The attack came at night, when all of the royal family had been long tucked into their beds. Sehun, the youngest child, the beloved baby of the family at age 19, not a boy by any means but without the responsibilities of his brothers or his father, had been woken up by his childhood friend, Chen. "Wake up, Prince, wake up," came Chen's urgent whispered voice.

Sehun groggily came to consciousness. "Chen? What time--"

"Get up, Prince," Chen hissed, and that woke Sehun up completely, because the mirthful and mischievous Chen has never used that tone of voice before. Sehun's wide eyes searched and zoned in on Chen's taught and grim face. "I want you to listen to me," he said quietly, tensely, and Sehun grappled in fearful confusion to each word. "The palace is under attack. I don't know where the intruders are anymore, but Sehun, your safety is compromised. I need you to follow me and be quiet, no matter what happens."

Sehun nodded, fear gripping his voice. Chen grabbed his hand and they were silently moving out of the room.

The corridors were empty and quiet as they padded through, Chen in cloth shoes and Sehun in bare feet. It almost felt like one of the many times Sehun and Chen would creep out in the middle of the night to run off to the stables or the servant quarters, and for a moment, Sehun wondered if this was all just some sort of joke.

Then he heard a startled yell, the telltale sound of metal on metal, a thud, and silence again. While Sehun was stupified, Chen immediately yanked them into a side hallway, behind a large potted plant, and clamped his hand over Sehun's mouth, pressing the prince into the wall. Sehun's eyes squeezed shut and his blood might as well have stopped when he heard someone shuffling past them. It fell silent again, and a heartbeat later, Chen was pulling Sehun along again with even more urgency than before. Sehun was shivering, muscles spasming out of a severe flight-or-flight response.

They took a winding trail down to the crypt that was no longer used for anything besides storage, even though in theory it was still perfectly functionable, with eight sets of shackles set into the stone walls across the expanse of two rooms. Being at the very bottom of the castle, the crypt was freezing, and goosebumps prickled the prince's skin. Sehun didn't question as he was led through the boxes of dried foods and outdated furniture; he trusted Chen with his life. They went through both of the prisons and ended up in the farthest room, shut off by the first two by a wooden door with a low frame, which Chen shut behind them. It was the coldest in this room by far because of the huge open doorway that dropped off ten feet into the dark, cold waters of the lake below.

Sehun hated this room and never went into it. There was a large wooden plank near the top of the high ceiling, and an old, fraying rope dangling from it. Before the city was big enough to have its own prison, criminals were executed here. The reason for the open doorway was so that the bodies of the criminals could be tossed out into the waters below.

Of course, in this day and age, they didn't execute people in the palace, and they didn't dump bodies into the water. But sometimes Sehun thought he could hear the eerie echo of tortured screams in this cold room, even though that was completely ridiculous because no one would have the ability to scream if they were hanged.

There was a small boat leaning against the far wall, side tethered to the door frame by a long rope. "Help me," Chen said, moving to the boat, and they lifted it and roughly maneuvered it out of the doorway. It landed in the water with a large splash. The rope kept it from floating away. Chen walked over and grabbed an oar that was sitting on the floor.

The boat was only large enough for one.

"Get in the boat. Paddle across the lake, over to the stone house with the garden. The man that lives there is loyal to your family; he keeps a gelding there for this purpose. It technically belongs to the crown, so don't worry about taking it, he's already been compensated for his services. Leave the boat there and run. Worry about money and food later, I just need your safety guaranteed, for your sake and the kingdom's."

"Isn't this excessive?" Sehun pleaded, hand wrapping around Chen's elbow. "Let's just stay and hide here until the guards take care of them."

Chen sighed in frustration and grabbed Sehun's shoulders. "You don't get it, Princeling," Chen said, using his favorite nickname for the boy. "These aren't just assassins, they're ursurpers, and they've already --" Chen swallowed hard. He had to look down, but then looked back up and stared Sehun straight in the eye, all hesitation gone, replaced by a firm stare begot from desperation. "Your family is already dead. I saw them slaughtered with my own eyes. Your family was in the council room when the intruders came, and I only got to you in time because I used the servant route. Even if we hid here, the ursurpers would've already claimed the palace, and they would search for you and kill you. You cannot die. So do as I tell you. Once everything is settled, I will find you, my prince, I swear it."

There were no words for receiving news like that.

But Chen gave Sehun no time to process the information, shoving the oar into Sehun's hands and nudging him towards the door. "Go, Sehun," he urged, and Sehun lowered himself down off of the drop-off and into the boat, trembling violently even as he tried to keep himself together as best as he could.

The last of Chen he would see for a long, long time was when he settled himself down into the boat and looked up at the man standing in the doorway. Chen's face was dark but sincere. "Stay safe, Princeling," he said softly, before disappearing from view, and Sehun paddled.

The gelding was there, a large Friesian horse with a coat that matched the darkness of night. Fear and distress made Sehun's hands quick to saddle it and even quicker to flee into the mountains.

 

 

 

The Oh family's kingdom was small. They did not have the population or wealth that other kingdoms had, but what they did have, they used to maximum efficiency.

But probably one of the most significant factors in their continued survival was the tall mountains that surrounded the kingdom. It was their main defense against any who attempted invasion, and no army thus far has been able to navigate through the natural barrier and maintain a force strong enough to cause damage to the kingdom. However, it also kept those from inside the kingdom from getting out easily. It wasn't that the mountain range expanded for a long stretch, but that the stretch upwards was tremendous, cold, and hard to maneuver. Sehun let the gelding lead rather than ushering it himself. The gelding seemed to innately choose the best routes for walking.

There were no villages this deep in the mountains, but he didn't dare turn around.

He was cold all the time and the temperature was taking its toll on his body. He had only his nightclothes and nothing else, which resulted in huddling as close to the horse as possible. His feet were scraped up from walking on the ground, which he tried to do as little as possible.

There was only so much to eat in the mountains without the aid of a bow. Sehun knew which plants were and were not poisonous, and he was managing to survive on that, but his stomach often protested with the sudden lack of meat and substantial food.

His stomach was empty, but his eyes were not. He cried often. He cried for his family and he cried for himself. He cried and wondered if Chen was okay, if his kingdom was okay. He felt like a coward, running away like this, but he had heard stories of other royal families and what ursurpers had done to them. He promised Chen to stay safe, and Chen promised to find him.

It wouldn't do if Sehun died out here, then. He couldn't stop until he found a place to stay and survive, somewhere with food and water and heat, and thus he continued.

The gelding had been his only companion for almost a fortnight now. It was surprisingly sturdy for being such an attractive horse, but the mountains was beginning to take a toll on it as well. Its coat had lost its gloss, and Sehun was regretting not having any tools with which to clean out its hoofs. He had been doing the job as best as he could with whatever stick he found when they stopped for the night.

One day, Sehun fell asleep on the saddle. The mountains had been getting progressively smaller and plant life more common, and the sun could shine comfortably on his back. The heat lulled him to sleep.

He woke up because he had fallen off of the horse. He stared up into blue sky. He flexed his fingers against the grass underneath him, and somehow the dull throb on the back of his head made him sleepier. He slowly turned his head to where the gelding grazed, watched dazedly for a few moments, and looked back up at the sky before deciding he was too exhausted to stay awake, everything be damned.

The fact that he was lying on grass and there were no mountains looming over his head didn't sink in.

 

 

 

When Sehun woke up, it was dark and warm. He settled back into the soft fur below and blanketed over him, and sighed deeply. He hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time.

