Swords clashing filled the air of the Oak battle field, resonating around the land with metallic clinks and clanks.  Soldier fought soldier, man killed man...yet, the banners of Stone, Oak, and Laurel still rose high above their heads. As the fight pushed on, three bannermen proudly waved the three banners, houses, and symbols that Noirwood stood for with prized dignity. Although two of the three princes had lost their castles, their banners still existed to represent the three princes' contribution to the battle that was occurring. 

Stone. Laurel. Oak. 

The Stone Banner, that was rather mysterious...cunning even, flew proudly in the wind, the gray of its symbol representing simplicity at heart, yet devilish power. The image of a mountain in a haze of mist with several rock formations sitting delicately underneath it stood out on the flag. 

The Laurel Banner, which was rather elegant, flew in the middle, complementing the other two on its sides. This golden banner featured a lion-headed cane in the center with a laurel wrapped tightly around it. Several glimmering decals shone as the wind pushed the banner to and fro. Victory, wealth, and power characterized this banner. 

Finally, the Oak Banner, the largest one there. It stood waving proudly on the side, promoting wisdom, care, and curiosity. The healthy sized Oak Tree on it fanned out across the flag, standing for inclusion and tolerance of all people in Noirwood. This bannerman had a set look on his face as he held the pole up, features set in an expression of confidence. 

Next to these three bannermen were servants, milling about the roof quickly as they monitored the finale of the war taking place down below. 

High atop the Oak Castle, one servant in particular stood watching the battle play out underneath him with watchful eyes. From his standpoint, the fight taking place was easily the Oak Castle's to win...Jihoon's men were being decimated by the intricate formations and sword skills of the Oak Soldiers. 

However, the servant felt an uneasy pit somewhere in his gut. Perhaps it was because he could see that not everyone was winning on the battlefield--innocent young men dying for a cause they had no real part in. Their loyalty on the field was the only thing driving them...they fought knowing that by winning the war they could protect their loved ones from Jihoon's awful grasp. 

But not all of them would be alive to see their family. 

The servant sighed, eyes scanning the field for any sign of the three princes. 

The battlefield was piled high with corpses, gas masks, and the few remaining barbarians of the north, but the servant could not pick out the Laurel or Stone Prince anywhere. 

Strange...

He stepped to the side of the outer wall, eyes roaming the edges of the battlefield, up the steps of the Oak Castle, until his eyes fell upon...

Oh. 

The clouds in the sky broke open all the way then, the sun blasting its brightly golden strands onto the men he watched near the statue. A bright glimpse of sunlight made him turn his head away, the luminosity too intense to handle. A sword was responsible for the reflection, the flat edge that wasn't buried in someone twinkling against the rays of sun. 

The man frowned as sunlight bathed the land with its orange hue, sun setting lower in the west. Misplaced was how he would put the sudden glow of light--such a hopeful and beautiful sunset contrasting with the scene below him. Feeling a need to respect the fallen prince below him, the servant knelt, folding his hands onto the ground and placing his head on them. 

"Stone Prince..." the servant closed his eyes, his heart downcast. 

"May you rest in peace."

Laurel Prince 

The blonde opened his stinging eyes to a bright light. It had an orange hue and it was painting his cheeks with a comfortable warmth. Taehyung couldn't see much except for a rock surface a few inches from his face, and his head felt like it had been thrown down a hill. His ears were ringing, so he couldn't make out the mumbled words around him...it just sounded like random inflections...as if he was underwater. 

He groaned, hands going to his head. What...what had happened to him?

He couldn't remember. 

Someone was...hurting him? Hurting Jungkook? 

Jihoon...?

Bits and pieces flooded into his consciousness. Anger flowed through him, although he didn't fully understand the whole situation. He attempted sitting up, hearing nothing but a loud buzzing in his ears. His taste buds were filled with the unsatisfying taste of iron and dust. 

Then, his ears registered something. 

It was quiet...but it was definitely what he thought it was. 

The Oak Prince was screaming bloody murder. 

Fuck...what the-?

