Written in the stars

It had been three days until Jongdae could leave the Northern castle without anyone asking any questions. He left early in the morning, before the sun rose up, his dark clothes and horse becoming part of the surrounding. The black raven never leaving his side. The prince was keeping a curious and watchful eye on the bird, as he was the one guiding the way. After crossing the bay, Jongdae quickly looked at the wall of trees guarding the borders of the Eastern realm and a smirk crept on his lips as he spotted two trees with burned marks. But the raven glided onwards, unaware of the prince’s thoughts. It passed the invisible path and was flying along the shore, taking Jongdae to an unknown destination. Not minding about paying attention to the road, since he knew he would not use it to go back, he let out a heavy sigh and letting his thoughts consume him, he looked down at his hand and started wondering again.

Three days ago, after Jongdae arrived at the castle and Suho was told to show him off to his chambers, he locked the doors and quickly started tearing the bandage into shreds. Upon seeing his hand, a gasp left his lips, the fabric fell to the ground. There was an almost invisible cut on his palm, but what was weird about it was the fact that the hand was unnaturally red, as if the cut was deep and fresh, but there was no sign of it. There was also no pain or blood and Jongdae just didn’t understand what was that supposed to be. “Why would Xiumin put a bandage on my hand if nothing was wrong? There had to be something. But what? If the color indicates the wound… where is the wound?” There were too many questions and no answers or the source of them.

He tightened his grip on reins and shook his head. It had been only three days and weird things had already started happening. First the mysterious boy in the middle of the woods and his story, then his hand and finally the arrow issue that he and prince Junmyeon discovered. He still needed to look into that, right after his come back to the castle. He hoped that what they had been saying about the Northern Library of Lights was true and one can really find all the answers there.

Around midday, when the sun was high in the sky they started nearing the mountains, and Jongdae started recognizing the place. He chuckled as realization of what place lies behind the rocks fell on him. Fastening the horse he prepared himself for the upcoming struggle. The journer through the rocky mountains was long and exhausting for both him and his hourse. If it was not for the bird guiding them, Jongdae was give up and stay in one of the caves for the night, to save his horse the trouble. But he was not the one to decide. A client was waiting for him somewhere behind the rocky walls and he had to be there on time. The faster he crosses the mountains, the faster he will be able to get to Xiumin. After a few hours of non stop climbing, they finally reached the first ledge, the one on which they would start heading downwards. Upon seeing the stretching view in front of him, the prince stopped his horse for a moment, trying to take it all in.

Where the rocky and sandy mountains ended, a long and wide sea started. The waters of the Middle Sea were the color of the sky on a sunny day, almost transparent by the shore, enabling tuckered travelers to take see the fresh fish swimming underneath- a potential food for the restless souls. The shore itself was covered in a countless amount of rocks, golden from the sun, grey from the water or green from the seaweeds. A bit further from the shore, standing out from the water were proud sculptures of old kings, ruling thousands years ago. According to the already almost forgotten legends, these kings were to protect the entrance to the Western kingdom.

Sighing, Jongdae looked towards the horizon, that was slowly becoming more and more colorful. Somewhere there was his home. Far away from the place he was standing in, on the other shore, hidden from his gaze. He looked up again at the massive sculptures and started studying the faces of the kings. He recognized some of them from the books he had been studying so many times. Some of them were supposed to be his ancestors, and Jongdae tried his best to find any resemblance. But he could not. "Maybe greatness is not written in my stars", he thought to himself, sparing the last wistful glance towards the west.

Fastening the horse yet again, they ran down the hill towards a small landing, at the end of which waited a small boat. Jongdae left his horse at the shore and froze, as he realized someone was already in the boat. A small figure, at the very beginning, covered in a brown robe with a hood covering their face. The person did not bother to turn as Jongdae came, instead, they only tighten a grip on a long oar and straighten their posture. “He though of everything,” Jongdae thought to himself, slowly and carefully stepping into a boat. He sat down and the mysterious person started to row. “Look under the board” he heard a voice in his head and jumped, terrified. His eyes widened as he realized it must have been the person in front of him. “What kind of magic is that?,” he mumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes. He took a good look at the person’s figure, trying to catch anything. And he did. There were visible, almost white marks on the person’s arms, as if their skin was burnt in that places. They were visible each time the heavy fabric of the robe fell down, and Jongdae managed to catch that they were symbols from one of the ancient languages. But there was something odd about them. They did not look like any of the ancient languages he knew or recognized.

Slowly reaching under the board, he pulled out a brown robe, similar to the one of the rower.  He put that on and a few moments later, when the sky on the East was already covered in black and silver, somewhere in the middle of the sea, between many tall rock covered in trees and flowers, that stack out from the dark water, Jongdae spotted a small, man-built, wooden island, with a few houses and some boats. The place was lighten up with torches, becoming the only source of any light in that area. Pulling the hood over his head and making sure his face is invisible, he got out of the boat as soon as they pulled up. Walking up into a tavern, he readjusted the hood and came in and sat at the far end, in the corner, where only little light reached. He felt heavy glances of the few visitors, but decided to ignore them as he knew what would happen if anyone recognized him. Death. Such places were not for royals.

