Black arrow

The sun rose above the horizon, its rays creeping through the windows of Xiumin’s hut. The boy woke up with a groan, feeling a sharp pain in his back. He moved to sit up but was stopped by a sudden outburst of coughing. His hand quickly covered his mouth and when the attack finally ended and he was able to breath again, Xiumin looked down and sighed. Blood. Slowly getting up, the boy walked up to a bowl of water and washed his hand. He felt another wave of shivers, the same that had been haunting him for years. However, lately, they had become more exhausting, and for the first time in the boy’s short life – the cold did bother him. He neared the piece of a broken mirror hanging on the wall next to the fire place and turning around he examined the shirt he had fallen asleep in. It was stained with a dry red spots. Hissing at the uncomfortable feeling that run through his body as he slowly took the shirt off, Xiumin’s eye grew bigger when he saw his back. The white skin was all covered in long, red and bloody cuts. Some bigger, some deeper, other slowly becoming just bruises. The boy run a shaking hand through his blond hair, focusing his eyes on a spot on the floor. The one he was lying on only hours ago, heavily breathing, fighting for air like a fish taken out of water. With only one exception. He was not a fish. He was a human being.

Breathing in and out, he let a few tears fall down his cheeks. Xiumin quickly wiped them with his fingers and ran them through the wounds on his back. He hissed and yawped, as his cuts started to heal. When the pain stopped, Xiumin counted to five until his vision got back to normal and he was able to examine his back again. The cuts were not fully healed but it still looked better than before. Looking outside the window, Xiumin realized how high the sun already was. Quickly throwing a new shirt and skipping breakfast – again – he run out of the hut into the forest. But his run was not long as he stopped dead in his track the moment he stepped outside. A sigh left his lips upon seeing the trees in front of him. First, there was only one. But then looking further he saw another one, and another one, and another one. There was an endless row of frazzled trees, as if struck by a…, “lightning,” he whispered, terrified.

“I’ll be back, Xiumin.” A voice echoed in his head and realization hit him. He stumbled back, hitting the wall. His hand quickly moved to his mouth, providing a horrifying scream from getting out. “He’s marked the way,” Xiumin whispered, his eyes never leaving the trees. His breath quickened as he peeled himself from the wall and rushed foreword, right into the woods.

He ran as fast as he could, as fast as his state allowed him to, following the path of black trees. And further and further. He lost the sight of his hut long time ago and the patter was still there on the trees, never ending. It wasn’t until Xiumin reached the border that he stopped. He couldn’t go any further, but his gaze followed the path and he was shocked as he observed the black trees going on with no end. “Only gods know where the path leads to,” Xiumin thought, falling to his knees.

He sat down on the ground, a thin layer of snow covering everything around him. Xiumin sighed, closing his eyes. He was tired, more than any time before. He had problems with breathing, he was cold and whenever he cough, he was coughing blood. The boy looked at his hand, pale as a snow that was covering everything around him. When he was younger, he thought it was normal, but then with time, he realized that people around him had a much darker skin color. He was around ten when he was told the reason of that. “You are terminally ill, Xiumin,” the old lady that was looking after him had said, “you were gifted with a power to help others, but at the same time, it’s killing you, child. So make sure to help as many of us as you can, alright? One day, you will be responsible for big things!” Xiumin could never understand what was it about him that made him being the one gifted with healing powers but he had given up on trying to find the answer long time ago. He also did not know why would he be gifted with it if he had powers himself. There were so many questions he wanted to know answers to. But he had nowhere to look for them. There were only two answers he had ever gotten. That one about dying, and the one about what had happened to his parents. Both given by the old lady. But since Yizma, as Xiumin called her, had died when he was thirteen, he was nothing to the people he was living with. He had a hard life, never been loved, never been taken a proper care of. The only moments someone had been paying attention to him was when he needed to heal someone. But even then he would be put into many tortures, just to bring him to tears, as it were the tears that carried the magical power. One drop of a golden tear and almost any wound could be cured. Almost. If he hadn’t managed to save someone, he would have been tortured even more, as a punishment for being useless. And with time, there were only more tortures and less tears, as he grew used to the pain.

And now here he was, sitting in the forest, slowly dying.

