The Arrow's Flight 14/16?
Title: The Arrow's Flight 14/16?
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?
All archery terms are taken from TradeBow.
Warning: het
Part 14:
The Archer
One who shoots with, or is skilled in the use of, a bow and arrow.
Junsu stood as still as possible next to his brother. A cool wind blew through the gorge, ruffling colorful tents and elaborate dresses. The deep blue cloak around his body billowed with a sudden, stronger gust. The fur cuff of his brother’s matching cloak furled against his cheek, and Junsu shut his eyes, enjoying the soft touch for a moment before his brother pulled the cloak around him, belting it to hide his sword. And the knife at his belt.
Junsu knew there was a knife hidden at this wrist and one in each of his boots. All Junsu had was his ornamental sword. Good for defense, but not offense. His brother had not allowed him to carry more weapons.
They both had been searched by his father’s guard, but Junho refused to remove the knives that they had found. He used the attack on Junsu as his reasoning and the guard relented. But there were suddenly more of them around, like they would protect the king. Junsu did not blame them, not after his own guards had been killed. The king suspected some form of treason from the brothers. Junsu suspected they had only been allowed to come to the Festival to keep up appearances.
Junsu swallowed roughly. Did they know? Was this all for naught?
And then he met the eyes of a man that he recognized. One of Changmin’s. His name was Heechul. Very pretty. His long hair billowed in the wind, just as the cloaks and tents and flags. He smirked, a knowing look that had Junsu’s spine tingling. Was he on their side? Was he angry enough to kill them? What about Changmin? Had he already been killed and this man was here to finish them off? But he was dressed as a palace guard. Was that only to get closer to them?
“Prince Junsu?” Taemin whispered and touched his arm.
Junsu jumped and looked at him, eyes wide.
“Are you well enough for this?” Junho asked.
Junsu met his brother’s eyes and nodded. “Sorry. I’m a little tired, but I should be okay for the walk.”
Junho lifted an eyebrow, and Junsu figured he meant their plan. If Junsu gave him a sign, Junho would stop it. He knew he would. Just for him. Even though it was their kingdom, his kingship, at stake. His brother had always done everything for him. Despite everything else.
“I’m fine,” Junsu said and smiled. “It’s a nice day.”
“A bit of wind,” Junho muttered.
“A cool breeze from the mountains,” Junsu said. “It’ll make the gorge cool as well.”
The trumpets suddenly sounded, heralding the start of the walk. The two princes stood behind their father. The sunlight sparkled through the jewels of the crown on his head. His heavy cloak was sky blue, lined with gray fur. His eight guards formed a semicircle around him. Junsu and Junho’s guards did the same behind him. They were meant to keep the crowd from getting to close to the king. Security, sure. But a shot from afar, there was no security from that.
Junsu had to take one more deep breath, shut his eyes for a moment, and then his brother nudged him and they walked, following behind their father, through the small entrance to the gorge and toward the plateau where the vendors and tents were set up.
Crowds of their villagers already lined the main walkway through the plateau. They all parted and made way for the king. Junsu worried for their safety.
But Changmin will not miss. He will not!
The vendors not participating in the contest were selling their own wares and crystals. Junsu loved the Festival so much. It was always a chance to see their people and be prideful of their skills.
But the last five years, there were fewer competitors in the Festival and more merchants, almost desperate to sell their goods because of the heavy taxes that the king had imposed. That was the point, and something that Junsu had to remind himself of with every step he took.
His gaze wandered up to the rocks above them.
Junho distracted him with comments about the sparkling gemstones.
It helped. Mostly. The thing that helped the most was seeing absolutely nothing but rock and trees.
Because if he could see Changmin, then so could the guard.
The king started his appraisal of the gemstones, picking up the heavy colored crystals. A few he held up to the light.
Junho had once said that there was no validity to the king’s choice of a winner. He had suspected for a long time that the winners had bribed the king with the most gold and jewels. Junsu did not doubt that. The Festival was a grand excuse for the king to squeeze even more money from their people.
