DYNASTY | ATEEZ game of thrones!au

1: Threads Of Memory, Chains Of Dreams

SEONGHWA

Seonghwa laid still in his bed as he tried to ease his breaths. He felt his heart thump against his chest as his ears drummed. He could feel his head pound and no matter how hard he tried, the dreams wouldn't go away.

He threw an arm over his eyes as he tried to focus on the serene sounds he could faintly hear outside his hut. It was the early morning and he could hear the sounds of chirping crickets. Seonghwa would normally not wake up at this time, but he knew that he would not find any more rest if he tried to close his eyes again. The dreams would come back and dwell in his mind until he would once again wake up with a gasp and cold sweat.

It often happened to him. Too many times, he thought. The dreams had been with him ever since that night - something that he didn't like bringing up, even if it was only to himself. The memories seemed to haunt him and he concluded that his fears manifested into dreams, now having both of them to follow him wherever he went. It had been so many years, and he cursed himself for caring so much about them. It had already happened, and though he didn't understand it, he knew that no matter what, he wouldn't be able to change anything. There was nothing that he could do in his power to alter the way his life took course. Whatever transpired that night left him to fend for himself all alone, and it was something that no memory or dream could change.

He stayed in his bed for a few minutes, allowing him to catch his breath. The empty sounds of his surroundings rang in his head, but he had gotten used to it. He had already been alone for so long that he struggled to remember a time when he wasn't. His memories didn't seem to do him any justice at that; no matter how hard he tried, he'd always fail to conjure an image of his parents, or any relatives at all. All he remembered was a burning sensation and the taste of his tears.

He rubbed his temples, stopping himself from going down that memory lane. He couldn't afford to do so, he couldn't afford to make him distracted. It would affect him for the rest of the days, and knowing that he had a busy day ahead of him, he needed the necessary strength and the stillness of his mind to help him.

Deciding that lying in bed was useless, he swung his legs out of his bed and got up, walking over to his makeshift dresser to change into some more fitting clothes. The area where he lived was a desolate one; he rarely encountered any people and he liked the seclusion. However, it did become humid and warm every so often, so he needed lightweight clothes that wouldn't be heavy on his body as well as give decent coverage. Thus, dressing in beige robes, he hissed as he felt the pressure around his ribs. Touching the white bandage, he cursed himself as he remembered how he fell onto rocks when he went out to get building materials for his hut. It was a stupid mistake and even one that left him useless from doing any work for days.

His fingers lingered on the material, but he quickly drifted his attention back on the rest of his outfit, finishing with steady boots that helped him get through all sorts of terrains. Seonghwa lived near the Free City of Pentos, which meant that he occasionally had to travel to the city to buy some goods such as food from time to time, something that he had planned for the day. His storage was running low, and he knew that on the markets of Pentos prices could fluctuate. They could be extremely pricey on one day yet drop drastically the next, and he hoped that he dealt with the latter today.

It was a choice he knowingly had made to live away from the city. He knew that his mind was already occupied with the buzzing of his memories and dreams and he figured that if he'd live in a place where the complexities of other people seemed to overpower anything else, he'd find himself in a much more hectic situation than now. Besides, though initially doubtful, he had grown to love his hut. He had built it all by himself by gathering wood and such from the area around him and when it finally stood on the ground, he knew that it was the right place for him. The barren landscape that surrounded him mirrored his solidarity, but he liked to imagine that the dew-kissed grass and the few blooming flora resembled hope. He liked to see it as a way of him growing out of his past, a way to forget things.