Horizon

Fall Underneath

 

 

A/N: 2000 years later i finally update sorry guys. new job, new life developments, more workdays/less time to write. sorry sorry sorry, will try my best

 

 

-

 

 

It was never brief - nothing that lasted but a fleeting moment in time.

War was a struggle. A disease that spread from coast to coast. A wildfire, violently consuming all that lay in its path.

It left scars across all those whose lives it touched - though the marks it left behind were never the same.

One might say that the dinnish people, who no longer remembered the feeling of a home not plundered from another foe, were used to the terrors that came with war. But children were children.

Of their princes three, the youngest was but a child when he’d witnessed it firsthand. He had watched the battle from the back of a fleeing horse, blinking back the ash of the burning fire that had painted his face in tear-streaked trails of dark grey to see his father torn down from where he stood. Ripped in half and leaving the ground bloody and red.

And though the image had burned itself vividly into his memory, it was the helplessness he had felt then that had tortured him for years. Terrible nightmares of which he chose not to speak of, in which he saw clearly now the demons that had chased after them - sprinting through the fire like burning shadows in the mist, misshapen creatures whose claws were outstretched toward him.

In the crimson valley, another young boy grew up in the body of a monster. Rather than take up arms, he chose to live his entire life in fear, hiding out from the growing black smoke in the distance, covering his ears from the calling thunder of the drums growing louder and louder - and when all that was left were the bones of his forefathers, disgraced and left to rot in the wretched bog, the gaping wound in his heart felt beyond repair.

For them all, the pain of loss had paved the way for anger and bitter resentment. One that had found itself deep, like the blackened roots of a dead tree.

 

 

-

 

 

Kyungsoo recognized the inhuman noises coming from Udo’s mouth for what they were. The frightened cries of an animal backed into a corner. Though his timbre was deep and rumbling, there was an over-bright light in the giant’s eyes, one that told Kyungsoo that Udo would fight for his life - with all the desperation of a dying man.

He knew what it was Kai feared most. He knew what Kai saw - a threat looming over them - his fragile lover, torn to bits before his eyes.

And like the wings of a bird, spread wide to catch twinkling stars and waning moons in its wake, Kai’s arms were open. Shielding Kyungsoo from the wild world, keeping him tucked away in their own little pocket of paradise.

It was warm there, in his safe little haven, and for a brief moment, Kyungsoo let himself be comforted.

It would be deceptively easy to look away from what was to follow. To allow whoever was the victor to gather him into their arms, protecting him from everything but his own guilt.

And yet as Kyungsoo watched them - two circling predators with their teeth bared and their hackles raised - he knew with every beat of his pounding heart that he could not allow harm to come to either of them.

The grass still lay withered from the feet of men who had trampled them in the past in a desperate bid for glory, the skies still weeping for the blood that had been shed between their lands. And the recent memory of his homeland filled with bodies - bodies piled one on top of the other, wept over by grieving widows and mothers and children too small to reach the tattered limbs that hung like scraps from the bloodied carts - was one that tore his stomach to shreds.

Enough. It was enough.

His heart filled with a swell of courage.

In that fleeting moment, right before they could come to blows with their hands already clenched into fists and muscles tensed for movement, Kyungsoo darted out from underneath the reach of Kai’s arms. The little wooden toy he’d been keeping tucked away in his belt tumbled forgotten to the ground as he threw his arms out, shielding his giant friend with his own body that seemed so small and frail in comparison.

Kyungsoo could do nothing but brace himself against Udo’s chest, unconsciously baring his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. Only the sudden hiss of wind would prepare him for the whittling knife that swept out from Kai’s hand, the wicked curve of its bone blade stopping just centimeters from bared skin.

With a gasp of fear, words were tumbling from his lips, curse words and half-finished sentences that died in his mouth just as quickly as they were formed. His legs shook, but Kyungsoo stayed as he was, neck angled away from the sharp blade nearly biting into his flesh.

From behind him, he could feel the hair on the crown of his head stirring, tickled by his friend’s heaving breath. And then there was the concussive thud of Udo’s heart from where the two of them were pressed together, the stinging sweat of Udo’s chest dripping through the back of his tunic.

The expression on Kai’s face was wilder now than ever before - a strange mixture of fear and anger - his hand trembling from where he had barely been able to stop it in its path.

