‘We’re going to run out of food soon,’ Sunny commented.
They were all sitting down eating; hidden by the thick forestry around them. After they left the safe house they’d walked underground for quite a long time before coming up in a deserted forest, far from the village that surrounded the palace.
‘Don’t worry, Sunny-ah,’ Sungmin (who’d changed back into men’s clothing when they’d gotten far enough from the safe house) soothed, ‘when we were on lookout yesterday, we spotted a small rural farm village below the cliff. If luck is on our side, the rebels didn’t see fit to infiltrate such a small harmless village, leaving it free for us to go and refill our supplies.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us earlier?’ Sunny asked.
Sungmin shrugged, ‘you were at the river when we came back and besides, only a few of us are going into the village and you’re not one of the people going so I didn’t think it really mattered.’
Sunny glared at him, ‘didn’t really matter? It’s a matter of life and death!’
‘Stop fighting, you’re ruining my meal, my very small one,’ Sooyoung said.
Sunny stared at Sungmin but said no more.

The group walked down towards the outskirts of the forest after finishing their lunch.
‘So a few of us will go and the others will stay?’ Nichkhun suggested.
Minho nodded, ‘I’m going.’
‘Me too,’ Kyuhyun said.
‘Great, we have the muscle and the brains, now you need the looks,’ Yuri laughed, ‘that’s where I come in.’
Sica rolled her eyes, ‘please, that’s my job.’
‘Then do you want to go?’ Yuri asked.
‘Pfft, no. You go,’ Sica said.
‘I want to go too,’ Yoona added.
‘In that case, I’m coming,’ Nichkhun said.

‘Arasso, get changed into these.’
‘Why?’
‘Because even though our clothes are a little ripped and dirty, they’re still made of really fine material and stitching that only royals have. These ones are normal ones that normal people wear. Inconspicuous, you’ll fit right in,’ Taeyeon explained.
‘Alright,’ Nichkhun answered.
‘Thanks, unnie,’ Yoonyul said as they walked past and grabbed their clothes.
While the five got changed behind individual trees, Taeyeon kept talking.
‘When you get there, the story is that Yoonyul are twins, Kyuhyun is their brother and the other two are childhood friends. You were heading to Rui village but when you were sleeping one night, someone untied your horses and stole them, so you’ve been walking for a day without food and water. Hopefully they’ll be kind enough to spare you food, water and a few other supplies. We’re in trouble if they don’t.’
‘Why wouldn’t they spare a bit to help starving travellers?’ Tiffany asked.
‘Fany, this is a small rural village, it doesn’t look like a rich village. Under these circumstances, the chances are that they don’t even have enough food for themselves, they’re barely scraping by.’
‘Ohh…’

The small group of five walked towards the tiny rural village while the others watched them from their hiding spot on the mountain top.
‘It doesn’t look like there are any rebel soldiers here,’ Kyuhyun whispered.
Yoona shook her head, ‘we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, they could be hidden somewhere. We can’t let our guard down.’
They walked into the village which seemed absolutely deserted except for the noise coming from the centre of the small clutter of houses. When they turned the corner, they found themselves in the middle of what looked like a town meeting. The townspeople were all seated on wooden benches in a circle, children and adults alike listening intently to an old man speaking. They all stopped and turned around to stare at the royals when they heard their footsteps.

‘Who are you?’ a young man who was sitting near Kyuhyun demanded.
‘Uhh…’ Kyuhyun stuttered when he saw another man stand up and hold his sword against Kyuhyun’s neck.
‘Put the sword down,’ Minho growled at him.
‘There is no need for violence, we’re only travellers,’ Nichkhun added.
‘Then tell me who you are!’ the man with the sword yelled.
‘Stop!’ Yuri shouted, ‘Don’t touch Kyuhyun oppa.’
‘And what are you going to do about it, little girl?’ a young woman their age sneered as she pulled out another sword and held it to her neck.
Minho went to pull out his own weapons but stopped when he saw Yuri already had her dagger to the girl’s neck as the sword clattered to the ground.
‘Don’t touch me,’ she growled before pulling the dagger away and putting it back into her holder.

