RTYY 306 - A Green Apple

Author's Note: Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!! 🎅🎄🎁 ^_^

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When they stopped again it was already morning, and Snow obediently dismounted his horse when RyuXin informed him that they would make a brief stop to allow the horses some rest. Why they had to travel all through the night was beyond Snow's comprehension. After all, it wasn't as if they were being chased ... right? ZaiWin had never allowed them to travel in the dark. It was too dangerous, especially for the horses, he'd said. They could easily get injured due to some unpredictable unevenness of the path. And keeping their horses healthy was the most important thing, during long travels. As such, being forced to ride the entire night, Snow was truly grateful for the extra hours of sleep he'd gotten the day before, even though he had almost fallen asleep twice, while riding Dancer.

"Snow! It's so good that you've decided to join us!" RimJan declared, rushing to meet him the moment ZwaKim set her down on the ground.

Snow simply peered coldly at the little girl, and guided his horse to the closest tree, where he took his time tying it up and freeing it from its bridle. He'd helped MenTar take care of the horses so many times during their travels that now all those procedures came naturally to him.

"Are you angry at us?" RimJan insisted, following him. "We're not going to hurt you. We just want you to be one of us," she insisted, definitely with a heartbreaking pout on her petal-like lips. But Snow didn't spare her another look.

"Let him be, RimRim. Snow needs some time on his own," RyuXin told her. "Come. Help me gather some wood."

"But Xin …" she still complained but, since Snow refused to so much as recognize her presence, she ended up lowering her head and following RyuXin.

Discreetly circling his horse, Snow took this chance to peer towards the cart. The children had been let out and were silently checking the other horses' hoofs. But ZaiWin had remained exactly where he'd been, one knee bent up, his head resting on one arm, as if he hadn't even realized that they had stopped.

"Whatever you're planing, give up," a low voice told him, making him jump. Snow glared at MaoHan who gently patted Dancer's neck. "You'll only get those children killed. And your precious Chosen One will be in a lot of pain."

Snow pursed his lips and went back to checking the straps of his saddle.

"I know that right now you see us as the enemy, but we're far from that. Just put up with us for a couple of weeks, meet with InnArg, hear what he has to say. I'm sure you'll see things differently then."

As if he would believe that load of crap!, Snow thought, but didn't allow any of his angry indignation to show on his face.

"We're all the same, Snow. We've been sent onto this world to bless and heal the land just like the golden-ones. And these ignorant Humans scorn us and hate us because of the way we look. How long do you think the Heavens will put up with having its children being mistreated and murdered like this? You are no different. They tried to kill you at birth. They made you a prisoner and exploited you for your heavenly gifts, taking whatever they wanted as if they were entitled to it, using you the same way they use one of their insignificant crystals."

Since Snow didn't utter a single word, didn't even glanced his way, MaoHan released a deep sigh.

"I'm not stupid. Even though he too, initially scorned you for what they consider to be an abnormal appearance, I can see that that man ended up accepting you the way you are. Which obviously made you change your mind about freeing yourself from your bond. But isn't he using you too? He's the Governor of a ravaged Province. He must have realized that even though you're not what one would expect, you still have your uses. He may behave as if he cares for you, but that's all a big lie. From what I hear, he is even known for hating all Tien'Elhar. His own mother was killed by her Tien'Elhar, did you know? And the energy circling inside his body is as dark as the energy emitted by the feimao. How can you expect someone like him to honestly care for one of us?

"You saw the way he behaved when you entered that room. Like you were a nobody, like you weren't even there. That's how far his care for you goes. The instant his life is put in danger he will immediately deny you or the link between you two. He will immediately set you apart, if that means he can save his own life."

Snow simply continued with his task, pretending he couldn't hear a word he said. As if he would believe a single word out of his mouth. Out of any of their mouths! He was done believing them on the sole grounds that they were the same! He couldn't care less about that anymore! Sure, they all probably had daitai in the shape of wings on their backs. So what? He'd been so stupid!, he could now see, judging others by his own standards and morals. In the end, he'd done the same everyone else always did to him, assuming that he would think, feel and behave the same way other Tien'Elhar did.

