We left for Pockery when the sun was just reaching the highest of its arc. Between us, there wasn't enough money to buy Namu and me horses, so much to Hoya's displeasure, we decided to walk. Namu traveled remarkably light, carrying little more than a waterskin and a dagger. I felt a bit envious-- on the assumption that Hoya would do all the hunting and protecting, I was loaded down with most of the gear. This included a miraculously accomodating utility belt, both of our waterskins, a pack full of food, and my new (used) tunic which, in itself, was heavier that what I was used too. Hoya also had me carry a hatchet and blade. "Just in case," he said as he strapped them into my belt.

As we took off, Hoya signalling to the gatesman to open the back gate, Namu threw an arm around my shoulder again. "Yah! Jaemi! Won't this be fun?! I can't wait to get to know more about you."

If only I knew enough about myself to share, I thought. For some reason, Namu smiled almost empathetically.

The gate slowly pulled open and Namu walked me through. Then, Hoya strode purposefully towards us, and Namu instantly dropped his hand and stepped away, giving us some space.

Hoya frowned after him, and then leaned in close to me. "Listen, Jaemi. I don't trust him. And I don't think you should either. Be careful, especially in what you say. And think."

I nodded, not fully knowing what he meant.

We walked in silence for a long while, each keeping our own thoughts company. Namu was surprisingly lithe, jumping off the trail and disappearing for full minutes before finding his way back to us. He reminded me of a playful little kid, at times retrieving small newts or frogs to show me before running off again. I found that he put me at ease like no one else I'd met yet in this world. And for that, I was appreciative.

Hoya, though, was not quite the same. "Yah. Nobody wants to see that stuff," he would say under his breath.

"Think what you want, Hoyyaa. At least I know how to have fun." Then he would shoot me a look, and I would smiled back. Hoya would notice and roll his eyes.

Several hours later, our shadows grew long, with the sun just beginning to set. Namu was off doing his thing per usual. Hoya and I were snacking on some jerky that we had bought in town. Then, suddenly, Hoya held his hand out, motioning for me to stop.

"What is it--"

"Shh!" He was staring up the path, which curved away from us into a forest, the looming walls of a canyon coming up on either side, throwing odd shadows on the dark green ahead. He frowned and, if I wasn't mistaken, lifted his nose and sniffed the air. Then, suddenly, he pushed me hard over to the side, finding cover in the brush.

"Ouch! Hoya! What the--"

"Stay. No matter what happens... don't move," he whispered.

Then, just like that, he ran further up the path, disappearing around a bend. And at once, I was strikingly, terrifyingly alone.

Where's Namu?!, I thought desperately. I began imagining the worst, my heart beating hard in my neck, a constricting feeling climbing up my throat. I watched the path anxiously for any sign of Hoya or Namu. But I didn't see anything.

And then, suddenly, a pair of strong hands seized me from behind, covering my mouth as I screamed. I struggled, biting into its palm, which retreated for just a moment before taking a new, stronger grip. And all the while, I wished over and over that Namu or Hoya or Sunggyu would come back.

"Shush! It's just me! Namu."

I paused my struggle, trying to comprehend. Namu?!... Was he truly a spy, trying to kidnap me from Hoya?!

"I'm not a spy. I'm not the one trying to hurt you, remember? But please trust me when I say, there is a bounty hunter coming up the way looking for you. So shush and be still!" he gnarled into my ear.

Together we kneeled there, me catching my breath, Namu's hand still gently placed over my mouth. Suddenly, just as Namu said, I heard the soft, soft tread of boots carefully making its way up the path. I huddled into the bush with Namu, watching, terrified, as the boots stopped exactly in front of us, facing just away from our bush.

My heart pounded in my ears. I was surprised the bounty hunter couldn't hear it. But as I stared at the boots, it dawned on me that they were familiar.

They were Hoya's.

But just then, in the thick of the brush, through a tiny, tiny opening, I suddenly made out a face across the path. I shouldn't have noticed it-- it was impossible, really--, but once I saw it, I realized that Hoya was in grave danger. A smiling face had locked onto him, and I watched as slowly, one eye closed, and a bow and arrow lifted, pointing straight at Hoya.

