"That's it. This is insane. Absolutely insane. Isn't this insane?"

The mountain goat beside Kyungsoo raises his head, slowly chewing a mouthful of grass.

"I'm the insane one aren't I? I'm talking to a goat." He groans and buries his head in his hands.

A large hand slaps him on the back, "aren't you gonna get ready? Kai will be back any minute!"

Kyungsoo jerks his head up and shoots his master a glare, "Kai? How do you even know that's his real name?"

Chanyeol shrugs and continues into the courtyard, carrying a pile of folded clothes.

"I don't."

Bending down, he tucks them into his pack made of woven straw, "but I just get this feeling he's telling the truth."

"Well I get the feeling we shouldn't be entangling ourselves with..." Kyungsoo furrows his brows, searching for the right word, "with these non-human matters!"

Chanyeol slaps his hands together to wipe off dust and smiles, "C'mon, Soo, live a little!" he fluffs out the cape of his hanbok and sets his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest, "It's an adventure!"

With a groan, Kyungsoo puts his head back down, "insane, insane, insane..."

Eun appears from inside, dressed in men's trousers instead of a skirt, with a bundle in one arm, and the other wiping drops of sweat from her forehead.

"Is he having a mental breakdown again?"

Chanyeol smiles pleasantly, "he sure is."

With a sigh Eun walks past and drops the bundle beside the other things, then turns around.

"That's the fifth one in the past hour alone!"

Kyungsoo looks up and takes her in.

"Are you wearing my clothes again?"

Eun sighs, "you know it's so hard to walk in that dress."

Kyungsoo purses his lips.

Eun's brother turns to her, "Is he back yet?"

She shakes her head, "No. Not yet," her eyes drift toward the forest enveloped in fog, "I wonder what he's doing."

"Alright, men!" Sehun's voice booms over the group of ten or so men--both on foot and in saddle, "the creature we seek is of no kind any of you have seen before."

A smirk crosses the lips of the Chinese envoy.

"We must remain vigilant, and calm. The beast feeds on fear, doubt--he will try to tempt you. Let us go forth without hesitation. For the king!"

The men raise their spears and swords, "for the king!"

One soldier with his head down remains quiet.

Sehun nods and backs up his horse, "Now lead the way, Navigator!"

Beside Sehun, Xiumin fiddles with a lock of his horse's mane. 

Sehun clears his throat, raising his voice, "Navigator?"

Xiumin startles and drops the hair, looking up.

The Magistrate raises his eyebrows, "are you going to show us the way?"

The man blinks once, then, seeming to gain his wits, begins to nod his head, "Uh, yeah. Uh-huh. It's uh...this way."

He steers his horse towards the southern exit of the palace and the men follow him.

A voice breaks through the tumult of the group, "wait!"

Sehun glances over his shoulder to see an armored Joonmyeon running towards them.

The older man keels over panting by the time he reaches Sehun's horse, and holds up a small pouch.

Sehun raises an eyebrow in return, "what is this?"

Joonmyeon shoves it into the magistrate's hand, "She said you'd know."

Turning the object over in his gloved hand, recognition fills Sehun's eyes. Then he tucks it into his hanbok.

"Thank you."

As he turns to leave, the older man grabs the reigns of his horse.

Joonmyeon's eyes are dark with warning, "Be careful out there. Don't keep someone waiting."

Without speaking, Sehun looks back at him. Joonmyeon drops the horses reigns and backs away, allowing Sehun to steer his horse to the front of the group.

"What was that about?" Xiumin whispers to the man on the horse closest to his.

Yixing's face is calm and pleased, "I wouldn't know."

Xiumin jumps when Sehun's voice hits his ears, "Xiumin!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"Lead the way!"

The sun is high in the sky, the fog of the mountains beginning to disappate in the afternoon warmth when Kai at last returns to Yeosansa.

Eun is the first to see him, sitting on the steps to the temple, wasting away time idly weaving the colored yarn her brother brought back on his last trip into the nearest village. At the sight of his tanned skin and black tunic she jumps to her feet and waves.

"Welcome back!"

Wearily, he nods in response, and approaches the temple.

