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deathbyseventeen · 4 years

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Since the Day I Met You (1)

Title: Since the Day I Met You (Part 1 of 2) || Part 2

Series: Between the Dusty and the Sparks

Words: ≅18.002

Genre: Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Romance, Pining, Adventure, Fluff, Angst

Pairing: Woozi/Jihoon x (F)Reader

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Blurb: For better or worse, he’s been your friend since the day you met. You’ve been through a lot together already, you, Jihoon, and your ragtag rebel family. But someone messed up, someone made the elitist Sparks government focus on you all– a group of nobody rebels in the cast-off City of Dust that have never even seen the luxury of the walled-off City of Sparks. With a heavy, love-stricken heart, choices have to be made; and, as the leaders of this family, for better or worse

they will be made.

A/N: This AU can be read as a standalone but it *is* a continuation of Steampunk Hoshi - that can be found here: MISSED CONNECTIONS (Y/N ver.) or MISSED CONNECTIONS (Third Person, AO3 Ver).

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As the sun rose higher into the sky and the heated the land of the Dust, two of its resident engineers tinkered on their projects silently.

They worked inside a long building, separated from their main house by a make-shift greenhouse, that only held two rooms. Inside these medium-sized rooms were workshops, personalized by each of its owners; and yet, their workshops were nearly identical.

A long table with gears, tools, and half-finished projects was set up against the back wall. Crates filled to the brim with nuts, bolts, gears, and scrap metal were pushed up and stacked on top of one another, against the left walls, waiting to be used.

A single, thin, decaying wall at the center of the building divided them. The sound of their hammers being brought down on metal sheets and their fists pounding against their worktables in frustration, could be heard when one stopped to rest.

At times, they stared at the door on the flimsy wall that connected the rooms and wondered if the day would come where they could stop pretending that they only held the feelings of friends for each other.

But, it hadn’t yet, so they sat on their stools and continued on with their projects.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It was the old, rusty hammer that you had found one day when you had snuck out of the house and roamed the Dunes of the Forgotten, that your hand was most accustomed to. It was the hammer that had gone missing from your tool box months ago.

You weren’t sure how you knew the specific sound it made when it was being used, but you did, and at the moment, you could hear him using it— slamming it against his latest project, the sound reverberating through the cracked anvil that he owned.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

You sighed as you wiped the sweat off your face and then wiped your hands on your pants. They were dirty anyway, covered in grease and dust. Who would notice the difference?

You looked out the window that faced the path back home, wondering how long you had been in your workshop when the bell attached to your favorite window started to ring.

It couldn’t be ignored. They knew.

Even when you were completely immersed in your ministrations, you always found yourself glancing out of your favorite “casement window” (as Joshua had explained to you when he had fixed it) with a half-circle top. It was tall and wide and it let you see out to where the fences had been added to surround the house.

“Y/N! Jihoon!” A faint, faraway voice drifted into your workshop, tearing you away from your favorite window.

You turned around to face the front door and found it closed. A moment later, you remembered you had closed it to keep the warmth of the fire you had started in your furnace in your room. Sighing, you stood up to take a peek out of the small, square-shaped window that faced the back of your house.

Joshua.

Even with the bonnet-styled roof dropping a shadow over the window, you could still make out that it was him running in your direction because of the way the small lather pack wrapped around his left thigh bounced against his leg.

Grinning to yourself, you ran up to the dividing wall, lifted a hand to pound it, and paused. Usually, you’d let Jihoon known that someone was coming and that he should come by pounding on the door.

But… it had been hours since you had last seen Jihoon.

Trying not to run, you jogged out of your workshop and straight into Jihoon’s. A wave of heat hit you instantly as you crossed the threshold.

“Wow,” you said, “it’s really hot in here. Maybe you should turn off your furnace for a while.”

It was almost comical the way Jihoon dropped the hammer he had in his hand and turned to look at you like he had just been caught doing something indecent.

You tried not to giggle, choosing to look around to calm down first. That’s when you noticed that he didn’t have a fire in his furnace— the heat in the room was coming from the sun entering the room from the left wall’s window.

“Oh, it’s hot because the sun’s hitting your shop directly… Ji, you should come over and use my workshop instead of staying here like this.”

“W-what are you doing here?” He stuttered, his face flush.

“Jihoon,” you sighed, “don’t change the subject. Look at your face.”

“M-my face?” He asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah—” you answered as stepped closer to him, your hands reaching up to gingerly cups his cheeks, “you’re too hot. You’re burning up. You could be minutes away from having a heat stroke.”

You were simply worried about his wellbeing. Your words were far from registering in your thoughts and they wouldn’t until nightfall when you would revisit the day’s events.

If it wasn’t for the suffocating heat that had plastered red on Jihoon’s cheeks, you might have been able to notice a fresh, non-sun induced wave of heat running up his face and to the tips of ears.

“I’m fine,” Jihoon told you, swallowing.

“Next time go to my workshop. I won’t mind. Alright?”

“Alright,” Jihoon nodded.

You frowned and it took Jihoon all he had in him not to kiss your frown away. Instead, he lifted his hands to lay them on yours, and while he tried not to intertwine them, he pulled your hands off his cheeks.

“Why are you here?”

You paused. It sounded like he didn’t want you here.

Smiling, you cleared your throat and backtracked to the door, “I wasn’t sure if you heard the bell—” Jihoon looked at the bell tied above his window, “Joshua’s coming up the trail right now. My shop, yeah?”

Perhaps it had been a bad idea to come to his workshop instead of knocking on the diving door to let him know they shared a visitor like always.

He hummed in response— a yes, you knew and nodded before backing out of his shop and speed walking back into yours. A quick look outside showed you Joshua was nearly there. So, you rushed to your worktable and placed an empty box over the project you had just been working on.

Not a second later, you watched as Joshua neared your door, glanced at Jihoon’s workshop, nodded at him, and then jogged into your shop.

“Y/N!” He cheered as he enveloped you in a hug, pushing you backward.

“Joshua!” You laughed. “You’re back! How was the trip? You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“Trip?” He said as he shot you a look and then motioned for you to sit down. “Y/N, you know very well that I wasn’t on a trip. I was doing recon—”

“What’s wrong about letting Y/N call it a ‘trip?’ We know what it was,” Jihoon grumbled as he entered through the front door.

He glanced at you for a fleeting moment before focusing on Joshua. Seconds passed as they both took opposite walls to lean against. Joshua on the dividing and Jihoon on the opposite. They smiled at each other as if the dry, afternoon wind had just brought in the smell of rot and decay from the dunes of the Forgotten, miles away.

“Alright,” you swallowed nervously. The two never seemed to get along and figuring out why didn’t seem to be in your cards. “The bells were ringing. Is something going on?”

“Cheol wants to call a meeting.”

You nodded, “Okay, I’ll meet you guys at home. I just need to put away my things.”

“I’ll wait for you,” Joshua said.

“No, no,” you responded quickly, “I’ll only be a minute. You guys go on…ahead.”

“O-kay?” Joshua said hesitantly.

You watched as Jihoon hurried out the door, not once turning back to spare you a second glance.

“Go on,” you smiled reassuringly at Joshua when he stopped at the door. Then you waited.

It didn’t take very long for either of them to be far enough where they couldn’t see into your workshop. In an instant, you were up from your seat and at the door closing it, gently, so they wouldn’t turn around and come back.

Running back to your worktable, you removed the box you had placed over your project and smiled. Quickly, as to not risk having it seen, you grabbed the half-done brown, leather belt’s pieces and one by one, placed them in the box— the belt, the holster, the three small packs you were planning to add to it, all of it. Then, you closed the box and sealed it with a long piece of used tape.

It only needed to look sealed, after all. You would be back to work on it as soon as you could. You just didn’t want anyone to see it.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“Where’s Y/N?” You heard Seungcheol say as you entered the back hallway of the house and headed straight to the door the opened up to the inner courtyard.

“She said she’d be a minute,” Joshua sighed.

“Why didn’t you stay with her? You know she’s going to start working again.”

“Y/N doesn’t need a babysitter,” Jihoon snapped and you stopped. Never had you been more grateful for your tendency to wear your dying, brown combat boots. Their worn-out blocked heel, so close to the ground, kept you from making any noise when you walked; and now, they let you see how Jihoon interacted with Seungcheol and the others when you weren’t around.

Your mind jumped back to a day three years ago when they had all refused to tell you what was going on after you returned. You could feel the heaviness in the room that day but you never managed to get the truth out of them.

“She’s perfectly capable of following through on her word on her own,” he grumbled, “Why can’t you just start the meeting already.”

“I asked for a meeting,” Seungcheol grumbled in return.

Your eyebrows furrowed, Seungcheol really had no reason to hold back because you weren’t there.

“I can’t start a meeting. You two are the leaders of this group. None of us can do anything without your approval.”

“Our approval?” Jihoon scoffed, “Neither of us asked to be leaders of this shitty group.”

You frowned. Deciding it was time to stop eavesdropping, you crossed through the door and sped walked to the center of the courtyard.

While more of the people you had… found, were sitting legs crossed within the overgrown grass inside the stone fountain, others, including the newest addition to your once sanctuary, were standing backs straight and tense, as the watched Seungcheol and Jihoon. Those two, on the other hand, were standing inches from each other. If you didn’t know better, you’d say they looked like they had their chests puffed out to intimidate the other and there were only seconds left before someone threw a punch. But you did, and you knew that within their narrowed eyes, a fight was already raging on.

Jihoon shifted.

“Enough,” You barked with faux confidence, “I don’t understand what’s going on here, but it’s enough.”

Standing behind Soonyoung, one of the first you and Jihoon had found, a twenty-two-year-old woman that he had brought from Sparks, squeaked and clutched his torso. You scoffed. She had already been around all of you for half a year.

“Afraid, are you,” you sneered, giving her outfit choice a once over. She was wearing a loose, leather brown dress, a copper-colored, long-sleeved, button-up shirt, and brown, ankle-high boots. Everything, including her socks and the piece of cloth holding her hair in a ponytail, screamed Dusty. But, she wasn’t.

You hated it.

She wasn’t a Dusty. Even with the clothes, she didn’t look like she belonged here.

She didn’t.

You knew the disgust was obvious on your face.

“Y/N,” Soonyoung said. A warning was evident in his voice and in the narrowing of his eyes.

“What?” Jihoon snapped, turning to him. “Do you have something to say. Soonyoung? Because I don’t think you have the right to complain.”

“Enough,” You barked again. You rolled your eyes as Luz— the Sparkian, jumped. “I don’t care what you think, Star-man.”

Then, you turned to Seungcheol who watched on with crossed arms.

“You called a meeting, didn’t you?” A discussion about leadership would have to take place later. You already had one headache starting to build.

“Right,” Seungcheol nodded. Though he still had a frown on his face, he motioned for you to take a seat next to the others— Chan, Seokmin, and Mingyu, in the fountain. Jihoon followed suit if only to lean against the top half of it, next to you on your right.

“I don’t know if you remember, but Joshua left us a month ago to go on a recon mission. Only I, Y/N, and Jihoon, really knew why and since Joshua came back today, I think it’s better if we all know what he discovered,” he paused and glanced at you and Jihoon, “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Y/N agreed, turning to nod at everyone else.

“Joshua?” Seungcheol asked, “Would you mind telling us what you found?”

On your other side, Joshua shifted and cleared his throat. “O-Of course,” he answered.

Dread ran down your body in an involuntary shudder. Something felt wrong.

Joshua stood up and joined Seungcheol at the front. He smiled awkwardly before clearing his throat again.

“Well, I went away to go check on the other access points we have into Sparks. They’re all fine and nothing has been moved from the way we set it up and there were no footprints in the sand. After I was done with that I was supposed to find a way into the government’s database to see if they had any information on any of us.”

“Get to the point,” Jihoon said curtly, cutting in.

“Mmm, well… I had to sneak into the Sparking Tower… it’s the government’s headquarters. I-It was the only way to…” he trailed off nervously.

“What… did you find?” You asked slowly, pushing yourself off the ground to stand tall next to Jihoon.

“They don’t know much about us, who we are or what we’re doing… but they do suspect that we’re a band of rebels trying to usurp the government.” He stopped and looked down at his feet.

“Isn’t that what we are?” Chan, the youngest in their group, asked. He was confused. Having the title of rebels had long been wordlessly accepted between everyone. Now that Joshua was openly stating it and hesitating at that, something felt off.

“Yes,” Jihoon answered him quietly as if it were some taboo secret that he couldn’t bring himself to talk about any louder.

“Sort of,” you added quietly, “A bit. But not exactly, Chan. We’re not trying to overthrow the government… but we are… against them?” What you were was hard for you to explain when you couldn’t figure out how to form sentences that made sense.

You looked at Joshua. He refused to meet anyone’s eyes. That’s when you knew there was something else going on that he didn’t want to say— something he didn’t know how to say.

“What else?” You asked calmly though your hands were starting to ball up into clammy fists.

“They know about Soonyoung and Luz.”

“So?” You asked. Anger was beginning to bubble. Even without the light of the sun reflecting off discarded glass and metals, everything around you was starting to be overtaken by a red tint.

“They… might be trying to figure out how they communicated between borders. And since they suspect that they’re in a relationship, and Luz was…” he trailed off, shooting Luz and apologetic look before continuing, “a common citizen in Sparks, they’re on high alert.”

“Meaning?” You asked through gritted teeth, trying very hard to not scream.

“Meaning they probably assigned some elite to come after us. Is that it, Joshua?”

You looked at Jihoon, horrified at the words coming out of his mouth. He, more than anyone else here, knew what those words triggered inside you.

He avoided you eyes. He stared unblinkingly at Joshua instead, a red flush racing to the top of his ears.

“They assigned a special operations agent to investigate us, find us, and eventually… eliminate us.” he finished, swallowing the rock that was forming in his throat.

You paused, trying to swallow the anger you felt.

You failed.

“Because of a nobody?” You asked. Every word you spoke rose in volume as the anger flowed freely. “Because… of a nobody,” you hissed, “she isn’t even one of us.”

“Y/N!” Soonyoung boomed.

“What?!” You yelled in return, turning to your left to glare at him.