With an agonized look and a guttural cry, Kai threw the knife aside, leaping forward to grab Kyungsoo. He folded his arms around Kyungsoo’s torso, trying to pull him away from what he perceived to be a threat. But Kyungsoo dug his heels into the ground this time, resisting his lover’s attempts all the while shaking his head.

No - no! Kai! You mustn’t!” Kyungsoo gasped, freeing his arms from the tight grip and pushing back against the strong shoulders of his lover.

Soo!” Kai shouted in a hoarse voice, eyes filled with fear as he tried to pull the two apart.

Udo looked equally distressed, crying out wordlessly as if he wanted to help. His hands were stretched out toward Kyungsoo, his head snapping back and forth between the two of them. But Udo was no fighter. The rage and the worry in those shouting voices was overwhelming. He knew not what to do to help, and there was panic building steadily within his chest. All he could do was to watch on helplessly.

Stop, please, he is my friend!” In a bold reversal, this time Kyungsoo wrestled for Kai’s hands, gripping them within his own as he tried to trap his lover’s arms between their chests. Not a seasoned warrior himself, it proved to be quite the struggle for him, and he spent countless breathless moments trying his best to hold Kai to his chest, to prevent Kai from lunging past him to lay a hand on Udo.

No - no - ” Like a pop of heat from a fire that was building into a raging inferno, Kai’s voice was building in volume. He stared up at Udo with a snarl, and Udo seemed to grow more fearful by the minute, stepping backward with his hands stretched protectively over his face. “He is monster!”

“No, Udo is no monster! Udo is… is…”

“Evil creature! Na urya!1 Begone!

“Stop, Kai!!” Kyungsoo cried out, throwing all of his weight forward as he pushed back once more, his feet stripping deep lines into the ground as he just barely stopped his lover from pushing past.

“No… no… not a monster!” Udo reacted to every word as if it were each a crippling blow, staggering back with a wounded cry. Without looking back, his foot caught against a rock, sending him tumbling down onto the floor like a crumbling tower.

Kyungsoo cried out alongside him in a moment of phantom pain, feeling as if it had been he who had fallen instead, his heart breaking into two as it seemed the ground was being slowly out from beneath his feet. But he somehow managed to cling on, weaving his arms around Kai’s back and digging his wet face into his lover’s strained shoulders.

“Udo never kill anyone. Udo never kill! Please - Udo - Udo is - is not monster!” Udo cried out. As if tied down to the spot by some kind of unearthly power, Udo curled in on himself, his dark eyes peering out from the cage of his arms in terror.

Silence, beast!” Kai said, finally gathering his strength. In a move Kyungsoo would have never anticipated, Kai picked the young lord up with his arms, spinning around quickly and tossing his lover roughly on the ground behind them. He pounced on the knife from, narrowly missing Kyungsoo’s grasping hands which reached out to stop him. Kai outstepped Kyungsoo’s clumsy attempts to grab his ankle, advancing quickly and letting out a cry as he plunged the knife forward with the intent to kill.

Through some of luck, the first slice caught nothing but air as the giant scrambled back from the fire and into the darkness, his arms and legs nearly giving away as he crawled clumsily backwards in fear. He only barely missed the following blows that followed, the knife scraping loudly against the rocks where he had been lying just moments before. Kai followed, clambering after him with murder in his eyes, and Udo could do nothing but to continue to flee.

Soon enough, there was nowhere left to crawl. Only the cave wall met Udo, cold and unforgiving. Though he pressed up against it, large hands frantically slapping against the rock as if trying to find some hidden passage within which he could hide, Udo was trapped. With no alternative, he turned, raising his hands above his head with a wail.

And as one mind descended into panic, so did another into bloodlust and rage.

Protect your loved ones, Kai’s mind whispered to him in the voice of his long-dead father, giving him the strength to raise the dagger once more as he descended upon the howling beast. Protect them - lest the beasts take them from us first.

In the fire’s light, his eyes appeared a glowing dark amber, twisted and molten with a cold, detached rage.

Udo frantically reached out to swat him away but Kai barely grunted, taking a glancing blow to the chest without a word as he reacted quickly and caught the monster by his arm.

Kai pinned the squirming creature down with it, pressing down unmercifully with his full weight as he readied his knife hand.

He’d already committed to it. Just one slice - just one to sever the tormented creature’s head from his neck. Just one.

