Tears of the Poor 21/?
Title: Tears of the Poor 21/?
Pairing: Yunho/Jaejoong/Junsu, Siwon/Hangeng/Heechul, Yoochun/Nichkhun/Chansung,
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: They are not mine to run through space, sabotage governments and overthrow evil politicians with.
Summary: With his life threatened on ShinKi, Yunho heads to Doushite, the underdeveloped planet Jaejoong and Changmin are from. The atmosphere is tense, at best. ShinKi is destroying the Doushiten way of life just because of the deep veins of gold running through the picturesque mountains. They don't know who they can trust when it comes to trying to free Doushite from the clutches of a greedy empire.
This is a sequel to the fic: Pleasures of the Mighty.
The pleasures of the mighty, are the tears of the poor. A song will outlive the sermons in the memory. = Kim Jaejoong's tattoos
Poster credit goes to 0xkaiia0x
Part 21: The Test
A/N: I have no excuse as to why I have not updated this fic or baseCODE in so very long. I suck. I'm sorry.
Yunho shivered as another wet clump of half snow, half rain landed against his cheek. The temperature fluctuated too much to stay comfortable. Mud caked their boots and their horses’ hooves. Everything was wet. Yunho felt soaked through to the bone, and Yoochun’s grumblings grew louder. They ate lunch standing up, and it was hard to sleep, even after a powerful orgasm at the hands of his lovers.
But when the sun shone through the trees, and they found a patch of warmth in the damp, it was hard to keep smiles off their faces.
“The joys of Doushite in the spring,” Jaejoong had said. “Polar opposites.” Daehyun had added something about living in the mountains and perpetual winter.
But they moved faster, with the help of the Doushitens scouting for them.
Yunho wrapped his arms around Junsu as they rode through the trees and the fat clumps of snow water.
Late in the morning, Junghyuk and Sunho appeared in front of Jaejoong’s horse. They exchanged hand signals that had Zelo and Jongup cursing.
Jaejoong frowned and immediately checked his bow and then the knife that Junghyuk had given him.
“What’s going on?” Yoseob asked.
“Shinki patrol,” Jaejoong said, “just an hour ahead of us.”
“How close are we to the Falls?” Hyunseung asked.
“Another few days.”
“Can we go around them?” Shindong asked.
Jaejoong conferred with Junghyuk and then took a very deep breath. “We could, but they have weapons we may need, and--” He glanced at Heechul. “--computers that you may need.”
Heechul’s eyes lit up, but he was sober when he said, “What’s the catch?”
“There are ten of them and we have to take them all out at the same time before they can call for help.”
Heechul cocked an eyebrow at him. “Ten of them, ten Doushitens. Considering how amazing you are with that bow, and I’m sure the others are as well, how is that a problem?”
Jaejoong smirked. “Not a problem.”
“Are we waiting here for you?” Shindong asked.
Jaejoong shook his head. “No. We don’t have time to come back to get you afterwards. Let’s go.”
He conferred again with Junghyuk and Sunho and nodded. “Quietly.”
“I swear if after all this you get me killed, I am going to be pissed,” Yoochun muttered.
“And you’ll be dead, so good for us,” Heechul replied and stuck his tongue out at him.
Yoochun glared and Yunho was sure that if he had the power, Heechul would have burst into flames.
With the way clear, they rode faster. It seemed like a long time, with anxiety and nerves fueling their speed, but when they stopped, it was if they had only started.
“Here we stop,” Jaejoong whispered. “The Shinki patrol has stopped to eat and rest about ten minutes ahead of us. All Doushitens are with me. The rest of you need to sit and wait, and please, by god, be quiet. We need all of you to not move, do not talk, nothing.”
To Yunho’s surprise, Jaejoong pulled one of the handguns that they had confiscated from Yoochun and the other Shinki from his bag. He looked over at the Shinki. “Who has the best aim?”
Everyone pointed to Yunho.
Jaejoong smirked and handed the gun to Yunho, butt first.
“Why?”
“Insurance policy. Plan B. We’re good,” he said, motioning to the bow-totting Doushitens around them, “but if one arrow misses...” He trailed off.
