-Jongup’s POV-

After a quick meeting with the Council Of 5 we said our final goodbyes to our buddies. And then we left, just like that. We had a meeting, said goodbye, and left….just like that. We didn’t take any horses or anything like that. Nope we traveled on foot with a few supplies, a few tents, sleeping bags, water, some food, and clothes and weapons, and maps, and other light tools.

It was me, Himchan, Youngjae, Daehyun, Zelo, Yongguk, Jasmine, Tae, Min, Jayde, and Lee.

“Man, I’m really going to miss those guys. I hope we can see them again soon. Meant time. You and I can get to know each other…huh?” I said to Jayde. She ignored me and continued to lead the way. “So…you’re the quiet type huh? Or are you just playing hard to get?” I continued the lovely conversation.

“You don’t want me.” She muttered. “Oh…so you’re playing that game. It’s all game. I play that game also.” I said running my fingers through my hair. She only shook her head. “I know exactly what you’re trying to do.” She reminded. “I know. I don’t have anything to hide. I’m an open book.” I said. “Why don’t you tell him that? He hasn’t caught on yet.” Jayde remarked sounding somewhat annoyed, referring to Himchan “I know. Things are going as planned.” I said proudly. “Alright.” was her only response.

I looked back at Himchan, who I caught staring at me. He quickly looked away. I smiled to myself. “I’ll be back.” I told her. “Have fun.” Jayde remarked lacking much emotion. I turned around and joined Channie.

“Hello Channie.” I greeted my favorite fire bender. I noticed a tint of pink in his cheeks as he looked the opposite way. “Hey…Jongup.” He said. “Why aren’t you looking at me? You were watching me before.” I teased. He shot a glare at me, his cheeks red. “What?” I said innocently. “You’re so full of yourself he muttered. “What? It was true though.”

“I…I wasn’t looking at you.” Himchan straightened up. “Yes you were.” I said. “No I wasn’t.” he argued back. “I saw you Channie.” “No, you just so happened to see me looking in your direction. I was clearly looking at something else.” He huffed. “Oh yeah?” I said. He nodded.

“What were you looking at then?” I questioned. His eyes slightly widened. I got him now. “It doesn’t matter…it’s none of your concern.” He said. “Fine then.” I shrugged. “Then why did you look away when I looked back at you?” I smirked. His facial expression changed, losing his composure. “I-I…Ugh! Stop pestering me with all of these questions.” Himchan said. “What? I’m just asking simple questions.”

“Do you…really mean all those things?” he suddenly asked changing the subject. “Mean what things?’ I asked. “The things about Jayde. Do you…really like her? Like that?” I tried to keep myself from smiling and just shrugged. “Because, you…you’ve never really pursued anyone like this before, well at least not for this long.” He continued. He seemed to be thinking hard about something.

“I don’t know.” was my simple answer. “Cause you know she’s not interested.” He said, he seemed to be talking more to himself. “Where are you going with this Channie?” I asked smiling sweetly. Himchan blinked a couple of times jumping out of thoughts.

He looked at me, “Nowhere. I was just being straight forward with you about how Jayde feels. So that you don’t bother her anymore.” Himchan said. “No…I think there’s something else.” I cooed. “There’s nothing.”

“C’mon, Channie, you can tell your little Uppie.”

“There isn’t anything else.”

“Just say it. Come on.”

“Ugh! Jongup! There’s nothing else.” He spat out of frustration and stormed forward joining Min and Tae. “Awe Channie.” I said shaking my head. “Hii Himichan.” Min greeted. Tae was giving Min a piggy back ride as they walked through the day.

“Hey Min.” Himchan returned the greeting. “Hm…I wonder if Himchan will give me a piggy back ride too.” I thought out loud. “I think I’ll ask him.” I said about to go up to him when someone stopped me. “Must you always mess with Himchan?” Yongguk said.

“Why not? He makes it easy.” I smirked. The elder laughed a little, shaking his head. “You keep this up and one day he won’t have the patience anymore and then…” Yongguk began. “…He’ll explode. Ka-boom!” Zelo joined in finishing Bang’s sentence.

