The forest was not terribly dense where they were walking, but dense enough that they felt protected. Molzey was fast to fall asleep in Baekhyun’s arms, probably still a bit scared after the eventful night. That made traveling for Baekhyun and Chanyeol a lot easier though, so they let Molzey sleep on without any interruptions.

“So when does the next town come around?” Chanyeol asked after they had been walking for a while.

“It doesn't…” Baekhyun answered sadly.

“What do you mean it doesn't? Another one has to be around here somewhere,” Chanyeol told him while giving him a confused look.

All Baekhyun did was shake his head. “It's about another additional full two day walk before we reach the castle I will be living in from now on. From there...it's another four day walk in any other direction to get to the next town,” he explained. "That was our last one," he stated, pointing behind them.

“What!?” Chanyeol asked in complete shock.

“My mother told me guards would come once a week and bring me to the nearest market to gather food…” Baekhyun explained with a small laugh. 

“Did you know the towns were that far away when she told you that?” Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun stayed silent and nodded his head. He had known where he would be going, but had tried to stay hopeful. Now, he was not so sure. “Instead of actually taking me somewhere, they will probably come by and drop food off and not risk letting me go out and see people,” Baekhyun eventually said. “My parents never wanted me out with people, so why would they want to let me out somewhere that they couldn't keep a vigilant eye on me?”

“Maybe you can sneak off on your own,” Chanyeol told him to try and keep his spirits up.

With perfect timing, Molzey opened her eyes and stretched in Baekhyun’s arms, looking up at him with tired eyes. Using his free hand, Baekhyun scratched under her chin and smiled.

“I doubt it...I will always be stuck there,” Baekhyun said defeatedly. “But enough about that. Enough. I don't want to think about it.”

Chanyeol nodded his head in agreement because he did not like it when Baekhyun started to think sadly and negatively. Thankfully it seemed like Baekhyun quickly got distracted by Molzey who was wiggling around in his arms and making playful noises, now more awake.

“At least someone managed to get some sleep last night,” Baekhyun commented while holding the small fox up and looking at her. “But I am tired, so go easy on me. Alright?”

Seemingly understanding what Baekhyun was saying, Molzey clawed her way up him, until she could drape herself around his neck comfortably.

Since both of them wanted to get the traveling today over with, they worked hard on keeping a good pace, only stopping once again to eat. A few times Molzey had jumped off of Baekhyun’s shoulders and run off into the forest but never ran off far and always came back after a few minutes, scaled her way up Baekhyun’s body, and rested around his neck again.

Come nightfall they started to wonder where they were going to sleep for the night. They had felt comfortable traveling while it was light out, but now that the sun was setting, Baekhyun was starting to get nervous. They had settled down in the most comfortable area they could find which was also sheltered from the wind quite good. Baekhyun’s heavier cloak was used to lay on to give them at least some cushion between themselves and the ground. However, when they both laid down for the night, while Chanyeol closed his eyes and got some rest, Baekhyun found himself staying awake. He had only been able to lay down for a short while before sitting up and bending his knees up to his chest so he could loop his arm around them.

Hearing the movement, Molzey perked her head up slightly and looked towards Baekhyun. Baekhyun smiled over at her and watched as she re-positioned herself and curled into a ball again before easily falling back to sleep.

They had not set a fire so they could be extra precautious, but that meant being plunged into darkness as soon as the sun had set. The stars and moon in the sky helped to create some light, but the night was cloudy so they had moments when it became incredibly dark. That put Baekhyun even more on edge as he sat near Chanyeol, feeling the warmth coming off of him.

“You need to rest,” Chanyeol said in a groggy voice, his eyes still closed.

Baekhyun looked down at Chanyeol to see the wizard had not moved and was still laying there. “Did I wake you up?” Baekhyun asked in concern, not wanting to jeopardize his sleep just because he could not sleep.

“You're not moving around but I can tell that you are awake and you need to be well rested,” Chanyeol told him.

“What if those men are near us and are waiting for us to fall asleep?” Baekhyun asked as he looked around more.

Chanyeol let out an annoyed sound before reaching up and dragging Baekhyun back down to the ground with him. He turned the prince onto his side and then pressed himself against his back, spooning him. With one arm he draped it over Baekhyun, he held him securely. 

“Umm...Chanyeol?”

“I will keep you safe, so go to sleep and get some rest,” Chanyeol told him in a sleepy voice.

Baekhyun felt as Chanyeol shifted a bit while holding him and heard some light humming shortly after. The rhythm was soothing and the sound of Chanyeol’s voice was slowly putting him to sleep. Before Baekhyun could fall asleep he looked down and realized the hand Chanyeol had draped over him had the ring on it. That caused Baekhyun to think about the identical ring on his finger, and ended up falling asleep while running his fingers over it and listening to Chanyeol hum. Something about the combination of the two was soothing.

In the morning, Baekhyun was woken to Molzey his nose and nuzzling her head against his. Groaning slightly at the disruption, he opened his eyes and squinted slightly at the light of day. What time was it? How long had he been sleeping? He was about to turn around and ask Chanyeol this, when he suddenly realized he did not feel Chanyeol behind him.

A flood of panic rose though his body as he sat up and realized he did not see Chanyeol around anywhere. Stumbling to his feet, Baekhyun started walking around some in order to try and find the wizard.

“His bag is still here…” Baekhyun muttered to himself. “Those men would not have just come for him and then chosen to leave his bag...they would have taken both of us and our things,” he reasoned.

