They were doomed. The heavy steps of the guards continued to move forward, with their hollers echoing through the plains.
They should've made a plan, the moment those guards were distracted by the conversation that revolved solely on blackmail, would have been enough time to escape. However, the fear of any sort of sound making its way to the two angry guards, stopped them from making any movement.
The crunch of the leaves, the snap of a twig, breathing, it all became a taunt. They felt that the slightest action produced would be a huge impact in alerting the guards of their presence. It all became useless as the minutes passed, for they moved closer and closer to the area that they remained hidden.
Shu gazed at Altan, resolve making her way to her features, as she gave him a glare that portrayed a message of staying put. She moved withdrawing herself out of the comfort of the thicket towards the two men. Looking back at Altan in fleeting desperation, she noted the protest shown on his features before she flickered back to the path that held the two men.
The snapping of the twigs caused the shouts of the men to recede focusing on the shadow that approached them, carefully Shu put a facade. Pitiful, startled, angry, curious, which emotion would create a situation ideal for her? There was no curfew for the field slaves, they were left unsupervised for where could they run too when their roots was closely associated to the Xia estate. There was a guard at present that could easily identify her from being a decoy, therefore leading them off the trail that contained Altan should be fairly easy.
"I happened to hear you men yelling... is there some sort of problem?" Shu asked, sounding quite fake to anyone that would know her personally, yet real enough for individuals that were considered strangers to her. The men stared for quite a while, not seeming to register how a small young slave girl had enough courage to question a situation to guards of the Xia's.
Zhang was the first to snap out of his revere, angrily marching towards the girl in a fashion that showed intimidation. "What are you doing up, little slave? What gave you the right to waltz and question our motives?"
Shu met his gaze blankly, analyzing his course of action with a calculative stare. Creating tension in Zhang's shoulders that lead to a shudder at the sudden memory of a young girl that beheld the same colorless gaze as the one before him.
Backing away slightly he let out a sputter "Y-You arrived from the mixed blood auction, correct?"
Surprised at the sudden inquiry, she nodded. Searching her memory to try and understand how this man was able to familiarize himself with her origin.
Suddenly, Shu gasped retracting her steps from the guard. He had been apart of the guards that escorted the children to be presented to the General Xia for evaluation. This guard, Zhang, had been quite brutal to all of the children throughout the duration of their journey to here.
Although, there was hardly a doubt that Shu wouldn't run into him, it still felt odd just like it had with the guard named Jun.
Zhang than proceeded to turn red, propelling himself to the small girl. "You caused us all to gain a whipping, girl!" he said enraged, however before the tackle made contact with Shu, hands held the large guard back.