301 RTYY 300 - A Guilty Heart

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Snow stopped in front of the closed door to the left, panting for air. Without even noticing it, he had run all the way there. He couldn't even hear the sound of his own heavy breathing, or the hard, desperate beat of his heart. Straightening his back, Snow pushed the door open. And his gaze immediately fell on the cold, blue eyes silently staring back at him.

Fear and anxiety made his stomach hurt as he quickly scanned ZaiWin's entire body, looking for anything wrong, for any signs of injury. And a numbing relief washed over him when he couldn't find any. He looked all right. And yet … something was definitely wrong, he immediately knew.

Even though Snow was standing right there, in front of him, ZaiWin hadn't moved an inch, his expression cold and distant, almost as if he couldn't recognize him. Not to mention that his black hair was still loose, pouring down his shoulders like dark water, and Snow knew that there was no way he would have willingly left the inn without tying it up. Which meant … they had brought him there against his will …? The mere possibility of that was mind-boggling, to say the least. But the alternative was that he had come willingly. And Snow just couldn't decide which one of those possibilities was more unlikely.

Blinking in confusion, Snow noticed the two small children, a boy and a girl, standing to each side of him, almost like small, feeble guards. They must have been five or six years of age, no older than that. And they were both so scrawny that the dirty, tattered tunics that covered them almost fell from their small bodies, sliding down their tinny shoulders. They also wore what unmistakably looked like heavy metallic collars around their necks, reminding him of all the years he had been forced to wear one just like those. But what really caught his eyes was the color of their disheveled hair and listless eyes. The girl was blond, with deep-blue eyes. The boy had coppery hair, with amber eyes. They were both clearly of noble blood. And yet there they stood, looking like the prisoners the lord of the Fortress had pushed into his cell to die.

"Oh! We finally meet."

Snow slowly averted his gaze towards the sound of that voice, and saw two men standing in the darkest corner of the empty room.

"My name is MaoHan," the older man said, stepping into the weak light of the fire-burner that they had placed in the center of the room.

At least as tall as ZaiWin, he was clearly much older than any of the others, looking more ZenTar's age. With black eyes and black hair, MaoHan had his head covered in dark braids that were then pulled into a ponytail at the top of his head, the braids falling over his obviously strong, broad shoulders and wide back.

"And this is YunZen. But I guess you already met him."

YunZen simply nodded, just like before. But this time Snow wasn't the least bit inclined to reply to his silent greeting.

"And you're Snow, right? Xin told me everything about you."

Squeezing his clenched fists, Snow raised his head to face him, making his best to push down his nervousness and fear. ZaiWin still hadn't moved. Hadn't even blinked, much less speak. Snow didn't know why. He couldn't understand what invisible force was keeping him silently standing there like that. But he was more than certain that if ZaiWin still hadn't moved to come to him was because, somehow, he couldn't. And so, no matter what it was, it was clear that it was up to him to try and solve that mess.

"What do you want?" he demanded, trying to sound as firm as possible, and MaoHan raised a inquisitive eyebrow.

"To help you free yourself from your jailer. Isn't that what you want as well?"

Snow's heart jumped at that, and he fearfully glanced towards ZaiWin, only to realize he still hadn't moved an inch. It was almost as if he hadn't heard them, Snow though, concern pilling up inside his head.

Had he somehow miscalculated and ZaiWin's energy hadn't returned yet when he had left? No. That could not be, he immediately replied his own question. He had seen it with his own eyes, the darkness taking over his body.

Then what? Was it the drug he'd given him? Did it have some other effect besides putting him to sleep?

Guilt ate at his heart. If anything were to happen to ZaiWin because of what he had done … Because he had wanted to see that stupid house that in reality didn't mean anything to him … He would never forgive himself … he would even die.

He'd been so stupid!, thinking he could just come and have a chat with those people, actually feeling happy that he had been able to see them again, to talk with them again …

Gritting his teeth, Snow forced himself to stop with that line of thought that, at the moment, clearly wouldn't amount to anything. He would have lots of time to feel guilty and chastise himself for what he'd done. After they had left that place! Now he had to focus on what was truly important, and to keep his mind as clear and sharp as possible. There was probably no way that he could fight them all. For starters, he didn't know the first thing about their powers. So fighting should be the last resort. Which meant that, for now, he just had to do his best, stop worrying himself to death, and try to outsmart them.

"That's not what I want anymore," he openly declared and MaoHan looked genuinely taken aback by his open statement.

"That's right, MaoMao," a voice sang from his back, and Snow quickly jumped to one side, making sure he kept his back towards the safety of a wall.

"Our little Snow is apparently happy lowering his head, and playing the part of obedient pet to that one, over there," HuaQin happily declared, mentioning ZaiWin with a tilt of her head, and Snow looked alarmed from one to the other. He had to quickly speak up for himself. He had to clear things up, before they all decided to turn against ZaiWin on his account.

"That's not it at all!" he declared, and couldn't help taking a step back when everyone's gazes turned his way. Everyone's except ZaiWin, who was now blankly staring at the door. Had they done anything to him? Why wasn't he moving? Why wasn't he going on a furious rampage and trying to kill them all?

"So you do want to get rid of him after all?" MaoHan asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"No. That's not it either," Snow quickly replied. "I'm … happy with the way things are right now," he confessed, feeling his cheeks blush embarrassingly. "I don't mind being bound to him anymore."

"See? Little Snow is actually enjoying being his pet … And he's enjoying it quite a lot," HuaQin added suggestively and Snow wished he had a way to simply shut her up!

RyuXin looked positively disgusted with the whole conversation. And MaoHan furrowed his brow, clearly displeased with HuaQin's insinuations.

Snow really wanted to go to ZaiWin, to make sure he was really alright. He wanted to get away from that place. Away from those people. But he was sure they wouldn't allow him to simply walk up to him and take him away. Surely there was a reason for ZaiWin's presence there. And Snow just hoped that, once he clarified things with the rest of them, they would simply let them go.

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Don't think that mere words will be able to convince them 😔 Ah, poor Snow, so naive 😔