Sowon was sitting on a grassy surface. She examined her surroundings. She could only see stretches of grass – lush, light-green grass that was soft and springy to touch. The sky was a soft, baby blue. A light breeze was blowing, bringing with it the scent of a blissful spring afternoon. It seemed like she had jumped into a picture from a storybook. It seemed too perfect to be real. A strange sense of calm washed over her.

She heard a small pop and from out of the thin air beside her, Chanyeol and Sehun came tumbling out. Sowon gaped at them – that was probably the way she landed here, too. Chanyeol shoved Sehun off of him, none too gently, and stood up with a groan. Sehun fell on his back, but immediately scrambled up on his feet, and then glared at the other boy with contempt. The two surveyed their surroundings, just like Sowon had done.

“Where’s Kris?” Sowon spoke out.

“That Yin prevented him from making it in time. If Chanyeol hadn’t been so slow……” Sehun snapped, his dark brown eyes burning at the said boy.

Chanyeol just shrugged. “It’ll be alright. The Fire Yin isn’t after him, and he’s more than capable to defend for himself. Heck, he’s probably the most skilled of all our Teammates. At the very worst, he’ll get a few burns.”

“Just because he doesn’t like you doesn’t mean you have to act like you don’t care for him!” Sehun said, heatedly.

“Hey! If I hadn’t slowed that stranger down with a Marble, Kris could’ve been left behind and badly hurt. Anyways, he’ll reconcile with Joonmyeon and bring him,” argued Chanyeol.

“Guys……” Sowon stood up between them and crossed her arms with a soft sigh. She wondered how the two lived under the same roof for several years, constantly bickering like a pair of noisy, angry sparrows. She momentarily felt sorry for Kris, who had taken them in and because of that was forced to listen to their quarrels every single day.

“So… Kris didn’t make it? Then how are we supposed to find the Yang rebels’ hideout?” Sowon took another look about her, but could only see green and blue.

“North,” Sehun immediately said, his face serious once more. “The first King was a Water Yang. He built the castle in his cardinal point over a century ago. I heard that from Kris.”

“His cardinal point?” Sowon asked.

“Each of the Elementals have their own cardinal point, colors, season, and personality. It’ll take too long to list out all of them, but in my case, mine is the west, white, and autumn. I’m also supposed to be orderly and clean-”

“And probably mean and strict,” Chanyeol interrupted, earning him a glare to shut up from Sehun.

Sehun knelt down onto the ground. He swiftly brought out a Marble and clutched it, his brows furrowing and the same weird expression on his face as he had in the mall. Sowon stared at him strangely until she realized that it was his concentrating face.

Sehun broke the Marble onto the ground. Immediately it transformed into a needle. He dug a shallow hole in the dirt. “Chanyeol,” he said in an authoritative tone, removing a wide leaf from a flower stem nearby.

Chanyeol sighed and removed a Marble from his pocket. He smashed it into the hole, and the hole filled with water. Sehun ran his finger over the metal needle. “Since I’m a Metal Yang, I have control over magnetic forces,” the black-haired boy explained to a quietly watching Sowon. “Right now I’m making the needle magnetic.” Sehun threaded the needle through the leaf and placed it flat on the surface of the small pool of water. “It’s a makeshift compass,” he told Sowon’s inquiring look.

The leaf with the needle moved slightly to the right. Sowon watched in awe. Sehun looked up and pointed to where the needle tip w/as now pointing. “Onward,” he said, quietly, pocketing the needle.

Sowon wondered if this would really take them to the Castle, or just guide them somewhere north, but decided to trust Sehun. The three trudged in the direction where the compass had pointed.

“Sowon!” Sowon heard Chanyeol’s delighted voice. She felt something light land on her head. She touched her head and feeling something soft, carefully lifted the item down. It was a wreath of small but beautiful white flowers – flowers she had never seen before. Chanyeol had been making a wreath from the flowers under their feet as they were walking.

“It’s beautiful,” Sowon said, a silk-like petal. She brought the wreath to her nose and smelled it. The flowers smelled fragrant and exotic.

“You better stop messing around and conserve your energy to what’s about to come,” Sehun snapped from in front, without turning around.

“Yes, sir,” Chanyeol said with a roll of his eyes, exaggerating the respect in his voice. He took the wreath from Sowon’s fingers and placed it back on her head. He grinned down at her. Sowon wondered how someone could be so carefree and bright. She smiled. It had been a while since she the corners of had turned up.

“By the way,” Sehun voiced out. “That was the first time I saw that Fire Yin. He was really powerful; he had all that energy left after blocking Sowon’s wind.” He was silent of a moment. “I can’t believe Joonmyeon managed to chase him away when he saved you, Sowon.”

“He even knows my name.” Despite the warm breeze, Sowon shivered.

“And now he’s sure to know you’re the Wood Yang.” Sehun let out a heavy sigh. “Chanyeol, you saw him too, didn't you?”

Chanyeol was quiet for a minute, making Sowon turn to him questioningly. He had a strange expression on his face.

His gaze turned up to the sky. Then his expression changed. “Down!” he suddenly said in a serious tone so unlike him. Shoving Sowon under him, he crouched onto the ground. The girl landed flat on her front.

Sehun looked up. He had immediately knelt to the ground after hearing Chanyeol’s order. A huge bird with magnificent, blue wings was circling above. The bird’s sharp, yellow beak was almost as big as its head. Its feet were huge and clawed. It had blue feathers all over, save the black edges of its enormous wings. Its wingspan seemed to be around the size of two grown men. Sehun squinted. It seemed like something – no, a human – was riding on top of the monstrous bird. A spark of fear ignited inside of her. What were that bird and a human doing here? She reached for her Marbles.

