Wretches & Kings

Twelve hours had passed since The Dakeu Jeon-won had surrendered and lowered their arms. Eleven hours since Hyun Ae had been delivered the news that BigBang's leader was missing from his pack of fighters that had returned from their fight against a large platoon of Dakeu. The last four hours had been spent searching for survivors amongst the massacre that had persisted outside the walls of Doh-Chang's fortress.

Hyun Ae's feet tread silently across the powdery dirt that could not support a single living thing. The sky held the green hue of a constant overcast. Bodies lay upon the charred earth, their stench growing in the acrid air. Hyun Ae's wounds had been stitched and patched, but they throbbed tremendously; her face, side, and shoulder protested to her consistent movements. They begged to stop, but she refused. There would be no stopping, not until G-Dragon had been found. However, most of the bodies were burned and mutilated past identification.

A long, trembling growl came from the east; Hyun Ae saw the edge of the ravine ahead of her. Quickly, she moved towards it, dodging around bodies and keeping quiet. Her eyes, though hindered, caught the figures of three Jug-eum, the mutated canine hybrids that had long plagued her nightmares.

Their growls rippled up towards her as they prowled closer to their target. It was unseen who the target was until he spoke. “Hyun Ae!”

Within moments, Hyun Ae was sliding down the ravine's side and sprinting towards the hounds of Hell. She shouted something at them, gaining the attention of one. Its head turned towards her, saliva dripping from its snarling jowls. It launched its muscled body at her, growl long and mean. Hyun Ae dropped to the side. It was quick to double back. Its jaws opened to latch on, but Hyun Ae's blade sliced through its mouth to the back of its throat.

The Jug-eum whined and stumbled away, blood coursing from its throat and mouth until Hyun Ae struck it through the side. The others had gained the scent of its comrades blood and turned on the woman. They circled her, padding slowly around and looking for an opening. Hyun Ae's wounds were screaming from the exertion, but she attempted to push the pain to the back of her mind and keep a clear head.

They came at the same time, slamming into each others skulls when their frenzy allowed Hyun Ae to duck and roll away. They yelped and one advanced quicker. His left from leg was removed with a fluid swipe of Hyun Ae's arm. The other guided a blade through its gut as it attempted to get up.

“Behind you!”

Hyun Ae dropped just in time as the last one leaped at her. It hovered over her and she thrust her swords upward, slicing through its underbelly. The Jug-eum landed on its feet only to have its innards coming spilling out. It died where it fell.

Hyun Ae had to brace against one of the blades to right herself. She pulled her shirt—still stained with her dried blood—back from her wounded shoulder to see the dressing red with fresh blood. Slowly, she turned back, glimpsing the blurry figure of G-Dragon. She hurried over and knelt next to her leader. His skin was burned and cut. One hand was tucked into his torn shirt to staunch a bullet wound in his gut.

“For a blind girl, you fight pretty fucking good,” he breathed out with a smirk.

“I'm not blind,” Hyun Ae reminded him, looking closely over his body before she stopped in stunned silence. “Your leg...”

“Is gone,” GD finished, shifting against the rock wall to remove the jabbing in his back. “Blasted off by one of Dakeu's high powered guns.”

“How—” Hyun Ae swallowed, unable to take her eyes off the already-infected stump that used to be the leader's leg. “How did you get down here?”

“Same way you did.” G-Dragon shrugged. “You better get out before more of those things show up.”

Hyun Ae scoffed. “And just leave you?”

“That's the plan, yes?”

“If you want me to leave you for more Jug-eum, why did you call for my help instead of letting them eat you?”

“Good point.” G-Dragon sighed. “Don't worry about it now, alright? Stupid idea on my part.”

“No,” she growled. “I didn't fight off three Jug-eum just to leave you here to die.”

“Hyun Ae, there is no way that you're getting the both of us back up there.”

Her dark orbs narrowed, sparking with determination. “Try me.” She grasped the arm not tucked into his shirt and helped him to his feet—or foot. “We're getting out of here whether you want to or not.”

They shuffled along the bottom of the ravine, looking for a place of escape. It drug on for miles, occupied with twist and turns, sending their footsteps back to them twice as loudly. Hyun Ae's eyes searched the top of the small valley for an easier way, but it was all straightly vertical.

Minutes ticked by with the sweat beading on their bodies. Hyun Ae continued to look at her leader, whose lethargic manners began to worm worry into her gut. And the offbeat growls that cascaded behind them added to the fear.

