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elliethejellie · 1 year ago

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Tainted Magic, Tainted Blood - Chapter Six

A "The Sun and Moon Show" AU x Reader

Masterlist || AO3 || Chapter Five || Chapter Seven

A/N: This one's a long one, bois! So buckle up - because some shits about to go dOwN.

*****

When the princess opened her eyes, there was a sliver of sunlight streaming through the fabric of the entrance to the tent. She took a moment to allow the sleep to leave her eyes slowly, surprised she wasn't being woken by Sun again. But after a while, her back began to ache, so she decided to leave the tent anyways.

She crawled out of the entrance and blinked into the early morning sunlight while her eyes adjusted. Her eyes swept the area of their temporary camp, landing on the sleeping figure of Sun - next to where the fire had been burning the night before. It was nothing more than a few smoldering lumps now, though. She stepped gingerly over to him, checking to see if he was actually sleeping or just waiting for her to wake up.

His eyes were closed, and his body rose and fell slowly with his even breath. She decided to take advantage of the opportunity, feeling a little twinge of childhood excitement as she looked at her surroundings. She could pretty much go wherever she wanted until he woke up, and he'd be none the wiser as long as she made it back before he did. Had Sun wandered off to find a stream last night? If he had, where had he gone?

The princess scanned the rolling green grass, seeing if her eyes could catch the sight of sunlight being reflected anywhere. But from where she stood, there wasn't much she could see besides wildflower-dotted hills. She decided she needed to get a higher vantage point, so she bounded towards the trees that the tent she slept in was tied to.

The first spot that she could place her foot was a bit too high off of the ground for her to just step onto. She had to jump and hoist herself up, almost immediately regretting her decisions as her body still ached. But Y/N ignored it, laughing to herself as she felt some of the cuts on her body open back up. She could deal with them later. Especially if she found a stream to bathe in.

She continued her trek up the tree, huffing by the time she reached the point where she could see the expanse of green for miles. She took a moment to catch her breath as she just enjoyed the view. The cool, early morning breeze tickled her exposed skin, making her suddenly thankful to still be wearing Sun's cloak. The sight before her was one to die for - the green rolling hills hugged tightly together as the rainbow of colorful dots scattered about gave it depth. The sky was perfectly clear, allowing the sun to beam down uninterrupted over the landscape. She wished suddenly that she had the ability to paint what she was looking at, so she took a moment longer to memorize what she was looking at to recreate later, once she was back home.

Home.

A sadness overcame her suddenly as she pictured herself back within the confines of the palace walls, destined to be queen to a kingdom that she knew close to nothing about. Married to Eclipse, doing boring queen stuff every day. Y/N sighed. She only had these few days of travel left of her freedom. Then she would be trapped in domestic life forever.

She perked up once a glimmer of blue caught her eyes, just at the bottom of the hill they were closest to. Looks like she'd be getting that bath after all. She looked back down to the ground, smiling at just how high up she was. A thrill ran through her body that she hadn't felt in a long while.

She used to climb all the time when she was younger. She knew that. She would be in places she shouldn't have been, constantly keeping her mom on the verge of a heart attack with how much she would pop out from up above just to scare her. There was something she enjoyed about being able to see more from higher up, allowing her to analyze her surroundings better.

After a few more minutes of staring, the princess finally descended the tree, slowly and carefully. She made it back to the ground safely and checked to make sure Sun was still asleep before setting out towards the stream. The walk through the tall green grass tickled her bare feet, making the childish smile return to her face. Before she knew it, she took off down the hill, just laughing up into the air as the breeze grew stronger in her increased speed. She discarded Sun's cape and left it hanging on a tree branch once she reached the shoreline of the water. She then stripped herself of the rest of her clothing, adding them to the same branch, before stepping into the stream.

The water was colder than she expected, but after a moment of standing in it, she grew used to the temperature and stepped further in. She repeated this process until the water was up to her chest and she was standing more or less in the middle of the onslaught of the current. The water felt amazing on her damaged skin, so she sucked in a breath and dipped her head down into it.

She spent the next fifteen or so minutes just enjoying the cool water and scrubbing at the cuts across her body gently. Afterwards, she stepped from the water and did her best to wring out her wet hair. Her eyes caught the movement of something small out of the corner of her eye, jumping when it clucked.

A small, brown chicken was scratching and pecking around at the ground a few feet away from her. She tilted her head to the side in thought. Where there was one chicken, there certainly had to be more. Maybe she could try her hand at making some scrambled eggs to repay Sun for his yesterday? Though she doubted she could successfully make anything that compared in the slightest to his masterpiece.

The princess redressed herself and approached the chicken, hoping to scare it enough that it would lead her to the others. After it realized that it was being watched and walked towards, it lifted its head and clucked incessantly, before walking back around a short, untamed hedge bush. When Y/N also turned the corner of the small hedge bush, she was surprised to see that there were several other chickens, though they were sitting embedded into the bush in their nests. Most of them had baby chicks under their bodies, keeping them warm against the morning chill. She smiled, scanning the bush for any stray eggs. She then saw one and chuckled. There was no way she was going to find more than that right now.

But that was fine. Sun hadn't eaten when he made her food. She felt like she had successfully "regained her strength," as Sun kept putting it, so she would make him food and just settle for not eating breakfast.

Satisfied with her mini adventure, Y/N started the trek back up the mountain and to their little makeshift campground. She collected brush and sticks along the way, hoping to herself that she could get the fire started again, or else she would be stuck giving Sun nothing but rations. And she was sure he was tired of eating the same dry rations every day, if her own souring attitude towards them was any example.

She spent the next few minutes just trying to remember what Sun had said about getting the fire started while he still slept soundly a few feet away. But finally, she figured it out, and before she knew it, she was walking back over to the horse to retrieve the small cast iron pan he had used the day before to make the same thing.

The princess let the pan heat up before cracking the egg into it. It started to sizzle and cook almost immediately, which concerned her for a moment. When Sun had made them, the pan was practically silent. But still, she pressed on, stirring the egg around until it somewhat resembled the meal that she was provided the day before. A thought occurred in her head suddenly and she pulled the pan from the flames to set down in the grass, rushing back over to the horse and pulling out... the last bundle of food rations.