He glared at you in return, and behind him, Luz avoided your gaze.

“You have no right—”

“No right?” You scoffed.

“Our lives are in danger because you decided to bring some nobody into our home.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Not fair?” You hissed, “You’re a lovesick idiot. Have you even finished the repairs on the zeppelin or have you been too busy fucking that Sparkian on the runway? Who, by the way, probably didn’t even believe that the Dusty deserved the same rights as her. Ask her!” You yelled, “Ask her what she thought of the Dusty! You brought in a stranger, Soonyoung! Did she even know your real name?!”

“I did what I had to do!”

“What you had to do?” You laughed.

“She’s responsible for her own actions just as much as you are,” you hissed, “she knew what she was doing when she used that damn Monet! And let’s not forget that if she hadn’t used it in broad daylight like some idiot, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place!”

Luz jumped and ran inside.

“Pathetic,” you seethed.

“Y/N!” Soonyoung growled, fury written all over his face.

“Fuck off,” Jihoon grumbled, stepping in front of you protectively, “You know Y/N’s right. Our lives are on the line and it’s your fault. We worked in secrecy and you two screwed it up.”

“Screw you,” Soonyoung hissed.

“No need,” you snapped as you started to back away in the direction of the workshops, “You already did that when you chose to bring some privileged Spark here and had her pretend she’s one of us.”

Soonyoung didn’t answer. He glared at you before turning around and chasing after Luz.

Sitting in the fountain, Chan, Seokmin and Mingyu, looked on wide-eyed.

They didn’t know what to do. They had just been hit with an avalanche of information.

Chan nudged Seokmin and Mingyu. He pointed a thumb toward the inside of their home and as they disappeared inside, Seungcheol groaned and followed.

Joshua was the last one to remain outside, looking your retreating back.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Y/N,” Joshua yelled, trying to console you. But, you ignored him.

“Infamous last words,” Jihoon grumbled at him as he walked beside you, and, you couldn’t agree more.

A distance away from the courtyard, in the empty backyard, Jihoon walked as he had been doing with you lately, silently.

With everything that had gone down, you were thankful that at the least, the person you considered your closest friend was still walking beside you.

You didn’t try talking to him, too afraid that he would leave you to walk alone with your thoughts, to wallow without end.

A gentle touch brought you out of your own torment. Out of the corner of your left eye, you saw Jihoon’s hand hovering over your elbow. It took him a second to realize that you were looking at him and retreat back into himself.

Disappointed, you cleared your throat and shoved your hands into the pockets of your pants. The heat of the sun had warmed your clothes and shoving your hands into the pockets of your pants gave you a fleeting feeling of warmth spreading all over your body.

But not a minute later, you found your left hand being pulled out of your pocket and into another.

Jihoon coughed, avoiding your eyes as you whipped your head around to look at him.

All thoughts left you and without realizing, your gaze trailed down his arm until it reached his hand. Hidden as it may have been inside his own pocket, you were able to see his hand enveloping yours.

It was calloused but pleasing. It sent warmth up your arms, up your cheeks, and down your body.

You wondered if your cheeks were red because you swore you couldn’t feel anything but his hand at that moment.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” he whispered when you turned back around, squeezing your hand. And at that moment, the weird way he had been acting disappeared, replaced by the comfort he made you feel and the trust he reminded you that you had in him.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

10 Years Ago (Age: 13)

It was the first night in three months that it wasn’t raining. Hours ago, the rain had stopped but you were still stuck inside your home, waiting for the sloshy ground to dry.

You had been warned plenty of times by your parents that if you tried to go out while the land was settling its dues with the rainwater, you’d be putting your life in danger. ‘Death,’ it seemed like they had wanted to say, but instead decided on saying that the earth would swallow you up.

You wanted to laugh. It had been raining without end for three months. What could be worse than having to use small, steam-powered boats to travel?

…

Alright. You had to admit that technically going out at night in the Dusty was probably more dangerous itself.

Raiders walked day and night, their… shadier business happening under the cover of night. Or at least that’s what your parents had told you when noises outside your window woke you up in the middle of the night and they rushed into your room to tell you to lock your door and hide under the bed until they told you to open the door.

Houses were raided.

People went missing.

This was constant.

But you ignored this. If you didn’t, you feared that you’d be too afraid to go outside again.

Ignoring the warning they had given you, you found yourself jumping out of your bed and racing to put on the warmest clothes you could find. Though it’d been raining day and night, the way temperature worked was yet to change. Days were hot and nights were cold as ice.

A worn pair of old, dark brown leather pants your dad had gifted you not long ago for your twelfth birthday, an old, yellowing, long-sleeved shirt, a black, cotton jacket, and black, knee-high boots.

You shoved some coins into your pockets and plucked the heart-shaped stone that your parents had gifted you. It went into your pockets like the coins.

Then, after poking your head out of your room to check that your parents were asleep, you sped walked through the open hallways, staring up at the night sky and shivering as the cold air hit you. The stairs caused you no trouble, they were easy to jog down; and, before you knew it, you were slipping past the smaller, metal front door that you had just helped your father oil that same day, locking it with your key, and racing towards the train tracks a mile away.

You glanced down at your wrist as you ran, trying to catch a glimpse of your watch to see the time. Half an hour till midnight. You’d be getting to the main city of Dust around midnight if you managed to catch the train.

Luck was on your side that night as you got to the tracks with a minute to spare.

As the freight train raced passed you, your eyes locked onto one car in the distance. Its door had been left open and you knew that was the car you had to make it into.

Jumping trains was a dance with death. Without your parents to spot you, you had to rely on your own skill.

You took a deep breath as it was ten seconds away from you. ‘I’m a Dusty,’ you reminded yourself.

Five seconds.

Your parents had been teaching you to do this since you could walk. It’s the only way to get around without horses. But back then, they’d always held your hand as they ran. They’d basically pulled you the entire time. Now you were doing it on your own.

Three seconds.

You took another deep breath and stomped your feet, losing the clumps of mud that had stuck to them like glue.

Then you ran.

Just as the car started to reach you, you jumped, lunged, and tumbled into the car, narrowly avoiding one of the moving side rods on the train’s wheels.

You laughed as you laid inside, the air whipping past you.

The rain was gone.

It had been so long since you had been out.

And the ground had yet to eat you up.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

You weren’t sure what you had been expecting when you reached the main city of Dust. Maybe you hadn’t been expecting anything in the first place. But when you got there and found the streets were under a foot of water, you found yourself startled.

Water was dangerous for a Dusty. Hardly anyone ever learned how to swim— large bodies of water were…rare. Your parents had told you about “pools” existing in the old world, a structure that had been built for people to swim in. They told you how some homes, bigger homes, had pools meant for that specific home.

Things like that would be considered wasteful now.

You paused. Would the planetarium you wanted to go to still be open?

The streets weren’t as full as they usually were, but they weren’t empty either.

They felt like the back alleys and abandoned sections of the city, where people always went missing or wound up dead.

‘Well,’ you thought to yourself, ‘I’ve already come this far,’ and with that, you set off to the north end of the city.

You hadn’t been walking for five minutes when you realized that you had followed a very bad idea. Not only was the water level rising, but the streets were getting emptier by the second.

Soulless.

It seemed everyone else had realized much sooner that the north end of the city would be significantly underwater. The city’s land dropped after all before it came up again like a hill.

It wasn’t much of a drop, not much a hill, but it was enough for the water to reach your waist. You waded through it, pushing through with as much force as you could as the frigid waters made it harder to move.

There was no way the planetarium, or any places for that matter, would be open.

You shook your head, disappointed.

The only thing you could do now was to go back in the direction you had come from. You were just about to take a step in the other direction when a body rammed into you, knocking you into the water.

Caught off guard, you sunk to the bottom while choking on the water that rushed into your lungs before a hand grabbed yours and pulled you up.

“We have to run!”

They pulled you up as you struggled to breathe, heaving water at every second. At that moment, it didn’t seem to matter to you that some stranger was pulling you along.

Until it did.

“What the heck?!” You yelped, pulling your hand out of their grip. “Stranger!” You yelled as you turned to run the other way. “Stranger danger!”

“Stop, would you!” They snapped.

You stopped, ignoring the voice in your head telling you to run.

The voice you were hearing was too ‘childish,’ you thought to yourself. They were annoyed, yes, but their voice was too soft to belong to an adult like your dad or your mom.

You turned around slowly then, afraid that your judgment had been wrong.

But it hadn’t.

In front of you, a boy no older than you by the looks of it, stared at you wide-eyed and panting. His round cheeks were as red as you imagined yours were.

It was instinct to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“They’re after me! And they’ll grab you too.”

“What?” You asked, confused.

For a moment, the boy looked ashamed. Then the look

disappeared and instead, he looked impatient, “I stole something from them and they caught me as I was leaving.”

“Then give it back,” you said.

He scoffed, “It’s too late for that. They’re looking for blood now and whether they find you or me, they’ll kill.”

“Wha—”

“Where are you, you fucking twerp? I know you’re down here! The waters don’t lie!” An older, rougher voice bellowed around the corner from where the two of you had stopped.

Your heart stopped.

That voice sounded far from friendly.

“We have to go,” the boy whispered hurriedly. This time you didn’t try to wiggle your arm out of his hand. Instead, you ran as fast as you could through the waters until he eventually let go.

Then, when the waters reached your chest, you grabbed his hand yourself.

The cold was making it hard to move, but fear ate away at your insides and pushed you to keep moving.

“W-where are we going?” You whispered.

“W-we have to g-go to my hideout, or we’ll g-get s-sick, but w-we have to hide f-first,” the cold was starting to get to him too.

“Come out. Come out, wherever you are. I promise not to hurt you.” The pursuers gruff voice laughed around the corner. The water sloshed as they came closer.

A flash of heat ran down your body as you panicked.

“In t-there,” the boy pointed at the building next to the two of you.

The windows had been left open and even in the darkness, you could tell that the room dipped inside.

“We c-can’t go in there,” you stopped him as he took a step towards it, “the waters are deeper. I don’t know how to swim.”

The boy stared at you for a second, “I won’t let you drown. I-I promise.”

It took you a moment to answer him. In hushed whispers, you relented and let him pull you forward.

In less than a minute, he was pulling you into the darkness of the farthest corner, where even the light of the moon couldn’t reach.

Just barely, on the tip of your toes, could you push your face over the water.

“On the count of three,” he said as the sloshing got closer, “w-we go under.”

“One,” you said, swallowing your fear.

“Two,” he followed as the man’s grumbling sounds neared the building.

‘Three,’ he mouthed, and then, together, you submerged yourselves underwater.

Holding your breath was torture. You remembered that the only times you’d ever tried to keep your breath was when your mother used to fill the tub with warm water. In those moments, you’d always have the option to rise and breathe when you needed it. You didn’t have that option now; and, with every second that ticked by, you felt your resolve breaking.

As if sensing your struggle, the boy squeezed your hand and although that didn’t solve the air problem, it did comfort you a bit.

You forced yourself to relax, emptying all the thoughts in your head and clutching his hand. Time moved faster then, and before you knew it, he was pulling you closer to him so he could lead you forward.

“I-Is he gone?” You whispered when you were above water.

“I think so,” he answered, “I can’t hear him anymore.”

You nodded sluggishly.

“Common,” he said, pulling you forward, “we need to go.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

You were drenched. From head to toe, all you could feel was the prickly iciness of your clothes sticking to your skin and the cold night air hitting it.

Your bones hurt.

How long you’d been walking with the nameless boy beside you, you didn’t know. You weren’t even sure that your watch continued to work after going through the works with water.

You weren’t even sure in which direction he was taking you, all memory of the city was lost along with the feeling in your toes.

“How much farther?” You asked quietly.

“We’re here,” he answered just as quietly. He nodded at the old building just up ahead.

It looked old and worn out like most of the buildings in the Dust. But closer to it, you saw that it was missing windows and doors too. ‘Ravaged for parts,’ you thought to yourself.

“That doesn’t look so safe,” you tried to say, but your voice dwindled as you spoke.

“It’s fine,” the boy said, “it does its job.”

You didn’t answer as you followed him. You were too tired to argue with him.

When he realized you weren’t going to answer, he spoke again, “It’s not that bad. It’s falling apart but it’s not dangerous. The rain didn’t get inside either, so it’s dry.”

“Okay,” you said.

The inside of the building looked just as the outside did, old and worn out. But to the boy's credit, you admitted that it didn’t look as bad as you imagined it would be. The walls were just beginning to peel and the holes in them looked more like someone had taken a hammer to them. They weren’t decayed, or at least, they weren’t as decayed as the buildings you were used to.

“We’re going into the basement,” the boy muttered in front of you.

“Is there light?”

“No, I usually use a torch. We can use it to start a fire though,” he said. You could almost hear his desire for sleep in his voice, “it’ll help dry us so we won’t get hypothermia.”

“I think we’re past that,” you said, “I can’t feel my toes. Besides, I need to get home before the suns up.”

“I’ll help you get home,” he sighed, “but let’s start a fire first.”

You would have liked your descent into the basement to be slow and careful. But despite your silent hopes, the boy walked quicker, already accustomed to the place and that left you to follow quicker than you liked lest you be left in the dark to figure it out yourself.

You were pleasantly surprised, though, when after reaching the final step, you found yourself in a concrete basement full of fruits and blankets; and, at the center of it all, wood stacked up in a pile and the boy was already lighting it on fire.

“Mothers of gears,” you shuddered as a wave of heat reached you.

“Take off what you want dried,” he mumbled, red smoothing over his cheeks. “I promise I won’t look. You can cover yourself with the blankets.”

You did so quickly, taking off your boots, socks, pants, shirt, sweater— everything but your undergarments, piled it up, and shoved it towards the fire. After wrapping a thick blanket around yourself, you settled near the fire and called out to him.

“I’m done.”

Without a word, he swiveled around and neared you to take the clothes you had taken off. You watched on silently as he set-up a pulley system above the fire and hanged your clothes and shoes.

An hour later, while you were both laying on opposite sides of the fire, curiosity spiked inside you though sleep was starting to nip at you.

“What did you even steal to get them that mad?” You asked.

The boy was silent for a while before answering, “Food.”

