Taken (historical, violent)

"Satsuei," he whispered to her, directly in her ear, one more time as he finished branding her. She was screaming out of her mind though, and then there was the crying...stupid brats...so he wasn't sure she actually heard him.

He removed the hot metal from her back and handed it back to his guard. "Done," he announced with a cruel smile and threw her to the floor.

"Now..." He scanned the room and, enthralled with the moment, moved as if in a dance, eventually running his hands along the bookshelves. "What do we have here?"

He plucked a book out of the shelf and scanned it leisurely. "History?" he questioned.

He slammed the book shut and tossed it in the fire. He looked back at the woman he had deposited on the floor. "Let's watch your history burn, shall we? We'll get to see what pretty colours it might make."

---

Okay, so I started it with just this. Obviously, this picks the story up from the branding we had in the flashback scene in the other thread.

If you are stalking reading this thread and aren't Yeosin or I, this takes place in the period of Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945). It probably won't be pleasant.

This thread is for the purpose of figuring out what exactly did happen, for the purpose of our other thread. Basically. So that one is on a kind of hold for now, I guess.

Thank you.

She had tried so hard not to scream, not to give him that satisfaction, but the feeling of the hot iron burning into her skin was too much. More than that, it was what was being burned into her body that hurt. That name was not hers. She was being forced, along with her children, to take a Japanese name. As he threw her to the ground, she let out a strangled sob. Her robes fell in a disheveled pile around her, thankfully avoiding the tender skin. Her children were screaming, but she did not move to comfort them.

He walked to her bookshelf and pulled out a book at random, tossing it into the fire. He wanted to watch her history burn to ashes. She watched as the flames licked cruelly at the pages so painstakingly written. No. She did not want to see everything she worked to create vanish before her eyes. Colors? The only colors Kiku would ever see were the black of smoke and ash and the red of blood and flames. When those colors fade, all that will be left is the white of her rage. Who did he think he was, taking over her home?

"First Ivan-nim, and now you. How dare you, Honda Kiku? I am not some wretch for you to trample over. I am Yeosin Godae, and Korea is mine," she snarled, pulling herself to her feet.

She lunged at the man as he continued to throw her history into the fire. Her hands clenched around his neck, her strength recovering for a brief moment.

"An Empress does not bow down to dogs like you."

Kiku made a "che" noise when that one was brought up. It was slightly infuriating to be compared to...Russia. Something about that man just made him...angry as of late. But he kept his face neutral.

Then she made some...ridiculously outrageous claims. And backed it up by attempting to strangle him.

He grabbed both her wrists and pulled them away, twisting them. "I'm stronger than you," he stated. Just...stated. He didn't need to prove anything with his words, he was proving it with his arms.

"Empress? What a joke. You are no Empress, I have already stripped you of that," he reminded her.

He gave a short laugh. "If you were...IF you were...you wouldn't be the first Empress to die here, would you?"

---

Referrence to the assassination of Empress Myeongseong by Japanese agents in 1895.

And God...I realized I used nothing but "he" in my first post...so bad...it's like my typing doesn't want it to be Kiku...

Oh, Kiku...

*hugs Kiku* *gets denied hug* *cries in a corner*

Him? Stronger than her? Ridiculous. She would show him.

"Once an Empress, always an Empress," she spat in his face.

But then, he had to bring her up.

"You mean, she wouldn't be the first Empress you killed."

Her anger grew. She threw him off her in a fit of rage. She remembered that day. That woman had stood up against Japan, and for that, she paid dearly.

"Did it anger you, Kiku? She hated you. She chose to strengthen ties with Ivan-nim and the Russian Empire just to keep you away. It must have hurt your pride, having her chose Ivan-nim over you. But you know why she did it, don't you? Because you are nothing but a mangy mutt who doesn't know his place."

Yeosin grinned. She knew he and Ivan-nim were not getting along, especially after their fight, but if that's what it took, she wouldn't hesitate to go down that road.

She spat at him. The bitch spat at him.

And then she actually managed to throw him off.

Fine. If she wanted him to be rough, he would. He would use his full strength. She wouldn't be able to stand up against him anymore. His country was gaining military force and power, becoming an Empire. Hers was weakening. She was crumbling.

He wiped his face.

And then that grin. How dare she grin at him and say those things?

