In all honesty, Onew couldn’t say he had ever really dreamed of flying before.  His dreams – especially as of late – had involved lots and lots of chicken, but not flying or breathing under water, or whatever it was people usually dreamed of that they couldn’t do in real life.

            Still, riding on the back of a dragon, no seatbelt or saddle or anything, was more exhilarating and wonderful and magical than Onew could have ever imagined.  Being in the front, with Minho and Taemin behind him, with Yoogeun squished between those two, Onew leaned down to speak to Jonghyun, the clouds wisping around them, catching on his fingers and in his hair.

            “Does Key ever ride on you?” he asked curiously.  The dragon shook his head, his neck moving slightly, causing Onew to slide a little to the left.  Minho caught him by the back of his shirt collar and hoisted him back to the center.  The leader shot his companion a thankful grin over his shoulder, which Minho gladly returned.

            “Look, Hyung,” Taemin called excitedly from the back, “No hands!”

            Onew didn’t even bother to look; sure enough, Minho’s loud and slightly panicked voice called out sharply, “Taemin, hold on to Jonghyun’s scales this instant, or we’re switching places!”

            No more was heard from anyone for the rest of the trip.

            Eventually Jonghyun swooped down, causing Onew’s stomach to lurch in the most terrifyingly pleasant manner.  A moment later they were on the ground, and Onew noticed for the first time in his entire life that sliding off scales was different than sliding off anything else – it was bumpy, it a downward sort of way.

            Once everyone was off, Jonghyun shrunk back into his human form, shaking a few stray scales from his face that had failed to compress into his jacket.  Then he looked ahead of them, the rest of the group’s eyes following – a cave entrance, even larger than Jonghyun’s, loomed before them, and two glinting eyes were staring back from the depths.

            “JoJo?” Onew called out, for the sake of chicken.  The eyes blinked slowly – once, twice.

            An acknowledgement? Onew could only hope it was.  He continued.

            “Um, JoJo, we’re sorry to disturb you, but you took our friend, Key, and we’d like him back now.”

            When no reply came, Onew turned to Jonghyun.  “Can she not talk in dragon form?” he asked quietly.  Jonghyun shrugged.

            “I can’t, but that’s just me.”

            “I can speak, human,” came the echoing reply.  It bounced, rang, repeated in Onew’s mind, filling his ears and eyes and taste and touch.  He exchanged alarmed glances with Minho and Taemin, but Jonghyun put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

            “Telepathy,” he explained to them.  “JoJo must not be able to transform into a human, so this is how she communicates with other species.”

            Minho frowned.  “So are you the only dragon that can change shape?” he asked, to which Jonghyun shrugged again.

            “Some do, some don’t,” he answered nonchalantly.  Minho snorted, but didn’t reply.

            “You say you want Key,” came the voice again, royal and majestic and powerful, once again consuming Onew’s entire being.  “He is… a fascinating human.”

            “Dang right I am!” called another, more familiar voice from inside the cave.  Jonghyun lurched forward.

            “Key!” he shouted urgently, rushing to the entrance of the lair, but going no further.  “Key, are you in there?”

            Onew followed, just in time to see Key, sitting on a rock near the entrance, a small plate in one hand and a fork in the other, as he popped another piece of angel food cake into his mouth.

            “Yeah, I’m here,” he said, rolling his eyes.  “And honestly, I’m glad.  I had no idea a dragon could have this good of cake.  Man,” he paused to swallow, “I don’t think I wanna leave.”

            Onew felt Jonghyun bristle beside him, and he hurried to continue the conversation.

            “Um, JoJo,” he said, looking up at the catlike eyes; “What do you want in exchange for Key?  We really kind of need him back, like, you know, A-S-A-P; so, if we could maybe strike a deal… maybe…?”

            There was a long pause, and just when Onew thought she wasn’t going to answer, the voice boomed yet again.

            “I… do have one request.  If you can bring this to me, then I will give you your friend.”

            Onew nodded eagerly, his head bobbing up and down, up and down.

            “There is a city not far from here – Shawol City.  It is one of the biggest in the land, as you may or may not know.  This city… is famous for their culinary products.  If you can bring me fifty gallons of their finest cream soda, then I will consider it a fair exchange.”

            Onew gaped.  “F-fifty gallons?” he squeaked out.  The eyes blinked down at them.