“Well, I’m willing to test my boundaries. I have to know something.” I told them. “And what’s that?” Zelo asked munching on some cherry tomatoes. “You’ll see when the time comes.” I smiled. “Well, be careful.” Yongguk warned. “I know. I know.’ I brushed off.

We walked for a couple more hours before taking our first break. “We’ll set up camp here and then get moving in the morning. We won’t set up camp again until we get by the river over here.” Jayde said referencing a map. “That’s…far.” Jasmine stated. “Then you’ll have to get all of the rest you can tonight.” Lee remarked. Jasmine narrowed her eyes at him.

“How come you’re referencing a map when you pretty much know everything?” I questioned out of curiosity. “I don’t know where everything is, I just know the places I’ve been too, I can only give you a visual of the place we’re going to, I know what it looks like. And I told you, I know almost everything, not everything.” Jayde informed. I just nodded.

“Wait…there’s only 4 tents here.” Himchan announced after going through all of the stuff. “Lee…did you not pack all of the tents?” Jasmine scolded. “I packed enough tents sweetheart.” Lee said irritated. “Then why are there only 4 tents then, when there are 11 of us?” Jasmine challenged.

“First of all you don’t need to be challenging me as if I don’t know what I’m doing. Secondly, this doesn’t really affect you because you brought your own tent. Finally, I got one tent for Tae and Min, one for Prince Charming and the Princess, one for Romeo and Juliet, and one for the Prince and the Popper.” Lee sassed. “You hear that Himchan? We’re the Prince and the Popper. I think I’m the Prince.” I said to the elder.

“What about Jayde and you?” Jasmine questioned. “We don’t sleep in tents. So you should check yourself before you check me, because I have my straight.” Lee said and walked off.

Jasmine’s fists bawled up as she huffed and stormed off. “Can I get an S to the A to the double S Y.” I sang.” Himchan elbowed me in the side. “What’s up with them?” Daehyun asked confused.

“They don’t like each other.” Tae answered. “Yeah, they never liked each other.” Min added. “Yeah. They can’t stand each other.” Tae inputted. “They hate each other…almost.” Min nodded. “Why?” I asked this time.

“They live two completely different lives. They pretty much don’t like anyone who’s like the other.” Jayde explained. “Oh…I know what that’s like.” I said. Himchan, Yongguk, Daehyun, and Zelo all looked at me. “You do?” they asked in unison. I nodded.

“Mm hm. Youngjae and Daehyun used to hate each other. But if it wasn’t for me they wouldn’t be together today.” I said plainly. They all rolled their eyes. “That’s not at all true. It was because of me that they got together.” Zelo said. “And plus that doesn’t even mean you know what that’s like.” Himchan said shaking his head. “Oh really?” I said. He nodded. I leaned in by his ear. “You know, I used to not like princes. But that changed after I met you.” I cooed.

The elder blushed hard. “I’m…I’m going to set up our tent.” He said getting up. With that everyone else got up to set up their own tents as well.

“Min. You’re not doing it right.” Tae said. “No~…I’m following the instructions.” Min argued struggling to set it up himself while Tae supervised. “It’s not supposed to look like that.” Tae said. “Ugh! Yes it is.” Min said. “Nooo….look.” Tae showed him the instructions. “TaeTae it’s upside down.” Min said. “No it’s not.” The elder twin grumbled flipping the instructions over. His eyes widened. “Oh! You’re right!” He announced. “Told you.” Min smiled.

Lee and Jasmine didn’t come back until it was completely dark outside. By that time everyone had comfortably entered their tents, except for me and Jayde, who climbed up a tree.

Lee and jasmine looked at each other, then looked away. Lee climbed up a tree and sat on a branch and closed his eyes. “That blood- demon.” Jasmine cursed angrily under her breath. “Do you need help setting up your tent?” I asked walking up to her.

She jumped back holding her chest. “Oh my goodness. You scared me.” She said finding her breath. “Really? Hm…I never thought that I was the scary type.” I said. She laughed a little. “You seem pretty cool.” She said. “Well, I am the Moon Jongup.” I said.

Jasmine smiled then looked back up at the tree where Lee had climbed up. Then her face turned into one of disgust. “Ugh…look at him. He thinks he’s all bad and cool, caring for nobody but himself while this war is going on.” She said under her breath.

