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The grayscale statue began to glow, and turned into his colored version again, radiating a reddish glow all around him. Hastily, he dropped the incense plate he was holding on the floor, and pressed his hands together. The transition between his actions was so little he almost fell on the floor, but luckily, due to his height whatsoever, he had planted his feet back to the floor after he slightly tripped. Fire erupted between his hands, and when he moved them apart, the blaze went down and his gong appeared. Wushu began pounding it harder than before, shouting, “Wake up dead people!”

Cold smoke went out from each tomb, spiraling to the air fluidly until it takes a form of a person. Woojin yawned with his feet and arms crossed and complained, “I was having a good night’s rest lad. I even heard my mother saying help or somethin’.” He yawned again.

The old woman with the protruding eye stretched her back while , a deed that almost lasted forever, and Jimin had to throw his head towards her just for her to stop. She rubbed her noggin, unaware of the fact her nephew threw his head at her, and said with a soft voice, “This better be better than my dreams, Wushu.”

“It’s Sandara.” He started, breathlessly. His anxiousness made the incense plate erupt in flames, and the fire crackled. Its sound, that normally brings comfort to the souls, now gave them unlikable chills. The incense sticks continued to burn, and as the silence, it took a long while before the sticks were consumed by the fire.

The old woman was the first one to speak, murmuring, “It’s not good.”, deciding that her great great granddaughter is not worthy of her worrying and went back to her sleep. Her snores, a series of frequent chortles and grunts, filled the room. However, Woojin, Sandara’s father, and the other souls took interest with the problem at hand and asked what was wrong.

Wushu swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and then, down. “She went to Seoul camp to replace her brother in the Imperial Army.” He answered, exasperated and then, began to murmur in a low voice as he clasped on either side of his head, ”The last time this happened, there were forty—no, a hundred souls waiting in line outside this temple. It was like a mass murder after the reckless action Seokyung had done, loving one of North Korea’s soldiers. It was forbidden I tell you! Almost half of the family died, sacrificing their lives for a not well-thought behavior!” Wushu’s face was like chalk, white and ashen.

Seokyung giggled, covering with her hand. “But he was handsome. Don’t worry, I dumped him after a hundred of my family died.”

Wushu gawked.

“Now, this is not the problem at hand.” Woojin interrupted, pissed off. “My daughter is in danger, and if we don’t act now, she’d be beheaded!”

“It’s better than having a hundred souls lining up in front of the temple.”

“Wushu!”

“Okay, okay! That’s why I woke you all up, right?” Wushu said, heaving a sigh. Being the bell boy, there’s nothing he could do but to address the problem. “The meeting for saving Sandara Park will now commence. Raise your hand for suggestions.”

Seokyung eagerly and immediately raised hers first, which earned a lot of groans from the others. Wushu called out her name, even if it was against his will. That girl’s idea never really come in handy.

“I have an idea.” She winked, and everyone face-palmed. “Let’s send Wushu out for her. He’s the great dragon, right?”

Much to Wushu’s expectation, and for the first time in forever, everyone nodded their heads. Even Jimin, who had his head on his hand.

“Well, now, lad.” Woojin started when he saw Wushu’s ashen expression again. “I know what happened before—“

“I’m not going to protect her.” Wushu interrupted, crossing his arms, his voice stern and firm. “Even if I’m going to be bell boy forever, that’s worth it than being the Great Dragon Warrior once again.”

“Wushu, even if that happened, you’ve come in handy in the war. You just won’t believe us—“

“But I lost my comrade! I-Because of my lust for power, and my desire to end the war, I used Woojin’s body. It’s not the work of the great dragon to use the body of the person he’s protecting. And then Tao, he saw what I was doing in Woojin so he intercepted. He replaced me in Woojin’s body to save both him and me. But in the end, the damage has been already done and Woojin died along with Tao because that stupid latter didn’t get out of his body before he completely died. He’ll never be a soul, do you hear me? A guardian won’t ever be reincarnated again. Tao will always—always—be a speck of dust in the sky or maybe a whisper in the wind. He will never have a body anymore. Do you hear me? And it’s my entire fault! Me, his comrade, his friend betrayed him!” Wushu had started shouting, his eyes producing silver tears. He never told the souls about that one, the origin of Woojin’s death and they always thought that the reason why Wushu decided to become bell boy and not a guardian anymore because he’s too lazy.