After about another five seconds, realization caught up with his thoughts, and he sat straight up. It was a bad idea; a spell of dizziness overcame him, and he grabbed his head to steady it as his vision drowned in black. When his head cleared, he looked around the room. The walls were dark and smooth, and dry, and they curved up into a hole in the ceiling. There was a fire pit in the center of the room and the smoke drifted out of said hole. Hanging up was a painted shield, and leaning up against the side of the room was a strange, painted wooden board. Rudimentary pots and pans were stacked up near the fire. It smelled earthy and spicy and tangy, something soothing and healing.

Thoughts of confusion and panic troubled Sehun's mind. He felt like a startled animal, unable to organize his brain. He realized that under the furs, he was ; he couldn't feel the sweaty and grimy nightclothes sticking to his skin. Just as he was trying to focus on a plan of action, a door flap opened and a figure stepped in. Sehun froze and stared, somewhat disoriented by the sudden light that filtered in.

"You're up," said a soft, accented voice.

Sehun's body curled in on itself somewhat, instinctively finding protection in the soft furs around it. "Who are you? Where am I?"

The man had a bag threaded with bright colors and a pitcher. He squatted by the fire and set the bag down on the floor beside him, and leaned over to grab one of the pots. "I am Yixing," he said. "You are in my village, in my home."

Sehun studied the man. He could not have been much older than Sehun. His skin looked smooth and unmarred, his hair soft and an earthy brown color. His mouth was twisted to the side as he concentrated on pouring some water from the pitcher into the pot, followed by plants withdrawn from the bag that Sehun had never seen before. He had a deep dimple when his mouth was like that. He was dressed in beautiful cloths of earthy orange, cerulean, and pitch black. A white feather hung from metal anchored in his earlobe, and a few more stones glinted in his ears. Sehun had never seen a man with his ears pierced. "Why am I here?" Sehun asked.

"I found you," Yixing said, "and now I am obligated to take care of you." There were spices now, being added to the brew. Yixing abandoned the fire in favor of rummaging through a wooden box in the corner of the room. With a pleased hum, he withdrew a capsule from the box. He poured water into a painted earthen bowl, grabbed a cloth, and sat down by Sehun's feet, cross-legged. "May I...?" he gestured towards Sehun's feet. Hesitantly, Sehun nodded, and Yixing drew back the end of the fur so he could access Sehun's feet.

They were worse than Sehun had initially imagined. The scrapes and gashes from treading through the mountains were an angry red and some were beginning to ooze puss. Sehun's toes curled in regret -- if he had just put in shoes -- but he knew that had he spent another moment dallying in his room, he could've gotten both himself and Chen killed.

Yixing dipped the cloth into the bowl of water, wrung it out. "May I ask for your own name?" he politely asked.

"It's--" He pulled in a gasp as the cold, wet cloth ran over his first foot, but the chill felt good against his throbbing wounds. "-- Sehun."

"Sehun," Yixing repeated thoughtfully. "When I found you, you had nothing but your flimsy clothes and your mount."

"I didn't have time to pack before I endeavored to travel the mountains," Sehun said somewhat bitterly, but the vehemence wasn't directed at the man cleaning off his feet. Yixing humed thoughtfully, moving on to the other foot.

"Where is my horse, exactly?"

"He is tethered outside. You have a good horse; not many would simply stay by their master's side when given a chance to run."

"He's--" Sehun hissed when the salve Yixing had taken from the canister was applied to his foot. The incisive chill ran all across his skin, and he couldn't till if it was a good or bad feeling. "He's been my only companion for two weeks," explained Sehun through clenched teeth.

Yixing stopped his administration and fixed Sehun in his gaze. "Does it hurt?"

Sehun considered. The balm was different, leaving in its wake what Sehun couldn't describe better than a "zing," but Yixing's soft hands and long, slender fingers felt good. "No, just...it's okay. Thank you."

Yixing smiled and inclined his head and fell silent again. Sehun's eyes drooped.

No, he didn't know this guy, and he didn't know where exactly he was, but he was just so exhausted.

When Yixing had thoroughly rubbed the salve into Sehun's feet, he got up and settled himself back down by the fire. There was a ladle propped up against the fire pit, and he used it to stir the brew. "How far are we from the capital?" Sehun asked. Yixing shot him a questioning look. "You know? The city in the center of the mountains?"

"I've never been in the mountains before," Yixing said. "My clan stays in the plains at the foot of them."

Sehun stared up at the sloping roof of the room, letting it sink in that he wasn't in the mountains anymore. He was outside his family's domain. He had never been outside of the mountains before. His claim to the throne had little meaning out here, his family being too reclusive for any real diplomacy besides acknowledging territory and independence.

He pondered over his next plan of action. He could try going back into the mountains, but he honestly didn't know how long he would be able to survive out there. Perhaps he could use once more Yixing's kindness and take some real clothes and a blanket back with him. It would help a lot.

"Drink this."

There was a bowl of steaming liquid being pushed into his face, startling Sehun out of his thoughts. The concoction smelled of herbs and spices, something strong. Different, but not repulsive. He sat up with help from Yixing, the other man wrapping an arm around his bare waist to help him up, and took the bowl in his hands to lift it to his lips. The taste that flooded his mouth was sharp and tangy, but the heat and smooth texture of the liquid was soothing.

"That will help you regain your strength," said Yixing, sitting close by Sehun's side. Considering that their relationship was one of strangers, the distance between them was minimal. Sehun had to refrain from curling himself into that soft warmth. Yixing didn't seem to be ruffled. "You're probably hungry, but you should wait until you digest that broth before you eat. Sleep for a while. Tonight, we'll eat together."

He hadn't been aware of his own hunger until Yixing had mentioned it, but he wanted to obey Yixing and let the broth settle through his stomach. He trusted this man. He didn't think he was tired, but in the presence of Yixing, he fell back into sleep with ease.

 

 

 

Sehun awoke once more, eyes adjusting to the significantly darker room. The fire was still going; Yixing must have been tending to it. He had throuht he was alone, but then he saw Yixing in the corner, his hands deftly moving, but at this distance and angle, Sehun couldn't see what. He sat up. Yixing set down his project and addressed Sehun.

"Feeling better?" Sehun nodded, and a small smile curved the edges of Yixing's mouth. "We eat dinner together, the whole clan. They've finished preparing but no one wants to eat without our guest. It's considered rude."

Guest. That word made Sehun feel welcomed, and agian he wondered if he was somehow taking advantage of Yixing's hospitality. "Thank you," Sehun said. "I promise I'll be out of your hair soon. I don't mean to be a burden."

Yixing smiled wider. He had dimples, little indents at the corner of his mouth, that made even the smallest smiles look more mirthful. "You're not that much of a liability, I suppose."

Yixing stood up and grabbed something that had been set beside him. He brought it over to Sehun, and Sehun identified it as folded clothes.

"There's a basin right there that you can wash yourself in, and a cloth beside it to dry yourself. Then put these on. They should fit you. there are shoes by the door to wear as well. Come join us by the fire when you're done."

Sehun nodded and thanked Yixing again before the latter exited the room, leaving Sehun to his own devices. The water in the basin was cold, but there wasn't much Sehun wouldn't have done to feel clean again, and it smelled like that tangy sweet scent that clung to Yixing. He figured there were plants or herbs dissolved into the liquid. The clothes Yixing had given him Sehun did fit,but were strange to Sehun. Covering his torso was a high-collared, sleeveless garment with crimson red and sunset orange embroidered in black and white. At the neck, it latched with a ruby-colored button. The pants ended just below Sehun's knees. They had a strip of black beads adorning the outside of Sehun's legs and were colored mostly black with deep blue and purple triangular patterns. Strange clothing, yes, but Sehun would admit, they were comfortable and easy to move in. There were shoes by the door, shoes made of a soft leather and dyed red. They felt soft on Sehun's sore feet.