“Why can’t he just be…just be…Oh I don’t know…something other than himself?” Jasmine sighed. “I don’t know. That’s probably just his way of handling things. I inputted. She didn’t say anything. “You may not agree with his way, but it helps him. Just how your ways helps you.” I simply put it. The girl studied me. “What? Do I have something on my face?” I asked. Jasmine just smiled. “No…it’s just that you actually have a point.” She said.

“Oh yeah~…My friends don’t like the way I take care of things, but they always end up thanking me in the end.” I said. She giggled a little. “You are, something else Moon Jongup.” She said. “Do you need help setting up your tent then?” I asked again.

“Oh no. I got it.” She said. She then waved her hand a little and snapped her fingers, then all of her stuff started dancing around putting itself together. “Wow. Props to being a mage.” I remarked.

“Well, you have a point. So…I’ll keep it in consideration, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll end up liking him. I’ll just try to tolerate him.” She said. I just shrugged. “Thanks Jongup. Good Night.” She said.

“Mm hm. Night.” And with that I headed to my own tent. On my way I felt something hit my head. I looked down and saw that it was an apple. I smirked a little. “Night Lee.” I cooed. “Tch…Night Popper.” He muttered.

When I entered the tent I saw that Himchan wasn’t asleep. “Turns out you’re the Prince.” I told him closing the tent. He just watched me as I crawled over into my sleeping bag and got comfortable. “Oh cool you made a mini fire place thingy.” I said noticing it. Himchan just sighed.

“What’s up?” I asked him. “I’ve just been thinking.” Was his response. “Channie~, you’re always thinking.” I said. The elder laid down and faced his back towards me “It’s nothing. I’m tired.” He said. “Oh…well, night.” I said. “Good Night Jongup.” He said, it sounded more sad than sleepy.

Bright and early the next morning we woke up and broke down camp, then we continued on our long journey.

“Are we there yet?” Tae asked, this time he was riding Min’s back. “No.” Lee answered. There was a few seconds of silence. “Are we there now~?” Min asked this time. “No, not yet.” Jasmine said. There was another few seconds of silence. “Are we there yet?” The twins asked in unison.

“No! If you ask again we won’t stop for lunch.” Lee warned. The two immediately shut their mouths. “Are we there now~?” Daehyun asked this time.

“No!” Tae and Min snapped at him. “Where are we going anyway?” I asked. “We’re going straight into the Dark Magic’s territory. To the heart of it.” Jayde said. “Wait. I thought that we were going to re-conquer the places that have been taken over. I didn’t think we were actually going in.” Himchan said.

“That’s what all of the other groups were sent out to do. They’re working to weaken them and act as a distraction for us, to make it a little easier to get there.” Jayde explained. “Our mission is what is going to really bring us a big advantage over the dark magic.” Lee said.

“So…dos that men everyone is depending on us?” Zelo asked. “Wait a second! I fit’s that important then why us? We only just found out about this whole war thing and that there are magical creatures to begin with. And we’ve only been training for a week. W-We’re not even all that good.” Himchan sped on. “…because…I chose you guys.” Jayde said in all seriousness.

No one else said a word. “Yeah, honestly you guys really aren’t all that good. Matter of fact if we faced them right now, all of you would be dead.” She said straight forward. “…but you guys have something that most people or magic beings don’t really have anymore.” She said.

“What’s that?” Zelo asked curiously. “Free will. A lot of beings bound back magic feel bonded and tied down. And they feel restricted to rules and how things are supposed to be. And that’s not something we need for this mission.” She answered. “And your friends back at the city, are going to be really useful when we need them. They have a lot of hope and are united.” Jasmine said in admiration. “So wait a second.” I spoke up.

“What?” Lee said. “Can we not call them the Dark Magic? It sounds too…too cheesy to me.” I said. Himchan just looked at me. “Ooh! Yeah! Let’s call them um…um…the bad guys.” Tae said. “Oh yeah I like that, The Bad Guys.” Min agreed. “Oh! Or, The Destroyers.” Tae said.

