Journey Into the Knight

Chapter Twelve

TaeOh woke early, the sun was still on the horizon. His head hurt, so much information swirling around, so many emotions fight in his head. Trying to pretend he didn't care about his mother as much as he did, hearing her heart breaking story. But then still hating her in some way, feeling like he was forgotten, abandoned, and then replaced. He felt uncomfortable being here, he didn't want to be in this village any longer, he wanted to take Byul and run, go back to the forest, fight for their place in the army, but he knew YongSun needed to be here and he wasn't about to abandon her. She had become an important person in his life.

TaeOh finally got out of bed. He felt like it was a statement that he walked into this room last night and closed the door, but he just needed time to think alone. He cracked the door as quietly as he could, knowing the girl's needed rest. When his eyes found them, there was a short pain that went through his chest. Byul was laying on the floor, curled up very close to the couch YongSun was sleeping on. YongSun was laying on her stomach, face pieceful, arm dangling from the couch, within inches of Byul. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much, it is not like he caught them cuddling, but the closeness of their bodies radiated some sort of connection he was not apart of. He took a quick breath, shedding the feeling from his heart, remembering the pack he made with Byul about letting YongSun choose what her heart wanted, even if it wasn't either of them.

He exited the house and stepped into the morning chill. Even though it was early, the village was not asleep. Many people were already bustling about, he could smell fresh foods being cooked. A group of people were chopping wood nearby. He could hear the steady clanking of a hammer on metal, no doubt from the armory he spotted yesterday on his quest to find the girls when he woke up alone. He made his way to the mess hall. It was vacant of people, WheeIn did mention that most people ate at their own home. The back wall had some counters with baskets of fresh fruits, he grabbed an apple and a slice of bread from the loaf sitting there. He considered sitting at one of the tables to eat but it felt sort of lonely, and his body did not want him to stop moving. He went to the bathing rooms. It was a long building, sort of. There were two sets of doors, one for men and one for women. He walked into the men's side, door swinging closed behind him, he walked the small hallway, it took a left turn and then opened up into a large room with no back wall. The first part of the room had four bathing tubs, all still steaming from whoever had filled them. The back part of the room was the most breath taking part, a full waterfall and small body of water made up where the back wall should have been. A large wooden fence separated the two sides of the baths. The waterfall was lined with rocks. TaeOh wasn't sure how it stayed warm, he has a suspicion is was some sort of magic, but he didn't really care. He took off his clothes and slide into the rushing waters. The heat penetrating his skin and relaxing his muscles. He grabbed a nearby bar of soap and began to wash away the long night he had. This was definitely the best part of the village so far, it was way better than the day old water they had at the castle. The water seemed to wash away his worries, making everything so much more bearable.

TaeOh left the bathing rooms feeling so much better. The sun had finally left the horizon and was making its journey across the sky. On the way back to the house, he felt a thousand times better than when he left it. He decided to take a different way around, trying to get a sense of the village layout, Byul had done this yesterday on her search of YongSun when they woke up in the house alone, comparing the layout later on. Always know your surroundings.

He passed a series of houses not unlike the one he was staying in, some were larger, some were smaller. He walked past a bonfire pit that was blocked off with two walls of wood. Finally, he walked by a garden, it was full of every type of plant you could think of and more. He stopped a moment to look at the buds forming on a nearby branch in the shapes of stars. He touched it with one of his fingers, it was fuzzy to the touch. "It's a Starburst flower." TaeOh spun fast, blade from his sheath and pressed up against the neck of the person who came up behind him. His eyes met a set of emerald ones, challaning him. Red hair framed her face that held a look like she was bored. She slowly held up her hands. "Easy hot shot you could have threatened a child." She slowly lowered her arms and crossed them over her chest, waiting.