Yunho nodded. “Got it.”
“You okay with this, Bambi?” Heechul asked in Doushiten.
Yunho checked the clip. “I got this,” he said in Doushiten, and they all chuckled at him.
“You just said the most egotistical phrase referring to the size of your cock,” Jaejoong said.
Yunho smiled and repeated what he said, causing more muffled laughter.
“The rest of you stay here. Do not move from this spot until one of us comes to get you. We’ll leave the horses in case you guys need to make a quick getaway. It is going to take us some time to get into position. We will each be given a target and then we will strike.”
“You have to shoot at the same time,” Heechul said. “How do you plan on coordinating that without synchronizing your watches?”
Jaejoong chuckled. “Practice.” And then he whistled. The noise sounded just like one of the many birds in the forest. One of the other Doushitens returned the whistle.
“What about motion sensors?” Yoseob asked. “I remember they said the Shinki had them.”
Jaejoong frowned and said something in Doushiten to Junghyuk. The man smirked and replied back. Jaejoong covered his mouth with a hand to muffle the sudden laughter, and then said in Shinki, “They have been throwing rocks and scaring rabbits into the sensors. The Shinki Bastards got annoyed and turned them off.”
“Typical,” Shindong said as the others snorted.
“Exactly. Let’s go.”
Junsu yanked Yunho’s head down for a deep kiss, and then did the same with Jaejoong. It was very easy to whisper love at him, lose sight and feelings of everything else with Junsu in his arms. It had always been that way. Yunho pressed one more kiss to his lips.
“I love you,” Yunho said.
Junsu smiled. “You always have.”
Yunho nodded.
“Sap fest,” Heechul muttered.
“Jealous,” Junsu returned, and then hugged Yunho and Jaejoong tightly. “I love you both. Be safe.”
“We will,” Jaejoong said, “and I love you, too.” He kissed Junsu’s cheek. “Let’s go, Bambi.”
Jaejoong pulled away and told the Doushitens to go. He gave the Shinki one more warning to stay quiet and then followed after Zelo and Jongup, with Yunho just behind them.
Yunho tried to lesson the sounds of his footfalls, but they were loud in his ears compared to the silent Doushitens around him. He tried not to fidget. He tried not to check and recheck the clip in the handgun. He tried not to think of the handgun.
It had been a very long time since he last killed someone. It was another reason he left his father’s house. It was expected. Servants and guards feared for their lives in the houses of political leaders like his father and Bi. Shortly after Junsu joined him, Yunho had been forced to kill an errant servant. It had not been the girl’s fault that not everything was perfect for the comfort of his mother, but as the first and only son, he was expected to punish her.
It had been the first night that Yunho had been violent with Junsu without his consent. Yunho had apologized profusely the next morning. But as always, Junsu had understood.
Moments laster, the Doushitens disappeared into the trees. Yunho did his best to steady his breathing. Jaejoong led Yunho a bit further in, and then he heard talking and movement. The Shinki made so much noise that practically anyone could sneak up on them. Jaejoong stayed on his feet, bow and arrow held loosely at his side. They waited, Yunho did not know how long. He shifted, every movement loud in his own ears, probably like a shout to Jaejoong’s, but not heard by the noisy Shinki.
Jaejoong whistled. Yunho picked up a couple answers. And then heard birds. Maybe they were birds.
Yunho stayed by Jaejoong, watching the men walk around their camp. He was not close enough to recognize any of the facial features, though he tried. While he did not serve his military time or keep in touch with anyone in the military after he left his father’s estate, he was sure that he did not want to end up killing one of his friends. He was smart enough to not ask Jaejoong if they could move closer, just to make sure.
His hands shook as he checked the clip again and released the safety. That’d be bad if the safety was on while he was trying to shoot someone. God, he hated killing people.
Soft fingers brushed over his cheek. He jerked and looked over at Jaejoong, who smiled at him. He gripped the back of Yunho’s neck and pressed a firm kiss to his lips.
“I love you,” his lips moved, a whisper of a sound barely leaving his mouth.
