Chapter 10 - With Your Own Wings

Ever since he could remember, his mother never cared for him or loved him but his father did and he always wondered why. That is until one day, he saw a woman hurt his mother. She hurt her so bad that she went to sleep and never woke up again. Sitting on his simple bed, he thought of the girl locked up in the storage shed. Looking out the open window he saw the moon shining brightly. Not bothered by the dilemmas of man. He stood and made his way there, crawling out of his bed he grabs a coat after putting on shoes. Walking in the garden under the lantern lights. He hears sobbing sounds, he walks towards them to see a boy crying with bruises all over. It was the first young master, being barely recognizable. The boy stands a good distance away from his half-brother. Asking in a monotonous voice, "Why did you do that?" Jolting from someone suddenly talking to him, the elder boy scurried. Looking up to see the smaller boy. Still on guard and frightened he replies, "She needed help and I wanted to wipe away my bad karma by helping her..." Being a frank person the boy answers honestly, "That was foolish of your mother, now you have lost father's favour. No one can protect your mother now"

Shocked the older boy looks at him with bruised eyes, one wide open and one slightly open eye as it was swollen, his lips being chipped and cut. He questioned his brother, "What do you mean by-" "AAAAAAHHHHH!?!!" A loud horrified scream spreads across the mansion hallways. Rushing to his mother's courtyard as the screams came from that direction. Panicked and praying in his heart he left without saying a word. Now seated Knowing the details, the younger boy returned home to his empty lonely courtyard which was a little more than unkempt. He walks to a dummy and starts whacking it as hard as he can. This was something he did whenever he came out and had no schedule with his father or training. His eyes watered as his anger surfaces and his hand drops the sword as his hands tremble feverishly, the pain helped him be able to endure all he faced. He raised his shaking hands and then showed them to no one in particular but to significant. Mostly to himself. Right now he was looking at a weak child's hands, which had to change... He had to change

Changing to focus on the second young standing in the shadows, still staring at his brother. He had never left, he always kept watch. In place said to be hell, one had always to watch their back and the possibility to ally with a maybe ally. However, you always had to keep watch even after confirming their alliance. Walking towards his brother silently, his footsteps being inaudible. He stood and watched his older brother for a while before speaking. "You know that's not how you strike the dummy." The older of the two jumps in surprise, spinning around to see that his younger brother was standing behind him. He sighed in relief. "What are you doing here? Didn't you already go home ?" He wipes his sweat from his chin, ignoring his brother's words. The little boy continues explaining his brother's faults. "You are holding the sword wrong. Your grip and your lack of aim are incorrect... Want me to show you how to do it?" A calculating glint appeared in the little boy's eyes. Knowing how scheming and calculative his brother was in the past. The oldest did think it past his younger brother having a cunning mind from a young age. But who taunts him with such crafty tactics? He looked at his younger brother with a wary look, "What's the catch?" The little boy smiles, "I get to kill father, once you take over the family Seong-jin." His eyes harden, "Why wait till then? We could always do it now." A malicious grin formed on his face, causing his younger brother to lecture him

"No, it takes time to learn these moves and time will produce skill when proper dedication is applied-", "Why?! Why not now!" Seeing his brother's anger, the boy can only sigh as he walks over to the dummy to point at its head. "You have a sword, think of this dummy as the person you hate most... I want you to cut off its head with one swift blow." Determined and without hesitation, he runs towards the dummy. Both hands gripping the sword. Swings at the dummy once within an appropriate distance, his brother still standing at the dummy's side. Pushes it to the ground, out of the boy's attack. Having missed and swinging at full strength, he loses his balance. Falling to the ground, after all the sword was still heavy for him. Having just received the sword, he had no skill or proper use of it. Luckily, he didn't hurt himself when falling. Laying on the ground for a while as he regained his mind, his anger flares as he pushes his body up from the ground. Then stands at his full height to walk over to his brother with the intent of getting back at him. Suddenly the memory of the past flashed before his eyes, he froze for a second before raising his index finger to point at his younger brother