And then, in a moment of insanity, the image preceded the action - an imaginary head tumbling down severed from a quivering, lifeless body - the look of horror on Kyungsoo’s face, his own hands red and stained with blood.

His fingers twitched on the knife handle, and he hesitated just long enough.

Hands wrapped around Kai’s wrist, preventing him from doing what he’d planned, pulling him and twisting his wrist so hard that he was forced to let go of the weapon with a hiss. Before he could fight back and reach for the knife once more, Kai found himself whipped around, face to face with Kyungsoo who lifted his hand and sent it cracking across his face with a sound that echoed across the cave.

...Kai was left stunned.

It also left him open for the tackle that came next. One that had them tumbling and rolling across the dirt floor.

In the end, it was Kai who found himself lying on his back by the fire with stars in his eyes, and Kyungsoo holding him down in much the same way as he had held the monster down just moments before. The only difference, of course, being the Kyungsoo’s sad, watering eyes, piercing into his own.

Stop, please.” Kyungsoo was saying, begging Kai with a voice that frightened him and filled him with great regret. Kyungsoo was begging him. Kai lay there, shamed into silence.

It all came crashing back, as it always did. The way he had thrown Kyungsoo to the ground, the anger which had made him senseless. Deaf to Kyungsoo’s pleading words.

“He is but a child.” Kyungsoo whispered at him, a few tears splattering down from his face like droplets of rainwater. Kai blinked them away reflexively, feeling them drip down onto his cheeks.

Breathing hard in exertion, Kai looked to his side with a confused groan. To where the large figure still lay there curled up into a ball, two frightened eyes staring at him through the shadows. Upon meeting his gaze, the monster shrunk back even further, pressing into the wall as much as it could. As if trying to become one with it.

“...child?” Kai asked in a roughened voice, turning back to Kyungsoo with a look of wary disbelief. Judging by size alone, it was certainly bigger than any grown man Kai had ever come into the acquaintance of.

“Not yet sixteen summers, though he indeed may not look the part.” Kyungsoo said, with a grim sort of smile. He too glanced over, though just for a moment. “Everything seems to grow bigger in his homeland.”

Sixteen summers. By his sixteenth summer, Kai had already been a talented huntsman and a master rider - nothing like this fearful, wretched creature, hiding its face from the world.

...but he had been in so many ways still a young child. Naive and adolescent in his views.

Innocent.

A twinge of doubt. One that only grew as he considered the creature’s response. To Kyungsoo’s point, it - the boy - had done nothing but try to flee. Something which he wouldn’t have expected from something of its size and power.

And those cries. They seemed… pained, almost. As if frightened, rather than enraged.

Kai glanced back to his side, looking upon his foe for the first time not as a monstrous creature. He tried to see him as just another child. Then and only then did he take note of the scarred hands that shook, covering a misshapen head. Then and only then did he hear the low and constant whimper, almost an ambient hum.

Kai’s fingers twitched, still inches from the knife he had almost buried into the boy’s neck.

“Not… monster?” Kai asked hoarsely, only to be met with a sad look.

“He is no monster.” Kyungsoo told him, with eyes that implored him to understand. “His name is Udo.”

In that instant, Kai understood. Kyungsoo’s voice, quiet and steady, was all it took to convince him.

The tension left his body at the same time as the shame settled in.

He remained trapped beneath his lover, who seemed not to trust him enough to let him go (the knowledge of which stung him). Kai could do nothing but to draw his arms in with a sigh, sliding his hands through his hair as he lay there taking in the sound of the boy’s cries echoing across the cave walls, smelling the damp wood of the fizzling fire as it flickered red and black across his closed eyelids.

Curb thy tongue and stay thy blade, Kai only now recalled his eldest brother telling him, drawing him deeper into a moment of self-reflection. He wondered if it would be the same, now. He imagined his two brothers scolding him, hovering over him with wagging fingers and tongues. His actions though well intentioned, he could hear Suho advising him, could very well lead to irreversible consequences.

Teaching patience to Kai had been an invaluable lesson, but they weren’t always pillars of good behavior. Of course, being sons of the Chieftainess, they’d all had a bit of a temper as children. Suho had been quite haughty and proud as the eldest son, but he’d never gotten into trouble quite like Tao and Kai had. Though he didn’t share his brother Tao’s foul mouth, they both had been far more reckless than either of their fathers had been comfortable with. But that was many moons ago. As they had slowly matured, seasoned by years of a wandering hunter’s lifestyle, those times had become fewer and far between.