Feeling somewhat anxious, Sehun exited the room.

He was in what seemed to be a camp of sorts. What Sehun had called a "room" was actually one of many small, domed, hut-like houses made of large pieces of bark on the outside, but lined with animal skins, smoke curling out from openings in the tops. The door flaps all faced towards a flickering light in what would have presumably been the fire. The sky was a deep purple, splattered with clouds of twinkling stars, and a warm breeze wove through the village. Sehun followed the orange light and was lead into a small clearing with a big fire, surrounded by what seemed to be almost the whole village. Many were standing, but some sat right on the ground, or on logs rolled up by the huge fire. The people all wore the same type of clothing Yixing -- and now Sehun -- was clad in.

Yixing found Sehun right away and led him over to a tall man with a severe face, and others gathered around them.

"He lives," the tall man said.

Yixing laughed, dimple deepening. "I didn't eat him."

Another man curled up on Yixing's side, this one with a boyish face and pretty eyes. "You can't trust this one," he said, tugging on Yixing's hand, before stepping around and putting a hand on Sehun's back. It would've been imposing or strange otherwise, for a stranger to be touching him, but Sehun didn't find himself all that opposed to the sudden contact.

"Luhan, give him some space," the tall man sad, and the boyish one stepped back. The man turned to address Sehun. His voice was deep and commanded respect, and his face was serious and made of hard lines, but there was a kind gentleness in the way he moved. "My name is Yifan. I am the chief of this clan, and on behalf of everyone here, I welcome you."

These people didn't even know him, and yet they treated him like an honored guest.

"We've been waiting to eat. The food is ready. We'll talk more after our stomachs are full."

Just then, Sehun's own stomach let out a mighty growl. Sehun flushed. Everyone around him laughed, and they began to eat. Their food wasn't very different from anything Sehun expected, but their seasoning was absolutely divine. Sehun's tastebuds were in agreement.

Sehun could count on one hand the amount of times he had felt so satisfyingly full and almost all of them were holidays where he hadn't been able to hold himself back. This was one of them. He slumped back against one of the logs, Yixing beside him. Luhan was sitting on the log, beside an attractively tanned man called "Kai" but whose real name was apparently "Jongin" and his very pregnant wife, Hyoyeon. Or, at least, Sehun thought they were married, but there was no ring glinting from their fingers. He wondered if these people showed their marriages in a different manner.

Yifan was just a few feet away, sitting on another log. Beside him was another tall man, also with a rather severe face but in a different way than Yifan's. His lips had a delicate curve to them though, and his expression in juxtaposition was rather soft. He was pressed against Yifan in a strangely intimate way. Likewise, Yifan's hand was curled somewhat possessively on the other man's knee. Sehun had never seen two men so physically close together in this manner before. He chalked it up to a weird form of brotherly affection. They spoke quietly, heads close to keep their conversation contained, and therefore Sehun was unable to catch the other man's name.

And on the other side of the fire, there was another man, a slender one with pretty single-lidded eyes, eyes that seemed to be trained on Sehun's every move. Luhan had clung to him earlier; "Xiumin," Sehun thought his name was. Sehun felt scrutinized and instinctively shifted closer to Yixing, who gave him a reassuring smile.

Many other people had already retired to their homes for the night. Sehun noticed that the age group of this clan seemed to be almost, if not entirely, comprised of young adults. He endeavored to ask Yixing later about the age demographic and where their young and old were.

"So where is it you come from, Sehun? Are you from the mountains?" Luhan asked, tapping Sehun's shoulder.

"Yes."

"What's a mountain-dweller doing out in the grasslands?"

Now that Sehun thought about it, Yixing had never asked him any questions like this, just focused more on ameliorating his body's condition. Sehun thought that his own kingdom would try to identify the stranger and evaluate his harm before tending to his wounds. Yixing wasn't like that. Sehun appreciated it, but now he had to hastily sift through his mind for at least a cursory alibi.

"It was those -- new age worshippers," Sehun found himself sputtering out. "And my own family is rather -- traditional, so... and my father, he was, he was outspoken about it...and they ransacked and burned my house while I was out with my horse. They were gone by the time I came back, and nothing was left to save, so I...."

Sehun was awful at lying. He hated lying. But these people could not know his identity. If the ursurpers or any of their agents ever came in contact with them, knowing anything about Sehun's identity could put them in danger, and they had done so much for Sehun already. Sehun did not want to repay them with bloodshed.

"I understand," said Luhan solemnly.

"You didn't have anywhere else to go?" Kai asked. "No family? No close village?"

"Um....no....?" Sehun wracked his brain for an excuse.

"You didn't go to your capital?"

"I was so...out of it that I wasn't paying attention where I was going. I was out of the mountains before I realized it."

"I see," Kai said. "I'm sorry. You're welcome to stay with us."

Sehun looked at Yifan. The chief nodded and smiled. "As long as you make yourself useful. You'll have to stay with Yixing."

Sehun thanked him again and looked over at Yixing to gauge his reaction, but Yixing wasn't even looking at them. Rather, his eyes were focused on Sehun's feet, and Sehun realized with a sinking feeling that his story did not match the condition Yixing had found him in and the details he had told Yixing earlier. Sehun mentally braced himself for the accusation.

It never came.

Yixing gave him a small, placating smile -- something like a promise to not delve farther, to let Sehun keep his secrets. Sehun's heart swelled with relief and appreciation.

On the way back to Yixing's home, Sehun asked the other about the ages of the clan members.

"Ah, that's right, because your people stay together in villages and families, right?" Yixing asked. Sehun pulled back the doorflap and Yixing ducked in, Sehun following. The fire had been reduced into a heap of glowing wood pieces and smoking ash. Yixing went to rekindle it while Sehun watched and made a noise of confirmation. "We are like this too, but when youth are considered to be mature and wish to seek out a companion, they join a halfway clan. When they've found someone they wish to be with, they will return to one of their clans together."

"So this is a halfway clan then?"

"Yes. Yifan is our leader. Even though his heart has already chosen another, he wishes to stay with us until someone else is ready to be the chief. He wouldn't leave us without someone to guide us."

Sehun wondered about the woman that supposedly had Yifan's affections, and his mind flashed to the memory of the other man with Yifan, but Sehun shook that nascent notion out of his head before it could gain momentum.

Yixing found other folded furs and spread them out adjacent to the furs Sehun had been using. Sehun lay down on his furs while Yixing settled into his, leaving them with their heads pointed at each other and their feet on opposite sides. It was quiet save for the crackling of the fire and just under that, Yixing's quiet breathing, a lullaby with which Sehun's circadian rhythm soon synchronized.

 

 

 

Sehun woke up gradually, without realizing he was awake at first. It was a good way to wake up, drifting and hazy. He tilted his head up and saw Yixing's furs empty of any warm body. Although he had never shared a room before, a vague sense of loneliness knotted in his chest. The fire was out, but the room was still warm, and sunlight trickled in through the opening in the domed roof. When he sat up, he saw the jar of the salve Yixing had applied on his feet yesterday sitting by his furs. He assumed it was for him and massaged it into his feet. The scrapes and bruises were already beginning to heal, and they barely hurt.

The camp was indeed located in a liminal, undefined area between plain and forest. The mountains could be seen in the distance, an earthy-colored painting amidst swirls of blue sky and white clouds.

