Chapter 4 of Spilled Porridge      

A/N: This chapter is rather short.

Summary: Siegfried and Seung Mina train, but an unlikely intruder appears.

            “Hey!” Siegfried chuckled as he sprinted ahead of the girl, dodging stray tree branches and shrubs as he headed towards the river. He glanced behind him to see Seung Mina falling behind. She continued to scream at him. “Hey!”

            Finally, when the river bank came into view, Siegfried slowed down, his breath becoming steady before he came to a complete stop on the edge of the river. Soon, Seung Mina joined him, panting for air. He smirked at her. The girl’s cheeks were rosy as her chest rose and fell in her breathing pattern.

            “I suppose sparring is out of the question,” Siegfried stated coyly, turning his face away from her. He wondered if she would catch his feigned tone.

            “What?!” Seung Mina exclaimed, looking up quickly. “I didn’t run all the way here just for you to refuse our training!” Then she added quite hotly, “You jerk!”

            Siegfried burst into laughter.

            “Why you!”

            Siegfried dodged a furious fist, still laughing. He timed her next action—a swift kick towards the ribs—and placed a pole with buckets on each side on her shoulders. She glanced up in surprise at his quickness, immediately forgetting about the buckets on her shoulders. The girl tumbled backwards, a cry erupting from her lips. When she recovered, her teeth were bared, her face filled with anger.

            “Siegfried!”

            He was already running off, a set of buckets filled with water on his shoulders as well. Siegfried laughed as he ran, sure that the girl would be angered with his actions. He stole a glance behind him, but he didn’t see her on the riverbank any longer.

            She’s probably wondering where I am already.

            Siegfried turned his attention forward—in time to almost collide with the infuriated Seung Mina. The pole supporting the buckets sat neatly on her shoulders, her eyes glaring at him with pure intensity. Siegfried smirked. This was where he wanted her to be, concentrated on him. She trained better this way.

            The brunette twirled around, swinging a bucket in his direction. He jumped up, scaling a tree with the buckets still steadied on his shoulders. Scurrying through the trees, Siegfried quickly found his balance and hopped from one branch to the next branch, avoiding branches that couldn’t carry his immense weight.

            He had seen trainings done similar to this one, where balance, speed, and precision were emphasized, along with fighting technique and accuracy for the advanced students. In some areas of China, they used bamboo poles, men of all ages hopping from one pole to the next, keeping their balance on the small circumference of space that was provided by the poles. He had seen the wonders of the practice; a student advanced well with incredible balance and speed as they picked up their fighting style and worked on their weaknesses during their play.

            The sound of falling branches registered in Siegfried’s mind, stealing him away from his thoughts about training. He glanced behind him. Sure enough, Seung Mina was following him, the pole with the buckets still on her shoulders.

            What a tough woman.

            Siegfried smiled, sailing in the air to the next branch. He stood rigid, watching the girl catch up with him. She faced him, the angry expression still plastered to her face. He stared at her with his blue eyes, hoping to maintain his mentality of training. Every time he looked at her, he remembered what it was like to love her. It wasn’t that those feelings of love had vanished when he had learned she was meant for another man. Instead, those feelings changed into something else. He didn’t know what, but she always dissolved any sense of…well, sense.  

            He chased the thoughts of her away as she steadied herself on the branch. The buckets swayed as she finally balanced herself on the tree branch.

            “We can stop if you want.”

            Seung Mina continued to burn a deadly hole into Siegfried’s face.

            “No.”

            Siegfried shook his head, sighing exasperatedly. “Suit yourself.” He met her stare, fire ablaze in his azure-colored eyes. “You know me.”

            “And you don’t know me.” She jumped in the air towards him. Siegfried smirked, certain that he would meet her attack with a simple counterattack.

            The girl suddenly tilted the pole downwards, allowing the empty buckets to slide off its support and tumble towards the ground below. Without the buckets holding her back, Seung Mina covered the distance between her and Siegfried more quickly.

