𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮 ― song mingi

𝒕𝒘𝒐

TW : mentions of bl00d and g0re !

𝑨𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑹𝑰𝑨𝑮𝑬 rolled to a stop , haneul saw what the visit really was about. The village was desecrated ,  with widow shutters left open and boards nailed briskly across doors. small rodents scampered away from the coach and into cracks and crevices in the houses. what made the place so eerie was the silence of it. no birds , no people. 

   the door opened abruptly , revealing mingi and his fiery hair. haneul 's mother had already clambered out of hers and was looking at the scene , glaring at a point that she couldn 't see. he held out his hand for her to take. for a moment , she needed a second to process that he was helping her out of the carriage , and not to hold her hand. 

   the kitten heel of her shoes hit the cobblestone with a soft clack. mingi already pulled away his hand as he stood by the carriage. she quickly glanced at him , blinking as if asking what to do. he nodded his head towards haneul 's mother , urging her to to go to her. haneul nodded and walked over to her mother , swallowing hard the scene in front of her beheld itself. 

   blood pooled around the deceased. pink , yellow-ish guts spilled out of the body , and the brown skin as ripped to shreds.  the eyes were gouged out , with the eye lids pulled from the body and tossed to the side. a leg was torn off , probably discarded or eaten. she could see a small , white sphere a few inches away and shuddered when she realized it was on the eyeballs. her mother stood steadfast and continued looking at the grim scene. haneul felt as if she could throw up , but continued to look. 

   mingi 's eyes were on her the whole time. he studied her every action , wondering if it was deliberate. but jang haneul was a weak person , inside and out. he watched her turn away from the body and cover her mouth with her eyes filled with tears. it didn 't phase him that there was a dead body , because of course , he was used to seeing them when he was a defender. you were bound to witness so much death when you were a defender as established as him. 

   haneul 's mother clasped her hands behind her back and looked back at her daughter. how weak , she thought. her flowing travel gown was starting to gather dirt at the bottom , with all the walking she had been doing. the queen quickly lifted up both sides slightly and circled the dead body. it was smelled horrible , like rotting fish. as with mingi , she wasn 't phased either. she simply pursed her lips. 

   the beast had already passed this village. she was planning to push most of the knights to stalk the deadly creature. sending her most of her army was a colossal risk , considering that the asteria dynasty was already threatening war on the country. 

   the elder sighed and turned around to her daughter , "haneul." 
   haneul quickly whiped her eyes on the silk gloves. "yes , mother ?" she returned. 
   "go back to the castle." she then glanced at mingi and spoke, "assure that she 's well taken care of." 

   mingi nodded and opened the carriage door for haneul to climb in. he held out his hand once more and helped her in. once she sat comfortably , he closed the door softly and sat down next to the coach driver at the front. he nodded at him to move. 

   haneul sat quietly by herself , contemplating her heart and head.