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.

"King Min, I mean no disrespect, but my people need a new home. Our kingdom was attacked too, only by people and not a creature. I have hope others survived, but not much. We need to build from the ground up, and this place seems like a good start. If we could have your permission to inhabit your kingdom, that would be greatly appreciated."

"It's not really my kingdom anymore. Can't be a king without any people to rule over. So go ahead, do whatever you please. You don't need my permission." Yoongi wanted to wish them luck. To say anything other than what he did, but the words were trapped in his throat, choking him until his eyes filled with tears.

"Very well. For whatever it's worth, thank you for the information. And... I'm sorry. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through this." Yoongi didn't reply to the prince's words, and for good reason. He didn't trust them, but he felt as though he wouldn't have to. As they turned to leave, the knight kept his eyes on Yoongi the entire way out of the cave. Yoongi let out a sigh. He most likely wouldn't have to deal with them again, or even speak to them again. Right?

~~~

Wrong. Min Yoongi was wrong.

Only a day after the prince had his people move into the burnt remnants of the Golden Isles, the prince came back into the cave with more torches and supplies than Yoongi had seen in a year. Prince Jin made a small campfire for Yoongi without uttering a single word. The cloak draped across his body covered him from the light, Jin kneeling and humming as he lit up the walls of the cave.

"I figured the least I could do was make you a meal. We have plenty of extra food now since we're settled down. Water too. You should keep your strength up in case you need to fight. Maybe that creature was drawn to masses of people, and now there's a mass here. I'm not asking you to fight for me, of course. It's just a heads up that you may get those answers you've been looking for."

Yoongi kept his mouth shut as Jin spoke, placing a bowl of a dark liquid down in front of the makeshift fire he made. There were chunks of meat inside, and Yoongi recognized it as rabbit stew. One of Yoongi's lead knights used to cook rabbit stew with his wife back in the old days. The days where the Golden Isles was one of the most prestigious kingdoms in the country. Jin meant no harm by bringing the stew, but it hurt nonetheless, so Yoongi sealed his lips and refused to make a peep.

"Not much of a talker. I get it," Jin said, sitting in front of the fire while the rabbit stew sat on the other side, the side closest to Yoongi. The cave itself was barren even with the light shining on it. There were no marks or scratches Yoongi made on the walls. He wasn't insane, he didn't need to mark the days he had been there. He kept a mental clock anyway, so there was no need.

More silence followed. Jin leaned back and opened his leather bag, digging inside. On instinct, Yoongi gripped his knee until his nails drew pricks of blood that trickled down his pale skin. Speaking of, what used to be a natural paleness turned into a sickly one thanks to Yoongi's lack of sunlight. His flesh no longer had the 'sugar' charm to it, rather he looked like a ghost. In a way, that seemed fitting.

"I know I have no right to judge your lifestyle, but sitting in this cave, wallowing in self-pity won't do you much good. How long has it been since your kingdom fell?" No response. "A while? Yesterday? Those burn marks couldn't have been from yesterday. My knights predict it's been a long time. Half a year? Eight months? A full year?"

"Do you ever stop talking?" Yoongi asked, and he realized those weren't the words he wanted to say until after he already said them. But the guilt wasn't enough to make him apologize, so he puffed his chest out and pretended it was what he intended to say all along.

"You said you haven't had visitors in a year," Jin said as if Yoongi never spoke. "Is that how long it's been? That would match up with the old burn marks, hm? Have you taken care of yourself since then? Bathed? Drank? Ate? Cut your hair?"

Yoongi felt the long locks that grew out past his neck and dribbled on the sides of his shoulders. Contrary to what it seemed like, Yoongi did cut his hair occasionally. Not because he had the willpower to, no. It was because it got in his face too much, so he cut it to a length that was bearable enough to see, but not enough to make it seem like he was sane.

"Obviously you have to eat and drink, otherwise you'd be dead. What about a bath? Have you considering swimming around in the waterfall to get clean? I can smell you over the fire and rabbit stew. I'm pretty sure that's not healthy, but I'm no doctor, so who am I to say."

"I didn't ask for a diagnosis. In fact, I didn't ask for this at all. I think I've been tortured enough in my life, yeah? Now you're here to talk my ear off about how the power of friendship will save me? Is that it?"

"You have to have friends in order for the power of friendship to work." Jin's words were intended to be harsh, almost judgemental, but to Yoongi, they were just more words in the thousands he had heard before. More words in the tens of thousands he said to himself in his time in the cave. Ironically enough, Jin's words were tame when compared to the thoughts Yoongi had.

"Did you come here to help, insult, or pity me?"

"None. I came here to study you. You're a loner living in a cave next to my new kingdom. My commander almost punched me when I told him I was coming back to talk to you alone. But I didn't want you to feel threatened, and I'll be honest, I'm the least threatening person in my kingdom even over my ambassador - and his hands are smaller than the ant I stepped on yesterday."

"I don't care."

"I figured, so let me make myself clear." Jin stood, not quite putting out the flames just yet. "Stay in this cave or join my kingdom. You have a place there if you'd like it, but not without tests to ensure you're trustworthy. Those are your two options. You hurt any of my people or my knights, and I'll have you skinned alive."

"Gee, and here I thought you were the nice one when I saw you yesterday."

"You were a king. You better than anyone should understand that all I am doing is looking out for my people," Jin replied, his wide shoulders set and oozing a posture of false confidence. His lowered chin betrayed his tall form, and his muscles appeared weak despite the size of them. Yoongi could honestly take him in a fight even in his condition, but he didn't wish to harm the king of Yoongi's deceased kingdom.

"Where's your father?" Jin went still at that. "You're only a prince. Where's the king?"

Jin's answer came after a howling breeze of silence passed by. "He's in my old kingdom. I'm not sure if he survived or not."

"Either way, it'll be near impossible for him to find you again unless you send people back to go retrieve him from the kingdom. So you're not a prince. You're the king. King Jin, not prince." Yoongi leaned forward, tapping his long nail against the corner of his chin. "So why do you still have them call you prince?"

Jin's left eye twitched, him leaning back on the balls of his feet as his hands curled into fists by his sides. And in a flash, he swiped his leather bag up and threw it over his shoulder, not bothering to make sure it was secure before he backed away, about to leave. But not before peeking over at Yoongi first.

"Eat your stew before it gets cold, Mr. Min."