Arrows, Swords and a Little Bit of Magic ( Rated M )

The Moon Village

The two of them hid behind a thick oak just on the outer fringe of the forest. Beyond the trees and a few feet away was the beginning of the Moon village's markets, the streets much calmer than what the Prince was used to seeing on his secret visits to the village. The gloomy atmosphere of the market just served as another reminder of what had transpired at the castle two days ago – Jungkook's interrupted wedding, Hoseok, the attack, the King's death and escaping with Kim Namjoon.

In wolf form, it would have generally taken Seokjin and Namjoon just around a few hours to reach the village but since they had to avoid shifting as well as using any pathways near the forest roads, the trip had taken them a whole two days' worth of walking.

Technically, they haven't been walking constantly throughout the two days – they had numerous small breaks in between and took turns sleeping at night while the other kept watch. Honestly, though, Seokjin felt that Namjoon made them take so many breaks just because he thought of the prince as just another frail noble omega – or in Seokjin's case royal. Nights did not fare much better too, with the prince being unable to get even a wink of sleep in the presence of an almost complete stranger. Said stranger being an aggressive, annoying alpha and them currently being on the run from murderous faeries did not alleviate the situation either.

All in all, Seokjin was tired, hungry and sleepy and his feet ached too. The prince was familiar with this forest and the surrounding areas of the Moon village but although he could navigate the streets without any problem, his wolf was the one who traversed the forest grounds. A shifter's true wolf form possessed heightened senses of smell, sound and sight that made the complex terrains of the forest seem like a mere child's playroom. Walking through the forest in human form, however, had proved itself to be not so easy - especially if you are a prince adorned in a ten kilogram embroidered dress robe and useless party shoes which were clearly not designed for treks through the forest and were already starting to fall apart.

The prince leaned heavily against the trunk of the tree they were hiding behind, sighing slightly as he looked over towards the market trying to see if there were any villagers he recognized from past visits.

"You need to stay here and wait while I go buy us some clothes, your highness." Namjoon spoke, scanning the prince once from head to toe with an expression of mild distaste. Seokjin couldn't really blame the other for it. The robes really were too flashy. "We will require something less conspicuous if we are to travel without drawing much attention to ourselves."

After mulling over all the pros and cons , Seokjin finally decided that it was best to stay back for now. It wouldn't do him any good to reveal all his cards to someone he did not trust.

The Prince nodded once before pulling out his money pouch to hand over a few gold coins to the alpha. Namjoon looked at the coins for a moment before taking out his own leather pouch and dangling it in front of the prince's face. "I have enough with me." He said, pointing towards the market with his finger and then proceeding to move past the final thicket of trees.

Seokjin watched for a while as Namjoon trudged through the market, occasionally stopping by to exchange a few words with a couple of vendors – probably asking for directions. When the alpha disappeared behind a corner on one of the streets, the prince turned around and walked a few steps back into the forest where he settled himself down, back against a thick trunk.

He drew up his legs so that his knees were pulled against his chest, the bottom part of his inner palms digging almost too harshly into his closed eyes in his attempt to prevent the tears from falling.

The Prince hadn't been able to grieve for his father yet – not with Namjoon around. For years Seokjin had kept everything inside - not allowing anyone to see any of his weaknesses, pretending, ignoring the rude remarks, acting as if he were truly useless; acting like the submissive omega the court's advisors wanted him to be. He only ever cried when he was alone, only the four walls of his bedchambers being privy to his weak side.