“Chen, if I’m correct?,” he heard a deep voice calling him. He nodded and a well built man sat next to him. He looked up to see his client. The man was tall, with oddly looking skin. His hands were covered in many scars and burns and he was blind on one eye, which was covered by thin hair. “Long time no see,” the man joked without emotion. “How did ya enjoy my ride? Was the company on the boat to ya’r likin’?,” he asked, obviously making fun of Jongdae. But the young prince only leant back in his chair and making sure his face hidden under the hood remains in the shadows. “What’ve you done to that person?,” he asked straight forward, reminding himself to make sure his language was not too clean and courtly. “Oh, so ya’ve noticed?,” the man chucked, which was an awful sound to Jongdae’s ears, “not much. It w’s jus’ an innocent little bindin’ spell,” he shrugged and laughed again, “an’ ma’be a bit of torture here an’ there.” “You’re sick…” Jongdae started, but the man slammed his hand against the table, “I don’t pay ya for ya’r opinions, so ya better shut ya mouth.” He threatened. Jongdae took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down and get over the horryfing accent the man had and his annoying way of speaking. Jongdae could never stand the talk of the commoners. “So what’d you want this time?,” the boy asked and a lighting struck from the sky, hitting one of the rocks around the wooden town. “I need somethin’ strong, ya know. Somethin’ that’d stop a heart. No worries, the heart’s not too strong anyway so it’d be easy, right?” He replied, making himself comfortable in his seat and taking a massive sip of his rum. “You mean you want to kill someone?”, Jongdae suggested, clearing the man’s intentions. “Call it whateve’ ya want. I like to think of it as of helpin’ someone get quicke’ to the other side. The boy’s weak as lamb anyway, I wanna shorten his misery.” “So why don’t you just stub him?” “Ya ask too many questions. Do ya’r job, that’s what ya get paid for. I need ya’r magical thingy as soon as possible.” The man hissed, narrowing his eyes. “Alright. I’ll preare the potion. I’ll send my raven when it’s ready.” Jongdae declared and stood up to leave, but the man grabbed his wrist, “ya’d better hurry up.”

As soon as the prince hit the ground he took off the robe and ran towards his horse, and freeing it in one quick move, he tighten his grip on the rein and fasten Thunder. They were rushing through the woods, trying to find the right path, with a smirk decorating Jongdae’s face. It turned out that finding the way took him more time than he believed it would so when he stopped his horse and jumped off of it to the ground it was already dark around him, with only starts shining brightly on the night sky and the moon lighting up the world. “Stay here,” he whispered to the horse and slowly made his way towards the hut in between the trees. He looked around taking in the surrounding of the place. What hit him was the fact, that against what he had thought earlier, the small wooden hut turned out not to be the only thing in these woods. Jongdae realized there were more houses and buildings around, and that the forest was only starting on the boarders with the hut. Taking a peek behind the hut, Jongdae saw a small city being situated in a valley down the hill, with a massive, castle-like, house at the beginning. There was a small, stone truck which ran from the front door of the hut all the way down to the back door of that massive mansion. “Interesting,” the prince murmured, “I do not remember any cities being drawn on the maps of these areas.” But he shook his head, reminding himself he came here for other things. Jongdae turned back and stood in front of the back door of the hut and started wondering whether he should knock or not. He decided he should, but when after a few times no one answered and grabbed the knob and walked in.

At first sight the inside of the hut was just as he remembered it to be, although now, there was no fire in the fireplace so it was terribly cold. He looked around wondering where Xiumin could go, and when he figured nothing he only shrugged and decided to wait for the boy. Jongdae started walking around, looking through things but he did not find anything that would tell him a thing about the boy. Giving up, the prince wanted to sit on the bed, which he suddenly remembered was painfully uncomfortable, but before he managed to, he spotted something weird lying on it. He took a few steps closed and examined the small, white, breathing ball situated on the pillow. “What are you?” Jongdae asked out loud, not expecting the answer, but then the thing moved. It opened up and the prince saw a pair of big eyes, small sharp teeth and paws. Letting out a scream a few octaves too high for a prince, he quickly slapped his hand over his mouth and moved back, realizing what it was. “Dear emperors of all the kingdoms, what is a mountain bear doing in this room?!”

Not even two seconds later from the moment Jongdae had screamed one of the doors opened and someone ran into the room. The prince raised a brow and smirked upon seeing Xiumin in the room. The boy was turned back to Jongdae and had nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, his body dripping with water. “Well, I must say this is the most entertaining way I have been ever welcomed,” he chuckled, crossing arms on his chest.