“Kris,” Woojin said, his voice caressing Wushu’s name and the other souls were shocked to hear him say Wushu’s name. Then latter never approved his name.

But Wushu didn’t let him talk. “Tao can be a time-shifter, but he can’t return in time when he’s already dead. The damage has been done. I’m never going to protect your Sandara.”

Tears started to form in Woojin’s eyes, a silvery liquid slowly strolling down his cheeks. He bowed his head, said “Okay, I understand.” and went back into his tomb, his soul exploding into cold puffs of air.

The air was too heavy for any soul to breath, so they all out once went back to their tombs. The old woman with the protruding eye, unaware of her surroundings, still floated in the air while sleeping.

Kris woke her up with a shout, and she went back to her tomb, complaining about Wushu’s harsh attitude towards the dead. And when the old woman had come back from her tomb, Kris went out of the temple towards the open field.

Tao was the time guardian in the temple, the one who knows when is the right time for everything, and he rules time, which gives him the power to stop it or go from one time to another. They were friends and were too close that the other guardians thought they were beyond being friends. But those rumors didn’t stop them on being close, until their friendship finally grew deeper than they had expected. It was in the last North and South war where everything changed. Park Woojin, under the ancestors’ decision, needed to be protected by the Great Dragon Warrior, Kris himself, and Tao, who always followed Kris wherever he goes, went with him to the war. But Kris had taken his toll to the war when South Korea was already near to losing, making his inner warrior ego burst. His will of not losing overpowered his body and mind, and he found himself going inside Woojin’s body while he was on the battlefield. His mind was too much onto winning that he didn’t think of the consequences if he take over Woojin’s body, that due to his magnifying power Woojin’s mundane body and soul can be consumed until they are both gone—until Woojin is just nothing—nor of the possible outcomes of him battling the North Korean soldiers. And as he continuously kill the North Korean soldiers with his overwhelming power, Tao casted a spell to change their positions. In happened so fast, Kris didn’t have time to change their positions again. The enemies just kept on multiplying and in the end, Tao died along with Woojin. Kris never saw the time guardian again.

Kris sat near the pond, on top of one of the boulders. He closed his eyes and whispered, “What should I do, Tao?”

A speck of dust in the sky and a whisper in the wind.

He can feel the winter wind touching his skin, its cold breeze leaving a cool long touch, and Kris’ forehead creased as he contemplated about what Tao the Whisper in the Wind is trying to say. But it was soft, as if Tao was urging him to follow Sandara and be her protector. Kris would have done it otherwise, even with the incident before but he was scared of not being able to control his emotions again. He’s afraid that he’ll lose his head and another life will follow short.

The wind blew much harder than before, as if pushing him off the boulder then to the pond. Kris sighed and said, “Okay, I get it now Tao. I’ll follow her.”

The wind stopped blowing, and Kris stood up from his seat.

He sighed again. “This is not my style.”

Sandara took jumped off her horse, after she tied it in a sturdy tree and breathed the city air. They were still miles away from the camp and she was avoiding to be caught by her fellow townsmen that are the reason why she’s letting herself off for a while. Aside from that, she can’t tell where they were. In Busan, she can tell their location just by sniffing the air. The air in Seoul is too much foreign for her nose to work, aside from the fact that Seoul’s air is clouded and thick.

“What’s up, uh, man?” Sandara said, trying to copy her favorite male actor and her horse whinnied in mock annoyance. She cleared . “What’s up, man?”

Her horse clomped its hooves against the ground, whinnying contentedly. She looked over her shoulder at it. “Who’s laughing now?”

Her horse turned its head to the opposite side, blowing steam out of its nose.

Sandara unconsciously sniffed, she had momentarily forgotten that her unnatural powers won’t work anymore and was surprised to know that the air was thin unlike before, as if a fire started near them. Hastily, she looked at the side and saw a six-foot tall man going down from the air with wings alike from a bat’s, flapping vigorously behind him. It was purely made from flames and they off the oxygen little by little with its existence. Sandara coughed, signaling the man that the oxygen is now depleting around the air and at once, the wings vanished from his back. He landed coolly on the ground, his hands inside his pockets and introduced himself, “I am Kris Wushu, the great dragon warrior of the guardians in your family temple. Your ancestors asked my help to protect you in this idiotic decision of yours. I won’t ask you to take care of me because I will take care of you.”

