“You idiot!” The stranger shouted at Tiffany. Tiffany just looked at her, clearly still shocked about what just happened. The stranger didn’t notice. She was pretty much worrying, pacing back and forth, talking to herself. She faced Tiffany.

“Didn’t the princess tell you anything? I’m pretty sure for a newbie like you would have been warned. She should have told you not to enter. What were you thinking?” Tiffany looked down. She thought about it for a while. She didn't even know why she did that. She wasn't trained to act out of curiosity and nor was it like herself to disobey the orders of the Kim family. She can remember an urge to unmask the stranger and she had done it. The stranger looked at her and immediately was able to know that she was having an internal conflict.

"Hey. Hey. Ya!" Tiffany looked at her and she sighed.

"Come with me." She spoke. Tiffany stood up about to ask when the stranger motioned for her to stop.

"We can talk later. Right now, just come with me." The stranger walked off at a direction. Tiffany followed. Surely of you don't know where you are, you would follow someone who knows the place right? She looked around and noticed the tall and dense overgrowth of the trees. For a forest, the area seems pretty well lit and the air circulates well. She looked up and she could see the trees catching the Sun's rays with their height. She looked forward at the stranger's back. While she was looking around, she didn't notice that the stranger had fixed their hair up. On their hand was the black piece of cloth Tiffany had held onto and on their waist was a sword. The stranger stopped and looked at her.

"Stay behind me and don't move." Tiffany saw the girl step in front of her. There were rustling on the ground. She saw some movement from the bushes and she got her sword ready. The rustling stopped. Tiffany was then surprised when the stranger turned her around and slashed at the creature behind her. Tiffany saw the creature before it dissipated. It was a black boar, and strangely, when it was slashed, it just vanished.

"I commend your skills and instincts but it takes a lot more to kill these creatures. And you can't damage them with that sword of yours." The stranger walked off again and Tiffany followed. Soon, they stopped again.

"We are here. Go inside first. I have to do something." The stranger stepped aside, revealing a rather large house, adequate for three people. She pointed at the door in front while she walked off at another part. Tiffany just headed straight for the house. Looking behind, she noticed that the stranger was going near a stream. She watched for a bit, and then went inside.

Inside the house...

Tiffany looked around. She noticed that the house had the same design as the rooms they had on they had on the palace. She walked along the hallways, familiarizing the place. On the first room, she deemed it to be the weaponry room. The walls decorated itself with sword and armors. There were four long cases stacked on each other on a table. Seeing as the boxes were things she once saw in the King's study, she assumed important swords were in them. She saw some empty scabbards on the side. Another thing she observed was that the blades were different. On some swords, she could see that they were pretty normal but the others have blades that look a bit of a very light brown color. She left the room and went to the next one.

This time the room shocked her. It was as if she was back in the palace. It looked like the King's study, just smaller. There were papers on the table and she could see many letters. She noticed a map of the area. The two kingdoms were in the map and in between was the forest. It was a map all right but it was not a map of the forest. Tiffany shook her head. She doesn't know how to get out of the forest. She left once again and went to check the other rooms. One of them was the kitchen and there were three more rooms. She skipped two and headed to the last one. But before she could enter, she heard the stranger's voice.

"Hey, over here." She saw the stranger pointing to one of the rooms she skipped.

"We'll talk here. Go inside." Tiffany just nodded, walking to the room, forgetting the other. She walked in and immediately concluded that it was the living room. The stranger sat down behind the table and motioned for her to sit down, too. The stranger started placing things on the table and Tiffany took this the time to look at the stranger's appearance. She took note of the neat presentation, how proper the stranger sat and how their clothes were worn. She noticed that the girl wore blue horse riding clothes with pink outlines. The ribbon securing her left sleeve was pink as well but on her right, her forearm was adorned in a black ribbon. She looked back at the stranger. The stranger just finished. There was something familiar.

"Now that's finished... Let's get to business shall we, Captain Hwang?" the voice was cold, making Tiffany shiver a bit but she easily regained composure.

"Who are you?" Tiffany asked. The girl looked at her, down, then back.

"My name is Jessica. Now, answer my questions. First, didn't the princess tell you not to cross that border or go in the forest?" Jessica asked, knowing the answer already.

"Yes."

"So why did you grab onto me and crossed that freaking border?!" Jessica shouted at her. Tiffany deduced that she had anger issues. To intimidate her, Tiffany just shrugged.

"I don't even know why." She looked at Jessica and saw the girl fuming. She smiled at the girl's reaction. Jessica sighed again, her anger dissipating when she saw Tiffany's eye smile.

"Well, did Taeyeon give you anything?" Tiffany looked at Jessica, wondering why the girl would suddenly be on a first name basis with her friend. She shook her head as a no. Jessica looked more depressed when she saw Tiffany shook her head.