"I'd like to remind you who won the war between me and him," he told her, advancing back on her and grabbing her arms against her struggling. "I am stronger than...Russia" he spat the word "and I am certainly far stronger than you."

He twisted one of her arms so far back, he finally heard a satisfying crack.

"As for your former Empress, I didn't kill her personally, but you are making me wish I had."

He came in close and bit her ear at the very top. "I could do worse things to you, you know."

With that, he let go again and kicked her to the ground.

Her grin didn't falter, even as he grabbed her. It looked like she hit a sore spot. Kiku may have won the war against Ivan-nim, but the Russian still managed to get under his skin. It was satisfying, being able to irritate him like that.

Then she felt her arm snap. She clenched her teeth and leveled him with a glare. She knew he didn't kill her Empress, but she'd be damned if she still didn't blame him for it. After all, he was his country, right?

But when he leaned in and nipped at her ear, hard, she froze because what he said was true. There were worse things that could be done. The question was, how far would he be willing to go to gain control of her country? How many people would he kill, torment? Lost in thought, she was slammed into the ground, hissing as he kicked her.

"I would like to see you try," she sneered. "Silbeo!"

In the shadows, her beloved wolf howled. He snarled before pouncing on Kiku. Yeosin took the chance to fling two books at the guards heads. While they ducked, she grabbed her children and ran from the room. If she could just find the other twins!

"Come, Kiku. Try to catch me if you dare."

Kiku was a bit dazed from the pounce of the wolf. When he managed to get it off of him, Yeosin had gone. Her children had gone with her. He put his head in his hands.

"Are you okay, Nippon-sama?" he was asked by one of the guards.

"...Yes, I am fine. Thank you," he replied after a moment.

"Should we go after Ye- Satsuei?"

Kiku looked back at the guard and his eyes cleared of the temporary confusion they had shown, just as that name was said.

"I can't imagine where she thinks she can run," he commented. "But, yes, we probably should."

He sighed and dusted off his pants. If anything, dust actually showed on the black easier than on the white...a mild annoyance, but still.

The bigger annoyance was that he was being played with. As if that woman had the freedom to just play games...

She wanted to laugh. The look on his face when Silbeo attacked! That obnoxious brat got what he deserved.

That woman's death still stung. Those Japanese dogs had killed that woman and desecrated her body in her own palace! Tears of hate stung her eyes. She remembered well the following year. She, the King, and the Crown Prince all fled to the Russian legation in Seoul. For a time, she believed Russia, now that Yao was no longer her protector, would at least keep her and her family from harm. But it was not to be. He lost. That giant bear lost to a dog. How pitiful.

But then, where did that leave her? She knew the truth. While Kiku wanted to believe her land was rightfully his, she knew. He had forced her Emperor's hand through threats and force. But she'd be damned if she gave up. Her children were dissatisfied. She could feel their anger sending her blood into a boil.

She finally stopped running when she reached her sons' room, placing them down and ushering them inside. Nambu and his brother were both there, the teenagers poised for attack.

"Relax, it is just me," she smiled at the two.

"Yeosin-nim, the people are restless," Nambu said.

"A fire has been lit. How long before it burns us to the ground?" his brother asked.

"How long indeed?" she mused, hugging her sons close.

---

I kinda of vaguely referenced some events leading up to the "present day." After the assassination, the king and prince did spend a year ruling from the Russian legation. Years later, Russia and Japan battled it out for ownership in the Russo-Japanese war.

I'll give it a while longer since we just started this thread, but eventually, March 1st is gonna roll around.

"Spread the word that I want her found, would you?" he asked the guards. "And make sure to keep an eye on her. Anyone other than me trying to capture her will probably only get that person hurt. Don't do anything stupid."

He gave them both a serious look.

"It's important that we know where she is. It isn't as important that she is in our hands. She's effectively in our hands anyway. She has nowhere to run. She has no allies. I'll...deal with her."

He was fairly confident that she was still inside, however. There was a full guard placed at all gates. Although it would be possible for her to get through them, it was far less possible to do so without him finding out.

He thought for a moment. Should he search the rooms? He would probably find her. He could teach her a lesson.

Or perhaps he should let her go for awhile, and it would teach her a lesson about the futility of her efforts...

"Eomma, why did that man hurt you?"

