The word "abandoned" didn't even begin to describe the sight of the town before the Happy Hungry Bunch (and the Dark Dragon)'s eyes.
Majority of the house that lined the main road were nothing but piles of decaying materials and the few houses that still stood shook heavily even at the slightest of breezes.  The straw that was once used as roofing material was now reduced to nothing but mere dust, and the fallen wooden planks of the walls were moldy with various funguses (probably poisonous ones at that) growing out of them.  Abandoned, decaying wagons littered the road with small compost piles -- of what can only be assumed to be the remains of the vegetables that once filled them -- were placed all around them.  To call this place a ghost town would be an understatement.
    However, there was one building -- while still terribly run down -- still stood relatively strong. The building stood at the end of the main road and appeared to be a shrine of some sort.  Cracked stone steps lead up to a platform with a moldy wooden box in the center of it.  Two pillars of slightly moldy wood hold up a roof made of slanted wooden planks; the planks being very much so worn out from the rain. However, the one thing that stood out the most was the large, brown stains and puddles of an unknown liquid surrounding the building. The shade of the roof and the distance made it impossible for the group to see anything above the wooden crate.
    "This place is really is deserted." Yun points out the obvious as the group makes their way down the main road.
    Hak crouches down to scoop up a handful of the sand-like soil; which runs through his fingers effortlessly. "The soil is loose and very dusty. It doesn't see like anyone has been here for a very long time."
    Kija looks over to Shin-ah to ask him if he has seen any other towns nearby but finds that he is staring at the shaded area of the shrine. His jaw is slacked and even with his mask you could tell that he was shocked; an expression that you almost never see out of the usually calm Blue Dragon. "What is is Shin-ah?"  Shin-ah merely points at the shaded area; prompting Kija to move forward to take a closer look. Once he reaches the foot of the steps, he too stands stock still; a horrified expression evident on his face.
Right in the middle of the wooden planks of the shrine's wall rests a girl with long, dingy white hair and dirtied pale skin.  Her eyes are closed and her face is blank; her head hangs lifelessly from her neck.  Extended to both of her sides, her arms are pinned to the wall with metal stakes driven through the palms of her hands and metal braces secure her to the wall.  Similar metal braces secure her limp legs to the wall as well and shackled to her ankles are heavy sandbags.
The rest of the group walks closer and sharp gasps escape a few of their lips.  "Wha-What is this?" Yona stutters out in horror.  A pale hand covers her mouth; her eyes are wide and her skin is pale.
    Huan bends down to examine the large puddle of blood that covers almost everything in the shrine. She dips two fingers into the puddle and brings them closer to her face to look at the crimson red liquid. As she does so a waft of the blood's smell reaches her nose and a wave of pain crashes through her body. "AHH!" She cries out in pain as she clutches at her chest with her hand; the pain still rippling through her.
    "Huan!"
    "Huan dear!" Yun and Jae-ha yell out in unison. Jae-ha runs to her side and helps her up from her hands and knees; blood soaks her clothes and drips off of her hands.
    "T-The Yang Wa-Warrior...." Huan manages to stutter out as pain continues to course through her system.
    "This girl.... This girl is the Yang Warrior?" Kija says; his eyes still wide.
    Huan nods weakly from her space on the ground where Jae-ha set her down away from the blood and Yun was cleaning the blood off of her.
    Yona slowly removes her hand from her mouth and begins to walk to walk towards the hanging girl. Her movements are slow and jerky, as if she was being possessed by something. Yona walks up the steps and lightly places one of her hands on the girl's shin. She closes her eyes for a second before opening them once again. "She's still alive."

"She's still alive"
A small voice echoes out from outside the depths of her mind. The gentle voice is warm and breaks through the deafening sounds of blood dripping. Inside the dark, endless chasm of her mind a girl; identical to herself sits on a throne. A wine glass filled with blood is held in the identical girl's hand; she smiles.
"I won't let you get away from me this time,
Yin."

・・・・・・・・・・

Hey there guys! I hope you all enjoyed this week's chapter! I am really sorry that this was so short but let me say one thing before you all kill me: Final Exams are Death. That's right, it's that time of year again when teachers attempt to flunk all of their students by giving them killer 2 hour long tests that really just kill both the holiday season and the students. I honestly meant for this chapter to be longer but between trying to reteach myself cellular respiration and write an essay on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and "A Raisin in the Sun" I really only had this much left in me.... I am really sorry... But! Next week is the start of my Winter Break so that means longer chapters (hopefully)! So we all have that to look forward to! So anyway guys, please leave a vote if you liked this chapter and comment if you did or did not.
Wishing you all happiness, laughter, and Pocky, this is Beijing_Aru and I will see you all in the next chapter! Bye! :)