Eun looks him up and down, "Where did you go?"

He casts his eyes away. Eun fiddles with the string in her hands.

Before silence makes the air too thick to breathe, Eun reaches forward and takes Kai's hand. A crease forms in his forehead as she wraps the yarn around his wrist and ties it.

"I made this, it's a bracelet. I was going to give it to Oraeboni, but you can have it. He already has lots."

The bright red fabric brings color to his otherwise dark ensemble. Twisting his wrist around, he inspects it.

"Red?"

"Yes," she blinks, "do you not like red...?"

Something dark crosses his eyes as he observes the bracelet, but it's gone before she has the chance to ask.

"It's fine. Thank you. Where's your brother?"

Eun turns over her shoulder, "he's--"

"Good, you're back!" Chanyeol appears from inside the main hall of the temple. Kyungsoo follows behind him, vigorously writing in a leather-bound journal.

"My apprentice says he's decided to document our journey. Isn't that nice?" Chanyeol explains.

Kyungsoo looks up from the paper,  squinting pointedly at Kai, "in case we die or something."

Chanyeol slaps him on the back with a wide grin, "or something!"

Kyungsoo returns the gesture with a glare.

"Are you ready to leave?" Kai asks.

Chanyeol wraps a shoulder around Kyungsoo, "ready when you are!"

"I hate hiking."

Kyungsoo groans as he jumps down another rock after Chanyeol. The sun is just beginning to fade away behind the highest mountain peaks, casting the forest in earth-toned shadows. Kai leads the way, easily jumping down even ten feet, while the other scramble to follow.

"Why don't we take the path?" Chanyeol asks.

Without looking back, Kai shakes his head. "Too obvious."

"Aren't we going to stop for the night?"

Kai suddenly stops. He looks up at the sky and the setting sun casts a burning orange glow on his tanned face.

"No."

He continues moving. Kyungsoo's face burns red in anger, and Eun quickly bounds over rocks to catch up to Kai.

"We need to stop for the night. Let's set up camp."

He ducks under a tree branch, "There's no time for that."

"There's no way we'll make it to Hanyang before night fall."

Kai growls, "not at the pace you're going."

He stops abruptly when Eun jumps in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"We're stopping."

Kai's hands clench into fists, "you don't understand, it's not safe."

"Why wouldn't we be safe?" she asks, "you're the god of this mountain, nothing's going to attack you, right?"

Grabbing a nearby tree he runs a hand through his hair, "no, but you don't get it."

Checking to make sure her brother and Kyungsoo are a safe distance away, Eun steps closer.

"What don't I get?"

He backs away from her, refusing to meet her eyes.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's not safe."

Eun's voice rises with anger, "what's not safe?"

Finally he explodes, "I'm going to kill you! Don't you get it!?" he stabs a finger at the setting sun, "as soon as that sun is gone, we're all dead."

Eun shakes her head, "that's not going to happen."

"You don't know about the curse," he snarls.

"What curse?"

Kai stares back at her, the evening sun lighting his unearthly amber eyes on fire.

"You didn't kill me before," Eun insists, "I don't know how, but I just know things are going to be okay. Otherwise I wouldn't have come with you."

Pressing his lips together, Kai looks down in defeat.

"Fine. But I can't gaurantee your safety. Or theirs."

At last Chanyeol comes bounding over a fallen log, turning back to help the shorter man clamber over as well.

"Good news!" Eun says, walking towards them and past Kai, who storms off towards the cliff's edge, "we're setting up camp!"

"Thank god!" Kyungsoo groans.

Fallen leaves crunch under heavy horse hooves as Sehun's men proceed through the forest. At the very head, Xiumin grumbles curses under his breath at the man beside him, who shows no emotion at all.

"How do you know I'm leading you in the right direction?" he whispers, "I might be leading you right into a den full of fellow thieves and cut-throats."

"You don't have any friends," Sehun counters, "you were never much of a socializer."

Xiumin scrunches his nose and grumpily goes back to watching the path, when a loud thump from behind them breaks the silence.

Sehun turns around.