“Oh.” You didn’t know what to say. He had been caught stealing food. Why did he even have to steal food in the first place? He was too young to steal…

“Don’t judge me,” he grumbled, pulling his blanket tighter around himself.

“I’m not judging you,” you said, “I know that some of us have to steal to survive. My parents have done it before too.”

Silence.

“Sorry.”

“No need,” he mumbled, “I’m used to it.”

“You’re a stranger,” you spoke, staring into the flames in front of you, “but you look as old as I am. And to think that you had to steal food…it just doesn’t—”

There was silence between the two of you. Without meaning to, you eyes flicked over to the boy.

“I’m Jihoon.”

“Y/N.”

“Thank you… for trusting me, even though you don’t know me.”

You shrugged under the blankets, meeting Jihoon’s eyes, “Something told me I could trust you.”

Even under his own blankets, you could have sworn he shot you a smile. A blush crept up your neck and flooded into your cheeks.

You curled into yourself, embarrassed by the fire on your cheeks.

“Do you… do you actually trust me?”

“Yes.”

In another life, you might have been ashamed of how fast you answered him.

“Then sleep,” he whispered, “I’ll wake you in an hour and help you get home.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It had been three years since Jihoon had offered you a home in his own. Three years since that boy had offered you a room next to his; and, three years since your parents had…

No.

No. You wouldn’t think of that.

It had been days since you had fought with Soonyoung because of the insufferable tick he’s got attached to his side. Neither had spoken a word to each other; and when Luz caught a glance of you, she would scurry like a rat back into her hole.

Her inability to face you only made you dislike her even more.

And to top it all off, Seungcheol had yet to treat himself as a leader, insisting that you and Jihoon were the true leaders of this band of rebels. If that were the case, you thought to yourself, you were running out of time to come up with a plan.

A plan had to be made, sooner rather than later. You had choices to make and you couldn’t make them alone.

You’d been awake since four in the morning, huddled in the corner that your bed rested on. You could glance out of your window if you turned your head enough, and see the outline of your workshop.

You wondered if anyone else was awake. Were nightmares plaguing their dreams like they were yours? Unable to sleep for long?

The wall across from yours shuddered with a small pang.

You were still for a second.

That wall also belonged to Jihoon.

You stood up and made your way to the door, trying not to trip over the length of your pajama pants in your hurry.

Without giving yourself a moment to doubt your choice, you stepped to the door next to yours, opened it, and stepped inside.

You looked at Jihoon dumbly, your mouth moving like a fish’s as you tried to think of what to say.

“You’re awake?”

Jihoon looked at you blankly, nodding once.

“Me too.” Stupid. “I-I just, I heard you hit the wall and I was awake and I was just wondering if you were…alright?”

Silence.

“Yeah.”

Silence yet again.

A gust of wind hit your partially exposed back, making you shiver. Putting on a sweater hadn’t crossed your mind.

“You forgot to bring a sweater,” Jihoon said, glancing at your bare arms.

You nodded in confirmation. Without missing a beat, he patted the spot next to him on his bed.

Thankful that he wasn’t kicking you out yet, you threw the door closed and rushed to his side. You practically jumped into his bed and pulled the blanket over the two of you, sitting side by side.

Relaxed and content with the silence between the two of you, you started to doze off. Only when your head fell on his shoulder did you startle yourself back awake.

“Jihoon,” you whispered, softly as to not disturb him if he had already fallen asleep.

He hummed in response.

“What are we going to do?”

“About?”

“The impending doom that Joshua was trying to tell us about.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” he scoffed under his breath. But you were able to hear him anyway.

“But what if that man does find out about us? Where we live.”

“We’ll be alright.”

“How?” You asked him, worry bleeding into the question.

“We’ll disappear before he can get to us. Find a new home.”

Silence overtook the two as you tried to unravel what he was proposing.

“We’d have to abandon your house?” You whispered sadly to him, pushing off his shoulder to look at him in the darkness of his room. But even in the darkness, you could still find his eyes staring attentively at you.

“This isn’t just my house,” he said, “this is your house too.”

“Jihoon,” you started, “this is your parent’s house.”

“But it’s not my only home.”

Under the covers, Jihoon’s left hand made its way to yours, his fingers intertwining with yours. He held your hand gently as if he were afraid of crushing it.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I do.”

“So…”

“If they find out about us… and they send someone after us…”

“Trust me, and we’ll escape. I won’t let anything happen to us,” he whispered to you.

You knew you could trust him. As he peered into your eyes, trying to get you to understand that nothing bad would happen, you felt your love for him, your trust for him, grow.

“Okay,” you whispered back to him, squeezing his hand.

“Let’s go to sleep, yeah?” He asked you as he nodded at the pillow on his bed.

You nodded. “Sleep would be nice,” you mumbled, laying down next to the wall.

Jihoon laid down next to you, trapping you against the wall. He waited for you to complain, to show any signs of discomfort, but you didn’t.

He pulled the covers gently over both your bodies.

You sighed in contempt as you nuzzled into one of his pillows.

Even if only for a few hours, you’d be sleeping comfortably for the rest of the night.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

The fire you were standing over, turned your face red.

You gritted your teeth in a shaky snarl as you brought your hammer down on the red hot metal below you.

No matter how much you tried not to think, your anger was spilling out with each blow you brought upon the metal. The metal, it mocked you.

While you tried to make sure that it bent in the direction you were working for, it showed you your reflection. A red face. A snarl. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes.

It made you angry.

You felt like a fool.

<><><><><><><><><>

“Should we wake them up?”

“What are they even doing together?”

“Do we have a choice?”

“Let’s wake them.”

“But, I’ve never seen them sleep past sunrise…”

“I’ll go ask Cheol if we can postpone.”

They all mumbled so they wouldn’t wake you. Still, you were awoken by their conversation.

Squeezing your eyes shut as the sunlight started to bypass your eyelids, you hummed and nuzzled further into your pillow.

Someone aww’d. Who it was, you didn’t know. Your brain was still loading.

“They look so cute together!”

That startled you.

You were starting to register that someone was in your room. A couple of seconds later, you registered their words.

A particularly long inhale introduced a musky and sweaty scent to you. It was a familiar smell, and it didn’t take you long to place it.

You opened your eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light in the room. It wasn’t long before you noticed you were staring at black cloth.

You had a palm against it. Your fingers twitched, and it dawned you. You were pressed up against a chest.

Whose chest? Who was you cuddled up to?

Jihoon.

You gulped.

You almost didn’t want to check. But the warmth you were feeling...

Ever so carefully, so you wouldn’t alert the others in the room, you tilted your head upwards until you could see the person you were sleeping with.

‘Jihoon,’ you gulped.

Your eyes darted back down to the hand against the black fabric— ‘Jihoon’s chest,’ you corrected yourself.

He was warm.

Your fingers curled around the black fabric of his tee. You could feel his hard chest below your hand.

You wanted nothing more than to curl up against Jihoon again, take in his scent and bask in his warmth.

But you couldn’t. To anyone unfamiliar with Jihoon’s sleeping patterns, they might have missed the twitch of his fingers. You couldn’t.

The arm he had draped over you tensed. Anyone might have been able to miss his movements. But again, you couldn’t. When you looked at his face again, you realized he was awake.

He looked asleep, but his eyes told you otherwise. Still heavy with sleep, his eyes were only open a slither. The others couldn’t see. His head was angled downward as if curling towards you.

He never blinked.

You wondered if he even saw you.

Then his eyes shot open, and blood rushed to the tip of his ears and dusted his cheeks. Now you knew he saw you.

“Cheol said we should let them sle—”

It came like rain in the Dusty, unexpectedly and suddenly. You were on the ground before you could even get a word out, landing on your side and spraining your wrist.

You groaned from your spot on the ground.

It took everyone else a moment to process what had happened before they rushed to you.

“What happened?!” Chan.

“Are you alright?” Seokmin.

“Here.” Joshua. “Let me help you up.”

“Ow. Ow. OW,” You yelped as he helped you stand.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I think…” you paused to ride a wave of pain, “I hit my ribs.”

“I don’t think you could have broken them,” Joshua said as he glanced at your side, eyes narrowed in concern, “Perhaps just bruised yourself.”

“Yeah,” you said.

“What happened? How did you fall?” Seokmin asked as he fixed your hair.

“Oh, I just…I think I just…,” you trailed off, glancing at Jihoon.

You studied him, taking in his appearance. His eyes were shut, and his breathing was level.

He looked like he was perfectly asleep.

“I guess I just rolled over and fell out of bed,” you smiled, hoping it didn’t look as fake as you felt it did.

<><><><><><><><><>

He had pushed you out of bed.

You held back a growl as you brought down your hammer again. You should have been more than careful with your project, considering how small it was. The heart you were building fit in the center of your palm perfectly.

Your fingers curled around it, hiding it as you clutched it in anger. Despite the heat it was enveloped in and the searing pain it was causing your palm, you kept it there.

You were starting to question the point in finishing this project, and yet, you couldn’t bring yourself to stop.

The bells started to ring not long after.

As if finally registering the pain you were causing yourself, you tossed your heart into the box on the table behind you.

It took you a single look from your peripheral vision to see Joshua’s form starting to materialize in the distance.

You didn’t wait.

After quickly pouring water into the fire and extinguishing it, you hurried out your door and locked it.

Joshua was perhaps only halfway to the workshops before you sped walked to his side.

“Aren’t you going to wait for Jihoon?” He asked, glancing between you and the workshops.

“If you want, you can go and get him. I’ll go ahead to the meeting. Fountain, right?”

“Yeah,” he answered.

There was a pause as you stared ahead, refusing to look back.

“Better hurry. I plan to make the meeting start as soon as I get there. Don’t feel like wasting any time today.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It had been a couple of days since you had last seen him, and although he wasn’t looking at you, you could still feel the ghosts of his eyes following your movements.

He glared at the floor, arms crossed, and with his lover protectively at his side.

You wanted to scoff.

You wouldn’t hurt her. Not unless she gave you a reason to.

But you liked it this way. Seeing the Sparkian curling into herself pathetically, avoiding being in your line of sight like you had the power to crush her from so far away.

The rest seemed to ignore it all, casually sitting in the grassy ruins of the fountain.

“Another meeting? It hasn’t even been a week yet.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol nodded at you. He waited until you had hoisted yourself up into the second bowl of the fountain to continue. “Some…,” he hesitated, “information was brought to my attention.”

“By who?” You asked stiffly. Your swaying legs came to a stop as you crossed them and leaned back on your arms.

You hadn’t realized it until now, but it was frustrating that an ex-Sparkian held information you were supposed to know being as even he had said you were one of the leaders. Even if Seungcheol had joined your group of outlaws years ago…

“Outside sources.”

You raised an eyebrow questioningly. Not that deep down, you knew you could trust him. But, it still frustrated you that he had all the information you were supposed to know.

“What’s going on?”

Jihoon.

It took an amount of restraint you didn’t know you had to keep your eyes on Seungcheol instead of looking at Jihoon, who walked in with Joshua at his heels.

No one responded his question. They didn’t know if they should.

The way you and Seungcheol had yet to take your eyes off each other grew unrest within them. Though in reality, you could see it in Seungcheol’s eyes that he was wondering why you weren’t answering Jihoon’s question.

Eventually, Jihoon reached the fountain and stood off to its side. You could feel his gaze on you, and it made you wonder if he had been asking you that question.

But it didn’t matter, you weren’t going to answer.

Seungcheol seemed to understand that you weren’t going to answer him then when you wouldn’t turn or acknowledge Jihoon in any way.

“We received some new information.”

“And that would be?” You asked impatiently.

“Sparks assigned an elite to trace us. They picked a top operative that goes by the name ‘Eight.’”

Silence.

Seungcheol’s gaze met your’s again and stopped. If the rest didn’t understand what he meant by that information, you did.

“So, they’ll come after us. And even if we’re in the uncharted Dusty, isolated from the main city of Dust… it won’t take that elite long to figure out where we are.”

“What?” You heard Seokmin gasp at your words.

“How long do you think we have?”

“At the most? A week, maybe less.”

“Then we have to leave as soon as possible— get as much distance between us and him as soon as we can.”

“Will that really be enough to get that elite off our trail?” Chan asked, worry lacing his voice.

“Nowhere will be far enough,” Joshua answered quietly.

Startled, your gaze flicked over to him, standing beside Seungcheol. He met your gaze without hesitation, conveying to you all his thoughts in a single second.

Then you hissed, hurt, as you sucked in a breath of air through your teeth. Your breathing sounded so loud to you, you doubted that the rest of your crew had failed to notice.

“What do you mean?” Mingyu asked after a moment of hesitation.

“He…” you started and paused, hoping to find the right words, “…means that we need to disappear.”

“And that would mean?” Chan asked.

“We need help making magic real,” Joshua spoke.

On your right, you could feel Jihoon’s stare land on you again despite your silence.

“Someone really needs to spit it out right now,” Chan grumbled out of growing fear. You could tell.

“We have no government, no law… do we?” You asked rhetorically. “If we want to escape, then we need someone’s help.”

“And who,” Jihoon asked tensely, holding back a growl, “would that be, exactly?”

He was asking you, you knew. But, you couldn’t help but bite your tongue and wait for someone else to answer, still avoiding looking at him.

“The self-proclaimed King of the Dusty,” Joshua began. “As rich and elusive as he can be, anyone who needs… special help usually finds him.”

“His existence is only of rumors,” Jihoon snapped.

“He’s real,” Joshua started, eyes meeting yours.

“And I know how to find him,” you finished, looking into his eyes.

Jihoon scoffed beside you, “You’re going to go find a man that can’t be found? A man that’s known to be a traitor to all? I don’t think so.”

You clenched your teeth together, angry at the words leaving him; and, for the first time all day, you spoke to him though you still didn’t look at him, “This isn’t your choice to make.”

“There must be another way, Seungcheol,” Jihoon snapped, ignoring you.

It made you even angrier.

You thought about meeting Jihoon for the first time— letting him save you.

You thought about Jihoon giving you a safe haven after your’s disappeared.

You thought about the promises he had made you last night.

You were always helpless.