<|---------<<<
Jaejoong sat, not upon the king’s throne because the king was still alive, but on his own chair, settled on the rise lower than the throne. He did not mind. It kept him closer to the people. Two days of court. The king’s advisor had been right. There were so many cases to hear, so many people to meet since court had been postponed for so long.
Jaejoong still had not caught up yet.
But he noticed a difference, in only two days. It was not completely silent between cases. The soldiers and those waiting their turn to speak with Jaejoong chatted and actually laughed. He heard snippets of conversations, about the weather, the crops, the village. It wasn’t all positive, but Jaejoong did not expect it to be. Not yet.
So far, Jaejoong had done his best to follow his father’s ways, but only because the king was not dead. He did not charge exorbitant fees for small infractions though. Or he tried not to. Every time a young family or an injured man was brought up for not paying taxes, Jaejoong did not throw them in prison or add even more money to their debt, and he most definitely did not strip them of their belongings to hawk at a market.
He did his best to send them to the court treasurer, speak with him about the money they had, the things they may be able to sell, right at this moment. He granted extensions on small debts and made monthly payments smaller on the larger ones. In the case of some of them, he told them they could work off their debt in the castle for a few months.
The king’s advisor said nothing about these changes. Though, few times, he pursed his lips in disapproval. He kept careful records of the cases, just in case the king’s health improved and he wanted to change any of the verdicts. Jaejoong expected that, but if the king’s health did not improve, the ledger would prove as evidence for other cases.
The only case that Jaejoong did not budge on was a grievance from a farmer in the outer reaches of their kingdom. His neighbor had overrun his the man’s land, charged them protection money and took their daughter when he refused to pay. Jaejoong threw that evil man in the dungeon and parceled his land out to the neighbors he had been terrorizing. He sent three court-appointed magistrates and four soldiers back to the lands to divvy it up fairly. He promised to visit within the month to be sure that all ways running smoothly.
His father would have done the opposite and allowed the man to keep the stolen land and daughter on the grounds that everyone should protect themselves. But Jaejoong knew that was the king’s job. He was in charge of protecting all his people.
All of them, including Jiyong who suddenly barged into the audience hall, calling for Jaejoong. There was blood on his clothes, dripping to the floor.
“S-Seohyun,” he stammered and then collapsed.
Jaejoong rose from his chair and rushed out of the room, shouting for someone to tend to Jiyong.
<|---------<<<
Changmin entered the caverns far below the plateau. He had watched from a tree while soldiers moved through entrances and exits, but like Yoohwan said so many weeks ago, there were so many ways to get into the gorge without being seen that Changmin knew, hoped, prayed that he’d be able to get out unscathed.
He had an hour. He mapped the path in his head. As soon as the guard disappeared from a particular entrance at the south, Changmin moved. Silent. A blur of green and brown. He slipped into the calm of the cavern and stopped near the edge to let his eyes adjust to the sudden darkness.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He did not need to hurry. Not yet. Hurrying now meant possibly running into more guard closer to his destination. The stone dampened sound except the faint whistle of wind through its maze. He felt the coolness of the stone through his thin boots.
Silent, compared to a few weeks ago when Yoochun and Yoohwan had led him through the same place. Yoohwan had this entire system imprinted in his mind, much like anything else. The boy could have been a king’s scholar or a university professor had the King of Mountains not ordered his village to be slaughtered and kickstarted the brothers’ need for revenge.
The faint trickle of water led him a bit further in. He stopped by a rock to eat herb bread and some cheese. Being hungry meant shaking. Shaking meant missing. He pressed his lips to the stream of water on the rock and let the cool, fresh water coat his lips and throat.
Moving deeper into the caves, he listened for approaching footsteps or clinking armor or loud voices. He watched for the glow of a torch. He had not brought one of his own. Again, Yoohwan had him memorize the number of steps, the turns, leading him both with a torch and then without just in case they were separated before they wanted to be. Changmin walked this path over and over. Days on end, until Changmin knew exactly how to get where he needed to be and then exactly where he needed to get out. He hoped.
