Wayward Travellers

chap. viii

CW: Possessive behaviour (really minor), violence, body horror, mutiliation.

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All you could do was watch as the two people you came to retrieve violently fought against each other; neither showing a sign of stopping until the other was dead.

There wasn't a single hope of you ever stopping their fight either. Not only were you in a weakened state, but they were all over the train; tearing open the space around them and hopping through dimensions just to come out and clash blades with one another. It was a miracle how you hadn't been hit by any of their attacks so far, but then again, it was obvious that they were paying special attention to you and where you currently were.

It was one of the reasons why you hadn't made a run for it yet, the other being the fact that you couldn't bring yourself to leave them behind no matter how much you tried.

You also tried to think of ways to stop them, too. The most prominent — and foolish — idea you had was throwing yourself between them, but you weren't in the mood to die a second time and, as much as you hated to say this, you weren't dumb enough to do something as stupid as that.

You focused your attention on the two of them again. Though they were doing a good job at dodging the other's attack or parrying it, they were both clearly injured. None of them were normal injuries either. Instead of revealing the red flesh hidden behind their skin, the injuries caused by their iridescent blades left behind gashes with flesh the same colour as the blade.

Just looking at their injuries made your back itch even more.

Wait, why would your back—

The feeling of something abruptly grabbing you and pulling you away from a potentially deadly attack immediately pulled you out of your thoughts. You didn't need to guess who your saviour was as Yi Sang's monstrous form stood a few steps before you; the way his body trembled was enough to tell you how angry he was at the moment.

"Careful now," Hong Lu scolded you playfully, as if he wasn't fighting to the death with his coworker with a manic grin on his face. Then, without so much as a glance, he hastily pushed you to the side before he continued with the fight.

It was frustrating, that you couldn't do a single thing to help either side; to stop this needless fight, but...

...But maybe you could get Hong Lu to help you?

It was just an idea, a new one you got that you weren't even sure would work, but it was certainly worth a try. Especially since you doubted that you'd be able to do this without Hong Lu's help, considering how you barely knew the layout of the place whereas he seemed to know it like the back of his hand.

The biggest problem was getting his attention in a way that wouldn't injure him. If you called out for him now, then the monster Yi Sang turned into would use the moment to kill Hong Lu for good, and you certainly didn't want that. Even on the off chance that Hong Lu didn't die for good, you weren't sure if you had time to spare given Yi Sang's state.

Reluctantly, you grabbed your charged weapon and looked at it; thanking it for all the times it kept you alive as you bid it goodbye, knowing full well that you weren't going to get a replacement any time soon.

Without wasting another moment, you threw your weapon right in between Hong Lu and Yi Sang; catching them both off-guard as you internally thanked the Head that you didn't hit either of them. They both looked puzzled, and you used that opportunity to grab Hong Lu's arm and hurriedly pull him away from Yi Sang.