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“KIM JUNHO!” Junho froze upon hearing a loud voice calling out to him. Recognising the voice almost instantly, the exhausted man, consumed by dread, looked up just to meet a sword on his shield. The impact created such a deafening sound that even he, the fearless Kim Junho, had to blink.

Looking down, Junho saw Junsu, looking up; he saw death, smiling gleefully from on his horse. The situation is not in his favour no matter which angle he looks at it from. “Junsu… run on the count of three. This is the furthest hyung can send you… head into the woods between the west and our land. That place should give you adequate cover until the armies disperse.” Junho whispered breathily while Yoochun prances in circles, around them, menacingly. “I love you, midget.”

“One… two… THREE!!” “PROTECT THE PRINCESS!!” Junho cried out to his men and hurled himself at the man on horseback, shoving Junsu to safety while he was at it. The exposure to the elements and sudden lost of his brother's warm clutches sent Junsu into a state of stupor as he staggers after the soldiers that were pulling him along.

After trying to keep up for a few yards, Junsu turned and saw that the enemy is still on horseback, and is gaining an upper hand while his exhausted brother struggles to hold on. Junsu could see the flame of hope die out from Junho’s eyes the minute they were separated. Then, with a cry of pain, the towering enemy’s sword had found its way into Junho’s flank.

Stumbling over, the injured man shied away from the blade that stabbed him and crumpled into a heap onto the sandy ground. “HYUNG!! HYUNG!!!” The boy stopped running instantly and pushed his way back into the arena where his brother went down fighting. Wailing and hysterical, Junsu can feel his heart at his throat while he drags his dog-tired legs towards Junho, oblivious of the dangers lurking close by.

“DON’T HURT HYUNG!! STOP!!” The boy screamed at Yoochun while the man raises his spear, poised to pierce through Junho once more. Lurching forward, Junsu jumped at the horse, startling the animal, causing the stallion to gallop around into a crazed state. Successfully distracted by Junsu’s attempt to save his brother, Yoochun is immensely irritated.

Noticing a girl on the battlefield also stunned the man momentarily. He never had such an encounter before. No parents with a sane mind would allow their kid to wonder around in such a bloody and violent environment. However, before Yoochun can decide what he wants to do, the ‘girl’ is hurling pieces of debris she had picked up from the floor, at him. “I HATE YOU!! YOU BASTARD!!!” Junsu clamored between sobs.

“TSK!” Yoochun sulked and make a quick decision that he would just do what he does best. Chopping off heads. Raising his sword to finish Junsu off, he is shot at by a few more men, who had come to the boy's rescue.

Wondering to himself, the reason these people are so desperate to save the damsel in distress, he got his answer. “YOUR HIGHNESS!! BE CAREFUL!!!” A northern soldier shouted as Yoochun brought the sword down towards Junsu’s nape. The boy ducked in the nick of time, but chose to stay beside the fallen warrior, his brother, glaring daggers at his assailant, unyielding.

“PLEASE!! YOUR HIGHNESS!! PLEASE COME OVER!! WE WILL BRING YOU TO SAFETY!!” Junsu ignored them.

“Ah. I see. She is the princess?” Yoochun spoke whimsically. “Kill or not to kill?” He turned to ask his followers as the northern soldiers look on with horrified expressions.

“Take her as a trophy!!” A few of Yoochun’s men cooed and whistled at Junsu. Angered, the initially afraid boy got up from his position beside his ‘dead’ brother. Holding Junho’s sword, Junsu ran at Yoochun’s horse and took a swing at the rider’s thigh. The man smirked and used his sword to swat off the blow that cannot even kill a rabbit. Junsu is much weaker, just as he have expected.

“You should stay out of this. You think this is child’s play?” Yoochun asked coldly while Junsu sways back and forth with the weight of Junho’s sword and Yoochun’s forceful blows.

“I AM NOT A CHILD!!!” Junsu screamed as he garners all of his remaining strength and tries to strike Yoochun's trunk. The man’s expression darkens and he blocks off the assault yet again. Except, this time, he is not feeling kind anymore. Using the handle of his sword, Yoochun clobbered Junsu square in the jaw, sending the boy sprawling.

“YOUR HIGHNESS!!” The group of soldiers escorting Junsu could not do anything except watch, since the rest of Yoochun’s men were closing in on them. The boy is all on his own now.