People were beginning to bustle about, greeting Sehun by name. The sky was already blue, but the sun wasn't bearing down. Sehun placed the time roughly around nine in the morning. He wondered what his parents would have said, had he slept in this late in their household on a weekday.

His parents.

He didn't think the hollow feeling in his chest when he thought about his family would ever go away, but he had to move on. He would stay here for now, and go back with Chen when his advisor found him. He had mourned enough in the mountains.

Just as he was shaking away the heavy thoughts, he passed by the slender, single-lidded man from the previous night. This was the man that had been staring at him. Xiumin. He was sitting in front of what was presumably his home, cross-legged before the door flap that was pinned open to let in air. He seemed to be using a knife to carve a small figurine out of wood.

Sehun felt rude for not addressing the man, but honestly, Xiumin intimidated him a little bit. But as he rushed past, Xiumin addressed him anyways.

"Sehun, can I ask you something?"

Sehun stopped and turned hesitantly. "Yes?"

Xiumin set down the knife and the figure, and beckoned him down, patting the space in front of him. Sehun's endeavor to hide his reticence didn't go unnoticed. "Don't worry, it's okay. I just wanted to talk." A pause. "My name isn't really Xiumin; it's Minseok."

Xiumin -- Minseok -- stared at Sehun expectantly for a few moments, and Sehun bit the bait. "....Why don't you go by your real name?"

"I'm not originally from this clan, or any clan, for that matter. I changed my name three years ago when I assimilated because I wanted a new start. But originally, I came from the mountains, the capital."

He gave another pause to let that sink in. Oh. Sehun's heart stuttered to a stop. Xiumin was from the capital. That means Xiumin likely would know the rulers of that country. Then -- "Please don't tell anyone about me. There are people who went after my family and they might be after me next, and the less your clan knows, the less danger they're in."

Xiumin nodded. "That's noble of you, Prince."

Sehun shook his head. "Out here, I'm not a prince. I'm just -- Oh Sehun."

"Okay, Just Oh Sehun," Xiumin laughed. Suddenly Sehun wasn't sure why he had found the other man intimidating to begin with. "But really, I just wanted you to know -- you're not alone out here. These people have good values. They don't have enemies in other clans, and the political powers typically leave them alone. Just pitch in and you should do fine."

"Thank you," said Sehun. "But--I don't want you to make any misconceptions -- I don't plan on staying permanently. When things calm down, I'll return to the capital to rule my people."

The words sounded strangely hollow. Sehun was never considered to rule. He was the youngest son; he had always thought he would receive some irrelevant title and live his days moderately in comparison to his family, and he didn't mind the idea at all. He never was particularly interested in the affairs of the crown.

Xiumin noticed this as well. He clamped a hand on Sehun's shoulder. His gaze was soft but seemed to shine a light through Sehun's soul. "The crown is a heavy weight. Do what's best for our homeland. You, too, are a chief of your clan, in a way. Your clan is just a little larger."

"Am I inturrupting something?"

Sehun and Xiumin looked up to see Yixing standing there, a woven basket tucked under his arm and propped against the subtle swell of his hip.

"N-no," Sehun stuttered. Xiumin laughed.

"You can't just socialize all day," Yixing pretended to berate, but the gentle upward turn of his mouth gave him away. "Sehun, come gather some plants with me."

 

 

 

"What exactly is it that we're gathering?"

"I need a few things for Hyoyeon and her baby. She will be giving birth soon and I would rather having everything prepared sooner than later."

Sehun remembered the salve, the broth, the scented water. "You make medicines then?"

"Among other things."

"So are Hyoyeon and Kai married?"

Yixing shook his head. They had walked for over a mile now. The sky was an endless blue above them, and the sun shone upon a rippling sea of green grass, inturrupted only by patches and strips of trees. "Our people don't practice marriage."

"You don't?"

"No."

"You aren't monogamous?"

"We are monogamous. But we don't believe in a contract having the power to bind two people together. We believe in staying together out of love." Yixing sat down on the grass and used his hands to start to dig down into the earth while Sehun watched and digested Yixing's words.

"So if one person falls out of love, that person can just leave?"

"It's rare, that two people who have fallen in love choose not to be together," Yixing said, still digging, "but should it happen, yes." He pulled out a gnarled root from the ground at that moment, one that curled up into a thick, sprouting green shoot. "This is what you'll be looking for. See the shoot? You have to keep your eye out for them, but digging them out is easy. There should be a few others around."

They returned with a basket full of roots and other plants Yixing had picked up. Sehun was unconsciously leaning into Yixing's side, grinning broadly, while Yixing's dimple was more prominent than ever. Luhan saw them as they returned and waggled his eyebrows. Yixing threw a root at him, cheeks glowing pink, and Luhan guffawed, but Sehun didn't understand. He felt like there was a joke that he was missing out on.

 

 

 

Sehun didn't get to see his horse that day, but he badgered Yixing that night and the next morning. Yixing took Sehun out on the other side of camp, followed by a shorter man named Jonghyun, who apparently was in charge of herding. Instead of horses, the people herded a large bread of domestic elk, creatures with giant pairs of horns that branched out of the crowns of their heads. Their coats were a light red in color, and their faces seemed to boast a gentle understanding. Rather than deer, they seemed to share many bovine qualities. Sehun had never seen anything like them in the mountains.

"You can ride them," Yixing was explaining as they walked. "And they can carry light loads as well. But we mostly use them for their milk and for their horns, because they shed them yearly."

Sehun's black gelding was a shadow standing in the sunlight, all sleek and glistening. He was in much better condition than when Sehun had last seen him. He came when Sehun whistled, and Sehun's hands immediately went to down his neck.

"Did you take care of him, too?"

Yixing nodded and smiled. "He was gentle. Geldings are a lot more agreeable than stallions. He has the temperment of one of our elk."

"Does your horse have a name?" Jonghyun asked, eyeing Sehun in speculation.

"No? I never thought about it. Should I?" Sehun supposed he could, seeing as they'd been together for so long. He just didn't think it was appropriate to name something if its previous owner had already given it a name.

"Well, it's too late now. Luhan named it for you."

"What?"

Yixing laughed but at least had the decent to look apologetic, unlike Jonghyun, who just scoffed at Sehun's indignant expression. "I'm sorry," said Yixing, "but we've all just started calling him it. The name suits him--"

"Calling him what," Sehun demanded.

"Fubar."

"Fubar? What kind of a name is that?"

"It's the name of a creature in the old legends we have. Once, a long time ago, there was a griffin, a regal beast with the front body of an eagle and the hind body of a lion. It was orphaned as a hatchling but grew up into one of the most noble beasts, and he protected our ancestor's clan. His name was Fubar. Your horse's namesake was handsome and fearless and proud."

"It's a good name," Jonghyun added.

"It's not something that we would traditionally name our horses back home, but I agree, that is an honorable name. It suits him." Sehun rubbed the gelding's -- Fubar's -- neck affectionately. "Look at you, getting named after such a creature."

When Sehun's eyes met Yixing's, the latter's gaze was softer than usual, dimple a ghost on his face in the wake of the subtle, barely present tilt of his lips. Sehun quirked an eyebrow, but Yixing just blinked at him.

Jabbing his finger into Yixing's dimple, Jonghyun asked, "Doesn't his face sort of look like the elks'? It's long, and his eyes are big and dark and shiny, and he looks sorta simple-minded, you know?"

"Yaaaaaah," Yixing protested. Sehun laughed.

 

 

 

Sehun dreamt that he did not escape the castle.