Yunho smiled, throat closing. He nodded and mouthed, “I love you” because he was not sure he could be as quiet as Jaejoong.
He kept his fingers on Yunho’s scruffy cheek for just another moment and then smiled and turned back to the camp.
Yunho’s hands shook even more. He knew that he could not aim properly like this. He moved very quietly and got on the ground, stretched out, using his elbow on the ground to hold his hand still.
Jaejoong whistled. There were three whistles back. After another moment, three more. And then another. Yunho lost track of the whistles.
One of the Shinki cursed the motherfucking birds of this planet. Jaejoong smirked.
Jaejoong lifted his bow. His shoulders rolled and his entire body relaxed. He brought back his arm, aiming his arrow. He whistled again, and each Doushiten returned it. There were a few seconds of completely silence, and then Jaejoong let his arrow fly, the rush of wind and twang of string loud in Yunho’s ears.
Ten arrows. Arrows straight through throats or heads. Faces twisted in pain that they only felt for a moment before falling. It was scary how good the Doushitens’ aim was.
Except one man, who had bent over a console at the last second. The arrow zinged away from him.
Jaejoong swore next to him.
The man looked up, eyes wide at the twitching bodies around him, and Yunho did not give him time to get over his panic. He shut his eyes for only a moment, took a deep breath, aimed and pulled the trigger. The shot was loud after the silence of the arrows, but it did exactly what it had to and ripped through the man’s surprised face and splattered the back of his skull over the console behind him.
Yunho shut his eyes and lowered the gun, forehead on his wrist.
“Nice shot,” Jaejoong whispered, a hand on the top of his head.
Yunho snorted in disdain. He did not get up, even as he heard the Doushitens moving around the Shinki camp. If he got up, he was going to lose his breakfast. He hated killing people.
He lifted his head and through blurry vision saw Jaejoong drag his knife across one of the Shinki’s throat, splattering blood up on his white boots. Well, not so white. The blood just burned a brighter red against the dust and mud.
Two other Shinki bastards had their throats slit, and then Jaejoong ordered Jongup, Zelo and Daehyun to go back for the others.
“Yunho,” Jaejoong said and jerked his head in a silent command to get up and stop acting like a weakling. Well, that was Yunho’s own thoughts. He was sure that Jaejoong would never think that of him.
He took a deep breath and stood, making sure the safety was on the gun before shoving it into the back of his pants.
The Doushitens nodded their heads at him, acknowledging his shot. He shrugged and said, “Fish in a barrel.”
Jaejoong laughed and translated it into better Doushiten, explaining that it was a phrase on Shinki that meant it was easy. They chuckled and nodded.
“I need to go through their weapons, get everything they have. As soon as Heechul gets here, he can check to make sure no one up there--” He pointed to the sky. “--is aware of what we just did.”
The Doushitens gathered up all the food and water the Shinki had. They took blankets and packs and removed the laces from their boots.
“Good snares,” Jaejoong explained when Yunho asked about the laces. He walked over to the dead bodies and stared at them. He hated war. He hated killing and hurting other people. He hated that his home, his world, his culture was so greedy and instead of learning of other planets, exploited them just to be richer. It was definitely something Yunho had to change.
If he lived through this.
A tattoo on the forearm of one of the dead caught his attention. It was a small, just a few lines to represent the dust in the wind, but Yunho remembered when Changho got it. His father, Yunho’s uncle, had been pissed. He toed the arm, spreading a bit of mud over the tattooed skin. He looked at the face, or what was left of the face since the Doushitens had pulled their arrows free to use them again.
“Yunho?” Jaejoong whispered and took his hand.
Yunho tried to smile and looked over at Jaejoong briefly.
“You know him?” Jaejoong asked.
“My cousin. My uncle’s second son. We were ... friends ... at one point.”
“I am sorry.”
“My cousin was the first to ... share Junsu ... I spent a lot of time cleaning the cuts and holding Junsu afterwards ... we were only fifteen.”
“That’s ...”