But he did not want to. He longed to live. He was ready to do anything to keep onto the last thin strand of life he had left. And because of that, he could not let the unknown prince come back. He knew exactly what would happen to him if anyone saw Jongdae. It would be Xiumin, who would pay for it. And needed or not, he knew what would be the punishment.

Death.

“Why is this all happening to me?,” he asked again, his question getting lost between the tress, “even wind doesn’t want to listen anymore,” the boy chuckled to himself, slowly getting up. The morning was already settled, bright sun up in the sky, the nature awoken. He needed to go back, before anyone notices his absence. But as he was to start walking he hear a muffled noise coming from the bushes. He frowned, looking around. Just as he was about to move, he heard the noise again. “Who’s there?!,” he shouted, his heart slowly beginning to beat faster. But instead of hearing an answer, he saw a small white ball rolling out from underneath the leaves. “Koda?,” he spoke, as he recognized the shape. The white ball started reshaping. One leg, two legs, a pair of ears, dark eyes, a small nose and white fangs. Xiumin stood there surprised, looking at the small, white bear standing at his feet.

The bear would always appear when Xiumin felt sad, bad or under the weather. He was there when he was tortured, when he was weak and when he was broken. But it was the first time since he had been visibly dying that Koda showed up. When Xiumin was younger he liked to think of the white bear as a guarding spirit. He sometimes thought he heard a voice, a female voice, telling him she loved him, whenever the bear was close. But with time, as Xiumin grew up, he stopped believing in such a kind of magic. He decided to leave the tales for the books and his believes in magic limit to what he could see and feel, meaning his own abilities. Apart from those interested in black magic, there were no one Xiumin had ever met that would have powers like his. Not until last night, when the storm bringer showed up in his hut and the tales he had heard proved to be true, as the prince himself admitted it. But still, he was not one hundred percent as Xiumin.

Xiumin was a boy that was torn between two powers since forever. Even in his earlier memories, he was always able to heal others and control frost. But he also remembered that he quickly learnt it had not been normal. He should not posses two so different powers. And because of it, one was wiping the other. And also because of it, both of them were weak. Xiumin never got to master any of this powers, as both of them were too weak to develop due to another being there as well.

And now, he was dying because of them.

He never knew why was he given with the ability to heal, but he knew it was the one that was forced upon him. He had always found his ability to control frost more natural. Cold had never bothered him, and whenever it was snowing, he felt at peace. To an extend that, from years, it had been almost always snowing. He somehow knew it was his fault. He was not sure, but when he was nine he learnt that before the Great War started, there were never winters in the Eastern Realm. It hadn’t been before the two years before the war had broken out that coldness started bothering the woods of the East. And he knew it was around the time he was brought there. Xiumin may not have been highly educated, being nothing but a underling, but he was smart and he could link facts and pieces of information he had.

He placed a hand over his heart, feeling the weird shaped scar he had upon his heart. It resembled a croissant, as he liked to think of it, or a croissant shaped moon. Smiling to himself, he felt a wave of peace taking over him. And then, he felt a pressure on his leg. He looked down and was met with a worried expression of the bear. He smiled and took Koda up, holding him in his embrance, “why are you here, little one? Is something wrong going to happen? I am not going to die, right?,” he chuckled, trying to light up the mood, even if for just himself.

And then he remembered. He was supposed to be already working. Without a second thought he rushed towards his hut, not looking back even once, leaving the bear in the wood.

Little did he know, that this time, his guarding spirit was not to disappear so quickly.

Jongdae was walking down the hall, planning on visiting Thunder in the stables when he heard loud noises coming from around the corner. Letting his curiosity win over manners, he peaked from behind the wall and arched and eyebrow upon seeing the prince.

Junmyeon was sitting on a cold stone floor, leaning his back against the wall. He seemed to be deeply in thoughts as he had his eyes fixed on the window, or something outside, with an absent-minded look on his face. The moment Jongdae opened his mouth to speak to the prince, his words were drown out.

“Enough, Elsa!,” he recognized the king’s voice, although it was nothing like the smooth and cheerful tone he had been welcomed with. “We were not sending another expedition!,” “But Jack!,” the queen interrupted, her voice weak and pleading. “I said no. From now on no one is allowed to form any kind of companionships or serve as an individual for the purpose of finding Minseok. I will have it written down and passed as a law. And you can’t change my mind,” Jack’s voice was cold like a winter’s night. It sent shivers down Jongdae’s spine. He was never a fond of coldness. Either because of what coldness hid behind itself – death, misery, North’ or maybe simply because it was bothering and was taking away the heat and warmth, he was not sure. What he was sure of at the moment though, was that from now on, it would have a new feel to it.

