“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Sowon hissed. She was hanging under a sheep. With nothing but her fingers clutching the white wool holding her up and her legs folded and tucked to her chest, she was struggling not to lose her grip on the tangled wool. The girl wrinkled her nose. Every time she took a breath in, the odor of unclean farm animal followed in. Also, her grip was slipping– she wondered how much longer she had to hold on.

Chanyeol was also upside down, hanging under a black sheep next to her.

“Haven’t you read the book ‘Odysseys?’ This is how the main character escaped the Cyclops,” Chanyeol whispered back. Sowon frowned. She had never heard of that book. She hoped that trick’s success wasn’t limited to the story, though.

They were under the sheep in a huge cart. An old farmer with a long white beard was driving the cart with two horses attached to the front. He seemed to be going into the city to take the animals to a butcher or a cloth-maker. The horses were so old and slow that it had been pretty easy to sneak into the cart. The sheep had been so peaceful and dim-witted that they hadn’t bleated in alarm.

When Sowon finally heard the rough voice of a man – probably one of the Yang guards at the gates – she held her breath. Fear shot through her for the first time since Chanyeol came up with the idea of hiding under sheep.

The cart had slid to a smooth stop. “Your business?” The tone of the guard seemed almost bored.

“I’m, eh, getting my sheep, eh, to Woozi.” The farmer’s voice was hoarse from old age. Sowon assumed Woozi to be either the city’s butcher or cloth-maker. “I can, eh, pass, yeh?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the same guard muttered. The cart continued on, and Sowon started breathing again.

“Wait.” Sowon froze at another man’s voice. The cart stopped again. Sowon turned her head slightly to meet Chanyeol’s brown eyes. He seemed as equally as confused as her.

Silence ensued. Sowon felt like she could only hear her breathing, which was growing rapid due to her increasing anxiety. She held her breath.

“Proceed.” The sudden sharp order nearly made her lose her grip. The cart lurched back into motion.

Sowon turned her head to stare at Chanyeol with wide eyes. “What just happened?” she mouthed.

Chanyeol’s brow was furrowed. He said nothing until a few minutes passed. “I think he used some kind of sensor to make sure it was ‘safe,’” he whispered. Sowon frowned, unease creeping into her spine.

The dull pain in Sowon’s fingers from gripping onto the wool so tightly began to become almost unbearable. She wondered if it was possible for her fingers to fall off. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to distract herself from the pain in her finger joints.

Chanyeol, meanwhile, was regularly stealing peeks from under the sheep. Glancing at Sowon after another minute or so, he lifted his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner. “We get off here. As quietly as we can.”

Promptly, Sowon let go of the sheep, falling onto the bottom of the wooden cart with a soft thud. Thankfully, the floor was covered generously with hay that was as filthy as the sheep, but still it was a softer landing than wood. She rolled out from under the smelly animal and fell with another thud on the ground of the dirt pavement. This time, her breath was knocked from her. Momentarily wondering if a bruise was going to form on her back, she laid on the ground in a daze. A familiar face framed with curly brown hair filled her vision. She felt herself being pulled up.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol’s worried voice snapped her out of her daze.

Shaking her head as if snapping herself back into reality, Sowon replied in a hoarse voice, “I’m fine.” She turned to survey her surroundings. They were in a little alley with run-down houses surrounding them. There wasn’t a trace of a Native nearby and the cart that had carried them into the Kingdom was fading away into one of the numerous alleys that branched out in front of them.

Sowon could smell smoke and the foul odor of uncleanliness. Running her eyes down the houses a second time, she could see how unfit for living they were. There was less glass than empty space in the windows and several holes in the wooden or clay walls were patched up with sheets of filthy paper that seemed to be teeming with vermin. The smell of rotten wood nearly made Sowon gag. This was the Kingdom of Yang?

“This is the, um, suburban of the Kingdom. Where all the peasants live.” Chanyeol’s voice made her turn to face the boy. “It gets better the further we get in – the actual Castle is surrounded by huge manors of the lords and dukes. Well, now they’re mostly occupied by Yin soldiers. I guess the living standards of the peasants got even worse after the Yin took over. I’m pretty sure they weren’t this drastic.” He couldn’t help wrinkling his nose as he spotted a dead cat with prominent ribs surrounded by flies a few feet away in front of the back door of a house. The door looked like it would fall off its hinges any moment.

Sowon nearly jumped as she felt Chanyeol grab her hand. “Let’s head toward the inn now. I think I’ll throw up if we stay here any longer.” His face was dark, as if condemning those who had made the peasants’ situation so abysmal.

