THE RAVEN KING, yoonkook

chapter xxvii: who knows who is friend or foe?

Yoongi groans as he's thrown against the cell floor, cold ground meeting him harder and faster than he'd expected. As he pushes himself up, he wonders if they treat all their prisoners like this—or if Jungkook told the guards to treat him worse. He thinks the latter, though knows the boy well enough to know that isn't the case. That's just him being dramatic, thinking he's more important than he is. And, as he sits on the hard, stone floor, he knows he's hardly important at all. He's just a lowly magpie.

The guards remain for a little while, half-heartedly watching him as they talk to each other. Yoongi sits against the wall, surveying his cell quietly. The front is entirely composed of bars, with the sides filled in with stone bricks. There is a door, locked by a key that hangs against the guard's pants, and a smaller gate that is probably to push food through. No windows, nothing else. For most people, escape would be impossible. But most people aren't Yoongi, a male who's life revolves around escaping.

He sits, and he waits. And all while he waits, he plans.

A guard approaches the captive male's door, a tray of food in his hands. Yoongi can't tell if the food is for him or a different prisoner but, despite being rather hungry, he decides to risk it. Now or never, he supposed, with the worry that his time already may be growing shorter. Who knows what Jungkook might have planned for him—what his uncle may have planned.

When the guard stands in front of his gate, Yoongi leaps forward. The tray is knocked from his hands on impact, clattering on the floor as food splatters across the ground. The man cries out as Yoongi grabs his clothes, clawing violently into him. He holds onto the other male like his life depends on it (it probably does), suffering through the pain as he's pushed against the bars. As the guard struggles against him, pushing him away and off of him, the magpie's grip shifts--but, even when he loses grip, he always quickly grabs hold again.

Eventually, after a few minutes of fighting through the bars, Yoongi allows himself to be pushed back to the ground. His arms ache, what will be bruises stinging against his skin, and feel so weak. He pants heavily, glaring up at the guard that spits at him; it pleases him to note that the other male doesn't look much better than him.

"Don't try anything like that again, magpie, or you'll be receiving a punishment so painful you'll wish His Majesty would just kill you." The guard growls, picking up the ruined tray. As he walks away, he mutters to himself, "Magpies are so rabid..."

Once the guard has left the area, and is definitely not returning yet, Yoongi allows a smirk to cross over his lips. He pulls the keys from beneath him, allowing them to jangle triumphantly as he looks up at them. Then, wasting no time in case the guard does come back, he scrambles to his feet and unlocks the door from the inside. As the door swings open, he squeezes through and begins to creep towards the door. But then he pauses, frustrated groan leaving his lips. He can't leave, not yet.

He turns on his heels, looking around the prison. There are cells lined up, all separated by thick walls. He begins moving down then, surprised to see that there are quite a few empty. Some are also occupied with more rabid birds, who growls or hiss at him and remind him of non-bird animals. But he ignores them, searching for someone in particular. None of the cells are protected enough, if Jungkook listened to him, to hold Taehyung, but maybe-- aha!

A boy sits in one cell, huddled in the corner with his wings wrapped around his body. His wings are still fluffy, but the distinct hawk pattern is beginning to show through the developing feathers. When he looks up at the older male, face full of fear, he bears similar features to Taehyung.

"Is your older brother Kim Taehyung?" The boy's interest perks at this name and he scrambles to his feet, instantly confirming Yoongi's suspicions.