He dreamt that he had been in the council room with his family that night, instead of having gone to bed early. That he had dragged Chen with him, and the two were snickering and scheming in the corner, and Sehun's mother kept scolding them for their behavior without any real bite, and his fater simply chuckled in that experienced, masculine way of his, while his siblings proved more productive at discussing the possible government shift of power from the family to an elected council, and the pros and cons of.

That's when they came in, unannounced. They didn't herald themselves, didn't beat around the bush. They were armed with weapons and single-minded determination.

Sehun watched as his father went down first, a longsword slicing clean through his neck. His mother was next, an underhanded from a dagger leaving her to die a slow, painful death, but effectively incapacitated. His siblings, all like dominos, bowing down to the sharp ends of blades.

Sehun should have been next. Instead, Chen covered Sehun's body with his own. There was blood everywhere, Chen's scream in his ear.

The screaming didn't stop even after Sehun woke up, and it took him a few long seconds to realize that it wasn't Chen's scream, but rather his own.

"Sehun," came Yixing's voice through the darkness, and he felt warm breath against his ear. Sehun cried out and twisted to grab onto Yixing, desperation making him tremble.

"Y-Yi-xing..."

Yixing wrapped his arms tightly around Sehun, who was wreaked with violent tremors. "It's okay, Sehun, you're okay," Yixing coaxed, his own voice unsteady as one of his hands came up to thread through Sehun's hair and down the length of the younger boy's back. "I've got you. It was just a dream."

"I should've died with them," Sehun sobbed. With all his heart, Sehun wished he could have died with his family. Instead, he ran. He ran like a coward, and left his only friend behind to deal with the consequences.

"No, please don't think that," Yixing pleaded. "I've got you...."

"I'm sorry," Sehun whispered into Yixing's collarbone. "Please don't leave."

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. Scoot over."

Yixing crawled into the space Sehun made in his furs, curling around Sehun protectively. Sehun was longer and broader than Yixing, but like this, with Sehun's quivering flesh and tear-slick face plastered into Yixing's neck, the knowledge that Sehun's well-being was completely in Yixing's hands made Sehun feel tiny but secure.

They didn't talk about it in the morning, but they lay there together and didn't get up until long after the village had risen.

"Yixing," Sehun quietly murmured at last. Yixing made a questioning noise to let Sehun know he was listening. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry for anything." Yixing brushed a hand through Sehun's hair, and Sehun's bones felt so heavy and limp, like he had just run all the way through the mountains without stop.

"I didn't...tell you the truth. About what happened to my family."

Sehun held his breath as he waited for a reaction, but Yixing merely continued to slide his fingers through the strands of Sehun's hair. "I know."

Sehun tensed again. "You do?"

"I don't know what happened, but you obviously need to keep it secret for some reason or another, and I understand that. You don't seem to like lying about it, but you do it anyways. So you don't need to tell me."

Sehun's heart swelled. Tears pricking the corners of his eyes, and lips pressed against the thin skin of Yixing's throat, he whispered, "Thank you." He wasn't sure which of the numerous deeds he was thanking Yixing for.

 

 

 

Sehun sat down by Xiumin at dinner one night. "So how did you end up here, anyways?"

"Well." He put down the piece of meat he had been chewing on. "I had grown up the son of a travelling merchant. We would buy the latest wares out of the mountains, then bring them back and sell them at ridiculous prices. And because they don't have access to things outside the mountains themselves, they would buy them. My father was smart, but somewhat of a conman."

"Oh, are we telling Xiumin's lifestory?" Luhan suddenly appeared next to them and wrapped his arm around Xiumin's waist. Xiumin laughed, single-lidded eyes narrowing with mirth and smiling crookedly. "Can I tell the rest of it?"

"But it's my story," Xiumin whined.

"Our story." Sehun watched in concealed shock as Luhan swooped forward and nuzzled his nose into the crook of Xiumin's neck. He had never seen two men as affectionate as the two before him. His mind flashed back to Kris and the other man from last night.

"Alright, you sap."

Luhan jumped into the story. "So yes, Xiumin's father was this wicked, evil old man who stole from the poor and hoarded it for himself. My poor baozi here, his heart was pure, and his father's actions never sat right with him."

"Baozi?" Sehun asked while Xiumin rolled his eyes and Luhan's theatrics.

"It's the old tongue," Luhan explained with minimal effort. "Don't inturrupt me! I'm telling a story! Anyways, they passed through our camp one day. That's when Xiumin met someone that made his heart beat faster and harder than it ever had before, someone who had the prettiest smile and iest laugh--"

"I think you're embellishing, Lu," Xiumin said dryly.

"Am I? I still have that poem--"

Xiumin groaned. "Oh god, don't remind me--"

"I could probably recite parts of it--"

"LUHAN, SHUT UP."

Just then, Yifan, sitting with Yixing and Hyoyeon, called Sehun over, and he left the strange bickering men to their devices.

"How long have you been here?" Sehun asked Yixing that night as they were settling in.

"You're full of questions today," Yixing said. "If I had known that you were this obnoxiously inquisitive, I would have left you where I found you--"

"Yixing!" Sehun laughed. This was comfortable. He thought he would have liked to fit into this life, with Yixing and Yifan and Xiumin and Luhan and everyone else, could have grown to like it, under different circumstances. A life where people were bound by love and desire, not by contracts or obligation.

"Let's see. I am 22 years old; that means I've been here for four years."

"In this clan? Even though it's a halfway clan, like you described? Is it normal to stay that long?"

"There's no limit on how long you can stay, although I admit, most people find who they're looking for by then."

"And you haven't?"

Yixing was quiet for a few moments, so Sehun twisted his head to look at the other. Yixing was lying on his stomach, staring at Sehun with a look in his eye Sehun couldn't quite decipher.

"I guess not," Yixing finally said before turning on his side. "But my time will come. Get some rest, Sehun."

The words had a ring similar to that of a dismissal.

 

 

 

The issue of new clothes came up. His current ones were starting to show some wear, and while he was doing okay with simply washing them, he would need something else to wear while Yixing repaired (and taught Sehun how to repair) his current outfit.

"I have to go check on Hyoyeon," Yixing said to Sehun. "Why don't you ask Tao for more clothes? You've been wearing his since you got here. Then I can show you how we make clothes so you can make your own."

"Where is Tao?"

"He shares a wigwam with Yifan."

"What's a wigwam?"

"And you've been here for how long?" Yixing teased, but he gestured over to the hut-like homes that Sehun didn't have a name for.

"Oh." He laughed embarassedly, but Yixing just smiled and shook his head in what Sehun hoped was endearment.

As they parted, Yixing added, "Make sure you announce your arrival before you walk in!"

Sehun did so, assuming it was out of respect and nothing else. It wasn't until he was walking away that he realized that Yixing had told him Yifan was already taken by someone, and wondered why he was sharing a...wigwam with someone else.

Yifan's wigwam was on the outermost ring, the backside of it facing the plains. Sehun paused before it, unsure of what to say. What ended up coming out was a tentative "Hello?" When no one responded, he said a little louder, "Is anyone in there? Yixing sent me to..."

There was rustling, and the door flap was pulled in. Sehun recognized the man who leaned down and peered out at Sehun was the one who he had seen at Yifan's side several times.

"Sehun?"

"Tao. Um. I borrowed this from you--" Sehun lamely gestured to his clothes and ended up doing this little arm sweep-flap "--and I just wanted to thank you, and Yixing told me to ask you for some other clothes because you're about my size."

He could almost hear Chen harassing him for the lack of a princely disposition.

Tao's smile had a curious quality that softened the sharp nature of his face. It was disarming, to say the least. "Of course, come in," Tao said, stepping back to make room, and Sehun, dazed by the unexpectedly soft voice, followed. "I'm sure I have a few more things you could borrow," he went on as he moved deeper into the room toward a few painted wooden boxes. As he rumaged through them, he asked conversationally, "How do you like it here?"