Sun would just have to do with eating the last one. She couldn't eat it now, especially since he had been compromising his own health by skipping meals for her already. So she carried the dried meats over to the fire and broke them into small pieces to be added to the eggs. It smelled heavenly - but that could have also just been her hunger speaking.

Showered, fire blazing, and breakfast made, Y/N squatted down in front of Sun's sleeping body and whispered his name while she reached out to gently shake his shoulder. But she didn't even need to get that far, because as soon as her fingers grazed his skin, his eyes shot open, looking up at her with a confused expression. She smiled and sat back.

"I made you breakfast!" she exclaimed, picking up the eggs and holding them up so he could analyze her work. He still blinked at her in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on. He noticed the princess's wet hair, self consciously reaching to his clothes. His first theory of it having rained was out of the question, considering that he was dry despite being the one that was outside all night.

But then he caught the lovely aroma of the food she held in front of him. "You found more eggs?" he asked, reaching out to grab the food and inspect it. Y/N sat down next to him and hummed.

"Yep! And I started the fire and cooked them all by myself," she said, sounding like a proud child after successfully dressing themselves for the first time. Sun couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face. He took a bite of the eggs and immediately closed his eyes.

Not because the eggs were good.

It was the exact opposite, actually.

But he forced himself to hum as if it were, because he couldn't bring himself to knock down the absolutely ecstatic look the princess wore. She continued to stare at him as he chewed the eggs slowly, pretending to savor them.

Just tell her the truth, Moon said, chuckling inside their shared consciousness. If you don't now, you might have to endure her cooking them again, he teased, laughing as Sun swallowed the bite and... ignored his advice.

"This is..." he started, watching as Y/N's eyes widened in anticipation. "I-I can't believe you made these on your own!" he said enthusiastically, letting out a sigh of relief as she smiled wider and began wiggling around happily. He looked back towards the blazing flames and quickly changed the subject. "And I'm amazed that you got the fire started without my help as well. I couldn't make a fire without help until like- my seventh try."

"It took me a bit, but I just kept repeating what you told me yesterday," she beamed. Moon continued to laugh, finding the entire ordeal rather amusing. It took everything in Sun not to yell at his brother, opting instead for forcing himself to take another bite. He realized that there were bits of the dried meat from their rations in the eggs, making his face fall immediately.

"Did you use the last of the rations on me?" he asked, looking at her incredulously. She looked taken aback by his sudden outburst, speaking slowly as she responded.

"Yeah... But I promise I already feel better, and you've been skipping meals because of me. I can afford to wait a little longer for us to come across food." She stood to make her way over to the tent, Sun watching her with a bewildered look on his face now.

Looks like you can't get out of eating those eggs now, Sunny boy, Moon said, laughing hysterically at his brother's misfortune. Sun looked back down at the eggs and sighed, taking another bite.

The princess attempted to take down the tent on her own to keep her independent streak going, but she couldn't get it to fold up in the same way Sun was able to do so it could fit in the side pack on the horse. So after he finished his breakfast (which Y/N dully noted had taken him a little longer than she expected), he took over the task.

Not long after that was the fire stomped out and the camp packed up for them to set back out on their journey. For the first few minutes, they rode along in a comfortable silence. Y/N was fairly happy now that her cuts didn't sting as badly as they had before. Bathing in the stream really seemed to have helped. But she soon grew bored again of the passing scenery, and her mind strayed to the life she was going back to.

She wondered what Eclipse was doing. Was he worried about her? She had been gone for three days now. How long after she went missing did it take for him to even notice?

She audibly huffed, making Sun tilt his head to look at her. She turned the other way, though, frustration eating away at her mind again. If Eclipse cared so much, why was Sun the only one that seemed to be after her? She would expect someone that cared about her enough to consider it love to send an entire battalion to save her. But it had been three days, and they hadn't even crossed paths with anyone since they started their journey back to Adrastea.

"Sun?" Y/N practically whispered. She was so soft spoken that Sun wasn't even entirely sure if she had said anything for a moment. But then he turned and hummed, waiting for her to continue. "Have you ever been in love before?"

The princess felt his muscles tense the same way they would every time she asked a question with even a little bit of weight. He gripped the reins tighter and stayed silent for a long while. "I'm not sure," he finally said. Y/N tilted her head to peer around his shoulder.

"How so?" she asked curiously, almost completely forgetting the reason why she asked.

"Well..." he started, but then he hesitated. Surely the princess would think him insane if his only reasoning for such a claim was a measly little 'I don't know.'

But that had been the truth. He didn't know if he had ever been in love. There was something deep down in his thoughts that told him he had. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember anything. Moon had expressed that he felt something extremely similar. But there wasn't anyone else that would understand that there were just entire chunks seemingly missing from their memories. Sometimes the two of them could piece together different things that they each remembered, but the harder they thought about their past, the worse they felt.

They would be overcome with the worst dread either one had ever felt.

"Why do you ask?" Sun asked instead, hoping to veer the conversation away from himself.

"Doesn't matter, really," she mumbled, the frustration in her voice rather apparent. She couldn't get Sun to answer a single personal question about himself since they'd met. It was starting to get under her skin, but every time she tried to question him on why he was so secretive, he would just default to some variation of the same response - that he wasn't worth fretting over.

Y/N was irritated by that answer because she felt like he was worth fretting over. He had saved her life! And then there was that feeling inside her that felt like she knew him, although she had been doing her best to ignore that as of late.

"Well, I was thinking about the question you asked me yesterday," Sun said, trying to lighten the mood. "I would choose summer."

The princess lifted her head and smiled softly. "I knew you would choose that," she responded. The two of them spent the next few hours just participating in more lighthearted questions, successfully keeping Y/N's mind from the somber thoughts of her home life. They had been getting rather giggly with their questions and answers after a while, really falling into a silly mood as the scenery around them slowly became littered with more trees.