He hadn’t lost control of himself like that for years.

...and yet would it have ever ended differently?

In all the outcomes he painted in his mind’s eyes, there was no other choice that could have been made. Perhaps he could have listened the first time Kyungsoo had tried to stop him. But it had all been purely visceral - his reaction to seeing his little bird looking pale and withdrawn - and that beast had looked seconds away from smothering Kyungsoo with those giant hands of his.

And then he’d never see the beauty of those star-born eyes ever again.

Kyungsoo was watching him carefully. And though his cheeks were red and eyes puffy with tears, he was just as captivating as ever.

Sehun was right - it was a madness, Kai thought to himself, taking in a deep breath and tasting iron in the back of his throat like a thick, bloody tar. Something about this small man that invoked the rawest of emotions in him - awakened the beast that slumbered inside of him.

Slowly, Kyungsoo allowed Kai to sit up. As soon as he could, the tanned man rolled out from beneath Kyungsoo with a quiet groan. Rubbing his muscles to encourage the blood to flow, Kai watched as, out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo pulled the giant’s hands from his face, checking his arms and face for any wounds.

Distant thunder rumbled in the distance.

Kyungsoo squatted back down beside him. He’d picked up the knife from where it had fallen, though he held away from Kai, angling his body so that Kai wouldn’t be able to reach for it. The action did not go unnoticed by Kai, but it was not one Kai could not fault his lover for.

Just a precaution, lest the situation turn dire once more.

He hoped for all their sake that it would not.

Kai’s face reflected his guilt, and so it would, at least for a little while. There were no words left to be said that had not already been spat out with hatred. Words that had been spoken in a different frame of mind, now deeply regretted.

It was not unusual to see the dinnish prince so quiet, although it was to be admitted that the extended length of the silence made Kyungsoo feel considerably uncomfortable. It was as if he were a bystander witnessing some strange internal battle.

Kyungsoo shifted back onto his feet, leaving the two former foes to stare at each other as he cleaned up the mess they’d left behind in their scuffle.

For a long while, Kai looked right back at the eyes that peered out at him from the darkness.

There were words hovering on the tip of his tongue, but he bit his lip, finding not an ounce of courage to voice them. Speech had never been his strong suit, and now the pressure on him to speak was almost crippling.

Swallowing his spit, Kai shifted, turning to address the shadows within which Udo still cowered.

“Where… others?”

Distrustful of the other’s intentions, Udo stared back at him with nothing but a mulish expression. Thankfully, to fill the silence, Kyungsoo responded for him, his voice echoing and hollow.

“He came to take his mother and father home.”

Kai furrowed his brows. “...mother and father?”

Kai recalled the bodies that had piled tall, forming mountains of gaping maws and pale, dead eyes. He remembered the slow trek of prisoners, what little there were who had survived the battle. With the castle still left to rebuild, they had been simply marched, gaunt figures wrapped in chains and tattered rags, into the mist to be left to die. He could not recall seeing any who had resembled the young giant before him - and his distinct features were ones that he would have surely recognized.

“I am afraid they did not survive the battle. Their bodies belong to the marsh now. He has chosen to stay here until he is able to properly mourn their passing.” Kyungsoo said, his voice appeared closer than ever, hover just over Kai’s right shoulder.

It was a sad tale. A young boy, orphaned by war, hated and feared by his father’s killers - but unwilling to be left alone, still clinging on to some sad memory of the life he had once lived, and the family he once cherished. Nothing more than bubbles rising beneath the peat moss now, the last traces of a life that had once been his own.

This was a loss that Kai could relate to.

A tune in a variation of the pain that he too had once suffered. And though the warrior inside of him could not trust the son of his enemy, there was remorse in his heart for a fellow compatriot in grief.

Kyungsoo once again watched him carefully, expression guarded as a quiet hush fell over the room. Kai lowered his gaze.

“...did not know.” He said carefully, making sure to keep his hands in sight and his gaze turned downward. “Kai is sorry.”

He ducked fluidly into a respectful bow, tucking his knees beneath him as he leant forward, bowing his head to the ground willingly and closing his eyes to receive whatever punishment the boy wished to give.

Of which there would of course be none.

The anticipation felt like hours. When Kai next opened his eyes, looking up through the fringe of his hair, he found Udo returning his gesture - as best he could with his massive size - his back barely bent but his head clearly lowered.