Sandara crossed her arms, measuring Wushu from head to toe. “What if I don’t really need your help?”

Kris rolled his eyes. “I’ll still follow you but I won’t help you with the exercises or save you if you’re near to death. I’ll just be an annoying shadow that will make your progress in this training slow, so slow that the captain will eventually tell you to go home.”

Sandara huffed. “Okay, fine. How should I call you?”

Kris bowed, astonishing Sandara from her senses. “Either Kris or Wushu is fine.”

“Okay, Kris.” She blushed, too embarrassed and bowed back. “Please take care of me.”

“That’s the camp.” Kris said, pointing out the field with many tents set out, like a face with many pimples. One even had a chimney installed with it. “I can hear from here the conversations with the soldiers. A new captain—no, interesting captain.”

“I don’t like the smirk on your face.” Sandara replied. “And aren’t you going to transform into something smaller? You’re awfully big and you’ll stand-out.”

Kris snapped his fingers and a great puff of smoke erupted around him. After it cleared out, there was no more Kris beside her.

Sandara sighed, looking back forward and almost peed her pants when she saw a one foot dragon in front of her. It had awfully thick brown eyebrows and monotonous eyes.

“What? Are you just going to stare at me?” It said, and that’s when she realized it was Kris.

“What?” He said again. “The great dragon warrior won’t transform into a beautiful unicorn for god’s sake.”

“Of course I know that.” Sandara replied, chuckling and made her horse run down the slope.

Kris sighed. “I used to know someone whose transformation is so funny I always laughed at him. Tao, his name was, transforms into a small panda.”

“That’s cute.” Sandara commented. “It’s much better if he’s the one who came to help me since judging from his transformation, he’s not a grumpy, monotonous guy.”

Kris sighed again, heavier than before. “He’s dead.”

There was a long period of silence that enveloped the both of them, and Sandara felt like she stepped on a sensitive topic. Kris, even though in the form of  a baby dragon, looked sullen. She knew that feeling very well, the feeling of great sadness when someone accidentally asks you a sensitive topic, and even though she hated being asked about her father’s death, she has no choice but to answer everything.

Sandara spoke after a few seconds. “He’s still there, guiding you. Tao is not dead. He’s alive. Maybe not physically as you think but he still lives inside your memories and even inside your heart. He’s continuously living in this world as you continue on living.”

Kris scoffed. “That’s impossible.”

“If you find yourself doing things you don’t usually do, or promised not to do, as how Tao does it then it’s possible. Tao lives in you.” Sandara countered.

Kris didn’t reply anymore, because truth to be told, Sandara made sense. He promised not to protect another Park but he did. He doesn’t share something to people he barely knew as Tao is but he just did. No matter what he does after Tao’s death, he thinks of what would Tao do in that kind of situation.

They reached the campsite and Sandara pulled her horse into a stop. From their spot, they could hear distant noises of roughhousing and rowdy behavior of the imperial soldiers. With a heavy nervous sigh, Sandara mounted off her horse and landed on the ground with a soft thud. She gathered her knapsack that was strapped around her horse and slung it on her back. On the other hand, Kris hid inside her bag, where he could stay unnoticed.

Sandara looked down on her feet, a nervous look on her face, and put her left foot first but only to find herself crashing against a solid figure. Slowly, with a flustered face, she looked up and saw a pair of strong dark brown eyes staring down at her with molten disgrace.

Sandara jumped, turning their closeness into an awkward distance and had a good look with the person. He’s about six-foot tall, but not taller than Kris when he’s in human mode; Dashing, but not near to perfection; Well-built, but not muscular; Skinny, but well-fed; Grumpy, but with added softness.

Another one, bulkier than he was and looks exactly like him except for their eyes, appeared behind him and noticed her. “A recruit, I see. Clumsy one, but brave.” He commented to her, and swiftly, turned towards the man she bumped into. “Please train him well, Captain. My troop will wait for yours.”

Then he walked pass the ‘Captain’, who gave him a nervous look, and before he passed Sandara, too, he patted her head. “Give your best.” He advised, before finally mounting his horse, which was brought by some unknown man and ran off to somewhere.