“You like to act tough? Lets see how tough you can be then.” Yoochun asked threateningly as Junsu recovers from the impact. Sweeping the ground desperately, Junsu could not find anything useful. Then, getting onto his feet again, the boy tried to reach for a spear nearby, but is immediately obstructed by Yoochun’s horse.

Junsu can feel the despair setting in as he fails to get the man off his horse. Though seeing his brother lying still as death in a pool of his own blood, Junsu could feel his anger and vengefulness weaning. He knows he is no match for Yoochun, and he knows Yoochun knows that as well. That stinks.

Finally, latching onto Yoochun’s feet, Junsu tried dismount Yoochun by force, but to no avail. “I like you. Trophy then.” With that, Yoochun grabbed Junsu by the collar and hauled him onto the horse, much to the boy’s dismay. Intending to stop the boy from struggling, Yoochun also clouted him in the chest, breaking one of his ribs, sending him into oblivion.

“Good job. We can head back now.” Turning to see nothing but a bloodied field of body parts and mutilated bodies, Yoochun signaled for the blowing of the horns, indicating the end of the battle.

“Get the prisoners from the city to clean up this mess.” “We celebrate our victory tomorrow.” With that said, Yoochun galloped off, homebound, with Junsu dangling lifelessly from his saddle.

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POV from Yoochun

This is a battle well fought. I wasn’t disappointed. We managed to claim this land before nightfall… so I am very satisfied.

I am not usually the type to take trophies such as heads… since I don’t want them decomposing and stinking up my place. But this time is different though. I have a living trophy. I was reluctant to bring her in… but since my men felt that she would make a good prize, I went through the trouble to bring her back.  She is royalty after all… evidence of the north's defeat and sweet surrender.

The only problem is… what the heck am I supposed to do with her?

Anyhow, appa’s funeral procession should be over by now… and I have no intentions of attending anyway. I don’t want to remind myself that he is gone.

Appa use to tell me that the number of battles a man wins… proves his worth, so I strongly abide by that. Apparently, I have this other side of me that appears during battles. My men have told me about it before… how I look like a monster when I am on the field. I accepted that saying… even though they were saying it jokingly. Who doesn’t have a different side to them right?

If one knows me well enough… they would probably know that I just love to coop myself up, all alone in my library, when I am away from the battlefields. I don’t enjoy killing.

However, everyone just thinks that I am a monster… what can I say? I brought it upon myself. I still don’t like that term.

Enough with the negativity. I just did my father proud again. I will celebrate.

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Meanwhile… admist the bloody aftermath…

After the troops were withdrawn, under the cover of the starless dark night skies, a lone figure, hidden under a cloak, made its way to the supposed corpse of general Junho, pulling the man away from the pool of blood in which he lay.

Crouching down to check for the man’s pulse, a soft gasp is emitted when the figure realises that the presumably dead man, is really only at the brink of death.

Carefully positioning the unconscious general, the figure wrapped up his wounds carefully and skillfully, before dragging him on a long journey back to a hidden location.

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Back in the central plain… in a shed inside the palace…

POV from Junsu

As if the dream where hyungie died in wasn’t bad enough, I woke up to find myself crying and soaking my face with tears.

I was almost taken in that I have returned to reality when I realised that there is nothing but darkness. A pitch black surrounding greeted me.

Then it hit me again that I might be in the neither world. THE PAIN!! The pain is burning in my chest even when I’m not moving. The suffocating feeling!! The freezing and hard floor beneath me!! I must be in hell. That’s where troublemakers like me go.

I deserve it.

“Yah! Is the kid awake yet?”

“Nope.”

“Douse her with this then.”

Huh? Hell guards?

GAHHH!! COLD!!!

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Junsu is thrown into disarray by a bucket of cold water sloshing down onto his face, almost drowning him as he coughed to get the chilly liquid out of his facial orifices.

“Remove the gunny sack for god’s sake!! She will drown!” Junsu is still in a daze as the duo, speaking earlier on, reaches down and pulls off the burlap bag covering his head roughly. The place is not much better than when his head was inside the bag, but there is finally light from the flickering torches in their hands.

Looking around himself with a bewildered expression, Junsu tried to make sense of his surroundings. The boy is convinced that he is still somewhere in the depths of hell.

“Welcome to hell missy!”

Junsu gasped and choked again while his captors laughed.