-June's P.O.V.-

I laced a few wrist wraps around my hand and clenched my fist, seeing that they stuck on and wasn't too thought around my hand. I looked at Hongbin and he was about done too. Since we've been riding and not hitting any civilization, we found a neat camping place with a bigger lake than the other. This one was clear and the area surrounding it was hidden. Also, the trees were good tactic skills to use to our advantage if we ever get attacked here.

To use our time wisely, I am helping Hongbin increase his fighting skills and to make sure he knows how to use his surroundings to get a better view on the enemy; to be one step higher than the other. I held out my stance and Hongbin held out his stance too.

"The whole idea is to play with the other person's mind. You want to try to think you're doing one thing but actually do the other. For example; when I take a step forward with my right, you assume my right fist is going to punch you on the right side of your face so, you instinctively dodge it. But no. I'm not going to do that."

I quickly demonstrated the move. Right door forward, right hand moving but left foot picking up and aiming for the side of his head. I stopped before I cause serious damage and he looked impressed.

"With your opponent too focus on one thing, there's your chance to use your move that you were planning to use to beat the hell of of him."

"Where'd you learned that from?" he asked, trying it out.

"Street fights. I learned it the hard way so consider yourself lucky." He let out a small chuckle and I gave a small smile.

"What did they teach you?" I asked. He took out one of his knives.

"Ah. A skilled swordsman, huh?" He nodded.

"I always keep them up my sleeve or around my waist. Some would even be under the sole of my shoes. Here's a trick they taught me," he said, "just keep your guard up. I won't hurt you."

He then charged at me, right foot trying to kick the side of my face but I ducked, my right hand grabbing his foot and twisting it. But as he was falling to the floor, he twisted his body and sent me to fall. I use my two hands to flip myself up and I quickly turned around, my hands blocking each move and ducking as he used his legs. As I blocked his left foot, pushing it down, his hand quickly grabbed the dagger at the sole and it slid across my arm and to my neck. (Of course, the dagger had it's protective leather case around it.) I stopped.

"Not bad," I said. He placed the dagger back under his sole and grinned.

"It's a bit rusty but it saved my many times."

"You seem to be more on offense than defense. Let's practice your blocking. I'm going to try to hit you and you block every move. If I hurt you, I am sorry. But that's the only way to teach you," I explained as I stood in my stance.

"You sector people are dangerous," he joked. I rolled my eyes and began to aim at him. I took a step forward with my left foot and swung my right arm, his hand blocking it. I quickly stepped back and curved my right leg into a half moon, seeing him jump and my right leg quickly hit him square in the chest. He fell back and coughed, getting back up.

"What the hell?!"

"I have fast reflexes. Now let's continue."

"My god," he muttered. We continued our fighting, him blocking a majority of every hit, kick, and punch I threw and even threatened to use my gun, seeing him kick it to the side or use it against me or even unloaded it in the process of it being loaded. Overall, he fights well. He's also really skilled in using gadgets, but his pride was his daggers and swords. My pride is my hands and my guns as well.

Once we finished combat, we used the trees to train.

"You swing yourself using the branches. The tree trunk is for your feet to kick as you grab onto the next branches or so, swinging. If the tree you land on has a string study's branch, you run on that and try to get to the top if possible. The higher you are, the less you'll get caught. Also, be aware of insects and animals."

He nodded and we began. Hongbin went first, his tree branch long enough. As he reached to the end, he grabbed a vine from one of the taller trees and swung himself, hands reaching out to one of the branches and swinging himself as landed easily on the next one. I followed behind him to his right. I ducked and slid with the grip of my boots under shallow branches. I then kicked against one of the trees and my hands reached out to grab on tree branch and swung myself to the other. I kept doing this until I saw a branch I can run on or even go higher. Once I did, I ran on it and jumped to the next tree, climbing the sides and running even higher.

The feeling of adrenaline and blood rush flowed throughout my body. It was an invincible feeling to feel. It was like I was walking on air, moving with the wind and feeling the way it blew against my face. My body easily moved in different ways and the faster I went, the more control I had and the more I felt like I could do anything. My adrenaline when I first started to learn these tricks was poor and I was slow, hesitant to try it. I feared I will fall and break a bone or even die. But when I tried it, it felt new. I broke a few bones in the process but it was well worth it to be able to move with the wind and feel like the more you keep going, the more you will be able to reach the sky.

I looked at Hongbin and he was keeping up too. The sun was setting so I made it our goal to reach the end of the forest and to quickly head back to our base camp before anything happens.


