DOUBLE UPDATE: You should go back one if you didn't know that :P

‘What happened back there?’ Jinki brushed his soaked hair out of his face as he leaned against the wall of the village.

‘I don’t know,’ Zuko dropped onto a bench that was pressed up against the wall. His face was twisted in confusion as he stared at the mud, watching as the rain pounded into the brown mixture.

‘Well you’re here, that’s good.’ Jinki shook his head sending water everywhere, Zuko scowled and wiped the droplets of water off of his face.

‘But Hyunsu isn’t, look I think they are hiding something.’

‘Who?’ Jinki glanced around them before dropping down onto the empty spot beside Zuko.

‘My family, they keep,’ Zuko trailed off and rubbed his hands together. ‘They say weird things sometimes, it’s like they knew.’

‘Knew that she was going to disappear?’ Jinki flinched as the sound of thunder cracked through the air. He started shaking his leg gaining energy from the lightning that was brightening the sky.  

‘I don’t know, but my mother keeps saying things. Things that don’t make sense, and suddenly Sooki’s coming around a lot.’

‘Isn’t Sooki always coming around?’

‘Yeah, for Hyunsu,’ Zuko scoffed and ran his large hand through his long damp hair. ‘We talked with her but she was there for my sister, she always has been.’

‘How odd,’ Jinki ducked his head as the stared at the mud. The two went silent as they stared at the soaked village in front of them. Without the gate being open they wouldn’t be able to get the extra water out, their village could flood depending on how long the Monsoon was going to last. ‘Zuko, I thought I saw her.’

‘Saw who?’ Zuko rubbed his eyes scowling as the sound of rain made his head ring with the same ferocity that it hit the wooden ceiling above them.

‘I could have sworn I saw your sister,’ Jinki rubbed his hands together, making the mud that was on them spread into a thin layer. ‘But I couldn’t be sure, we were running, and,’ he grimaced, fully expecting Zuko to blow up, ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t, don’t talk about it,’ Zuko gripped his thin brown pants that hung loosely off of his thighs. ‘I don’t want to hear about it,’ Jinki's eyes focused on the bandaged wound on Zuko’s arm. The moist cloth was already showing the blossom of blood that was steadily leaving his wound.

Jinki clenched his jaw as he glared at the mud, he was angry, not only had they failed but Zuko wasn’t nearly as responsive to his mistake as he should have been and they had been at the mercy of the Fae. Clicking his tongue against his teeth he gripped his own wound that was nestled in the crook of his neck. He had barely dodged it, whatever weapon that Fae had thrown. He had no time to see it, the only sign he had was the strange warbling whistle it released as it forced it’s way through the humid air of the forest. Why had they survived? They should have died.

‘Don’t, Jinki,’ Zuko’s voice was heavy with exasperation as he pushed his palms against his soaked thighs, straightening himself. ‘It’s going to make it worse if you dwell on what happened.’

‘Am I supposed to be okay with everything that has happened? Why did that Fae let us live?’ Jinki’s shoulders shook with his repressed frustration as the memory of the Fae that hunted them down flashed through his mind with the same ease that the Fae had. ‘Why did I see her?’ Jinki could see the black form of Hyunsu in his mind, she warped and twisted like a ghoul in the shadows before disappearing when the Fae they had encountered stepped through her. ‘Why did we even go into the forest?’ His voice rose as he clenched his fists, the vision of the masked figure glaring at the intruding humans scent his mind whirling. ‘Why can’t we just be free of their oppression?’

‘Stop asking questions,’ for the first time in the whole conversation Zuko’s voice rose from it’s previous low and desolate tone. ‘Asking questions makes it worse, you don’t think I asked the same things? Why was it my sister that was trapped outside, why was her body never returned, is she even alive, why are my parents being so abnormal? When you ask those questions you open yourself up to disappointment, you leave yourself in a weak position. There is no way to answer those questions, so please for your own sake please,’ Zuko’s voice lowered into a pleading rumble, ‘stop asking.’

Jinki thumbed the cut as he closed his eyes, ‘fine.’ Sighing he nodded his head slowly, Zuko was right, it was useless. He should have listened to his younger friend earlier, he knew he was the wiser of the two but he forgot. He let himself get wound up in his own troubles so much that he forgot himself. ‘Are we going to at least answer what we can?’ Jinki opened his eyes and stared up into the sky, watching as the rain dropped in large blobs out of the ominous dark grey clouds hanging above their village. ‘You should ask your parents what happened,’ Zuko stood up and walked away, his boots sloshed through the ankle deep puddles of water as continued down the path.