Upon hearing the voice Xiumin jumped, quickly turning around. His eyes grew bigger when they landed on the prince. “What… how…,” he tried to put a coheret sentence together but was unable to. And then, when he saw the way the prince was looking at him, somehow hungrily, he remembered, he was practically . He quickly ran back into the bathroom and put some clothes on.

“What are you doing here, Prince?” he asked when he came back to the room. “And why were you screaming?”

“I was passing by and decided to visit you,” the prince lied. “and don’t call me per prince.”

“Then what should I call you?” Xiumin asked a bit irritated, sitting on bed.

“Jongdae. As I have already told you.”

“Then, Jongdae, why were you screaming?” the boy leant back, and Jongdae suddenly could not focus anymore, seeing how the muscles on the boy’s stomach were perfectly traced on the white shirt. And then, when he was on a verge of drooling, a realization came back to him.

“Xiumin, what happened to your back?” he whispered, narrowing his eyes, as an image of the boy’s bruised back appeared in his mind. But Xiumin only looked down on the ground, avoiding the question. “Xiumin, tell me.” Jongdae demanded, getting closer.

“Why would I? I don’t even know you. And I was the first one to ask the question.” He replied quietly and looked at the bear sleeping on his bed.

“I screamed because of that thing,” Jongdae confessed, now feeling a little bit embarrassed, as he pointed towards the bear. “Why would you even have a mountain bear in your house? Not mentioning bed!” But Xiumin did not answer again. He was just sitting there, staring at the bear and caressing it’s fur. “Do you ever answer any questions?” Jongdae asked more himself than Xiumin, not expecting any answer that time as well, but he got one, “not often,” the boy on the bed sighed, standing up. “You have to go and please, never come back,” he ordered walking up to the door and opening them.

“Oh, why are you so mean?” Jongdae pouted and sat on a chair, not even thinking of leaving already.

“My life is on stake, here, and I would like to live for a few more years, Prince.”

Jongdae narrowed his eyes, getting irritated by the way the boy was speaking in riddles. “Not before you answer some of my questions, Xiumin.” The boy tightened his grip on a doorknob and Jongdae spotted how quickly it started to freez. A moment later half of the door was covered in beautiful “ornaments,” Jongdae whispered and his eyes grew bigger.

“What?” Xiumin hissed, closing the door with a bang and quickly making his way to sit opposite the prince.

Jongdae cleared his throat and put his hand on the table, “what have you done to it?” he asked, pointing at the red place on his palm and the remaining of the cut. Minutes passed and Xiumin was still not speaking, which at this point, made Jongdae angry and suddenly the whole sky turned grey as heavy clouds covered it, “speak! Now!” the prince screamed, getting up and smashing his hands against the table, as a few lightings hit the ground around the house. At the same moment the bear that was peacefully sleeping on bed woke up, and showing off his fangs it jumped out of it, running towards Jongdae. But Minseok was quicker, he caught the animal and turning again to face the prince, he whispered in a low voice, “do not dare, to ever threaten me, storm bringer. You may have your lightings, but I have an ace up my sleeve as well.” And when his eyes met with Jongdae’s, they were icy blue and the temperature in the room dropped rapidly.

“I did not mean to threaten you, Xiumin,” the young prince said, calming down and sitting back down, “I just need answers, and to some of them you are the only source. Please, tell me.” He begged.

Xiumin sighed, sitting down as well. “Please, understand, I could never trust anyone. And I am not going to trust someone like you over a night.” He explained calmly.

“Someone like me?” Jongdae blinked, not understanding what the other boy meant.

“A prince” Xiumin smirked and silence fell upon them. At last the boy gave out a sighed and decided to tell the truth, “I healed it.” He whispered, focused on observing the other’s reaction.

Jongdae frowned, confusion making its way on his face, “healed it? But… how?”

Xiumin looked down on his hands and shrugged, “I don’t know… I have always had this… additional ability…”

The prince looked at his hand, then back at Xiumin, “is this… is this what you have done to your back as well?” he asked, remembering how undone the other’s half-healed back looked like. Xiumin only nodded and started caressing the bear’s fur once again.

Jongdae sat there, deep in his thoughts, observing the boy. The way his still wet hair touched his forehead at the front and sticked out in all directions at the back. The way his eyes slowly closed and then opened a moment later, and how glossy and cold they seemed, but beautiful at the same time. The way he would curl his lips and smile a bit, looking at the animal in his hands. And his adorable cheeks, deprived of any colors, but still making the boy look like a child. “He’s beautiful,” Jongdae thought and got surprised by that such a though would even appear in his mind.

“Why are you smiling?” Xiumin asked suddenly, and when their eyes met, Jongdae felt his cheeks getting hotter.

A/N

Hello dears! How are my dear readers doing? Finally an update, right? Sorry it took so long, hope you can forgive me :)

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Please note it's not chekced yet, I will do it later, don't be mad at the typos and errors! 

Until the next chapter!

Best wishes,

badblood.