"So- So you're telling me that if an entire pack of wolves came out from around a corner, you'd simply waltz right through them?" Y/N was saying between giggles. Sun was chuckling heartily in front of her.

"I said I would try," he corrected. "They might sense my fear if I freeze and wait to see what they'll do! Might as well keep going anyways," he explained. But the princess was just waving her hands back and forth, trying to catch her breath in the hilarious disbelief she felt as she silently laughed.

"You're so full of shit!" she finally exclaimed, startling Sun.

"Language," Sun chastised immediately. But then he clasped his hand over his mouth as the princess laughed even harder. "I-I mean- That wasn't- I didn't think-"

"Did you just scold me for cursing?" she breathed, desperately holding her side in how hysterical she found the entirety of the situation. She almost didn't hear Sun when he shushed her suddenly, looking around them frantically.

"No, I absolutely will not shush! You just-"

"Princess, please," he said desperately, bringing the horse to a stop as he continued to scan their surroundings. Y/N stopped, feeling her heart sink at the sudden change of mood. His desperate searching of the trees around them made her anxious.

"What is it?" she whispered, disliking the fact that she had no idea what he was so concerned about. But Sun just shushed her again, and after a moment, she heard a twig snap somewhere behind her. Her head whipped around, trying to find the culprit of the sound, but ultimately saw nothing.

The princess's grip around Sun tightened as fear settled into the pit of her stomach. Was something following them? They had been traveling with absolutely no contact with anyone thus far. But they were getting closer to the kingdom. Did people really live this far out from the city center?

Both Sun and Y/N's heads jolted to the path in front of them as a voice called out to them.

"Looks like we've got ourselves some fresh meat, boys!"

A slim figure with a wild mane of gray hair atop its head slowly stepped out from behind a tree. The person was still too far for either of them to pick out any other defining details about her appearance, but they could tell that she was holding the reins to a horse that trailed closely by her side.

Several other figures slowly stepped out from the shade of the trees, rendering the princess and her savior completely surrounded. Y/N felt Sun suck in a shuddery breath, straightening his back up as the figures stepped even closer. "We were just passing through," he said boldly. The princess felt his voice vibrate her arms that still clenched his abdomen. "We won't cause any trouble."

The lady with the wild gray hair laughed heartily, all of the others shortly following suit. As she continued her approach, Y/N could see that she had a rather large battle axe strapped to her back. Sun seemed to have noticed as well, considering he had now dropped the reins and gripped her arms that still hugged him. But then he tapped on her arms, so she let go.

Sun swung his foot around and dismounted from the horse, holding his hand out to help her down after. Once she was on the ground, she felt a lot more vulnerable to the barrier of what she assumed to be bandits closing in on them. Most of them were in old, tattered clothing and held various weapons. It was obvious that the lady that had been talking was their leader, and as she stepped even closer to them, Sun reached his hand out again to push the princess further behind him.

"Stay behind me," he said quietly before turning back to the woman as she stopped a few feet in front of them.

"I assume you don't know who I am," she said, smiling wickedly at Sun. Y/N noticed that despite Sun's rather lanky build, she was still very close to his height. Her left eye was completely white, a scar crossing over the skin above and below it, almost like the makeup the princess would see on traveling jesters that would entertain her in the throne room sometimes. Her clothing seemed to be the best out of everyone surrounding them, black pants and dark red tunic in good shape. She placed her hand upon her hip as she waited for Sun to respond.

"I'm afraid I do not," he said politely, but his face remained frozen in an eerie smile.

"What about your little girlfriend you've got hiding behind you like a scared pu-"

"Leave her out of this," Sun cut her off, stepping further to the right to hide your frame from the woman even more.

"Aw, someone's in bad spirits," she responded, stepping closer to him. Sun instinctively took a step back, pushing the princess further away from the woman as well. She turned and spread her arms wide, acknowledging her posse. "You hear that boys? They don't know who I am!"

Snickering reached their ears as the men surrounding them found amusement in her statement. She turned back to the two of them and reached behind herself to retrieve the axe. Sun immediately drew his longsword from its sheath. Y/N noticed that it was no longer red with blood like she had last seen it. Maybe he had cleaned it one of the times he went to fill the canteen? Either way, the woman seemed to find delight in Sun's anxiety.

Battleaxe in hand, she leaned the haft on her shoulder and smiled deviously at them. "The name's Roxanne Wolf," she said, earning several cheers and whoops from the men around them. "I'm sure you can guess where I got the nickname from," she added, using her free hand to gesture to her mess of gray hair. She then pointed to their horse. "Whatcha got on you? Any valuables?" When Sun didn't respond she shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said.

The princess felt a hand grab her arm and yank her backwards suddenly. She yelped, garnering the attention of Sun as he turned and immediately swung his sword in the direction of whoever had her in a tight grip. She closed her eyes, fear of being sliced in half now taking over all of her thoughts, but then she felt the grip on her arm loosen, so she yanked herself towards Sun without another thought.

His arms quickly closed around her, keeping her from looking in the direction of the strangled choking behind her. Roxanne seemed to only find amusement in the entire situation. "Aw, that was my favorite guy to torment," she said, mock disappointment practically dripping from her voice. But then the sound of her battleaxe hitting the rocky path beneath them sounded, and her demeanor switched. "You'll have to pay for that."

Sun placed his free hand to the princess's shoulder and forced her to look at him. "Get on the horse," he said quickly, before tugging her towards the animal, now anxiously teetering in the wake of the commotion around it. She mounted the horse and Sun yanked on the reins hard enough that the animal jerked its head in protest and began trotting briskly back in the direction they had come from. Y/N heard Roxanne cry out in anger at the situation, but she was too focused on not falling from the horse to look back.

A few of the men from the group shouted as they mounted their own horses and raced after her. Panic rose in the princess's chest as she grasped the reins and wracked her brain for any knowledge from her horseback riding classes she was forced to take growing up. Her body began acting upon its own volition, pulling on the reins and making the horse come to a stop as she took in her surroundings. She couldn't just leave Sun. There were far too many things riding on him being the one to take her back home.

