head slowly, thinking of hundreds of excuses to present to the officers before meeting them face to face. 

the man i was expecting was the man who told the tribunes the details of their dwellings, the one who specifically told us to stay in our dwellings for the rest of the four days. i bashfully send a small smile, hoping to earn some leeway because hey, i was literally going to be killed for the new prince in a few days, give me a break. my eyes travel to the man standing next to him, sending me a confused yet amused stare. 

the man is deliciously tan, sun-kissed skin enveloping his whole body. he's taller than me, build also larger and more muscular, prominent abs rippling down his front in a beautiful color. the delicate white jewels adorned around his neck contrast with his intimidating build. his cloth hangs low on his hips, clipped together with an extravagant gold ring which traveled around the waist of his body. his lips were a dark pink, upper and lower lip full and soft, pulled into a small smirk. his eyes are almond shaped, defined by dark and strong eyebrows which lied comfortably on his face. 

he was undeniably the most beautiful man i had met, intimidatingly so. his eyes hold mine in a dangerous contest, both of us unwilling to pull away. until i get interrupted of course. 

"you're not supposed to be out of your dwelling!" a harsh and high-pitched voice snarls, footsteps pounding closer. i flicker my eyes over to the lanky man, patronizing me with words i was no longer listening to. i resisted the urge to roll my eyes for the second time that day.

"sorry sir i was just curious about the area." i spit out the truth, bringing my hands up to comfortably rest against my hip bone as they fiddled with each other harmlessly. 

"not an excuse. return to your dwelling immediately, it's against procedures for the prince to meet his tribunes before the ceremony." my eyes widened as i moved my stare over towards the man who now had both arms folded on his chest, smirking at me with amusement. i try to ignore the muscles on his torso involuntarily clenching to swell the size of them almost two fold. i hold back a whimper as i look at him straight in the eye once more. 

"it's an honor to meet the prince, i humbly apologize for ruining the procedures of your ceremony." i bow my head, relishing in the relief of being held by the other man's unrelenting stare. 

"not a problem," a deep velvety voice mumbles out. i stand back up straight, looking back at the man with a blush on my ears. never had i ever heard such a pleasing and soothing voice in my 21 years of living. "might i ask who i have the pleasure of meeting?" i choke back a moan at the frustratingly attractive man standing before me. 

"my name is kyungsoo, i come from the eckso tribe." i fumble with my hands, this time digging my nails into the heel of my palm to restrain any unnecessary compliments to fly out of my mouth. 

"i am prince jongin of the aztec civilization." jongin smiles, flashing pearly whites which probably momentarily blinded my brain. he eyes trace my body as my hand moves to grapple at my elbow, kicking a foot back to tap awkwardly at the ground below it. "i would love to stay and chat but it seems as though i have some business to attend to." he flickers his eyes back at the lanky old man now tapping his foot and crossing his arms around his chest. "nice meeting you kyungsoo, hope to see you some time soon again." he smirks, walking towards me at a rapidly increasing pace. his arm brushes against mine as he walks past, tingles shivering down my spine as he smiles down at me. something in me sparks excitedly as he breathes out a laugh as he walks down the hall, turning the corner as he moves. 

my hand goes up to clench the top of my cloth, a breath i didn't know i was holding suddenly released. 

may the gods please have mercy.