The Arrow's Flight 8/?
Title: The Arrow's Flight 8/?
Pairing: Changmin/Junsu (Jaejoong/fc, Yunho/Heechul, Yoochun/Yoohwan [incest], Junho/fc)
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Here is another world that I wish existed in a place other than my mind, but it doesn't and I don't own them and I can only place them into this delusion.
Summary: Greed and corruption rule two neighboring kingdoms: The Kingdom of Mountains and the Kingdom of Trees. Two princes are planning a coup. Their success or failure depends on the shadow in the woods, the rogue of the forests, the arrow in the sky.
A/N: Totally inspired by Robin Hood. Can you blame me?
Warning: het
Part 8:
The Sight Window
The cut out portion of a longbow riser that allows the arrow to come closer to the centerline of the bow.
Junho allowed Minho and Kibum into the secure room before him. They stood just a few steps inside, arms loose at their sides, ready to draw a sword or throw a knife. Junho moved between them, but behind them. He blinked a few times at the dimness in the room. The only light came from a small slit high in the far wall. The room was barely big enough for a grown man to lay down in. Jonghyun and Jinki stayed out in the hall with their swords drawn, an obvious threat to the three men in the room, should they try anything to escape.
Baekhyun, Lay, and Jongin were all standing. They’d all been stripped of their uniforms, left in nothing but loose pants. Lay leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Baekhyun paced a short three steps one way and three the other. Jongin had his hands laced on top of his head. He smirked.
Junho never thought that Junsu’s guards would betray them. They’d grown up as Junsu’s guards, and the only reason why they were not his guards was because Junho did not want more than five. Technically, they were the princes’ guards, sworn to protect both of them.
“All right, so talk,” Junho said.
Lay shrugged a shoulder, flicking short hair out of his face with the other hand. “Why? You’re not going to allow us to live anyway.”
“And you assume that I am above torture,” Junho said. “When it comes to my brother’s safety, you should know better. I will do anything to protect my brother. Friends you may have been, but that title no longers applies to those that betray me and try to harm my brother.”
Baekhyun stopped and put his face in his hands.
“Quick and mostly painless, or long and drawn out,” Junho continued. “It’s your choice.”
When they continued to be silent, Junho shook his head. “I really want to know what is worth my brother’s life. What is the price of the princess of the Trees Kingdom?”
More silence.
“You can also blame it on any of your comrades. They’re all dead and have no way to defend themselves. So who was it? Suho? Chanyeol? Kyungsoo?”
Baekhyun took a very deep breath.
“Don’t you dare,” Jongin snapped.
Baekhyun shook his head. “Why not? We’re found out. I didn’t want to go along with it in the first place!”
By Jongin and Lay’s silence, that was at least true.
Baekhyun kneeled, head bowed, arms held up in subjugation. “The king is aware of Junsu’s trips to the Trees Kingdom, but he does not know why. He is wary of calling out his own son for treason. His plan was to kidnap the princess of the Trees for a ransom that Jaejoong could not pay and destroy his claim on the crown, delaying it further.”
“Does this mean that the king is aware of my plans?”
Baekhyun winced. “Yes. To an extent. He is aware of the threat on his life, but it is our job to find out how and to stop whoever is planning it. He is not aware that you are planning to do it..”
Junho was suddenly very glad that he and Junsu only talked of their methods of ending their father’s life when they were alone.
“Who else is aware of this?”
“His guards. The queen, I think.”
Junho glanced at Minho who only shook his head. “What was to happen to you if you failed in kidnapping the princess?”
“We try again. It has been our orders for months. It has never been a good opportunity. I’m assuming that they succeeded,” Baekhyun said.
Junho snorted. “Yes, but only until Junsu found out and then he chased them down and killed them all.”
“I knew it would not work,” Baekhyun said. “With Max on your side, I said over and over there was no way to get the Trees’ Princess here without Maurdering Max stopping us.”
“And I am assuming my father knows of our alliance with Maurdering Max?”
“He is suspicious of it yes, for as many times as Junsu has been robbed and not killed.”
“What are the chances he is lying?” Kibum asked Junho carefully.
Junho pondered the three of them for a moment and then shook his head. “It does not matter. We have already had suspicions that my father knows what I am up to. With these three, we’ve eliminated ten who can thwart us. I cannot kill my father’s guards without arousing suspicion. We will dispatch of these three.”