The voices of the men that had begun chasing her grew louder and she turned the horse around to face them as they rapidly approached. She noticed that none of them were wearing proper horseback riding gear, and all of them were riding without a saddle.

Perfect.

Y/N smiled as she started off in a trot towards the oncoming men, feeling the same level of excitement in her chest she had when she climbed the tree that morning. She reached behind her and pulled out the small cast iron pan, still dirty from the two times it had been used to make scrambled eggs. The men drew closer to her and she could hear the cockiness in their voices now as they watched her horse ease into a run as well.

Something sparked a memory in her mind (maybe the adrenaline coursing through her body?) as she pulled her feet from the stirrups and wrapped them around her ankles before sliding her toes back through them. She could practically hear her teacher yelling at her, but she didn't care. This was a life or death situation, and she was going to need the grip.

The first man on the horse was getting dangerously close, so she held out her arm with the cast iron pan at the last second to hit him square in the face. He hadn't been expecting it, so he fell right off of the horse and crashed to the ground while his ride kept running in the opposite direction. She cried out in excitement, slightly surprised that it had worked as well as she hoped. But the next man was approaching just as quickly, with the third one almost directly at his side.

She swapped the hand that the pan was in and watched as they split to ambush her on both sides. Her thighs instinctively tightened their grip on the horse as she braced herself for what she already knew was coming. She swung the pan harder this time, missing the guy's head but landing her hit on his shoulder with a sickening crunch. He cried out and fell from the horse, but before she could celebrate, she felt the hands of the other man attempt to grip her as he passed.

The force of him being yanked from his horse as her legs kept her on hers jolted the princess backwards enough that she dropped the pan. But the man couldn't keep his grip, slicing her on the way down with a pocketknife she didn't see he had. Hot blood ran down her arm, adding to the plentiful amount of cuts she already had. But this one was deeper than the rest, so she lulled to the side a bit as her horse kept up its pace, rapidly approaching where Sun was still squaring off with Roxanne and a few of her other men.

Y/N stopped the horse to the best of her ability with her one good arm, but cried out suddenly as a jolt of pain shot through her head. Sun's head snapped back to her, eyes widening as he took in her bloodied arm. But the distraction was enough for one of Roxanne's men to get a good blow on his back. He made a strangled sound of pain before quickly turning back and stabbing the culprit straight through his abdomen. The princess closed her eyes then, disgusted by the sight and also feeling the pain in her head grow stronger.

She leaned forward on the mane of the horse, trying to stop the pure agony in her head. She didn't even know what had caused it. Normally she would have to be thinking about her past, but she wasn't.

Y/N cried out again as she pulled her feet from the stirrups and leaned further into the horse's mane. Her vision was starting to double, and she couldn't see what was going on with Sun anymore. Panic settled into the pit of her stomach again as she heard a voice call out to her.

"Blood and kill and maim galore! This looks fun~ Fairly bloody fun!"

She coughed, feeling her entire body begin to shudder violently. Sun cried out in the struggle somewhere ahead of her, but she could no longer see anything but red.

And then she saw nothing.

*****

"Oh, I never got to catch your name, sweet cheeks," Roxanne said, towering above Sun as he lay on the ground clutching his bleeding abdomen. "Guess it won't matter in a minute," she continued, watching as one of the few remaining unhurt men from her posse pulled the reins of his horse towards her. "Oh and your girlfriend just collapsed off of the horse," she added, looking over to the mound of her body convulsing on the ground still. Sun lifted his head slightly, the pain in his stomach almost too much to handle. "Guess getting her arm sliced in the heat of the moment was too much for her. Pathetic, really."

Just get to the princess, Moon said inside of Sun's head. You can't give up. You have to get to her. Come on, Sun.

He tried his best to crawl in the direction of the princess's body, but Roxanne stepped on his wrist and laughed. "Going somewhere, hun?" she taunted, undoing the side pack on the horse. She then proceeded to rummage through the contents of it, barking orders at the men that still stood around her. "You know, I do have to give you two credit," she said now to Sun, still pulling contents out of the pack and tossing them aside. "I've never had anyone take down this many of my men before." The woman then threw her head back and laughed heartily, her gray mane of hair moving stiffly around her head. "But of course, nobody is a match for me. Everybody knows I'm the best, after all."

Sun's vision was starting to go spotty as he looked back towards where the princess was. But he could no longer see the heap of her body where it had been moments before. Had one of the men dragged her away? Or had she managed to escape without being noticed?

He desperately hoped for the latter.

"Ohoho what have we got here?" Roxanne said, pulling a tiny drawstring bag of coins from the pack. She undid the string and practically howled at the gold coins inside. "Looks like we're eating good tonight, boys!" She called out.

The sound of metal scraping against rock suddenly sounded from the opposite side of Sun. Roxanne was too busy relishing in her find to notice. He did his best to lift his body to face the other direction, but he fell as soon as he turned his head. His eyes landed on a pair of bare feet in front of him, sparking a new flame of hope inside of his chest. Blood dripped onto the ground next to them, and a slow, guttural laugh emitted from above him, clouding his brain with confusion.

He willed his body to lift his head one more time and looked up into the face of the princess. But her expression wasn't one he had seen on her thus far - her smile stretched far too wide on her face and the pupils of her eyes had been replaced with stars. Sun's little flame of hope quickly went out, and his head crashed back to the ground as he proceeded to pass out.

"Roxanne, was it?" the princess's mouth asked, but the voice that came from it was not at all what the woman was expecting. She turned to face the princess and tilted her head to the side, smiling.

"The one and only," she responded, stretching her arms wide at her sides. "What's up with you? Wanted a chance to one up your boyfriend by taking me on now?" She laughed again - seemingly thinking the audacity of the princess as she stood there, Sun's longsword in hand, was the most amusing thing she had witnessed thus far.

"What's up with me, she asks. Oh, brother, I cannot wait to tear her to shreds. What do you think her blood will taste like? Will it be fresh? Sweet, like the princess's? Oh I can hardly wait any longer!"

