Jihoon

The air was damp, water droplets forming inside of the mask that was wrapped around Jihoon's face. Every time he shook his head around, he could feel the sensation of the moisture shifting around on his chin, as if it was uncomfortable being on such a person. He galloped along on his horse in the warm air, surrounded by several of his men. Jihoon blended in with his soldiers, almost impossible to distinguish him from the rest. He grinned as he dismounted his horse and strode through the marshy ground towards the awaiting Oak Army. Their horses would be of no use in this swampy field...they would have to fight person-to-person in battle. 

A few more steps, and Jihoon's eyes shot up. 

The Oak Castle was right in front of them. 

Lines of Oak Soldiers stood as a barrier to them in neatly packed formations. Standing several meters in front of the mass of Jeon's soldiers was a gray-haired man, helmetless and dressed in simple leather armor. 

The Stone Prince. It must've been. No one else was cocky enough to go without armor. 

That was like suicide.  

Jihoon rolled his eyes and pushed on. Soon his own men were lined up, facing the opposing army. Fire bubbled in every man's eyes, anticipation high as they faced Jihoon's nephew's castle. The war horns hadn't stopped since two hours ago, blaring loudly and making his soldiers tense up with blood-lust. 

This day was the day Jihoon would put an end to Jungkook's life. 

He could give a shit about the castle; although he told his army that their main priority was winning the battle and destroying the Oak Castle, that wasn't why he was there, at least. 

Jihoon knew that his nephew was ill from the poison he had sent earlier in the week, which made his chances at murdering the prince high. Jungkook wouldn't be strong enough to fight back. 

All he needed to do was sneak into the Oak Castle and find the boy, before shoving his sword into his ribs and putting an end to his life, gloating as the prince's lifeless form crumpled onto the ground at his feet...

"Jihoon, sir," one of his close soldiers nudged his arm, getting his attention, "We all know the Stone Prince is here, but word of mouth has it the Laurel Prince is also on the field, near the back...However, I believe the Oak Prince is locked up in the castle somewhere. There's no sign of him anywhere on the field..."

Jihoon nodded. Perhaps he would get to kill Laurel after taking out his nephew. 

The man turned away and the generals in the front of Jihoon's northern army made several arm motions. Each man, including himself, stepped forward in unison. From the flanks, gas capsules were passed up to the front, and each man unsheathed his sword. The horns stopped blowing, replacing by the war hoots of every man on the field. 

Jihoon watched as the Stone Prince made a motion with each of his hands. The Oak Soldiers stepped forward, their hands slipping behind their back to grasp something. Bringing the objects to their faces quickly, Jihoon sighed as he saw what they were. 

Gas masks. 

How had Jungkook-

"CHAARRRGGGEEEE!!!" his men screamed in a fury as they all ran forward. 

Jihoon followed along with the crowd, approaching the left side of the Oak Soldiers. His men threw the capsules of gas over the center line, but it was to no avail. They burst open, coating the damp ground with their poisonous contents. The gas immediately evaporated into the calm summer air, but it had no effect on the Oak Soldiers.

"Damn it," Jihoon cursed as he slashed at an unsuspecting Oak Soldier, killing him in a single swap. Loud sounds of swords clanking swords filled the air with their metallic cacophony. 

Without the gas, they northerners wouldn't have the upper hand...they would have to rely on their fighting skills alone. A feeling of irritation passed through him as he realized that the Stone Prince could probably take out half of his army on his own. Getting him out of the picture would be Jihoon's first priority. If that gray-haired bastard saw him sneaking towards the castle, Jihoon would be a goner. 

Jihoon's loud voice called out to his comrades, "Get the Stone Prince! Keep him busy! NOW!"

Several of his soldiers grunted in understanding, rushing over to the fighting prince who had already put down ten men. Jihoon's headed in the other direction, trying to widen the gap between himself and that death machine. 

As he moved to the side, he pushed his way past several fighting pairs, ignoring his own soldiers' pleas for help as the Oak Soldiers overtook them. He could care less about the survival of his men. He only cared about one thing.

Get to the castle. Get to that damn castle. 

Jihoon picked up the pace, jumping over several corpses, gas capsules, and bits and pieces of armor. Above him, the sun suddenly peeked out from behind the clouds for a moment, the first time it had in the last few days. The battlefield was gradually illuminated, blood glimmering on the skin of the unfortunate and armor reflecting random streaks of light across the field. 

As Jihoon moved, one of those lights stood out to him. It was misplaced and it took on an irregular shape. Flickering back and forth in his black eyes, the circular-shaped light blinded him...and reminded him of something...

Of someone. 

In the distance, the light was teasing slightly from behind the statue of the very first Oak Prince...Jihoon's younger brother. From his angle, Jihoon watched as a flurry of movement made the circular light disappear for a second before it reappeared. The person wielding this hip-height reflective object couldn't be seen from that far away, plus he was wearing a gas mask. It could be anyone-

But hardly anyone else that Jihoon knew wore a pocket watch. 

Like father, like son.