"Ok. Looks like it will be a while till you can go back. Three days or so." Tiffany could see discomfort on Jessica's face. Jessica stood up and headed outside the room.

"Wait here." She could here Jessica's footsteps echo throughout the hallway. She heard a door open and close and in a minute, Jessica was back in the room. In her hand was a sword, its blade reddish in color. On her other hand was what Tiffany assumed as its scabbard.

"I'll lend this to you for today. Can you give me your sword?"

"Why?"

"As I said, you can't fight those creatures out there with that sword of yours. You can train with that while I modify yours. It'll take a day for me to finish. We will head out tomorrow."

In the Palace...

Krystal rode fast. When she reached the gates, the guard just let her in, seeing as she was in a hurry. She jumped down from her horse and hurried toward the King's study. She announced herself before entering. The door opened, revealing Emperor Kim and Taeyeon. And seeing Krystal in this state meant that what they expected to happen actually happened, they were saddened.

"Your Majesty! I-" Emperor Kim motioned for her to go inside. Taeyeon went in first, then Krystal, and lastly, the king. They sat in silence. And soon, Krystal spoke.

"Your Majesty. I'm sorry I let you down." Krystal was looking down, awaiting her scolding but it never came. She saw the king stand up, got a paper and a brush, and then sat down.

"There's nothing we can do right now. Since she stepped in the forest, I can't do anything for that place is something I do not have the power to control. It is also partly my fault that Tiffany got trapped. If I had remembered to ask Taeyeon to give you something, she wouldn't be trapped in there. What happened anyway?"

"Well, after we gave the letter to the stranger, and the stranger was about to leave, Tiffany unnie just ran and took hold of her. But in that process, she got pulled in when the stranger pulled back. I was about to go in to get her but... she told me not to go in. I remember her trying to push Tiffany unnie away but there was a sudden gust of wind and it seems that they were taken." Krystal looked up to see both the king and Taeyeon looking at her.

"Did you see her?" The king asked.

"Yes. She had blonde hair and I saw her face as well."

"Did you recognize her?" Taeyeon asked. Krystal just shook her head. There was a blank look in their faces. Taeyeon quickly went to a cabinet and took out a picture.

"This is the person you saw right?" Taeyeon asked Krystal while holding a hand drawn picture. The brush magnificently captured the real thing well seeing as Krystal was in shock and answered in a loud voice.

"Ah! Yes. That's her. Where did you get that?" Krystal inquired. The king and Taeyeon smiled. "It doesn't matter where we got it. Here, this is for you." Taeyeon handed Krystal the drawing. Krystal looks at them in confusion.

"We'll explain it when she gets here."

"What do you mean?"

"Clearly, since today will take a toll on them, she won't start getting Tiffany out until tomorrow. She can be very reliable in times so they'll be back in a few days. Tiffany will be safe with her. I'll notify her as soon as possible. She'll know what to do." Emperor Kim assured. He started writing a letter.

"Now, as much as I could worry over this, there's nothing we can do for now. Considering that today is a new moon, they might encounter some trouble but I know that they'll be fine." Taeyeon, although worried about something else, smiled and didn't tell Krystal.

"You can go now. Don't worry okay. Tiffany will be fine. Also, since Tiffany will be out of duty for a while, I should assign you another partner." Emperor Kim said, looking up from the letter.

"I'll take my leave now..." Krystal got up and bowed, in her hand was the picture. She stepped out of the room, her facade like the same one she had the first time she entered the palace. Emperor Kim looked at her daughter and sighed.

"I don't like seeing that face. That face that shows no emotion but the feeling of loneliness that marked her face when she first entered the palace." Taeyeon looked at her father, agreeing with him.

"She forgot all about it, didn't she? About her sister... She was only two at that time so I guess it’s understandable. Fifteen years has passed, and she came to the palace after Tiffany."

"She has to know it soon. As early as possible, before Jessica gets here." Taeyeon opened the window, pulled out a silver pipe. She blew into it and it made a whistling sound. Soon there was a hawk on sight and it perched itself on the window. Emperor Kim gave Taeyeon a letter. She placed the note on the carrier and the hawk left, heading east.

On her way to her quarters, Krystal was seen looking at the picture.

In the forest...

"Here, you can stay in this room for a while. There are some clothes in the cabinet and the futons are there too. We will leave tomorrow so rest." Jessica showed Tiffany the room she was about to go in earlier.

"A while ago, you were about to enter here. I am assuming that you’re pretty sharp to find the guest room so there." Tiffany looked around the room. It was a pretty big room and it was clean, considering that no one uses it. As she was about to settle herself in, she heard Jessica speak.