“Dispatch?” Lay said. “Such a cruel word.”
Junho glanced at him and pulled out his sword. He waited until both Minho and Kibum had done the same. “As much as I wish to make them pay for Junsu’s suffering, have mercy.”
<|---------<<<
“I don’t want to go,” Junsu whispered. “Please, not yet. Please.”
Changmin swallowed tightly and pulled Junsu to him. “I don’t want you to go. Not ever.”
Junsu gasped against his shoulder, body shaking, arms tight around Changmin’s waist. Even injured and not able to do anything more than kiss Changmin, the last few days had been the best days of his life.
The vision of the sunset bathing the trees in orange blurred. Junsu blinked and blinked again, trying to focus on a point in the forests to keep from crying.
“I love you,” Junsu whispered. “Just a couple more days, please, only a few more. I do not want to leave.”
Changmin ran his hand through Junsu’s soft hair. “I don’t want you to leave, but you need to. You need to be home where you can plan for the Festival like you always do. You and Junho need to be as innocent in this as you can. If someone thinks for even a moment that you are going to kill the king ...”
“Someone already does.”
“Junho will find out who, probably before you’re even home. It’s been two days since Taemin was here, he’s probably already figured it out.”
“I just don’t want to go.”
Changmin leaned back and smiled. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Well, guess what, darlings,” Kyuhyun said behind them, “you have to go, like an hour ago. Come on. We’re wasting daylight.”
Changmin looked over at him and sighed. He cupped Junsu’s face and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
Junsu blinked, throat tight, and nodded. “I love you.”
They hugged tightly one more time and then Junsu broke away from him, steps hurried toward the cart that was hooked up behind two horses. Kangin and Siwon sat in the front of the cart with Kangin leading. Kyuhyun and Sungmin rode for extra protection. Junsu climbed into the back, wincing a little at the stretch on his side. He took one more glance at Changmin, memorizing the way he appeared with the setting sun painting strips of light on his clothes. The way his eyes were narrowed, hardened with determination.
Junsu smiled and blew him a kiss and then waved. “Love you, Maurdering Max!”
It broke the stoic look and Changmin smiled and shouted back, “Love you, Duckbutt!”
Junsu’s mouth opened in shock, and then he laughed. Changmin hadn’t called him that since they were younger. He shifted onto the makeshift bed and laid down. He pulled the pillow over his head, and only then did he let himself cry as the cart moved away.
<|---------<<<
Changmin started planning as soon as he could no longer see or hear Junsu leaving. He had to or risk another emotional breakdown. He only had to look at Yoochun and Yoohwan and they both nodded to him and slipped into the trees. In one hour, they’d meet at a secured location. And hopefully, they were decent.
With difficulty, Changmin turned away from where Junsu had disappeared and went right to his cabin. He did not look at the bed that they both had slept on. He grab parchment, ink and a quill. He sat with his back to the bed and started sketching, remembering only part of the layout of the gorge and the Stone Plateau. He’d been the Festival of Stones many times, as a child and a few since then, carefully dressed in disguse. He thought of waiting until he had access to Yoohwan’s excellent memory, but he had to do something to keep from thinking.
They all would have to use different arrows, ones that did not have their fletching. Maurdering Max’s Mob was well known. He could not risk having the Mountains Kingdom digging deeper into the forests to find them.
With the five of them, they did not have much time to be successful and escape. He trusted Yoochun and Yoohwan to get him through the caverns, and he trusted Yunho and Heechul to keep Junho and Junsu safe after the king was dead.
He just had to trust himself not to miss the most important shot of his life.
<|---------<<<
Heechul hated being tied up. Or he had, in the past. Most men saw his pretty face and thought he was an easy target. When he proved otherwise, he was usually arrested and thrown in a dank cell, arms behind his back, blindfolded and stripped, and kept until the guards were done with him and let him go.
But this was different. Jung Yunho was different.
Heechul had no problem being tied up and at Jung Yunho’s mercy.
Again, usually.
But he still had his clothes on even though his wrists were tied to his ankles with soft leather strips that Yunho had made himself just for this. With his face pressed to the bed and his ass in the air and Yunho’s fingers trailing up under his shirt along his sides, Heechul was contemplating murder.