The captain glowered at her. “Set-up your tent, recruit. I’ll call everyone to the training ground after five minutes.”

He turned around and Sandara watched him, scared in her spot, as he trod away.

Sandara decided to check up and say a few a greetings with the other soldiers of the imperial army because Kris offered to set her tent up in the spot they chose, and since he’s far more knowledgeable than her, she left him with her horse.

The other soldiers were really loud, and every one of them was talking big. Sandara walked across two groups composed of four, all talking about their capabilities before entering the imperial army.

The younger one, who had visible dark circles in his eyes, punched his puffed out chest and bragged, “Before I enter, I have a hundred streaks of  wins in my land!”

One from the second group commented, “What did you beat? Noodles?”

The audience surrounding them laughed and started to chant, Seungrat. Sandara shook her head.

The latter, with a crooked grin, then bragged, “I can shoot with my eyes open. Can you, Seungri?"

"A-As if!" Seungri stuttered, trying to act brave despite his flushed red face.

The man suddenly reached for the insides of his yuyi and retrieved his gun, a Calibre 45 that looked deadly enough to make everyone surrounding the scene turn white. He raised the gun, leveling it with Seungri's head and closed his eyes. Sandara was shocked to see that Seungri had taken a courageous step forward, even though he was trembling everywhere. She turned her body with an angry look on her face to take a better look of the fight, and grunted.

The man pulled the trigger, but to the dismay of his friends, no bullet came out. Seungri fainted on his spot, and the man dejectedly shook the gun against his open palm. "Too bad it doesn't have any more bullets. I could've lessened the population of idiots by a fraction."

"Then I should kill you and your friends instead to cut the population of idiots by half."

Everyone gasped.

"Considering that your idiocy is greater than of any idiot in this country." The captain's eyes were shining in molten fury, and he glared at the man, who was terrified like a kitten against a vicious dog. "Let me warn you, soldier. I won't tolerate any kind of childish behavior in my army, and the moment you draw that gun of yours will be the same moment your heart stops."

The captain turned to Seungri's friends, who were not that at all fazed by the captain's anger. "Five minutes."

Then, after another glare at the man, the captain went off again. The crowd dissipated and all that was left was Seungri, his three friends and Sandara. She started to walk towards the three, who were all having a difficulty in waking Seungri up.

"He's not waking." One said, heaving a sigh. "We should punch him to wake him up."

Sandara shrieked, and immediately said, "No! You should press something by his elbow."

They all turned to her, all of them wide-eyed. One even had his upper lip twisted, as if disgusted by her appearance.

"It sends an electric shock that can wake someone up." She tried to explain, managing not to stutter. (Just a theory, but it wakes me up all the time.)

They all turned back to Seungri, and the one nearest to him reached for his right elbow. "Electric, electric. Oh there--" Seungri suddenly sat upward, his face groggy. "Shock." The one who woke him up ended, smiling.

Seungri starts to say, "Am I in heaven?"

He looked around and saw something. "I'm not in heaven. He wouldn't be in heaven."

Seungri looked around again, and this time his gaze fell on Sandara. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who are you?"

"Park Sanghyun." She replied, immediately and confidently as she can.

"The name's Lee Seunghyun but everybody calls me Seungri. It's like Seung from Seunghyun with Lee." He introduced himself. "Please take care of me."

"I'm Dong Youngbae." The one beside Seungri said, the same one who woke him up. His hair was up, spikes as they say and was dyed. Aside from that and his body, his face looked not intimidating at all. He has this sweet eye smiles. He continues, "But they call me Taeyang. It means sun."

"I'm Kang Daesung." The one just below her said, and he has this eye smiles too. He had wind-swept hair and hooked nose, and he looked cute.

"I'm Choi Seunghyun." The one beside her standing said. He looked aloof and cool with his over-all features. Tall, dark and ha domes with chestnut colored hair swept away from his face, which made it noticeable than it already was. "They call me Top, everyone does."

Then Seungri pointed at something over his shoulder, and Sandara trailed his thumb, shock to see the captain standing beside a tent, looking at them with judging eyes. "He's Kwon Jiyong and he's awfully snappy, ever since he was a kid. We're all childhood friends and we all came from the same prefecture. Seoul, that is."