With his words getting stuck in his throat, "You-!" The younger boy smirks then crosses his arms over his chest as he exhales heavily through his nostrils. "Brother Jin, I am not an expert but I am far better than you when it comes to martial arts... Want to learn the hard way like I did or do you want the quicker easier way? But regardless of which way you learn, you will need time to cultivate and master your newfound cultivation." He points at the dumb, "A properly cultivated person would have been able to hit the target -," he sees his older brother open his mouth to defend himself but cuts him off before he can start making a useless excuse. "Even if he was at a disadvantage, stop being so naive. You don't expect your opponent to always play fair... Neither do you when you see an opening attack. Your survival may depend on it, that's why your need to learn how to analyze and make proper decisions. However don't expect to always get it right, everyone makes mistakes - even masters with seasonal training. Now tell me, are you ready to train?"

He gives Soeng-jin a serious look with his hand extended. Soeng-jin lowers his head to look at his brother's hand then lifts it back up to look his brother in the eyes to see his dead serious. He means business. His eyes set back onto his hand. He grits his teeth contemplating his pros and cons. He quickly grabs his hand when he sees it retreating slightly, with a grudge ful look in his eyes. He shakes his brother's hand and nods with determination in his eyes. "Kwang Yeou, you have yourself a deal." The young boy smirks and looks in the direction of the main hall where their father usually resides. About to approach the hall, Soeng-jin grabs hold of Yeou's arm. When he looks back Jin explains more briefly to his younger brother. He pulls him close then leans in to whispering in a low voice after confirming no one is around. "I'll follow your lead however we'll need another ally before we set our plan in motion"

Yoeu looks at the ground in thought then looks back at Jin with a knowing look. "Well then if we take her on all depends on whether or not I like your proposal, Jin-nim ~". A sly smile appearing on his face, Jin's eyes harden as he nods his eyes. The two go into Soeng-jin's courtyard to discuss further action and whether to recruit the person or not. The day quickly asses and the bright sun in the light blue sky changes to orange pink. Before the sky fades into a dark midnight blue with twinkling stars. Sparkling in the sky with the crescent moon, lazing in the sky as the people went about their lives. Kwang Yeou walks out of the courtyard, bowing before leaving walking in the direction of his own but turns around a corner as soon as he hears his brother's door close. He walks towards the shed where the girl is held hostage, he lights an essence stick. Placing it inside the while he made that was unnoticed by the person residing inside the shed. Soon a thudding sound is heard. He pulls out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and bose as he enters the shed. He goes inside, spotting the bag in the girl's hands as she lay motionless on the ground. He grabs it then leaves, locking the door behind him. Then removes the essence stick from the hole and turns off its light, preventing the stick from burning anymore than it already has

He walks sneakily around the mansion, avoiding guards and maids doing their late night trips - hiding behind pillars and ducking down when people approach him or sound near. He walks past his father's room, not bothering to listen in on his secrets this night. Instead he goes to the vault and grabs a few shiny treasures and stuff them inside the bag. Ashe goes back to the entrance of the treasure room, he stands to listen at the door for footsteps of the shadows of people passing by or their voices as they spoke while getting about their business. Ince confirming no one is outside or nearby from his hearing range. He slides the door open, only enough for the side of his body to fit through. Then slides it close once his fully out the room. Looks around before sneaking off to the direction of the men's sleeping quarters. Then finally after all the effort of evading the potential captors he reaches his destination. A male servant's room, he sneaks in and places the bag in a conspicuous place that's not easily found or too hard to be found if one knew what they were looking for. Now walking out - he finally realised a while ago that his father only showed him affection to spite his mother and she fell for it. It was their sick way of showing each other affection, that was until she died. Afterwards, his father completely abandoned him and the servants that once adored him had now stolen from him and abused him