“Hey! Miss? Wake up!”

                Someone was shaking Jangmi’s shoulder. She was so tired she couldn’t even open her eyes.

                “I don’t have time for this.”

                The distressed voice mumbled near her, but she felt as if someone was lifting her up bridal style.

                “Can’t just leave her.”

                She recognized the roar of the creature and now whoever had her held her tightly. They were moving suddenly, the familiar snaps and breaking of branches flooding her hearing. Finally managing to open her eyes, Jangmi tried to look up at who was holding her.

                “Miss?” He paused, having noticed her awake, “Are you okay? Can you stand?”

                “H-“ Jangmi’s throat felt constricted and her voice faltered,”-ok…”

                “Hey, hey! Don’t pass out again! Miss!” He shook her but Jangmi barely felt it. Her eyes fell shut again and this time she fell into darkness.

                But within this darkness Jangmi felt as if she was floating. She opened her eyes again, this time not feeling any of the fatigue or disorientation she expected. She was floating in a dark space, clad in a simple white robe. She had to be dreaming.

                You were our conduit child…the first of ours to read the words aloud… A voice said to her from the emptiness around her.

                Rest now... Jangmi felt the presence behind her and turned. A white tiger, glowing bright in the darkness, was slowly approaching her.

                Rest… Your journey has only begun…

                And it was black once again.

~~~

                Hiding behind her raised arms, she shut her eyes, waiting for the beast to strike. Instead she heard a low growl and what sounded almost like a whimper. Hyunok opened her eyes when the strike never happened. Her vision was flooded by a bright green light. Squinting, she realized the light was actually coming from her, focused on her hand. Looking beyond her arms, Hyunok spotted the beast mere inches from her. It shuddered and backed up a step, a low whine coming from it.

                Lowering her arms, Hyunok could now see the light was emanating from a green symbol on the back of her left hand. The creature whined again and sunk to the ground low, almost as if it was cowering from her. After a moment, the light faded into nothing, the symbol vanishing with it.

                The beast, its eyes no longer fierce, inched a little closer to her.

                “What are you…?” Before Hyunok’s flight response could kick in the beast raised its head and nudged her arm. Suddenly reminded of a large cat, Hyunok carefully extended her hand out. Despite her better judgement, the creature no longer emanated the rage and terror it had when they first encountered it. The creature immediately nuzzled into her hand, a content grumble coming from it.

                “Uh…nice…thing,” she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. The beast let out what she assumed was a purr of sorts and moved close enough for it to rub its head against her face.

                “Ack, okay, alright, stop!” She couldn’t help laughing a little at the affectionate actions, “blegh,” Hyunok pushed it far enough away for her to pull some of its fur from her mouth, “okay. Stop it girl,” the beast suddenly backed off, its ears flattened and a loud snuff coming from it, “Uh…okay…boy?” His ears perked up and Hyunok swore she saw a tail wag.

                “You’re…kind of cute,” she had to admit, scratching it’s ears, earning her more pleased grumbles from it, “why the sudden change…and why was my hand glowing?” He sat back and tilted his head to look at her as if understanding.

                “The story…oh no way…” she muttered to herself, trying to work it out but was struck by another thought, “Jangmi!” Without another word, Hyunok rushed off to try and find where she’d left her friend.

                “Jangmi!”

                By the time she’d found where she thought she’d left the younger girl, there was no sign on her.

                “Jangmi! Answer me! Jangmi!” She shouted, panic over taking her, “Jangmi!”

                Feeling tears beginning to form in her eyes, Hyunok picked a random direction and started off again, stumbling through the brush and branches.

                “Jangmi! Oh no, no, no, no!” Her friend was weak as it was. What would she do all alone in the forest? Why was she so stupid? Leaving her alone? How did she really expect her to survive?!

                “Jang-!” Her voice cracked and in her panic she tripped over a root. She fell forward and barely caught herself on her forearms, short sobs escaping her throat. A low grumble came from near her head. The beast was looking down at her curiously.

                “You! This is your fault! Get away from me!” She cried out, smacking him on the nose when he drew close to nuzzle her again. It whined and backed away, as if she’d just slapped a puppy, “Don’t start with me! You chased us! You were trying to hurt us and then…then I left my friend and now…now she’s…she’s…”

                And Hyunok broke down in sobs, unable to get back to her feet at that moment. The beast whined and lay next  to her, touching his nose to her head in an attempt to comfort her it seemed.

~~~

                “…I can walk by myself,” Naeun muttered, feeling both embarrasses and angry at the current turn of events. She was currently riding on Sungyeol’s back, her right leg wrapped in a cloth where blood was seeping through. After their fall, Sungyeol had ended up on top of Naeun and her leg had impacted on a stray rock.

                “Nonsense!” He proclaimed, “It’s my fault you fell!”

                “…honestly, it was hers,” Minjung added with a small chuckle at the resigned sigh Naeun gave, “but thank you for helping us.”

                “You got lucky,” Myungsoo said, turning to walk backwards and speak, the little girl being carried in his arms, “this little one’s mother paid us to find her. We’d tracked those slavers for a few days before arranging Sungyeol to get captured.”