Yuri glared at the man who still had his sword to Kyuhyun’s neck and he obediently lowered it. Kyuhyun let out a sigh of relief.
‘We came here because we thought this was a friendly village that’d aid stranded travellers but it seems were wrong. You have been the most unwelcoming but don’t fret, we will be taking our leave now,’ Yoona said.
‘Wait,’ the old man who was talking before they’d interrupted him said, ‘we would be most gracious to help you and we do apologize for our young ones. As you’ve probably heard, the area around the palace is swarmed with the Rebels from our enemy and cannot be defeated until the Kingdom’s army arrives back from the north. The whole Kingdom is on edge, these young ones are rash and on edge to fight, they’ve mistaken you for the enemy… but I see you are not… Yuri...Yoona.’
The royals’ eyes widened and the villagers gasped in surprise.  
The old man laughed, ‘you didn’t think you’d be able to fool this old man in this disguise did you? Don’t you remember me?’

‘Omona! General Ki! What are you doing here? We missed you!’ the two girls cried and ran to hug the man.
He laughed and patted their heads, ‘still the same as always, you two.’
General Ki had once been a notorious fighter and their father’s most trusted General until he went missing in a war that until this day, they’d thought he’d died in. As the girls were growing up, he was in charge of teaching them how to fight and was like a second father to them. He often brought back gifts from the strange and foreign lands he went into battle in. Of course, Hyoyeon and Yuri always got a little something extra as they were his favourite students. It was usually a nun-chuck or two, always a reward for doing the best in fighting classes.

‘Do you know these travellers?’ one villager asked.
‘Yes… they were once my students, as you can see from her excellent skill,’ he said, pointing to Yuri, ‘this meeting is over, I must catch up with my students.’
General Ki led them away from the villagers and towards his humble home hurriedly.
‘Who may these three handsome men be?’ he asked while handing them tea once they’d settled in.
The three stood up and introduced themselves.
‘Two princes and a scholar hey? How did you naughty kids come by such great men?’
‘His my husband!’ Yoonyul answered.
‘All three? And you’re sharing?!’ he exclaimed, ‘now girls… I know you always shared everything but I don’t think it should apply to husbands either.’
Yoona laughed, ‘no!’
‘Minho is mine,’ Yuri said, grabbing hold of his hand.
‘And Nichkhun is mine,’ Yoona smiled.
‘Kyuhyun oppa is Seohyun’s’ they said together.
‘Omo! Seohyunnie? Already married? Stars, my little girls!’ he exclaimed.
Kyuhyun chuckled, ‘no, only engaged. But right now, we have more serious matters to discuss… maybe we should start from who you are and how you know my fiancée.’

‘He’s General Ki! He worked closely with our father until he disappeared.’
‘Which reminds me, what are you doing here?’ Yoona asked.
‘Hmm… it’s a long story. You girls probably don’t know this but I have a son… he’s about your age and he used to live in the village outside the palace walls with his mother. One day a King from the Nomi regions visited the Kingdom and he saw her, my wife. And he demanded that your father allow him to marry her, otherwise he’d stop our troops from passing through his Kingdom to come back home. He didn’t want to leave our troops stranded so your father agreed. However, the condition was that he allow him to marry her, not that he’d force her to, so he wouldn’t be responsible if she ran away, would he? So your father decided to help her run away.’
‘What happened next?’ Kyuhyun asked.
‘Well, your father helped my wife and son escape in the middle of the night, and he sent them off with all my belongings and money. He said that it was to pay for my serving the Kingdom. When the King found out my wife ran away, he immediately thought of me and sought out to kill me, but I was currently fighting in a war and didn’t know anything about her running away. Your father wrote to me and told me to quickly fake my death and run away. When that King was informed that I went MIA he gave up. Your father saved me.’
‘Ahh… I see.’
‘So what are you kids doing here?’
‘Well… it all started when we went on a little holiday…’