Yeosin looked at her sons. One was serious and cold, but the other was quite lackadaisical and warm. They were like North and South, her children. She sighed, brushing the hair out of the North's face.

"Do not worry, child. Eomma won't let him hurt you," she avoided the question.

"Hurt?" Jeonsa, the younger of the twin guards snarled.

Yeosin pulled her robes tighter around her, wincing slightly. Jeonsa stomped over to her, roughly pulling on the back of her robes until they revealed a single name, an angry red stain on white skin. Jeonsa froze, a horrible, twisted expression on his face.

"Hyeong-nim! What do you think you are doing to Yeosin-nim?" Nambu rushed over reaching to pull his brother away. His hand froze before it could reach Jeonsa.

"When I get my hands on that..." Jeonsa began before remembering Yeosin's children were present.

"He has...branded you?" Nambu choked out.

"...yes. I imagine it is only a matter of time before he comes looking for me. No matter what happens to me, you must protect my sons. Is that understood?" Yeosin commanded.

"Yes, Empress," they replied.

"But you know, we will not let him take you away. You are our Empress, not some dog's plaything," the twins' eyes narrowed.

"Militarily speaking, I don't know that we have much choice in the matter."

The guards left him, and Kiku was now alone in the room. Alone with himself.

He took another look at the books on the shelves. Not all of them were in Korean. Chinese, Russian, even his own language. Though he knew the last was certainly not for any love of it.

He took out a Russian book from the shelf and threw it in the fire for his own petty amusement. But it didn't grant him much so he turned away, bored.

He was glad when he heard a report that voices had been heard coming from the her sons' room. Of course she would go there.

But the number of voices in the report didn't quite fit. Who else did she meet with?

"Just have someone keep an eye on the door," he instructed. "I'll decide what I want to do."

---

Meh...*throws Russia in fire*

I can't seem to write well right now...meh. I don't know...anyways.

To comment on before, March 1st will not be pretty.

"I don't understand! Why don't we fight back?" Jeonsa growled.

"You know as well as I do that our military is not in the best state at the moment. In fact, it is the Japanese who are trying to train some of them," Yeosin sighed.

She watched her children. Would Kiku brand them too? She hoped not. Even Kiku had to have enough heart not to. The question was, should she count on him leaving her sons alone? No. She could no longer trust the boy.

"Nambu, Jeonsa, it is time for us to move on. We must find a way out of this palace," Yeosin stood. "Each of you is to take one of my sons and protect them with your life. Kiku and his men are, under no circumstances, to get a hold of them. Take the secret passage that links to your rooms. They should not be guarded."

"What about you Yeosin-nim?" Nambu asked.

"I can take care of myself. Now, go. That is an order."

When they had left, Yeosin smirked. Like hell she would sit and wait for Kiku to finally decide on his move. Standing, she walked over to the window, opening it before looking down at the courtyard. The Japanese dogs were everywhere.

"Tsk. Well, no matter."

Yeosin climed up on the ledge, not bothering to pause before she jumped.

Kiku was heading down when he heard the report. She had jumped from the window? Really?

He went to deal with the woman herself and had some of his men go to the room she had been in.

Kiku reached the courtyard to find a bunch of his men strugling with her. You had to hand it to her - she sure was tenacious. She was injured though, so she wasn't getting far.

Jumping through the window in the middle of a bunch of his men...it was obviously a distraction. For her children? It must be. But Kiku was after her anyway, so her efforts didn't mean much to him.

He came through the men and grabbed her roughly. "Satsuei, Satsuei, Satsuei...a distraction? Were these theatrics really neccessary? Will you not stop until every bone in your body is broken?"

It wasn't long before he received a report that the room was empty. His expression didn't change, just slight movement of his eyes. "Start looking for secret passages or chambers," he instructed briskly.

Then he turned back to the woman in his arms. "I could help you with breaking them faster, if you want."

That hadn't gone quite as well as she had imagined it would. Did she manage to cause a bit of a commotion? Yes. Did she accidentally land in the middle of the Japanese guards instead of on the roof? Yes. Did she manage to somehow break a rib or two--damn tree branch--on the way down? Yes. Was that her intention? Clearly not.

Nevertheless, she righted herself, but the guards immediately closed in on her, grabbing her and trying to restrain her. She fought like a bat out of hell, though, kicking and punching at anyone she could lay her hands on. She was fairly certain she heard a few of their bones break too. She had nearly broken through, but was roughly caught by none other than Kiku himself. Bastard.