“Hyun Ae, we're not getting out of here.”

“I'm not leaving you.” Her voice was quiet and sure as she looked over their shoulders.

“There's no way we're going to get out of here before the Jug-eum find us if this doesn't break—”

“Just shut up and keep going,” growled Hyun Ae.

“Well, aren't you determined.”

“Yes, I am.”

G-Dragon smirked before it quickly fell. “I need to tell you something.” Hyun Ae looked at him from the corner of her eyes. “I'm sorry for the way I acted when Daesung came back,” he said. “It wasn't exactly expected.”

“No, it wasn't.”

“And I was jealous.” Surprise hit Hyun Ae and she looked to the man she helped stand. “You and I...I thought I'd found something for once...but...”

The silence fell hard between them, only the scuffing of their feet was heard. That and the thundering of hungry growls.

“I took advantage of you,” Hyun Ae admitted softly. “I shouldn't have done what I did.”

“I did the same,” GD replied. “Both us needed a little...love.” He muttered at the word.

“I'm sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I was the one who thought with my dick and screwed with you.”

“But I pushed you away after Daesung came back, like what you did for me didn't matter. It did, I hope you know that. You saved me.” G-Dragon opened his mouth to respond when a growl sounded from close behind. “We need to move faster,” she said, hurrying their pace.

“Hyun Ae.” G-Dragon pointed to a small spec of light in the ravine’s curb. A small cave that led to the outside. A snarl ruptured behind them and Hyun Ae shoved G-Dragon forward.

“Go. I'll take care of them.” The blades slid from under her sleeves and Hyun braced herself for the furry shadow of pure muscle that was slowly approaching.

“You can't...”

“Just go,” Hyun Ae snarled as one of the Jug-eum padded towards her, followed by another.

The space they were in was narrow and close, too close for her to truly get an attack in. However, she was smaller than the mutated dogs and, therefore, would have the upper hand. Hopefully.

G-Dragon's foot scraped against the stone as he pulled himself farther and farther into the hole. His dark orbs stayed locked on Hyun Ae as she faced the Jug-eum square on. They snarled and snapped. Hyun Ae slicing at the air in a warning, but they hardly flinched.

One came forward, earning a cut across the nose. It yelped and fell back, knocking the other back with it. Hyun Ae took the opening and dived for the cave's small entrance, blades retracting. G-Dragon was only a short ways ahead, struggling to dig his heal into the rock and hoist himself back.

The two of them scrambled through the tight crawl space, the Jug-eum trying to claw and dig their way after them. Hearts pounding, blood thundering in their ears as the jaws were nearly upon them. G-Dragon fell through the opening first, then Hyun Ae. They tumbled back into the open air and hurried to get to their feet as a Jug-eum was quick to follow after them. It looked upon them with yellow, malicious eyes before hurdling forward.

A crack erupted in the air and the Jug-eum's head exploded in a mess of skull and brains. Hyun Ae grimaced at the gore, wiping it off her face with a sleeve.

“Honestly, I thought you could handle yourself for once without me coming to save you.”

Hyun Ae looked over her shoulder to glower at T.O.P who stood over them with a small simper on his lips. “I had it handled,” she answered with gritted teeth.

“You looked like you really did.” Her eyes narrowed at his sarcasm. T.O.P rose the gun again to nail the other Jug-eum in the chest. It yelped, collapsing as half its body lay out of the cave's exit. Sighing, T.O.P offered a hand to his leader who struggled to right himself with only one leg. The hand offered to Hyun Ae was accepted and she was quick to get to her feet to support G-Dragon. Her body was wearing thin; the feeling of fatigue could no longer be shaken off as adrenaline lessened.

T.O.P took GD's other arm, seeing Hyun Ae struggling under the weight. “I see you lost something,” he said.

G-Dragon smiled, pain etched in the friendly expression. “Yeah, but nothing Daesung can't fix.”

T.O.P hummed in agreement as they started off for the camp that was barely seen on the dark horizon. “Holding in alright, Hyun Ae?”

“Of course.” Her vocals were strained and she winced at the heavy breathing that erupted from her voice.

“Doh-Chang's in custody?” G-Dragon asked, taking the subject off his struggling counterpart.

“Doh-Chang's dead,” T.O.P answered. “Hyun Ae took care of that.”

BigBang's leader looked to the woman at his side who kept her eyes forward. A sense of pride surged forth in his chest and he smiled. “She did?” Hyun Ae said nothing, keeping concentration on placing one foot in front of the other.