General Ki sat there for a while thinking before he spoke, ‘this is what we’re going to do, I want you to go back to your sisters and tell them I’m here. At midnight, my son and I will meet you at the edge of the forest with horses and more supplies, we’re going to the palace.’
‘What? Are you crazy?’ Nichkhun asked, ‘it’s surrounded by the rebel soldiers!’
‘I know. But on the outskirts of the palace village, there is a waterfall, behind it is a tunnel that leads right into the palace grounds. Only a few know of it and I guess your father didn’t remember to tell you about it.’
‘The waterfall up on the mountain?’ Minho asked.
‘Yes, that one.’
‘The mountain is swarmed with rebel soldiers too!’
‘I know, but it’s our only way.’
‘General Ki, you said you and your son are going to come with us, what about your wife?’
‘Sadly, she passed away a few years ago…’ he said softly.
‘Are you sure you should be coming?’ Yoona asked, ‘her body is still here after all… maybe you should stay.’
‘No, there is nothing here for me now… she’s gone. And I owe your father my life, and hers… so I’m going to bring his Princesses safely back home is it’s the last thing I do. Now go, before the villagers get suspicious. I don’t want them finding out that you’re Royals, you never know if someone is a friend or a traitor. Take this with you and go,’ he said, handing them a bag of food.
‘Thank you, General Ki, we’ll see you tonight,’ Minho bowed.
The man nodded and turned away, his mind wandering to the grave of his beloved wife. He decided to go visit her before he prepared to leave, it may be the last time he ever see her.

‘Thank goodness! You’re back! And you have food!’ Hyoyeon cried as the five joined them on the mountain top lookout.
‘You’ll never guess who we saw!’ Yuri exclaimed.
‘Who?’
‘Guess,’ Kyuhyun laughed.
‘Umm… rebels?’
‘No.’
‘Taecyeon?’
‘No. He is a rebel.’
‘Leeteuk oppa?’
‘No. He’s in the palace, what would he be doing here?’
‘The stone statue from the palace walls who has come to life?’ Sooyoung guessed.
Nichkhun laughed, ‘No!’
‘Then who?’
‘General Ki!’ Yoonyul exclaimed.
‘What?! He’s alive?!’ Sica shrieked.

Hours later, the sun had set and the moon has risen. The royals all walked quietly to the edge of the forest to wait for General Ki and his son. It wasn’t long before they saw two figures leading eleven horses towards them. The horses all had a large bag of supplies strapped to them and looked very fast.
‘General Ki!’ the girls exclaimed and ran to him.
‘Girls!’
After the small reunion, the man introduced them to his son, ‘this is my only son Joon. I’ve left a note in the house saying that Joon and I have left but we need to hurry and get away before anyone notices  too soon. I’m a village elder and so people often visit my house at night when there is an emergency but let’s hope nothing happens tonight, we cannot be caught. If there is a traitor in the village, or someone who would rat us out for money, then being seen together could cost us our lives, hurry. Two to a horse except for Joon and I. The less weight on a horse means it goes faster so I’ll lead, and Joon will follow from the back to protect us, let’s go!’
They left through the forest to stay hidden from the rebels. They travelled all night, and watched the sunrise as they prepared themselves for the battle ahead. 

(a/n): it's been a while ,but I've been really busy with exams, family, getting my wisdom teeth pulled out, Christmas, New Years and the works! But now I've finally updated :D It's a little muddled and unedited but I just had to update today so I hope you don't mind... I kinda have a headache so I don't even know if it makes sense... lol. Anyway, I hope to finish this fanfic soon and start on my new ones... they're going to be great! Been thinking about them for a long time!! HAHAHA