“Like I said, we were friends once. I haven’t seen him for more than five years.” Yunho reached down and found the military tags around Changho’s neck. It was an old tradition, supposedly, back before the technology could read DNA, so bodies could be identified. He had a feeling that no one would find Changho’s body for a long while, and he had every intention of bringing the tags to his aunt. Even if his uncle found out about Changho’s death, no one would think to tell his mother because she was only a woman.
Jaejoong pressed a kiss to his cheek, squeezed his hand one more time, and continued helping the other Doushitens gather supplies from the camp.
Yunho did not have much to do as he watched the Doushitens work. Less than a half hour later, the others returned and Junsu came right to Yunho and hugged him tightly.
“Are you okay?”
Yunho thought for a moment of telling him about Changho and decided not to. There was no reason for Junsu to relive that night with his cousin. “I hate killing people.”
“You had to?”
Yunho nodded. “One of them moved at the right moment and Pilkyo’s arrow just missed.”
“Where’s my hug?” Jaejoong demanded.
Junsu smiled at Yunho and moved just one arm. Jaejoong returned the smile and stepped into them, hugging them both.
It only lasted a moment before Jaejoong led Heechul over to the console that was covered in brains and skull fragments.
“Gross, Yunho, sheesh,” Heechul muttered but was able to break into the combination with ease and open the console to reveal computers, communicators, battery packs and receivers.
Jaejoong left Yunho out of the gathering of supplies, shooting looks and smiles over at him and Junsu every now and then. Yunho appreciated it. He was able to stand there and just hold Junsu, and let Junsu do what he had always done and soothe his heart with hugs and kisses and whispers that Yunho did not listen to. It was the sound of his calm voice more than anything else.
“So I’ve got good news, bad news, and amazing news,” Heechul said suddenly, fingers unrelenting on the keyboard.
“Good news,” Jaejoong said.
“No one knows we just killed ten Shinki Bastards,” he said.
“Okay, bad news.”
“The shuttle already left.”
“Fuck,” Jaejoong said and relayed that to the Doushitens.
“But wait for it,” Heechul said. “The shuttle left, but in its place, is a ship. A slave ship, ready to be filled with captive Doushitens and sent right to Shinki.”
“Fuck, really?”
“Yes.”
“When is it leaving?
“Three days.”
“Fuck.”
“Can we make it?”
Jaejoong nodded. “If we hurry.” He conferred with Junghyuk and he turned to the others and they nodded. A moment later, the six of them disappeared.
He directed the rest of the to repack their bags with the new supplies, and every Shinki (except Yoochun and his slaves) were given a weapon.
They were just about to leave when Jaejoong suddenly laughed. He straightened up from a bag and held out a bottle. “Hey, Yoochun. Found something for you.”
Yoochun kneed his horse over, yanked the mostly empty bottle of alcohol and downed the rest of it. He shut his eyes and nodded. “Fuck yeah.”
“There’s another one,” Yoseob said and held out an almost full bottle of amazing whiskey.
Yunho held up a hand before Yoochun could get over to it. “We do not need Yoochun drunk right now.”
Yoseob smirked. “Who said I was going to share with Yoochun?” he asked and took a swig off the bottle before handing it to Hyunseung. He took a drink to and handed the bottle to Shindong.
“You want some, Bambi?” Heechul asked after taking his own drink.
Yunho sighed, but a drink sounded very very good. They passed around the bottle until it was empty. Even Chansung and Nichkhun took a couple drinks with Yoochun only grumbling a little. He actually said thank you when Jaejoong handed him another half empty bottle, this one of rum.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jaejoong said. “Someone is going to notice these guys are dead soon.”
Part 22: The Trick
Part 20: The Trust
Part 19: The Tent
Part 18: The Training
Part 17: The Traitor
Part 16: The Torture
Part 15: The Throne
Part 14: The Thwarted | Part 13: The Threats | Part 12: The Travail | Part 11: The Talk | Part 10: The Table | Part 9: The Treat | Part 8: The Tub | Part 7: The Tribe | Part 6: The Terrain | Part 5: The Trail | Part 4: The Transformation | Part 3: The Tunnels | Part 2: The Trap | Part 1: The Trip
.
