Arthdal (Tanya and Yangcha)

Chapter 2

A/N: Diving right into the action here.

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Screaming echoed all around her. Mass chaos surrounded the once-calm woods as people ran from soldiers and horses. Blood was everywhere. Even in their past, Tanya had never seen something so vile.

She held back her tears as she watched people hurt and dying around her while others were running away. These men had stepped out of the bush with weird objects in their hands and on horses. When a child approached them and touched one of them, he was struck and his neck bled.

He'd died.

There was fire, chains, and metal as well as bows. She wrapped her sling and rocks in her hand shooting at the strange men she thought were devils who ran after the children. Her mother also tried to block them but was forced down and she cried out in pain. This man was thin but lean, and he yelled nasty words at her.

It had started with Eunseom running in saying men with metal had killed their neighboring tribe. Not a moment later, a pack of men on horses showed up. Then one killed a child setting everyone off and running every which way.

She and her mother tried to get as many children hidden as possible, but when they put up a fight, the man in the back yelled for arrows. They lit them on fire, and a wave of arrows fell over the sky and landed on the hut hiding the kids.

"Noooo," she cried. Who could hurt mere babies? Why are they hurting the children?

Distracted, a man grabbed Tanya with that opening and began to drag her backward. Her sling and rocks were lost with the motion. Some of the men put the arrows down after the fire raged and children's screams rang out until they dulled. It was almost worse when the screams died down.

As he dragged her, they passed another warrior who was strangling an elderly man who couldn't even fight. As she passed him, he looked over at her and her blood ran cold at his expression.

Those eyes were so cold and determined.

Blood was everywhere. People were crying and wailing. She didn't understand why they were killing people...

Yangcha heard that voice again as he started, Why are they hurting the children?

His expression grew cold and hard as he felt the life he was taking, ebb. The body of the man fell just as a girl passed him struggling on the arm of a brother. She had the wildest look in her eyes. Like the others, they did not understand the real world. To him, they were just a bunch of savages for the picking. It reminded him of when he'd been weak, yet he'd overcome it.

Time seemed to slow as they tied her neck into some contraption and lined up the last of the slaves. It was a moment, but it seemed to last forever. Tanya's heart ached and was broken at everything she'd experienced. Just hours earlier, she'd been planning to run away, now she was trying to survive.

Haunting words echoed in her mind."The Wahan Tribe will never be the same..."

Who could kill so many children? Why?

Just then, the soldiers yelled and pushed them to move forward. Dazed, Tanya stood with the others along with the wooden trap around their necks. There weren't many of her people left, and she was shocked at how fast they'd captured them all. Many cried over the bodies of the dead. Without a proper send-off, they'd be eaten by bugs or animals and would never make it to the afterlife.

These men celebrated this chaos, even still, she held in her tears as rage fanned the flames of her revenge. Each face that laughed and cheered was etched in her mind's eye.

By the Great White Wolf, I will have my revenge.

She looked around at all of them, memorizing their faces. The one on the horse up front was the man who killed the child. Moogwang, she thought as he flapped his mouth to another large man named Kitoha. She could see the horse struggle to carry him, yet all he did was kick it to move. 

Yangcha heard the voice again, this time, he seemed to feel - something. This voice is closer, he thought. His brow wavered since he'd never experienced something like it before. When he let his eyes casually roam the prisoners, he saw the wild girl from earlier doing much the same.  Above the mask, his eyes narrowed slightly. He knew that look, however. She was memorizing their faces for later.

There was a marked difference in certain people that could almost give them away. He'd seen it enough times now to know it. There were ones in denial rocking back and forth and skittish, those in shock shivering or laughing and talking to themselves. There also were those that were scared and crying, and then there were those like her.  Moobaek noticed Yangcha fixated on one particular girl, and how his eyes signaled to him to watch that one.

That one would fight tooth and nail, Yangcha knew from experience. How could he bring himself to feel bad about it? Did they not even fight with their neighbors in the wild? It was not sad perse, but the disadvantage cost them their freedom.