Taehyung whipped his head around to pinpoint the source, eyes struggling to focus. He blinked a few times as some figures popped into his line of sight. In his vision, the figures were bent, rocking to and fro as the blonde's mind began to grasp what was happening. 

Three people...was that Jungkook? Yes...but who was--

Jihoon? Yes...that man over there...looming over-

Looming over that man with a sword in his chest. 

Taehyung's heart fell. 

His hands fell limply off of his head to his sides, mouth opening in utter shock. Horror. Disbelief. Denial. 

J-JIMIN???

The gray-haired male was kneeling, sword protruding from his mid section. Blood welled at the sight of the incision, pouring from the Stone Prince's body. Taehyung's head swam with panic. 

NO NO NO NO NO NO HOW DID THIS-

How...

How did...

"JIHOON!" Taehyung suddenly screamed, forcing his feet to push his body up. His hands were empty and he felt like he weighed a thousands pounds, but an electric pulse versed its way into his mind. His muscles came alight with the most rage and sadness he had ever felt in his life. He could hear nothing but his pulse in his ears, pounding rapidly as he sprinted towards the man who had ruined everything. 

The man who had stabbed the Stone Prince...

Taehyung screeched, although he couldn't hear it, as his body smashed into the evil man in front of him. The pair tumbled down to the ground, rolling towards the edge of the platform the statue was on. Jihoon punched at the blonde who was latched onto him, but Taehyung could feel nothing but a deep blackness that made him think of nothing but murder. 

The amount of hate he held for the man in front of him was unmatched, and it made Taehyung's next decision rash. 

The edge was only a foot away, if he could get Jihoon off-

"DIE!!!" Kim Taehyung screamed as his hands clutched onto the other man's armor, yanking him closer to his demise. Jihoon kicked at the blonde's legs, perspiration dripping down his filthy face. Jihoon's mouth was moving but Taehyung could hear nothing that came out of it. 

THIS ASSHOLE HURT JIMIN. 

THIS ASSHOLE...K-KILLED...JI-

NO!!!

Without hesitation, the Laurel Prince hoisted Jihoon up in their twisted position and held onto him as he pulled Jihoon off of edge with him. A wave of relief passed through the blonde as they fell, knowing he had finally fulfilled his wish. 

In the air, Jihoon's mouth flew open in anger, eyes fluttering shut in realization that he was a goner. Taehyung closed his eyes as well, not sure if he would ever open them again. 

The wind pushed his hair back as he clutched onto the bastard from the north. To Prince Kim...it felt kind of nice. His job was done...and although he was falling several meters down to a hard rock slab, he couldn't feel more at ease. There was no way Jihoon would survive this. 

Falling, falling, falling. 

Right before the pair reached the bottom, Taehyung yelled out passionately to the world. 

"JIMIN, JUNGKOOK, I LOVE YOU!"

Then, all was black.

Stone Prince

"DIE!!!"

Shortly after the Stone Prince had stepped in front of the sword headed for Jungkook, the Laurel Prince was back on his feet. Jimin watched with dizzy eyes as the blonde suddenly tackled Jihoon to the ground, the pair mercilessly beating each other as they rolled closer to the edge. 

"TAEHYUNG!" Jungkook paused his screams to shout, "WATCH OUT!!! THE EDGE-"

Jimin cried out weakly as one second the Laurel Prince was there...

and the next he was off of the edge. 

"NO! NO STOP NO TAEHYUNG!!!" the ravenette ran to the edge, peering down to the rock below him with tears flying from his eyes. He crumpled to his knees, hands tearing out his hair as he screamed more, this time for another prince. 

Jimin's shaky hands moved away from the sword inside of him to reach out to the other male who was in distress. Even if it was Jimin's last moment, he had to try and comfort the Oak Prince somehow...

Before the Stone Prince couldn't anymore.

"Jung..." Jimin coughed as a fresh pool of blood flooded into his throat. It was becoming more difficult to breathe by the second as his pierced lung filled with fluid, "J-Jungk..."

The Oak Prince spun around, hurt eyes latching onto Jimin's outstretched hand. The younger rushed over, grabbing the Stone Prince's hand very tight...