Roxanne's face contorted for the first time that evening from her amused look to one of confusion. "Looks like shorty over here went crazy from blood loss," she said, trying to ease the low anxiety that began brewing in her stomach. She snapped her fingers, ordering the last of her men to take her down. "You're not worthy of my attention," she said, turning back to the horse to continue rummaging through the side pack.

"The only one that will be experiencing blood loss will be you, dearest wolf lady," the princess said, bringing her bloodied arm to her mouth and licking up some of the blood. She stared at the men slowly approaching her with a deranged expression upon her face. "Fun, fun, fun! Which of you wants to be first?"

Roxanne whipped her head back around as the sound of a pained scream rang out around her. The princess was standing over one of her men's bodies, Sun's longsword stabbed straight through his abdomen. She watched in horror as she pulled the sword from the man and brought it up to her face, inspecting the red mess that soaked it. The other two men that had been approaching her stopped in their tracks, fear contorting their faces into looks of terror.

"Well don't just stand there and watch, get her!" Roxanne yelled at them, but they merely looked at her, then back towards the princess, and promptly took off running into the trees. The gray haired woman growled. "Fine then, if it's a show you want, then you can't have it without the star!" she said, pulling her battleaxe from her back and smiling at the princess.

Y/N focused her gaze on Roxanne, smiling wickedly at her. "We hope you prove to be more of a challenge than that oaf," she mused, allowing the tip of the longsword to drag through the gravelly path as she slowly approached Roxanne. "We will bathe you in red, wolf lady."

Roxanne took a hesitant step backwards. Something was definitely off about the young woman, she could tell that much. The glowing stars she had for eyes weren't there before. But still, she raised her axe and stood her ground, holding eye contact with her. "We'll see about that, hun."

The two of them watched each other at a standstill for a long moment, assessing their options and trying to predict where the other would move first. But the princess grew tired of waiting, so she lunged at Roxanne - just barely grazing her shoulder. She watched as a lock of gray hair fell to the ground in front of her before looking back up at the princess angrily. "Oh, you're so dead!" she growled, lifting her axe and swinging it quickly at Y/N in front of her. The princess seemed to dodge the attack with inhuman speed, jumping to the left and quickly thrusting the longsword at the woman again. She barely ducked out of the way, dropping down to her feet to try to side swipe the princess's legs out from under her.

Y/N jumped to the side, swinging the sword down at her from above. Roxanne shifted her grip on the haft and blocked the sword's blade with it. The princess laughed demonically, the stars in her eyes glowing brighter. "My, my, this is a lot of fun! We love it when they fight back!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Roxanne yelled, struggling immensely at the sheer strength Y/N seemed to have gained. Her grip tightened on the haft, but her arms were shaking desperately as she pushed back against the longsword. The sound of wood splintering reached her ears as the princess snarled.

"Little wolf lady, down on her luck; better find a way out, before you're struck!" Roxanne gritted her teeth and used the last of her strength to push her axe forward, sliding the blade just fast enough to graze the princess's fingers. She yelped in response, stumbling backwards. The gray haired woman used the small breather to bring herself back to her feet and wipe a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Listen, girl," she huffed, standing with her battleaxe resting up on her shoulder again. "We can call this a tie and I can leave with what I've found." A slow, guttural laugh emitted from the princess's chest, shaking her whole body as she stayed facing away from Roxanne. "I'll even let you keep half of the coins," she attempted to barter. But the princess only threw her head back and laughed louder.

"You think us stupid?" she asked, turning back to Roxanne with a crazed look in her eyes. She brought her bleeding hand to her mouth and dragged her tongue across her fingers slowly. "We only want your blood! Yes, yes! Bloodshed! Bloodshed everywhere!"

Roxanne didn't even have a moment to blink before the princess lunged at her again. She turned to block the longsword from piercing straight into her chest, but in doing so, failed to notice the princess's outstretched hand. For a moment, the gray haired woman just stood there, chest heaving as she tried to make sense of what she was looking at. But it didn't take long for the pain to take over her mind in a searing flash of white hot agony. She stuttered backwards, bringing her hands to her face as the princess just laughed. Thick, hot liquid poured down Roxanne's hands as she fell to the ground.

"Poor little wolf lady," the princess mused. "What's wrong? Are you having trouble seeing?"

The gray haired woman didn't have to process what Y/N was saying to know exactly what was wrong. She had felt the same pain once before. She had lived with the consequences on a daily basis.

Y/N had rendered her completely blind by destroying her good eye.

*****

Y/N blinked as her vision slowly came back. Her head was boiling with hot pain, but she couldn't even focus on that as the sound of pure agony hit her ears. Someone was crying. Loudly.

"Why? WHY?!" the voice howled.

The princess's vision finally focused and she felt her blood run cold at the sight before her. Roxanne Wolf - the bandit that she had just been trying to save Sun from - was writhing on the ground a few feet from her. She had her hands to her face as blood dripped profusely on the ground. There was so much of it.

It covered her hands completely, trailed down her tunic, splattered the gravel path in front of her. Y/N felt rooted to the spot she stood, looking down at her own hands and feeling her breath catch in her throat. She stumbled back a few steps, kicking the gravel beneath her feet as she took in the sight.

Her left hand was covered in the same red mess.

"I can still hear you!" Roxanne suddenly shouted. She struggled immensely as she placed one of her hands to the ground to stand up, and suddenly the princess was overcome with fear. She frantically searched around her and took in the rest of her surroundings. She could see Sun's body lying motionless next to their horse, so she rushed over and dropped to the ground in front of him.

"Sun!" she whispered, shaking his shoulder. He groaned and relief washed over the princess in droves. "Come on, Sunny, we have to go, right now." She leaned down and pulled his arm over her shoulder, earning another groan from deep within his chest. She shushed him and quietly counted to three so she could lift him.

"Where are you?!" Roxanne called from where she still stood. The princess didn't even take another moment to look at her - struggling to keep Sun upright as she picked up the bag of coins and reached for the reins of the horse. She dragged them further on the path in the direction they had been heading before the chaos had started.