“I swear, Jung Yunho, if you don’t touch--”
His threat was cut off by a super-secret whistle code that called for them both to go to the rendezvous point.
“Fuck him, fuck that stupid slip of a leader bitch.”
Yunho chuckled, his fingers going to Heechul’s ankles to release him.
“We are going to finish this, Jung Yunho, and you are going to--”
Yunho flipped him over. Literally, picked him up and tossed him on his back, pulling the breath from him. It took him a moment to clear his head.
“We are going to continue this,” Yunho said. His hands made quick work of the loose lacings of Heechul’s breaches.
Heechul moaned when Yunho grabbed his cock and his hips lifted off the bed. “No time.”
“Just enough time,” Yunho countered.
Heechul loved how slow Yunho made love to him. He loved all the orgasms he was given, and he adored all the orgasms he was denied. Like right now. Yunho made quick work of the leather strip, wrapping it up around his cock and around his balls. Tight, and so delicious.
“By the trees, I love you,” Heechul moaned.
Yunho laughed. “And I you.” He bent down and kissed the tip of Heechul’s dick. “Come on.” He added a soft slap to Heechul’s swollen balls before climbing from the bed.
Heechul moaned and belatedly realized that Yunho’s own breeches were unlaced. “You were about to fuck me, huh?”
Yunho smiled at him briefly before fixing his clothes. “Maybe, but I wasn’t about to let you come.”
“I should think not.”
<|---------<<<
Yoochun leaned against a thick tree trunk. He shut his eyes, relaxing while he could. The next few weeks were going to be full of more waking hours than sleeping ones. His brother lay on the ground, head pillowed on Yoochun’s thigh. Yoochun had removed the leather tie keeping his hair back and now ran his hands through it while they waited for the others.
“I wonder how our lives would be different now if you had let me shoot the king six years ago like I wanted to.”
Yoochun tugged sharply on his hair. “Shut up.”
Yoohwan laughed. “I’m kidding. Six years ago, Junho would not be in a position to take over, and Max would not be sickeningly in love with a prince.”
“You had a clear shot though, and I should have let you take it.”
“Well, I’ll take it now.”
“The kill belongs to Changmin.”
Yoohwan made a face. “I get to shoot second if Changmin misses.”
“He better not miss.”
“I might shoot anyway. The king deserves more than one arrow in his face.”
Footsteps nearby had Yoohwan sitting up. He was quick to pull his hair back up, and unable to help himself, Yoochun ran his fingers down Yoohwan’s neck.
Yoohwan smiled, caught his hand and brought it up to kiss his knuckles. “Love you.”
“You’re my soul.”
Yoohwan chuckled, leaned forward for a quick kiss, and then stood up. A moment later, Heechul and Yunho walked into their small clearing. Yoochun raised an eyebrow because the two of them were usually just as silent as their leader, and then he noticed the bulge at Heechul’s crotch and that Yunho was more holding him up than walking.
“Problems?” Yoochun asked with a laugh.
Heechul licked his lips. “Definitely not.” He moaned and sagged into Yunho.
“Changmin interrupted,” Yunho explained.
Yoohwan laughed.
“Asshole calls for us and then isn’t even here on time.”
“I am,” Changmin said near them, and Yoochun hated to admit that he had surprised them. Changmin was a silent death.
He walked into the clearing and then sat down. He pulled a rolled parchment from his pack and laid it out while the rest of them gathered around. On the parchment was a drawing of the gorge and the plateau. Or one that was close.
Yoohwan tittered. “Why didn’t you wait for me?” he demanded. “The proportions are all wrong and this cave system is not--”
Changmin flipped the parchment over and handed him a slim piece of charchol.
Still grumbling, Yoohwan got to work.
“So what is the plan?” Yoochun asked.
“Smash and grab?” Yunho asked with a grin.
“Shoot and grab,” Changmin corrected. “The king always walks around the festival once. I will position myself in the best spot for a clear shot, and when I have it, I will take it. Yoochun will shoot if I miss.”
“Actually, Yoohwan will do that,” Yoochun said.
Changmin opened his mouth to protest, but really it did not matter which one backed him up. He nodded. “Then you’ll get us out of the caverns without being killed.”
Yoochun shrugged. “Hopefully.”
“This is going to seriously fuck up Jaejoong’s plans,” Yunho said.