‘Come on, I need you there with me,’ Zuko called out, not sparing a glance back to his friend.

‘Right,’ Jinki ran after Zuko, yelping as he slipped in the water and fell, his face hit the ground, instantly covered with the unpleasantly cold mud water.

 Zuko sighed barely hiding his grin as he reached out for his friends hand to help him up. ‘You’re lucky your clumsiness didn’t make itself known in the forest or else we surely would be dead.’

Scoffing Jinki grasped Zuko’s hand and stood with his friends help, ‘lucky? Maybe not,’ they walked towards Zuko’s house silently. They didn’t pass a single soul outside, every window was lit up with the burning amber glow of the fires running in the houses. Nobody wanted to get wet, being wet meant being cold, being cold meant getting sick, and sickness usually meant death.

‘When we get inside you can borrow some of my clothes, dry yourself off.’ Zuko opened the door to his house and wiped his damp locks off of his face as he watched his friend hurry by him to his room.

‘Zuko,’ his mother stood up from the couch she was sitting on, she grasped at her shawl pulling it over her shoulders tighter as she stared at him. ‘You’re finally inside, come and sit down by the flames. You need to get warm,’ Buyong waved him to the couch. ‘Do you want tea? What about Jinki, he’s soaked.’ She tsked as she hurried herself to check the pot that was on the flames.

‘Mother, please sit down. We need to talk,’ he held his arm out making her unable to go the rest of the way to the fireplace.

‘A-alright,’ she sat down, her eyebrows furrowing as she attempted to look confused but she knew what was happening. Buyong had been waiting for her son to approach her about her strange behaviour and she had been preparing herself but she felt so disastrously unprepared. ‘What about Jinki?’

‘I’m just leaving auntie, no worries,’ Jinki smiled politely at her before nodding at his friend and raising his fist in encouragement then he slipped out the front door decked in Zuko’s warm spare clothes. Jinki closed the door behind him quietly then stared at it’s wooden face. He was just was curious as Zuko was, he wanted to know what was up with Mrs. Nahm but was it appropriate?

Sighing he stepped away from the door and closed his eyes as he listened to the village around him, he could faintly make out the sound of Ae snorting in her pen through the incessant pounding from the rain. If only he wasn’t so upright he would listen in but he knew that wasn’t the right decision. He opened his eyes as a faint thump came from inside the house. ‘What’s going on in there?’

Jinki shook his head forcing his curious nature to end by dwelling on the Fae. Just like every other moment that day he ran through what happened the day before. He envisioned the forest as they ran through it, the strange sound, the sharp pain that failed as the weapon cut his neck only to whip past him and into the foliage with a silver spark. He remembered turning around horrified to watch a tall elegant Fae leap off the trees right in front of him, staring at him through the pitch black eyes of the mask. He could feel the pride for his friend as Zuko immediately leapt to his aid by grabbing Taehyung’s sword and pointing it at the offending Fae. He remembered watching the Fae’s head snap the Zuko before pulling out a thin silver stick of some kind. Jinki scowled as he watched the Fae pull back his arm, his pale forearm glistened as the rain ran down it soaking the black sleeve that was bundled at his elbow.

  It would be months before they could exit the village, he wouldn’t be able to enact his payback on the Fae until far more months after that. It could even been a half year until they could get Hyunsu back. His nose scrunched up at the horrible thought, by then who knew what could have happened to her, she was like his little sister, he felt like he was losing his own family.

Jinki jumped as a loud thump emitted from the house followed by the door being yanked open by Zuko who slammed it shut. ‘Come on,’ Zuko was almost growling as he stormed by his friend.

‘Where?’ Jinki’s voice faltered as he watched his friend leave his house behind with a disgusted gait.

‘The tavern,’ Jinki’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at his friend completely flabbergasted. He couldn’t fathom what could have been so bad that his friend would seek out alcohol to calm his spirit but he did know that it was the first time that Zuko had ever chosen to do so.

‘You’re sure?’ Jinki spoke cautiously as he watched his dear friend almost slip in the mud from his lack of rational.

‘Or course I’m sure, I’ve never been so sure.’ Zuko sighed heavily before looking back at his friend, his dark green eyes were jaded the way that was only possible by realisation of the  horrible truths of life. ‘Have you ever wondered if your family was cursed?’ Zuko gripped the bronze handle of the tavern, ‘I’m starting to,’ he walked into the tavern leaving Jinki behind in a stunned stupor.

‘What could have possible been that bad?’ Jinki’s question was unanswered, heard only by the wind that blew through the village.