“I’ve made my choice,” you growled, whipping around to look at him before turning to Joshua and Seungcheol. “I’ll be the one to go.”

But not anymore.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

3 Years Ago (Age: 20)

“Keep running!” You screamed over the pounding in your ears.

In the heat of the sun, sweat dripped down your face in bucket fulls. No matter how many times you had run in the scorching sun, your eyes had yet to stop burning when drops of sweat touched them.

You clenched your eyes shut as you tried to force the stinging to go away. Your feet stumbled over each other as the tips of your boots hit the hillsides, and you fumbled to right yourself as you tried to run up and down hills.

Planks of rotten wood that littered the ground tripped you, causing you fell. Your knees hit the ground with a shallow thud, and pain shot up your legs.

Through blurry, narrowed eyes, you studied the floor in front of you, making sure there weren’t any upturned nails and stuck your hands out to push yourself up.

You whimpered as you took a step forward, and your leg gave out for a second.

You were about to fall again when someone pulled you up and forward.

“It’s okay. You’re okay. Just breathe,” Jihoon rushed out. Letting go of your arm, he reached for your hand without a second of doubt.

“Agh!” You yelped. Sweat trailed into your eyes and stung you again.

“Breathe,” he gasped out. The exertion of running up and down hills was starting to get to him, and the run was far from over. How were you going to get to the rest of your crew before the group of raiders caught you?

As if sensing your thoughts, Jihoon gave your hand a squeeze. Reassurance.

You were going to make it. All you had to do was trust in him.

“I can’t see!” Another voice screamed behind you before the owner of said voice reached out to hold your other hand.

You held back a snarl as he held onto you but didn’t shake him off. It was added weight, just another thing to hold you back as you ran. But, if you made it back to where your crew was waiting without him, you feared you’d pay even more for it.

“Just keep running,” you grumbled out. You helped pull him along with as much strength as you could muster.

But, it took you two more minutes before you all reached the actual city of the Forgotten.

Buildings in the process of falling down, stained in a rusting color, surrounded the three of you.

Shade came and went while running through the streets.

Pieces of concrete protruded the ground in jagged and random lines. Most of them were visible, but you were sure there was some hiding in the small mounds of dirt and sand that had been piled all over the place.

“How much—”

Two words were all you were able to get out before you were pulled down, and a yelp escaped you.

“What the hell, Joshua,” you snapped as you ripped your hand out of his.

Leaving him on the ground, you shakily stood up, your hands pushing off the ground. Somehow, during the fall, your hand had managed to slip out of Jihoon’s.

Once you were standing upright, you realized he was standing beside you, no longer in front of you where he should have been.

“Gee, thanks for the help,” you grumbled as you dusted off your legs.

“I think we have a problem,” he said.

“Like we didn’t already?” You huffed. You slapped your knees harshly, biting back a yelp. At the most, you had been expecting you bruised your knees during the fall. But, when you brought up your hands to slap the dust off of them, you realized there was blood on them.

A single glance downward confirmed your suspicions.

Your black leather pants had torn from the knees when you hit the crumbling concrete beneath you. Your knees had been scraped, and though you didn’t want to be dramatic, you were sure, that under the dripping blood, you could see your kneecaps.

“Oh…crap,” you winced. You turned around quickly to ask Jihoon for help. But, as you did, a bigger problem fell into your laps.

“What the hell happened?” You asked.

Laying in front of you, the man you had been forced to lug around in ‘good faith’ to ‘show him around’ was out cold on the floor. A tiny pool of blood was forming on the ground near his temple.

“I-Is that blood?!” You yelped.

“Yes,” Jihoon hissed, bending down to the boys level to study him, “I think he hit his head on the way down. He’s got a gash on his forehead.”

“Crap,” you muttered, “I didn’t bring any first-aide with me today.”

“It’s fine, we’ll just have to hurry. Quick,” he grunted as he pulled one of the man’s arms around his neck, “prop his other side on your shoulder. We’re gonna have to carry him out of here.”

“Alright,” you said. A dull throbbing in your knees made you wince, but you moved nonetheless, doing what Jihoon had asked you as fast as you could.

You had just made it to the corner of the street, twenty steps away, shuffling under the man’s weight when you felt it.

“You need to go,” you told him through gritted teeth. You hadn’t moved much, but the pain in your knees was shooting through your legs in waves. You wouldn’t be able to get far, move fast. You’d collapse in almost no time. The three of you would be caught — taken as prisoners, maybe worse.

Soonyoung…Chan…Seokmin…Mingyu… none of them would be able to find you.

“You need to go,” you repeated, forcing Jihoon to a stop.

“What?” He asked you confusedly.

You looked into his narrowed, brown eyes determined, “You need to go.”

“No.” One word, but it had a steadfast furry behind it that you could only ever imagine coming from him. It was in his eyes too, the determination to get the three of you to safety and the anger of hearing you suggest leaving you behind. But, you were willing to bet that you had the same type of determination as him.

“Yes,” you forced out, “I can’t move very quickly with these knees—”

“No.”

“You’re carrying around extra weight too—”

“No.”

“So, you need to leave us.”

“No,” Jihoon snapped.

“Yes,” you insisted, “look, we’ll hide in this building. You go get the others, get some weapons—” you unholstered the rusted beam gun you had blindly brought along, “that aren’t broken.”

“No, Y/N. I’m not leaving you here.”

“You have to, Ji.” It was a risk, you knew, but you had to take it, or you’d be risking worse. Still, it took all the courage and determination you had in you to avoid his gaze and start pulling him in the direction of the building closest to you before you could change your mind.

“They’ll be here soon,” you told him.

He followed you silently, trying not to trip over his feet while he glared at the floor.

“I’m not leaving you.”

You didn’t answer him.

Once inside, you pulled him toward the first room you saw towards the back of the building. Then, you helped him lower the Sparkian onto the ground, leaning him against a wall.

It was done.

You knew you had gotten him to agree, now you just needed him to get moving.

“Just…” you started, finally finding his eyes, “promise me you’ll come back.” You finished in a whisper as if what you were telling him was a secret no one else could hear.

Jihoon nodded grimly, training his eyes on the floor.

“Stay safe.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

It had only been ten minutes since Jihoon left when a sharp pain spread from your lower abdomen to the rest of your stomach. Just like your knees, it felt like fire was blooming.

The feeling was overwhelming. You had just managed to lower yourself next to the Sparkian’s limp body when you felt your legs numb out.

Another wave of pain rolled through you then, and you had to bite back a wimpier to keep yourself from crying. You tried to clutch your stomach in sudden fear, only to feel like you had just set fire to yourself all over again.

You studied yourself; from head to toe, nothing seemed to be out of place.

Your knees were still bleeding, blood slowly sliding over your pants and onto the floor.

Then you saw it.

A speck of blood where it shouldn’t be.

With the most care you could have with shaky hands, you lifted your black shirt and winced when you saw the firsts bits of your blood-soaked skin.

“No, please no,” you whispered, tears trailing down your cheeks.

There was a long gash on the bottom right side of your stomach. Blood streamed out of it slowly.

Not a minute later, as you were trying to untie your belt, your hands went numb. Then darkness started to curl around the edges of your vision.

“Please, hurry,” you whispered.

The sound of heavy footsteps growing closer interrupted your whispers to Jihoon.

You bit your lips, trying to stifle your whimpers. But it was no use. From the corner of your eyes, as you tried to focus on the small window across from you opening up to the sky, you saw a man come inside. He stopped beside you, studying you and the man beside you.

‘This is it,’ you thought, a buzzing sensation starting to overtake your consciousness, ‘they found me, and if I don’t die right now, I’m going to wish I was dead.’

“This is quite a situation that you’ve gotten yourself into, isn’t it?” They asked.

The man had blocked your view of the window. Though you didn’t want the last thing you saw before dying to be the face of a raider, you lifted your gaze to see the man before you.

He looked like he was around your age. High cheekbones, dark, golden-brown hair, and shapely lips.

He didn’t look like a raider, and, if memory served you correctly, you hadn’t seen him with the raiders either.

But here he was, staring at you with an expressionless face, hands crossed over his chest.

A shudder ran down your spine. Spots started to appear in your vision.

But before either of you could say anything else, you blacked out.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Your body felt like a throbbing, inflated balloon. It pounded, but it also buzzed.

You groaned as you opened your eyes. They had stuck together, and opening them felt uncomfortable. But when you did, a bright light about you, forced you to close them again.

“What the hell?” You groaned again.

There was a click around you, “Sorry about that, I don’t think anyone thought you’d wake up.”

It was a smooth voice, nearly velvety, but it had a cold edge to it that put you on edge.

Your eyes shot open.

Memories rushed back.

Above you, staring down at you was the same man that you had seen before you blacked out.

Your first instinct was to sit up, run away. The moment you tried to though, you discovered that you were tied down to a cot. Ropes were wrapped around your torso, legs, and arms, pinning you down and immobilizing you.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Some of these are tied directly above your injury…” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head disdainfully at you.

“What the fu—”

“Language!” He snapped. “I thought Sparks were taught to keep clean.”

“I’m not a Sparkian,” you grunted, glaring at the man as you tried to lift your arms.

“Is that so?” He hissed. He moved quickly, grabbing your chin with a hand. For a second, you feared he was going to snap your neck. Then, he forced you to look to your left.

The Sparkian.

“I’m pretty sure that right there is a Spark.”

You gulped.

“I’m not a Spark.”

His fingers dug into your skin.

“I’m not a Spark,” he mocked.

Your breath caught in your throat. Was this man going to torture you?

“Let me go you fucking raider,” you spit on his face, “or kill us already.”

The rage on his face dissipated as he stood up straight. Like the moment he found you, the expressions on his face dulled until it looked like he was staring at a piece of scrap metal without any idea what to do with it.

A door opened.

“Jun, she’s not a Sparks citizen,” a woman’s voice pipped up.

The man— Jun, raised a single eyebrow in your direction before stepping away.

“No matter what she is, she’s a traitor to the Dusty’s,” he said.

He left your side, and you took the moment to study your surroundings before following his movements.

He, or rather they, you thought, had brought you to an empty warehouse. The walls had been stripped of their inner skins, and only their bones could be seen. Even the roof was bare-skinned, only showing its inner metal works, the outer wall, and the lights that hung like bait on strings.

You and the Sparkian had been placed at the center of the room. Two large, heavy doors were planted on the far right side of the room. Besides them, Jun and a young girl beside him stood in conversation.

“She’s a Dusty, Jun.”

“And the man?”

“Sparkian. Chuu found him in the central database. Looks like he’s a promising engineer. Name: Joshua Hong, twenty-years-old just like her.”

“Fucking raiders,” you yelled, “you’re casing out your victims now too?!”

Jun ignored you. But, the girl beside him turned to look at you.

“We aren’t raiders. Why exactly do you think we’re raiders?”

You bit your lip. The less they knew about you and what you did, the better.

When you didn’t answer, the girl glanced at the handless gauntlet she wore on her right arm. She pressed some buttons, and a green light suddenly emitted from it.

“Y/N Y/L/N. Age twenty. Orphan. Ex-Blacksmith apprentice. Parents killed five years ago. Lives with some Lee Jihoon, age—”

“Enough!” You growled, twisting in your ropes. Though you didn’t want to hear the names of any of your friends coming out of their mouths, hearing Jihoon’s name felt like a slap.

Pain shot through your torso as the rope dug into your injury. Though you couldn’t see, you could feel the blood exiting your body.

“Look at what you did,” Jun huffed, “Do you think we have medical supplies just lying around to waste on traitors?”

“Fuck you,” you spit.

He rolled his eyes, “I heard traders were going to be in the Forgotten City. Instead, I get a traitor and a Spark. Maybe I can get some ransom out of him.”

“Traders?! Those weren’t traders! They were raiders!”

“I don’t think anyone would give a ransom for her though…”

“Jun,” the girl chastised him.

“Ahh,” he whined, “fine, go find Haseul so she can fix her.”

“On it,” the girl told him, spinning on the heels of her black combat boots.

“Oh, and Kim Lip,” he stopped her, “make sure to bring Chuu with you.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Jun had stayed in the room with you for a couple of minutes before he left wordlessly. The door had slammed behind him, and before you knew it, you had been left alone to dwell in your thoughts.

How long had you been here?

What had happened to Jihoon and the boys? Did the Sparkian’s friend kill them because both of them had gone missing?

You were sure that the only sign of your existence in the city— in the building you had hidden in, would be a pool of blood.

Did they think you were dead?

Tears formed in your eyes as your thoughts returned to Jihoon and that girl’s— Kim Lip, words.

Did he think you were dead?

Was he okay?

Orphan.

Orphans.

How much did they know about you? About him? Was he in danger now?

Jihoon had been your only family for three years. You had been his for far longer. You couldn’t bear the thought of having put him in danger. Of Jihoon having the same end like you.

A shiver ran down your spine.

Had that really been the last time you would get to see him?

You let out a cry then, twisting and turning in your binds. You only stopped when the pain made it impossible to breathe.

You looked at the Sparkian beside you. Still out cold, it seemed.

He had the same binds tied around him and gauze wrapped around his forehead.

“He isn’t dead if that’s what you’re wondering.”

You whipped your head around at the sudden voice and jumped when you saw her proximity.

“I figured,” you grumbled before hissing.

The woman had plunged a needle into your side, and while the pain in your side was numbing out, you could still feel the resonating pinch and the girl’s other hand pressing down on the injury.

“Please let me go,” you begged her.

“Oh, sure. Just one condition…”

Jun.

Hidden in the shadows near the door, Jun, Kim Lip, and another, widely smiling girl leaned against the beams of the wall. How long had they been there?

“Kill your little friend.”

Silence.

You couldn’t do that. You glared at him.

“That’s what I thought,” he smiled stiffly.

“Please let us go.”

Amidst their silent glares, the Sparkian awoke, and using his wheezy voice, pleaded for their release.

“Mr. Hong, you finally join us.”

Tense, you turned your head slowly. Mr. Hong was flicking his gaze between the lot of them, eyes red and watery.

Though you doubted he knew what was happening, it seemed that he was picking up the details of your predicament faster then you had.