"Everyone has been so kind to me," Sehun answered truthfully "I wish I could do something to repay all of you."

Gently, Tao said, "It's not about trading good deeds. We feel genuine happiness when we can help people."

"There are not many people like that in the world. You're all teaching me something new about life every day."

Tao smiled. His face was truly gentle like this. "Yixing has taken a liking to you," he said almost conversationally as he brought a pile of clothes to Sehun.

"Perhaps you could stay longer than you originally intended."

His tone was saturated with suggestion, but Sehun was baffled. He felt the same way as he did before, with Luhan making that eyebrow gesture at Sehun and Yixing, like there was something everyone else knew and he did not. He thanked Tao and retreated.

 

 

 

"Have you ever been with a man?" Yixing asked Sehun.

Sehun looked over at Yixing, who was pointedly not meeting Sehun's stare as though grinding seeds and herbs together was the most interesting thing in the world.

"I'm with you right now, aren't I?" Sehun asked, confused.

Sehun didn't understand what instigated Yixing's laughter, but he was instinctively pleased when he saw Yixing's dimple. "That's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean intimately. Have you ever been with a man intimately?"

Frowning in contemplation, Sehun sets down the bowl of nuts he had been shelling for dinner that night. They were sitting in the clearing in the center of the camp, next to the fire pit that for Sehun had become a symbol of camaraderie. "You mean the way a man and a woman...?"

"Well, I suppose."

"You mean men can be together like that?"

Yixing looked up at Sehun, brow furrowed. "Why wouldn't they be able to? Does it matter what gender they are?"

Rapidly blinking eyes met Yixing's. "I've never met any two men who were like that."

Yixing's face reflected Sehun's confusion back at him. "Yes you have."

"I have?"

"Yifan's and Tao are lovers, as are Xiumin and Luhan."

Oh.

Oh.

It made sense, Sehun realized. How the two couples were always close, how they lived together. Sehun kept attributing the actions to a strange platonic bond. 'Make sure you announce your arrival before you walk in,' Yixing had said regarding entering Yifan's and Tao's tent, and, heat rising to his face, Sehun realized why.

"I'll take that as a no."

"Have you ever been with a man...intimately?" The choice of words were foreign on Sehun's tongue.

"Yes," Yixing said, smiling again. He didn't elaborate. In fact, the conversation altogether dropped, and Sehun's mind was reeling. He really had never even imagined two men, or two women, for that matter, together. In his experience, it had always been one man, one woman. No one had ever made a grand affair of teaching him that that was the only method of relationship, but he had just assumed that such was the way of things.

But now he noticed how Tao leaned into Yifan's side was more intimate than a platonic bond, and Yifan never hesitated to wrap his arm around Tao's waist as though it belonged there. How Luhan, while quick to bound to plaster himself to any and all in amicable pestering, always, without fail, returned to blanket himself over Xiumin, all teasing words and jibes but bearing the docile, pleased smile endemic to a happy lover.

There were others. He knew Taemin, one of the younger members, was courting Naeun with goofy smiles and presents, but he had also noticed how Jonghyun, when he came back from herding and the elk had settled down for the night outside of the camp, immediately sought out Kibum (whom everyone tended to call Key, so Sehun did, too). Now as he scrutinized them from the opposite side of the fire, Sehun noticed how they were discreetly holding hands.

"Why are you so quiet tonight?" Hyoyeon asked, lightly bumping her shoulder against his.

But now, to his mild horror, even as Sehun noticed the more-than- friendly interactions going on around him, he couldn't stop thinking about Yixing.

Yixing, who took him in from the very beginning and asked no questions. Yixing, whom he shared a tent with, like Yifan and Tao shared a tent and Xiumin and Luhan shared a tent and Hyoyeon and Kai shared a tent. Yixing, who held him all throughout the night and quieted his cries. Yixing, who took the time to explain his people's ways of life. Yixing, who had a beautiful smile and a beautiful heart.

"I just--your people are so different," said Sehun honestly. "Sometimes it gets a little overwhelming."

"You still think we're different? You've been staying here for a little while now, haven't you?"

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know, I just thought you were going to stay." Sehun raised his eyebrows, and Hyoyeon laughed prettily. "I mean, you came here around the same age most of us come here, and we already consider you a part of the family."

It was tempting. So, so tempting. The idea of staying here, where he would know everyone he cared about instead of only being able to look at them from a castle's tower. He had fallen in love with these people. But he had no delusions. He would only stay here for as long as it took Chen to find him again.

So instead of answering, he asked, "Why are you and Kai staying here? I thought you left the clan and returned to one of the partners' clans when they decided to live a life together."

Hyoyeon smiled in this sad, bittersweet way that made Sehun regret bringing it up. "My family and Jongin don't get along, and I didn't want my child growing up around that. Jongin's family disowned him. He came here when he was fifteen."

"Wow," Sehun breathed. "I'm--I'm sorry."

The smile brightened and she shrugged. "Hey, what's done is done. Water under the bridge. This is my family now. I want to stay here. Yifan has been here for a while too. He's a good chief. Maybe we'll all stay, and we can become a real clan. You can stay with us, Sehunnie!"

"Sehun's staying with us?" Kai swooped in on Hyoyeon's other side and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, then greeted his unborn child with a kiss on Hyoyeon's stomach, making her giggle, cheeks radiating happiness.

"I don't--"

"That'd make Yixing really happy," Kai said with a grin.

Yixing, of course, suddenly appeared beside Sehun. "What would make me happy?" With three people already sitting down on the log, there was hardly any room for a fourth, so Yixing stayed standing. However, he bent at the waist so his face was close to Sehun's. Sehun's pulse inexplicably sped up.

"Having a face that doesn't look like an elk's," Jonghyun suddenly called out from across the fire.

"My face does not look like an elk's," Yixing objected, and his indignant tone sparked a ripple of laughter throughout the camp.

Before they went to bed, Yixing from his furs muttered, "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. Xiumin explained to me that our gender indifference offends your country."

"It's strange to me, but it's not...offensive," Sehun rasped back, on the verge of falling asleep but determined to complete this conversation.

"If it makes you feel uncomfortable, you could move to someone else's tent, or I can help you make your own. I completely understand--"

"I want to stay with you, Yixing," Sehun breathed, and then he was out. He didn't see the surprised smile tracing Yixing's lips.

 

 

 

Sehun couldn't stop thinking about it.

When Yixing smiled, butterflies danced in Sehun's stomach, the way that he hadn't felt since he had a crush on Jinri, the pretty daughter of a visiting lord. Yixing's dimple suddenly became not just an imprint on Yixing's cheek, but also on Sehun's sanity. The way Yixing moved captivated Sehun now; his tender kindness and compassion made Sehun swoon.

But Sehun didn't know what he was supposed to do. He had never been with a man before, and he didn't know if the rules of courting a man were different. He had very little experience; his relationship history was nonexistant, and the only person he had been with ually was a cool, sharp-tongued merchant girl staying in the tavern once (and he will forever blame Chen on what transpired, but that was another story entirely). He didn't even know if Yixing liked him back, or if he was simply asking Sehun, when he inquired about Sehun's relationship history.

Sehun genuinely believed Yixing thought of him as a little brother; that was why Yixing doted on him all the time, took special care of him, always sought him out with a soft gaze.

He was torn between shying away from Yixing and always pressing closer. If Yixing noticed (which surely he had to, because Sehun was as transparent as the clearest day), he didn't say anything, and for that, Sehun was grateful.