Changmin sighed. “It will, but we can’t help it. It has to be done now. Junsu and Junho are going to lay low. Junsu is not going to leave the palace again and pretend to be more injured than he is.”
“So dead,” Heechul muttered.
Changmin ignored him. “Someone at the castle knows that the Twins are plotting. You two,” he pointed at Heechul and Yunho, “have to stay as close to them as you can, without drawing attention to yourselves. As soon as the king is dead, his guards might try to hurt Junsu or Junho. I’d much rather do that part, stay close to them and protect them, because it’s too dangerous.”
“So is your aim,” Yoochun said with a smirk. (line blatantly stolen from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves).
“Here,” Yoohwan said, putting the new map between them. Even hastily scribbled, it looked much better than Changmin’s. “I’ll make a cleaner version and copies once we’ve settled on positions.”
Yoochun tapped a spot on the drawing. “This cavern will give you the clearest, cleanest shot, but it’s also the one that is the most open. If the guards suspect our attack, this will be heavily guarded. This ledge is the lowest, and probably the hardest to slip away from.”
“I suggest here,” Yoohwan said, pointing to a spot near the middle of the cliff.
“It’s not a straight shot,” Yoochun argued.
“And the hardest to get to from the plateau itself,” Yoohwan continued. “You’ll have one moment.” He dragged a stick over the map. “The king will walk this way, and from this angle, you’ll get the back of his head or the front, depending on which way he is walking.”
“I don’t like it,” Yoochun said. “It’s not ...”
“I will be here,” Yoohwan continued, and did the same thing from a spot a little to the left of where Changmin would shoot from. “If Changmin misses, I will have a second shot.”
Yoochun crossed his arms and then nodded. “If we’re planning on two shots, this is the best choice.”
“Two shots?” Heechul smirked at Changmin. “Aren’t you insulted that they are insinuating that you will miss?”
Changmin shook his head. “Grateful. I have been known to miss.”
The four of them snorted.
Part 9: The Fishtailing
Part 7: The Aim
Part 6: The Bracer
Part 5: The Fletching
Part 4: The Limbs
Part 3: The Anchor
Part 2: The Grip
Part 1: The Shaft
.
Pairing: Changmin/Junsu (Jaejoong/fc, Yunho/Heechul, Yoochun/Yoohwan [incest], Junho/fc)
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Here is another world that I wish existed in a place other than my mind, but it doesn't and I don't own them and I can only place them into this delusion.
Summary: Greed and corruption rule two neighboring kingdoms: The Kingdom of Mountains and the Kingdom of Trees. Two princes are planning a coup. Their success or failure depends on the shadow in the woods, the rogue of the forests, the arrow in the sky.
A/N: Totally inspired by Robin Hood. Can you blame me?
Warning: het
Part 8:
The Sight Window
The cut out portion of a longbow riser that allows the arrow to come closer to the centerline of the bow.
Junho allowed Minho and Kibum into the secure room before him. They stood just a few steps inside, arms loose at their sides, ready to draw a sword or throw a knife. Junho moved between them, but behind them. He blinked a few times at the dimness in the room. The only light came from a small slit high in the far wall. The room was barely big enough for a grown man to lay down in. Jonghyun and Jinki stayed out in the hall with their swords drawn, an obvious threat to the three men in the room, should they try anything to escape.
Baekhyun, Lay, and Jongin were all standing. They’d all been stripped of their uniforms, left in nothing but loose pants. Lay leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Baekhyun paced a short three steps one way and three the other. Jongin had his hands laced on top of his head. He smirked.
Junho never thought that Junsu’s guards would betray them. They’d grown up as Junsu’s guards, and the only reason why they were not his guards was because Junho did not want more than five. Technically, they were the princes’ guards, sworn to protect both of them.
“All right, so talk,” Junho said.
Lay shrugged a shoulder, flicking short hair out of his face with the other hand. “Why? You’re not going to allow us to live anyway.”
“And you assume that I am above torture,” Junho said. “When it comes to my brother’s safety, you should know better. I will do anything to protect my brother. Friends you may have been, but that title no longers applies to those that betray me and try to harm my brother.”
Baekhyun stopped and put his face in his hands.
“Quick and mostly painless, or long and drawn out,” Junho continued. “It’s your choice.”
