The end of the city met you with silence, the stone path beneath your feet giving way to a dusty route through what appeared to be a huge field. You hesitated, feet stuck fast to the solid ground beneath them. When I take this step, I’ll be putting myself into so much danger. With a twinge of adrenaline, you resigned yourself to the fact that this was the only way to get what you wanted and, well, if you didn’t like it, then it was tough. Choice was a luxury you didn’t have.

With a clear mind and a heavy heart, you clenched your jaw and took your first tentative step into the unknown. This was it.

“Mihyun?”

Your moment of personal triumph was disrupted as a cautious, feather-light touch found itself on your back. A sheepish smile crossed your face when you registered the impatient, yet compassionate look on Jongin’s face.  His eyebrows rose momentarily, asking for an explanation.

“We should get going, I know.” You quoted his words from previously that day and while you had meant it light-heartedly, his brow knitted together. Ignoring the curious expression on his face, you continued forwards, toward the slowly retreating figure of Kyungsoo who was oblivious to your hesitation. Expression still somewhat sour, Jongin disappeared in a ball of blackness and reappeared several feet ahead of his other companion. You managed to suppress your yelp of surprise this time.

*

Hours passed in much the same way. The only time you spoke was to breathlessly gasp for a break from the endless trekking through bleak and unchanging scenery. Plains rolled as far as the eye could see and wild flowers blossomed in clusters. They were oddly delicate, to grow in such an environment, but nature seemed to know their fragility and so kept them safe in the unforgiving terrain. You just had to hope that this world would do the same for you.

“Kyungsoo?” You asked, jogging to catch up with him. He walked ahead, while Jongin covered the back. To make sure that anything targeting you would have to go through them first. It was supposed to be reassuring, you assumed, but it had the opposite effect – it was alarming because you’d never felt so vulnerable.

Wide eyes turned back to you, his head weighed down on one side by curiosity.

“Where are we going?” You mentally cursed because you knew there was no way that the answer was as simple as the question. The crinkled expression and narrowing of Kyungsoo’s eyes told you as much before he could even open his mouth.

“Doesn’t matter.” You muttered before he even had the opportunity to spout some misleading and all together uninformative rubbish. He wrinkled his nose a little before nodding.

“Is there anything else you wanted to ask?” He questioned patiently, happy to be distracted from the trudging of his aching legs. You were grateful for it too, though you were more concerned with the information you could garner from the round faced stranger.

There’s a lot I’d like to ask, you mused to yourself, but I doubt you would answer any of my questions… “Where are we?” It had been your starting point with Victoria, so why not again now?

“This is the Silver Prairie.” A hand lazily swiped at the air in gesture. “Three major cities, not including the City Inbetween, sit somewhere on the outskirts.” He sounded vaguely like a tourguide you had once followed on holiday, overly friendly and trying too hard to keep up appearances. You appreciated the effort, however and listened quietly. “You come across the odd nomad, but other than Baekhyun no one lives here.”

Three more questions flashed through your head, but you could only pick one. Silver? Other cities? Baekhyun? Two of them probably wouldn’t have answers, so by process of elimination, you were left with one choice.
“Silver? Why is it silver?”

A mild laugh parted his lips as shout from behind you explained in an obnoxious way.

“Look up.” Jongin called, and you obliged despite the prickle of irritation that crawled over you. His tone was patronising and he seemed sickly amused by your lack of understanding.

When you looked up, you saw that the sky was, indeed, a bright glowing grey where the sun struggled against the gossamer clouds. The more you looked, the more silver it appeared, and the expanse of light seemed to spread to horizon and beyond.

“We’ve been walking since morning. Don’t you think it’s odd that the colour of the sky hasn’t changed at all?” Kyungsoo asked, considerably more subtle than his darker skinned counterpart. Your mind ticked for a second.

“It never changes? So there’s no day and night here either?” Your eyes bulged at the revelation – how was that possible? The only place like that that you knew of were the southern and northern poles but even they didn’t remain at one perpetual time of day all year round. It was bizarre, considering how starkly discernible the night/day divide had been in the city but you decided it would be pointless to ask how it all worked.

A contemplative quiet fell, giving way to the crunching of boots against dry foliage, as you considered the next thing to ask. There was too much that you didn’t know and your ignorance was proving to be anything but blissful. Running a hand through your hair, you huffed a sigh.

“What’s wrong now?” The all too familiar grumpy tones of Jongin asked, suddenly right behind you. It was unnerving, the way he kept doing that, but your resolve told you not to let it show… For some reason you were determined to show him how strong you were.

“Nothing. I’ll be fine.”

Of course it was a lie, but you weren’t about to tell either of them that. 

AN: This is so short orz I promise the next update will be longer!