'I can’t do this anymore!’ Chanyeol yells as he opens his knapsack and starts packing his clothes and home-made arrows. ‘Chanyeol wait, just calm down, we can discuss this’ his mom pleads. ‘There’s nothing to discuss, you want me to be someone I’m not, I won’t be some guard dog’ Chanyeol’s voice is still raised and can be heard echoing in his large family home.

Chanyeol is no stranger to duty and loyalty to his family, but this time it’s different. Some may think he is being spoiled, but why shouldn’t he choose what he wants to do with the rest of his life. ‘Fine’ his mother mumbles under her breath ‘What?’ Chanyeol replies an octave lower 
‘Leave and figure it out Chanyeol, I don’t want you to be unhappy and I don’t want you to hate me for forcing you to choose a path you don’t want to’ ‘Mom..’ he pauses ‘I’m sorry, I just need time to think’ and there Chanyeol was, leaving his home behind walking straight to nowhere and somewhere at the same time.

It was true, he didn’t know what he wanted, it was so clear to everyone else besides him. The Park family has come from a long line of Military service, there has never been even a single Park heir to steer away from the destined path, yet here he was paving his own. ‘I’ll go back, maybe in a day or two’ he repeated this to himself as he walked further from his village, it seemed to keep his feet moving as Chanyeol rarely left home in such a manner. 
After a few hours, realization had caught up to him as he was completely lost, he has never seen the road ahead of him before in his life but it would be a lie if he said he didn’t love the sights he had passed, the scents of flowers and fresh grass and the sound of birds and the cool breeze whistling. His head was filled with so many thoughts, so why does he feel so relaxed like he was just taking a short stroll to enjoy the scenery. 

‘Maybe I over reacted’ he whispers to himself as he looks down the road to two opposite leading paths which he finds himself uncomfortably unaccustomed to. ‘I should just go back’ he whispers again, yet his feet stay grounded. Chanyeol is anything but a coward and he would 
gladly go into any unknown if it were for a good cause, but he hesitates at the thought of disappointing his family more than the thought of disappointing himself. ‘A military life wouldn’t be that bad, Dad seemed happy before his injury’ Chanyeol’s tears almost start to drop ‘I could never be that brave, but I guess I have to try’ Chanyeol wipes his tears on his sleeve and spins around ready to head back home to the life that awaits him.

‘GET AWAY’ 
‘DON’T COME ANY CLOSER’ 
‘I AM WARNING YOU’ 
‘AH HELP!’ 