Of course, the giant still looked troubled. There was clear hesitance in his motions and a tenseness to his body that spoke of lingering fear and distrust.

And yet, when Kai looked closer, he began to see something new. Forgiveness in the other’s eyes - or, much more likely - the beginnings of something very much like it.

A connection was being formed between the two of them. And though it wavered, fragile and new and thin, it was tempered by a wary sort of mutual understanding.

Gently, as if worried it would break the truce, Kyungsoo clasped Kai’s shoulder, opening his mouth to speak.

His hand still held the knife, of course, though his grip was loose and distracted. It would have been a detail that would have mattered not, had it not been for the furious eyes that watched them from the outside, mistaking the weapon in Kyungsoo’s hand and the dazed look on Kai’s face for something far different.

 

 

-

 

 

The gruff, signaling bark of a dog was his only warning.

“Wretched creature! I knew you would unveil you plan at some point! Under my order, I demand you unhand my brother!”

Kyungsoo pulled away as if burnt, and he spun around to come face-to-face with yet another blade. In between feelings of blank disbelief and numb exasperation, he realized he recognized the pattern on the knife. Intricate designs carved into the ashen wood - this was a ceremonial Trivanese hunting knife, one of the many that were gifted to each member of the nobility. Though not made for practical use, he could not find the courage to test its sharpness, petrified yet again by the prick of a blade against his neck.

Kyungsoo threw his hands into the air, dropping his own carving knife to the ground as the voices in his mind rose from a hushed murmur to a hysterical howl.

Prince Sehun was a furious mess - panting for breath with his hair sticking up in every which way. Unlike the cold gaze of his brother the King, Sehun’s eyes were a blazing fire, burning even brighter as he kicked the carving knife beyond Kyungsoo’s reach.

As to be expected, Lady Bita came running in on Sehun’s heels, preceded by none other than her snarling war dog. She looked bewildered at the sight in front of her, glancing over at the weapon Sehun wielded before patting herself down.

A displeased look flashed over her face as she discovered the empty hilt of the blade that usually remained belted at her side. She stepped forward with a huff.

Sehun…” Bita began, reaching out a hand for her blade, only to be met with a defiant shake of the moorish prince’s head.

“I told you he was not to be trusted!” Said the prince, never once lifting his gaze away or moving the blade of Bita’s knife.

“Come now, surely there must be some explanation for this -”

“There is no need for an explanation - I know what I have seen!” Sehun argued, glancing back to Bita for a moment. He turned back just in time to see his blade arm knocked away. The culprit - a hand gripping his wrist tightly - looked at him with a grim expression.

Kimal.2 Kai commanded roughly, once again positioning himself firmly in front of Kyungsoo. Though relieved to be once again free to move, the lord looked nervous, something that only seemed to scream guilt in Prince Sehun’s mind.

“Stop? Stop?” The prince’s voice only became louder as he grew more indignant. “Did you not see how he had you pinned to the ground with a knife in his hand? I have just saved you from certain death, my brother, and yet you still beg me to stop!”

Kai only shook his head once. Kyungsoo was sputtering some excuses in that soft, poisonous voice of his and as Bita gripped his shoulder, begging for him to step back, Sehun’s irritation reached boiling point.

“I have had enough of this!” He shouted, ripping his hand out of Kai’s grip. The prince dropped his weapon to the ground, opting instead to grab Kai by his fur shawl, pulling him in close for an angry snarl.

“I have tried and tried to protect you from this witchery, Kai, and yet you remain blind to the evil that sleeps in your bed! What will it take - how many warnings will you need - before you realize what this creature really wants?”

Kyungsoo stared at him over Kai’s shoulder, eyes red and wide - as if hurt, though Sehun knew better than to trust the mask of a well-practiced actor. A rough tug drew his eyes back down. Kai was gripping him by the shoulder, Sehun’s tunic back.

“Silence, Sehun.” Kai barked, the disappointment in his eyes burning a mark of shame into Sehun’s skin.

Would it ever be enough? When all Sehun ever had to reassure him was the grip of his elder brother’s hand. To steady him against the sharp gaze of his father looking down upon him. Always scolding. Always disappointed.

Enough - Sehun’s entire life, spent chasing after the shadows of those who’d never look back to see him stumbling after with his hands outstretched.

