“so here’s some good news,” sooyoung says, throwing her blades up to the air and catching it with her hands skillfully. “no one seems to have found that facility yet. we didn’t hear any talks of it the whole time we were at the inn. also we checked out of our room already for you, chief. your sword is over there with your other baggages.”

seulgi nods in approval, locating her stuff quickly and fastening her sword and pouches to her belt. “that is good news. at least we can make our way there without any worry.”

“we might want to watch out if some people are following us though,” yerim comments with a sigh. “when sooyoung and i were heading back here, there were a few hunters who followed us for a couple of blocks before we lost them in the maze of the market backstreets.”

sooyoung grunts as she tests the weapon with a few air slashes, clearly disgusted with their colleagues’ ridiculous, hard-hearted selves. “eh, i wouldn't worry about that much, those guys just don’t like to see us together is all.”

“we better make haste, then,” seulgi says, throwing on her coat and fastening it to place, just freshly showered. she watches as yerim let a few arrows loose towards a makeshift target that joohyun made. the swishes of the arrow can be heard so clearly, and the resounding thud sounds pleasant to seulgi’s ears. she knows she has improved yerim’s bows and arrows to an excellent condition. “so, do you like it?”

“it’s so light!!” yerim gushes excitedly, rushing to pluck out the arrows she shot from the target on the wall. “and the arrows are so fast! this is awesome!”

seulgi laughs heartily at how impressed the young hunter is with her new weapon. “i replaced your steel bow with a lighter beryllium alloy, and your regular arrows with several kinds of tougher wood. there’s some made with hickory, the toughest arrows of them all, you can hit really hard with that. orford cedar is the one with the longest range, less arc and more velocity, but it is less durable. there’s also bamboo, this one is not as tough as hickory nor cedar, but it’s a lot lighter and fast, makes for a great continuous shooting. take your time to get familiar with them, they’re also enchanted with alchemy runes, so some of them can produce elemental effects. i’ll tell you more on the way to the facility.”

“i’m so excited,” yerim bounces to sooyoung with light steps. “yours look great too.”

sooyoung grins widely. “oh yeah, it hasn’t felt this sharp in ages. the arc they make when i throw them is great. super responsive. chief really knows her weapons.”

“let’s just hope we don’t have to use them though.” joohyun tries, catching the attention of the other three as she packs yet another medicine into her rucksack.

seulgi walks to the crouching alchemist and hands her a necklace. “here.”

“what is it?” joohyun asks, looking at the necklace a bit warily, eyebrows scrunched.

“it’s a necklace.”

“i can see that.”

seulgi lowers her hand, palming the necklace and feeling the smooth surface. “there is an alchemic gemstone ruby embedded here. it’s an enchanted teardrop that is capable of lessening the damage from any physical and elemental blows. you have the least armour on you among all of us, so this will protect you. i made it.”

“i can take care of myself.” joohyun rebuts, trying to stuff more items into her already bulging rucksack, still rightfully upset that seulgi is really keeping something from her. she feels more than see the hands wrapping around her, and then the slight weight of the necklace follows. the hands quickly retreat behind her neck to fasten the chain.

“i know,” seulgi’s voice can be heard from behind joohyun, spoken softly and sounding rather... resigned. “but please wear it.”

joohyun chuckles. “you already put it on me, i don’t think you’re giving me a choice.”

“i’m not.”

“even if we do have to fight, you three will protect me, so i’m not worried.”

“we’ll do our best!” yerim chirps, still bouncing on her feet.

“see?” joohyun points to the young hunter, laughing at the sheer abundance of energy yerim has. “should we go?”

seulgi sighs, but is glad joohyun is not forcefully taking off the necklace at least. “alright, but give some of your items to sooyoung. let her carry them.”

“hey!” sooyoung protests loudly.

seulgi ignores her tribemate. “you don’t have to carry it all by yourself.”