“Please let us go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t. You see, you’re a Sparks citizen and I…well I��m the King of the Dusty.”

“The Dusty don’t have a king,” he coughed.

Jun laughed, “According to… you… we don’t. But ask around, the Dusty have their king, and it’s me.”

“The King of the Dusty is a myth! A fairytale!” You growled, but he ignored you.

“Then let her go,” Mr. Hong struggled to get out, “she’s got nothing to do with me. I don’t even know her.”

“How nice,” Jun laughed as he walked closer to your cots, stopping next to the girl who had injected you, “you want to protect your friend.”

“She’s not my friend,” Joshua said.

“Right,” Jun nodded, though it was clear that he didn’t believe him.

“There,” the woman said, “as long as you don’t touch move too much, the wound shouldn’t reopen.”

“What did you do?” You grumbled.

“She just saved your life… again,” Jun answered, scoffing, “And does she get a thank you? No. Traitors are all the same.”

“Please,” Mr. Hong cried, “She just met me. I threatened her into showing me the Dusty.”

“You,” Jun laughed, “threatened her? Frankly, I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true,” Mr. Hong insisted, “I snuck into the Dusty. I found her and her friends. She hates Sparks just as much as I do.”

“Doubt it,” Jun laughed before snarling, “I lost everything I ever cared for because of people like you.”

“Jun.” Kim Lip snapped, stomping her way to the cots. The smiling girl followed behind her. “Enough.”

“Sorry,” Jun smiled, nodding at Kim Lip, “I just—”

“I know. You don’t need to apologize,” she sighed, “but we can’t just punish anyone with any sort of ties to Sparks.”

“Fine,” Jun said defeatedly. His shoulders slumped, and his eyes turned hazy as he stepped away from your cot.

The smiling girl behind Kim Lip flicked her gaze between them, “Well now seems like the best time to interrupt. Jun?”

He was silent, still lost in his own world.

“Jun?” She called out to him again.

“Hmm?” He hummed, turning around to look at her before realization dawned on him, “Oh, Chuu, right. Tell us what you found.”

“Alright, well I managed to track their movements using old security systems that are still running without anyone knowing—”

“After this, take Heejin and make sure to erase any proof of their existence. Make it so no one else can have access to that, only us.”

“Already on it, boss. Now on the issue of them,” she nodded her head in your direction, “I was able to track them all the way to their first encounter. It seems she and her friends stumbled upon one Joshua Hong and Choi Seungcheol, both citizens of Sparks.”

“Premeditated?”

“Actually, no. Choi and Hong appeared to be lost and one of her crew, in good faith, took them to a resting place. From the footage recovered, it seemed Miss Y/L/N was planning on… eliminating both of them before a ‘Lee Chan’ interfered and stopped her.”

“And yet now she’s one of them.”

“Fuck you!” You spit, trying as hard as you could to kick your feet.

Chuu ignored your outburst and brought up her arm where she could use her gauntlet. She pressed a button on it, just like Kim Lip had done before, and in an instant, a green light shot upwards from it.

You couldn’t see what it was projecting by the speed that Chuu was tapping away at. It took her no less than three seconds before a video started to play.

“Watch this,” Chuu said, turning her arm so Jun could have the perfect view of it. In turn, you got to see what he did too, though you had to look on from behind.

It was you. It was Jihoon. It was Chan and Seokmin and Mingyu.

It was the Sparkians on their knees.

“…. please….”

The images were near grainy and the audio crackly and hard to make out, but it was clear what was happening. Joshua Hong and Choi Seungcheol were on their knees, begging to you and your crew.

What they begged could only be guessed.

Two Sparks on their knees for a group of Dusties— it was a sight to be held, but your eyes only managed to focus on it for a couple of seconds.

Instead, your gaze moved to the other figures being projected until they stopped on Jihoon’s figure standing next to yours.

You hadn’t noticed it then, the way Jihoon glanced at you every couple of seconds to check on you. It looked like he was constantly sneaking a glance at you to defer the decisions to you. He was waiting for you to call the shots.

Then it happened.

His arms were crossed over his chest as he glared at the Sparkians. But in a brief moment where you remembered all you could feel was anger, Jihoon moved his hand a fraction of an inch.

It was almost indiscernible if they weren’t paying attention.

But like a butterfly’s kiss, his hand brushed past your right arm’s bicep. His thumb made circular motions on your skin before pulling away as if it had never happened.

You couldn’t remember that moment happening. But it had. The video that was playing on Chuu’s gauntlet proved that it had happened.

You thought back to that day, that moment of anger, and realized that you could remember feeling your anger dissipate in a fleeting moment.

And it was all because of Jihoon.

A painful pang ran through your heart at the thought of him.

But, before you could dwell on the pain and think about him, Jun grinned as if he’d just won the Dusty’s yearly suppliers lottery. Though, you doubted that he would grin or enjoy that or anything that was sponsored by Sparks.

“Well, what do we have here?” Jun asked, stalking over to Joshua, and grabbing his chin forcefully like he had grabbed yours. “A Spark that begged for what? Tell me.”

“What the hell do you care what he begged for?” You spit, glaring at Jun’s side profile.

Jun chuckled, and without letting go of Joshua’s chin or turning around to look at you, he spoke, “A real fire burns inside of you, doesn’t it. I doubt it wants to be extinguished.”

When neither of them, Joshua or you, spoke, Jun roughly pushed Joshua’s chin away and moved to stand next to Chuu again.

He nodded for her to stop the video, “To me, you’re nothing but a traitor to our kind. I don’t care for traitors. But some people—” he paused to glance at Kim Lip, “think you might be worth a little more.”

“Wait!” Joshua yelled as Jun started to walk away, “Don’t ransom me to Sparks! They’ll kill me! Please!”

“Ransom,” Jun chuckled as he came to a stop near the door, “Your death isn’t really my problem. Sparks would pay good money to get someone back before they spilled their city’s precious secrets.”

“Please!” Joshua yelled again while you silently glared at Jun.

“Kim Lip,” he grumbled, “it’s lights out. It’s your call.”

She nodded, and Jun left.

“Haseul,” she said, turning around to look at the girl who had been tending to your wounds before, “put them to sleep.”

Haseul nodded and whipped around to face you.

“What?!” You yelped as your eyes fell on the needle in her hand; and, without a second to waste, plunged the needle into your arm.

It took seconds before you felt your eyelids start to drop, and in those weary seconds, the last thing you saw was another needle being plunged into Joshua Hong’s skin.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

When you woke up, you thought you were having a lucid dream where all you could see was darkness— and it felt like your mind was torturing you.

You could tell that you were moving your arms, stretching your limbs, hitting a hard substance but, it wasn’t until you saw a flickering shadow on the ground in front of you, and adrenaline spiked throughout your body, that you realized you were wide awake.

Your eyes searched for the source until they finally landed on metal torches that had been fastened to the walls. Then your eyes adjusted, and you were able to make out your surroundings.

You fumed as you realized where you had been brought. If the wall of bars in front of you were any indication, you had been placed in a cell in a basement far below the earth.

A shuffling near you made you whip your head around, looking for the origins of the sound.

Joshua Hong, the Sparkian you blamed for this mess, was propped up against the bars that made up the right side of your cell wall.

He was still unconscious, but in a cell of his own and shivering constantly. He was far but not far enough for you to keep your emotions under control.

“Joshua,” you grumbled, your voice rough from sleep. When he didn’t wake, you tried again, “Joshua.”

Nothing.

“Mr. Joshua Hong,” you snapped.

Like a bucket of water had been poured over him, he woke up gasping for air. His hands made their way to his face, where he rubbed his temple frantically only to hiss in pain.

You watched on in silence, sucking on your bottom lip as you wondered if it had been such a good idea to wake him.

Too late now.

Besides, why did he get to go on living blissfully asleep and unaware of the predicament they were in while you were forced to be awake and think.

“Morning, Sunshine,” you said mockingly.

“Y/N?”

“That’s still Y/L/N to you.”

“M-miss Y/L/N,” Joshua stuttered, “where are we? What’s going on?”

“Oh? Would you like a recap of our situation?”

“I—”

“No! Allow me,” you quickly went on, “After knocking yourself out, we were captured by a group of raiders, who after tending to our injuries, have placed us in cells. Would you like to guess what they are most likely going to do us?”

“Kill us?” Joshua responded quietly, feeling the fury you were withholding.

“Oh, you wish they’d kill us,” you spit at him, “Did you really believe they’d trade you? That’s wishful thinking.”

“I-I don’t understand.”

You laughed hopelessly before answering him, “You’re a Sparkian. It’s obvious he loathes you and your kind. What’s better that to parade you around Dusty as his own little prisoner.”

There was fear in his silence. You could feel it radiating off of him like the heat of a winter fire.

“What will they do to you?” He asked in a small voice.

“Me? How kind of you to ask—” you paused to glare at the floor underneath you and dig your nails into the dirt floor, “I’ll probably just be tortured down here. Kept alive until I’m nothing but a stupid shell. All because you and your damn friend had to see the Dusty for yourselves. Well, how was it?!” You yelled. “Did you enjoy your little tour of the Dusty? Were we all you were expecting?!”

“Quite the lovers spat you two are having. What are you guys— forbidden lovers?” Someone squealed, “Tell me more!”

You froze, your hammering heart lodging itself in your throat. You turned around to look for the owner of the voice— fear making you question if they had come back already.

“Over here!” the voice said cheerfully, “To your left!”

You turned and before you sat a dark-haired girl in tattered clothes and bruises that were barely visible on her face and arms. You stared at her with a renewed, fearful realization that you would most likely look like that when the raiders came back.

When you didn’t respond, the girl took it upon herself to keep talking.

“Sooo…are you guys a couple? A Spark and a Dusty in love?”

Her question sent a jolt of anger through you, “I would never fall in love with a Sparkian, let alone date one.”

The girl was silent for a moment as she stared at you, then she blinked, “But you are in love with someone then?”

You flinched, “I never said that,” then grumbled, “How long have you even been there?”

The girl lifted an eyebrow, “Listening in on your conversation? Since the beginning, honey.”

“That’s not— that’s not what I meant.”

“Right,” the girl nodded, “Well, I’ve been locked down here for about two years. Tell me, is the land still as red as I remember it to be?”

You flinched, “You’ve been down here two years?”

“Yup,” the girl sighed, slouching against the bars now that her entertainment had vanished, though she still faced your direction, “two… years.”

“H-how?”

“How? Or why?”

“I—”

“They aren’t raiders, you know,” the girl mumbled sadly.

“What?”

“I’m just saying. Whoever you met before coming down here… they aren’t raiders.”

“If they aren’t raiders, then who the hell are they?” You grumbled, arms crossing over your chest.

The girl was silent again, and you had to concentrate to make out the expression on her face.

“Have you ever heard of the King of the Dusty?” She said, her voice as distant as her eyes.

“He’s a myth,” you whispered.

“He’s a legend,” the girl said, “A Dusty with an abundance of resources and an army of his own. He helps our people and—”

“He isn’t real!” You whispered harshly. “And even if he was, he’s a traitor to everyone!”

“No,” the girl shook her head, “he helps the Dusty’s, but he doesn’t help anyone who stands with Sparks. You probably met him upstairs. He has a sharp face, brown hair, and his actual name is Jun.”

“H-how do you know this?” You asked quietly.

The girl smiled sadly, “I was one of the people that Jun saved. I was part of his army. But one day, while I was scouting, I met this man. I never thought he could be anything but a Dusty— I mean, who’s ever heard of a Spark coming out willingly and dressing like us.”

“What happened?”

“I got close to him. Eventually, he told me he was a Sparkian that had run away from Sparks— that he hated them. Before I knew it, I was in love with him, and I hated seeing him suffer, jumping from place to place without a permeant home.”

The girl turned silent for a moment, and you felt like you knew what the girl had done get thrown in the dungeons.

“I realize now that I didn’t think it through. I shouldn’t have told him about Jun… about his army… about what Jun stands for,” the girl squeezed her eyes shut like she was withstanding an onslaught of pain, “I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t. I should have known. I should have known not to sell his secrets.”

The girl continued to mutter to herself, curling into the farthest corner of her cell, turning her back on the pair.

Feeling unnerved at the girl’s sudden change in attitude, you turned away from her and stared at the torch across your cell. You could feel Joshua Hong’s eyes on you, waiting for you to say something, perhaps a way to get you two out. But all you could bring yourself to say nudged you deeper into a cesspool of hopelessness.

“I should have known better than to believe a Sparkian wanted to escape Sparks.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“Hey,” Kim Lip snapped as she banged a metal plate of slosh against your cell bars, “wake up. You eat now, or you don’t eat at all.”

You sucked in a breath as you opened your eyes. You didn’t know when it had happened, but your body was quickly growing heavier and sluggish.

You’d stopped trying to count the days when you realized that it would be impossible to keep track when there was no sun to see, and food was brought to you at times where it felt like an eternity had gone by.

Even your memory was starting to crack under your sluggishness. All you could really remember was constantly coming in and out of sleep.

You knew that Joshua Hong stared at you more often than not. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care. If he wanted to escape, he could figure that out himself— you didn’t want anything to do with him.

Kim Lip had placed a new tray of food on the ground at the entrance of each of their cells and collected the dirty ones where they had eaten last, before leaving them to the darkness again.

You crawled over to the tray of food and ate a spoonful of slosh before closing your eyes with the spoon still in your mouth. Maybe if you tried to savor the food longer, you’d be able to distract yourself.

“You know,” the girl said, slurping her slosh loudly, “pretending like you’re not eating slosh is just going to make it harder for you to accept that you’re stuck down here.”

“Leave her alone,” Joshua grumbled, scooping his own slosh so carefully anyone watching would question if they even gave him slosh in the first place.

“What did you guys do to get thrown down here, anyway?” She continued, ignoring Joshua.

“Would you just s—”

“Nothing,” you said, cutting off Joshua, “We were running from raiders. We were injured, and King Jun found us— the Dusty and the Spark, dying of blood loss.”

“Must have been quite a scene. How’d you two get together anyways?”

You scoffed.

Joshua answered.

“We didn’t get together,” Joshua whispered, “She and her friends found me and my friend and saved us from dying of heatstroke.”