“Or The Big Bad Meanies.” Min suggested. Tae squealed in excitement. “Oh my gosh! That’s good. That’s a really evil name.” Tae agreed liking that one the best. “We’ll just call them the D.M. for short.” Lee said.

“Awe…that’s boring.” Tae whined. “Yeah. Those aren’t even words it’s only letters.” Min frowned. “Words are only letters.” Lee retorted. Tae and Min looked shocked and astonished. “…W-Words are only…letters.” Min repeated. “Wow! I’m seeing things more clearly.” Tae said his eyes large. “Me too! Lee! What are letters then?” Min asked excitedly wanting to learn more.

“So, how are we going to defeat the…um…DM then?” Himchan asked continuing on with the main topic at hand. “You guys will improve before then. Once we reach the river you’ll start practicing every day.” Jayde said, and that ended the conversation.

It was a silent walk through the wooded area. I honestly expected it to be more fun, well at least to the point where people were talking. The only two people who babbled on were Min and Tae. Huh…man we really are boring. Youngjae’s childhood friends are way more interesting.

Youngjae is too small to jump up and do anything, and Junhong…I don’t know. But other than that, Daehyun, Himchan, and Yongguk are boring. They’re way too serious.

Just then something came to mind. “Hey…Zelo.” I said. “Yeah?” “Come with me.” I said. “Um…okay.” He said following me. Next I went up to Daehyun. “Hey, can I borrow Juliet for a second?” I asked him. Youngjae looked at me not liking the nickname. “Why?” Daehyun questioned. “What? He doesn’t need your permission. C’mon.” Youngjae squeaked jumping into my hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll return your baby.” I said skipping away with the two babies, with their parents watching me suspiciously.

Then I hopped over to the other babies. “Hey, Tim and Nim wanna do something?” I asked them. “It’s Tae and Min.” The two corrected. “That’s what I said. Anyway wanna have some fun?” I asked. The two nodded simultaneously. “Fun?” Zelo and Youngjae perked up.

“We’re going to be…annoying.” I announced. “Whuuuuuh?” the twins said in unison. “Annoying?” Youngjae repeated. “Are you sure that’s fun?” Zelo questioned.

“Of course. I do it all the time when they get too serious.” I said referring to the three princes. “Oh yeah you do.” Zelo remembered. “It is kind of funny.” Youngjae admitted. “This should be easy for Tae. He’s annoying all the time.” Min said. Tae hit his brother’s head. “Am not.” Tae defended. “Are too.” Min argued.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Yuh huh!

“Nuh uh. “Ladies, ladies you are both annoying.” I said. “But Tae is the King of annoyance.” Min quickly inputted. “So, what are we gonna do?” Zelo asked.

“We can do multiple pranks or just be plain obnoxious.” Youngjae suggested. “Hmmm…I like the prank idea. Let’s save that for later. Pranks take time to plan.” I said. “Okay Master Jongup.” Youngjae remarked.

“Oh! We can act like mindless zombies and bump into people and just mess with them.” Tae suggested. “I like that.” I said. “It could do.” Zelo agreed. “I’m in.” Min said. “What about me? I’m too tiny.” Youngjae reminded. “Youngjae…you’re smart, you’ll come up with something.” I gave him an encouraging smilie. He just nodded. “I am smart.” He repeated. “And we can also throw things at them. Just cause.” Min added. “Okay yeah. You guys have to put on your most annoying perfect Zombie act or else it won’t work.” I said. “Oh, and don’t bother Jayde, we don’t want to push her buttons.” Zelo warned.

“Alright, let’s split up.” I said. Tae hopped off of Min’s back and we went our separate ways.

“Here. I have returned you child, not a scratch on his tiny little head.” I said handing Youngjae back to Daehyun. “Good” was Daehyun’s response. Youngjae gave a slight glare at the elder. I just smiled and walked away joining Himchan-hyung.

I hummed a little. “What are you so happy about?” Himchan asked. “Nothing. Can I not just be happy?” I sang. “Eh…you’re right.” He said plainly. I sensed that something was up with him, but I didn’t know what. I couldn’t tell if he was mad about something or if he was just worried. I shrugged, shaking my head, I told him not to think too much.

