Fallen Kingdom || •MYG + KSJ• ✔️

The Fallen King

Yoongi did the same thing he always did. He rocked back and forth, his nails long and chipped, unkept from a year of solitude. The only times his nails, both his finger and toenails, were cut was when he broke them. He hunted during the day, drank from the waterfall when he could since the water was drinkable. His diet was mostly rabbit meat and berries. There wasn't much else to eat, after all.

The walls of the cave became his home after his kingdom fell. He would never forget that day. The day he woke to find everyone from his kingdom gone. Dead. Their bodies littering every inch of what once was his. He would never forget finding his wife's body among them, and the tears and screams he let out that day. Oh how he prayed it was a nightmare. Every day since, when he woke up, he had a tiny hope he would wake up in the bed of his castle the day it happened. Except he would wake up in his wife's arms, her shushing him and reminding him it was only a dream.

Her smile plagued his thoughts every day. It didn't help that the cloak he wore was once hers. And even now, in the darkness, he saw her face on the walls. In his mind's eye. He did his best to push the thoughts away, but nothing ever worked. That was until he heard footsteps. A crackling fire. He had to admit the fire made him panic. Was that creature back to cause more chaos? But when he saw two figures illuminated by light approaching, his panic subsided to confusion. Without thinking, he spoke to another person in the first time in a year.

"There haven't been any visitors in a year," he said, and he stood. The man next to the one holding the torch drew his sword. Yoongi bit back a chuckle, raising his hands. "You'd be doing me a favor by doing that."

The knight didn't so much as flinch at Yoongi's words, which wasn't a surprise. The one on his left, however, cleared his throat and spoke. "Who are you?"

And for some reason, Yoongi actually answered him. "My name is Min Yoongi. I used to be the king of this kingdom."

Silence fell over them and stayed there for far too long. Yoongi wished he could add more, but the sight of people brought back memories he desired to throw away. He didn't know those two or what their intentions were, and he wasn't scared of that. It wasn't like he had anything to lose other than his body. At that point, his body was only a shell keeping him alive. Part of him wondered why he bothered staying alive in the first place. Ah, yes. The childish hope that this was all a dream, and one day he would wake up in the arms of his lover. But Yoongi wasn't a child anymore. So why was he acting like one?

"We mean you no harm, we're only passing by. If you don't mind me asking, what happened here?" the man holding the torch asked, his knight refusing to back down even when his leader placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not entirely sure myself. Everything was perfect. We pushed our enemies back, my knights were stronger than ever, my wife was handling the commoners well. Then I fell asleep and woke to find my kingdom in flames. I couldn't find any living person. I took a sword and ran through my kingdom only to find this... thing. It was a creature I had never seen before. I'm in this cave for a reason."

"You're trying to see if it'll come back?" the knight asked, and Yoongi confirmed it by nodding with his fist. Finally, the knight lowered his weapon, but he didn't put it away. "My name is Commander Jung of the Shadowcrest Guard. Beside me is Prince Kim Seokjin, next in line for the throne."

Yoongi didn't bow like he was supposed to when faced with royalty. Instead, he sat back down and tucked his knees against his chest. "I appreciate the company, but please leave now. I've told you all you need to know." And Yoongi had no reason to lie. They were the first people he had seen in a year. Yet he still didn't want to speak with them.