“What?” The girl laughed, not believing what Joshua was saying.

“It’s… true,” Joshua sighed, “After they saved us, we begged them to show us around for a day.”

“No one in their right mind would ever do anything for a Spark—”

“We told them that if they didn’t, we’d take them to Sparks and accuse them of having kidnapped us.”

“What?” The girl asked, her eyes narrowed, “How many of you were there?”

“Just two,” Joshua said shamefully, lowering his gaze to the floor, “but we said that we had new tech that would immobilize them before they could even take out their laser guns.”

The girl looked at you, “And you fell for that?”

You stayed silent. This was news to you too, but you didn’t want to think. You didn’t want to regret it when you couldn’t— not when the first thing you would always think about was the safety of your friends.

“Wow,” the girl laughed, “and you really didn’t have this tech?”

“No,” Joshua whispered.

“And you honestly left Sparks because you wanted to explore? You aren’t trying to spy?” The girl asked curiously, peering at Joshua Hong though the bars of their cells.

“No,” he answered, “My friend and I… we felt suffocated in Sparks— we felt like we were always hiding. And no one knows our names, who we are here… so we thought it would be nice… to disappear for a few days.”

The girl scoffed, “And you didn’t think that your disappearance would be noticed?”

“No,” Joshua answered firmly. “I made sure that our presence would be registered in each of our homes. I made us take some days off.”

“Some genius, are you? And yet you ended up ruining this poor girl’s life.”

Joshua flinched, “I-I know.”

“Catch that, did you?”

You flinched and dropped your spoon to cover your ears when a sudden screeching overtook your cells. The sound reminded you of train wheels when someone tried to force them to stop. If it didn’t stop, your ears would start to bleed, no matter how much weight you placed against them.

Then, when you felt like your brain was going to explode, it stopped, and a robotic voice joined them, “No signs of deceit detected.”

“Sorry!” Another voice followed. Chuu’s voice, you realized. “The sound system is still glitching out before connecting!”

You whipped your head around, trying to find the girl.

“Classifying as non-threatening. Proceed to main office.”

“What?” You asked, eyes widening as you whipped your head around until finally noticing that the girl who had been celled with you was slowly standing up and dusting herself off. “W-what’s going on?”

The girl glanced at you momentarily before pushing through an imperceptible door at the front of the cell. She walked over to your cell without a word, and after taking out a pair of keys, unlocked your cell. Then, she moved onto Joshua’s and did the same.

You were shell shocked.

“If you two would follow me, please.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

In a large room with worn-out couches on one end and a single wooden desk on the other, sunlight streamed inside through broken windows.

You and Joshua Hong stood at the center of the room, trying not to close your eyes and bask in the warmth of the sun you felt you had felt ages ago.

Behind you, the girl who had been in the cells with you lounged on the couch like she didn’t have a care in the world.

After minutes of standing at the center of the room, Jun came barging in, Kim Lip and Chuu behind him. He sped walked to his desk without sparing you two a glance, then paused.

“Where’s my chair? Who took my chair?”

“I think I saw Heejin with a chair that looked oddly similar,” the girl answered him.

Jun swallowed back a sigh, “Thank you, Yves. You’ve done well today.”

“No problem.”

“What do you want with us?” You said, fear eating away at your patience. You couldn’t think of anything else besides that anyways.

Jun trained his eyes on you, lifting a single eyebrow to stare you down before answering.

“I wanted the truth. Luckily for you, he gave it to me sooner rather than later.”

“What?”

“I’ve been reading your files,” Jun said, tapping on the desk to turn it on. Like the gauntlets that you had seen before, the tabletop started glowing green, and even from a distance, you could see the makings of what seemed to be a picture of you.

“Y/N Y/L/N usually found with a Lee Jihoon and four others. The five of you are no threat to me. If anything, you stand for the same things I do.”

A growl formed in your throat.

“Oh, am I wrong?” Jun asked you. “Do you and your friends not hate Sparks? Is this information about you and your friends actively opposing the Sparks government wrong? I think this right here—” he pointed to something on the desk you couldn’t see, “about you and Lee Jihoon helping and caring for some Dusties that were close to death, speaks for itself, doesn’t it? I think you’ve even managed to steal and run out the few Spark officials that you’ve come across… running their plans to kidnap Dusties.”

You were aghast.

There was nothing wrong with what you had done, not to you and not to him either, it seemed. Maybe it felt wrong to the Sparkian besides you, but he was Spark, and in the end, his opinion wouldn’t matter to you.

No.

You were aghast because Jun knew about everything you and Jihoon, and ultimately Chan, Seokmin, Mingyu, and Soonyoung, did. Most of these were things nobody was ever supposed to know. You worked under the cover of night after all.

But he knew it all.

“Am I wrong?” Jun asked, gently this time.

“No.”

“Then, I’d like to offer you a deal if you don’t mind.” When you didn’t answer, he continued, “Join my army. Help me accomplish what I’ve set out to do.”

“And what exactly would that be?”

He glanced at Joshua.

“Him too,” he said, changing the subject, “he’s no threat to me or my people. But I don’t offer you the same deal. You’re a Spark, and I will never trust you or your kind. I will let you go, though with a fair warning that if you ever speak of me, my people, or anything you saw here, we will find you.”

“Yes, sir,” Joshua gulped.

You swallowed, “How long have you kept us here?”

“Just a few days. You spent two knocked out and just one in the cells.”

“One?!” You yelped.

“Yes,” Jun nodded, “We have ways of making sure you lose track of time.” He mimicked bringing a spoon up to his face, and you knew exactly what he meant.

Though that fact was still processing in your mind, one that you had been keeping locked up in the back of your mind because it hurt to think about, started to surface.

You had been gone for a total of three days. Your friends— Jihoon, probably thought you were dead. You couldn’t bear the thought.

“If we are no longer your prisoners, I would like to go home too,” you sighed, “that’s all I want.”

Jun sighed, “If that’s what you want.” He knocked on the desk, and the glowing disappeared.

Inside, you still feared Jun. You didn’t know if you believed that he was the fabled King of the Dusty or that he’d really let you go. But when you thought about it, he had been the one to save you, and he hadn’t done anything to harm you two. There was a bit of manipulation to get the truth out of you… but still, there was something about him.

This was your problem, you sighed. Jihoon told you this all the time.

When it came to Dusties, you always tried to find the good in them. You trusted them easier.

But when you listened to your gut, you were more often than not— right about your decisions.

“You can leave tomorrow morning, it’ll take you two days to get home. Chuu will show you the way tonight. For now, you’ll be given some rooms to rest and eat. Yves, will you please?”

“Okay,” she nodded, sitting upright.

“Okay,” Jun nodded, making his way to the door. He stopped suddenly and looked at you, “I’ll just ask one thing from you. Don’t tell anyone who we are or where you spent your time. Not even your friends.”

You nodded.

“If you ever change your mind about joining me or need help… just… find your way back here.”

“Why?” You asked.

“Because,” Jun said sternly before his voice quieted down into something like a soft whisper, “I have nothing against orphans who came to be the same way as I did.”

He shot you a look that spoke volumes to you. In a simple sentence and a single look, you felt like you had just come to understand who he was.

“Thank you,” you said to him.

Jun nodded then disappeared through the door. Chuu and Kim Lip silently followed behind him.

Yves stood up then, slowly making her way to the two of you.

“I hope you know that Jun is being sincere,” she said, “he’s a good guy. He really is the King of the Dusty.”

You nodded wordlessly.

In the silence, Yves shifted on her feet, “I’m sorry we had to... you know, mess with your heads to get you to talk. But it had to be done, and it’s not like we can just... trust anyone. If we did, then... the King would’ve disappeared long ago.”

“I... get it,” you nodded.

“Just a tip, then? You might want to work on your resistance in interrogations and mind games, just in case you’re ever in a situation like this again,” Yves said, suddenly smiling nervously at you.

“Right,” you nodded, “I… I wouldn’t know how to go about that though…”

“I can help if you want.”

“Sure,” you nodded, “yes. That would be great.”

“Alright, well if you two will follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms. I think Kim Lip might have already gotten someone to assemble packs of supplies for the both of you and put them in your rooms.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

You and Joshua traveled for two days, stopping only for necessities like eating and sleeping, with the sun beating down your backs before you were able to make out the place you called home on the horizon.

“There,” you stopped at the top of a dune to point out a large, tan, one-story Spanish adobe styled home. It was encapsulated by a half-finished metal fence and had arches outlining its long porch.

It was something you could point out on sight, but Joshua had never been there before, and you knew that he could use the hope and excitement of almost being safe.

“That’s home— Jihoon’s home, I mean.”

“That looks close,” Joshua whispered, “really close.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “ten, twenty minutes tops. We’re almost there.”

Half an hour later, you finally reached the house.

Your steps stuttered as you saw the front door unlocked and wide open. Something felt wrong. Something felt off.

“Common,” you told Joshua, “stay close behind me.”

You set off quickly, crossing through the door and closing it behind Joshua, locking it to make sure nothing could get in or out without a pause.

The house looked like it was devoid of any life. Dust was normal in the Dusty, but you had always taken pride in the fact that the youngest of your friends always tried to keep their home clean. But now, now dust and dirt covered the floor, the furniture, the windows, and even the walls.

You stood silently, gaping at the living room aghast.

“Then leave!” Someone— it was Jihoon, you knew, his voice was something you could never forget, yelled. “I don’t need you! I never asked you to be here.”

You set off running. Jihoon’s words sparked worry in you that you had been trying so hard to keep down since you had been separated. Anger was evident in the way he was speaking, but there was something else there too. Something that you had never heard from him before and it made you feel like something bad was about to happen.

Through the living room, and out a door that opened up into the courtyard, you ran, Joshua following behind you.

You came to a skidding stop behind an uncut hedge when you found yourself witnessing your friends, and Choi Seungcheol, Joshua’s friend, face off against Jihoon. There were no weapons— unless you counted the knife that you had been clutching as you ran, but you promptly put that away when you saw it was only them. They just faced each other, Jihoon glaring at the others.

“You can’t keep acting like this,” Seungcheol snapped at him.

You narrowed your eyes. Who had given him the right to speak to him like that?

“And what right do you have to speak to me like that?”

“Jihoon, we’re only trying to help you. You can’t keep acting like this, it’s bad for your health. We’re here for you,” Mingyu pleaded to him. Words had never made you worry more.

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, “I don’t need babysitters. So go ahead, leave, the door is right there—” he motioned in the direction of the door that you had just walked through, without looking— “I didn’t ask you to be here for me.”

Silence brewed, and you chose that moment to step out from behind the hedge.

In a quiet voice, you asked, “What’s going on?”

Time froze before speeding up again. Nobody moved, they were all static, then like puppets all being pulled by the same string, they all whipped their heads around. Their eyes widened, and though you were staring at them expectingly, none of them answered you.

Then Jihoon let out a shuddering breath nobody could have missed if they wanted to, and he rushed forward, enveloping you in a hug that had you shutting your eyes and melting into his chest.

“What’s going on?” You whispered to him, the smell of him making it hard for you to pull away.

“Nothing,” Jihoon answered.

“But I heard you guys arguing,” you told him.

“It was nothing,” Jihoon sighed and pulled away, though his hands itched to hold you again. But instead, he pacified himself by looking you up and down, willing himself to believe that you were real, and he wasn’t imagining things.

Then he saw the bandages wrapped around your knee, and the one peeking out from under your untucked shirt and a rock lodged itself in his throat.

“What happened? Where were you guys?” Seungcheol’s voice forced you to tear your eyes away from Jihoon and focus on the reality behind him.

“W-we got taken,” Joshua stuttered out next to him.

“Yeah, we passed out from blood loss, and when we woke up we were somewhere else. They kept us for a few days, and then they let us go.”

“But who?” Seungcheol asked, “And why?”

“Who doesn’t matter,” you said, remembering what Jun had asked of you two, “and as for why, they did it just… because.”

“Just… because?” Seungcheol repeated, looking at Joshua for confirmation. He looked at you panicked, but instead of butting in, you stared at him expressionlessly.

“Yeah,” Joshua nodded, “just because.”

“Enough talking,” Jihoon said, “Y/N needs to get those bandages changed.”

“So does Joshua,” Seungcheol said, trying not to snap at Jihoon’s exclusion.

Jihoon narrowed his eyes, a retort starting to form. But before he could say anything, you cut in, already sensing what Jihoon was about to do.

“Joshua will get his bandages changed too. And, you’ll be allowed to stay here for another day before leaving.”

“Thank you,” Seungcheol responded.

“No,” you said sternly. At the swaying of your body (the pain in your knees and torso was coming back, but you weren’t about to tell anyone), the rest of your friends came running up to you. The four of them gave you quick hugs before Chan and Seokmin threw your arms around their shoulders to help keep you standing, and Mingyu and Soonyoung took the pack were were carrying off of you.

Jihoon walked around from behind them and motioned for Mingyu to give him the bag before standing next to Chan, on their left and giving you a careful, worried look.

“I’m fine,” you muttered before turning back to Seungcheol and Joshua. “Joshua told me the truth. The whole truth.”

Blood rushed to his cheeks, and he had the decency to look ashamed.

“I don’t trust you,” you said slowly, “but I’ll give Joshua the benefit of the doubt.”

“Tha—”

“Because of that,” you cut him off, “I’ll give you both a place in this home when you need it, but we are not some vacation home for you to come and use as you please. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Seungcheol replied unconsciously.

“That being said,” you swallowed. You feared that the words that followed could end up making things really bad with them, “you should know that we don’t take Sparks kindly here. If you stay here, if you join us, it’s because you dislike Sparks just as much as we do. We don’t stand with Sparks, we don’t do what they say is law, we stand against them, and we do what we can to usurp them when we can.”

Seungcheol was silent, staring at you with a look in his eyes that you couldn’t discern.

When he turned to look at Joshua, he found him looking at you calmly and relaxed. He had already made his choice. Now only you were left.

“The choice is yours,” you said, “But I do expect the two of you to apologize to the rest of them.”

“Understood,” Seungcheol nodded.

