We stopped for the night after a long journey. The ride off was fun; the princess and I enjoyed light conversations and just taking in the scenery of our route, but as all long journeys go, after a while it becomes boring and strenuous, especially with sitting on a horse for so many hours. We'd stopped at local small villages on the way for lunch and were surprised with the appearance of dancers and musicians playing merrily throughout the streets. Apparently the village was putting on a celebration for the return of some of their service men from the army. They had not seem them since they left more than a year and a half ago. It was nice to see that the villagers were so excited to have members of their community back even though on the flip side of things, some soldiers would not be returning to the land of the living.

As a member of the army myself and an officer, it was only appropriate that I paid my respects to those fallen and those returning. I could not outright pay my respects since I was with the princes and we were travelling incognito as commoners, and not royalty and Captain. I opted to pay my respects in a different way by going to the community temple and praying for the soldiers. It was a good experience for Soojung too to see a glimpse of what it meant for the men who served as protectors of the kingdom and how important their role is. Also how it is imperative to show honor to those who have died.

We didn't stay long as our trek towards Chang'an was still more than a day away. We left after visiting the temple and eating lunch at a local restaurant. By nightfall we had covered substantial amount of ground, however consequently there was no local village or city within close vicinity that we could take shelter in before total nightfall. We would have to camp out in the wilderness, which the princess vehemently refused to do. That was when I found the one weakness overall of the princess; bugs.

As you must know, taking shelter outdoors it is a given that there will be bugs and the likes of uncomfortable situations. The principle of taking shelter outdoors requires attention and levelheadedness since there are multiple things that must be done such as creating a source of warmth, building a shelter to protect from wild animals as you sleep at night and keep yourself warm, and finding a food source. Your dependence on your surrounding is important because whatever is in your area is what you have to work with. Fortunately for the princess, we were bordering a small forest with a lake and waterfall so there was a good chance of catching dinner in the lake or in the forest and creating a shelter from the trees. Unfortunately for the princess, that means there are a variety of bugs that inhabit the forest and animals that could scare her easily in the night. Which in turns leaves me to deal with a screaming princess that could alert and scatter all the animals within a kilometer's vicinity and/or alert any bandits of our location to come rob or kill us in our (her) sleep. I wouldn't allow that to happen but you get the gist.

"Why the hell are there so many bugs here!" Soojung cursed.

"Because you wanted to travel as far as you could for one day and therefore spend more less time getting there and more time in Chang'an. So you made us travel all the way out until nightfall, which consequently left us nowhere near local village or city to take shelter in except for grasslands and forests." I reminded her while busying about trying to make us a decent camp area for the night.

She huffed loudly in annoyance. It was her fault honestly for putting us in this situation but who can blame her, she was way too excited to visit the bustling city of Chang'an to see in hindsight the error of travelling all day and not stopping when it was close to dusk.

I wasn't going to complain. This wasn't any worse than what I had to deal with in the military. Better sleeping on grass and be lulled by the sound of nocturnal animals than the grunting of men, uncomfortable settings and constant alertness even when sleeping in case of enemy attack.

"Now would you please stop complaining and let me fix you a nice place to sleep for the night, princess." I said mockingly.

"Fine. I'm going to have a look around and bathe in the lake. Don't even dare to come peeping."

I glanced at her, stopped midway through what I was doing. I gave her a pointed look.

"As if." I snorted.

She proceeded to give me a pointed look again but otherwise gathered a few of her things and left.

By the time I was done I had a small fire going, a nice bedding of grass, leaves and moss. A small canopy made of tree branches and leaves latched together ingeniously without the aid of vines, leaning against the base of a large tree.

Perfect.

I was going to congratulate myself when I heard a high pitched sound coming from the direction the princess strolled off in. Grabbing my sword I ran towards the sound of the scream, fearing of possible danger to befall the princess.

When I got there I could see why the princess had screamed. There was Soojung being eyed as prey by a pack of wolves' right across the small lake. Their beady eyes trained on her not missing a beat of her movement. Teeth bared fully showing their sharpness even in the night and slowly encircling her. Three of the wolves already entering into the shallow end of the lake. My eyes darted counting the number of wolves; there were ten.  

Soojung kept backing up towards her end of the shore not taking her eyes off of the pack of wolves, but she slipped on the rock bed underneath her and came splashing down. She braced her fall with her hands however she yelped right after. Bringing her left hand to her face to inspect, there