            “This is my offer.  Meet it, and you may have your friend.  Don’t, and I will do nothing to you, but Key will stay with me.”

            The leader wanted to protest, but bit it back, and made sure his companions did the same.

            “I guess our next destination,” he said uneasily, facing the others, “on Jonghyun Airlines… is Shawol City.”

            The other companions nodded grimly, looks of pure determination etched into their features.

            “And bring me some whipped cream while you’re at it!” Key called from the cave, with his mouth full.

            About ten minutes and a lot of air sickness on Yoogeun’s part later, the group arrived at the bustling metropolis of Shawol City.  They landed on the outskirts, so that the residents would not be alarmed by the sudden appearance of a supposedly dangerous dragon – which, in all fairness, wasn’t entirely untrue.

            However, when they first stepped into the city, Onew knew there was going to be problems.  People were everywhere, crowding around everything, shoving pushing and pulling and shouting, their clothes colorful and sparkling and grimy and torn and patched and tight and loose all at the same time.  The smells instantly overwhelmed Onew’s nostrils, and he could see Jonghyun’s flaring in the overload.  He glanced at Minho and Taemin, who were staring at the surging streets with wide, thunderstruck expressions.

            They haven’t been outside of their secluded mountain hut in who knows how many years, Onew realized with a startling jolt.  And Jonghyun isn’t used to interacting with people in general… not to mention the rage dragon… oh, boy.

            “Okay, you guys,” he said, turning back to his companions, “The important thing is that we all stick toge- hey, where’d they go?” He glanced down at his side, where Yoogeun was loyally holding his hand, observing and seemingly unfazed by the sudden change in setting.

            Onew swung his head around, but none of his companions were anywhere to be found.  Chewing on the inside of his lip to control the bubbling nerves in his stomach, Onew scooped Yoogeun up in his arms and dove headfirst into the crowd.

            Ducking and dodging wasn’t easy, but Onew somehow managed to find a somewhat unused part of the road, in-between a hotdog cart and a stand selling unicorn horns.

            Where could they have run off to? Onew wondered, frowning, but part of him knew his companions had simply gotten overwhelmed by it all and carried off by the ebbing and flowing tide of people.  Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice up ahead, and he dared to return to the sea of heads, holding his breath as he swam against the current, the undertow trying to pull him back, but with a final burst of energy he emerged, gasping for air, and his legs struggled in that final stretch to paddle him to the cobblestone shore.

            He pulled him and Yoogeun to the side, face red from both the energy used and the culture shock, before he spotted Taemin’s slim form up ahead.  He perked instantly, hurrying in the direction of his located companion.

            As he neared he slowed down, frowning at the scene.  Taemin was talking animatedly to a small group of large, burly men, who were standing by a boxy black vehicle.  One of them had a tattoo on one arm, and the second had a scar stretching from his eyebrow to his collarbone, and the third was holding rope and duct tape behind his back.

            “Candy?” Onew heard Taemin exclaim with genuine excitement.  “Sure I’ll get in the van!”

            The first man reached for him, his entire hand bigger than Taemin’s face, when Onew rushed forward, calling out, “Taemin!”

            The boy turned around at the sound of his name, completely oblivious to the panicked undertone, smiling when he saw Onew.

            “Ah, Hyung!” he said brightly, bouncing on the tips of his toes.  “These nice guys were just-”

            Onew grabbed the younger boy’s hand and dragged him away at speed he didn’t even know he could achieve.  “You should probably walk with me for a while,” he told the boy.  Taemin looked over his shoulder, biting his lip in disappointment.

            “But they offered me banana milk,” he said sadly.  “I like banana milk.”

            “Well, maybe we can get some later,” Onew replied, hoping to cheer him up.  “But first we need to find a cream soda stand.”

            Taemin nodded, suddenly remembering their mission, his face determined.  “Where are the other hyungs?” he asked after a moment.

            “I’m not sure,” Onew admitted.  “Let me know if you spot one of them.”

            “Is that Jonghyun over there?” Taemin asked, pointing and causing Onew to skid to a stop.  They backtracked, and sure enough, Jonghyun’s stout head was bobbing in and out among the mobs, in his arms balancing a stack of white cardboard boxes.

            “Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, marble…” he was mumbling to himself when Onew and Taemin approached him.  “Ice cream, torte, lemon meringue…”

            “Hey, Jonghyun,” said Onew somewhat breathlessly.  “I’m glad we found you.”

