Lock & Key (Chaelisa)

Bonus: The Shape-Shifter (alternate draft)

Note: this was the  original drafts i had started to work on before i scrapped it to work on the fic you just read. I had thought of using the first person pov before changing to a third person that i usually work with as well. This first draft was intended to be darker and more serious in tone but scraping it for the fluffy version by StanThinMints was a no-brainer :P

"Thanks for putting me up," I said as I put down my bags next to the bed. The loft was puny but snug and I only cared about the plushy looking straw mattress .

"No problem. We owed your cousin a favour anyway," Jisoo said. She is one-half of the owners of the cottage, and my new housemate.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Last summer, we got foxes targeting our hens. He let his neighbour take out the sheep and insisted on staying cooped up with the hens for seven days straight. Walked out looking like shit after, but the foxes didn't come close again."

"Sounds like Bam," I laughed, "stubborn as a mule."

Jisoo smirked. "Well what about yourself, Lalisa-ssi?"

"Lisa," I said, "you asked me to call you Jisoo or unnie, so it's only fair. And what do you mean?"

Jisoo leaned against the doorway, looking my way thoughtfully. She was shorter than me but older by a few years. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was still wearing the gardening gloves, overalls and boots since I interrupted her work with my arrival. But she hadn't complained, proving to be a gracious host as she showed me around the small but comfortable cottage that I would be calling home for the next few weeks.

"I meant, are you as strong-headed as your cousin? Does it run in the family?"

I shrugged. I had never really thought about it before. "I suppose?"

Jisoo gave me a strange smile. "Good. In this town, you're going to need it."

I stared, bemused, but before I could ask why, she straightened up. Her strange expression had disappeared.

"I'll have lunch ready soon, when Jennie comes back. Boiled potatoes and steak okay with you? And you have to try the cheese, it's a delicacy in these parts!"

"Perfect." My rumbling stomach agreed.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything."

And my host went away, leaving me to my thoughts as I sat on my bed and pondered the meaning of her words.

>

From the capital city to here, it was two days' travel via horseback, longer if you're taking the wagon of course. Thankfully, I travelled light so I came with my own horse, Leo, and didn't encounter problems along the way, just as Bambam, my cousin, had predicted. Mother hadn't been too pleased that I would be travelling alone but she didn't press the issue too much.

Personally, I think she was all too eager to see me out of the house after all the hullabaloo that went down. Nobody in the neighbourhood was looking at me too kindly and she probably feared for my life, hence why she didn't press me to take a companion.

Hoguryeo isn't so distant as to attract bandits or rough types, but it still is quite a secluded town as compared to other settlements closer to the capital. Leaving behind the hustle and bustle of the city was strange at first but after a few hours on the road riding at a fresh pace with Leo and taking breaks now and then, I got used to the sounds of nature, refreshing my memory by pointing out the different trees and plants to myself, studying prints in the mud and calling out the handful of bird calls that I knew.

The town (or village, depending on who you asked) where I was staying indefinitely was nestled in a little fertile valley with wide open pastures for sheep flocks to graze upon, shouldering a river that ran directly from a ridge of mountains at its back. It bordered a great leafy forest on the east side, where the hunters could catch their game.