Chanyeol can hear a distressed voice in the distance, he knows someone’s in trouble and
instantly runs towards the voice.
‘YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED DEVIL BIRD’ screamed the shirtless young man underneath a waterfall who seemed to be fighting with one of the giant song birds. ‘I DIDN’T KNOW THE EGGS BELONGED TO YOU’ His voice going even higher. Chanyeol is in awe, he doesn’t know whether to laugh or pity the stranger, after all who steals eggs from a giant song bird? The answer was clear after the usually docile bird suddenly pecked at the strangers arm, 
causing droplets of red to dilute into the water. After seeing the blood it was almost as if instinct had taken over Chanyeol. He threw his bag down, grabbed his bow and arrow and dived into the shallow pool of water without even undressing first. 
As soon as he swam close enough to his target he aimed, not with ill intent, but only to scare off the song bird however, to his surprise he witnessed something he had never seen before. The man had transformed, partly. Red, purple and blue wings had sprouted from his back, as he began to fly, barely two meters off the ground into the safety of a nearby cave behind the waterfall. Chanyeol had to rub his eyes profusely but the image did not leave. ‘What is he?’ he asked himself. 
Without thinking Chanyeol had leaped across a few rocks and made his way into the dark cavern, a miniscule ray of light had lead him towards the stranger and he couldn’t believe his eyes once again as that light was coming from the stranger himself. 
‘Shapeshifter!’ he exclaimed, and the stranger had fell off the rock he was seated on while dressing himself. ‘Who are you? How do you know me?’ the stranger asked with wide eyes. ‘So you are one? Wow! I’ve never seen one before I thought you guys were just make believe like werewolves or something’ Chanyeol could not control his excitement. ‘You aren’t afraid of me?’ the young man questions. ‘Why would I be afraid of someone who is two heads shorter than me?’ ‘WHAT?!! Listen here pointy ears, I am not that much shorter than you and I’ll have you know that my kind can keep growing even after they’re like 25 or something…I think’ the man bites back. ‘My name is Baekhyun’
‘Oh hey, I’m Park Chanyeol’ ‘So was that you shapeshifting? Can I see more? Can you become 
like a tiger? Or a puppy? You look like a puppy’ Chanyeol’s eagerness is shown with the massive grin on his face. 
‘Yes it was, pretty cool right?’ Baekhyun pauses ‘I can shift but not entirely’ his eyes begin to 
shift towards his feet ‘Why not?’ Chanyeol asks more politely this time. ‘I don’t really know how, but I’m going to be able to really soon!’ his eyes meet Chanyeol’s and begin to sparkle with conviction. Chanyeol is left confused, how could a shapeshifter not know how to shift, that’s like him not knowing how to be an elf. ‘Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude but how can you not know how to shift? Baekhyun ignores this question. ‘Hey, you’re an elf right? So you can read like ancient elvish scrolls yes?’ ‘I guess’ ‘Great, I have a shopping list kind of thing, do you mind reading it, you look really smart’ Baekhyun bats his eyes and Chanyeol can’t help 
blush at the compliment. ‘Sure I can, hand it over Baekhyun’ he says confidently. 

Secrets of shapeshifting

1 Silver locket

3 Mountain gold coins

Some’ Fairy dust

5 leaves from an Ash wood in the forbidden forest

An item earned from a stranger

The Lost Petal

‘So she was right, the locket was one of the items’ Baekhyun mutters to himself. ‘What’s all these items for, the Lost Petal I’ve only heard about that magical flower in fairytales?’ Chanyeol is absolutely lost, what did he just read. ‘I’m going on a journey, a quest if you may, in order to regain all my abilities’ Baekhyun doesn’t know why he’s so open about this to Chanyeol but the elf seems really trustworthy. ‘I don’t think it’s worth your life’ Chanyeols eyes start to get impossibly large and Baekhyun swallows hard ‘What do you mean’ ‘the gold mountains with greedy mercenary dwarves, the forbidden forest with ghosts and thorns like knives and not to mention witches and trolls who would hex you and eat your brains’ ‘WHAT, that’s all just folklore Chanyeol’ Baekhyun tries to fake a smile to hide the massive amount of stress Chanyeol just gave him.’Well I thought shapeshifters were also just folklore but here we stand’ 

‘I can’t just give up, this means too much to me, even if it costs me my life I’m going to try’ 
Baekhyun begins to pack his few belongings scattered in the cave. ‘I’ll come with you then’ 
‘you will?’ ‘yeah, I have some time to kill, I can’t let you go on this death trap quest alone’ Chanyeol doesn’t like to lie, but it isn’t much of a lie, he doesn’t want to go back home now AND he doesn’t want Baekhyun to die so it’s not a lie or that’s what he keeps telling himself. 
‘So which direction to the mountains?’ Baekhyun asks moving his head from left to right. ‘You don’t know? How were you going to get there before you met me’ ‘I actually at directions, but also before you read the map I didn’t even know where I was headed all I knew is that I needed a petal and a silver locket’ Is this guy for real? Chanyeol internally questions. ‘Okay then we can head to the nearby village not far from here, they have a market with some fine silver, you’ll be able to get the locket from there’ ‘No, I managed to get the locket already, it 
wasn’t easy but I got it done’ Baekhyuns mouth closes into the perfect upside down smile. ‘We 
are headed to the gold mountains Chanyeol’ ‘That’s 3 days away by foot’ Chanyeols eyebrows begin to crease ‘Well then we better get started!’ Baekhyun cheers optimistically.Baekhyun and Chanyeol are barely walking for two hours when a growling sound can be heard suspiciously close to the two, Chanyeol’s elf ears pick up as he turns around sharply only to find Baekhyun holding his stomach and bowing his head slightly. ‘Sorry, that was just me, I didn’t get a chance to eat properly earlier’ Chanyeol is silent as he reaches into his bag and 
tosses Baekhyun an apple before cautiously moving ahead. ‘Are you always so quiet and serious on quests?’ Baekhyun asks the taller, it’s almost nightfall and Chanyeol has barely said two words to him AND he is hungry again. ‘No, sorry, I don’t 
mean to be rude, it’s just I feel like I jumped into all this’ ‘I didn’t think I would travel this far away from home when I left and I didn’t think I would meet you and there’s just a lot to take in’ Chanyeol’s words are rushed and Baekhyun can tell he seems anxious about everything but Baekhyun knows he won’t be able to do this alone. He needs Chanyeol’s help. ‘Hey, if you want to leave it’s okay, I can find my way around, you helped me read the map after all’ 

