Beginning Beyond The Horizon

The furry white hand slammed on the table, breaking the small wooden table into two pieces.​

"I don't understand why we stay here?" Xun shouted angrily, looking at Meng and Yun sitting opposite him. "You promise me that if I join forces with you, you will give me the opportunity to kill that wannabe king."

Meng put down the hand holding the cup. "Look what you've done," Meng said with a smile. "Now I don't even have a place to put down the cup." He looked at Xun. "You don't have to worry about not having a chance to fight them. Your chance of fighting them is closer than you think."

Xun asked, "How close?"

Yun said, "If Brother Meng says that the time is approaching, then the time to fight them is approaching, why bother throwing punches when it's not necessary?"

Xun said angrily, "I see that the progress you promised has not been made at all. We are still hiding in this ghost place with those idiots."

Meng looked at Xun and said, "But these idiots will lead your enemies to your door. Why don't you just stay bored for a few days." Meng looked at Xun with a smile. "Soon, you will have your revenge."

Xun rushed out of the small teepee frantically.

Yun said, "I don't understand why you want to be partner with him?"

Meng looked at Yun and said with a smile, "I don't need him, what I need is his army of gorillas."

Yun followed Meng out of the tepee and came to an open field. "With your ability, do you still need him and his army of gorillas?" Yun asked.

Meng said, "I need all the people I can find to help my plan be implemented." He turned to look at Yun, stretched out his hand, and took Yun's left hand. "I hope you can understand."

Yun smiled and said, "I can wait. As long as the person I'm waiting for is you, I don't mind waiting."

Meng pulled Yun into his arms and kissed Yun's forehead. "Thank you," he said.

Hiding behind a tree not far from the small teepee. Bong gritted his teeth and said, "That liar." Bong grabbed his spear and was about to rush out to confront Meng, but his arm was blocked by Abrafo.

"What on earth are you doing?" Abrafo asked.

Bong said, "I'm going to confront that liar."

Abrafo said, "We have no idea what Meng is doing here. Why are you in such a hurry to commit suicide?" He snatched Bong's spear away from Bong's hand.

Hajime said, "Abrafo is right, rushing out will do more harm than good. The person who walked out before Meng and Lady Yun, was named Xun, and he was the leader of the Taka tribe."

Yul looked around and saw a lot of tents and teepees in a large clearing. There were a lot of bandits walking around, but he didn't see any gorillas. He said, "Where are his gorilla army?" He turned to look at Ya. "Did that person bring any gorilla with him?"

Ya said confusedly, "I have never seen that hairy man, the man and the woman before." She looked at the five Tanzanies. "This is the first time I've seen them."

U-ri said, "So, those three people must just arrived. If those three people were here, then things wouldn't be good or easy." He stroked his beard several times. "I don't know what the relationship is between Meng and Malik, or what the relationship between Malik and Dongxue Village."

Hajime said, "Malik is a merchant, and Xun may be here to sell some people from Dongxue Village. Lady Ya, are there any dwarfs among the prisoners?"

Ya shook her head.

Yul said, "Then Xun may have other purposes for coming here." He turned to Ya. "Lady Ya, where are the people you mentioned who need our help?"

Ya said, "They barricaded themselves inside that pagoda." She pointed to the three-story pagoda standing alone on the mountainside.

Yul asked, "Then why haven't they attacked your cousin and the others yet?"

Ya said, "I'm not sure, but Malik's people seem to refuse to break into the pagoda."

U-ri said, "You need to get in touch with your cousin, we need to make an escape plan."

Bong asked, "How far is it from here to Maka's territory?"

Ya said, "If we are on horseback, we can reach the mountain pass at the very beginning of the first twilight."

Bong sighed and said, "If that's the case, I suggest we have more than one contingency plan."

Yul said, "Let's take a good look at this landmark and make a plan." He turned to Hajime. "Abrafo, U-ri and I need to see the view from above."

U-ri said, "We would be less noticeable, so let's wait until after the sun goes down."

While waiting for Yul, Abrafo, and U-ri to complete their reconnaissance of the area, Bong stared at Michio and Ya cooking by the campfire. Then he looked at Hajime, who was sitting alone by the tree. He thought to himself that Hajime's child must be Yul, but it seemed that Abrafo had taken great care of Hajime since they met.

Not only that, before leaving the last village, Abrafo was making sure that Hajime had enough food. So, as he saw it, Abrafo looked more like the father of Hajime's child.

Bong decided that rather than continue to think about the issue and let it bother him, he would walk up to Hajime and ask him directly.

"So," Bong said, sitting down next to Hajime, but instead of looking at Hajime, he focused on Michio and Ya. "Whose baby, is it?"

Hajime turned to looked at Bong. "What?" Hajime said in surprise. "Sorry, I do not understand what you mean."

Bong sighed and said, "Who is the father of your child?" He pointed to Hajime's belly. "Is the child Abrafo's?"

Hajime looked at Bong strangely and asked, "Why do you think the child is his?"

Bong said, "He has brought a lot of baby products recently. I asked him and he said they were for his son. The only person I know who is about to have a baby is you."