“right back at you, seulgi.” the apothecary alchemist mutters, slouching when her overloaded rucksack is thrown on her back before rushing out of the atelier.

sooyoung and yerim look at the tribe chief wordlessly, surprised by the sudden cold shoulder from the other alchemist. just what had happened when they were out to investigate the inn?

sooyoung is the first one to chase after joohyun. “i'll relieve her off some of her items.”

“thank you, sooyoung.” seulgi says, sincere in her tone despite her shock.

“it's rough huh? the two of ya.” yerim gently nudges seulgi's shoulder with her own, before storing her arrows into her quiver.

“quite, but i believe i deserve that,” seulgi answers with a long, heavy breath. “come on yerim, let us go.”

•••

much to seulgi’s surprise, they arrive at the facility without running across anyone in the long trek deep into the jungle. the walk feels much longer than it should, as joohyun and her are both not on talking terms and doing their utmost to ignore the other. seulgi thinks it is right for what damage she has done, but still, she hopelessly wishes it could be different.

the walk is not spent in silence, of course. seulgi spends some time explaining what certain arrows would do for yerim as she had promised to tell the young hunter earlier, and she also get to list the kinds of improvements that are done on sooyoung’s blade, much to the increased excitement for the two hunters.

however, seulgi’s relief does not last long, because as soon as they step inside the alchemy facility, they are jumped by a small group of five hunters. outsiders, seulgi thinks, by the look of how both sooyoung and yerim immediately back away to be on guard, and not happily greeting the hunters should they have been their acquaintances, and keeping joohyun behind them, protected. seulgi knows immediately that these hunters are not part of sooyoung’s and yerim’s hunter organization.

brandishing her sword, seulgi steps forward and demands. “who are you? identify yourself.”

“we found this place first! it’s ours!” one of the hunters hollers, also taking out his weapon.

seulgi strikes her sword on the floor, sliding it sideways once as a warning, creating a small spark from the contact. “this is an alchemy facility, and by the rights and jurisdiction of the great commission of alchemy, it is theirs to own, not yours. we are here to investigate it, and as it is an unexplored facility, there are chances it is ladened with traps and sacred alchemy powers that could easily kill unknowing trespassers. this is no place for thieves like you. leave.”

“and what if we don’t?” another hunter, the biggest in size, who looks a lot like their group’s leader, steps forward from the party and spits to the ground, soiling the floor in a much disgraceful manner.

seulgi sighs, gripping her sword tighter. “i was hoping you would leave so we could all walk out of this unscathed, but it looks like you are not leaving me with a choice.”

“you’re the one here without a choice but to die! get them!” the leader shouts, rallying his gang of hunters to attack.

“don’t hurt them too much.” seulgi says as sooyoung dashes past her in a flurry of movements far too quick for the first rushing hunter to counter attack or defend himself. he tumbles down in surprise once his legs are kicked by the back of sooyoung’s curved blades. sooyoung then knocks him out with a well aimed jab on the back of his neck when he fumbles to get back to his feet.

as another hunter approaches to strike, sooyoung puts up her blades to shield herself, but her defensive stance is completely unnecessary for the hunter is disarmed, dropping his weapon and shrieking in pain when a swift arrow embedded itself on the back of his raised hand, the wound bleeding freely from the exit wound on his palm.

“thanks, love!” sooyoung yells, kicking the hunter that is just struck with yerim’s deadly accurate arrow in his gut, and then watching him fall to the ground, unconscious.

“it’s no problem!” yerim shouts back, readying another arrow and shooting it once she has her aim aligned with another hunter who is rounding seulgi, too busy keeping the leader of the gang occupied, as he is trying to get to joohyun. the alchemist, who is on her knees for some reason, does not seem to notice the thief approaching her. not that it matters, of course, not when yerim has her arrows let loose and hitting him on his thighs and immobilising him. joohyun looks at yerim in surprise. “you’re welcome! and don’t just sit there! move!”

joohyun follows yerim’s command and moves further back, but not before conjuring an alchemy glyph under the man with arrows in his thighs, putting him to sleep with the use of a potent sleeping salve. 

the tribe chief, still crossing blades with the gang’s leader, takes another step back as the hunter continues his heavy, lethal slashes, each blocked skillfully by seulgi. she never stops trying to pacify the raging hunter. “please stop, you can still turn back from this place and heal your friends!”