Baekhyun wonders why such a statement had left his lips, he didn’t know why he couldn’t stand seeing Chanyeol look like this…burdened, because of him. ‘No, no, I didn’t mean I wanted to leave you or anything, who knows what could happen, I’m by your side until the end Baekhyun’ Chanyeol can clearly see that Baekhyun wouldn’t be able to survive on his own especially with powers that aren’t fully developed yet and there’s no way he is leaving Baekhyun now that he already feels a sense of protectiveness over him.‘It’s getting dark, let’s make camp Baekhyun’ ‘Sure thing Yeol’ ‘huh? What?’ Chanyeol’s cheeks start to get impossibly hot, why is Baekhyun referring to him so casually they barely 
know each other, this is moving too fast and his inner thoughts are taking over. ‘Oh, does it bother you? I just thought because we are like quest buddies and going to be bunking together 
for a while, but if you don’t like it it’s fine’ ‘No, I was just surprised, I like it…uhm…Baek?’ Baekhyun smiles at the nickname, and points to a big tree a few meters away from them ‘this seems like a good spot?’ ‘not if you want fire ants eating you alive’ ‘how about over here?’ ‘Poisonous flowers’ ‘here?’ ‘That’s the road Baek!’ ‘Wow you’ve never done this before have you?’ Chanyeol chuckles. ‘I don’t usually go out much, fine Mr I know all the perfect camping 
spots where is a good place?’ Chanyeol just nods his head towards a few rounded boulders and 
bare flat rock, I’ll set up camp and a fire why don’t you get us something to eat?’ ‘Like hunt
for food? Yeah sure I can do that’ and off Baekhyun goes into the darkness of some nearby 
trees and shrubs.

Chanyeol used to go camping all the time with his friends and family back home so he confidently riles up some sticks and leaves into a perfect camp site and starts on the fire. ‘Ah, ouch! Not my face!’ Chanyeol hears Baekhyuns cries and rushes towards the sound only to find him on the ground with nicks and bruises all over his arms and neck ‘Baek, what happened to you? Are you okay? What attacked you?’ Baekhyun almost sobs at the thought of what just happened to him ‘It was a bunny Yeol, I really big vicious one, all I wanted to do was eat him but he almost killed me!’ Baekhyun points at the little black hare peeking out from one 
of the nearby bushes. Chanyeol can’t help but burst out laughing and falling to the floorslapping the ground and Baekhyuns bruised hand repeatedly. ‘Haha well serves you right for wanting to harm a little bunny’ ‘JUST CATCH IT ALREADY I’M HUNGRY’ ‘No way, I can’t kill it, it’s too cute, I’ll get us some berries and nuts!’ Chanyeol almost limps as he is still full of giggles as he walks away ‘Oh and there’s a first aid kit in my bag, clean your wounds you don’t want them getting infected’.Chanyeol almost drops all the food he managed to gather when he walks back to the camp site and sees a shirtless Baekhyun covered in medicinal leaves and loosely fitted bandages. ‘What on Luxignis did you do to yourself?’ ‘It’s not my fault I don’t know how these things work every time I wrap my arm it gets loose!’ ‘Come here, I’ll do it’. After their dinner Chanyeol and Baekhyun sit under the stars in front of the fire and just stare into the vast emptiness before them. Chanyeol can’t help but feel hollow when he thinks about his home and his parents, he misses them but he is so far away from the answer he seeks, he is still filled with confusion as he turns to the side of him to look at Baekhyun, he is wearing a look of such loneliness, does he miss his family too?