Chanyeol navigated the two through a series of complex alleys. The stench and sights of the slums made empathy and outrage flicker into life in Sowon’s heart. She would help save these people from their current living conditions. Then her thoughts drifted to her sister. As soon as she found Chaewon, she would help these people. Although her main goal was saving her, saving these people too just felt right.

As they got closer to the Castle, the surroundings did change drastically. Instead of tiny hovels, there were markets. Booths and tiny tents surrounded a wide dirt road. They were of all different sizes and color, like mismatched rainbow-colored blobs. On tables and displays were items or food Sowon had never seen before. There was a display of knives with blades of unusual shapes and the handles were decked with sparkling stones. Another booth was apparently selling small trays of what looked like delicately decorated cookies and seemed more like artwork than food. One tent that particularly caught Sowon’s eye was one with gorgeous vases and ceramic jars with intricate designs painted on their surfaces on full display in front of it.

Instead of the stench of desperation, Sowon could detect the aroma of various spices and delectable dishes. In the near distance, Sowon could see actual buildings made of brick or stone that didn’t look like they were on the verge of collapsing. The further inside, the nicer the buildings were. However, the unfortunate fact was that there were also more people. The bustling of Natives and various conversations overlapping each other greeted the two kids.

A cold sweat broke out on Sowon’s forehead. What if someone stared at them and got suspicious? However, Chanyeol’s tight grip on her hand somewhat calmed her. He confidently pulled her into the throng of Natives and headed further inside the Kingdom. Anyways, they had eaten the Meriwinkle berries and rubbed dirt and dust on their skin. They almost camouflaged with the Natives.

Sowon got to see the Natives for the first time. Most of them had slightly darker skin than hers. Although their skin color was the similar, their eye and hair colors were drastically diverse. Though Sowon struggled not to stare, unusual colors drew her eyes. One tall man had a fiery red beard and a shining bald head while the old woman walking beside him had almond-shaped purplish-blue eyes and a bob of curly silver hair.

Sowon felt too normal with her brown hair and hazel eyes. But thankfully, no one seemed to stare. Everyone looked to be minding their own business, although each person seemed to have an aurora of wariness around them.

“Everyone looks so… unique.” Sowon had a hard time finding the right word to describe the Natives around her. She made sure that her voice was so low only Chanyeol could hear her.

“Well, the Natives still have magic flowing in their veins. Though the amount is probably less than yours or mine.” Sowon was impressed how Chanyeol talked while barely moving his lips.

Sowon turned her attention back to the crowds in front of her. Suddenly, she locked eyes with a short girl with eyes in such a pale shade of gray that they seemed almost white. Her intense stare unnerved Sowon – it seemed like the strange girl was observing her. Even more unnerving was the girl next to her who had snow-white skin, glossy light-brown hair reaching her waist, and intense gray eyes – a striking copy of the first girl. No one could mistake it – they were twins.

Not knowing whether to break the eye contact or not, Sowon felt like the background images and sounds were fading as she focused on the two girls. They were walking towards her and Chanyeol. Her heart skipped a beat and she prepared to tug on Chanyeol's hand to alert him.

“Yehet!” Chanyeol hissed. He abruptly stopped, making Sowon bump into his back. She quickly and clumsily took a few steps back and spotted the familiar tall boy with crossed arms standing in front of them. He seemed to have dusted his porcelain complexion with a brown shade of clay.

“Took you long enough,” Sehun said with a scowl of irritation planted on his face. “Although at least you guys weren’t dragged here by the Yin soldiers.” His voice had lowered into a whisper. His sharp eyes darted into the crowd as if fishing for any suspicious-looking people.

Alarmed, Sowon craned her neck to search for the twins who had been staring at her a few seconds ago. There was no sign of the pale grey eyes or the long brown hair. Biting her lip, she wondered if she should let Kris and Chanyeol know of them. Her guts told her that they weren’t normal Natives, especially since their skin had been so strikingly white. A chill swept over her. Maybe they were Yin.

“Hyun’s meeting with a bunch of… friends.” Sehun’s voice interrupted Sowon’s thoughts. Sowon turned back to see the boy raise an eyebrow. “He told me to find you two and come into the inn after the sun sets.” Traces of daylight still shone in the sky – Sowon guessed it was almost twilight.

“I don’t think he’ll want us to go around causing suspicion, but I believe we could explore a little bit and find out the situation,” Chanyeol stated. “For instance, how well-guarded this area is.” He looked around him and then suddenly pointed to a metallic building nearby. “Is that what I think it is?”

It's been way too long, readers! I've missed you guys~ ^^ How are you? Please comment below! I love to hear from you all!!!! :D