“telling me to leave this place, heal my friends… who are you to even tell me what to do?!” the hunter screams in fury as he swings his broadsword down, missing seulgi by a mere inch as she jumps out of its wide arc, her coat bellowing as it follows her actions.

“if that is what you wanted,” seulgi shifts away her coat, revealing her left arm, wrapped in an arm guard, an emblem of a bear carved on it. “my name is kang seulgi, i am the chief of my tribe, the children of the ebon bear. should you not know that name, i will repeat it again and again into your thick skull until it is the last thing you remember. this is your last warning. i think it is best you take your leave, now.”

“and i’m park sooyoung of the same tribe, you arsehole!” sooyoung curses, retreating her hand away from the last remaining hunter who managed to nick her on her forearm a little. “why you, the nerve!”

seulgi watch as sooyoung twirls, dodging away from another slash of the hunter’s knives, then ducking right to his chest where he can no longer swing as violently, pulling off a solid right uppercut and hitting him on his jaw, knocking him out for good.

“that’s the last of them,” yerim says, rushing to sooyoung and holding her injured forearm, accessing the injury. she brandishes a potion and applies aplenty on the wound, beaming happily at the taller hunter. “there you go.”

“thank you.” sooyoung replies, blushing a little.

“you’re all so useless,” the hunter’s leader spits again, glaring at the bodies of his underlings. his broadsword is still up, his furious eyes calculating the sudden disadvantage he has. out of the corner his sight he notices the lone alchemist standing at the back, protected and far away from the action. he grins menacingly, a free hand quickly taking out a throwing knife. “i don't care who you are! if i can’t kill all of you, one of ya should just do!”

“no!” seulgi yells, but the knife is already flying. she prays that she has read its track right, and throws her body in its path so it would not hit joohyun, getting rid of all her defence in the process. there’s a sharp pain on her upper left back, and seulgi grunts, hoping for the best. if the hunter sees it fit to strike her again, she thinks she will be finished. to her surprise, after the knife cuts into her, nothing else hits. when she looks up, joohyun is standing over her, her alchemic staff at the ready and her arm held out, palm open and glowing in a carmine shade.

“you’ll pay for that,” joohyun clenches her fist, and the hunter, who is previously held in place by joohyun’s alchemically conjured shield, is suddenly thrown back by a gust of elemental wind, and far away from seulgi. joohyun does not wait. he hastens to get back on his feet again, but joohyun lobs a round item at him first. seulgi’s eyes bulges at the sight, knowing full well that it is a bomb. joohyun’s warning after she throws the deadly alchemic item just confirms it. “hold your breath and duck!”

seulgi feels a solid weight on her back, placed carefully so that her wound would not be burdened, and realises later that it is joohyun's lean form enveloping her to protect her from the bomb’s explosion.

the ground shakes, and the walls of the massive facility rattles slightly from the blast, but it remains intact. once the smoke subsides, seulgi heaves a long breath after holding it in for a while, sitting down on the floor and looking at the one victim of the bomb. her eyebrows creases together when she notices the slight rise and fall of the man’s chest. “he’s still alive…”

joohyun gets into her line of sight next. “it’s a special bomb. it's meant to surprise more than injure him. the blast is huge, but inside it is not gunpowder, just a sleeping gas. he will be out for two days, at least.”

“it didn’t kill him…” seulgi mutters, still in shock.

“you said not to hurt them too much,” joohyun says, busy going through her pouch. “i was studying the floors and the walls earlier to see if this place can withstand such an explosion. when i got my answer, well, he was coming for me, but he hurt you instead! i just couldn’t stand around much longer.”

“ah…” seulgi groans when her adrenaline lifts and the pain from her wound really starts to register. the throwing knife juts out of her back, close to her shoulder blade.