 

 

 

Things didn't shake up until Hyoyeon gave birth.

When she went into labor, all the clans members were directed to stay in their own homes.. It wasn't that much of an issue, considering it was right after dinner and everyone was settling down anyways. Yixing and Kris were in Hyoyeon's and Kai's wigwam for hours. Hyoyeon's cries and screams could be heard through the entire village. Sehun couldn't sleep through it. He had never heard anyone scream like that.

But that wasn't the only reason he couldn't sleep.

Yixing had become such a constant prescence during slumber that not sensing his form, not hearing the soft inhale-exhale, left Sehun feeling too unsettled to rest. He lay in the dark, listening to Hyoyeon's pained noises, and soon enough, the high-pitched wails that could only come from the inexperienced lungs of a newborn.

It was about an hour after this that Yixing finally stumbled back into the wigwam. Sehun immediately rose to meet him, and Yixing fell into Sehun's waiting arms. "I feel like I was the one who gave birth," Yixing murmured.

"You did good," Sehun replied, maneuvering the two of them into Sehun's furs. He entangled his legs with Yixings and propped his head on his hand, looking down at Yixing. "They're lucky to have you." I'm lucky to have you. The words were unspoken, but maybe Sehun's expression was revealing enough, because something made Yixing look up at Sehun with a gaze far clearer than what could be expected from a man drained of all energy. Sehun's eyes flickered between both of Yixing's.

Yixing looked exhausted and beautiful, and every molecule between them demanded that Sehun kiss him, so Sehun did. He bent his head down, and he paused where his lips were barely an inch away from Yixing's, as though asking for permission. His eyes flicked down to Yixing's slightly parted mouth, then glanced up again. Yixing watched him but didn't move. Sehun took that as tacit consent and closed the distance between them.

Sehun hadn't kissed very many people before, but Yixing's lips were malleable beneath his, following his actions without interference to his rhythm, and Sehun appreciated it. He explored the feeling of lips to lips, broke away to breathe, then pressed back in. Sehun daringly swiped his tongue across the seam of Yixing's mouth. Yixing quivered, and opened his mouth to meet Sehun's tongue with his own. The slide was delicious. Yixing moaned, and Sehun's fingers curled in Yixing's hair, but Yixing was abruptly pulling back.

"I'm too tired for this," Yixing explained. Sehun stuttered out an apology and tried to scoot away from Yixing to give him space, but Yixing twisted his fingers in Sehun's shirt and yanked him forward again. He placed a kiss on Sehun's lips, chaste and reassuring. "I like this. I've wanted this for a while," he admitted quietly. The words sent a shiver up Sehun's back, and he had to restrain himself from surging forward to claim Yixing's lips again. "If you still want this in the morning, we can talk about it. But for now, let's sleep like this."

Yixing slid into Sehun's arms like the last piece of a puzzle, like he belonged there. Sehun breathed in Yixing's tangy, smooth scent. Sleep didn't come easy, but when it did, Sehun's dreams were filled of soft gazes and dimpled smiles.

 

 

 

Morning came. Yixing's back was pulled up to Sehun's chest. Sehun awoke to Yixing gently and playing with Sehun's hands locked around his stomach, and Sehun smiled lazily against the back of Yixing's neck.

"Can I kiss you again," Sehun said, and Yixing was startled into a laugh softened with sleep.

"Why am I surprised that that's the first thing you say in the morning?"

"That's a yes, right?"

Yixing laughed and Sehun really, really couldn't be blamed for the fact that he hadn't the will to resist kissing that beautiful smile.

No one was surprised by their courtship. Everyone seemed expectant of it, actually, moreso than Sehun had been. They teased the new couple, making Yixing dip his head with a bashful but pleased smile, and Sehun stutter over every one of his words. But they were both happy.

They held hands in public. Sehun shyly stole a kiss or two out in front of everyone else and Yixing blatantly took a million more, dimpling so happily that Sehun couldn't deny the other, no matter how embarassed he might have been at first.

Outside of their wigwam, Yixing showed Sehun their ways of life, and Sehun slid in between the gaps like he was always meant to be there. Inside it, however, Yixing showed Sehun what it meant to be a couple in their furs, and Sehun discovered first-hand that the best gap to slip into was the one between Yixing's legs. Sehun learned Yixing's body better than he ever knew his own, knew what made him sigh and what made him writhe, and Sehun also knew, somehow, that he would never get bored of this.

But even more importantly to Sehun, he learned what made Yixing smile the most. He learned the best ways to wake Yixing up in the morning, and how to hold Yixing. And Sehun was happy.

 

 

 

Sehun wished that the story could end there. Sehun wished that he would have his happy ending like that; the epilogue of his story would be that he and Yixing spent their days together, happy and in love. He knew that his conscience would never allow him that happy ending without at least finding out what happened to his kingdom, but the illusion of a happily ever after was addictive.

There had been preparation for a huge feast, for the hunting party had come back with quite a load of food. Everyone was bustling about. Sehun himself had gone along; he had taken down a doe by himself. It wasn't the grand hart that Yifan had claimed, but it was definitely something.

He was twenty now. It had been six months since Sehun had arrived at the village he had come to call his home.

He had been with Xiumin as they were a ways from the villages, having been charged with the duty of collecting firewood, when he saw the group bearing his country's flag, the simple silhouette of a strip of mountains. "Xiumin," Sehun said. Xiumin looked up and met Sehun's point of focus with a startled noise.

In his heart, Sehun knew that the only person that could possibly be leading the party was Chen. He set down the wood and walked forward to meet his old advisor. Chen's face came into view soon enough, and Chen cried out in shock before rushing forward. Sehun tackled Chen into a hug, and he couldn't stop the water that threatened to drown his eyes. "You're such an idiot," Chen blubbered, clinging onto Sehun desperately.

"I was told," Sehun shakily replied, "to run away, and you would find me when it was safe again."

"I didn't expect you to leave the goddamned mountains, ! Do you know how long I've been looking for you?! You're such a ...."

"There is probably a law against calling the prince a ," Sehun smiled. He gave up trying to hold back the tears.

He cried because he was ecstatic to see his friend again, because he finally knew that Chen was okay.

He cried because he knew why Chen had come.

 

 

 

"A prince," Yixing repeated, dumbstruck.

Yixing, Sehun, Chen, Tao, and Yifan all sat in Yifan's and Tao's wigwam, a cloth spread on the floor for them to sit circularly upon.

"I'm the youngest son, and the youngest child," Sehun said tersely. "It was always more of a title to wave around, not something to actually gain authority from."

"You can't speak like that," Chen sharply corrected. "You are the only person we have left to be able to legitimately take the throne."

"I never wanted the throne," Sehun objected.

"It's not about what you want anymore. When you get back, you'll be the king. Sehun, these people -- your people -- have no one else to lead them. The ursurpers were assassinated soon after their attack, but the people are leaderless. There is no one to regulate anything now. It's chaotic. Your people have wanted more freedoms, but this extent is dangerous to themselves, and they know it. We can't restore order without you."

Yixing hadn't looked at him the whole time. After a moment of silence, he quietly stood up and excited the tent.

"I'm sorry Sehun," Chen whispered, "I truly am. I can see that you care for these people. But I can't return without you."

Sehun swallowed thickly around something caught in his throat. He felt like he couldn't breathe. "I know," he said hoarsely. Without saying anything else, he slowly left Yifan's and Tao's wigwam.

He found Yixing hiding under their furs, arms wrapped around his curled-up body, knees pulled up to his chest and back facing Sehun. He was completely and utterly still, but Sehun could hear the unsteady breathing.