"I'll try to finish your sword as quickly as possible. And heed this. Don't come out no matter what you hear, at least stay inside the house. Listen this time." Jessica warned before leaving Tiffany in the room. As Tiffany watched her retreating back, she made a mental note, promising to not leave the house. She got in enough trouble for today. She went in the room and placed her things down. She went in the cabinet and found the sleeping garments. Art the lower deck of the cabinet were the blankets and the futon. She took some and laid it on the floor. She quickly changed her clothes and slipped inside the bed. She looked up the ceiling, thinking about her current predicament. She looked at the sword Jessica lent her. She sat up and held it. She took the sword out of its case and saw the blade. She touched the edge and was surprised. The edge wasn't sharp enough to cut. She checked the other side and it was the same. It was then that she slid her finger on both edges that she found herself yelping. There were parts of the edges that were extremely sharp, right next to the dull segments in a pattern. She saw the wound on her finger and it was bleeding. The sword had her blood on it so she took a piece of cloth and wiped the sword with it. When she removed and inspected the cloth, there was no blood on it. It was as if the sword cleaned itself. Her head started to ache, her mind having trouble processing all that happened in the day. She placed the sword back and settled it near her. She lay down and when she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.

Outside.

Jessica had a metal basin full of water and stopped at a small hut outside the house. There was a furnace on one side and some tools on a table on another side. She took out Tiffany's sword and heated it up by sliding it in the furnace. She pulled it out and it was gleaming red from the heat. She tested if the sword was a bit mercurial this time. She placed it back in the fire and repeated the process until she was satisfied. She settled it on top of a block and she made a straight line on the middle of the blade. Raising her right forearm, she slowly removes the black ribbon and it revealed a long scar. She clenched her hand, applying pressure her skin. The scar strangely started glowing. She hissed from the pain it continues to bring her. Out from glowing line came blood and it dropped on the lining she created on the sword. The sword's lining glowed dark red from the substance and soon it seemed to dry and harden. She smiled weakly and placed the sword back in the furnace. After a few seconds, she hammered it a bit and dipped it on the water. After that, she sharpened its blades more and she was done. She went outside to test it out. The sword looked as if it were new. Its blade shined like the moonlight and the hardened liquid on the middle shined as if it were a lining made out of ruby. She slashed at the air and was proud to see her handiwork glide swiftly but gracefully in the wind. She looked at the blade once more and thought of something.

"Ah! I should do that." It was as if she came to realization at the last minute so she hurried back into the hut and heated one part of the blade. She used another metal to write on it. Once she finished, she quickly let the sword cool down and again, it was perfect. She placed the sword in the scabbard. On her way to the house, she heard silence again. The silence was deafening and she immediately stood on her ground. She was suddenly filled with worry. She looked up and remembered that tonight was a new moon.

"Ah... What bad luck." She whispered to herself. She slid Tiffany's sword by her waist and took her sword out. She could feel the shadows lurking in. At the same time, she could feel her strength leaving her. Her blonde hair was slowly turning brown and her scar was hurting. She made no sound despite the pain and soon a group, consisting of five shadows, was around her. She can't let Tiffany know that tonight is when she loses her powers. No one has to know, not even the shadows. She readied her sword.

"No matter what happens to me tonight, I can heal tomorrow morning." One by one, the shadows started attacking. Slashing at her at her current state, they were able to mar wounds on her skin. She didn't make any sound, even when she was hurt. She continued attacking and deflecting their offenses.

"Tsk... No matter how many wounds you give me, I won't be poisoned like the first time!" She shouted at them as she killed four of them. Looking around, she couldn't see the last one. In a sudden, it appeared behind her. She quickly turned around but was too late. It had already slashed at her back, creating a long wound. She shouted in pain. Luckily, she was able to finish the shadow off when she rotated her body, slashing the creature. If she hadn't used her powers today, she could have handled them without being scathed. She breathed heavily and sat on the ground. Her sword still in her hand, she looked around. How shocked must she have been when she found two eyes looking at her. Then she collapsed, the fatigue from the fight exhausting her.

At the East Palace

An attendant was walking, on her way to retire to her room, when she sees a hawk. She held out her forearm and it perched itself there. She noticed a note on attached. She turned around and headed for the King's study. No sooner, she found herself in front of the place. She announces herself.

"Emperor Lee, I am Wonsa Im and I have a note for you." Yoona saw two figures look out. One was the Emperor and her daughter, Lee Sunny. She bowed before entering.

(A/N: Hey guys! What did you think? Chapter two is done and up. Wonsa is Master Sergeant by the way. Thank you for the comments and subscribers. It fills me with happiness. ^^ Too much description in this one! Not so much progression. I hope that's fine with you guys. Yoona just made her appearance and there is also the introduction of the Lee family. Any questions or confusion about what has happened or what is implied? Please just ask by comment or message me. I'll try to answer it right away. I'm thinking of adding the other 3 SNSD members and possibly some. I don't know yet. What do you guys think? ^-^?)