“thank goodness i managed to put up a shield glyph on time, the knife didn't cut too deep… but we still have to take this knife out,” joohyun murmurs softly, tracing the handle of the throwing knife and weighing her options. “it’s keeping your blood inside, but i can’t treat you with it stuck. but if i take it out, you’ll bleed, and you would probably bleed a lot even if i apply some healing potions, it will take awhile before you can feel any better.”

seulgi nods at that, already aware of the extent of her injury. “that’s fine. can you take it out?”

at the question, joohyun falters and gulps. “n-no. there’s no way i can.”

at that, seulgi could not help but laugh heartily, unmindful of the current situation of a knife protruding out her body. “alright. it’s good that you’re honest. i forgot how squeamish you are with blood and all. it’s why you don’t like medicinal alchemy in the first place.”

“shut up, seulgi. this is no time to reminisce something like that!” joohyun grumbles, moving out of the way when yerim and sooyoung get close.

sooyoung scratches the back of her head at the sight of seulgi and the knife. “oh geez, sorry chief, i couldn’t stop him in time.”

“neither can i,” yerim adds, lips in a tight line, looking genuinely apologetic. “you were blocking him from my sight. i totally didn’t see the knife coming.”

“that's quite alright, i think,” seulgi chuckles, looking at her back and groaning slightly as she tests her shoulder. “i was the one who misread my opponent and went soft on him.”

sooyoung harrumphs. “shoulda bludgeoned his thick head from the very first second.”

“alas, what’s done is done. can you get the knife out for me, sooyoung?” seulgi asks, and is relieved when sooyoung gives her a determined nod. she looks at the younger hunter next. “yerim, you should make sure those hunters’ wounds are treated. tie them up but not too tightly, just enough so they could get out of the bonds after some time of struggling with them. hopefully they have learned something from this and leave this place for good when they wake up.”

“that's something to hope for alright, these guys aren't that clever. i’ll make the bonds easy to get out of.” yerim sighs as she hurries off to treat the knocked out hunters and tie them later.

sooyoung kneels behind seulgi, settling there and the chief feels the one hand placed on her back to brace her, and the other gripping tightly on the knife’s handles. “careful not to bite your tongue.”

“i am never living that down, am i?” seulgi grunts in pain when sooyoung forcefully, but swiftly pulls the knife out in one quick tug. joohyun hurries to place a cloth oiled with a healing salve on the wound. “gods, ow…”

“what’s this i hear about tongue biting?” joohyun prompts, and she could see the excited shine in sooyoung’s eyes as she turns towards her, throwing the knife away carelessly after inspecting its blade, at ease to see it clean and not poisoned.

but before sooyoung could even open her lips, seulgi shuts her, cupping with an urgent, desperate palm. “no, you are not telling joohyun that tale.”

“was it embarrassing?” joohyun chuckles as she wraps the cloth with a long piece of bandages, going around seulgi’s back and shoulder to ensure there is enough pressure to keep the wound closed.

“not as much as the chief not fighting all out, and getting herself injured like this because of it, i suppose… this has got to bruise some of that ego. if you must ask, i think this is a lot more embarrassing, so if she can survive this, she can tell you the tale herself.”

when joohyun looks seulgi in the eyes, the tribe chief immediately mutters. “i’m not going to survive this.”

joohyun giggles. she might be upset at seulgi, but if there is a chance for her to laugh with, no, to laugh at the tribe chief, she will most definitely do so. “don’t be ridiculous, seulgi. you will live through this and more. you have so many things you need to tell me, after all.”

and seulgi knows that. she knows there are so many things she needs to tell joohyun. things that the other alchemist needs to know,  but seulgi fears it is not the time yet. 

after this, seulgi decides, after they fix whatever it is that needs fixing and get out of this forsaken facility. 

she would tell joohyun everything then.

•••

“this is not how i wanted this to go.” seulgi sighs, leaning onto yerim as she walks alongside the young, bright hunter.

the hunter giggles, happily supporting the tribe chief as they go deeper into the facility. “can’t go against lady alchemist’s order now, can you?”

