It's not Sunday! I know, but I saw 24h teaser and I was like super pumped to finish editing this!

Trigger Warning: Panic attacks

Also this chap is solely Chan's POV.

Chan – Unidentified Town – Beyond the realms

“Oy Minah! We don’t have all day to stall here, unless you want Old Shin to drag you by your hair himself.” Chan saw how the girl, who he now finally knows as Minah, stiffened once more. It was quick, gone by a blink and was immediately replaced by a tight-lipped smile. However, Chan knew what the burly man said was not a threat by any means. It was a statement, one filled with normalcy, as if it was akin to a daily chore done through muscle memory, as if it was like breathing. 

“I'll look for you later.” Minah grins at him, and as fast as how the fear that marred her face at the mere mention of a man named Old Shin faded, Minah hastily strutted her way to the burly man and walked away.

“I'll look for you later.” Chan quietly mumbles the words again to himself, there was warmth starting to bubble inside his chest. It was nostalgic, and hearing himself say it left a strange taste on his tongue. It was sweet like the small droplets of nectar from the flowers that he used to nimble with his Soonyoung hyung during spring, yet sour like the tangiest tartlelest at winter that his Junhui hyung tricked him to eating. Excitement flowed unto him, coursing through his veins and travelling all throughout his body, but with the giddiness that came from a simple promise of a newfound friend comes the feeling of dread that the middle grounder couldnt point the source of.

Mumbling the words once again as if he was making sure that he wasn’t making things up, the middle grounder finally stood up and dusted his trousers. There was a dull ache on his back that travels all the way to his wings but he ignores it. The small discomfort was just probably because he hasn’t used or even stretched his wings since arriving in the strange town. Looking up and beyond the ratty tapestries used as makeshift roofs, the middle grounder heaved a sigh. The sky was clear, blue, and cloudless just like yesterday and just like the subtle pain on his back, the middle grounder finally concluded that all the gore and screaming that he saw was nothing but a figment of his imagination. Just a dream, a bad, bad, bad case of a dream that was caused by the fear of being separated from his brother, hunger, and fatigue from aimlessly walking around an unfamiliar town.

After his new found conclusion, the middle grounder finally took his first step out of the dark moldy alley. Chan couldn’t help but adjust the hood of his cape to avoid the sun, for as much as he loves the warmth, the rays of light that the sun was giving off was scorching. It was no wonder why he had those delusional thoughts at the end of the day. Hissing for a bit, the young man steps back. There was another realization the came to him. 

He didn’t know what to do. 

He had no goal, no mission, and at the end of the day he’ll comeback in this same bleak and cold alleyway still unknown of miles away from his brother and friends. Slumping once again at a corner, the young man closes his eyes to think.

“Pathetic” 

Chan gasps and immediately opens his eyes. The feeling of dread starts creeping inside of him once more. He can feel his chest constricting and his head feeling light, there is also the strong urge to cry.

Then the middle grounder remembers. He recalls how his older brother, pressured by the weight of being the heir even at a young age has always smiled. He knows people talk about them. They talk about his hyung, they talk about his parents, and they talk about him. He knows because he’s heard them a handful of times. Most of them say good things about them, but there were some who didn’t. The good things were always for his parents, but Chan thought some of them were not even true. He told his hyung about it once but Soonyoung told him that a complement is a complement whether it be true or not, and as a noble they should learn to gracefully accept it. What was important is they know who was sincere and who wasn’t. Chan didn’t understand it first, he was only ten blue moons old when he told his hyung about it. And frankly his hyung’s choice of words was a little bit questionable. Grace was not a word usually associated with middle grounders. Their race came mostly from hunters. They are agile as they are rough and grace doesn’t really fit their image as they jump on Mamant boars covered in mud. He was twelve when he finally heard the awful things people say about them, half of them were for his parents and the other were for them. It was mostly for his hyung, how they doubt him and his abilities. It was hard for Chan to stomach it at first, his hyung, bright, loud, and fun hyung was being looked down upon. It didn’t sit well with him so he ran to his hyung with his eyes welling up and told him everything he heard. Yet, his Soonyoung hyung only smiled at him and patted his head. There was no anger on his face nor his voice. There were no tears trying to fall and not an ounce of pain can be seen on his face. His hyung hugged him tight as he told him that the world is not perfect and as much as it was normal to be upset, he has to learn to be brave and use the criticisms as a weapon to prove them wrong. So, with another bout of deep breaths, Chan decides even through his fear-stricken brain that he has to keep himself together. 

He has to be brave.

  
Closing his eyes once again, Chan hears his head scream at how pathetic and useless he is once more. He grimaces a little, but he did his best to seek his older brothers voice deep within his mind to relax himself. 

“Chan makes hyung really proud! He’s already good with his sword and is way smarter than hyung!”

“Channie, you need not to listen to what others say. You will always be the best! Father, mother and hyung will always be with you so you can always be the best!”

The middle grounder smiles a little, he can feel his breathing slowly going back to normal, his heart calming back to its normal beats.

“Oh Channie, it is not a sin to hesitate my love, for fear is always etched in every mans heart. What is not right however, is when you let that fear and hesitation eat you up. Always remember Channie, my little jaguar, that the Mighty One is always with us. Rest your heart, mind, and soul to him and he shall seize all your problems away.”

