They headed out the next day, heading north and following Brian and Wonpil's orbs. Minhyuk led the way in his animal form with Brian on his back while Wonpil was behind him with Sungjin on his back.

"How much farther?" Asked Sungjin as they stopped somewhere to rest a bit, Brian and Sungjin getting off of Minhyuk and Wonpil's backs. Going from the western to the northern side of the kingdom was taking a bit long because they were heading towards the mountains, and there was no real straight path to where Dowoon was. "Chen says another half day," said Brian. Wonpil rubbed his snout with his paw before nodding in agreement.

Minhyuk and Wonpil shifted back to human form as Sungjin handed them both some water. They drank greedily from the bottles they had been given before handing the bottles back to Sungjin. "We need to stop by a river," said Sungjin as he checked the water supply. "Fine with me," said Wonpil. "It's getting dark," he said. "Do Chen and Xiumin know where a river is?" Asked Minhyuk. "Yeah, there's one just that way," said Wonpil who pointed. "Just another half mile or so that way anyway," he said.

"Want to book it there in animal form or do you want to get dressed and go in human form?" Asked Brian. "Either way we have to put our clothes on," Wonpil said with a sigh. "Let's get dressed and head that way," he said, looking at Minhyuk who nodded. Sungjin threw them some of his spare clothes and Minhyuk and Wonpil went to put them on. Once they were back Brian and Wonpil led the others to the river.

Once there Sungjin went to get firewood with Brian while Minhyuk went to hunt for dinner for them. Wonpil was left to fill up their water supply and get ready to boil the water. Brian and Sungjin came back after a few minutes with firewood and Sungjin set up a campfire before grabbing a pot and making a makeshift hanger with some sticks and sticking the handle of the pot onto the hanger and making sure it would hold. Brian lit the fire with a snap of his fingers and a small spark of electricity and Wonpil came over with the refilled bottles and dumped the water into the pot to boil.

Minhyuk came back with a deer, before going to hop into the river to wash the blood off his body. When he came out Wonpil threw him a towel and some clothes. He went to dry himself off and put the clothes on. Sungjin and Brian went to skinning and gutting the deer, getting the steaks and cooking them in a pan over the heat.

"Well," said Sungjin as he checked the fire to see if it'll last them most of the night. "We need to find a way across," he said, looking at the river. "Mm," said Wonpil as he looked at the river. "I think we'll find a way across," he said. "If Xiumin and Chen can lead the way tomorrow," he said. "I'm sure they will," said Sungjin as he checked on the boiled water to make sure it was cool enough to put back into the containers. He then put the rest into bottles and threw one at each person. "It's almost done cooking," when Minhyuk looked at the deer steaks they had scavenged. "One for each of us tonight," said Brian as he looked at Sungjin. Sungjin nodded. "At least, until we can get into a town, or we find Dowoon," he said.

"Why the hell did he come up north anyway?" Grumbled Brian as he sighed. "North was home," said Sungjin. "Remember? We all grew up in the north," he said. "Or did you forget already?" He asked, his head tilting to the side before he gave everyone their share of deer steaks. Everyone started eating.

"North was home," echoed Wonpil as he looked at his food. "I remember home too," he said. "Why did we go to the capitol?" He asked. "Because," said Sungjin as he looked at the fire. "We had to do our mandatory military service," he said. "And then we ended up being chosen for the king's guard," said Brian as he too looked at the fire. "Mm," said Wonpil. "In a way we're going home," he said after a minute as he looked away from the fire and towards the river. "Basically," said Sungjin as he looked away from the flames.

"Was home life hard for you guys?" Minhyuk asked after a minute. "Not really," said Sungjin. "It had its ups and downs but we all came together as a group because we were those kids, not quite adult but not really out of the kid stage," he said. "Jae's the oldest, then me, then Brian, then Wonpil, then Dowoon," he said. "Even though Jae's the oldest I ended up becoming the leader," he said, shrugging. "Our town was poor, but we did what we could to get by, I picked up playing the guitar as a hobby," he said. "Once all of us were able we went to the capitol to start our mandatory military service," he said. "And get into the King's guard," he said. "We stuck together as a group, that's what the king wanted," he said.

"We've been with the king for years now," said Brian. "He sent 4 of us out, leaving Sungjin to the capitol because of his wife being pregnant with twins," he said. "It's sad," said Sungjin as he looked at the fire. "That she died giving birth to the twins," he said. "One day we'll see the twins," said Wonpil. Sungjin gave a bitter laugh. "One day," he said. "You already see them," he said, looking at Wonpil and Brian. "It's not the same as seeing them in person hyung," said Brian as he put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll make it through this," he said. "And we'll live to see the twins," he said.

"I'll keep first watch," said Minhyuk as Sungjin went to lay under a tree. "Sure," said Wonpil and Brian. "Wake one of us if it's our turn," said Sungjin. "Will do," said Minhyuk.