A steep slope led him up. The rock bit into his gloves, scraping in the silence. Loose stones skittered behind him. He paused at the top, just to take a few deep breaths, calm his heart. A tempting ray of light shined up ahead, seeping through a small slit in the rocks. Just under it was a tight, long shaft that spelled a slow, long death for anyone that fell into it.
Before the light, Changmin squeezed around a ledge and into another narrow cavern. The rock walls pressed in tight against him and he had to turn sideways to make it, but after only a few feet, the cave opened up around him, leading him around a water-filled basin. Here too were streams of light from above, sparkling on the water that moved slowly into another shaft before disappearing.
His position outside of the cavern was a few hundred feet up and to the east. It took a few long moments to navigate the climb by himself, without Yoohwan or Yoochun behind him to help. But he managed, and then twisted through a few more winding pathways.
He did not know how much time he had, but he forced himself not to hurry. He’d timed this route again and again. Being in the dark and in the caves screwed with your mind if you let it. Changmin stayed calm.
Only once did he hear boots and the loud, obnoxious laughter of guards not doing their job. It was easy to slip past them, silent and sure.
When he turned the final corner and sunlight brightened everything ahead of him, Changmin stopped and walked even slower, letting his eyes adjust to the difference. Near the archway of the cave, Changmin stopped completely. He leaned against the cool wall, kept his breathing steady, and waited for one noise, one signal. He feared only for a moment that he had missed it, but he calmed his heart and trusted his sense of timing and his preparation for this moment.
Minutes later, it sounded: trumpets heralding the walk of the king.
Changmin pushed off from the rock and moved through the opening. Once again, the brightness of the sun had him pausing for a few precious seconds. Possibly in view of people, but he had to make sure his vision was clear. The sky brightened blue above him. The wind caught his hair and clothes.
The wind.
He dropped to his hands and knees and then his arms and body, shimmying toward the edge. A single rock protrusion provided shelter from anyone’s vision. He hoped.
He waited, listened to the noises of the vendors, and tried to get a feel on the wind. He removed his bow and a single arrow from his quiver. These arrows did not have their normal fletching on them, just white and brown feathers. He had absolutely no desire to be blamed for the king’s death later on.
With his heart and breath level enough, Changmin pushed up to his knees. He kept his eyes on the procession, fought the urge to just stare at his beautiful, beautiful Junsu. The prince looked pale, even from here, and Changmin hoped he was healing well. Junho looked pissed off, eyes darting all over the place, glaring at every merchant. Changmin spotted more than one weapon on him. Junho was ready, if Changmin failed. He spotted Heechul and Yunho, also, near enough to the princes to look like normal soldiers controlling the crowd.
Everything was set just in case he missed.
But the king, with his every present arrogant smirk, held Changmin’s attention. He had one shot, one spot, where even with a bit of wind, he would not miss. He strung his bow, a quick practiced, calming movement.
He checked the king’s progress again and picked up the arrow. The arrowhead had a barb on the end, so it’d do even more damage being pulled out than it did going in. Just in case.
Timing was everything.
Changmin stood up, calm even though he was in clear view of anyone watching. He nocked the arrow, pulled the string back, and waited, just a few more seconds. He had his spot, memorized with the information Taemin had brought him and from the days he spent on this cliff before hand.
And just as planned, the king was near enough to that spot when he stopped, talking with a vendor. He lifted a large gemstone. Blue. A light sparkled through it. But that moment of stillness was all Changmin needed.
He released his arrow.
The white feathers on the end spun like a snowflake in a gale.
Sure of its mark, Changmin dropped down below the rock, no need to see the end result. If he missed, well, then that was what Yunho and Heechul were for. He was already on his escape route when the sudden clamor of the crowd reached him. He hoped he had not missed.
Part 15: The Quiver
Part 13: The Ascham
Part 12: The Barb
Part 11: The Nocking Point
Part 10: The Target Panic
Part 9: The Fishtailing
Part 8: The Sight Window
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?