Beside her, Top sighed. "He's the son of the captain, and even since was a kid was expected to inherit the throne--or the position anyway. Ji topped all the military exams and there he is, the temporary captain of this troop."

Sandara's eyes drooped. "Why are you telling me this?"

Top looked down at her and shrugged. "You're our friend."

Her eyes widened. "Huh? Wait, what?!"

"Oh yeah, Sanghyun!" She heard Seungri say, and he stood up from his spot. "Where did you come from?"

She turned at him, sighing with their insistence. "Busan."

"Oh Park Sanghyun you say?" Taeyang suddenly said. "You're Park Woojin's son? The field officer? The one who was famous for killing thousands of North Korean soldiers in the last war?"

Sandara nodded, and monotonously replied, "Yeah, I am."

"Wow," All of them gasped. "He's like the new Superman. He was super cool!"

Top grinned. "Ji is his fan."

"Ji likes your Dad a lot, really a lot." Daesung said, staring at the captain, who was now hiding his face from embarrassment since all five of them were staring at him. "When we were kids, Ji always followed your Dad around and ask him hoards of questions. He loathed you the most for being the son."

Sandara was perplexed. "But his father is the fleet admiral, a position way higher than of mine."

Top sighed. "He also looked up to his father when he was a kid, but after he lost his mother because of the war, he kind of detested his old man. Some people said that Ji misunderstood his father because he was still a kid but well, according to himself, it was a scar that would never heal."

"You see," Taeyang continued. "His mother was kidnapped by some of the North Korean soldiers as compensation and make the army give up, but as the fleet admiral, his father can't stake the lives of many for the life of one. So when he went to the site where his wife was held kidnapped, he killed the North Korean soldiers after they killed his wife. It was approved that the soldiers had a mental disorder, and the kidnapping wasn't the intention of the president of North Korea though even proven, they didn't apologize whatsoever. Ji learned the truth by accident after the funeral. It took him two years before finally going out of the house and until now, he hasn't talked to his father like how a family should be."

Sandara felt a pang of sympathy and a twitch of the same thread with the captain. She drew a large intake of breath and released it after with equal heaviness. "I didn't even saw my father in the flesh. He died when I was still a newborn. My sister told me a lot of things about him, and I always and will always look up to him."

They started pacing out. Seungri sighed, rubbing his stomach and lustily said, "Yeah,"

Their peace was disturbed when the captain shouted right in front of them. "Assemble soldiers!" He said, red with anger. "I won't tolerate such--"

Seungri waved his hand dismissively in front of the captain's face, which stunned everyone who didn't know their relationship right up to their ancestors, and rudely continued, "--lazy attitude in my camp. Yeah, yeah quit that camp crap out Ji. You're still as potent as ever."

Taeyang shrugged nonchalantly, showing his eye smile while the captain flew in rage and shouted, "Lee Seunghyun--I mean, Seungri!"

Taeyang, fortunately, decided it was time for him to meddle between the fight and grabbed Seungri's shoulders hastily, giving it a painful squeeze. "Yes, captain."

Seungri gave the captain a loathsome stare before finally replying, though still with a rude attitude, "Yes, captain."

"I'm Kwon Jiyong, your captain." The captain introduced himself, walking down the long column of young recruits. "I won't tolerate such overly attached name-callings such as Ji, Yong, Jiyong, G-Dragon or GD during training. You should call me captain at all times. Understood?"

"Yeah!"

"What?" The captain repeated, louder than his usual.

"Yes, captain sir!" They all repeated again, and from the end of the line, Sandara remained tight-lipped to avoid getting herself caught. She can't control her voice yet when she shouts, unlike when she talks normally.

Captain Jiyong went towards the center where a huge container awaits with Eskrimas located inside, half of its bodies sticking out from the container. Sandara eyed the conspicuous varnished bamboo sticks that looked blunt compared to a knife but as fatal as the said weapon. She had never used an Eskrima before.

Captain Jiyong grabbed all the sticks with two hands and threw them all in the air to them, and they all grabbed it. Top grabbed the Eskrima meant for Sandara and gave it to her gently.

"You can't catch it with that height, Sanghyun, even if you out your hands up in the air." He said.

"Thanks," She murmured, and balanced the bamboo stick on her palm. It was very lightweight, compared to a wooden broom but longer and harder.