Pairing: Yunho/Jaejoong/Junsu, Siwon/Hangeng/Heechul, Yoochun/Nichkhun/Chansung,
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: They are not mine to run through space, sabotage governments and overthrow evil politicians with.
Summary: With his life threatened on ShinKi, Yunho heads to Doushite, the underdeveloped planet Jaejoong and Changmin are from. The atmosphere is tense, at best. ShinKi is destroying the Doushiten way of life just because of the deep veins of gold running through the picturesque mountains. They don't know who they can trust when it comes to trying to free Doushite from the clutches of a greedy empire.
This is a sequel to the fic: Pleasures of the Mighty.
The pleasures of the mighty, are the tears of the poor. A song will outlive the sermons in the memory. = Kim Jaejoong's tattoos
Poster credit goes to 0xkaiia0x
Part 21: The Test
A/N: I have no excuse as to why I have not updated this fic or baseCODE in so very long. I suck. I'm sorry.
Yunho shivered as another wet clump of half snow, half rain landed against his cheek. The temperature fluctuated too much to stay comfortable. Mud caked their boots and their horses’ hooves. Everything was wet. Yunho felt soaked through to the bone, and Yoochun’s grumblings grew louder. They ate lunch standing up, and it was hard to sleep, even after a powerful orgasm at the hands of his lovers.
But when the sun shone through the trees, and they found a patch of warmth in the damp, it was hard to keep smiles off their faces.
“The joys of Doushite in the spring,” Jaejoong had said. “Polar opposites.” Daehyun had added something about living in the mountains and perpetual winter.
But they moved faster, with the help of the Doushitens scouting for them.
Yunho wrapped his arms around Junsu as they rode through the trees and the fat clumps of snow water.
Late in the morning, Junghyuk and Sunho appeared in front of Jaejoong’s horse. They exchanged hand signals that had Zelo and Jongup cursing.
Jaejoong frowned and immediately checked his bow and then the knife that Junghyuk had given him.
“What’s going on?” Yoseob asked.
“Shinki patrol,” Jaejoong said, “just an hour ahead of us.”
“How close are we to the Falls?” Hyunseung asked.
“Another few days.”
“Can we go around them?” Shindong asked.
Jaejoong conferred with Junghyuk and then took a very deep breath. “We could, but they have weapons we may need, and--” He glanced at Heechul. “--computers that you may need.”
Heechul’s eyes lit up, but he was sober when he said, “What’s the catch?”
“There are ten of them and we have to take them all out at the same time before they can call for help.”
Heechul cocked an eyebrow at him. “Ten of them, ten Doushitens. Considering how amazing you are with that bow, and I’m sure the others are as well, how is that a problem?”
Jaejoong smirked. “Not a problem.”
“Are we waiting here for you?” Shindong asked.
Jaejoong shook his head. “No. We don’t have time to come back to get you afterwards. Let’s go.”
He conferred again with Junghyuk and Sunho and nodded. “Quietly.”
“I swear if after all this you get me killed, I am going to be pissed,” Yoochun muttered.
“And you’ll be dead, so good for us,” Heechul replied and stuck his tongue out at him.
Yoochun glared and Yunho was sure that if he had the power, Heechul would have burst into flames.
With the way clear, they rode faster. It seemed like a long time, with anxiety and nerves fueling their speed, but when they stopped, it was if they had only started.
“Here we stop,” Jaejoong whispered. “The Shinki patrol has stopped to eat and rest about ten minutes ahead of us. All Doushitens are with me. The rest of you need to sit and wait, and please, by god, be quiet. We need all of you to not move, do not talk, nothing.”
To Yunho’s surprise, Jaejoong pulled one of the handguns that they had confiscated from Yoochun and the other Shinki from his bag. He looked over at the Shinki. “Who has the best aim?”
Everyone pointed to Yunho.
Jaejoong smirked and handed the gun to Yunho, butt first.
“Why?”
“Insurance policy. Plan B. We’re good,” he said, motioning to the bow-totting Doushitens around them, “but if one arrow misses...” He trailed off.
