King of Stars Volume 1 (An interstellar ATEEZ Hongjoong fanfiction)

Part Five: In Which 10-24 Learns That Companions Can Come in Many Forms

            
              The emotion felt like hot water being poured into my chest. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think straight. I stood still in the crowd along with my companions, until one of them, prepared for a fight, broke away.

         I caught sight of San, his face pained, as he pushed his way towards the source. I barely registered Mingi and Yunho yelling at him to come back. Breaking free from my trance I ran ahead of everyone as they tried to stop him. San was quickly disappearing into the crowd.

        I spotted his dark head of hair for a fleeting moment and pushed my way towards him, my feet carrying me faster than my mind could process my actions. As I got closer to the sounds of fighting some large men that reeked of alcohol bumped into me. I lost my footing and nearly fell but a strong hand reached out to steady me.

         San was tensed and his dark eyes met mine. His lips drew into a thin line as he spoke. "It's dangerous you need to go back." He pleaded.

I shook my head. "Without my help the chances of you escaping without injury is greatly increased." I could hear the voices of our group nearing as they searched for us.

His eyes darted from mine to the crowd. "Fine but stay close to me." His hand gripped mine and together we shouldered past the the last few people towards the front.

The sight in front of us made my empty stomach lurch. Two hulking creatures, bleeding and snarling, were circling each other.

The most unusual looking creature was a massive three headed dog. Two of the heads, frothing from the mouth, let out a deafening roar. The third head hung limply to the side, its eyes rolled back into it's head. Even though it was fierce in appearance it had a massive wound that stretched from its shoulder to its back haunches. It's blood was a deep purple and it spilled onto the floor in it's wake.

The deadlier looking one had a naturally armor plated body. The way it stalked the other beast inside the ring was decidedly feline. It yowled ferociously, amber eyes glinting, and blood dripping from between it's fangs.

       The mob had set up a a fence of metal rebar into the ground that served to prevent either animal from escaping. A towering alien, presumably the owner of the canine creature, yelled in a strange guttural language in an attempt to goad it into fighting.

        Then he used some form of a prod and struck the canine creature in the side. The beast yelped, ears pinned to it's head, and backed away from the prod. It's owner was relentless in beating the beast. Every blow landed with a loud crack and some hits split the beast's hide open. Both heads howled in a harmony of anguish as even more of its blood spilled to the floor.

But not once did it ever fight back.

As he continued his merciless assault he began laughing maniacally enjoying the pain he was inflicting.

San was visibly distressed at the sight and gripped the bars of the fence. I placed a palm against his chest to hold him back and felt his heart thundering in his chest. "It's ill advised to interfere." I warned him.

"I can't stand by and watch them murder that animal Ten." He protested. The muscles in his neck were tense and his breath came out in rapid pants between gritted teeth.

"What kind of expression is that?" I asked.

         I saw our companions make their way through the jeering mob. "San don't!" Mingi ordered.

San let go of my hand. "I have to stop it."

        Then in one swift movement San darted in between the spikes and ran into the center of the ring.