By some miracle, Y/N, Sun, and the horse all managed to sneak away from Roxanne and continue on their path. The princess continued to mumble words of assurance to Sun as they walked, despite the rising panic in her chest. He couldn't manage to respond - clutching his abdomen and whining.

They walked on for what felt like eons before the sound of music could be heard in the distance, sparking hope in Y/N's chest. Sun's steps were getting less and less coordinated as she picked up the pace, the music growing louder and louder. Soon, a building was visible, peeking from the trees and seemingly full of life.

The princess dropped the reins of the horse and tugged Sun's slowly dying body forwards, determination being the only thing keeping her positive attitude. "We're almost there, Sunny. Just hang on a little bit longer. Please," she pleaded as she pushed open the door to the building.

The inside was less full of life than the princess had expected. A small party of three sat at a round table in the corner playing some kind of card game, while a few people dotted the bar at the far side of the room. Nobody seemed to look up at Sun and the princess's arrival, but she pulled Sun towards the bar nonetheless.

"Can someone please help us," she begged, suddenly feeling the weight of her situation tugging at her shoulders as if trying to drag her down, although that could just have easily been Sun losing consciousness again. The man behind the bar looked up from the drink he had been making and blinked at her for a moment before rolling his eyes. His bright red hair flopped off of his shoulder as he spoke.

"First aid kit's in the back. Thirty coins for a night. Forty-five if ya get blood e'rywhere," he added as an afterthought. Y/N thanked him quickly before turning and tugging Sun the remaining way to the back where an old door stood. She pushed through it, almost falling under Sun's weight again. But she managed to drag him to a chair that was a few feet away from her and set him down before frantically searching the room for said first aid kit. After opening several cabinets and scattering various items to the floor, she finally discovered the one containing the emergency items.

The next few minutes were spent trying to keep Sun from losing consciousness again while she tightly wrapped his torso. After she stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound, and was positive he wasn't going to slip under, she flopped back onto the other chair, closing her eyes and tilting her head back in anguish.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Sun whispered, making Y/N's heart ache.

"Don't you dare," she started, sitting back up and taking in Sun's physical state for the first time. His blonde hair was a matted mess - sticking to his forehead and dirtied with blood and sweat. The yellow tunic he wore was also covered in blood, ripped to shreds over his wound. Several cuts and bruises littered his skin, making his normally soft, pale skin look sickly. His blue eyes lifted slowly to meet hers, apologetic expression still on his face. "You couldn't have predicted a gang of bandits showing up. Just as much as I couldn't."

Sun didn't look convinced, but still, he sighed. It was a shallow sigh, given that any time he sucked in too much air, he winced from the pain in his torso. Y/N watched his eyes drift down to her hurt arm that she was only just now starting to notice the pain from. He made to get up, earning a sharp protest from the princess. She assured him repeatedly that she could handle it.

"We have to get you to bed anyways," she added, holding her hand out to help him up again. He gladly accepted the help, and together they tackled the staircase up to the inn rooms. They found an unoccupied one and worked to get Sun into the bed - though not without a brief argument about him taking the couch instead because of her status.

The princess briefly left him to fetch a glass of water from downstairs, but by the time she came back up to the room, Sun had already fallen asleep. She felt guilt tug at her heart again as she watched him struggle to breathe comfortably, setting the glass down on the nightstand and brushing a bit of his hair from his face. She decided to disappear to the washroom to fetch a wet rag, and proceeded to clean his face up for him.

After another long moment of just sitting next to the bed and making sure he was okay, she decided to head back down to the tavern and have a drink. The bartender looked up at her as she sat down, drying a glass that she was pretty sure was more than plenty dry. "What'll it be, princess?" he asked, earning a startled look from Y/N.

"W-What?" she asked, fear settling into the pit of her stomach. How did he know who she was so quickly?

"Drink? What kind of drink do ya want?" he clarified, furrowing his brows at her. "Ya do want a drink, don'tcha?"

The princess blinked at the man for a moment longer before shaking her head slightly. "Y-yeah, I'll have a drink. Just make me whatever will put me to sleep," she said, exasperation clear in her tone.

"Long day?"

Y/N scoffed. "Try days with an 's'."

"Well I've got just the drink for that," he said. The princess watched the bartender as he pulled a few glass bottles from under the bar. His movements were precise and calculated, giving small party tricks as he went about making the complicated looking drink. He smiled as he slid the cocktail glass her way, now filled with a green liquid. "I call it the gator."

"Fitting," Y/N responded, lifting the glass to her lips and taking a sip. The drink tasted of somewhat sour citrus, with notes of pineapple and kiwi on the back end. She felt the warmth of the alcohol spread through her body almost immediately, so she sighed and slouched further into her seat. "This is really good," she said, now smiling at the man. She took in his appearance more now that she didn't have a dying Sun threatening to make her collapse to the ground at any moment.

The bartender had bright red hair cut in a mohawk at the top of his head, contrasting his dark skin beautifully. The green tunic he wore donned a stitched red star, and his brown eyes had an eerie red tint to them in the dim lighting. There were several dark tattoos that littered his arms and what Y/N could see of his neck, reminding her almost of an alligator's scales. After a moment of wiping down the countertop, he spoke again.

"Wantin' to talk about it?" he asked, peering down at the princess as if he were looking over a pair of glasses. She shrugged, taking another long sip of her drink.

"Don't have enough time to go through it all."

"Try me."

Y/N chuckled at that, wanting so desperately to get out all of the pent up emotions that currently swirled and tugged around in her chest. But she still opted to indulge nothing, taking another long drawl of the green alcoholic drink. "I'd rather not."

"Fine. Suit yourself," the bartender responded, moving down the bar to collect the empty glass from a customer that had just departed. "Want some words of encouragement, at least?"

The princess chuckled. "Sure. What kind of great wisdom can you disclose for a struggling young girl you know nothing about- uh.."

"Montgomery, but most people just call me Monty."

"Okay, Monty. Lay it on me," she said, smiling now as the alcohol began settling in her system.