Jayde looked back at me knowing what we were up to. I just smiled back at her and waved to her in a flirtatious way. Himchan rolled his eyes at me. I looked back at the others who all nodded. I gave them the thumbs up signaling for them to start and then turned back around.

The twins were the first to start. “Nom…Nom…Nom.” They began with their arms out. Zelo was next to join them, groaning and . Next Youngjae went Zombie mode. He took a step and nearly fell off of Daehyun’s shoulder. “Youngjae! Are you okay?” Daehyun asked catching him. But Youngjae continued his Zombie act.

And then I joined in. “Jongup? What…are you doing?” Himchan questioned, but I didn’t respond not breaking the act. The five of us, with the exception of tiny Jae, roamed around aimlessly, bumping into the others, bothering them.

We made annoying noises just being plain irritating. “Oh my gosh!” Himchan was the first to break. “Would you guys stop?” Daehyun said, breaking next. But we didn’t listen, it was kind of funny, everyone looked silly doing their own version of a Zombie.

I caught Zelo trying to hold back his laughter as he and Youngjae bothered Daehyun. After a couple of minutes of the mini Zombie apocalypse Min picked up a stick and threw it at Daehyun.

“Yah! That hurt!” Daehyun rubbed his neck. Zelo also picked up some berries and threw some at Yongguk. “Hey~…” Yongguk said wiping the berries off of him. Tae took a beetle and tossed it on Jasmine’s head. “Aah!!” Jasmine screamed, moving frantically, trying to get the unwanted bug off of her.

“Hahaha! Now that’s funny.” Lee busted out laughing. Min snuck up behind him and poured a handful of beetles down Lee’s shirt. “A-Ah!! Min! You! Aaahh!” Lee yelled shaking around. The five of us snickered a little. Himchan looked at me all wide-eyed afraid of what we’d do to him. Zelo picked up a fistful of worms, and he and Youngjae made eye contact.

Youngjae smirked a little. He turned around and stepped off of Daehyun’s shoulder. “Youngjae! Aish! You need to be more careful.” Daehyun babied, catching him. Youngjae made a face at being babied, but didn’t say anything. Sneaky Zelo snuck up behind Mother Daehyun.

Baby Youngjae stepped off of Mother Daehyun’s shoulder again. “Yah! Yoo Youngjae! Did you not hear me?” Daehyun scolded pinching Youngjae’s shirt. “What’s wrong with you today?” He murmured. Zelo scooted closer to Daehyun.

Father Yongguk was about to look their way when I quickly threw a stick at him. The elder quickly looked my way glaring at me. I just whistled. Zelo quickly slipped the worms in Daehyun’s pants and tip-toed away.

Daehyun’s eyes widened. “Aaah!!!” He squealed quickly letting go of Youngjae and held his pants.

Father Yongguk dived and caught Youngjae just in time. “Yah! Daehyun! You dropped Youngjae! What’s wrong with you?!” He scolded. Mother Daehyun jumped up and down frantically.

“Th-Th-There’s some-something….in…in my pants!” he squealed. Zelo and Youngjae snickered to themselves trying hard not to laugh out loud. Bang sighed. “Himchan can you please see what’s up with Dae?”” “Hold still Daehyun. Let me check it out.” Grandma Himchan said.

Jayde stopped walking and sat on a large rock watching the chaos. Jasmine still ran around in circles making sure that there were no more bugs on her. Lee itched his back on almost everything trying to get the insects off of him. Himchan chased the squealing Daehyun trying to sit him down. And Yongguk just stayed there on the ground in the center of everything, with Youngjae in his hand.

Min bent down and stealthily picked up a large, juicy, rotten fruit and threw it at Daehyun. Daehyun saw it and ducked, then it came towards Jasmine who also ducked and ended up hitting Tae in the back of the head. I busted out laughing unable to keep character. Tae froze and slowly turned towards the culprit….Min.

“Heh…Miane?” Min said uneasily. Tae narrowed his eyes at his twin. He bent down, still watching his brother, and picked up a clump of dirt. He baled it up like a snowball and threw it at him. However at that moment Yongguk had stood back up and in that motion the dirt ball hit Bang dead in the face.