...enough.

Sehun’s mouth snapped shut with a click.

Lost in thought, it had taken him much longer to notice the massive figure that had risen from the shadows. It wasn’t until it was standing behind Kyungsoo’s back - the inhumanly tall pillar of muscle and bone - that his eyes snapped to it, his pupils dilating.

Bita had clearly already seen it - she’d tensed up seconds before he even glanced up, a hand at her side for a sword that was not there. Even her dog was perched for movement - and though the mongrel was oddly quiet, none of her usual odd yipping and grunting present - she stared straight into the shadows with a strange intensity, her ears pricked and sensitive.

“Wh-wh-what i-is th-th-that?” He asked, letting go of Kai’s furs to point over his brother’s shoulder with a trembling finger.

Kai let go of him, glancing calmly back over his shoulder at the monstrosity that was stepping out into the light of the fire. It was so tall that it had to bend its head to do so, using a gigantic hand to grip the wall for balance.

Gaping slack-jawed in disbelief, Sehun took a step back with every grotesque inch of its form that came into view.

...’tis Winky. Winky the cave troll.” Sehun repeated senselessly in a tremulous, high-pitched voice that didn’t seem to come from his throat at all. He felt his neck straining back as the troll’s full height was revealed, towering over him in a way that made his mouth dry.

Though the monster’s face was deeply hideous and warped beyond belief, those eyes stared intelligently through him, pinning him down with a frown.

It kept its distance, and yet when it opened its mouth to speak, it revealed rows upon rows of sharp teeth and a rumbling voice that shook his insides.

“Udo is not Winky.”

Dear lord - it speaks, Sehun thought to himself, feeling his knees knock into each other.

“...trolls exist...?” Bita’s sweet voice rolled over him in the background, barely audible over the sound of blood rushing into his head.

“...oh my.” Was the faint response Sehun gave her as his eyes rolled up his head.

Moments before his vision was consumed by black, he felt the ground shaking with movement, Bita gasping somewhere beside him with shock as huge hands reached out to grab onto him.

 

 

-

 

 

It was both late and early. The small fire was slowly fizzling out into soft curls of smoke, but the morning light was just beginning to peek over the horizon, providing them with just enough light to see.

It would have been another cold morning in the misty marsh, but with the way their bodies pressed tightly together in a circle around the dying flame, they were warmed enough.

Sehun was strangely docile and quiet, staring up with rapt attention at the creature within whose lap he was practically cradled. On the bright side, he was no longer struggling. In fact, he seemed oddly content (if not still a little stupefied) to lay there, nearly smothered by Udo’s attention. The giant looked absolutely giddy with happiness, eagerly feeding Sehun small torn pieces of the meat pies Kyungsoo had unfolded from within his shawl, pressing them insistently against Sehun’s mouth until the dazed prince opened his mouth to accept it. It seemed as if he were delighted to be able to play host - lonely as he had been before, this must have seemed a dream to him. At least, once the ridiculous hostilities had finally been pushed aside.

Bita, ever the cool-headed foil to her lover’s explosive personality, was adapting as quickly to the new situation as a duck would to water. All the while, she remained dutifully by her poor prince’s side, resting her elbows upon Udo’s leg as she lightly Sehun’s hair.

And though Udo was only able to give her halting responses, still as timid as he had been the first day he’d met Kyungsoo, Bita pried each word from him as if it were a prize. Inquiring about how it was he had survived for so long, hidden away from the eyes of the watchers who prowled the lands. And of his meager diet, nothing but roots and berries scavenged whenever possible, surely not enough for a ‘growing boy his size’ - a comment that garnered a snort from Kai and a bleary look from Sehun.

They spoke of his good fortune, to have found a true friend in Kyungsoo. The quiet lord with a heart of gold, Bita had called him, casting a glowing look of approval in Kyungsoo’s direction. Dragging his eyes away from his giant caretaker, even Sehun glanced over. He seemed curious, perhaps regarding him in a different light, though Kyungsoo could not meet his gaze to tell. He could only look away, feeling a bashful blush creep onto his face.

“...and what of your long journey?” Bita smiled. “Tell me, what compelled you to leave your beautiful crimson valleys?”

Udo dropped his hand from where it had been mid-movement to deliver another morsel to Sehun’s open mouth. Sehun frowned, furrowing his eyebrows in annoyance.

“Udo came to bring others home.”