All archery terms are taken from TradeBow.
Warning: het
Part 14:
The Archer
One who shoots with, or is skilled in the use of, a bow and arrow.
Junsu stood as still as possible next to his brother. A cool wind blew through the gorge, ruffling colorful tents and elaborate dresses. The deep blue cloak around his body billowed with a sudden, stronger gust. The fur cuff of his brother’s matching cloak furled against his cheek, and Junsu shut his eyes, enjoying the soft touch for a moment before his brother pulled the cloak around him, belting it to hide his sword. And the knife at his belt.
Junsu knew there was a knife hidden at this wrist and one in each of his boots. All Junsu had was his ornamental sword. Good for defense, but not offense. His brother had not allowed him to carry more weapons.
They both had been searched by his father’s guard, but Junho refused to remove the knives that they had found. He used the attack on Junsu as his reasoning and the guard relented. But there were suddenly more of them around, like they would protect the king. Junsu did not blame them, not after his own guards had been killed. The king suspected some form of treason from the brothers. Junsu suspected they had only been allowed to come to the Festival to keep up appearances.
Junsu swallowed roughly. Did they know? Was this all for naught?
And then he met the eyes of a man that he recognized. One of Changmin’s. His name was Heechul. Very pretty. His long hair billowed in the wind, just as the cloaks and tents and flags. He smirked, a knowing look that had Junsu’s spine tingling. Was he on their side? Was he angry enough to kill them? What about Changmin? Had he already been killed and this man was here to finish them off? But he was dressed as a palace guard. Was that only to get closer to them?
“Prince Junsu?” Taemin whispered and touched his arm.
Junsu jumped and looked at him, eyes wide.
“Are you well enough for this?” Junho asked.
Junsu met his brother’s eyes and nodded. “Sorry. I’m a little tired, but I should be okay for the walk.”
Junho lifted an eyebrow, and Junsu figured he meant their plan. If Junsu gave him a sign, Junho would stop it. He knew he would. Just for him. Even though it was their kingdom, his kingship, at stake. His brother had always done everything for him. Despite everything else.
“I’m fine,” Junsu said and smiled. “It’s a nice day.”
“A bit of wind,” Junho muttered.
“A cool breeze from the mountains,” Junsu said. “It’ll make the gorge cool as well.”
The trumpets suddenly sounded, heralding the start of the walk. The two princes stood behind their father. The sunlight sparkled through the jewels of the crown on his head. His heavy cloak was sky blue, lined with gray fur. His eight guards formed a semicircle around him. Junsu and Junho’s guards did the same behind him. They were meant to keep the crowd from getting to close to the king. Security, sure. But a shot from afar, there was no security from that.
Junsu had to take one more deep breath, shut his eyes for a moment, and then his brother nudged him and they walked, following behind their father, through the small entrance to the gorge and toward the plateau where the vendors and tents were set up.
Crowds of their villagers already lined the main walkway through the plateau. They all parted and made way for the king. Junsu worried for their safety.
But Changmin will not miss. He will not!
The vendors not participating in the contest were selling their own wares and crystals. Junsu loved the Festival so much. It was always a chance to see their people and be prideful of their skills.
But the last five years, there were fewer competitors in the Festival and more merchants, almost desperate to sell their goods because of the heavy taxes that the king had imposed. That was the point, and something that Junsu had to remind himself of with every step he took.
His gaze wandered up to the rocks above them.
Junho distracted him with comments about the sparkling gemstones.
It helped. Mostly. The thing that helped the most was seeing absolutely nothing but rock and trees.
Because if he could see Changmin, then so could the guard.
The king started his appraisal of the gemstones, picking up the heavy colored crystals. A few he held up to the light.
Junho had once said that there was no validity to the king’s choice of a winner. He had suspected for a long time that the winners had bribed the king with the most gold and jewels. Junsu did not doubt that. The Festival was a grand excuse for the king to squeeze even more money from their people.