‘Hey Baek’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘How can you not read a map, build a camp, hunt for food or dress your own wounds?’ Chanyeol’s words are so direct Baekhyun can’t help but feel embarrassed, and a bit helpless. ‘Ah, I guess I’m pretty useless hey?’ Baekhyun looks so sombre under the moonlight yet so beautiful in Chanyeol’s eyes, Chanyeol can’t really explain it but maybe there was another reason he wanted to tag along with the stranger and not just to waste some time. 
‘Is there a reason why you’re willing to go this far for this flower that may or may not be real?’ Chanyeol’s words sting Baekhyun in his chest ‘It is real Chanyeol, it has to be! I have nothing to go back to, It has to be real’ Baekhyun shouts but his expression makes him look so defeated and worn out. ‘Of course you have something to go back to’ Chanyeol doesn’t know anything personal about Baekhyun but he does know that someone should never give up and always look at the positive things in life ‘Your friends, your family, your home they’re all waiting for you’. Wow for an elf you can be pretty dense. 

‘Why don’t I know how to use all my powers? Don’t you think my parents would have taught me? I don’t have a family Chanyeol, I was born and raised at an orphanage. Chanyeol is stunned his lips part but not even an exhalation of breath escapes, Chanyeol values his family so much and always thinks of them, he can’t comprehend what Baekhyun is going through. In a long time, Park Chanyeol is completely speechless and does not know how to make a situation brighter. 

‘Hey, don’t look so devastated Mr Lanky elf’ ‘it’s fine, I had a great orphanage, we got meals and clothes and on my birthday I got chocolate covered strawberries! It was the best day of the 
year, my siblings were great too. I missed them once they got adopted. ‘Were there no families 
for you?’ Chanyeol softy breaks his silence. ‘Ah I guess no one wanted to adopt a shapeshifter, most people are afraid of us I guess’ ’I’m sorry Baek’ ‘it’s okay, no worries I think I turned out okay?’ ‘More than okay, you’re the best!’ ‘Aww you flatter me Mr Park’ Baekhyun’s pain was hidden behind his veil of a smile but his eyes started to look empty. Of course he was hurt, he wanted to belong, to be better and be someone in the future, it’s why he’s trying so hard to gain his full powers after all. Chanyeol could see right through him but he really didn’t want Baek to talk more about this. His eyes really looked as if he was drowning in sorrowful memories of his childhood yet he smiles so wholeheartedly, what was real Chanyeol wondered.
‘Baek, you said you already had the silver locket, silver isn’t cheap how did you get it?’ ‘Don’t worry, I didn’t steal it’ Baekhyun rolls his eyes and smiles but Chanyeol doesn’t know if he can even trust that smile anymore. ‘I worked for two years, minimum wage, whoever would take me and I managed to save enough for it’ Baekhyun reveals the shiny silver locket dangling from his neck, Chanyeol didn’t remember seeing it before when he was shirtless, but he probably kept it safe at those times. ‘And I may be useless at most things but I’m an expert at 
clearing out tables and washing dishes!’ Baekhyun flashes a grin this time and Chanyeol can’t 
help but smile back.

Baekhyun was the embodiment of never judge a book by its cover, and Chanyeol really was 
captivated by him. At that moment he believed he made the right choice by joining Baekhyun 
on this adventure. Maybe there was a reason for it after all.