I just realised something . . . I forgot to say who Taeyeon is  . . . Oh well, you’ll find out in this chappie!:D

This chappie was just over 2,000 words . . . ==’ so rushed, please forgive horrible grammar and tense!

(And 15 subscribers? >.< I feel so happy! Even though it is only 15, it means a lot!)

For hair: Taemin – Current blond but long hair; Jonghyun – RingDingDong hair; Minho – RingDingDong hair; Key- Noona Neomu Yeppeo hair (Even though we haven't seen the human Key yet!); Onew – Hello hair.

*****

“You’ve come.”

There was no question in her voice. It was just a statement.

“Yes.”

The swan tucked his wings neatly under him and waited under the Great Tree for her to appear.

Soon a young girl, about 14 or 15, floated out of the tree. She was completely transparent, you could see right through her, but Taemin didn’t flinch back as she approached him.

“It isn’t time yet, Taemin. The book must not be opened until you are 18.”

“But I-“

“Taemin.”

Her voice was smooth and young but also commanding and filled with knowledge of the years.

“Taemin, I know you want to get rid of this spell. I want to be free too.”

There was silence as Taemin quietly sulked.

“ . . . I suppose . . . I could give you this though.”

She pulled out a silver crown, with a single diamond encased in the front. Gently, the fairy placed it on top of the swan’s head. The diamond glittered as it was released from the fairy’s hands.

“What-“

“My power is fading; I can no longer protect the forest as much as I could before. I will have to go, but I will come back once the forest is free again. Promise me that you won’t try to open that book until the right time . . . it will mean disaster for all of us.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the already pale fairy grew even paler and started to fade away.

“No! You can’t go! I can’t protect the forest on my own!”

The swan frantically flapped his wings at the disappearing figure.

“That crown will protect you; I have placed the last of my powers in there.”

“But-“

“Taemin . . . remember, you must let go of the past and become one with the future to move on.”

And with those final words, she was gone.

“NO!”

*****

“Key?”

Jonghyun stepped into the small clearing where another, different, swan stood.

As he got closer, he realised that the swan was softly crying; tears had soaked most of its front feathers. He felt his heart clench at the sight of it and immediately Jonghyun ran towards the bird, fell to his knees, and scooped up the swan in his arms.

“Oh, Key, what’s wrong.”

The swan shook its head, tears still spilling.

“Come on, tell me.”

Opening his beak, the swan let out a pitiful wail.

“Jong . . . we all had that dream last night . . .”

Jonghyun just stared back, uncomprehending.

“You mean, the dream about how-“

He gestured to the feathers.

“This happened?”

Key nodded and moved one of his wings to touch Jonghyun’s back.

“I dreamt about this too.”

Jonghyun didn’t flinch as the feathers brushed the fabric of his shirt.

“All of us; we dreamt of the time we got transformed. It’s a sign Jong . . . “

“Of what?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t like it . . . I have a bad feeling something’s going to happen.”

Jonghyun brought the swan as close as he possibly could without choking him.

“It’ll be ok. It’s nearly Taemin’s birthday isn’t it? The book will be opened soon and then . . . and then we’ll be fine . . . and even if something happens . . .”

His voice dropped into a whisper.

“I’ll still be here for you, Key.”           

*****

“Appa . . . the fairy’s gone isn’t she?!”

“Excited?”

“Definitely! But, appa . . . isn’t it too soon? Shouldn’t we plan a bit more?”

The old man turned and snarled at his daughter.

“No! It has been too long. The time is right: the fairy is gone, the boy isn’t of age yet and he is unprotected! I will take this chance.”

Now angered, he turned himself into an old eagle and glared at his daughter.

“Stay here, I’ll take care of it.”

He flew out and started circling the edges of the forest for any signs of humans.

A fast moving horse caught his eye and he angled a bit lower to get a better look. Closer inspection revealed a young man, barely twenty or so with a shaggy mess of black hair with a barely visible silver crown placed on top. Strapped to his back was a finely polished quiver of the finest arrows and his hard carved wooden bow was dangling on the side, attached to his bag. The prince’s sword was on the other side, clearly an important heirloom that had been handed down for generations.

Bingo.

That was convenient.

*****

Taemin slowly floated along the river, allowing the soft currents to gently lull him to sleep. It was the only way to distract him from the events that had happened today. The sun was low on the horizon and was close to setting, and Taemin knew he should probably get on land soon, but he was just too comfortable here.

Gradually his eyes fluttered closed and his head was buried on the soft pillow created by his feathers.

It was so peaceful . . .

*****

“Jonghyun-oppa!”

Taeyeon ran into the clearing, panic all over her face.

“Jonghyu-“

Her sentence was cut off as she stared at the scene before her. Jonghyun and Key had fallen asleep; Jonghyun’s arms wrapped protective around the small swan. Despite everything, Taeyeon took a moment to admire the scene. It was really cute and touching to someone who hadn’t even had her first kiss yet.