The sun fell behind the clouds, and the battlefield dimmed slightly. However, the period of time that the sky brightened up was just long enough to make Jihoon regain his confidence back.

Jungkook was careless, as always. 

Jihoon headed towards the statue in the distance with two of his men, slaughtering anyone who dared cross their path. It would be a while before he would reach the spot, because the Laurel Prince was carefully watching the flanks with a sharp eye...

But Jihoon would find a way to get there. 

He would find a way to get to the Oak Prince-

and kill him. 

Stone Prince

"Dead, dead, dead!" Jimin sang out as he ended the lives of the oncoming northern soldiers. It was distasteful, really, how poorly trained these men were in terms of sword skills. For the Stone Prince, it was actually a bit boring how easy it was to kill them. 

They had little tactical advantage; all they did was rely upon their brute strength when attacking the Oak Soldiers. However, when it came to fighting with swords, strength wasn't always necessary; if one could calculate the next move of their opponent, they could do just as well if not better. Reading people had always been easy for the gray-haired male...that's why he was so good at combat. He stopped his opponents' next moves before they could even get a chance to make them.

"Dead. Yep you're...dead!" he finished a slice to a middle aged man's neck, watching as the man coughed up blood before slouching onto the mud. 

It wasn't long before he gained the attention of many northern barbarians...soon they were flocking to him like flies to a luminous light at night time. As they sprinted over to him, Jimin smiled under his mask to welcome them. 

People were really stupid. 

The lack of space they created only ended up harming themselves. Jimin was small and agile, jumping in between the spaces they offered him and dodging blows by folding himself around their swords. These men were clumsy, large, and ended up hurting each other with every stab they tried to get him with.

"Dead, gone, dead!" the gray-haired male finished with a flip of the hair, as it was becoming matted with barbarian blood. The red liquid that flung onto him during combat didn't necessarily please him, but in a way it was oddly satisfying. It was warm, plus it was a color he associated with death. 

And victory. 

Those who fell to the Stone Prince were lucky though--Jimin was clean and quick about his kills, purposely ending his opponents' lives quickly. He wouldn't mind having dying soldiers on the field suffering, but that wasn't his purpose. Elimination was his purpose. 

Protect the Oak Castle. Protect Jungkook. Kill Jihoon.

He swung his sword in an arc to come crashing down onto a redhead's shoulder, slicing up quickly to sever the boy's juggler. Maroon flooded out from the incision and Jimin glanced around methodically for his next prey. He hummed in delight when he spotted Florian not so far away from him, putting out handfuls of men with his newly improved sword-handling skills. 

The Stone Prince edged towards the boy, killing three more men who ran at him dumbly from the front. 

What amateurs. 

Jimin finally made it to the boy, blood-covered and muddy from the field but nevertheless invigorated by the adrenaline of killing. As Florian parried with a fattish barbarian, Jimin chatted calmly next to him. 

"Florian, looking good! I see you're using the new skill I taught you on the first day."

The fat man grunted as Florian's sword stabbed above his breastplate into the folds of skin under his chin. In a blink of an eye, the large man toppled over, clutching tightly at his neck and gargling. Florian turned to the Stone Prince, a determined look casing his normally bright facial features. 

"Thank you, Commander Park," the boy's eyes lit up as another enemy came their way, "Mind if I take this one?"

Jimin smiled at the boy's confidence, nodding with a sense of pride in his bones. This kid really was different from the rest. The gray-haired male watched as Florian prepped for the encounter, leaning down in a stance that he had learned from Jimin personally. Then-

A duck, a slide, a slash-

And the man was dead, half of his head severed from the main part of his body. Florian huffed out as he adjusted the sword in his grip, turning his blood splattered face towards Jimin. Waiting for the Stone Prince's approval, Florian took a few steps towards him.

"Well done," Jimin started, "That was-"

"S-sir," Florian leaned in, eyes squinting in disbelief and a bit of fear, "I...I think your nose is bleeding...from under your mask?"

Jimin reached up to his mask, eyes wide at the comment, "Are you sure it's not just enemy blo-"

Then he felt it. The warm stream of his own blood, rushing out from his nose and spilling down his lips. He could taste the iron on his tongue and he could see the red liquid falling out from the mask's filter. His mouth opened in shock as the droplets fell onto the mud at his feet. 

The Stone Prince hadn't been touched the entire time he'd been fighting. Nobody had bumped into him and he didn't hit himself in any way. Nothing could have caused the nose bleed except...

Sickness. His sickness. 

"Oh...this?" Jimin wiped at the blood dribbling down his chin and neck angrily, trying to cover the surprise he felt in front of Florian, "This is nothing..."

"Sir..." Florian crunched his eyebrows up, at a loss for words. His body language made it clear to Jimin that the boy was obviously worried and alarmed at seeing his role model falling apart. 

But there was nothing either of them could do about it; it wouldn't hinder either of their fighting.

However...it might make the Stone Prince appear weak in front of his men. If the Oak Soldiers saw their commander injured, it might hurt their fighting spirit. In the flash of the moment, Jimin tore off a piece of his under shirt and lifted his mask briefly to plug his nose up.