Yunho nodded. “Got it.”
“You okay with this, Bambi?” Heechul asked in Doushiten.
Yunho checked the clip. “I got this,” he said in Doushiten, and they all chuckled at him.
“You just said the most egotistical phrase referring to the size of your cock,” Jaejoong said.
Yunho smiled and repeated what he said, causing more muffled laughter.
“The rest of you stay here. Do not move from this spot until one of us comes to get you. We’ll leave the horses in case you guys need to make a quick getaway. It is going to take us some time to get into position. We will each be given a target and then we will strike.”
“You have to shoot at the same time,” Heechul said. “How do you plan on coordinating that without synchronizing your watches?”
Jaejoong chuckled. “Practice.” And then he whistled. The noise sounded just like one of the many birds in the forest. One of the other Doushitens returned the whistle.
“What about motion sensors?” Yoseob asked. “I remember they said the Shinki had them.”
Jaejoong frowned and said something in Doushiten to Junghyuk. The man smirked and replied back. Jaejoong covered his mouth with a hand to muffle the sudden laughter, and then said in Shinki, “They have been throwing rocks and scaring rabbits into the sensors. The Shinki Bastards got annoyed and turned them off.”
“Typical,” Shindong said as the others snorted.
“Exactly. Let’s go.”
Junsu yanked Yunho’s head down for a deep kiss, and then did the same with Jaejoong. It was very easy to whisper love at him, lose sight and feelings of everything else with Junsu in his arms. It had always been that way. Yunho pressed one more kiss to his lips.
“I love you,” Yunho said.
Junsu smiled. “You always have.”
Yunho nodded.
“Sap fest,” Heechul muttered.
“Jealous,” Junsu returned, and then hugged Yunho and Jaejoong tightly. “I love you both. Be safe.”
“We will,” Jaejoong said, “and I love you, too.” He kissed Junsu’s cheek. “Let’s go, Bambi.”
Jaejoong pulled away and told the Doushitens to go. He gave the Shinki one more warning to stay quiet and then followed after Zelo and Jongup, with Yunho just behind them.
Yunho tried to lesson the sounds of his footfalls, but they were loud in his ears compared to the silent Doushitens around him. He tried not to fidget. He tried not to check and recheck the clip in the handgun. He tried not to think of the handgun.
It had been a very long time since he last killed someone. It was another reason he left his father’s house. It was expected. Servants and guards feared for their lives in the houses of political leaders like his father and Bi. Shortly after Junsu joined him, Yunho had been forced to kill an errant servant. It had not been the girl’s fault that not everything was perfect for the comfort of his mother, but as the first and only son, he was expected to punish her.
It had been the first night that Yunho had been violent with Junsu without his consent. Yunho had apologized profusely the next morning. But as always, Junsu had understood.
Moments laster, the Doushitens disappeared into the trees. Yunho did his best to steady his breathing. Jaejoong led Yunho a bit further in, and then he heard talking and movement. The Shinki made so much noise that practically anyone could sneak up on them. Jaejoong stayed on his feet, bow and arrow held loosely at his side. They waited, Yunho did not know how long. He shifted, every movement loud in his own ears, probably like a shout to Jaejoong’s, but not heard by the noisy Shinki.
Jaejoong whistled. Yunho picked up a couple answers. And then heard birds. Maybe they were birds.
Yunho stayed by Jaejoong, watching the men walk around their camp. He was not close enough to recognize any of the facial features, though he tried. While he did not serve his military time or keep in touch with anyone in the military after he left his father’s estate, he was sure that he did not want to end up killing one of his friends. He was smart enough to not ask Jaejoong if they could move closer, just to make sure.
His hands shook as he checked the clip again and released the safety. That’d be bad if the safety was on while he was trying to shoot someone. God, he hated killing people.
Soft fingers brushed over his cheek. He jerked and looked over at Jaejoong, who smiled at him. He gripped the back of Yunho’s neck and pressed a firm kiss to his lips.
“I love you,” his lips moved, a whisper of a sound barely leaving his mouth.