When they continued to be silent, Junho shook his head. “I really want to know what is worth my brother’s life. What is the price of the princess of the Trees Kingdom?”
More silence.
“You can also blame it on any of your comrades. They’re all dead and have no way to defend themselves. So who was it? Suho? Chanyeol? Kyungsoo?”
Baekhyun took a very deep breath.
“Don’t you dare,” Jongin snapped.
Baekhyun shook his head. “Why not? We’re found out. I didn’t want to go along with it in the first place!”
By Jongin and Lay’s silence, that was at least true.
Baekhyun kneeled, head bowed, arms held up in subjugation. “The king is aware of Junsu’s trips to the Trees Kingdom, but he does not know why. He is wary of calling out his own son for treason. His plan was to kidnap the princess of the Trees for a ransom that Jaejoong could not pay and destroy his claim on the crown, delaying it further.”
“Does this mean that the king is aware of my plans?”
Baekhyun winced. “Yes. To an extent. He is aware of the threat on his life, but it is our job to find out how and to stop whoever is planning it. He is not aware that you are planning to do it..”
Junho was suddenly very glad that he and Junsu only talked of their methods of ending their father’s life when they were alone.
“Who else is aware of this?”
“His guards. The queen, I think.”
Junho glanced at Minho who only shook his head. “What was to happen to you if you failed in kidnapping the princess?”
“We try again. It has been our orders for months. It has never been a good opportunity. I’m assuming that they succeeded,” Baekhyun said.
Junho snorted. “Yes, but only until Junsu found out and then he chased them down and killed them all.”
“I knew it would not work,” Baekhyun said. “With Max on your side, I said over and over there was no way to get the Trees’ Princess here without Maurdering Max stopping us.”
“And I am assuming my father knows of our alliance with Maurdering Max?”
“He is suspicious of it yes, for as many times as Junsu has been robbed and not killed.”
“What are the chances he is lying?” Kibum asked Junho carefully.
Junho pondered the three of them for a moment and then shook his head. “It does not matter. We have already had suspicions that my father knows what I am up to. With these three, we’ve eliminated ten who can thwart us. I cannot kill my father’s guards without arousing suspicion. We will dispatch of these three.”
“Dispatch?” Lay said. “Such a cruel word.”
Junho glanced at him and pulled out his sword. He waited until both Minho and Kibum had done the same. “As much as I wish to make them pay for Junsu’s suffering, have mercy.”
<|---------<<<
“I don’t want to go,” Junsu whispered. “Please, not yet. Please.”
Changmin swallowed tightly and pulled Junsu to him. “I don’t want you to go. Not ever.”
Junsu gasped against his shoulder, body shaking, arms tight around Changmin’s waist. Even injured and not able to do anything more than kiss Changmin, the last few days had been the best days of his life.
The vision of the sunset bathing the trees in orange blurred. Junsu blinked and blinked again, trying to focus on a point in the forests to keep from crying.
“I love you,” Junsu whispered. “Just a couple more days, please, only a few more. I do not want to leave.”
Changmin ran his hand through Junsu’s soft hair. “I don’t want you to leave, but you need to. You need to be home where you can plan for the Festival like you always do. You and Junho need to be as innocent in this as you can. If someone thinks for even a moment that you are going to kill the king ...”
“Someone already does.”
“Junho will find out who, probably before you’re even home. It’s been two days since Taemin was here, he’s probably already figured it out.”
“I just don’t want to go.”
Changmin leaned back and smiled. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Well, guess what, darlings,” Kyuhyun said behind them, “you have to go, like an hour ago. Come on. We’re wasting daylight.”
Changmin looked over at him and sighed. He cupped Junsu’s face and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
Junsu blinked, throat tight, and nodded. “I love you.”
They hugged tightly one more time and then Junsu broke away from him, steps hurried toward the cart that was hooked up behind two horses. Kangin and Siwon sat in the front of the cart with Kangin leading. Kyuhyun and Sungmin rode for extra protection. Junsu climbed into the back, wincing a little at the stretch on his side. He took one more glance at Changmin, memorizing the way he appeared with the setting sun painting strips of light on his clothes. The way his eyes were narrowed, hardened with determination.
Junsu smiled and blew him a kiss and then waved. “Love you, Maurdering Max!”