"Oh, I didn't know he actually bought baby stuff. We agreed not to buy anything until the baby was born because we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl yet," Hajime said.

Bong breathed heavily and closed his eyes, trying to control his anger. "So, if the child in your belly is his, then why are you so close to Yul?" Bong asked, trying to make his tone sound as steady as possible.

Hajime said, "I'm close to everyone here." He turned to look at Bong's gloomy expression. "Even you. So, I guess if everyone thinks my baby is theirs, that's normal."

Bong said, "This is not the point. The point is..."

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew past them, Hajime and Bong looked in the direction and saw the eagle with Yul, Abrafo and U-ri landing a few feet away from them.

Abrafo happily jumped off the eagle's back and rushed towards Hajime. He held some small branches full of persimmons in his hand and waved to Hajime. "Hey, Hajime," he said cheerfully. "I brought you some fruits. I bet; my son is hungry." He handed the branches full of fruits in his hand to Hajime.

Hajime took the branches with the persimmons and said, "Thank you."

"Make sure you have enough food and don't let my son go hungry," Abrafo said.

Hajime stood up, smiled and said, "I know." He walked towards Yul and U-ri.

Abrafo looked at Bong and found that Bong was unhappy. "Don't be jealous," he said with a smile. "I also left some for you." He put his hand into his robe, took out two persimmons, and threw them to Bong.

Bong caught the two persimmons and looked up at Abrafo angrily. He asked, "Are you sure your son and lover have enough to eat?"

Abrafo looked at Hajime and then back at Bong. He smiled and said, "My son and my lover have enough to eat. Although my lover is much older than my son, my lover is very capable of taking care of himself, heh... heh..."

Bong angrily crushed the two persimmons in his hand into mush and threw the two mushy persimmons at Abrafo's feet. "Go to hell," he said, and walked over to the others sitting around the campfire.

Abrafo angrily said, "Hey, if you don't want to eat them, you have no reason to do this. Do you know how hard it was for me to get this?" He hurriedly followed Bong.

Bong rushed over quickly and sat in between U-ri and Hajime. He asked, "What's the plan?"

Abrafo caught up with Bong, only to find that Bong was already sitting between Hajime and U-ri, so he sighed angrily and stared at Bong.

Yul said, "We found a large open space behind the pagoda overlooking the cliff."

U-ri said, "To avoid being caught and fighting Malik's men, I advise those hiding inside the pagoda to jump off the cliff."

Ya said, "That won't work. They will die if they jump off the cliff."

U-ri said, "We have thought of this, so Hajime must summon his eagles and birds to help us."

Hajime said, "Some of the feathers I got were burned off by the fire, but I think it should be enough." He turned to look at Ya. "Are you sure there are only ten people hiding in that pagoda?"

Ya said, "Yes, I counted before I left. Including my cousin, there are only ten people."

Hajime said, "I'll see what I can do."

After dinner that night, Hajime and Yul sat under the tree together. Hajime took out all of his craftsmanship and collected items from his bag, placed them in front of himself, and started counting.

"Are you going to have enough?" Yul asked.

Hajime said, "After doing the math, I think it should be more than enough. Each eagle can carry three people, and I still have many peacock feathers." Hajime begun picking up his crafts and the feathers when he felt a strong kick to his right ribs. Hajime groaned in pain.

Hearing Hajime's painful groan, Yul turned to Hajime and saw Hajime's pale face biting his lower lip. Yul felt worried. "Hajime," Yul said worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Hajime snorted lightly and said, "Meiji has been very active recently."

Yul said, "Let's change the rescue plan to a different night."

"Whether plans change or not, we have no control over when Meiji decides to punch or kick," Hajime said with a smile.

Yul sighed, grabbed Hajime's hand and said, "If you feel uncomfortable, I don't want you to use your power." Holding Hajime's hand inside his, he raised it, and kissed the back of Hajime's hand. "I'm worry that if you used too much internal energy, you'll faint and this time... I will not be there to catch you when you fall."

Hearing Yul's words, Hajime was both happy and heartbroken. He was heartbroken because for as long as he could remember, no one had ever been this kind to him. He felt happy because, ever since he met Yul, tonight, the words that came out of Yul's mouth were the sweetest words he had ever heard in his life. Although in the past, Yul said many sweet and unforgettable words, which he written them all in his heart, but tonight, Yul's action, the words that came out of Yul's mouth, and the look in Yul's eyes, made him understand the true meaning of unconditional love.

Hajime grabbed Yul's hand and said softly, "Yul..."

Yul looked at Hajime and found that Hajime had tears in his eyes. Although Hajime tried his best to hide his tears, the light of the flames made Hajime's wet tearful eyes appear brighter than the moonlight.

"Hmm..." Yul replied.

Hajime said, "I want you to know that for someone like me, meeting you and having the opportunity to be loved by you is the greatest gift I have ever received in my life." Hajime looked up at Yul with a smile. "Sometimes, you may not be there for me in every situation, but you are always here." He placed Yul's hand on his left chest. "Therefore, no matter what the situation, I will not be afraid or regret it."