He acted like she wanted to break her body. Scowling, she struggled while he spoke to a messenger. Apparently, they found her sons' room. Kiku wanted the passages they used to escape found. She snorted. Good luck. Nambu and Jeonsa weren't that stupid. Growling, she struggled more. He still had a strong hold on her, his arms wrapped firmly around her to prevent her from striking him.

Furious, she bit him. Hard. Was that blood? Heh.

"Stay away from my children Kiku. Or have you become a monster who even harms children?" Yeosin spat.

As she twisted and looked at him, she froze. What a terrible expression. Fearful for her children, she swallowed her pride. Just this once.

"You...you already have me to torment, so what do you need them for?"

---

I'm sorry. I tried to post last night, but I have this nasty habit of falling asleep at my computer. It was 12:40 am, but now, it's suddenly 7:30 am?! Gomen ne.

She bit him. Bit him and drew blood. She really was an animal.

He looked at her. What did she think he wanted to do with her boys? "It isn't neccessary to hurt them," he told her - not exactly an assurance. "However, I can't just let them go wherever. We need to know where they are. That's all."

Was that fear he sensed in her? From the great and mighty 'Empress'? So it seemed she did have that emotion. Just not for herself. Interesting.

"I'm not trying to torment you." He sighed. "But if you don't cooperate, what am I supposed to do?"

---

It's okay.

God...I was up far too late last night.

Bleh. Sucky reply is sucky. Sorry.

She let out a crazed laugh. Not trying to hurt her children? Lies. He wanted them so he could control Korea.

"You aren't trying to torment me? You branded me like an animal, Honda Kiku. You sullied my body with one of your names!" she hissed.

Did he not understand how painful that was? How much it hurt? Names were special things, important things, and he had taken hers away. What did he expect her to do? Just accept everything and let him take over?

What did he want from her?

Kiku glanced at the wound from her bite again. "You are an animal - or you act like one."

He sighed. "I don't see what your problem is with my names. It's a privledge, not a curse."

What did she know about it anyway? There were those that had taken on Japanese names that were now being forced to lose them. Granted...the reason for giving Yeosin the name Satsuei was certainly not to elevate her position. But he wasn't about to verbally agree with her. And she really didn't need to be so violent about it.

"Why do you have to fight so hard? If you just accepted this, you wouldn't be in such bad shape."

---

Blaaaaaaaaaaah. Anyways...if this is before March 1st (1919)...some people took on Japanese names previous to 1911, but there was actually segregation before the forceful assimilation. That is, all Koreans at this point were, historically, forced to keep their names, so they could be properly discriminated against.... Anyways, it wasn't until 1939 that the opposite was true. But Yeosin was a special case, I think. Considering what her new name means. And probably her children as well? But I would like this to mesh with historic fact as much as it can.

She could concede that point. At this moment, she was acting like an animal, like an angry wolf looking out for her cubs. She didn't care. She just knew she had to protect her babies. After all, it's not like there was a father they could go to for protection. Though, she supposed that used to be Yao's role, in a way, before he decided he could no longer protect his sister.

"A privilege? Don't lie to me, Kiku. Not to me. You did not give me this name to bestow a gift upon me. You branded this name into me to show ownership," she whispered harshly.

She didn't understand why this was happening. After years of fighting and fending off invasions, she tried to shut herself away from the world, becoming a hermit. But now this...

Suddenly, there was a commotion brewing. Guards were running to and fro, angry glares shot her way. From what she gathered, one of her citizens had taken it upon himself to assassinate Ito Hirobumi, the Resident-General of Korea in charge of its colonization. From the sounds of it, though, the Russians caught him and turned him over to the Japanese. There were whispers of a man named An Jung-geun and the fifteen crimes he declared Ito committed.

Yeosin's smile was small and soft, but full of pride. Waving a Korean flag, he shouted in Russian "Корея! Ура!" after completing his mission.

Lifting her head, she met Kiku head on.

"I will accept this when my children accept this. Until that day, I will be for my children, and my country, a noble patriot. Korea! Hooray!" she lovingly mimicked the words of An Jung-geon, shouting them with pride and passion.