It broke the stoic look and Changmin smiled and shouted back, “Love you, Duckbutt!”
Junsu’s mouth opened in shock, and then he laughed. Changmin hadn’t called him that since they were younger. He shifted onto the makeshift bed and laid down. He pulled the pillow over his head, and only then did he let himself cry as the cart moved away.
<|---------<<<
Changmin started planning as soon as he could no longer see or hear Junsu leaving. He had to or risk another emotional breakdown. He only had to look at Yoochun and Yoohwan and they both nodded to him and slipped into the trees. In one hour, they’d meet at a secured location. And hopefully, they were decent.
With difficulty, Changmin turned away from where Junsu had disappeared and went right to his cabin. He did not look at the bed that they both had slept on. He grab parchment, ink and a quill. He sat with his back to the bed and started sketching, remembering only part of the layout of the gorge and the Stone Plateau. He’d been the Festival of Stones many times, as a child and a few since then, carefully dressed in disguse. He thought of waiting until he had access to Yoohwan’s excellent memory, but he had to do something to keep from thinking.
They all would have to use different arrows, ones that did not have their fletching. Maurdering Max’s Mob was well known. He could not risk having the Mountains Kingdom digging deeper into the forests to find them.
With the five of them, they did not have much time to be successful and escape. He trusted Yoochun and Yoohwan to get him through the caverns, and he trusted Yunho and Heechul to keep Junho and Junsu safe after the king was dead.
He just had to trust himself not to miss the most important shot of his life.
<|---------<<<
Heechul hated being tied up. Or he had, in the past. Most men saw his pretty face and thought he was an easy target. When he proved otherwise, he was usually arrested and thrown in a dank cell, arms behind his back, blindfolded and stripped, and kept until the guards were done with him and let him go.
But this was different. Jung Yunho was different.
Heechul had no problem being tied up and at Jung Yunho’s mercy.
Again, usually.
But he still had his clothes on even though his wrists were tied to his ankles with soft leather strips that Yunho had made himself just for this. With his face pressed to the bed and his ass in the air and Yunho’s fingers trailing up under his shirt along his sides, Heechul was contemplating murder.
“I swear, Jung Yunho, if you don’t touch--”
His threat was cut off by a super-secret whistle code that called for them both to go to the rendezvous point.
“Fuck him, fuck that stupid slip of a leader bitch.”
Yunho chuckled, his fingers going to Heechul’s ankles to release him.
“We are going to finish this, Jung Yunho, and you are going to--”
Yunho flipped him over. Literally, picked him up and tossed him on his back, pulling the breath from him. It took him a moment to clear his head.
“We are going to continue this,” Yunho said. His hands made quick work of the loose lacings of Heechul’s breaches.
Heechul moaned when Yunho grabbed his cock and his hips lifted off the bed. “No time.”
“Just enough time,” Yunho countered.
Heechul loved how slow Yunho made love to him. He loved all the orgasms he was given, and he adored all the orgasms he was denied. Like right now. Yunho made quick work of the leather strip, wrapping it up around his cock and around his balls. Tight, and so delicious.
“By the trees, I love you,” Heechul moaned.
Yunho laughed. “And I you.” He bent down and kissed the tip of Heechul’s dick. “Come on.” He added a soft slap to Heechul’s swollen balls before climbing from the bed.
Heechul moaned and belatedly realized that Yunho’s own breeches were unlaced. “You were about to fuck me, huh?”
Yunho smiled at him briefly before fixing his clothes. “Maybe, but I wasn’t about to let you come.”
“I should think not.”
<|---------<<<
Yoochun leaned against a thick tree trunk. He shut his eyes, relaxing while he could. The next few weeks were going to be full of more waking hours than sleeping ones. His brother lay on the ground, head pillowed on Yoochun’s thigh. Yoochun had removed the leather tie keeping his hair back and now ran his hands through it while they waited for the others.
“I wonder how our lives would be different now if you had let me shoot the king six years ago like I wanted to.”
Yoochun tugged sharply on his hair. “Shut up.”
Yoohwan laughed. “I’m kidding. Six years ago, Junho would not be in a position to take over, and Max would not be sickeningly in love with a prince.”
“You had a clear shot though, and I should have let you take it.”
“Well, I’ll take it now.”
“The kill belongs to Changmin.”
