Watching as the dragon took flight, Baekhyun smiled brightly before turning to look at his Daughter. "You think she'll find him this time?" He asked, feeling hope bloomed inside of him.  It had been almost twenty five years since the Queen had left, and the Snowlanders came to learn that their Queen had a son who was likely to be a carrier, which meant the rightful heir to the throne. Dracoland had been through a lot without leadership until nine years ago when Baekhyun– being a male carrier and also having royal blood– decided to step up to lead his people and to restore what their kingdom to what it used to be. Bong Cha smiled and nodded. "Yes I think Pàshiu will find him soon." She placed a hand on her father's shoulder. Baekhyun looked up at the fading sight of Pàshiu. "I hope she'll find her mate in the process." He said. "May Hecate and Artemis be with her." "May Hecate and Artemis be with her" Bong Cha repeated after him, closing her eyes momentarily. "Papa, are you sure Pàshiu can recognize the prince?" Baekhyun giggled."Give her enough credit Bong Cha, she's a greater dragon and I am sure if she were here, she'll smack you with her tail right now for underestimating her ability." Bong Cha cringed at the thought of Pàshiu's tail against her body."What I meant to say is how" "How what?" "How is she going to recognize him?" "His blood, she'll feel it when he's close. He is strong and the only living dragon Lord." "Dragon Lord?" "Yes dragon lords are born every millennial, it's been a millennial since the last one was born, it was prophecied that the Queen's child would be a dragon Lord." Bong Cha nodded. "The one person that could peer with multiple greater dragons and command them right?" "That's right my girl. But he doesn't necessarily have to bond with the dragons to command them, he can chose to peer with one dragon and would still be able to have control over the others." He smiled proudly at his daughter. "Pàshiu would know when she sees him." Bong Cha nodded once again."I am going hunting" she informed and Baekhyun shook his head. "Why?" She asked not understanding why her father would disagree. "The snow is heavy, and I am sure there will be snow storm today. I do not want you getting caught up in it." Bong Cha groaned and threw her hands in a general gesture. "I can handle it, Papa I am not a kid anymore." Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "You're nine young lady. Besides you'll forever be a kid to me Bong Cha, whether you're 20 or 30, as long as I am alive. You're my baby." "I know, i know. But please, I really need to go" she begged, blinking cutely at him. "Why don't you go train the dragons Hmm?" "I trained them this morning. Please Papa, I won't take long. I promise." She moved closer and wrap her hands around his middle, head resting against his chest. "Please!" She begged. Baekhyun let out a sigh, bringing his hand to run it through her hair. "promise you'll find shelter when if it happens to start while you're still not home." She nodded instantly. "I promise." "Alright" he her face. "Go." He leaned to drop a kiss on her forehead. She smiled at him and pull him down to peck his lips before strutting out of room. "Send uncle Yixing to me if you happen to see him" he called after her and Bong-Cha waved a hand indicating she heard him. Sighing once again, Baekhyun moved to sit on the chair next to the throne. He gazed at the throne as he wondered if the prince would be found this time, he had tried, really tried to search for him but up until now nothing fruitful came out of his search. It had been years since he had decided to step up and lead his people but Baekhyun couldn't bring himself to sit on that throne, it wasn't his to begin with and maybe that was why he didn't crown himself king but as a chief instead.  Running his fingers through his hair, Baekhyun sent a silent prayer to the two goddesses. Maybe, just maybe, this time the prince would be found and he could finally put his mind at ease.   ***   Bong Cha kept her body low, her fingers lightly grazing the ground. The blood trail was unmistakable against brilliant, white snow. Thick crimson dotted a clear path up a nearby slope, and a telling smear advised the young hunter that her prey had stumbled as it pushed up the icy bank. It had been nearly half a day since Bong Cha had struck the great mountain lion with a bolt from her trusty bow. The creature was badly wounded. Its blood trail was thick, but somehow, it had kept moving. Bong Cha had expected to find the creature’s dead body for hours, but she was still following its trail higher and higher up the mountain. The air was chilled and dotted with snow. It was already too late in the season to be on the Mountain, but she had needed the kill to prove herself worthy of helping her people even though her papa never asked for it. The mountain lion had been an enormous boon. Every inch of it was a gold mine. Its teeth, bones, claws… Everything would earn something as long as she could find the beast and when she did, Bong Cha intended to give it to the homeless shelter. Bong Cha shuddered. The sun was already making its way on a downward path. She wouldn’t have enough daylight to make it back down the mountain, but she knew she had the supplies to camp safely after she