The captain pointed at them with his bamboo stick, his stare penetrating their hearts and crushing it with its intensity. Sandara choked and was almost out of breath because of the aura the captain is emitting. Nevertheless, she stood up quite firmly and held her breath. Still pointing at them, the captain said, "Let's get down to business to defeat Bukhan. Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?"

The captain showed them some moves with his Eskrima, his body moving fluidly and flexibly even if he was standing in an uneven ground. All of them copied him, their moves barely as great as his but passable. Though Seungri can’t control his and began flailing around with his stick, which ended up in accidentally tripping Sandara and the others. She fell on the hard ground with her bottom cushioning her fall but it still hurt. The captain turned around just in time of her fall and narrowed his eyes.

Top frantically says, “Uh-oh, Ji thinks you’re the cause of everyone falling.”

Sandara frantically answers back, “Why me?”

Top was about to answer but the captain had already reached their spot. He was wearing a very angry look, both of his eyebrows raked, in his usual molten disgrace stare. He hastily grabbed for her collar and lifted her up easily, leaning his forehead against hers. Sandara’s heart skipped a beat. It would’ve been romantic, having a handsome man staring at you in the eyes if he wasn’t wearing a stern look.

The captain glowered, “You're the saddest bunch I ever met but you can bet before we're through.”  His creases creased further. “Mister, I'll make a man out of you.”

The captain led them into the forest the next day, their own set of bow and arrows slung across their backs. On the other hand, Sandara hugged hers with added relish. Top was disgusted with her actions but didn’t comment on anything.

The captain stopped in front of a thousand-year old mahogany tree, standing about forty feet from the ground at the edge of a cliff. It looked lonely and forlorn but upon seeing them, its branches kind of swayed—kind of. There was a target written in chalk at the middle part of the tree, waiting to be used.

The captain grabbed his own set of bow and arrows and slung it on his back. He grabbed one of the arrows, pulled the string of the bow and aimed at the tree. He said, “Tranquil as a forest but on fire within. Once you find your center. You are sure to win.” Then, he released the arrow and it came flying through, not exactly at the middle, but at the bull’s eye.

Everyone of them tried, but none succeeded in hitting the bull’s eye until it was Sandara’s turn. She was the second to the last before Seungri, who chose to be the last since he wanted to be prepared fully. With delicacy, Sandara grabbed an arrow from her old pack, the one she got from her father as inheritance and aimed for the bull’s eye. Her eyes changed into a different shade of black as she drown herself into concentration. This is her specialty, this is where she’s good at. She was born with bows and arrows. They are a part of her life.

After an exhale, Sandara released her arrow and it came flying in a twisting manner into the target until it hit the bull’s eye, directly at the middle. Proudly, she turned to the captain, who wasn’t even watching. And the joy of hitting the target went down into 10 percent, even amidst the clapping soldiers.

Sandara stood beside Top and watched Seungri instead, who was shaking all over his body. She gasped, definitely stunned, when the captain turned around to watch.

Seungri clumsily drew an arrow and aimed it to the target, his fingers shaking too much that his arrow almost fell from his grasp. He released the arrow too quickly and with his shoulders stressed, and it flew straight into the gutter. It missed the tree a few inches and fell into the cliff. A result different from them, because even though no one hit the bulls eye aside from Sandara, they at least hit a part of the target.

Sandara winced when the captain came marching towards him with the exact face he wore when he came marching down to Sandara yesterday though this time, his eyes looked like he didn’t want to do this. He grabbed Seungri’s collar and leaned his forehead into Seungri’s, his eyes into a vicious glare.

He glowered again, “You're a spineless, pale pathetic lot and you haven't got a clue. Somehow I'll make a man out of you.”

The training went on for a month, and all of them faced the vicious glare of the captain closely.

“I'm never gonna catch my breath.” Top breathlessly said once when they were practicing dodging the bombs aimed at them and was added by Seungri, who was also doing bad in the exercise, “Say goodbye to those who knew me.”

“Boy, was I a fool in school for cutting gym.” Seungri once said when they were doing one-on-one combat, and he looked unrecognizable amidst of his bruises in the face.

Kris, who was watching the exercise chuckled and commented, “This guy's got them scared to death.”

“Hope he doesn't see right through me.” Sandara muttered once when the captain made her literally flew away from the battle line.