Yunho smiled, throat closing. He nodded and mouthed, “I love you” because he was not sure he could be as quiet as Jaejoong.
He kept his fingers on Yunho’s scruffy cheek for just another moment and then smiled and turned back to the camp.
Yunho’s hands shook even more. He knew that he could not aim properly like this. He moved very quietly and got on the ground, stretched out, using his elbow on the ground to hold his hand still.
Jaejoong whistled. There were three whistles back. After another moment, three more. And then another. Yunho lost track of the whistles.
One of the Shinki cursed the motherfucking birds of this planet. Jaejoong smirked.
Jaejoong lifted his bow. His shoulders rolled and his entire body relaxed. He brought back his arm, aiming his arrow. He whistled again, and each Doushiten returned it. There were a few seconds of completely silence, and then Jaejoong let his arrow fly, the rush of wind and twang of string loud in Yunho’s ears.
Ten arrows. Arrows straight through throats or heads. Faces twisted in pain that they only felt for a moment before falling. It was scary how good the Doushitens’ aim was.
Except one man, who had bent over a console at the last second. The arrow zinged away from him.
Jaejoong swore next to him.
The man looked up, eyes wide at the twitching bodies around him, and Yunho did not give him time to get over his panic. He shut his eyes for only a moment, took a deep breath, aimed and pulled the trigger. The shot was loud after the silence of the arrows, but it did exactly what it had to and ripped through the man’s surprised face and splattered the back of his skull over the console behind him.
Yunho shut his eyes and lowered the gun, forehead on his wrist.
“Nice shot,” Jaejoong whispered, a hand on the top of his head.
Yunho snorted in disdain. He did not get up, even as he heard the Doushitens moving around the Shinki camp. If he got up, he was going to lose his breakfast. He hated killing people.
He lifted his head and through blurry vision saw Jaejoong drag his knife across one of the Shinki’s throat, splattering blood up on his white boots. Well, not so white. The blood just burned a brighter red against the dust and mud.
Two other Shinki bastards had their throats slit, and then Jaejoong ordered Jongup, Zelo and Daehyun to go back for the others.
“Yunho,” Jaejoong said and jerked his head in a silent command to get up and stop acting like a weakling. Well, that was Yunho’s own thoughts. He was sure that Jaejoong would never think that of him.
He took a deep breath and stood, making sure the safety was on the gun before shoving it into the back of his pants.
The Doushitens nodded their heads at him, acknowledging his shot. He shrugged and said, “Fish in a barrel.”
Jaejoong laughed and translated it into better Doushiten, explaining that it was a phrase on Shinki that meant it was easy. They chuckled and nodded.
“I need to go through their weapons, get everything they have. As soon as Heechul gets here, he can check to make sure no one up there--” He pointed to the sky. “--is aware of what we just did.”
The Doushitens gathered up all the food and water the Shinki had. They took blankets and packs and removed the laces from their boots.
“Good snares,” Jaejoong explained when Yunho asked about the laces. He walked over to the dead bodies and stared at them. He hated war. He hated killing and hurting other people. He hated that his home, his world, his culture was so greedy and instead of learning of other planets, exploited them just to be richer. It was definitely something Yunho had to change.
If he lived through this.
A tattoo on the forearm of one of the dead caught his attention. It was a small, just a few lines to represent the dust in the wind, but Yunho remembered when Changho got it. His father, Yunho’s uncle, had been pissed. He toed the arm, spreading a bit of mud over the tattooed skin. He looked at the face, or what was left of the face since the Doushitens had pulled their arrows free to use them again.
“Yunho?” Jaejoong whispered and took his hand.
Yunho tried to smile and looked over at Jaejoong briefly.
“You know him?” Jaejoong asked.
“My cousin. My uncle’s second son. We were ... friends ... at one point.”
“I am sorry.”
“My cousin was the first to ... share Junsu ... I spent a lot of time cleaning the cuts and holding Junsu afterwards ... we were only fifteen.”
“That’s ...”