"Well, given that you came in here with your boyfriend bleedin' out in your arms, I'd say you could-"

"He's not my boyfriend," Y/N interrupted, setting the glass down on the coaster in front of her abruptly. Monty raised an eyebrow at her as she stared at the ice in her drink. "I'm engaged to someone else."

"Hohoho, well that sounds like a problem init of itself," he chuckled, prompting the princess to glare at him. He threw the hand towel he'd been drying glasses with over his shoulder. "Okay, fine. Nothin’ about your love life." The princess rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink. She couldn't allow herself to think of Sun that way. He was nothing but her savior. No matter how much she liked looking into his blue eyes. Or how much she liked hearing him laugh. Or how much it felt like she's known him for years.

"Maybe what you need is to just stop caring," Monty said, shrugging his shoulders. When Y/N looked at him skeptically, he continued. "From the way you're carryin' yourself and the way you jus' snapped at me, I'd say you've got a lot on yer mind. Maybe you should just... let go."

The princess looked back down at her drink, pondering his words. Let go, huh? Stop caring? Something told her that she'd done that before with some distant memory she couldn't think of. But all she knew was that it gave her a feeling of dread. Still, she shrugged now, and then threw back the remaining bit of the drink. "Thanks for the wisdom, Monty," she said, chuckling. "I'll definitely take it to heart." She stood and attempted to pull out coins to pay for her drink, but Monty stopped her.

"It's on the house," he assured, already cleaning her glass. "You looked like you could use that."

After debating on that matter for a bit and giving up, Y/N thanked Monty profusely before heading up the stairs to the room Sun was hopefully still sleeping in. She continued to think about Monty's words of advice as she climbed the steps, allowing her brain to go over the events of the day for the first time.

Something happened to her earlier. She hadn't had the pain in her head become that unbearable before, and she'd never blacked out from it either. But blacking out wasn't what bothered her the most.

How had she ended up with Sun's longsword in her hands, covered in blood, and standing in front of Roxanne - seemingly having hurt her drastically? She didn't even know if she was the one to do it, but something told her that she was.

And another thing - normally when the princess tried to remember something she couldn't her, head would ache. But here she was - unable to remember what happened in the few minutes after she blacked out, and she felt nothing. No pain, no ache - nothing.

Y/N reached the door to the room with Sun and opened it slowly, trying not to disturb him. She stepped past the threshold and closed it as quietly as she could. But the door was old, squeaking louder the slower she tried to close it. She finally just gave up and closed it normally, then spun around to check and see if it had disturbed Sun.

But her heart quickly dropped into her stomach as she stared at a dark-haired figure lying in the spot she had left Sun not even an hour prior. For a moment, she wondered if she entered the wrong room. But the full glass of water she set on the nightstand still stood in the same spot.

Ever so slowly, Y/N crept towards the bed, eyes wide as she took in the stranger. He groaned, prompting her to stop in her tracks. His eyelids fluttered open, and it felt like the world fell still as they just sat there - staring at each other like deer in headlights.

Y/N recognized those eyes. Those same blue eyes.

"You-" she started, but was quickly cut off by the stranger.

"I- We- This can be explained," he said, attempting to push himself up into a sitting position but then wincing at the pain from his - Suns? - wound. Y/N's compassionate instincts took over as she immediately rushed to his side and gently forced him to lie back down.

"You can explain just fine without moving too much," she said, pulling the blanket back to check the bandages. Surprisingly, there wasn't any new blood from the time that she had left Sun up here for her drink. "Let's start with the question at the forefront of my mind right now." The princess sat down at the edge of the bed, bringing a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Do I know you?"

The stranger sighed. It was just as shallow of a breath as Sun's had been earlier. "Yes, and no," he said. "We have met before. At the ball. I was your masked dancer, your highness." Y/N's eyes flew open at the mocking tone in which he spoke, immediately remembering the beautiful dance she had with him barely even three nights prior.

"That was you-?" she asked incredulously. Her mind spun at the realization, and then a blush quickly rose to her cheeks as she remembered their lighthearted flirting. "How...?"

"Listen, this is going to sound demented, but I need you to just let me finish, okay?" the blue eyed stranger said tentatively, earning an equally uneasy response from the princess.

"Okay..." she confirmed, drawing out the word.

"First, my name is Moon," he started. Y/N blinked at him in disbelief. Sun and Moon? Really? "Sun hasn't gone anywhere. He's just... up here." He brought his index finger to his temple and tapped it a few times. "We're brothers, somehow cursed to the same body. We don't remember how we ended up like this, to be completely honest. All we know is that when the sun is up, Sun is out. And when the Moon is up-"

"You're out," the princess finished for him, disbelief now audible in her tone. She stood from the edge of the bed and paced to the other side of the room and back. "So," she started, but then she closed her mouth and hummed, still not sure what to say.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Moon said, holding his hands up in an attempt to get her attention. "And Sun really wanted to tell you the truth but-"

"What? How would you know if he wanted to tell me anything...?" Y/N interrupted, voice now sounding almost panicked. Her hands were clenching and unclenching at her sides as she processed the information, unsure of whether or not she believed the words coming out of Moon's - and Sun's? - mouth.

"We can sort of... communicate with each other? I really don't know the best way to describe it," he said. The princess just continued to stare at Moon, hands moving in the same pattern as she tried to calm herself down. There was little she could do to slow her racing thoughts, though.

Her masked dancer that night at the ball was here. In front of her. Lying in the bed, hurt. There was nothing about this that sounded real, but there wasn't really any other explanation she could come up with for him having the exact same wound as Sun. So she closed her fists once more and took in a timed, shaky breath. "Okay," she started slowly. "I don't really know what to say in response to this. But I don't really have much of a choice but to accept it, huh?"

Despite the princess's attempt at calming herself down, her voice cracked several times and ended in such a tone of disbelief that Moon felt frustration tickling the back of his mind. Especially as Sun continued to yell at him in their shared mind about how she was never going to trust them now. But still, he did his best to scoot over on the bed and then pat the space next to him. "Come here."