“no, i can’t,” seulgi confesses honestly, looking at joohyun who is busying herself, and sooyoung who is standing close by and watching over the alchemist as she takes samples from the facility’s walls. some parts of them are glowing, and pulsing, and seulgi figures joohyun wants to know why. “i wish i could offer to do more for her, but she has ordered me to take it easy. that aside… i do apologise if i am too heavy, yerim.”

“not at all, not at all. i’ve carried a drunk sooyoung before, and i assure you, you’re not like that dead weight at all. i can handle you just fine.”

seulgi manages to let out a few chuckles. “thank you for taking such a good care of sooyoung. i am quite close to her, and i believe our relationship is more than that of a chief and a tribe member… i worry about her sometimes and i am really glad she has found a lifelong companion in you.”

“but you’re… i know you’re more than a chief to her, but you do mean you are like, friends, right?” yerim questions, shifting seulgi a bit to be able to look her in the eyes.

“yes, of course. our people don’t usually do that, you see, you can’t simply befriend the tribe chief when you are part of the tribe, you’re not allowed to, it's against whatever rules was put in placed generations before me,” seulgi gives yerim a small smile, she has an idea where yerim is coming from, but still she wants to confirm her suspicion. “why do you ask?”

“oh, uh, you know… i am just curious is all.”

“not because you want her hand in marriage?”

yerim looks absolutely gobsmacked at the question. “p-pardon me?”

“i assumed you were asking to ensure that you have no one going against your wish. am i wrong?”

“w-well,” yerim stutters still, in deep shock. “you’re not exactly wrong, but… we are not even… how do you say… in love?”

“sooyoung is madly in love with you.” seulgi says simply.

“really?”

with a nod, seulgi answers, feeling at ease. “yes, without doubt. it’s a wonder you can’t tell.”

“you know, i could say the same to you.”

“whatever do you mean by that?”

yerim chuckles at that, she could not believe how clueless both joohyun and seulgi actually are. “nothing, they’re moving. let’s go.”

seulgi shrugs as she drags herself to follow yerim’s quick, hasty steps. “just so you know, in case you can’t tell it yourself, you are madly in love with sooyoung too.”

“oh for the love of the gods, shut up or i’ll shove sooyoung’s wet socks into your mouth.”

“hmm. charming.”

•••

“how are you feeling?” joohyun asks when the two of them are sitting down, resting after hours of navigating around the facility. the place is enormous, yet joohyun still has no clue what the place is actually for. it is empty save for some water sources pooling out in small ponds and water taps at certain points. other than that, the facility consists of just long hallways and empty rooms. more questions rise the deeper they go but there is no answers to be found. she has sent the pair of hunters ahead to go scout the long hallway a bit further, and  currently, they are waiting for them to return.

seulgi downs a bit of water, parched. the healing salve put on her wound dressing is helping much. now her injury is not even throbbing, and she is not in a lot of pain, but it makes her so thirsty. still, she prefers being thirsty than vomiting her whole stomach out. “you are talking with me. all things considered, i don’t think i’m doing so bad.”

sighing, joohyun scotts closer to seulgi, rounding towards her back. “you know i can’t stay mad at you.”

“unlike me with you?”

“i didn’t say anything about that,” joohyun frowns as she slowly peels off the bandages from seulgi’s wound, biting her lower lip once she sees the amount of blood still oozing from the wound. “why, are you mad at me? do you keep grudges?”

“i wouldn’t call it that.”

joohyun tears another clean bandages and takes out the salve again, swiping a bit out of its container and applying it generously on seulgi’s barely clotting cut. she then skillfully wraps the bandages again, pulling it around seulgi’s body and shoulders exactly the same way as she has done it earlier. “well, what would you call it?”

“longing.”

joohyun stills with her work, blinking her eyes repeatedly, in disbelief of what she has just heard. “longing?”