found her catch. She could see her breath, and the clouds had condensed and darkened overhead. It was a bad sign. A snow storm on the Mountain could rage for weeks, but it was still a little too early for such fearsome weather. Still, even a few hours of hard snow could spell trouble for Bong cha's journey home and her Papa had warned her about the weather. The elevation was already making life difficult. The air was thinner, and frost had formed on every piece of her gear and hair. Even her thick climbing gear couldn’t keep the chill out of her clothes. She had to be getting close. She certainly couldn’t stop now. The mountain lion had left almost as much blood in the snow as it had in its body. The corpse couldn’t be far. Shouldering her bow once again, Bong Cha pressed onward. She tracked the creature’s path for another hour before she finally came to a rise and a clearing. Tremendous relief filled her as she caught site of the cat’s body. The beast lay where it had fallen from a tree. Bong cha's arrow had struck true, and still protruded from the creature’s shoulder. She must have just missed its heart. It was either a miracle or a testament to the creature’s power that it had managed to move so far with such a severe wound. She withdrew her bow and struck the creature again from a distance, just to make sure it was truly dead. The beast didn’t move, and, while Bong-Cha was sad to have marred the pelt further, she was glad she took the precaution. She made her way down to the creature, and marveled at her kill. She’d never accomplished such an extraordinary hunt. She'd taken up tracking months but she rarely did more than run a few trap lines. This time, she’d taken more risk, but the reward would be great.She couldn’t deny herself the small smile of victory. Her papa would be proud. Almost as soon as she began to feel safe, the temperature dropped rapidly. Bong Cha tensed, and looked around, shocked and awed as the world turned white. It was eery the way the scenery disappeared around her in a flurry of white. Bong-Cha wondered how anyone could see in such a blizzard. Her kill was going to have to wait, if it even survived the weather. She pulled her coat closer to her body and tried to remember where the nearest cover was. It was horrible luck to be caught in the open just as a storm began. Bong-Cha fought down her own panic and began walking slowly in the direction she thought she’d seen trees earlier. She hoped, desperately, that she would reach cover before dark. Oh, her papa was going to be very angry if he knew how far she'd come. She must have had her bearings wrong, because Bong-Cha found no trees. She’d walked for nearly an hour before she lost her footing and found herself tumbling down a steep slope. When she landed, she was out of breath, but, thankfully, nothing was broken. Even her bow seemed relatively undamaged, despite the rolling. She stood slowly and tried to find her bearings once more, but there was nothing to find. She began to walk along the slope, hoping she’d find some sheltered corner against the hillside. She thought she could see a rocky outcropping ahead. It was hard to make out the full shape through the snow, but she felt hopeful. As she began to get close, that hope grew and sharpened her determination. Some of her panic slipped away now that shelter was in sight. It was a house carved out of a stone and a little one and Bong-Cha could see some movements from inside the building. Reaching the front door, Bong-Cha gave a few knocks before she heard someone cursed and swung the door open. It was a man, a very beautiful man if she could call a man beautiful. His messy bluish purple hair was tied in a high ponytail and he have pointed ears– he must be a faerie – and Bong-Cha vaguely wondered what a faerie was doing in Dracoland. She had never met on before but she knew from her history lessons how they look like. The man blinked at her several times before he spoke."Oh little girl, what are you doing here?" He asked. "I was hunting but I almost got caught up in the storm." She bowed slightly in respect. "Can I stay here for a few hours before it is safe to go?" The man stared her down as if he didn't believe her. "You" he pointed at her. "Hunting? And what exactly did you get?" "Mountain lion" He barked out a laugh. "I like your courage little one, but I do not think mountain lion is a match for you." She hated being underestimated and before she could think better of it, Bong-Cha was already drawing her sword and she swung it before taking a step forward. "Careful, you might hurt yourself with that, girl" the man mocked. She ignored him and charged. The man dodged her strikes effortlessly with a slight move of his body. He must be a fighter and now it made sense why anyone would make a house in the middle of nowhere. She tried again and he used his left hand to fling her sword to the floor.  With a grunt, Bong-Cha went for hand to hand combat and there was a look of amazement on the man's face as she threw kicks and punches at him. She didn't allow him to throw a punch and same for the man, he blocked her every attempt as they continued to dance around each other.  Bong-Cha wasn't sure how she ended up inside the house, but the next time she threw a kick, the man wasn't fast enough to