The bird let out a caw and swooped down. It landed gracefully on the grass, a few yards away from them. The brilliance of the blue of its spread wings stunned the teens. Sehun and Chanyeol stood at the same time, facing the bird. A human slid off its back into the shadow of the bird’s wings. The bird folded its enormous wings, making the sunlight illuminate the features of the person.

It was a man with small eyes. He was extremely skinny and had curly, black hair peeking from under his white turban. He had a gracious, benevolent look on his face, but Xianhua knew that she couldn’t immediately trust that stranger by his looks. He tipped his head to the side as he silently observed the three children.

He took a step towards them. “Stop!” Sehun cried out, dexterously removing a Marble and hiding it in his fist. “Come no closer!”

“Who are you?” Chanyeol yelled. He took a step in front of Sowon as if to hide her from view.

“That was what I was about to ask you, foreigner,” the man said in a deep, rich voice. His eyes flickered to Sowon, who was picking herself off the ground. “I am Prince Baekhyun, the last Prince of the Yang. And who may you be?”

“Why do you trust us with your name so freely when we could be your enemies? Also, I’ve never heard of a Prince. Prove that you are trustworthy,” Sehun challenged.

Prince Baekhyun paused, and then laughed. His laugh rolled like a cascade of deep, melodious sounds. Sehun's keen ears could find no trace of malice in it. He lifted his white cloak to reveal his right shoulder. Sowon widened her eyes as she saw a white sun engraved into the skin. It was the same as the Tattoo Sehun had showed her. She realized that that must be the mark of all Yangs.

“What are you doing here?” Sehun didn’t even bat an eye.

“Same to you, boy. What would three children be doing by themselves on the Great Plains? More importantly, in the middle of the battlegrounds of the Great Battle?”

Even Sehun’s eyes rounded. The grass here seemed no different from the grass they had landed on when they came here. “How do you know?” Chanyeol asked, holding up an arm to keep Sowon behind him. Sowon stared at his arm in a half-annoyed, half-perplexed way. She was not a child.

“One can see the white markings from above the ground. It seems like it hasn’t been long since you passed one of the markings and entered the battlefield.” Prince Baekhyun lifted a hand to the bird’s head. The bird barely moved. He smiled. “This is Gorgioh. He’s a waterbird, a bird species that have a grudge on the Yin. Since he’s mellow right now, I deducted that you three were no threat. Also,” Gorgioh said as he gazed at the three calmly with blue eyes, “I feel from you three the Aurora of Elementals. That could not mean anything but that you are Elemental Yang. How queer to chance upon some.”

‘That’s why he told us he was a Yang Prince from the start. It would be weird to tell strangers his true identity when Xiumin is probably after his neck. It may not be his real identity, but he doesn’t seem like an enemy. Also, he has that bird with him,’ Sehun thought. “How can you detect our Auroras?” the boy challenged, aloud.

Prince Baekhyun smiled. “It takes much practice and keen observation, Elemental Yang.”

Chanyeol blinked. He warily eyed the huge bird. “Err, but who exactly are you? What are you doing here?”

“I’m patrolling the air for any bands of Yin coming to the Yang Kingdom. Last time, some came and destroyed half of our houses there, taking gold and ancient heirlooms of various families with them.” Prince Baekhyun’s eyes burned with a fierce anger. He tightened his hold on what looked like the black hilt of a sword slung on his belt. “And none of the Yin soldiers amongst us interfered, when Xiumin claimed that they were sent to protect the Kingdom from complete destruction.”

“The Yang Kingdom? Isn’t that where the Wall of Stone is?” Sehun ventured.

The prince smiled. “How can I know I can completely trust you, although you may be Elemental Yang?” The tables were turned.

Sehun hesitated, and then slowly approached the bird. The bird stared at the boy with its huge eyes. Sehun repressed an inclination to shudder. He raised a hand uncertainly and placed it on the bird’s head, as Prince Baekhyun had done. Gorgioh moved slightly, nearly making Sehun jump, and then stayed still. “I’ve heard of this bird. It only allows honest, trustworthy people to be its master. And it automatically knows the personalities and flaws of a person when touched by him or her, making it decide who to trust. You’re right – I am a Yang, also.” Sehun pushed up a flowing sleeve to show Prince Baekhyun her Tattoo. “And I despise the Yin as much as you and your bird do. We can trust each other.”

Sowon jumped away from behind Chanyeol’s arm. “If you are a true Yang, you will be able to help us. We need the assistance of all the Yang who are still surviving. I don’t know if you really are a Prince or not, but do you happen to be part of the rebels against the Yin?” she asked, her voice clear and hopeful.

“Maybe.” Prince Baekhyun walked up to her and Chanyeol with a mysterious smile on his face. “Fine. I’ll trust you. Since Gorgioh seems to, too.” He chuckled and put a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder.

Suddenly, he removed his hand as if shocked. He stared at Chanyeol with eyes slit in suspicion, and then confusion. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped. He glanced at Gorgioh, but the bird was peacefully staring back at him. “Interesting,” the prince murmured, giving the boy a last glance and a friendly clap on the back before moving to his bird.

“What was that about?” Sowon whispered, glancing up at Chanyeol.

“Beats me.” Chanyeol had a hard look on his face.

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