Himchan stopped chasing Daehyun and busted out laughing, Jayde even cracked a smile. Yongguk just stood there and wiped the dirt off his face. He clumped some of the dirt up and threw it at Himchan, hitting the side of his head. Himchan stopped laughing. “Oh~ no you didn’t.” he scoffed. Yongguk just smirked. Himchan bent down and picked up a squashed fruit from the ground and threw it at the elder.

Bang quickly ducked and stood back up. “Missed.” He smirked. “He missed you…but got me.” I grumbled as the juicy mess slid down my hair onto my face. Bang turned around to see me and started laughing, “Looks like you got a taste of your own medicine He laughed. A smile appeared on Himchan’s face, a kind of smile that I hadn’t seen in a while…a long while.

“Not even close….not even…close.” I said wiping my face. I smiled back at Himchan, whose smile slowly faded and started to look more sad, he shyly looked away. I frowned. What’s up Channie?

Just then a shadow passed by us. We all froze, expect for Jayde. Just then two more passed by. “Hey. There’s nothing on me.” Jasmine announced. Another shadow zoomed by. “Me either.” Lee announced, he stopped scratching.

Then two more passed by again. “Hey! I’m clean now!” Tae cheered. “Yeah~…there’s nothing in my pants now.” Daehyun said. Three more shadows zipped by and Himchan’s, Yongguk’s, and my faces were all…clean. “What’s going on?” Himchan asked getting serious again. I just sighed.

A little silver fairy thing landed on Daehyun’s shoulder. “Hello there.” She smiled sweetly. “Wh-Whaaa?!” Daehyun jumped back frightened pushing her off his shoulder. But she didn’t fall. She flew in the air with her tiny wings.

“Did I scare you? I’m sorry.” She giggled. “My name is Taeyeon.” She greeted holding her hand out for a handshake. “What’s yours?” She asked. “Um…Um…D-Daehyun.” Daehyun said awkwardly giving her his finger to shake.

“Hello Jayde~.” Another fairy dressed in silver and whit, greeted resting on Jayde’s shoulder. “Hey tiffany.” Jayde said. “Fairies?” I questioned. The two tiny fairy things looked annoyed. “Ugh…we are not fairies.” Tiffany said. “Then um…what are you?” I questioned. “We are…inspirits.” Taeyeon smiled sweetly.

I just looked at them not comprehending the differences. “They’re night fairies. But they’re rebels that turned against the ways of the true fairies. They’re more free willed and also fight, unlike normal fairies.” Lee explained. “We also deal with nature.” Taeyeon inputted. “But…it’s not tight time.” I pointed out.

“So? We can still come out during the day.” Tiffany said. Just then another shadow sped by, causing Zelo and Min to jump. “Is that all of them?” Taeyeon asked. “No the last three are lagging.” Jayde said.

We waited a couple of seconds and then three fast shadows passed by us. “What are they?” Himchan questioned. “Shadow seekers.” Taeyeon answered. “Shadow seekers?” Daehyun repeated. “Mm hm, they work best in the dark. They’re extremely sneaky. They can work in the day. And they can change their shadows also.” Tiffany explained treating it like a scary story.

“And sometimes…they can even steal your shadow.” Taeyeon said. Zelo and Tae stood close besides each other shivering. “Do they…Do they give them back?” Tae shivered. “If…they want to.” Taeyeon said spooky-like. “Aaaah!!! My shadow is chasing me!” Min ran, a dark figure chasing him. Just then 12 people came from the bushes, six on either side.

Two of them came out laughing. “We also manipulate shadows.” One of them said. He snapped his fingers and the shadow stopped chasing Min and went back to its original state.

“You guys are so mean, picking on a little kid.” Tiffany shamed them.

The two guys just laughed. Tae Jumped behind Zelo, who jumped behind Bang. “It’s them.” Tae whispered. “The shadow seekers.” Zelo whispered. “Wait a second…” Youngjae squeaked narrowing his eyes, studying one of the shadow seekers. “A-Are you the guy from before? The-The one with the horse?” Youngjae asked. The guy he was talking to stepped up. “You look smaller than from what I remember.” The guy joked. Youngjae studied him closely. “You are him!” He announced. The guy smiled and bowed. “Kim Jongin at your service.” He smiled.