“Like I said, we were friends once. I haven’t seen him for more than five years.” Yunho reached down and found the military tags around Changho’s neck. It was an old tradition, supposedly, back before the technology could read DNA, so bodies could be identified. He had a feeling that no one would find Changho’s body for a long while, and he had every intention of bringing the tags to his aunt. Even if his uncle found out about Changho’s death, no one would think to tell his mother because she was only a woman.
Jaejoong pressed a kiss to his cheek, squeezed his hand one more time, and continued helping the other Doushitens gather supplies from the camp.
Yunho did not have much to do as he watched the Doushitens work. Less than a half hour later, the others returned and Junsu came right to Yunho and hugged him tightly.
“Are you okay?”
Yunho thought for a moment of telling him about Changho and decided not to. There was no reason for Junsu to relive that night with his cousin. “I hate killing people.”
“You had to?”
Yunho nodded. “One of them moved at the right moment and Pilkyo’s arrow just missed.”
“Where’s my hug?” Jaejoong demanded.
Junsu smiled at Yunho and moved just one arm. Jaejoong returned the smile and stepped into them, hugging them both.
It only lasted a moment before Jaejoong led Heechul over to the console that was covered in brains and skull fragments.
“Gross, Yunho, sheesh,” Heechul muttered but was able to break into the combination with ease and open the console to reveal computers, communicators, battery packs and receivers.
Jaejoong left Yunho out of the gathering of supplies, shooting looks and smiles over at him and Junsu every now and then. Yunho appreciated it. He was able to stand there and just hold Junsu, and let Junsu do what he had always done and soothe his heart with hugs and kisses and whispers that Yunho did not listen to. It was the sound of his calm voice more than anything else.
“So I’ve got good news, bad news, and amazing news,” Heechul said suddenly, fingers unrelenting on the keyboard.
“Good news,” Jaejoong said.
“No one knows we just killed ten Shinki Bastards,” he said.
“Okay, bad news.”
“The shuttle already left.”
“Fuck,” Jaejoong said and relayed that to the Doushitens.
“But wait for it,” Heechul said. “The shuttle left, but in its place, is a ship. A slave ship, ready to be filled with captive Doushitens and sent right to Shinki.”
“Fuck, really?”
“Yes.”
“When is it leaving?
“Three days.”
“Fuck.”
“Can we make it?”
Jaejoong nodded. “If we hurry.” He conferred with Junghyuk and he turned to the others and they nodded. A moment later, the six of them disappeared.
He directed the rest of the to repack their bags with the new supplies, and every Shinki (except Yoochun and his slaves) were given a weapon.
They were just about to leave when Jaejoong suddenly laughed. He straightened up from a bag and held out a bottle. “Hey, Yoochun. Found something for you.”
Yoochun kneed his horse over, yanked the mostly empty bottle of alcohol and downed the rest of it. He shut his eyes and nodded. “Fuck yeah.”
“There’s another one,” Yoseob said and held out an almost full bottle of amazing whiskey.
Yunho held up a hand before Yoochun could get over to it. “We do not need Yoochun drunk right now.”
Yoseob smirked. “Who said I was going to share with Yoochun?” he asked and took a swig off the bottle before handing it to Hyunseung. He took a drink to and handed the bottle to Shindong.
“You want some, Bambi?” Heechul asked after taking his own drink.
Yunho sighed, but a drink sounded very very good. They passed around the bottle until it was empty. Even Chansung and Nichkhun took a couple drinks with Yoochun only grumbling a little. He actually said thank you when Jaejoong handed him another half empty bottle, this one of rum.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jaejoong said. “Someone is going to notice these guys are dead soon.”
Part 22: The Trick
Part 20: The Trust
Part 19: The Tent
Part 18: The Training
Part 17: The Traitor
Part 16: The Torture
Part 15: The Throne
Part 14: The Thwarted | Part 13: The Threats | Part 12: The Travail | Part 11: The Talk | Part 10: The Table | Part 9: The Treat | Part 8: The Tub | Part 7: The Tribe | Part 6: The Terrain | Part 5: The Trail | Part 4: The Transformation | Part 3: The Tunnels | Part 2: The Trap | Part 1: The Trip
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