Then without a second more to waste, Jihoon steered Chan and Seokmin in the direction of the bedroom they had transformed into a med station. Joshua nodded at Seungcheol smiling, and they followed close behind.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Part 2

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blankdblank · 5 years

Text

Lucky Shot Pt 2

All –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars

fml2bisfabulous60 (the start of the series for your request),

@sdavid09 (Got inspired for the start of this series by the song i picked for the song challenge you set. Both parts but this one mainly.) Hope you both like it.

Song : Centuries – Fall Out Boy

…

In the transfer of the new trainee, Vers, to the med hall you continued your laps until your limit was reached turning you back to your quarters to shower and change into your full body suit. Pulling out of the special jump spot again the ship slowed to a hover and you eyed the floating station and you gripped the hilts of your light swords pressed against your forearms in their doused state in your walk to the pod you would use to board the ship.

The darkened ship without any power sat oddly like the three before you had come across the same pulse from like the one where you had been discovered. Clearly these people marking their ships under the banner of HYDRA, an assumed Skrull force from Terra, they were trying to recreate that first attempt at whatever had brought you here and were failing miserably.

Each floor was scoured and a silent ragged breath behind you had you turning to slice at whatever it was. Curiously your eyes peered downwards at the half a body laying on the ground and the pool of blood revealing another source. A pocketed device was drawn by Korath to scan the area exposing the shape of the upper half of the creature. An abnormality in the scan had you searching blindly for the golden ring you now held between two fingers formerly shielding the dead creature. “Hmm.”

Behind you Korath lowly stated, “Interesting.”

With a sigh you pocketed the ring and stated in your next step, “Let’s keep moving.”

… Twenty years later …

Some legends are told

Some turn to dust or to gold

But you will remember me

Remember me, for centuries

Deep in the heart of Greenwood, alone in the training grounds left only for the King and Prince the shirtless King stood with braided hair swinging down across his back again in another turn as his Wife’s blades eased weightlessly in his palms. Under the light of the moon swirls and freckles glowed across his skin in his passing through the scattered shadows of the leaves above. Through the motions his brows tightened remembering the sight of those same chains that had stolen his greatest love from his life and that of their son’s. Each move decisive and firm, no wavering as he brought down the imagined forces between the two of you behind your separation for all these centuries and the ones responsible for the loss of your unborn second child.

Just one mistake

Is all it will take

We'll go down in history

Remember me for centuries

Once a Prince, happiest to be found and so deeply in love none could ever question his claim over you or the boy you had given him. Now painfully alone each night, left to raise that treasured son through and endless war clinging to what little he had of you. Lost to his painful denial that you were gone even against your dimmed rings linking you even when apart marking you as dead, none spoke of you or dared bring out your former portraits or sculptures only worsening the newly crowned King’s pain. Alone the King stood steadfast fighting to protect all you loved in a losing battle against the shadows, all the while dreading the first sighting of winter as it triggered his memories or his first meeting you.

Remember me for centuries

Out in the edges of Doriath as a boy in a delivery for his parents from their shop his eyes narrowed in the blizzard breaking through the opening in the canopy above. A giggle held him in place and it took him a few moments to finally see you spinning inside the six foot snow flurry settling into a small pile, your face upturned gathering snow camouflaging you in your silver cloak and cream colored pants, boots and knee length robe. The heavy hooves of a tall steed along the path halted tearing the boy from his staring, and a sigh sounded above him as he stepped back finding the young teenage Lord Glorfindel staring at the snow flurry saying, “Nieninque, have you found your toy yet?”

The spinning halted and through the white flurry a pair of purple eyes stood out as you trotted out of the snow after a sigh, “Must I go tonight? They never speak to me.”

Glorfindel chuckled at your trot over to him after his nod, “I am afraid so.” Though his eyes looked over you and the silent boy who you stopped to grin at, his head lowered quickly once his moment of shock taking in your every detail on your face, a bow of your head you returned. In a silent spin your head turned at the tap of a hoof from the waiting steed before you grinned at the boy again and turned to your brother.

A raised hand of yours was met by his in a lean over to lift you up onto his lap, a silent wave in return for the one you gave came from the boy. A turn forward to settle your legs on either side of the saddle and you were off to yet another boring dinner your mother was throwing for the other Elf Lords attended even by the King and Queen themselves.

… Back in Space …

Mama, fight my teenage dreams

No, it's nothing wrong with me

The kids are all wrong the story's aloof

Heavy metal, rock my heart

Another signal was discovered and off you went in search of the source, this time hopefully an answer would be found. Clearly now you were all painfully aware it was not the Skrull behind it but a group from Terra who had formed this HYDRA. In the distance planet C-53 grew closer and in the parking of the ship you eyed the scans of the headquarters you would be breaking into. Tightly your formations fell into place and were beamed onto the surface of the planet.

A door was broken through with countless guards knocked unconscious or killed along the way. In the lead you headed your troop with the other two females behind you, each drawing stunned reactions from the male guards blocking your way.

Two sisters, Gamora and Nebula flanked you, easily matching your effortless disposal of those unnecessary while the male led troops broke through their assigned areas. Each room scoured while in the distance a fiery haired woman imagined herself cloaked while her silver haired brother raced through assuming himself too fast to be countered at the sparked intrigue of the woman unable to be mentally read.

Come on, come on and let me in

I'm cruising on your thighs, leave my fingerprints

And this is for tonight

I thought that you would feel

I never meant for you to fix yourself

Off through the tunnels you traveled until you eyed the spinning room of gears around a glowing orb spitting out bursts of light. Your lips parted at the sight of the coiled chains adjusting the inner levers. At your side you felt your father at once at your whisper, “I remember those chains.”

Ronan nodded and readied his war hammer to blast the machine as your troops readied their blasters only to dart his head at the five being bowled over by an unseen force. Narrowing your eyes you watched the silver haired teen whose head turned at your dart after him far quicker than any Kree could move. Six steps and you met gripping his shirt to slam him into the wall, only to fly off into another at the red haired woman seen only by you. A growling breath left you as you hopped up with eyes glowing, releasing your light sword securing itself to your forearm you had been clutching it against your palm rose firing a ball of light at the woman who gasped at it. Around you the Kree aimed their weapons at the pair standing stunned at their frozen place trapped in the glowing mist around them as you neared them.

Unsteadily the woman breathed as you looked the pair over inching closer to them, “Who are you?” She thickly demanded.

“We are here because of this. It is giving off a signal-.” A final lever was hit and sparks erupted through the orb urging you to step back and then duck at the massive body being sent through the portal.

A flurry of discharges and one awkward kick of a trash bin later in your struggle to get free from a chain that latched onto your arm another ring of sparks fired off at the unstable vortex the gears had sped into. Lumpy and grey in nothing but a loincloth the giant horned and winged creature burst into flames. Its own fight against the chains still latched onto it ended at the firing of five plasma guns killing it while Ronan began to fire sonic blasts from his hammer into the base of the chains. One blow too many however had him hitting his teleporter hoping to get you back on board in time only to send you flying back through the portal exploding behind you just moments after the giant beast collapsed barely a breath away from you.

The scent of tall grass and distant fields of wheat wafted through the air around the burst of light shooting you all out, all of it seemed all too familiar to you somehow. Sharply Ronan slammed the staff of his hammer into the earth anchoring him to land to stand again, enabling you to grip his shoulder and flip over it stopping at your boot planting on his belt for a few moments of panting. You let go when the light fell as the others stopped rolling through the grass while overhead lights flickered back on again in your ship floating overhead. Wetting your lips you eyed the small group on the ground with you as the others sounded off through the radio they had made it safely aboard before your being sent through space to wherever you were.

Narrowing your eyes you glanced around wondering where you were until Nebula cleared her throat turning your head. A nod of hers turned you again to see the pair of children in their now baggy clothes from before the transport both glaring at you. The girl walked over to you thankful for the shoulder straps on her skirt keeping it on under her baggy sweater as she crossed the short distance between you shouting, “Look what you did! You better have a way to change us back!”

A smirk easing onto your lips as her brother shouted, “Where the hell are we? You just had to come in guns blazing and destroy the base didn’t you?!”

The girl gawked at you then shouted, “Why are you smirking?!”

“What is your name?”

She crossed her arms as Korath and Gamora pulled out their scanners to inspect them both as you looked to the boy, “Either you give me your names or we name you, and no telling what you’ll end up with.”

He huffed saying, “Pietro,” his finger extended to his sister, “Wanda Maximoff.”

You nodded, “Nieninque.” The name making them both stare at you at the odd name, “Or Nin, if you can’t pronounce it.”

You glanced at Korath who stated, “Your shield clashed with the vortex reversing their aging.”

Wanda sighed, “Great.”

Korath eyed her adding, “It seems to be reversing itself. Few days perhaps and they will be righted.”

Ronan eyed his transmitter that lit up before you all heard over it that none of the star maps were lining up and all their navigational tools were useless here unless your location in the system could be righted. After a deep sigh he gripped his hammer tugging it from the earth saying with an extension of it towards a ring of mountains, “We march for those peaks, if not for location then for shelter. Best we keep the ship out of range of weapons and we scout on the ground until the systems can be righted.” His eyes scanned over you saying, “Perhaps we managed to find your home world.”

“It does seem oddly familiar.”

Pietro, “Home world?”

Wanda looked you over as Gamora chuckled stating, “Finally we get to see where the monsters roam free.”

Wanda/Pietro, “Monsters?” They both looked at you and you chuckled.

Nebula, “The base, why were you there?”

Wanda, “We were being trained for war.”

Your brow inched up and Pietro added, “Don’t look at us like that, we didn’t start the war. But we were offered a chance to take out Stark and we took it.”

Inhaling deeply you responded, “Ah, so you let them weaponize you.”

Wanda’s brow rose, “Big talk coming from a so called Monster.”

Smirking back at her you chuckled, “Touche.” Wetting your lips you eyed your light swords detached from your wrists you eased into the holsters on your thighs.

In raising your hand again you looked down at it when Ronan’s hand circled your ring bearing hand at the now glowing gems on the spiraled bands spreading his smirk. “It seems you are home. Let’s go find your husband and that grandson of mine.” Leading the way off to the mountain ring with the confused kids peering up at you.

Remember me for centuries

… Back in Greenwood …

And I can't stop till the whole word knows my name

'Cause I was only born inside my dreams

Until you die for me, as long as there is a light

My shadow is over you 'cause I am the opposite of amnesia

Lost in the tasks in the shop young Thranduil crossed off each item on his to do list only to turn and drop his journal at the same girl from before bouncing to a stop at his side with a grin and the same twisting stance leaving him wide eyed and asking unsteadily to a pausing pace, “How, might I be of service?”

In the other end of the shop his mother smiled seeing the tilt of your head in passing him a folded piece of parchment, “I have a list.”

He nodded and bent to pick up his journal as he read over the list, pocketing the journal in his apron tied around his waist nipping at his lip guiding you through the first stop to fulfill your list. Twisting beside him as he filled the basket you were holding your eyes lingered on him noting his spreading blush in holding his eyes on the task ahead and not you after realizing who you were by the teen that fetched you the week prior. Again catching the wafting scent of fresh snow you had been treasuring until you remembered your task you were sent on. “What is your name?”

His eyes flinched to you as his body went rigid and his cheeks flushed darker in adding the next item to your basket at your gentle smile spreading wider at his jerk away to lead you to the final three items. “Mine is Nieninque.” Again he drew in a steady breath at your continued attention on him causing you to just barely miss hitting your head on a low hanging shelf you passed under behind the silent boy.

“Though you already know that. Ada wanted to name me Elanor, though Naneth insisted. Stated I was meant for the peace and joy of winter.”

In a glance at you he blinked then mumbled, “Joy…”

Moving a bit faster you added, “I bet you are like the others, despising winter.”

Again he paused to look at you with the final item in hand looking over your slightly deflated expression, “Despise, is, strong-,” Turning away he led you to the register.

Along the way your smirk inched wider and you stated boldly, “Well, I will change your mind.” Twisting again as he eyed you in his tiptoed stance passing the list to his father grinning at the pair of you hopefully becoming friends as two of ten children in all of Doriath at the time. Oropher gave you the cost you drew from your small pouch tied around your waist with a thanks to him before you turned to Thranduil again, “You will see. Soon enough you will be loving winter too.”

Your head nodded and his blush stirred up again and mumbled, “My Naneth is calling me.”

Oropher chuckled as she peered over the counter saying, “No I am not, take your time.”

Thranduil shook his head, “No, chores to do.” Passing around you to hurry off after a bow of his head, “My Lady.”

Behind the counter you glanced up at Taule in her chuckle stating, “His name is Thranduil, My Lady.”

You bowed your head, “Thank you. Have a lovely day.”

And you're a cherry blossom

You're about to bloom

You look so pretty, but you're gone so soon

Weekly you dropped in with random lists and then after the second month you were suddenly gone. Off to Gondolin you were sent again when your father had returned from battle for a short break, though a short break for Elves turned quickly into three decades. One break that left the young boy staring up through the canopy at each passing winter each chance he got, still wondering how you could love the winter.

The layers of ice and snow always ruining crops and gardens while driving most creatures into hibernation, leaving his entertainment dropped greatly on his paths for daily deliveries taking him closer to the ring of forests leading to the enchanted girdle protecting their lands. Cold drove creatures and plants away leaving nothing but a silent blanket of white. His only joy in the season were his dreams of you once again spinning and giggling in the falling snow he was left to stare at alone wondering if you had grown as tall as he had and if your eyes still held the same light in them.

But one day a familiar carriage rolled through the streets up to the usual home chosen for your stays here. The passing carriage went unseen however for Thranduil, now in his late teen years, off on another delivery on the opposite end of the city, though word soon met him and wide eyed he found his way back to the shop with a spreading blush onto his cheeks having imagined seeing you countless times.

It didn’t take long for you to pop up finding him still on his same tasks in the shop with the same wide eyed stare down at you from his new stunning height just shy of seven feet, even in your own impressive height in the upper five foot range from your former tiny stature as a child.