The young man nods to himself as he hears his mothers voice.

“Chan, son. I know you are upset, but let me tell you that it is alright. A mans greatness is not measured by how good he holds his sword or how many enemies he can take down, a mans greatness can be seen through his heart. A calm, kind, and compassionate man is the true form of greatness, that is why the Mighty One is the greatest of them all.”

Chan finally opens his eyes, his father’s words still ringing in his head. His heart has finally calmed down and his breathing, normal. There is still a trace of fear in him, but just like what his mother told him before, fear will always be there. He just needs to fight it off. With a clearer mind and a lighter heart, Chan finally makes a plan. A plan solely made by him, one without the help of his parents or his hyung, one that he can finally call as his own. It was simple, and small if it has a size. However, to the young man, it was enough. He hesitated a little about it at first, but since his hyung once told him that he believes in him. It was more than enough to push the middle grounder through.

The sun is high up in the sky when Chan finally slumps his exhausted self on a park bench. He’s sweating worth a bucket and a tad bit hungry, although it isn’t as bad as it was yesterday. He was able to have his fill of water on a drinking fountain in the middle of a rather strangely empty park so he was feeling fine. However, the strange stillness and quietness of the park gave the middle grounder mixed feelings. He was thankful for the peace and quiet, but it was unnerving for him that a park of all places was empty. If it were a gloomy day, the young man might have considered the absence of any visitor. But in a bright sunny day like this, the lack of birds or even small critters made the young middle grounder wonder more.

“Come on now girl, don’t make this hard for all of us” Chan perked up on his seat as he hears a gruffy voice of a man. The middle grounder swiftly ducks under a shrub as he slowly crawls his way to where he thinks the voice is coming from. As Chan carefully creeps his way, he can hear an unmistakable whimper of a girl. Chan feels disgusted, this man was planning something on a lady, a young lady if his intuition was correct.

“Older brother Kim is right, we can all spare ourselves from all these worthless chase and get back to work if you just come with us.” A second voice butted in and Chan feels even more repulsed by the idea of two full grown men ganging over a young defenseless lady.

“Yes! to you this is worthless!” Chan almost chokes, the voice sounded familiar.

“But to me this is a matter of life and death!” the middle grounder, nervous, stills on his tracks. 

“Minah, don’t act like you don’t know how things work here.” Chan, still shocked to his core, deemed that his position was safe enough to take a peek. Although he was dreading the possibility of his new friend being in danger, the middle grounder couldn’t take the thought of abandoning the very person who helped him anchor his frenzied thoughts in the early morning.

“It was all fun and games when you’re just washing your hands and watching in the sidelines right?” the middle grounder saw nothing but burly backs as he finally peeks to where the voices are coming from.  There are only two men, but they are large enough to cover the person they are cornering. 

“But Minah, you should have known that your time will come. No matter how much you try to delay it, it’s still gonna haunt you down.” With a snicker, one of the men slowly walks his way to their victim.

“There’s a new one, I can get him for you! Tell Old Shin I can get him for you! He looks pretty naïve! I’m sure it won’t be hard for me to lure him in! Please!” Chan had to cover his mouth to prevent the possibly very audible gasp to escape his mouth. Cowering in front of the two men, disheveled and tear-filled, is Minah. Desperation clearly seen on her face as she tries to push herself on the thick tree trunk she was leaning on. 

“Minah, did you not hear what younger brother Nam said? and if what you said is true, I believe it won’t be that hard for us to hunt that new blood down.” Chan became extremely anxious as the other man started to also make his way to Minah. He couldnt understand what they were talking about from all the nerves he is feeling but all he knows is that he had to save his friend.

With little to no thought at all, the middle grounder gathered all his strength in summoning his dagger-axe out and slamming his way to the unknowing men. Using the bladeless tip of his weapon, Chan slammed it on the head of both men. The middle grounder then swiftly grabs Minah’s wrist and drags her in for a breath-taking run.

Facts about the Fic:

• Tartlelest - imagine a tangerine but yellow. Tartlelest trees usually bear fruits during winter, although these trees bear fruit abundantly in almost every astral garden. Tartlelest trees are acclimated to cold weather, that is why their fruits are only seen by middle grounders and some nether dwellers who happened to travel to the middle grounds during the winter. Tartlelest are not actually grown for its fruits but for the purpose of decoration. Alis trees, known to dominate the nether realms for its glowing leaves shares the same genus with the Tartlelest. However, Tartlelest are obviously dimmer. They also share some features with Chros trees with how the color of its leaves vary in different colors.
• Mamant Boars – they look like wild boars but bigger, like the hippo kind of big. They are very aggressive thus making them highly dangerous, but middle grounders love showing their hunting prowess thus why they organize an annual mamant boar hunts every year. (Note: They make sure that there are little to no casualties to make it safe for the participants and also marks only one target to make sure that the population of mamant boars do not decline.)   

A/N: I've received some heartwarming comments not only here but also at ao3 and I just want to thank y'all for it. I really am thankful for your kind words and for being patient with me. As always I hope y'all like this update and stay safe❤❤

@Lemonzest95 - girl this chap isn't really exciting as you've expected it to be, but just hold on tight coz I promise the following ones will 😜😜