Yoohwan made a face. “I get to shoot second if Changmin misses.”
“He better not miss.”
“I might shoot anyway. The king deserves more than one arrow in his face.”
Footsteps nearby had Yoohwan sitting up. He was quick to pull his hair back up, and unable to help himself, Yoochun ran his fingers down Yoohwan’s neck.
Yoohwan smiled, caught his hand and brought it up to kiss his knuckles. “Love you.”
“You’re my soul.”
Yoohwan chuckled, leaned forward for a quick kiss, and then stood up. A moment later, Heechul and Yunho walked into their small clearing. Yoochun raised an eyebrow because the two of them were usually just as silent as their leader, and then he noticed the bulge at Heechul’s crotch and that Yunho was more holding him up than walking.
“Problems?” Yoochun asked with a laugh.
Heechul licked his lips. “Definitely not.” He moaned and sagged into Yunho.
“Changmin interrupted,” Yunho explained.
Yoohwan laughed.
“Asshole calls for us and then isn’t even here on time.”
“I am,” Changmin said near them, and Yoochun hated to admit that he had surprised them. Changmin was a silent death.
He walked into the clearing and then sat down. He pulled a rolled parchment from his pack and laid it out while the rest of them gathered around. On the parchment was a drawing of the gorge and the plateau. Or one that was close.
Yoohwan tittered. “Why didn’t you wait for me?” he demanded. “The proportions are all wrong and this cave system is not--”
Changmin flipped the parchment over and handed him a slim piece of charchol.
Still grumbling, Yoohwan got to work.
“So what is the plan?” Yoochun asked.
“Smash and grab?” Yunho asked with a grin.
“Shoot and grab,” Changmin corrected. “The king always walks around the festival once. I will position myself in the best spot for a clear shot, and when I have it, I will take it. Yoochun will shoot if I miss.”
“Actually, Yoohwan will do that,” Yoochun said.
Changmin opened his mouth to protest, but really it did not matter which one backed him up. He nodded. “Then you’ll get us out of the caverns without being killed.”
Yoochun shrugged. “Hopefully.”
“This is going to seriously fuck up Jaejoong’s plans,” Yunho said.
Changmin sighed. “It will, but we can’t help it. It has to be done now. Junsu and Junho are going to lay low. Junsu is not going to leave the palace again and pretend to be more injured than he is.”
“So dead,” Heechul muttered.
Changmin ignored him. “Someone at the castle knows that the Twins are plotting. You two,” he pointed at Heechul and Yunho, “have to stay as close to them as you can, without drawing attention to yourselves. As soon as the king is dead, his guards might try to hurt Junsu or Junho. I’d much rather do that part, stay close to them and protect them, because it’s too dangerous.”
“So is your aim,” Yoochun said with a smirk. (line blatantly stolen from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves).
“Here,” Yoohwan said, putting the new map between them. Even hastily scribbled, it looked much better than Changmin’s. “I’ll make a cleaner version and copies once we’ve settled on positions.”
Yoochun tapped a spot on the drawing. “This cavern will give you the clearest, cleanest shot, but it’s also the one that is the most open. If the guards suspect our attack, this will be heavily guarded. This ledge is the lowest, and probably the hardest to slip away from.”
“I suggest here,” Yoohwan said, pointing to a spot near the middle of the cliff.
“It’s not a straight shot,” Yoochun argued.
“And the hardest to get to from the plateau itself,” Yoohwan continued. “You’ll have one moment.” He dragged a stick over the map. “The king will walk this way, and from this angle, you’ll get the back of his head or the front, depending on which way he is walking.”
“I don’t like it,” Yoochun said. “It’s not ...”
“I will be here,” Yoohwan continued, and did the same thing from a spot a little to the left of where Changmin would shoot from. “If Changmin misses, I will have a second shot.”
Yoochun crossed his arms and then nodded. “If we’re planning on two shots, this is the best choice.”
“Two shots?” Heechul smirked at Changmin. “Aren’t you insulted that they are insinuating that you will miss?”
Changmin shook his head. “Grateful. I have been known to miss.”
The four of them snorted.
Part 9: The Fishtailing
Part 7: The Aim
Part 6: The Bracer
Part 5: The Fletching
Part 4: The Limbs
Part 3: The Anchor
Part 2: The Grip
Part 1: The Shaft
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