She turned back and starting walking away.

That daughter of that magician was out and about in the forest and bragging to thin air about how her “brilliant appa” was going to finish off Taemin once and for all. Hearing the stupid girl say those words, her calm nature broke and her blood boiled.

How dare they even think to hurt her older brother?

Her lips were pressed into a thin line.

It was time for some pay back, she wasn’t about to let them win.

*****

Minho was pissed.

After escaping the palace to go hunting, he had chosen a very bad place to hunt. No big prizes or challenges were presented to him, only small rabbits and such and they would not put up much of a fight. 

The sun was almost setting and he had hunted nothing!

Just then, a giant eagle flew into his line of sight.

Minho’s eyes widened.

Now that was a prize worth chasing after for.

Immediately he raced after the eagle; this was his last chance before the set completely sets and he would have to return. The eagle flew into a cave which was hidden with thick foliage of leaves and branches.

The prince frowned and dismounted his horse. There was no way he could get through that with his horse he would have to do it alone. He looked at the sky; it was late, he was running out of time. Making a split second decision, he roughly tied the horse to a random tree and grabbed his bow and arrows as well as his sword before rushing through the darkness ahead.

*****

Taemin had just felt the touches of sleep pull him in before the water was disturbed and sent little waves over his now not so dry feathers, waking him up.

“Hello . . . Taemin.”

Taemin gasped and shot up, wings flapping frantically to get away from the giant eagle that was hovering above the water.

“Y-you!”

The eagle cocked its head and sent a heavy blast of air with its’ powerful wings, driving Taemin away from the river and towards a small clearing in the forest. Wanting to get away, Taemin fled.

The eagle didn’t chase after Taemin like he expected, instead he just flew higher into the air, waiting for the show.

*****

Minho’s eyes widened as he stepped out of the cave.

It was like he had entered an entirely new and beautiful part of the forest. Everything seemed so alive and magical that he momentarily forgot why he was here in the first place.

With a shake of his head, he reminded himself to focus on shooting that bird. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to hear the soft wing beats of the bird. He could hear them coming somewhere on his right.

Stretching out his bow, he ran in that direction.

As he entered the clearing, it wasn’t the giant eagle that he saw, but a beautiful snowy swan that was so graceful in flight.

What a prize!

Bringing the bow close to his face, he tightened his grip on the arrow and aimed.

The sun was almost gone, just a bit of it was left above the horizon.

His eyes and his hands followed the path of the swan, his hands itching to release the arrow.

“Come on . . .”, the eagle muttered,” come on . . . just shoot him already!”

Minho stared at the swan, it was so stunning. His fingers forgot to move and his arms were frozen. How could he shoot something so . . . so-

“Beautiful . . .” He breathed.

The sun disappeared beyond the horizon just as the swan made its way from the river to the bank. As soon was the swan had reached land, a bright light engulfed it and in place of the swan was Taemin.

“Humans are such fools!” The old eagle cursed before swooping down.

*****

Taemin sighed as he transformed back into a human.

Why had that old magician come?

It was already clear that magic wouldn’t work on Taemin, and just because the Forest Fairy was gone doesn’t mean he was completely unprotected.

So the question was . . . why?

“Who are you?”

Taemin jumped and turned to face the direction of the voice.

He gasped and bowed hastily.

“What are you doing here, Your Highness?”

“You know me?”

Taemin hesitated.

“Yes . . . I live in the village . . . or well, I used to live in the village until . . .”

“Until?”

The two stared at each other, lost in the confusion.

“Humans are such foolish creatures.”

Both of them jumped at the appearance of the old man.

“One arrow. That’s all it would have taken.”

Understanding filled Minho’s face, only to be quickly replaced with anger.

“You wanted me to kill him!”

The magician smirked.

“You’re hunter aren’t you?”

“That doesn’t matter!”

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter now.”

Without warning the magician lifted his hand and a red light shot straight towards Minho who was too shocked to move.

Taemin moved quickly and stepped in front of the Prince.

The diamond in Taemin’s crown glowed, forming a shield against the black magic.

“Che.”

The magician snarled, no longer amused. He raised his hand for another shot when a loud scream echoed through the forest.

“APPPPPPPAAAAAAA!!!”

All three of them stopped.

“APPPPPPAAAA! HELP!!!”

The magician ignored the cries and lifted his hand once again but the yells grew even louder.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The magician growled and shot Taemin a death glare before transforming into an eagle again and flying off.

Taemin sighed and turned towards the shocked Prince and held out a hand.

“This was a really bad way to meet, Your Highness.”

The prince took it.

“I agree.”

Nevertheless, the two still managed to grin at each other.

“I’m Lee Taemin, nice to meet you.”

*****

AND CUT~!

They finally met! YAY! >.<

Their meeting came out differently from what I imagined in my head, when I typed all this, it just turned out this way . . .

Like or hate?

COMMENT! <3

Kamsahamnida!