<|---------<<<
Jaejoong sat, not upon the king’s throne because the king was still alive, but on his own chair, settled on the rise lower than the throne. He did not mind. It kept him closer to the people. Two days of court. The king’s advisor had been right. There were so many cases to hear, so many people to meet since court had been postponed for so long.
Jaejoong still had not caught up yet.
But he noticed a difference, in only two days. It was not completely silent between cases. The soldiers and those waiting their turn to speak with Jaejoong chatted and actually laughed. He heard snippets of conversations, about the weather, the crops, the village. It wasn’t all positive, but Jaejoong did not expect it to be. Not yet.
So far, Jaejoong had done his best to follow his father’s ways, but only because the king was not dead. He did not charge exorbitant fees for small infractions though. Or he tried not to. Every time a young family or an injured man was brought up for not paying taxes, Jaejoong did not throw them in prison or add even more money to their debt, and he most definitely did not strip them of their belongings to hawk at a market.
He did his best to send them to the court treasurer, speak with him about the money they had, the things they may be able to sell, right at this moment. He granted extensions on small debts and made monthly payments smaller on the larger ones. In the case of some of them, he told them they could work off their debt in the castle for a few months.
The king’s advisor said nothing about these changes. Though, few times, he pursed his lips in disapproval. He kept careful records of the cases, just in case the king’s health improved and he wanted to change any of the verdicts. Jaejoong expected that, but if the king’s health did not improve, the ledger would prove as evidence for other cases.
The only case that Jaejoong did not budge on was a grievance from a farmer in the outer reaches of their kingdom. His neighbor had overrun his the man’s land, charged them protection money and took their daughter when he refused to pay. Jaejoong threw that evil man in the dungeon and parceled his land out to the neighbors he had been terrorizing. He sent three court-appointed magistrates and four soldiers back to the lands to divvy it up fairly. He promised to visit within the month to be sure that all ways running smoothly.
His father would have done the opposite and allowed the man to keep the stolen land and daughter on the grounds that everyone should protect themselves. But Jaejoong knew that was the king’s job. He was in charge of protecting all his people.
All of them, including Jiyong who suddenly barged into the audience hall, calling for Jaejoong. There was blood on his clothes, dripping to the floor.
“S-Seohyun,” he stammered and then collapsed.
Jaejoong rose from his chair and rushed out of the room, shouting for someone to tend to Jiyong.
<|---------<<<
Changmin entered the caverns far below the plateau. He had watched from a tree while soldiers moved through entrances and exits, but like Yoohwan said so many weeks ago, there were so many ways to get into the gorge without being seen that Changmin knew, hoped, prayed that he’d be able to get out unscathed.
He had an hour. He mapped the path in his head. As soon as the guard disappeared from a particular entrance at the south, Changmin moved. Silent. A blur of green and brown. He slipped into the calm of the cavern and stopped near the edge to let his eyes adjust to the sudden darkness.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He did not need to hurry. Not yet. Hurrying now meant possibly running into more guard closer to his destination. The stone dampened sound except the faint whistle of wind through its maze. He felt the coolness of the stone through his thin boots.
Silent, compared to a few weeks ago when Yoochun and Yoohwan had led him through the same place. Yoohwan had this entire system imprinted in his mind, much like anything else. The boy could have been a king’s scholar or a university professor had the King of Mountains not ordered his village to be slaughtered and kickstarted the brothers’ need for revenge.
The faint trickle of water led him a bit further in. He stopped by a rock to eat herb bread and some cheese. Being hungry meant shaking. Shaking meant missing. He pressed his lips to the stream of water on the rock and let the cool, fresh water coat his lips and throat.
Moving deeper into the caves, he listened for approaching footsteps or clinking armor or loud voices. He watched for the glow of a torch. He had not brought one of his own. Again, Yoohwan had him memorize the number of steps, the turns, leading him both with a torch and then without just in case they were separated before they wanted to be. Changmin walked this path over and over. Days on end, until Changmin knew exactly how to get where he needed to be and then exactly where he needed to get out. He hoped.