Y/N stared at Moon for a moment, bewildered by his calm demeanor about the entire situation. She walked over and carefully sat down, nonetheless, watching every movement he made with wide eyes. "You deserve an apology," he said, making her brows furrow in confusion. "We should have told you from the beginning. But Sun didn't... want to scare you."

"Why would this scare me?" the princess asked almost immediately. It was Moon's turn to look bewildered.

"Why wouldn't it?" he asked. They continued to stare at each other for a long moment. The more Y/N thought about it, the more his reaction made sense. Why wasn't she scared? She just found out that her savior was two people, cursed to the same body. One that she had already met at the ball and the other that was willing to physically fight off bandits for her. Maybe it was the fact that this was the least surprising thing to have happened in the last few days.

Moon winced again as he yawned, pulling the princess out of her stupor. "You need to rest," she said gently, pulling the blanket back over his torso. "If we want to attempt to make it the rest of the way within the next week, we really need you to recover."

"Oh, by the way," he said, sounding like he was ignoring what she had just said. "I wanted to personally apologize for the way Sun handled the situation earlier. He isn't usually one for violence. That's my job."

The princess looked taken aback. "Wha-"

"Anyways, goodnight!" Moon said, and with that, he turned over and closed his eyes, leaving the princess staring at his dark messy hair. But then she just shook her head and made her way over to the small couch to turn in for the night.

The events of the day lingered in her mind for a long while as she laid there, staring at the ceiling. But she couldn't bring herself to finish any of the thoughts that drifted through her mind, instead finding herself thinking about the ball again. She tilted her head to look at Moon's sleeping body and felt her heart flutter in her chest. Her masked stranger's voice echoed in her head again.

"I could never doubt you, Starlight~"

No wonder Sun had been aware of the nickname. He was there when they danced. That beautiful, majestic dance.

Y/N fell asleep not long after that.

*****

"No! Not like that!"

The princess tripped over her feet as she took another misstep in the routine. Eclipse stared at her apologetically, knowing that she was about to get chewed out by the instructor. She stared at the ground as the man berated her as if she was doing it on purpose. Sun and Moon stood a few steps away, staring at each other as if communicating through some unspoken language.

"Alright, take a few minutes, get water. Afterwards we will pick back up where we left off and hopefully some people can get their feet to listen to their head." The instructor left the ballroom, the violinist following closely behind him.

Y/N walked over to the wall and pressed her back to it, covering her face in her hands. "Why am I so bad at this?" she asked as Eclipse joined her. Moon walked out of the same door the instructor left through while Sun practically skipped over to them.

"I don't think you're bad!" he said cheerily, not even allowing Eclipse a moment to speak. "I believe there are many factors that go into learning how to dance!"

The princess looked up at Sun, rather surprised that he was attempting to comfort her. "You do?"

"Yeah! With Moon and I, there's-"

"It's different for the two of you," Eclipse cut Sun off, rolling his eyes. "You two always know what the other is going to do." He stood and held his hand out to the princess. "Let's run through the steps one more time. Maybe it's the instructor making you nervous?" he suggested. Y/N just sighed.

"I don't think that's it," she said, sounding exasperated. "I just can't dance!"

Sun was the next one to speak again. "Starlight, no! Don't say that! Like I said, I'm sure there's some other factor that's just making it difficult for you to learn!"

Before anyone had the chance to process his words, Moon, the instructor, and the violinist reappeared. The dark haired twin bounded towards Sun and nodded at him, before turning and giving their older brother a sly smile.

"Okay, before we go over the tricky steps, I'd like to see everyone run through what we've already learned," the instructor said. Y/N and Eclipse moved to the center of the floor but paused when the instructor continued. "This time, however, I'd like to see Moon and Y/N try it together."

The princess looked to Eclipse, confusion drawing her brows together. Still, she complied and made her way over to Moon while Eclipse walked back over to the wall. The same sly smile was still on Moon's face as he took Y/N's hand in his and pulled her close. "Hello, Starlight," he mused. "Excited for the change of pace?"

Before she had a chance to respond, the violinist began the same song from the beginning. Moon pulled the princess along, perfectly in time with the three count that the instructor was clapping out. She felt like she was moving more in sync with him almost immediately, accommodating every single shift of weight with him as if they were made to dance together. She felt her body move on its own volition, taking to his steps perfectly and soon enough finding herself smiling as they danced right up to the steps they hadn't learned yet.

"Absolutely beautiful!" the instructor bellowed, rushing up to the pair and showering them with praise. Eclipse stood on the sidelines with Sun, who was beaming like a child that had just been surprised with candy.

"You know," Sun said quietly. His tone was cheerful, but his body was rigid. "Sometimes people just need to realize that the only thing they do is hold others back." Eclipse balled his hands into fists as he continued to stare at the princess. He wasn't going to let Sun get to him that easily. She was already his, he knew that.

Sun then pushed himself off of the wall and approached the princess excitedly. "I want a turn with her! May I please?"

The instructor smiled and agreed immediately. Y/N grinned up at Sun, and even from where Eclipse was still standing on the edge of the room, he could tell that she was elated.

The violinist started the song over once more, and Eclipse watched as the two danced rather energetically - spinning and twirling about but somehow still managing to keep the basic steps the same. The princess actually found herself giggling as they continued on, making Eclipse cross his arms and huff as he looked the other way.

So what if they could dance with Y/N better than he could? He had plenty of other activities that they enjoyed together. His brothers could enjoy the dancing.

Eclipse looked back at his beloved dancing with Sun, feeling his heart twinge in despair.

They couldn't take her away from him like they had done with everything else.

Right?

*****

A/N: So?? How'd you do? Please pLeAsE PLEASE tell me how you feel about this chapter because I am absolutely feral to hear what everyone thinks of it! Also I am SO VERY SORRY it took me so fucking long to get it to you guys?? Idfk what happened lmao but honestly was it worth the wait? Because I think it was hahah

As always, likes, comments, kudos, and reblogs are GREATLY appreciated!!

Don't forget to take care of yourselves and stay sweet, my lovelies~!

Taglist: @jack-o-cel (comment here or message me to be added to the taglist~)

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