"NO!"

What happened next was a blur, but somehow, I had pounced from Namu's grip and leapt onto Hoya in a lame attempt to push him out of the way. In that same instance, I felt a sudden warmth in my calf, but I ignored it in my adrenaline rush. We crumpled to the ground, but in a split-second, Hoya was up, bow drawn, and I heard the whizz of an arrow and the fall of a body in the wood and I knew that eerily smiling face was no more.

"Jaemi!" Namu exclaimed. I sat on the ground, suddenly winded. The warmth in my leg grew to a burning fire, but in the moment, I only felt gladness. Relief, that Hoya was safe.

But Namu rushed to my leg, as did Hoya. And we saw that the arrow hand cut clean into my calf, sticking out on both sides.

I panicked and screamed.

Namu threw a hand over my mouth and quickly turned to Hoya. "Yah! Now what?!"

"The arrow... it needs to come out!"

"Shouldn't we get out of sight first??"

Hoya was already looking down the path. "Bounty hunters always work alone. But that scream was pretty loud..."

"Yah. Hoya," Namu said, taking the lead. "Help me get her back off the path. I'll work on her leg. And in the meantime, you scour the area. To make sure no one else is around."

Hoya eyed him suspiciously for a second, and then turned towards me. I was shaking in shock. My entire life, I had never once even sprained an ankle. And here I was with an arrow through my freaking calf! But I could read it on his face. Hoya didn't trust Namu as far as he could throw him, and in the moment, I could see he didn't like the idea of leaving me alone with him.

"Hoya!" Namu said, snapping him back to attention. Trapped, Hoya had no option but to follow. Quickly, they both hoisted me up and pulled me into the brush. And just as Namu said, Hoya left to guard us as Namu got to work.

Alone with Namu, laying on my back while he kneeled beside me, I suddenly realized how vulnerable I was. I wondered for a moment if I could really trust this strange man who I had only just met. For a moment, he gave me a look as if he was thinking the same thing. But then the most terrible pangs of pain began emanating from my leg, and I cringed hard and clenched my jaw, my thoughts distracted from anything else.

Namu cleared his throat and focused. "Now, Jaemi, I really wish you didn't have to see this..." he said, turning my leg this way and that to look at the wound. I cowarded in pain. "I really, really hate people seeing my skills..." He tried to take a hold of the arrow, but it sent a pulsing shock up my leg, and I nearly kicked him away. "What's worse is you probably already know the one, and now you might now the other... but then again it might be so painful that you forget..." I started crying at that point, silent tears that only truly unbearable pain can bring about. Namu took a soft but firm hold of the arrow on both sides. Then, he looked up at me.

"It has to hurt before it gets better. Mian, Jaemi."

Then, in one swift move, he extracted the arrow clean from my calf. I shrieked in pain, taking a tight hold on my leg just above my knee. I really did feel on the verge of passing out.

But then, Namu put his hands on both sides of the open wound, not paying any mind to the flowing blood. And suddenly, a comfortable warmth replaced the pain.

I looked down at my leg and then back up at him. I couldn't believe it. Is his skill... healing? 

"Neh," he responded with a twinkling smile. "And mind-reading too, but you probably already knew that. Well... it's more like mind-listening. I can't read all of someone's thoughts. Just whatever they think in that moment.

Wow, I thought.

"I know, right? Kind of cool," he said with pride.

In less than a minute, my leg was completely healed up, feeling as good as ever. Namu still took a bandage wrap from my sack though. I wondered why, and he responded, "Because the last thing I want is for someone like Hoya to know my hidden skill."

I chuckled, and he reciprocated. He wrapped the bandage around my leg and then we sat there, leaning against a tree and staring into the sun as I got over the shock of the whole experience.

I suddenly realized that despite all the craziness of this awful world, there is still some good. And more than that... I was really glad Namu was my companion.

"Chincha? Well...Me too," he quietly replied, smiling into the sunset.

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Our silly bunny Namu <3   Were you able to guess his skills? Think you can guess Hoya's? Post your thoughts in the comments section below! And as always, thank you for reading :)  DRAMA AHEAD OH BOY.