A steep slope led him up. The rock bit into his gloves, scraping in the silence. Loose stones skittered behind him. He paused at the top, just to take a few deep breaths, calm his heart. A tempting ray of light shined up ahead, seeping through a small slit in the rocks. Just under it was a tight, long shaft that spelled a slow, long death for anyone that fell into it.
Before the light, Changmin squeezed around a ledge and into another narrow cavern. The rock walls pressed in tight against him and he had to turn sideways to make it, but after only a few feet, the cave opened up around him, leading him around a water-filled basin. Here too were streams of light from above, sparkling on the water that moved slowly into another shaft before disappearing.
His position outside of the cavern was a few hundred feet up and to the east. It took a few long moments to navigate the climb by himself, without Yoohwan or Yoochun behind him to help. But he managed, and then twisted through a few more winding pathways.
He did not know how much time he had, but he forced himself not to hurry. He’d timed this route again and again. Being in the dark and in the caves screwed with your mind if you let it. Changmin stayed calm.
Only once did he hear boots and the loud, obnoxious laughter of guards not doing their job. It was easy to slip past them, silent and sure.
When he turned the final corner and sunlight brightened everything ahead of him, Changmin stopped and walked even slower, letting his eyes adjust to the difference. Near the archway of the cave, Changmin stopped completely. He leaned against the cool wall, kept his breathing steady, and waited for one noise, one signal. He feared only for a moment that he had missed it, but he calmed his heart and trusted his sense of timing and his preparation for this moment.
Minutes later, it sounded: trumpets heralding the walk of the king.
Changmin pushed off from the rock and moved through the opening. Once again, the brightness of the sun had him pausing for a few precious seconds. Possibly in view of people, but he had to make sure his vision was clear. The sky brightened blue above him. The wind caught his hair and clothes.
The wind.
He dropped to his hands and knees and then his arms and body, shimmying toward the edge. A single rock protrusion provided shelter from anyone’s vision. He hoped.
He waited, listened to the noises of the vendors, and tried to get a feel on the wind. He removed his bow and a single arrow from his quiver. These arrows did not have their normal fletching on them, just white and brown feathers. He had absolutely no desire to be blamed for the king’s death later on.
With his heart and breath level enough, Changmin pushed up to his knees. He kept his eyes on the procession, fought the urge to just stare at his beautiful, beautiful Junsu. The prince looked pale, even from here, and Changmin hoped he was healing well. Junho looked pissed off, eyes darting all over the place, glaring at every merchant. Changmin spotted more than one weapon on him. Junho was ready, if Changmin failed. He spotted Heechul and Yunho, also, near enough to the princes to look like normal soldiers controlling the crowd.
Everything was set just in case he missed.
But the king, with his every present arrogant smirk, held Changmin’s attention. He had one shot, one spot, where even with a bit of wind, he would not miss. He strung his bow, a quick practiced, calming movement.
He checked the king’s progress again and picked up the arrow. The arrowhead had a barb on the end, so it’d do even more damage being pulled out than it did going in. Just in case.
Timing was everything.
Changmin stood up, calm even though he was in clear view of anyone watching. He nocked the arrow, pulled the string back, and waited, just a few more seconds. He had his spot, memorized with the information Taemin had brought him and from the days he spent on this cliff before hand.
And just as planned, the king was near enough to that spot when he stopped, talking with a vendor. He lifted a large gemstone. Blue. A light sparkled through it. But that moment of stillness was all Changmin needed.
He released his arrow.
The white feathers on the end spun like a snowflake in a gale.
Sure of its mark, Changmin dropped down below the rock, no need to see the end result. If he missed, well, then that was what Yunho and Heechul were for. He was already on his escape route when the sudden clamor of the crowd reached him. He hoped he had not missed.
Part 15: The Quiver
Part 13: The Ascham
Part 12: The Barb
Part 11: The Nocking Point
Part 10: The Target Panic
Part 9: The Fishtailing
Part 8: The Sight Window
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
.