“Now I really wish that I knew how to swim!” Top said when he was saved by the captain after being thrown away into the water by his opponent.

“BE A MAN! We must be swift as a coursing river. BE A MAN! With all the force of a great typhoon. BE A MAN! With all the strength of a raging fire. Mysterious as the dark side of the moon.” They all chanted as they run up a hill with six kilograms of load across their shoulders, three kilograms for each side. On the other hand, Sandara panted when she chanted those words and her legs barely kept up with the others’ speed. Even though she doesn’t lack determination, she’s still a female. Her body can’t keep up with the vigorous training planned for males. On her shoulder, slightly adding up to her burden, Kris shouted encouraging words to her, which sounded more like he’s irritating her than motivating her.

“Keep up with them, Dara!” He shouted, shaking both of his fists. “You replaced your brother for this right? Then do it!”

But Sandara was too tired to even give out a smart reply. Her whole body started to convulse due to muscle fatigue, and she could barely lift herself up.

“I-I don’t think—“ She tried to say, but due to overexerting herself, she ended up ending her sentence with a “Ugh.” because she fell on the hard ground. Kris frantically moved in front of her eyes, but because it was half-lidded, Sandara could only see his reptile feet.

“Stand up, Sandara! That Kwon bastard is coming here! He’s going to kick you out of the troop! Stand up! Come on!” Kris encouraged her, lifting her head up in his attempt to make her stand. But Sandara only groan further, because even though she wanted to stand and continue the training in her heart her body won’t respond.

She blinked and winced when she saw two familiar, non-reptilian feet greeting her eyes. Then her load was removed from her shoulders and the feeling was ecstatic, but the next thing came out cold.

“Time is racing toward us 'til the Huns arrive. Heed my every order and you might survive.” She heard Captain Kwon said in his most stern and firm voice. “You're unsuited for the rage of war so pack up, go home you're through. How could I make a man out of you?”

Sandara almost cried as his footsteps receded far away, as if it were the droplets of water going down an empty pail, heavy.

Sandara decided to move out of the training grounds in midnight, when everyone was fast asleep. She pulled her horse across the pole, where the captain shot an arrow at the peak and challenged the soldiers to get it with two big medals tied around the hands. An, her horse, whinnied loudly and pushed her towards the pole.

Sandara sighed. “It’s no use An. I can’t even lift twenty kilograms of load on my shoulders.”

“Then why won’t you try looking at this picture?”

Sandara turned instinctively, and saw Kris, now in human form, on her horse. On his hand was a picture of her family in the temple, a commemorative photo they have taken after ten years since her father’s death. Then she remembered what she told Sanghyun when they were still kids, when he was just three.

Noona’s going to protect you. She said. I’m going to be strong for you.

Kris’ face broke into a grin. “Recalling anything? The great dragon warrior isn’t just for show. I’m not just a guardian of the temple, the holder of the incense sticks or a fire bender. I am the one who is sent to the members of the family going out for war because I keep the fire within. I don’t let the flame in your heart be extinguished until you have done what you are sent for.”

But when Kris looked up, Sandara wasn’t in his line of sight anymore and from above, he heard the noise of two metals hitting each other. He looked up and his grin went wider. “Looks like I don’t need to explain, huh.” He whispered, as he watched Sandara climbing up the tall pole.

The metals were too noisy, and soon enough it woke up all the soldiers. Kris quickly transformed into a small dragon and went inside Sandara’s knapsack. From behind, Seungri appeared, rubbing his eyes and when he opened them, his jaw dropped upon seeing Sandara.

Top came out from the tent from his right.

“Look Hyung, Sanghyun’s climbing up that pole.” Seungri said, pointing up.

Sweat trickled down Sandara’s neck, and she slipped from the sweat she left as she went up. But she kept on going, until she reached the peak and the all the other soldiers erupted into applause. She removed the arrow sticking out of the wood, and looked at the captain’s tent.

Soon enough, he went out, still in his pajamas but instead on her, his eyes were fixated on the soldiers who were clapping. He was about to shout and make them run a hundred laps when Sandara, with all her strength left, aimed and threw the arrow right in front of his feet. Captain Kwon lifted his head and finally, ever since she arrived, looked at her in the eyes.

And Sandara found her heart leaping when his face broke into a soft smile.