Joseon Dynasty

"If I come back here again and you have not paid the proper rations, I will not hesitate to order my good friend, Chul here to gut you. And your precious family too," snarls a slick black-haired man atop a muscular black horse.

A hood figure halts mid-step before a potato cart. He whirls around, glaring in the direction of the horse and rider. It's just in time for him to see the man fling down a burlap sack to the feet of a scared man with a wife and wide-eyed little boy.

"GET ME MY MONEY!" the man snarls and the horse rears up.

The little boy cries out.

The hooded figure cusses and yanks his hood back, revealing stylized silver-blue hair. He then instantly whips out a shiny sword and charges for them like a movie action hero. He swings the sword out, skidding between the horse and the petrified family. The blade of his sword connects with another one, unleashing a dramatic clang in the process that echoes around the small town's street market.

All around, people pause what they are doing to watch.

"You've upset the balance and purity once again, King Lee Hyunhwa!" the blue-haired man growls out, his eyebrows knit together with a fierceness.

Chul, whose sword blade is pressed against the blue-haired man's, begins to snicker with a mock derision. "Jooheon, you're mighty brave to show your wanted scumbag face around here."

Jooheon mocks him with his mouth. "Around here, they refer to me as Joohoney, leader of the Righteous Joseon Rebels known as Darkest Days."

"Yeah, yeah, you think you're all heroes who can rebel against me!" Hyunhwa scoffs.

Joohoney pushes Chul's sword away from him and steps back, making sure to keep himself in front, blocking the family. The boy is hugging tightly to his parents, who are staring, fearful and shocked at the scene.

Hyunhwa gives a quick scan of the area. "Nothing to see here, if you want to keep your lives, people! Get back to your miserable lives."

Chul spits on the ground, with a snort of laughter.

Hyunhwa's eyes return to Joohoney. His expression is full of distaste and disgust. "As for you..." He runs his beady eyes up and down Joohoney. "Chul, run your blade through his heart!" He flicks his horse's reins and gallops away from them. "Then find his friends and dispatch of the traitorous bastards so I can sleep at night!"

Chul growls and flicks his sword in his hand.

Joohoney eyes him. He snorts in amusement. "Violence, again. I have to injure you twice in one week, Chulie?"

"Shut up!" Chul snarls. "A mistake I will not make. This time, I'll kill you, in front of your peasant friends - a just warning to all!" He purposefully raises his volume on the final five words and tosses a quick look around him.

"Bring it on!" Joohoney roars and whips his sword up to clang against Chul's once again.

Despite being on horseback, Joohoney easily and skillfully disarms Chul within five minutes and knocks him to the sandy ground. His horse gallops off and vanishes in the direction that the King had gone.

With Hyunhwa gone and Chul on the losing side, the people in the streets, once again put their attention on the scene and even hype Joohoney up. Even the scared family, that is no longer scared, but rather brave and certainly thankful to the blue-haired warrior for stepping in and taking over the scene.

Chul glares at Joohoney. "Hyunhwa will eventually put an end to you and your stupid rebels! Darkest Days will go down in history as a failure!"

"Failure?" Joohoney begins to circle Chul, laughing and having a good time. "A mistake not made twice, huh?"

He stops and points his sword tip at Chul.

But before he can make the next move, a young man with natural black hair that is styled with a bandana rushes up to him. "Joohoney, leave him. You've won. Let him leave here with his tail tucked between his legs, full of embarrassment at losing to the mighty leader of Darkest Days once again."

"Lee Seoho," Chul growls. "Your uncle will not be too pleased that you, his flesh and blood, are a part of these traitors."

Seoho runs a hand through his hair and eyes Chul. "And you would tell my uncle about me? What if he blames you for failing to kill Joohoney? I'd keep your mouth shut at what you've seen today."

Joohoney jams his sword back into his holster. "I'd leave now, before more gather to see the King's lead general getting handed his butt."

Chul scrambles to his feet, forgetting all about his discarded sword - he'd most likely get another one at the palace anyway. He then takes off in the direction of where his horse and the King had gone. As he runs away, he is shoved, hit, slapped, spat at, yelled at and thrown food at by various townsfolk.

Joohoney turns to Seoho. "You shouldn't have revealed yourself."

Seoho shrugs.

Joohoney looks back in the direction of the fleeing Chul and watches him vanish. "I don't trust him or anyone. You need to be careful, Seoho. You're our group's maknae and we can't - we won't - let anything happen to you."