---

I'm sorry. I used events that happened in 1909. I felt like it fit with the situation. I'm assuming, though, this is around the year we should be at for now? I don't know exactly what year you want this to be and how fast you want to progress through them. Also, I figured you were right. I'm rushing too much, so I took out the bit about the citizens being forced to change their names. We can just assume Yeosin is a special case, like you said. I'll try to be more patient in the future.

Kiku sighed. He tired of this game.

"I am starting to feel there is no point in speaking with you...you are nothing but disagreeable."

He noticed the commotion around them, but concentrated on the other nation, leaving the human problems to the humans for now. It did not require his attention.

This one on the other hand...apparently couldn't be left alone.

"You keep running away...am I going to have to lock you up to keep you?" he asked. "Because I can do that if it's neccessary."

---

I had originally thought 1910 or 1911 ish. 1909 is pretty close to that, so that's fine. But yeah...the names thing wasn't until 1939...so much later...I acutally didn't find that out until recently...that it was that late into it.

Anyways...I still do want to do a bit of a time skip at some point and do a sort of different scenario, like I explained in the PM...well, sort of started explaining...I should send you another PM and finish explaining...god...I wish I wasn't working almost every day this week...bleh.

But I want to get to a point where it makes sense to stop before doing that. Not just yadda yadda yadda time skip. But I don't know when that will happen...

Too long OOC...fail post...sorry.

"Am I going to have to lock you up to keep you?"

Yeosin didn't know what to say to that. All she could do is stare at Kiku in a masked confusion. Of course, she didn't want to be locked up. That was not the point of her confusion. Keep? What was that boy on about? She was a person. You can't just keep a person like a pet. And that sigh. What was that? He was acting like she was the source of all his troubles. He was acting like he wasn't trying to colonize her country. He was acting like he wasn't a disagreeable man who did disagreeable things.

She wanted to run away, but he still had a firm grip on her.

"I do not understand you, Honda Kiku."

Kiku stared at her as if she were an idiot. "Will you. Stay somewhere. Where I know where you are. Without. Me locking you up?" he said every bit slowly and deliberately.

It was so tiring to keep chasing her. He felt no need to lock her away, but he didn't want to have to keep running after her, and expending his energy needlessly. If they could come to an arangement, that would be ideal.

"Why must. You keep. Insisting I. Stay put?" Yeosin drawled back in just as slow and deliberate a tone.

Glaring at Kiku, she continued.

"I'm not an pet, Kiku. You can't just expect me to stay put and follow your orders like an obedient little fool. This is my palace. I am free to wander as I please. I do not have to notify you of all my comings and goings. In fact, all of Korea is mine to roam."

She grimaced at the thought of being caught and confined by either a room or rules set forth by that arrogant boy. She stared hard at him, trying to read his expression. He looked tired. She just didn't know why he kept after her. What was he gaining from doing so? There must be a catch or something. Just what was Kiku getting from this? He could take over her land without her present. So why was he so insistent on keeping her nearby? Just what did he need her for?

"Why do you insist on chasing after me?"

Why? Who knew? Kiku wasn't entirely certain himself. And he didn't feel the need to explain it to her.

"You don't need to stay put," he told her. "But I will keep an eye on you, and if you keep causing me problems, I will do something about it."

He moved one hand to her face to trail his fingers down her chin. The other hand still held her roughly.

"Once again, I remind you that I could do worse things. I don't have to be this...nice. You can be free to roam wherever you wish, but I will have eyes on you. And if you do anything to stop that, or cause a...spectacle like this again...then I will have to take more serious measures."

Yeosin laughed.

"Is that a challenge? Hmph. Fine. Just stay away from my children, dog," she sneered.

She freed herself from his grip, smacking away his hand on her face. Holding herself straight and proud, despite the dull ache of pain. She headed for the main gate. She needed to get out and find her children and the twins. Again. No doubt they had already escaped the palace compound and the watchful eyes of the Japanese dogs.

She was almost to the gate. She loved her palace dearly, but she needed to get away. She needed to get away from him.

Of course it wasn't meant to be a challenge. Was the woman mad? She was still running from him. Despite the fact that she was injured and weakening.

He could easily outrun her. Her escape was meaningless.

But then again...

If she was allowed to run, where would she run to? If she thought she had escaped him, would she inadvertantly lead him to her children?

He still remembered the art of shinobi. He used it to track her quickly and silently from a distance.

This might prove interesting.