Oddly short compared to your statuesque brother with paler hair and a brighter resting glow around you contrasting your stunning purple eyes locked on the frozen teen in your continued twisting stance, traits after your Vanyar mother. Around your thighs your knee length robe swayed and settled over your pants and tall boots another list was passed over and a nod broke his stare in his turning jerk to find your first item. His simple dark brown pants and boots under his wrinkled knee length silver shirt tucked under the apron worsening the wrinkles matching those on his rolled up sleeves. In a long braid his hair was pulled back out of his face save for a few unruly strands swinging out into his face in each turn of his head he kept sneaking behind his ear as a cover to steal glances at you.

“Do you still loathe winter?”

Again he glanced at you, “Loathe, is, strong-,” stirring a blush onto his cheeks at your spreading grin and soft giggle.

“I am wearing you down.” Again he glanced at you then back to the list in his hand again then stole another glance at you on his continuing on again.

…

Each day possible you could easily be found beside the towering silent teen listening intently at all you shared in tagging along on his rounds, even to the point of taking part of the items to carry doubling the visits he could make in each trip. Though for all your grace and nobility stumbles and slips were commonly found but quickly the teen steadying you again realized the reasoning for it was you were almost always smiling up at him often causing his reach over your head to aid in moving low hanging branches or objects otherwise harmful to you in your distracted state.

Your early spring arrival freeing up sightings of you in your pale layers contrasting against the brilliant shades in the forest and gardens around the colorful city streets Thranduil’s layers subtly hinted towards. Lunches however had you popping up again suddenly after darting away from him with random bunches of flowers and tall stands of grass you wove into decorations you added to his braids. Every time he would sit stoically trying not to flinch at your popping up after the startling moment of finding himself alone, always as if he imagined you, and then always eating as calmly as possible on the edge of a forgotten bridge overlooking your favorite spots for stargazing and patches of wild berries you would pick for one another.

It was your own secret place and where he spoke the most, even if it was only a few additional sentences, each time ending with his hand accepting yours in a rise to your feet soon to be dropped but each time taking just a sliver of a second longer in your stroll back to town. Eyes lingered on the pair of you, your silent companion always bearing your floral creations switched for crimson and golden leaves in the fall while you twirled the lone flower or leaf between your fingers of his own choosing for you he would dream later to have woven into your hair in return, a right only for your intended. Your shared joy stirring curious smiles at you both in contrasting yet complimentary places in your budding friendship. Subtle brushes of fingers and secret notes between each other breaking the class rules of contact outside of relatives or betrothed pairs after years of supervised times together were collected whenever possible in your times alone.

Half past midnight an easing of shutters on a large window freed a hooded figure to climb through startling the tall teen upright gripping his blankets to his waist. Readying to call for his parents only to see the glowing figure of his best friend in the closing of the shutters again. Rolling his eyes in a relieved sigh he mouthed, “What are you doing here?”

A point at the window had you bouncing on your toes, “It is snowing!” again he rolled his eyes and nearly went to lay down again only to see your hands clasp in your wide grin, “Please?!” Moving closer he swallowed dryly tugging the blankets more around his waist at your move to the side of his bed with a pout in a low crouch to bat your lashes up at him.

Again he rolled his eyes and mouthed, “Fine,” tapping your hands with his finger and motioning for you to get up.

In a pop up you returned to twisting giddily in eyeing his room curiously only to turn at his shift to the edge of the bed tapping the back of your hand to mouth, “I have to change.” You nodded and he pointed at the window making you roll your eyes and head back in a turn to the window.

Quietly you opened the shutters and fixed your hood again mouthing, “Hurry!”

Outside you waited for a few minutes hearing his near silent path to quickly dress and fumble a knot out of his hair before adding a cloak of his own. He drew in one last ragged breath then he eased the shutters open and sat on the banister and eased his legs over it to join you outside and close the shutters behind him curious at how you managed the height so easily. But as soon as the shutters were closed your hand found his drawing his eyes to it before you led him on a racing path through the city. Avoiding all the scarce patrolling guards in your dart out to your secret bridge once again under the bright moonlight.

Once there however you turned with a victorious giggle that broke at his mischief caused bright smile on his face. The stunning sight spurred one across your face in return at your backwards twisting steps, however in your usual fashion that smile of yours dropped at the slipping of your foot off the edge of the bridge. Without a pause your hand was released and his arms circled you drawing you flat against his chest, foreheads touching just barely at his lifting you back onto the bridge to safety. Anxiously with another fierce blush so close to you his hand on your upper back easing across your shoulder blades as his icy blue eyes dropped to your lips only a breath away from his.

In all propriety he should have released you straight away and yet here he stood still clinging to you as your fingers tightened on his cloak only to let go at the tilt of his head. The gentle press of his lips to yours melted into an earth stopping forbidden kiss. Every moment it lasted and each tiny snowflake landing on his skin etched into his very soul at this precious marker for you both.

Surely as a Lady you would be forced to marry up or equal to your status, far beyond his, so deep in his heart he clung to what he could have with you knowing each moment could be your last.

Leaves crunching under boots just beyond the trees broke the kiss splitting his arms from your back for his hand to find yours again in a rush towards a line of trees where he guided you over the tall roots to curl up with you between them. Practically in his lap and leaning against his chest at his backwards slumped position to hide his tall frame for the few minutes until the pair of guards passed one another at the change of their shift until his peek up for the coast to be clear.

On your feet again you inched out still holding his hand you gave a gentle tug to whispering, “Come on.” His grin doubled tightening his fingers between yours to race after you up to the top of the hill between the trees in a covered cove you treasured as your own where your eyes turned upwards and your grin grew again. The sight in itself as you were steadily being covered by snowflakes more than enough to change his mind on winter as the snow around you began to glow as you did in your joy. A tilt of your head had you noticing his eyes locked on you stirring an awkward giggle and rare blush across your cheeks, “You are not looking at the snow.”

Barely above a whisper in awe he replied, “I am.”

You shook your head and gave him a playful smirk, “Then tell me, how can you abhor the snow so fiercely.”

Again he shook his head chuckling, “Abhor, is-,”

Teasingly you asked, “Strong?”

He chuckled again and nodded, “Yes.” He sighed, “It is calm, I suppose, a blanket.”

Your smirk deepened and took a twisting step on your toes spreading his grin again at your raising his arm making him loop under it in a spin you shared with him, “Oh you can do better than that.”

“Really now?” he teased, “And just what am I to say, hmm?”

Looking up at him you asked, “How can you not see it?” His eyes locking on yours in his same awed smile at your glow, “It is water, yes it is cold but you have summers, warm, toasty and time to harvest, fall after, when the plants are readying for winter. Three months the earth sleeps, animals sleep and yet you can still feel their hearts beating, the pulses in the earth under the deepest piles of snow. Winter, unlike the other months are not for the lonely, no it is for companionship, holding onto your loved ones, racing through the snow, building snow sculptures, sledding.”

“You can do that alone.”

Your eyes narrowed challengingly, “Yes, but after, after there is always cuddling and sharing stories by the fire, thick hearty stews, cocoa. Hundreds of cups of cocoa.” He chuckled lowly and your free hand tapped his chest inching up his brow, “And then there is a shift, and it all melts, and all the covered seeds and sleeping buds burst through because each harsh winter is followed by the brightest springs you have ever seen.”

Spreading his grin as you led him closer to a set of woven branches after another shared spin, “All winter under its cold blanket there’s hundreds of colors waiting to burst through, winter is the season for dreamers, for endurance. Everyone loves the spring with all the flowers in bloom, summer for the long days in the sun and fall for the brilliant burning colors, and yet no one seems to fully realize all winter has to offer. Winter is a promise of great things to come.”

Your finger raised and he chuckled again at your backwards step raising your joined hands asking, “And I am probably correct in assuming you have never danced in the snow” Dryly he swallowed, “Felt it slowly falling around you in your path.”

Wetting his lips he lowly forced out, “I, do not, dance.”

“Really?” Your head tilted, “Out of lack of practice or distaste for it?”

“I do not know, proper dances.”

You nodded and grinned, “You are in luck.” He shook his head and chuckled at your tug on his cloak drawing him nearer for the first position in the simple spin and lift filled dance he took to. Instantly spreading your grins at your dance to the melody you both hummed, leaving you both in a near trance until the dance’s giggling end and your next tug at his wrist to show him the hidden picnic basket you had set up. Warmly a blush coated his cheeks in his scoot closer to your side as you looked out into the distance sipping on your hidden sealed mugs of cocoa trapping in their warmth as you looked over the distant hills and gardens imagining what they would look like in the spring.

Each moment possible inching closer and taking hold of each other’s hands when they were free until your peek at the distant chime for another changing of guard. Again you packed up and hid through it then led the way back through town to see him home again safely back through his window. A final stolen glance was all he got at his mouthed promise to see you the following morning.

More and more it clicked in his mind you weren’t just talking about the winter, an odd one yourself and named snowflake, or white tear no wonder you felt at home in winter. From that night he hoped it would be a long winter for your silent stolen nights assured no others were sneaking up to those same hills for moments alone filled with chances to earn second kiss.

He's been here forever

And he's the chosen fruit

I could scream forever

We all poisoned you

Random snowballs and bouts of chasing games at the end of your rounds for deliveries stirred chuckles and grins through the city as the young Lady who had both father and brother off in a helpless war was freed to live as she wished with her best friend to claim what joy you could as long as you were able.

Time bled on and in the decades passing more and more whispers grew about your obvious attachment. In her grief at your father’s fall your mother returned to Vanyar territory leaving you to the King’s check ins while Glorfindel was away at war defending Gondolin. But even in the safe girdle protecting Doriath war managed to wriggle its way in with the Feanoreans behind.

Year 506 of the First Age came to a close with you in the head of the sea of fleeing Doriathians warned by one of your late night wandering bouts aiding in your spotting the torches approaching in the distance.

Some legends are told

Some turn to dust or to gold

But you will remember me

Remember me, for centuries

Four years you dwelled in Lindon, waiting for word from Gondolin only for your sobs to be muffled at Thranduil’s clutching you tightly in his arms at your crumbling stance when news of the kingdom and your brother’s fall were confirmed. Painfully you mourned knowing yourself to be the last of your line. And in news of more lands to the East granting more space your hand locked with Thranduil’s once again to march ahead on your own with newly forged rings for your private courtship’s first public stating with hopes of a proper ceremony upon arrival at whatever lands you were to claim.

Months you traveled and finally in the lands of the Great Greenwood the weight of your name and the respect Orophin had gained along the journey made him the Silvan Elves’ choice for King in their planned great kingdom of Amon Lanc, upon the opening of which your grand wedding was settled. Under a sea of cherry blossoms you were bound in a compromised substitute for your hoped snow coated ceremony.

New King settled into his halls with great hope of a second heir as you settled into your own portion of the Royal Wing. Hope flooded in for your people and soon enough it was secured at the rounding of your stomach, war had loomed nearing ever closer threatening to tear you apart. Teasingly Legolas was chosen for a name and ironically born in the middle of a blizzard only brightening your grins as you showed the cooing infant the sea of white through the windows in his warm bundle in your arms.

The loss of a King came on the heels of news of a second heir for the new King, an heir they feared never to meet in the loss of their Queen as their new King returned broken from what you all hoped to have been the final battle in the end to the unending war. Alone he took charge reminded each year of all he had lost, often found standing alone in the falling snow with his eyes closed hoping deep in his heart one day a giggle could be heard and as you always had in your early life found a way to pop up beside him again. Every year there were reminders and he swore to himself, you would return. Through and through he yearned for winter each year, loving it terribly, aching for its promise of your return to him on a breeze with all the other snowflakes floating down to coat the earth in its blanket of dreams.

… Current Day in Greenwood …

Just one mistake

Is all it will take

We'll go down in history

Remember me for centuries

Atop the throne with a distant gaze the stoic King sat donning descending blooms from those you had planted tucked safely in his crown you had crafted for him. Having once again strolled through the private gardens filled with your statues far too lifelike for many to source them from the marble you had shaped, all peaceful or dancing and ready for the open snowfall from the break in the canopy above for your own private escape into your favored sea of yearly snowflakes.

Rhythmically his fingers tapped the arm of his throne recounting your last bout of dance practice before your wedding in his fear of stumbling and embarrassing you. Flawless as always his heart lingered on your sea of curls echoing in a bright shimmer of the snowflakes coating them from centuries past and glowing swirls and freckles across your skin matching his in the strips of moonlight under the sea of leaves from above. A warm lingering kiss ensnaring him completely from focusing on the Lord bickering with his cousin over boundaries of their neighboring lands that halted completely at the bright pulse of light coming from the King’s wedding ring.

Straightening up in his seat with wide eyes and soft blush on his cheeks he drew in a deep breath and rose to his feet trotting down the steps off to his apartment. All the while feeling the steadying heartbeat through those bands that let off a glow passing through crystal lanterns, those abandoned lanterns lighting the long since forgotten in a path to the former kingdom, Amon Lanc, spreading a gentle light pulsing deeply through the forest.

Throwing his doors open he found his desk straight away and wet his lips sitting at his desk. Every moment washing over him at once and hearing the Prince racing through the halls to confirm the news he wet his lips feeling himself that same young boy at your first meeting wide eyed and staring at you lost for words in your unmatched beauty with only eyes for him. Lord Celeborn was the closest, Lord Elrond second and paired with that one was a second letter for your reborn brother returned only a few years before your own vanishing. They had to be informed and a final letter was sent off to Cirdan in the Grey Havens. All informed of the confirming light and pulse in the bonding rings you had crafted for the pair of you with your kin’s precious white gems of starlight, all politely asked to pass word if any had seen of heard of you.

Letters were sealed and in his rise to his feet the King eyed the tumbling Prince falling through the door with tear filled eyes who crashed into his father’s chest in a tight hug seeing the light for himself. Gripping one another tightly they wept unshared tears for the first time in centuries stinging with hope at the reunion with the lost Queen. All smiled at the chance to name openly once again in their flurry to uncover and return the hidden portraits and statues to their rightful place as a silent marker that they had never forgotten you or the child lost in your fall.

Remember me for centuries

#Thranduil x Reader OC #Hobbit #lotr #Ronan the Accuser #Nebula #Gamora #Korath #Pietro Maximoff #Wanda Maximoff #Glorfindel

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