There were a few moments of silence, interrupted by what Jongdae guessed could have been quiet cried of the queen. The prince straighten his back and neared the other boy. Yet again he wanted to speak out but this time Junmyeon seemed to notice his presence and he quickly put a finger on his mouth, indicating the other to stay silent. “But he is your son!.” The queen finally screamed, and it was a scream full of sorrow and misery. The one tearing hearts apart. But there was something more to it and to the words the queen had shouted. An unspoken blame. “My son is dead!.” Jack yelled back and Jongdae noticed how Junmyeon shivered at those words, “even if, Elsa, Minseok hadn’t been killed by whoever kidnapped him, he have been long ago killed by that drop of moonlight in his veins! We both know it! You are holding onto a none existing hope! Minseok is dead!,” the words leaving the king’s mouth were cruel and Jongdae could not wrap his head around how someone can say such words about their own child. “Would my father ever give up on me?,” a sudden thought appeared in his mind and his breath hitched. “I won’t allow you to send another expedition. I’ve been doing it for too long. I can’t stand seeing you getting broken each time they come back barehanded!” “You are giving up on your own son,Jack,” Elsa whispered so quietly, the two boys sitting outside the room almost missed it. “No, Elsa. My son is happily getting married to a person he loves.,” “But Minseok! My baby boy… my little snowflake,” the queen’s voice got softer and quieter. “You have to let go.” “Never,” she answered through sobs. “My dearest snowflake, letting go doesn’t mean forgetting. Let’s let his soul rest…,” “What have you said?!” the queen squeaked and a loud crash could be heard, as if something had fallen, “his soul!? Rest?! Are you mad?! Who are you and what have you done to my husband?! You want to throw a funeral for him?!,” she was screaming and shouting and to Jongdae’s amazment and surprise he was a beautiful ornaments of ice roses decorating the walls around the door. And he was sure that they had not been there before. “I will not let you bury my son, Jack!”

“Should we not move, Suho?,” Jongdae suggested, feeling that the conversation inside was finished. His suspitions were confirmed when a loud bang erupted on the other side.

“No,” the prince whispered, not moving, “they never use this door, anyway.”

“Suho…,” Jongdae started, not really sure what he should say, but the other interrupted him, “Prince Jongdae, may I ask you a question?,” Suho questioned, shifting his eyes from the window and meeting Jongdae’s. The said boy only nodded, waiting for the question to be asked. “What happened to you brother?” Jongdae frowned, raising his eyebrow, “what do you mean?” “I want to know, from you, what really happened that day. Were the people really responsible for what happened to your brother,” the boy said quietly, quilt evident in his eyes and heard in his voice. Jongdae felt bad for the prince, realizing how broken the boy seemed, but if he wanted to hear the truth, he would be given it.

“I am sorry, to disappoint you, but yes. It was your soldier,” as Jongdae replied, the other’s head dropped.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“Jongin and I were sitting in a room, hidden from the clamor of the war that was going on in the city and on the sea. I could see the ships sinking in the waters of the bay, painting the blue water red and black. I remember some weird noises coming from one of the windows and when I turned I saw a tall man standing in the room, clothed in an icy uniform, holding a black arrow in his hand, pointing it into our direction…”

“White,” Suho suddenly said, no emotions in his voice.

“What?”

“The arrow.”

“No, Suho. Where did you get it from? I remembered the color of the arrow perfectly. After all, it was an arrow that blinded my brother.”

“But, Jongdae,” Junmyeon looked up at him, confusion on his face, “we only use white arrows. Black is not our color. Isn’t black the color of the West?”

The boy sat in silence, Jongdae’s brain working on full speed. It made no sense. He remembered the color perfectly. He was sure of it. It was black. Not white. “No, Suho. We use purple arrows.”

And as he said it out loud, a realization fell upon him. “Maybe there’s more to this issue, than everyone thought?”

“What do you mean? But that makes no sense…,” Jumnyeon whispered, standing up. Jongdae followed suit and the boys where both standing straight, looking into each other’s eyes, “Jongdae… if it hadn’t been a white arrow, it haven’t been our soldier, I swear. You have to believe me, please,” the prince begged, his hands slowly starting to shake.