And besides, MaoHan didn't know the first thing about ZaiWin! Sure, he had apparently done some research about him, going as far as knowing that ZaiWin's mother had been killed by her own Tien'Elhar. But he still didn't know anything about him at all! As if ZaiWin would ever go to the trouble of trying to deceive him, pretending to feel something he didn't feel, swallowing his hatred just so he could peacefully use him. If ZaiWin really hated him and only wanted him for his power, he would have chained him in some dark cell and would have had him tortured until he agreed to do as he was told. That was the kind of cold, ruthless man he was to those he saw as enemies. He was the kind of person who had no problems whatsoever taking another's life, if he felt it was the right thing to do. And yet that was exactly why, back at the tree, Snow had dared answer his question, why he had been sure that he was right. Because it was exactly because he was this kind of cold, hard, straightforward man, that Snow was sure that when he smiled or touched him gently, those were all expressions of his true feelings as well. There was no way a few words out of some stranger's mouth could shake his confidence in that.

"Damn it! How many times do we have to tell you not to touch food with your bare hands?" RyuXin's voice reached them, and they both glanced towards the small, very disorganized camp, they had managed to set.

ZwaKim raised her arm, and Snow could clearly see the dead rabbit she was disinterestedly holding by one of the poor animal's rear legs.

"It … was … trying … to … run …"

"And now it's completely useless!" RyuXin argued back.

"I … can … still … eat … it …"

"There's no way I'm going to touch that thing now!"

ZwaKim tilted her head to one side and offered the dead rabbit to RimJan instead.

RyuXin immediately grabbed the little girl's arm and pulled her protectively behind his back.

"And stop trying to give it to RimJan! Do you want to poison her to death?"

"You're … such … a … baby …" ZwaKim sighed in condemnation.

RyuXin's cheeks turning beet-red from restrained anger.

MaoHan sighed as well, sounding somewhat tired.

"Stop arguing! Kim! Throw that thing away!" he commanded from where he stood, next to Snow, and ZwaKim turned to him with an angry scowl.

"It's … still … good … TienFei … will … eat … it …"

"TienFei will eat anything, but she's not here right now. And I'm not willing to have to put up with its stench as it rots away, all the way back home."

"Ew! That would be really disgusting! Please throw it away," HuaQin pleaded with a disgusted expression on her face, and ZwaKim looked at the dead rabbit one last time, before simply shrugging and throwing it away into some nearby bushes.

"And get away from here! I don't want you poisoning any more of our food!" RyuXin demanded, crouching by the fire, and only then Snow noticed the bloody knife he was holding as he went back to his task of skinning another rabbit, RimJan helping him by holding the poor animal in place.

Snow's stomach turned immediately, his mouth watering in a nauseating way.

Of course he knew people did that to animals all the time. How else could they eat them? But since the first few days after they'd left the Fortress, no one from their group had hunted or fished any kind of animal. Now that he thought about that, he realized that they had all been refraining from eating any kind of animal on his account. ZaiWin as well. Even during their stay at the End of the World, he had never eaten anything derived from dead animals. Not eating those things had been so natural for him that Snow had completely forgotten that that wasn't the case for the majority of the people around him. All so that he wouldn't feel bad, he thought, glancing towards the prison cart again.

As to be expected, things only got worse when they started cooking the poor rabbit. The smell of it left Snow so nauseated that he almost threw-up just from standing too close to it.

Of course, they tried to offer him some food, which he immediately refused. Thankfully no one insisted too much, probably thinking that this was yet another of his ways to openly show them how much he was discontent with his present situation. And so he was deeply grateful when the order to mount their horses and return to the road was finally given.

He was about to mount Dancer when a small tug on his cloak made him look back. The blue-eyed little girl was staring up at him, her small face dirty, her blond hair unkempt and disheveled. Without a word, she offered him an apple, and Snow glanced at the green, round fruit in disbelief. Something just like this had happened before, he thought. Eat it when you get hungry, he could almost hear ZaiWin's words as if he were standing right there, behind him.

"How …? Where …?"

The little girl pushed the apple into his hand and ran back to the cart. The little boy was already there, waiting for her, so that they could help each other climb into the prison cart again.

Snow's eyes were inevitably drawn towards the dark figure sitting at a corner. For an instant he could swear that he saw a pair of bright-blue eyes glistening amongst the darkness. But the next moment they were gone, and so he wasn't so certain anymore.

Staring at his round apple he couldn't help smiling. Somehow he was sure ZaiWin had found a way to send it to him.

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I know you guys hate these Blessed ones but they too have their reasons 😔 They're just doing things the very wrong way 😔