Within his little cave on the edge of the moor, Udo looked past the mouth of it where Kai stood guard - to the marshlands which steamed with white fog. His eyes were faraway, seeing all too clearly what the others could not.

“But Udo is alone now.” Udo eventually said. His voice was somber and quiet.

“...Udo is the last.”

And as the look on Bita’s face grew soft, Kyungsoo glanced over his shoulder to see Kai looking back - just for a moment - his eyes shining with an emotion raw and intense.

 

 

-

 

 

It was sunrise, nearly time for them all to leave. And yet for the most part they all remained curled up in a heap of flesh and fur, Bita and her dog pressed up against Udo’s side, the giant still clinging on to Sehun as if he holding onto a doll. The prince was spread akimbo, one of his legs dangling off of Udo’s giant knees, his mouth open in a loud, rolling snore.

Only Kyungsoo and Kai remained awake, seated at the mouth of the cave with their arms wrapped around their knees. Kyungsoo rested his head against his lover’s shoulder, bangle clanking lightly against the ground when Kai reached over to grip his hand.

As always, Kyungsoo found his presence soothing.

There was peace in his heart as he sat there with his lover, watching as the rest of the world slowly woke around them. The animals stirring in the bushes, the sounds of chattering human voices in the far distance as the kitchen fires lit up. Trails of white smoke over the top of the barren landscape.

There were no troubling thoughts in Kyungsoo’s mind, only the feeling of warm food resting heavy and pleasant in his gut, and the feeling of Kai’s fingers twining with his own, tracing the lines of his palm with delicate fingertips.

“...Kai not trust Udo.” Kai told Kyungsoo, the first words he’d spoken in hours. The dinnish man faced forward, never turning to look at the man by his side. But the hand in his own squeezed a little tighter.

“You needn’t trust him. You need only trust me.” Kyungsoo said. He squeezed back just as hard.

And when the tickle of a feather brushed across his cheek, he chased it away with his fingers, lips heavy with a lingering smile.

Everything seemed so different.

The world a little brighter - the sun a bit warmer - and the air that tousled their hair seemed different.

And as if there were something prickling, readying itself to be seen, the wind felt strangely heavy.

On the precipice they teetered, too enchanted by the smell of the roses in bloom that they could not smell the smoke breeze.

Something was coming across the horizon.

 

 

-

 

 

 

1: You monster.

2: Stop.

 

 

 

 

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bbe1989
finished writing last chapter + epilogue, editing now! hopefully done within the week - it's a bit long.

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INXEXOBB #1
Chapter 17: in the end, love always wins💛thank you for sharing whatever beauty this was with me
Melodykhai23 #2
Chapter 17: Im so glad i came across this masterpiece. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Galaxyboo_
#3
Chapter 17: This is so beautiful I'm crying ㅠㅠ
Manavi4412 #4
Chapter 17: Hi
The last 3 chapters had a lot going on..... but the penultimate chapter had so many unexpected surprising twists!! The true identity of virgil actually being minos, n kyungsoo shouldering the blame on himself willingly (contrary to kyungri framing her, as I thought at first)....n then I was totally dreading that kyungsoo was gone n despite knowing the truth they couldn't save him in time........so ya, the last 3 chaps definitely had me crying 😂
Also, it's really well written, specially when I could actually feel the characters emotions. N u couldn't completely hate any character when they all had their own circumstances cause there's no good or bad person, we're all a mix of both depending on the experiences that shape us. So it gave a realistic feel.
Moreover, the part where ksoo ain't sure if he actually loves kai or he just thinks he does cause of his responsibilities n obligations....that part had a real different gravity to it.
For some reason, I specifically liked the addition of udo's character tho 🥰
So ya, thanks for writing!!
INFTJazm
#5
Chapter 17: I hope our wishes find u well!!!! ❤️ be safe out yhere!
INFTJazm
#6
Chapter 17: Deserves all the upvotes
INFTJazm
#7
Chapter 17: Thank u for creating something so beautiful!
INFTJazm
#8
Chapter 17: Maam got me crying .. real fresh tears that wont stop with the last two chapters. GOD BLESS YOU AND UR TALENT. Thank you for not giving up in this story!! Just like kyungsoo didnt? Omg its so beautiful in still crying
INFTJazm
#9
Chapter 16: hoooly e
INFTJazm
#10
Chapter 8: Love this langiange