A scrawny soldier on the ground rubs his head, groaning in pain, "stupid branch..."

With a scrunched up face he looks up, and jumps back when he sees Sehun staring at him. Quickly, he drops his face to the ground and stands up.

"My apologies, Sir!"

Sehun narrows his eyes, "take off your hat."

The solider doesn't look up, "I can't do that, sir!"

"I said take your hat off, soldier!"

The soldier presses his eyes shut, taking in a deep breath. With resignation, he unties the string below his neck and removes his hat.

"The king told you to stay in the palace," Sehun's voice is low and cold.

Baekhyun looks up, almond eyes pleading, "Father never lets me go no matter what! If I can catch the fox I can prove my worth! What worth is a prince that's never even left the palace walls??"

The men around Baekhyun's eyes widen and they back away, whispering to each other.

"The prince?"

"Why is he here?"

"You disobeyed an order. A royal command, nonetheless!" Sehun shouts, and Baekhyun flinches. 

Baekhyun's hands clench around the hat under his arm, "I promise I can be of help, brother-in-law. I'll catch that fox."

Sehun massages the bridge of his nose with two fingers, "you will do no such thing."

"Yes, I will!" Baekhyun shouts back, "I am the crown prince of this nation! I will not go back. I am joining your party from this moment further and that is a royal order."

Sehun drops his hand with a sigh. A smile almost forms on his lips, "At least you're determined. Someone get this man a horse."

As a young soldier drops from his horse and offers it to the prince, Xiumin slaps Yixings arm and points to Baekhyun, "that guys the prince?? He's tiny!"

Yixing grabs Xiumin's hand with a face as calm as undisturbed water and a grib as tight as a snake, "Yes, he is."

Pulling his hand away, Xiumin gives Yixing a sour look and rubs at his hand, "I got it already, you don't have to grab so tight..."

"Eun-ah, you really are the best cook in our entire family," Chanyeol shoves another spoonful of rice porridge into his mouth, "I don't know where you got it from. Mom wasn't even good."

Kyungsoo quietly sips from his bowl, "it's bad manners to talk about your mother that way, you know."

"It's alright, Mom acknowledged it too," Eun laughs, and scoops up more porridge into a clean wooden bowl, "I'm going to bring this to him."

Chanyeol looks up from his food, "want me to go with you?"

She shakes her head, "no. I'll be fine alone."

Eun heads up through the trees, following recent footprints in the crushed fallen leaves. They lead her to an open rocky cliff, where Kai sits looking over the vast open valley, aglow with autumn colors and the light of the sun barely hanging in the sky.

"I brought you something to eat," Eun offers.

He casts a glance over his shoulder, "Thank you, but I can't eat that."

Eun nods thoughtfully, and comes to sit beside him. He scoots away.

"I see. What do you eat?"

"I'll eat later. When you're all asleep."

He goes back to looking at the valley.

"Um, Kai," Eun fiddles her thumbs, "I was wondering if maybe you could tell me about this cur--"

Kai suddenly stands up as the last rays of daylight sink behind the mountain's peak. He looks behind him, over the tops of the trees, at the moon begining its ascent into the sky.

"Go," he says, whipping his head to look at her, "you have to go now."

"Why?" Eun asks, standing up as well.

Again, he looks nervously at the moon, then gasps as pain slashes his body likes a sword. Suddenly a guttural snarl resounds from his throat, and he clutches his head.

"What's wrong?" Eun eyebrows knit together and she puts a hand on Kai's shoulder, which he quickly throws off.

"Go!" he shouts, "take your friends and get in the cave!"

He releases another scream and coils over, holding his ribcage and head.

"Wait, Kai, what's--"

"I said GO!" Kai booms, his last words more animal than human. He looks up at her, and she gasps at the color of his eyes--the color of golden fire. Black veins trail from his eyes and pointed teeth peek out from behind his thick lips.

The bowl falls from Eun's hands. Porridge spills over the cliffside.

Hey there!

Thanks for reading this chapter of The Fox Child! I'll be updating ASAP so stay tuned!

If you like the story so far be sure to subscribe and leave me a comment if you're in the mood ;)

~Violet