We slept under the stars like always that night but this starry sky was far more beautiful than the others we stared up. It just seemed brighter. There were more stars and the way the sky created an ombre affect with dark and navy blue with streaks of black were beautiful. The silver stars glowed brighter and every few second or so, there would be a shooting star. It was odd to see how beautiful the night sky can be when you live in a kingdom where the city lights polluted the sky. So, seeing this view was different and it gave a good feeling. I wonder if we keep traveling...will I reach upon other places I dreamt of going to sit Jongdae? Like this lake was clear and we were able to swim in it. The soil beneath our feet was soft and not tough. The sky looked brighter and sunset was vivid. It was like living in a Fairytale but...it was reality.

As I closed my eyes, the sound of loud footsteps crossed through my sleep and I quickly sat up, kicking Hongbin near his leg and pointed up. He nodded and we climbed the trees. He had his daggers ready while I wrapped my wrist wraps around my hands. I ripped it off with my teeth and stared below. One guy stopped and stared at the fire pit made and he smiled widely. It was a creepy smile to see; almost psychotic.

"They were here! Do not leave until we capture them. The majesty's order," said the guy with the psychotic smile. I took out the survival knife I always carried from my pocket and slowly climbed down where one guard was. I quickly covered his mouth and slit his throat. I didn't like killing but in this matter, it had to be done. I quickly jumped back up and one of the men found his partner dead. There was eight of them total but seven left. It wasn't a lot of people so it seemed easy to take them down.

". Check the trees! They must be hiding there!" ordered one guy, aiming his bow and arrow where I was. He shot through the trees and I tilted my head to the left, the arrow passing by me. I nodded at Hongbin and he gave me a nod, both of us jumping down. The psychotic guy clapped his hands.

"Yes! Make our job easier for us!" he said. I gave him a look.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked.

"We were just here by orders to capture you two alive but since you killed one of us, I guess it's okay if we bring one back dead," he said, pulling out a gun. He aimed it at me and fired. I ducked as fast as I could and used the person behind me as a shield. The bullet went cleanly through his head. Hongbin attacked from the side, knocking the gun out and slamming his fist against his jaw. I swore I could've heard the sound of a bone being broken in half. We then stood back to back.

"Six out of eight," I said. He smirked and held his daggers through his hands like they were his claws. I took out my gun and we quickly aimed for each of them: head, heart, and neck. After they were all gone, we sighed and I tossed my gun to the ground, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"My god. I thought our peace would last until the end of this week."

"I know. I guess we have to find a safer location," he said as he picked up my gun and hands to me. I took it and we packed our things and retrieved our horses. As we rode onward, I stopped and took out a piece of yellowed paper from one of the guy's pocket. I opened it and it read:

WANTED: PARK JUNE AND LEE HONGBIN.

Park June, age 18, is wanted in the kidnapping of Lee Hongbin who is held hostage. June has short black raven hair up to her neck and blue-gray eyes. She's about 5"4 and is known to keep in the shadows. If anyone has found her, please return her dead or alive to the Kim Family in the Southern Commonwealth with Lee Hongbin alive. The award is 50,000 pieces of gold.

I crumbled up the paper and stared at my hair.

"It's actually gotten longer. My eyes...well, I can't help with that. But...why are we wanted?! What's going on back at home?" I frantically asked. Hongbin took out his inner comm and received messages from his friends and Kris, saying that chaos has entered Eastern Seoul but is kept under their control. As of now, we must continue to go to Questria to capture that Masked Runner. He placed the comm back into his bag and we began to ride into the night.

I couldn't help but wonder why now - what is Hongbin going to do? Is he still going to marry Hana even though hell has broken loose? What if they don't have everything under control? What if it's all chaos when we get back home and the innocent is being killed? With no official ruler...what's going on? Eastern Seoul's army isn't as ruthless and cruel as the others so the fact of tyranny and dictatorship is out of the blue but..what if when we get back, it is under dictatorship? Desperate measures are being used to prevent Eastern Seoul from collapsing and being threatened into war. But, couldn't it just be a scare to want Hongbin to be bought to the Southern Commonwealth for the Kim's sake?

Even if that is it, what's going to happen to me? To us? We promised to be each other's protector and I thought our feelings for each other were beyond what we thought, but I guess I was wrong. He only sees me as a comrade; his bodyguard. I see him differently. I see him as the one who could protect me and understand me. I see him as the one I've been dreaming of to stay by my side. In the end, our views our different. I thought my heart that I protected for long was finally coming out of hiding behind its protective shield. But as of now, it's still there as it always have been.

I gazed at Hongbin and his eyes were focused on the road ahead. Even though he's right beside me, it feels like he's out of my reach.

 

~Author's Note~

BUM BUM BUUUUUUUMMMMMM. Now what?