Sehun didn't know what to say.

"Sehun," Yixing shakily called out, and Sehun was reduced into an incoherent mess.

"I'm so sorry, baby. This is all my fault. I knew -- I knew I wouldn't be able to stay, and I still got involved with you. That was selfish. I am selfish. I love you with every ounce of my heart and I--"

"I'm sorry," Yixing inturrupted, halting Sehun in his tracks.

"....What?"

"I'm sorry," Yixing started, enunciating each word carefully, focusing on diction to keep him from breaking apart, "for being selfish, even more than you. You have been through so much, and people are expecting even more from you. There is an entire kingdom that is depending on you for its salvation, and here I am, upset that I can't have you."

The tears started again. Sehun felt like he was breaking. "You'll always have me, Yixing."

Yixing turned and climbed into Sehun's lap, where he latched onto Sehun, twisting his fingers into Sehun's clothes as though to anchor himself there.

Sehun wished that he could give Yixing a promise to keep him going, anything -- a promise of eternal loyalty, of returning to Yixing one day. But Sehun was going to be leading a kingdom, and he simply didn't know if fate would allow him to keep any such promise. There were certain expectations of him now, expectations that were crucial to the survival of his kingdom. The master plan of fate had never added Sehun's own wishes into the equation. He would lead. He would have to look into a political marriage. He would have to produce an heir.

It was out of the question that Yixing return with him. Sehun didn't doubt that Yixing would, but his reign couldn't afford him returning with a man at his arm, and he wouldn't ask it of Yixing to keep their relationship secret. That somehow seemed worse than separation.

After what seemed like hours of teary confessions and whispered affirmations of love, Sehun said against Yixing's forehead, "You have taught me everything I need to be a leader. I will rule my people with every ounce of grace, patience, strength, and charity that you have nurtured in me."

"You'll be a good leader," Yixing said, and it sounded more like a lament than a compliment.

 

 

 

They left the next morning. It was almost dream-like, the way Sehun was abruptly whisked away before the sun had fully risen. Yixing had come out to see him off, and before he departed, they had locked each other in a tight embrace. They stayed like this for a long, long time, everyone waiting on them but no one having the heart to break them apart. In the end, Sehun and Yixing did not say goodbye to each other. It felt too final. Sehun wanted to delude himself for as long as possible.

It still felt unreal by the time they were at the foot of the mountains, the clan's dwelling long out of sight. He was mounted on Fubar.

"I think these people taught you the best qualities a king could have," Chen said quietly by his side.

"I think so, too."

 

 

 

Kai walked behind his four year old son, almost swaying from how tired he was. He didn't realize how early in the morning little kids liked waking up at before his own little tyke seemed to make it a life goal to wake up before the morning every day. But Hyoyeon, belly round with their second child, looked too peaceful to wake up. It was his turn to quietly the brat child away from the direct vicinity of the village in order to keep everyone from waking up.

"Hey, kiddo, wait up!" Kai commanded, as his son chortled happily and yelled something about Kai being slow. Kai began a playful comeback when he saw a familiar black shadow striding towards them.

Kai had to blink a few times, verify that the sand in his eyes wasn't making him see things. "Looked what the wind blew in," Kai drawled, mouth twisting up happily. His son had stopped in his tracks, wide eyes staring at the newcomer. Kai scooped up the little boy, who immediately placed a hand at the back of Kai's neck, thumbing insecurely at the clasp of the necklace Hyoyeon had made for Kai.

Kai opened his mouth--

"I have travelled too godamn far to be first greeted after four years by a stupid one-liner!" Sehun declared moodily from the top of his mount before Kai could get a word out.

Kai was shocked into a fit of boisterous laughter. "But Sehun, I had the perfect--"

"Nope, no, nuh-uh."

Sehun slid off of Fubar and left the horse there, knowing that it wouldn't stray too far. He and Kai met in the middle. "You're still no fun," Kai complained.

"You've gotten so big," Sehun doted on the boy in Kai's arms, who shyly burrowed his head in Kai's shoulder.

"He's only shy around strangers," Kai explained, shifting the boy's weight.

"That's okay. He's cute. I can see both of you in him."

Kai smiled and nuzzled the boy, who giggled despite him giving Sehun the cold shoulder. "We're expecting again."

"Congratulations. That's really great. I'm happy you're both still here."

"Everyone's still here, actually. I think we made some unspoken decision that we're going to all stay here. We've gotten a couple of new kids who travelled here over the past few years, but no one plans on leaving."

"Wow. That's. Really awesome."

"Yeah." Kai slanted his eyes at Sehun. "What do you plan on doing? Are you here to stay too, or just visiting?"

Sehun became wistful, and he smiled dryly. "I think just visiting would cause problems. I was hoping to stay, if....if....."

Kai knew.

"Yixing's heart hasn't changed for four years, Sehun," Kai muttered, smiling genuinely. "Go find him. His wigwam is the same. I'm sure we'll have more than enough time to catch up later."

The grin Sehun offered him was equal parts grateful and giddy.

Sehun crept into the camp, navigating his way using what felt more like a sense of deja vu than familiarity. On his way, Xiumin stepped out of his tent just as Sehun was passing; Xiumin blinked at him and then grinned, but he didn't stop Sehun from slipping into Yixing's wigwam.

Yixing, his beautiful Yixing, slept peacefully in the warmth of thick furs. His face was peaceful and the sound of his breathing was comforting to Sehun just as it always had been. Quietly, Sehun slipped off his shoes and outer layer of clothing, plucked back the top layer of furs, and slipped under to press his chest against Yixing's back, arm coming around to rest protectively around Yixing's waist. He breathed in the tangy scent that Yixing seemed to always have access to.

It smelled like the final step of a journey or the epilogue of a good book. It smelled like the closure after an exciting adventure or the last note of a song. It smelled like home.

Yixing shifted in his arms, resettled himself, and after a moment, he froze. Sehun held his breath. His heart clenched in anticipation.

Yixing twisted around, eyes wider than Sehun had ever seen them. He drank in the sight of Sehun lying beside him, and once his eyes were quenched enough, he made a broken noise and lunged forward. He grappled for Sehun's clothes and littered desperate, uncoordinated kisses across Sehun's face. Sehun's heart was bursting at the seems with love.

Sehun's hands firmly cupped Yixing's face and guided their lips together. Yixing gave a full-bodied shudder against Sehun, and Sehun had to remind himself to breathe. But instead of inhaling and exhaling air, Sehun breathed in Yixing and breathed out "I love you."

"How are you able to be here?" Yixing asked. "I can't -- I can't lose you again, Sehun, you should've never come."

"Shhhh," coaxed Sehun against Yixing's mouth as he took another kiss, and another. Yixing's lips were every bit warm and soft as he remembered them. "I'm not going anywhere anymore."

"What?"

"I told you that I would lead the way you taught me to live, and I did. The last four years were spent reorganizing the kingdom and then transitioning them from monarchy to self-rule. A few other countries have done it, but only on a small scale; my country is small and isolated enough to be able to efficiently rule themselves. I'm only a king by name now. Otherwise, I'm just Sehun. And I'm not leaving you again."

Yixing laughed, but the noise turned into a whimper by the end. "You're mine," Yixing declared, kissing Sehun once more, as though it would never be enough, as though their time apart was a sin that must be atoned for. And for all intents and purposes, it might as very well have been.

But they had the rest of forever to make up for it.

 

 

so!!! that's over 12k right there wHOOPS. also did i mention that i submitted this ten minutes before the deadline.
here is a wigwam.
here is the clothing i used as reference.