"Sir, that's dangerous!" Florian called out, afraid that the poisonous gas might seep into the older's mask. 

After a few seconds, Jimin let out a large breath of air and shook his head, "Don't worry, Florian, I held my breath...I don't think-"

"STONE PRINCE! STONE PRINCE!"

Jimin whipped his head around to spot an armored Oak Soldier sprinting up to him, urgency filling his tone. Florian stood next to Jimin and tensed up at seeing the messenger race so desperately over corpses to get to the Stone Prince. 

This couldn't be good...

"SIR...I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM THE LAUREL PRINCE-"

The Stone Prince immediately stood up straighter, eyes growing wide...he hoped the messenger wouldn't say-

"HE TOLD ME TO TELL YOU 'THE TREE IS ON FIRE.'"

On...

On...fire?

Jimin's heart nearly stopped then, his legs buckling in a bit in surprise. Florian reached out to steady him, the boy's hands flat on Jimin's shoulder blades. The Stone Prince groaned as a horrifyingly strong wave of pain wracked his skull, the shock of the words sending him into a panic. 

The words themselves seemed strange...there were no trees in sight. But to Jimin, they meant that everything had gone wrong. 

Before the battle commenced and the three princes met on the steps, Taehyung had whispered something in his ear...a set of terms that both princes agreed on for the upcoming battle. The Laurel Prince would refer to the Oak Prince as 'tree' during the battle, which made sense given his title. This keyword would be used in their communications on the field, to make sure that no one knew the ravenette was present during the battle. Based on whatever way the term was used in a sentence, the Laurel Prince could specify what conditions Jungkook was in. 

For example, "the tree is standing" meant all was going well.

"The tree is leaning" meant that some men were getting a bit too close for comfort to the castle, fighting at an unsafe distance from the statue that Jungkook was staying hidden at. 

And "the tree is on fire" meant...

That men were past Taehyung's defenses, advancing towards the castle. 

Towards Jungkook. 

How could this have happened?

The gray-haired male struggled with this thought as he willed his feet to move in the direction of the castle. His mind swam with agony--white streaks of pain shot across his vision. 

"WOULD YOU FUCKING STOP ALREADY!" he screamed out to his brain, trying desperately to push the knives out of his mind, "LEAVE ME ALONE! NOT NOW!"

Jimin was being careless by then, not paying attention to where he was going. He was blinded by love and pain, almost tripping over dead men and being hit by stragglers. Suddenly, an opponent stood in his path, eyes crinkled up in a sinister grin. 

"Die, Prince of Stone!" the scruffy man spat, slashing at Jimin's head with deadly force. 

Jimin would've been ready at any other time...but-

For once in his life he hadn't predicted the other man's move correctly. The fog that encased his mind in a suffocating cell caused him to falter, to get the timing wrong. The man's sword swung right towards his exposed neck. 

Right towards Jimin's exposed neck. 

Right towards...Jimin's...neck.

This was it-

CLANK!

A resonating explosion of metal on metal just about split Jimin's ears open. His eyes grew at the sight of two swords dangerously close to his neck.

One belonged to one of Jihoon's men, the asshole who tried to kill him. And the other-

To Florian. 

Jimin's heart leaped. 

Florian screamed in anger at the man's attempt to kill his beloved commander, pushing forward with a strength that Jimin didn't know the boy possessed. Groaning as fresh wave of pain sunk into his brain, the Stone Prince tried to smile as Florian decapitated the man in one go. Florian was breathing heavily as he turned to face Jimin. With teary eyes and a shaky breath, the boy nearly crumpled at his feet. 

"Co-Commander Park..."

Jimin bit his lips hard under his mask, willing himself not to break down in front of the boy who had just saved his life. The amount of gratefulness that filled him up was bested by the panic he felt at imagining barbarians headed for straight for Jungkook. As black spots started to swim at the corners of his vision, the Stone Prince felt a need to say something to the boy in front of him before he took off again. Jimin placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and stared him straight in the eyes. 

"Florian..." he took in a shaky breath, "You just saved my life. I...thank you," Florian bowed slighly, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment. Jimin waited until the boy's eyes opened again, glassy with emotion.

"You are a prince in my eyes. Truly," Jimin gave the boy's shoulder a squeeze before moving away.

"Thank you, Commander Park."

And for some reason, the gray-haired male couldn't help what came out of his lips next. 

"Call me Jimin."

With a rush of energy that he dug out from the inner depths of his soul, the Stone Prince lifted his head against the world that was bearing so heavily down on him and ran off towards the castle, leaving Florian to watch his receding figure. Luckily, the path to the statue was relatively clear of enemies, otherwise Florian would have followed the man in a heartbeat. 

The boy laughed a bit in shock, amazement, and sadness. A tear slid down his cheek and onto his gas mask.

"Good luck, Jimin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR'S NOTE

?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?

Hey. I...wow, I don't know what to say. 

I hope you are just as excited for the next part as I am. 

I appreciate the reads! :)

Have a nice day/night!