                “So you’re mercenaries?”

                “Kind of,” Myungsoo shrugged, “work’s hard to come by these days, what with the kingdom in a state of panic. Besides, you saw what Yeollie could do.”

                “Yeah, about that,” The older girl looked to Sungyeol expectantly. He sighed, his shoulders slumping a little until he realized that caused Naeun to struggle to stay on his back and he straightened up quickly.

                “I’m not a witch if that’s what you’re about to ask,” Myungsoo laughed at Sungyeol to which the other made a face at him, “I can create creatures out of the things around me, like mud or dirt. I’ve been able to do it since I was a child,” he stammered out additionally when Minjung raised her brows at him in surprise, “I’m not the only weird one! Myungsoo can do things too!”

                “…are you both really from Seoul?” Myungsoo suddenly asked.

                “Seoul! Like the story!” The little exclaimed happily. Myungsoo nodded at her.

                “Story?” Naeun asked curiously. This was sounding terribly familiar.

                “There’s a legend around these parts about the four godly beasts that once protected this land. Supposedly, after a long battle with the evil god, which they defeated, they were so weak they had to go into a slumber. Byakko the tiger, Seiryuu the dragon, Suzaku the phoenix, and Genbu the tortoise, all four faded from the land with a promise that they would return one day…when their incarnations from Seoul returned to Yeonsa.”

                Finished with his story, Sungyeol looked over his shoulder at Naeun and smiled.

                “It doesn’t matter. Once we get back to town we can point you two in the direction of the next city. You should be able to get home from there.”

                “…I really can walk…” Naeun groaned when the boy didn’t relent.

                Minjung exchanged a glance with Naeun, who nodded in understanding. It was all too clear now what was happening.

                “By the way,” Minjung asked Myungsoo, having moved to walk next to him and the little girl, “do you know if the slavers found two other girls? They’d be wearing…foreign clothes like us.”

                “Not that I know of-“

                “Ooh! Minji saw shooting stars!”

                “That’s nice-“

                “Before the ladies came, Minji saw four stars come from the sky!” The little girl Minji was practically squirming to get out of Myungsoo’s hold to get to Minjung, “Two went that way!” Minjung looked where the little was pointing. It was east.

                “Can we go find those stars too?”

                “Yah, we need to get you home to your mama first!” Sungyeol scolded the little girl.

                Minjung looked off in the direction the little girl had indicated. It looked like it was beyond some forest…and they were walking away from it. She looked to Naeun and frowned. With her leg in that condition they wouldn’t get far themselves…at least for the time being.

                “Do you two…find people often?”

                “Eh? Not really. We can if we know where to look-“

                “How much would it be for us to hire you?”

~~~

                Jangmi sat up abruptly, her vision fading but the words of the tiger still ringing in her ears. The fatigue she once had was now gone, though she still felt a little dizzy from sitting up quickly. The forest was dark around her, the light from a nearby fire illuminating it just enough for her to make out the shapes of the trees. The sky above her was full of stars, more than she’d ever seen before.

                “How long have I been asleep?” She wondered aloud before carefully removing the blankets that had been wrapped around her.

                “All afternoon and evening,” a male voice responded, making Jangmi jump and spin to face the owner. He was standing some distance from her, a bow slung over his shoulder and a bundle of wood under his arm. He clothing looked like traditional Korean apparel, but it looked more…real would be the word she’d use, not so pristine and new like she saw in the dramas. He laughed a little at her.

                “Are you going to try and beat me up?” Jangmi soon realized that without thinking she’d dropped into a defensive posture. Despite this she didn’t relax, “Easy. I found you in the forest. You looked half dead. Are you alright now?”

                “I…guess…wait, you found me? Was there another girl?”

                “Just you,” he’d set the wood down and propped his bow and quiver of arrows against a tree, “what are you doing out here alone? Don’t you know it’s dangerous out here with the beast attacks?”

                “I wouldn’t know…I’m not from these parts.” She chose her words carefully, still wary.

                “Okay, first things first. I’m Hoya,” he held his hands up to show he meant no harm, “what’s your name?”

                “No Jangmi.”

                “For the night you should stay with me. I’ve been hunting the beast for quite some time now, and I know he’s most active at night. You’ll be safer here.”

                “I can’t…I have to go,” Jangmi bowed to the young man to thank him for the help and turned, “my friend was out there, being chased by the beast I assume you’re talking about.”

                “If she was being stalked by that thing, she’s probably dead.”

                “You don’t know that!” Jangmi snapped at Hoya.

                “Hey wait! Stop!” Hoya rushed after Jangmi who was already beginning to run to the forest, “Don’t be stupid! You don’t even have a light! Wait!”

                “Oki is out there! She might be hurt!”

                “Yah!” Jangmi felt him grab her wrist and all at once a blinding white light filled the camp for a few seconds. On the back of Jangmi’s hand was a white blazing symbol. A shock of something went from her hand through to Hoya. To her amazement, another symbol, this one glowing from Hoya’s neck, lit up.  As the light faded both were left speechless and stunned, staring at the other in complete shock. Hoya was the first to speak.

                “You’re the incarnation of Byakko…”