            “Huh?  Oh, yeah,” the dragon boy replied, only half listening.  “Let’s see, what am I forgetting?  ….Oh!” he snapped his fingers, causing the tower of boxes to waver.  “Upside-down!  Can’t forget upside-down.”  He dove for another stall, and Onew hurried to follow.

            “What are you talking about, Hyung?” Taemin asked curiously, peering over Onew’s shoulder at the shorter man.  Jonghyun mumbled his thanks to the stall owner, bowing politely, and added the box to his collection.  Then, he turned to his companions, looking slightly nervous.

            “So far I have chocolate cake, vanilla cake, strawberry shortcake, marble cake, ice cream cake, torte, lemon meringue cake, and upside-down cake,” he listed dutifully.  “Do you think he’ll like them?”

            “What are you talking about?” Onew asked, only to be ignored by the boy as he returned to his mumbling.

            “Let’s see, there’s also… there’s also…” he frowned, deep in thought.

            “Red velvet cake?” Taemin offered helpfully.  Jonghyun shot up in excitement.

            “Yes!  Red velvet cake!  Lemme go find one,” and off he went again.  Onew sighed, and followed.

            Five stalls and two rounds of the let’s-see-how-quickly-we-can-lose-the-suspicious-van-following-us game, the troupe had managed to stay together; and Jonghyun had added a red velvet cake and a carrot cake to his stack, which he seemed to consider quite the accomplishment.

            “Yeah, yeah, that’s great,” was Onew’s rushed congratulations.  “We need to find Minho and a cream soda stand.”

            “Done and done,” came a deep voice behind them.  Onew spun around, half fearing it to be the shady characters from before, but relaxed and even smiled when he saw it was Minho, who was conveniently standing next to a cream soda stand, looking rather smug.

            “Wow, nicely done,” Onew nodded, then grabbed Jonghyun by the arm and forced him to stand still, even though he was still reciting cake types under his breath.

            “So, fifty gallons please?” Minho asked the stall owner, whose eyes widened.

--------------

LoL, I didn't feel like having them find Minho, so I had Minho find them.  And he was conviently standing next to a cream soda seller.  If that's not lazy writing, I don't know what is.

Anyhoo (I overuse that word, don't I?), thank you all SO SO MUCH for all the nice comments and subscriptions!  I love you all~ And some comments are so hilarious they literally have me laughing out loud. xD So thank you all for such a wonderful experience!

ALSO!!!  I'm thinking of writing another story, that would be related to 'The Onewssey'.  As the readers, which one would interest you the most?

1. A new version of 'The Onewssey', which has the same characters and general plot, but parallels the original Odyssey in a more literal way.  This story would include Jongkey, 2min, possible Onewchicken (though I've never considered it anything more than a crackpairing), and guest apperances from some other Kpop stars (f(x) and Big Bang, anyone?).  This would also be a lot longer, and the plot would be very different from this version of The Onewssey, although the characters would stay pretty much the same.

2. A sequel of sorts to 'The Onewssey', centering around the lives of Jonghyun and Key after they go on the adventure with Onew and the others.  This would feature dragon!Jonghyun and housewifekeeper!Key, as well as side apperances of 2min, Onew, and Yoogeun.  There are a lot of things that can be done with this story, so if you have something you'd be interested in seeing in the plot, let me know. :)

3. A retelling of 'The Onewssey' from 2min's point of view.  This would feature everything in The Onewssey, as seen by Taemin and Minho, as well as scenes from before and after they accompany Onew on his quest.  It might sound sort of dull (because they're always all together in this story), but I promise... there are ways to make it interesting. ;) Their relationship is very vague in this version of The Onewssey, and isn't really explored as in-depth as it could be.  So, that's what I'd be doing - giving a new dimension to The Onewssey, and the 2min as well.  Becaus seriously... what is up with these guys?

Okay, that pretty much wraps up my rambling.  If any of these interest you, please let me know in your comment!  Just mention the number of the plot you'd like me to write, and if you want to waste more time, a little blurb telling me why you're interested - as well as anything you'd want to see in the plot, should I write that story. :)

Thank you all again for reading!  Stay awesome, eat well, and brony on- no, wait, wrong fandom.  Sorry. ^^

But seriously, stay awesome.