“my heart…” seulgi sighs, thinking of the many years she has spent desiring to return to what they were, what they had. hopelessly dreaming to get the most important and beautiful star among billions to come home to her. “my heart yearns for you. no matter what my logical mind thinks and what the elders warn me of you, even if it is unavoidable that... a rift is there to separate us... i still wanted to be here with you.” 

seulgi taps her fingers on her sheathed sword when she pauses, drumming them at a one-two rhythm, a tell joohyun is familiar with as seulgi does it whenever she is nervous, something that is unchanged even after all these years they spent apart. “i did not consult with the elders first to come here to investigate with you, for i know they would not allow me to embark on this quest should i do so. i only sent a messenger to inform them of my and sooyoung’s absence. i don't even know if i’ll be able to return to my tribe as the chief, or if i will finally be named an outcast for going against the elders’ interests. so… this is me, seulgi, not the children of the ebon bear tribe’s chief kang seulgi. i am here for you, joohyun.”

joohyun tapes the bandages to place, not quite able to find her words, what with how sudden and tender seulgi’s admission is.

“you’re not the only one, joohyun… i, too, have truly missed you,” seulgi finishes, before chuckling slightly. “this is quite difficult for me to say. i am never of the same mind with words, i am afraid, much unlike you and my late father, i never did inherit his confidence with words… but i feel it is enough that my action does more than my words could ever do.”

joohyun fiddles with her thumbs. action speaks louder than words, and seulgi has always lived by that. “i noticed that you protected me from that plunderer, yes.” 

“i thought i was up for a long scolding from you for recklessly trying to protect you… i know you could handle yourself just as well as me, if not better.”

“i can scold your ears off later.”

shifting to look behind her, seulgi offers joohyun a small smile. she herself is unsure where exactly all these feelings and… bravery, she suppose, are rushing out from, but perhaps her short conversation with yerim earlier is making her think. and it is never a good thing when seulgi starts to think, nor does it happen at the most appropriate time. losing some blood really puts someone's sanity to test, she realises that far too late. “will you now?”

“we’ll just have to get this place explored and studied first.”

“of course, work comes first,” seulgi shrugs on her coat once she is sure joohyun is finished examining her wound. the outerwear has escaped any damage and tear from the throwing knife, surprisingly. seulgi does not know if it is a good thing or not. she is not much a spiritual person to believe in something like good and bad omens, unlike some of her tribe members. “well... did you figure out anything?”

“not at all,” joohyun sighs. “this place is empty!”

seulgi understands joohyun’s frustration easily. “it may have been plundered before, ages ago, i think, but it's been deserted for at least a couple decades, perhaps even a century, judging from the grown vines, water leaks, mud and dust all over the place.”

joohyun takes out a parchment and a few small bottles of samples she took of the facility’s surroundings. there is clear liquid in one of the bottles, some sludge in the other, one that is similar to the colours of the walls pulsing with liquids coming down, or going up, joohyun has no idea, and one bottle is filled with dirt dug from the crooks of split floorings inside the facility. she reads her notes and crosses them out in exasperation, as they are all useless. “all these samples… they should be clues, yet they tell me nothing. and we are about to lose direction, there is only one way to get further from here… what if there's really nothing here? you got hurt… and for what?”

“there is time yet, and we can look further inside. it's very unlike you to give up so easily,” seulgi tries, consoling the other alchemist with a gentle voice. “i feel fine now, can we keep going? we can’t have everyone slowing down because of me.”

before the two alchemists could even stand up, there are sounds of rushing footsteps. seulgi immediately draws her sword, shoving joohyun behind her, but then yerim and sooyoung pops out of the corner where the sound is coming from, and seulgi relaxes at the sight of the two hunters.

“hey!” sooyoung yells at them, motioning for the two alchemists to follow. “you have to come and see this! quick!”

“seems urgent,” seulgi comments, looking at joohyun and offering the other alchemist her left hand after sheathing her weapon safely. “are you ready?”

“when am i ever?” joohyun questions back mostly to herself, sighing, but eventually takes seulgi’s offered hand and leads her towards the unknown. “let’s go.”

•••

_{=to be continued=}

_•••