“I do believe you, Prince Junmyeon. I hope I am not making a mistake,” Jongdae gasped not being able to think staright, “but what exactly does it mean?”

Suho did not answer that question, not being able to find a logical explanation himself. It had just turned out that everything they believed their whole lives might not have been true. A black arrow suddenly became a mistery that brough a new light to the case. A third person came into view, someone other than the North and the West, someone other than Minseok and Jongin, someone, who had an interest in keeping both of the kingdoms at war.

Jongdae clunched his fists, realizing he had a new enemy to fight, someone else responsible for what happened to his brother. The sky outside became darker, the inside of the castle suddenly covered by a massive shadow of the black clouds. But before the first lighting could strike, Jongdae felt a hand falling onto his arm. “I’m going to help you, Jongdae,” Junmyeon said, determination visible in his eyes. The prince from the west frowned, a long breath leaving his lungs, “in what? And why?,” he asked, eyes the other prince. Believing the other, did not mean trusting him. “I am going to help you find that person. It is not only your issue to face, prince. The third party may mean only one thing. Someone wanted our kingdoms to be at war. And it happened right after my brother had been kidnapped. That only means that whoever hurt your brother, my know what happened to mine. And I don’t care what my father thinks. This is the first spark of hope I had ever had. And I am going to do anything, to dig the truth. We need to work together, Jongdae. Are you in?,” Junmyeon asked, pulling his hand in front of him, waiting for Jongdae to shake it.

The western prince hesitated, thinking of all the years he had been told not to ever trust the Northerners. But on the other hand Junmyeon had a point. There was no need not to trust him. And no one had to knew. And the discovery was too much to take it himself. He had a feeling there was much more to it.

So he slowly reached out to shake Junmyeon’s hand. It felt weird, Jongdae worried that with that simple act he had betrayed his parents and everything he had ever been taught, but the need to find the one who had hurt his little brother was too much. He hoped that maybe if he revenged his brother, his father would look differently upon him. Maybe if he at least partly made up for his mistake, his parents would love him. Because for all his life, since the accident, he had felt that his parents did nothing but blamed him for not protecting his brother. And he knew, they would much rather preferred it to be him, not Jongin, who was blinded. Because after all, all Jongdae could do was bring storms. It was Jongin who was to be the pride of the Western Kingdom.

Both of them felt weird, knowing they were the first ones of the North and of the West to work together since the Great War. They also knew, that no one could know about it. But still, “prince, no on is to know about it,” Junmyeon said, and Jongdae nodded, taking it for granted, “but we won’t make it on our own. We need someone else.” “It’s too dangerous.” “It may be. But I know someone we can trust. And it is someone who may make our research much quicker, believe me.” They looked at each other, Jongdae’s heart beating faster than ever before. He had hard times trusting Junmyeon, and now, putting his trust in one more person, another person of the North, he just couldn’t take it. Nevertheless, he was aware of the fact, that Suho might have been right. They will need someone. He swallowed his pride, pushed the thoughts of his parents and the feeling of guilt at the back of his head, and asked, “who?”

“Yixing”

Jongdae was standing in the stables, absent-mindedly caressing Thunder’s mane, thinking of everything he had learnt during the day, his head already hurting from overanalyzing all the information, adrenaline rushing in his veins from the excitement that after so many years he might be able to get to the bottom of the mystery that was the Great War, his brother’s blindness and the prince’s disappearance.

What brought him back into reality was a sound of feathers and a shadow falling onto his face. He brought his head up to the high window under the roof and saw a familiar shape. He smirked upon seeing a black raven sitting on the wooden edge, its red eyes focused on the prince. “Maybe my visit in the Eastern woods would come sooner then I thought” he smirked, remembering the mysterious boy from the woods.

A/N

Hello dears!

How are you doing? Alright, I managed to update this week, I added more material to this chapter, hopefully making it better (well, I am much happier with this one than the previous one) and I hope you'll enjoy it as well!

Please, leave comments, subscribe and upvote! :)

Best wishes,

badblood.

P.S Thank you to everyone who has already subscribed and commented! It means so much to me and always makes me smile, I love you all babes, thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story and will support it! Please do and thank you so much ! You're all amazing! :)