Five horses were racing down the prairie, along the deep canyon from the river Urbe. The horses were descendants from Arabian and Lusitano horses, long lost horse breeds from distant Earth. Their riders were also Earth’s descendants, five young boys of Asian features, about to reach the brink of adulthood. Above them, in the light pink sky, the two suns of Lara shone brightly, creating sparkles of light as the water flew fast over the stones in the river.

Suddenly a shadow darkened everything around them. A deep sharp cry was heard for miles. The five boys calmed down their horses and stopped at the edge of the canyon, looking up at the huge creature flying high in the sky. It was a magnificent green dragon, its scales reflecting the blue and purple lights from both suns. 

Junsu waved happily.

-Hi, Junho, you show off!

Next to him, Jaejoong and Changmin stared, almost in awe, as the giant dragon flew over them in amazing acrobatic moves. The two young boys could not wait until it was their time to be allowed on a dragon as well. They continued to stare with unconcealed longing and jealousy as Junsu’s older brother flew above them, riding the huge animal. Yunho and Yoochun watched their two friends with a smile on their lips. Jaejoong and Changmin were completely oblivious to the eyes on their profiles but to be fair, even Yunho and Yoochun were oblivious to how they were smiling only at them and completely forgetting about the dragon above them. 

Junsu finished his telepathic chat with his brother and waved again before the giant green dragon flew away.

-Junho says our adulthood ceremony will soon be scheduled. 

-Great! I can’t wait to ride one of those.

Jaejoong said that with such uncontrolled excitement, even his horse started to get restless. Yunho placed a soothing hand on Jaejoong’s horse.

-You and Changmin can only think about riding the dragons. You forget the adulthood ceremony will also bring about The Connection. Aren’t you worried about that?

-Why should I? The Connection is something that sorts itself out on its own. We don’t have to worry about it.

-Yeahh! I agree with Jae. Why worry about The Connection? The Linked One is not something we can choose. It just comes with becoming of age. Part of life’s natural course.

Yoochun smiled at Changmin’s words. He himself, like Yunho, worried about the changes The Connection would bring. He looked up at the spot where the dragon disappeared. He was not looking forward to ride one of the huge animals, he felt much more comfortable on a horse or in one of the old machines from the early days of the colony.

Junsu jumped in excitement, riding his horse among the other horses.

-Well, I for one can’t wait. We will become recognised adults, no longer having to obey the same rules as the little kids.

-What about the part where it means more than riding a dragon or being recognised as an adult by your parents? What about the part where it means we will find our Linked One? That we will either become a father or birth a child ourselves? – Asked Yunho with a serious voice.

Changmin put one arm around Yunho.

-Yun, my friend. I think I can safely say that you and I don’t have to worry about carrying babies. Now, Jae, Su and Chun here…

Changmin allowed his voice to trail away with a smirk. Jaejoong was the only one taking the bait, however. He hit the tall boy’s shoulder with a strong punch.

-Why are you always making that stupid joke? – Screamed an annoyed Jaejoong.

Yoochun ignored Changmin. He had no idea if he would be connected with a man or a woman. Besides, even if he became connected with a man it still gave him half a chance of not being the one carrying a baby. He tried not to remember a recent case where both men carried babies.

Junsu’s attention had been diverted elsewhere. In the distance, another horse was pulling a carriage. It was a very rare sight since everyone normally rode a horse. He smiled when he recognised who it was. The four friends were suddenly surprised out of their musings when Junsu took off in his horse, jumping over the narrower part of the canyon to the other side.

-Junsu! Where is he going? – Asked Yunho as he initiated a pursuit followed closely by the others. 

…

Junsu sped in his horse, stretching out an arm in anticipation and, in the final moment possible, grabbed the young girl riding the carriage, pulling her into his lap. Huge scared eyes looked up at him, the girls screams piercing his ears. But Junsu ignored all that, laughing at the girl in his arms, feeling very pleased with himself.

-Hi, Zahra. Don’t you know you should be riding a horse, not a carriage?

The girl calmed down for a second as she recognised the voice taunting her. She looked up at the smiling eyes, taking notice of the strong arm enveloped around her, holding her close to the guy’s chest. Her legs were on top of a muscled leg, her behind dangerously close to a certain area of the boy’s anatomy. In the next second, anger made the young girl use her finger nails to claw at the arm around her.

-Zahra, stop! Hey, you’ll get hurt.

Junsu was forced to stop the horse before he lost control of the girl in his arm. In an effort to calm her down he even dismounted and let her go.

-Kim Junsu! What the hell do you think you are doing?

-Oh, calm down! I was only joking with you! You still haven’t learned how to ride a horse? Don’t they have horses where you come from?

-Look here, I may not be from your awesome colony but that doesn’t give you the right to keep teasing me!

Yunho and the others reached them at that point. Yoochun was bringing the girl’s horse and carriage with them. Junsu looked up at his friends but averted his eyes from Yunho’s angry gaze.

-Junsu! What the hell? Leave the girl alone! I’m sorry about Junsu’s behaviour, Zahra. Please accept our apologies.

Zahra huffed at Junsu, nodded at Yunho and accepted her horse’s reigns from Yoochun. Still upset, the young girl took off without a single glance at Junsu. Jaejoong and Changmin saw the girl drive away before turning to tease Junsu. They even played a little hand game to determine who would take a go at Junsu first. Changmin won.

-Is she your future Linked One? Is that your courtship already?

-Oh, go to hell, Changmin. Just now you were hinting that I would be birthing babies. Make up your mind.

Yunho told everyone to be silent, obviously annoyed. The other four men looked at him. Jaejoong should have been the leader of their little group, since he was the oldest, but he was too easily distracted and so Yunho had stepped up. None of them ever contested Yunho’s authority when the tall boy chose to exercise it. 

-Junsu, explain. Why are you always messing with the chosen girl from the Seffren colony? You know we have to welcome the chosen ones from the other colonies. It’s part of the deal that ensures that our own chosen ones are well treated while they are away. Where is your responsibility?

-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to treat her bad. I’ll ask her forgiveness later on when we have classes together.

…


(to be continued)