RTYY 301 - Unable to See

Snow swallowed and forced himself to go on.

"This is also one of the reasons why I wanted to come here and meet you," he declared, his stomach burning from the anxiety quickly eating at his insides. "I wanted to thank you all for all you've done for me. For worrying about me and for never giving up on trying to find me. And I'm sorry I simply disappeared the last time. But … I've decided to stay by my Chosen One's side."

ZwaKim took a sharp breath. HuaQin whistled appreciatively. RyuXin closed his eyes as if someone had just slapped him hard across the face. Even YunZen looked shocked at the sound of those words. As for MaoHan … he just looked very, very angry.

"You're happy … being this thing's … dog??" he demanded, raising his voice, making Snow shudder. "A despicable, selfish, self-serving, lowly human like him? A murderer of newborn children?!" he demanded, his anger quickly escalating, his black eyes glowing dangerously. And Snow made his best to face his rising rage and to not allow himself to feel intimated by it. Sure, he was much older and probably much stronger than him. But the image of ZaiWin just standing there, as if his body were a mere empty shell, was enough to grant him the courage to face an entire army if need be. He had to get him out of there. He had, needed, to make sure he was safe!

"Not everyone is like that!" Snow openly retorted. "There are lots of people willing to sacrifice themselves to help other people! To help even someone like me!" he argued. Like Sand had done, he thought, recalling the warm, trembling hands that had picked him up for the first time in his life. The first gentle hands that had softly caressed him and that had tried to keep him warm. The same hands that had taken him away from that dreadful place of madness, blood, and hatred.

"You mean this thing here?!" MaoHan demanded, pointing an accusatory finger at ZaiWin, his frown digging deeper into his forehead. "Kneel!"

The command echoed throughout the entire room and, before Snow's stunned gaze, ZaiWin immediately fell to his knees, the sound of his knees hitting the hard floor making Snow wince.

For an instant ZaiWin grimaced in pain and pursed his lips, keeping them shut, stopping himself from uttering a single sound of complaint. But then his face went back to being that mask of cold indifference.

So … it wasn't as if he couldn't hear … or feel. It wasn't as if his body wasn't more than an empty shell … Snow thought, his mind still in complete shock.

"This Chosen One of yours is nothing but an animal!" MaoHan kept shouting. "And a tainted one at that!" he declared, and gasps of disbelief filled the room. "And you call something like this your Chosen One?! His inner energy has been completely corrupted! He's no better than a …"

"Shut up!!" Snow suddenly shouted above MaoHan's angry voice, and the entire room was immediately frozen. Floor, walls, ceiling. A thick glistening sheet of ice covered everything. But at least he had shut up, Snow thought, his heavy breathing echoing through the empty room, forming white misty clouds in front of his mouth and nose.

"Oh … so he was the one who froze the cavern. I always thought that …"

Snow glanced angrily at HuaQin and a row of sharp ice spears immediately sprouted from the ground, the last crystal-like sharp point stopping just inches from HuaQin's chest. For once that annoying smile actually disappeared from her face, and her cheeks paled a little.

"You …!" Snow growled, taking the time to look each and every one of them in the face, inwardly proud that they all looked more or less scared. "And to think I was actually looking forward to meeting all of you! To meet other people like me! But you … you are all so full of hatred that you can't see anything else anymore! You say that his energy is corrupted?" Snow demanded, looking back at MaoHan, who frowned angrily at him. "So what? You think I didn't know that? What's wrong with that?"

MaoHan's eyes widened in complete disbelief.

"What's wrong with that …?! You really don't know?"

Snow stared coldly at him.

"It's true that there's a lot I don't know. A lot that I stupidly thought you could teach me," he confessed, irony dripping from his every word.

"Then I'll teach you this!, you silly child! This man will kill you! Even if he doesn't want to! Even if he's as good to you as you want us to believe he is! He will kill you! You will get sick and die, like so many of our golden-haired sisters have died!"

Snow smiled softly at that.

"Because his energy is corrupted."

"That's right!" MaoHan declared.

"That will never happen," Snow calmly countered.

"Are you an idiot?! Being bound to a human like him is a certain death sentence! And you stand here, telling us you're happy to remain by his side?! Are you suicidal?"

"I may not understand a lot of things, but I know who I am. And I know who he is. And I will never allow that to happen. And besides, what's it to you, if my energy becomes tainted by his? His energy is corrupted? So what? So is yours! And you're all still standing here!"

"What?!"

"What is he talking about?"

"How dare he say something like that?"

The mixed sound of words of anger and shock that suddenly filled the room left Snow looking from one to the other in perplexed disbelief. Even RyuXin was looking at him with a horrified expression on his face.

"What …? You didn't know?" Snow asked, still unable to believe it.

"What nonsense are you talking about?!" MaoHan demanded angrily and Snow glanced back at him. He really looked genuinely shocked. How could that be …?

"You … all of you. Your inner energy is just … wrong," Snow declared and MaoHan's eyes flared.

"What's he talking about, MaoMao?" HuaQin asked in a small, almost scared voice, and MaoHan frowned.

"He's … just … a … child. … He … doesn't … know … what … he's … saying," ZwaKim slowly declared.

"You can think whatever you like. Believe whatever you like," Snow told her. "None of that will ever change the truth. It would seem I was right. You can't even see it anymore," Snow added, feeling truly sorry for them, and turned to face MaoHan who seemed to be the leader of the group. "I want to leave, now. And I'm taking him with me," he openly declared and MaoHan's dark eyes flashed angrily again.

"That is never going to happen."

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Hmm, dear Snow, stop trying to argue with them. Don't think they'll even be able to see things your way ... 😔