“Baekhyun…”

Hearing his name and spinning around, he saw Chanyeol standing there with two cooked rabbits in his hands. Baekhyun let out a heavy sigh of relief and slumped onto the ground on his knees.

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol shouted, tossing the rabbits onto the cloak on the ground and immediately going over to the prince and kneeling down next to him. “Are you alright? Are you feeling lightheaded from all the walking and not resting and eating properly?” he asked in a worried voice, placing his hand against Baekhyun’s forehead to see if he was running a fever.

Reaching up and knocking Chanyeol’s hand away from his forehead, Baekhyun told him, “I'm fine. I had just thought you were captured or something…”

Reaching his arms forward, Chanyeol grabbed onto Baekhyun and pulled him in for a hug. The feeling of Baekhyun clutching onto him made him feel kind of bad for getting up on his own that morning. He had known Baekhyun was still scared and worried and had only made it worse.

“Sorry, Baekhyun. I did not mean to worry you like that,” Chanyeol told him as he rubbed his back. “I just thought that for pushing you so much I would get us something more for breakfast,” he explained. “I didn’t want the smoke to wake you up so I did it away from here to let you keep sleeping.”

Baekhyun tilted his head up and smiled at Chanyeol. “I think I have become too dependent on you during this journey…”

“Is that a bad thing?” Chanyeol asked. “I did say I would keep you alive. Now come on, we need to eat so we can get moving. You said it would be another two days.”

Once they stood up and headed over to where Chanyeol had dropped the rabbits, Baekhyun grabbed a large biscuit from his bag and ripped it in half for them to split. They enjoyed their meal and passed a few pieces of rabbit to Molzey so she could also eat. Neither of them had realized just how hungry they had been and scarfed down their meal in no time flat. 

“Shall we get moving again?” Chanyeol asked after they let their stomachs rest for a little while.

“We might as well. Sooner or later I have to reach my new home,” Baekhyun replied while standing up and brushing himself off. 

The two of them gathered their things and headed off once again. Thankfully they found this autumn day to be quite a pleasant one. It felt warmer than any of the previous days they had traveled, the wind was not whipping around like normal, and there was not a cloud in the sky to block the warmth of the sun. 

“Chanyeol…?” Baekhyun called out once they had been walking for a while.

“Hmm?” the wizard hummed back as he kept walking.

“You never answered my question back in the last town…”

“Your question?” Chanyeol asked, confused. 

“I had asked you something about if you think you are a bad person, since that's what your family is known for,” Baekhyun reminded him. “But the fire broke out and we rushed out before you could answer it.”

Chanyeol stayed quiet for a while as their feet crunched against the leaves. After feeling Baekhyun’s eyes on him, knowing he wanted to know, he let out a sigh and looked up at the sky.

“If being evil and bad are what my family is known for...then how could I think I'm an exception?” Chanyeol asked. “I know I'm not as bad as my ancestors...but it still runs in my blood. Being evil is in me...so I must be.”

“I don’t believe that at all,” Baekhyun commented right after he heard that response. Frankly, he thought he would have gotten a different answer from Chanyeol after all they had been through together.

“You don’t know me, Baekhyun. I have-”

“You have done nothing but good things since I have been with you,” Baekhyun said, cutting him off. “You saved me,” he said while holding his hand up to remind Chanyeol of the ring, “you made sure there was a fire and kept me warm. Instead of making me pay for all our things for this journey you have been forced to come on, you paid for them.”

“Baekhyun those are just-”

“You saved a town from getting burnt to the ground for crying out loud!” Baekhyun then exclaimed, motioning back in the direction they had come from. “If saving a town is not something to prove that you are a good person, I don't know what is!”

“I failed to protect you!” Chanyeol then shouted. “Do you know what would have happened to us if Molzey was not there the other night to bite through your ropes!?”

“But you're a wizard...if we would have gotten taken away you could have used your powers and set everyone free,” Baekhyun stated as if it were that easy.

The wizard shook his head and let out a scoff. “You say that without knowing how many people were running this whole fiasco, and how much of my energy it would take up to bring them all down,” Chanyeol told him with a shake of his head. “Nevermind the fact that using magic in a cave could be disastrous.”

“But your powers-”

“Is that all they ever taught you!?” Chanyeol finally snapped. “Wizards are only good if you can use their powers for your own personal gain!?”

“Chanyeol, I…”

“We have limits, Baekhyun! Push those limits and we can die! So you saying that I could save everyone is telling me to go kill myself!” Chanyeol shouted even louder. “Do you want me dead? If that is the case should I leave you for dead!? I can live with this damn ring on my finger for the rest of my life if I have to! I do not have to you the rest of the way! I will leave!”

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun shouted as he launched himself against the wizard and hugged him tightly from behind. 

“Let go of me, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol told him through clenched teeth.

“No! Not until you listen to me!” Baekhyun shouted as he held on tighter.

“I said let go!”

“Just listen to me first!”

“LET GO!”

There was a powerful gust of energy that sent Baekhyun flying back. As he was propelled back, his bag slid off his shoulder and his cloak fluttered out of his hands, landing off to the side with a dull thump against the dirt and rocks. Baekhyun only stopped when his body hit against a tree. The way his back collided with the tree, and the sound the impact made, caused Chanyeol to turn around in horror. The prince was only laying there, not moving, no sounds coming from his mouth. He laid on his stomach with