As if he never wanted to let go. 

"J-Jimin...why..." Jungkook choked out between sobs, bringing the Stone Prince's hand to his lips, which were trembling, "Why d-did you...why did you do that!?!" 

The pain laced in the younger's voice made Jimin want to break down crying as well. But he knew that if the tears came...

He might never be able to tell Jungkook what he wanted to say. 

"Jungkook...l-listen," Jimin's voice trembled as his eyes fought to stay on the ravenette's, "I...I was already dying...I'm so sick, Jungkook...I d-didn't want y-you two to find o-out-" Jimin's chest convulsed, sending more droplets of blood onto his chin. Jungkook let out a loud whimper as he watched the gray-haired male wavering between life and death in front of him, "F-Florian will e-explain it all to y-you...h-he...he knows about my c-condition...and...I want him t-to b-be the next Stone Prince..." he paused, noticing how Jungkook flinched at the word "next."

"Please, Jungkook...trust me..." 

Jungkook squeezed Jimin's hand harder, his chest shaking with sobs, "Of course I trust you, Jimin. I always will...I always will love you..."

"Jungkook," the gray-haired male's voice was hardly louder than a whisper now, barely reaching the younger's ears, "I love you too...but just know I won't be g-gone..." Jimin tried to smile, his teeth covered in a thin film of blood. 

"I'll a-always be with you two..."

"You...find Eonjin, Jungkook..."

"Tell her...I'm s-sorry..."

"She- s-she's next in...next in..." Jimin gasped for air, trying with immense effort to maintain consciousness. 

"Next in line for the Laurel title," Jungkook finished for him, sniffling loudly as more tears fell from his sad eyes. The Oak Prince was shaken up, Jimin could tell, still denying the fact that Jimin would leave him soon, "But...J-Jimin...you can't leave me! You c-can't...I won't-"

"Jungkook, everything will be alright...you said you t-trusted me, right?" the gray-haired male shoulders lowered as his energy was drained from him, "J-Jihoon is dead now...Noirwood is yours...y-you...you're the finest prince to run it...I w-would've died for you...any day."

The Stone Prince's eyes started to close, his form wobbling as the blood poured out of him. He coughed once more, blood spraying across his arms. The Oak Prince took hold of his shoulders, shaking him a bit.

"No...no no NO! Jimin, no...don't leave me now...you can't JIMIN YOU CAN'T!" Jungkook's voice broke as he wiggled the Stone Prince back and forth, "NO NO NO JIMIN OPEN YOUR EYES!"

With some effort, Jimin's eyes flicked open, but only for a second, "J-Jungkook...the sword...I need you...remove..."

The ravenette's eyes widened as the Stone Prince motioned towards the sword in front of him, "Jimin no...I can't...you'll d-die, you-"

"Please...Jungkook, I don't want to die from a sword. You can do it for me..." Jimin's last words were strong, coming from his lips in a serious voice. His lips curled up as his last spoken words in Noirwood sounded in the still air.

"Jungkook, Taehyung, I love you."

Then, watching as the Oak Prince's hands shakily took grasp of the hilt of the sword embedded in his stomach, Jungkook told him one last thing. 

"I love you too, Jimin..." the ravenette pulled harshly at the sword, his eyes never leaving Jimin's, "I'll see you again someday."

The Stone Prince smiled at the comment, wincing when the sword was yanked harshly out of him by the Oak Prince. He body lurched forward numbly, the male falling onto his stomach. 

Someday...

Someday...

Jimin would reunite with Jungkook and Taehyung. 

The thought gave the Stone Prince bliss as the light left his gray eyes. 

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

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Rest in peace, Jimin. 

This is not the end for you, but a new beginning...

It was nice writing about you while you lived.

:( I'm...so e m o t i o n a l ::::((((

STONE PRICE I LOVE YOU!!!

GOODBYE OLD FRIEND!

I'm sorry I did that to you guys...:(

But thank you for reading my story anyway...despite the ups and downs. 

It isn't over yet...