            Uh oh.

            Seung Mina swung her new pole towards him. Siegfried had little time to counterattack her swing. Quickly, he lifted the pole on his shoulders upwards. Seung Mina’s pole came in contact with his pole, splitting it in half. Siegfried stumbled backwards, the buckets of water sliding off the broken pole halves. Siegfried fell on his rear end.

            When Siegfried looked up, Seung Mina held the end of her pole to his throat. Siegfried’s blue eyes widened as he realized what type of situation he was in. Seung Mina smirked. “Finally, I beat you!”

            Dammit.

            Siegfried stared at the girl’s smiling face. He quickly recovered his smile before laughter overwhelmed his mouth. A chuckle escaped his lips. Seung Mina began to laugh as well. In one swift movement, Siegfried pushed the pole away and grabbed Seung Mina, pulling her into his lap. His arms enclosed around the girl as he laughed.

            “Congratulations, Seung,” Siegfried chirped playfully, hugging her closely. Seung Mina seemed to melt into his arm. He felt her arms circle around his shoulders. Siegfried gazed down at the beautiful girl. “I’m proud of you.” 

            Siegfried pulled away from Seung Mina. As he pulled away, his cheek grazed her cheek. He blushed deeply as she stared up at him with glowing eyes. She still managed to make him excited just by touching him. Siegfried gently pushed her out of his lap. Seung Mina stared at him with confused eyes.

            “Um…” Siegfried fumbled, standing up on the branch. He looked away to avoid her beautiful face. “I wanted to ask you something. When will you be going back to your father?”

            Siegfried heard Seung Mina shift her weight on the branch. He peered in her direction. Gazing into the distance, the girl appeared more beautiful and graceful than ever. A troubled expression materialized across her face. Siegfried wished he hadn’t brought up the topic so quickly.

            “I don’t know,” Seung Mina answered softly, her gaze unwavering. “Maybe—”

            Siegfried’s ears picked up the noise too late.

            Seung Mina’s eyes opened in shock.

            Blood burst from Seung Mina’s left shoulder.

            Everything seemed to happen in silence.

            Siegfried stared at the event with wide eyes.

            Suddenly, all of the sound returned to his ears at the same time the pain registered in Seung Mina’s body. She screamed in pain, gripping her shoulder.

            Siegfried dove for her, but his ears picked up another noise. He ducked the attack with incredible agility.

            As Siegfried dodged the attack, his opponent’s sword cut into the supporting tree branch, slicing it in half. Without the branch attached to the trunk, Siegfried felt himself hurtling towards the ground. He turned in the air to see Seung Mina plummeting towards the forest’s floor with him.

            Although Siegfried didn’t care whether or not he survived, he did care about Seung Mina’s life. In a split second, Siegfried grabbed the falling girl and used the better part of his combat senses to grasp a protruding vine or branch.

            Suddenly, he felt hands catch his wrist, ending their quick descent towards death. They glanced up to look at their rescuer. Hwang returned their glances, his face struggling with their weight. Hwang’s legs were wrapped around a thick rope as his arms were outstretched to hold Siegfried’s large arm.

            “Jump down now.”

            Both Siegfried and Seung Mina turned their attention towards the ground. They were only a few feet from what would had been their deaths. Quickly, Hwang released Siegfried’s wrist and allowed them to jump to the ground.

            Siegfried glanced up at Hwang. “What’s going on?”

            Hwang unraveled his legs and joined them on the forest floor. “You tell me.”

            Siegfried hesitated despite his effort to refuse such wasteful emotion. “We have to leave this territory,” he announced seriously. He glanced at Seung Mina, who was still gripping her shoulder in pain. Turning abruptly, Siegfried started his way towards his home. “It’s too dangerous now.”

            “Who was it?”

            Siegfried came to a sudden halt. He turned to face them.

            “It’s Nightmare.”

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Chapter 5  >