Yeosang POV
I am the first to wake up in the morning. Like so often Wooyoung came into my bed in the middle of the night because he had a nightmare. Very carefully I climb over him.
I go to bathroom and pull the lever of the water filtering system. Clean water spills into the tub. I wash my face and body, shave and brush my teeth. Then I press the button and a hole opens up in the tub. The familiar sound of the crystals filtering the water starts and I can hear the clean water run back into the tank.
I hear a knock on the door. "Are you done soon?", Yunho asks.
"Yes. I'm done."
I go to the kitchen and set the table. I grab some slices of bread and jam from the cold storage and eat my breakfast. Slowly the others come to join me.
"We are going to be treasure hunting today. So after breakfast each of you should pack your backpacks for today and we'll meet in front of the ship.", Hongjoong announces.
An hour later we are ready to go. We split into two groups. Yunho and San go to the tailor to pick up San's pants while the rest of us go to different places to sell the the things we found on our last treasure hunt. Then we meet up with the other two at the marketplace again.
"Hey, did you make a lot of gold?", Yunho asks.
"Yes. We made 65 gold today. All thanks to Mingi. I don't know how he does it but somehow the shop owners are always willing to pay more when he bargains with them.", Hongjoong says.
"Nobody can withstand Mingi's endless charm.", Jongho jokes.
"What can I say. I'm just awesome.", Mingi brags but then gets shy and giggles.
"Here are your pants, Hongjoong. Thanks for lending me them.", San says out of nowhere and stuffs the pants into our captain's bag.
"Oh, thanks."
"By the way. While you were still selling things we made ourselves a bit more familiar with the city and found a bar that seems to be popular with travelers. Maybe we can find someone that knows something about your treasure there.", Yunho tells.
"That's good. Yeah, we can go there this evening. But we really need to get going and find some treasures now. I want to be inside the city walls again before it gets dark.", Hongjoong states.
He pulls out a map. His finger hovers above it for a few seconds before he speaks up: "We need to leave through the north gate and then take the left path. Pass through the forest and hopefully come across some caves."
We make our way to the north gate. The others seem to be in a especially good mood today. As soon as we leave the city Wooyoung, Yunho, San and Mingi dart forward. "LET'S FIND A BIG TREASURE TODAY!", Wooyoung shouts.
"Ahh don't just run away without knowing the directions.", Hongjoong says. We run after them.
It only takes five minutes until we reach the edge of the forest. The forest consists mostly of those trees with the needle-like leaves that I already saw on a few other islands we have been on. I wonder what they're called but I will probably sound stupid if I ask.
"Aww a squirrel.", Mingi says and points at a tree. We all stop to look at the animal. I have never seen an animal like this. It has reddish brown fur and a big fluffy tail. "It's so cute!", San exclaims. I take my eyes off of the cute squirrel and notice that Seonghwa is gone. "Ehm, where is Seonghwa?", I ask the others. "I'm here. I found a treasure." Seonghwa pops out from behind a tree with a big smile. "Wow, then you're good for something after all.", Wooyoung mocks him.
"Do you want to clean the kitchen today?", Seonghwa asks him.
"Eh. No, thanks."
"Wow! There is some great jewelry in this chest. For your first find, this is really good.", Hongjoong compliments the older crewmate. "Thanks."
We follow the forest path for a while and find two more chests along the way. Then we reach a rock wall.
"We've reached the mountains. Now we only need to watch out for some caves.", Hongjoong states. I look around and notice a treasure chest on a rock between the trees. "Oh, theres is a treasure chest on that rock over there!", I exclaim.
"It's pretty high up.", Mingi says.
"I will climb up.", San says.
"Wait, I'll help you."
Yunho leans with his back against the rock and gives San a leg up. San easily climbs up the rest of the rock and opens the chest. "Uiii krystaals!", he exclaims and puts six magic crystals in his backpack. "A big spuun for serwin fuudt, 8 forks, 8 plaetes aaaand a jeant pott.", he reports although I barely understood it due to the distance and his accent. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!", Wooyoung shouts into my ear. I swear someday I will go deaf because of him.
"Ouch! Hot! ...", I hear San say before it turns into an inaudible mumble. "What are you doing?", Jongho asks and giggles at the older crew member's misterious behavior.
San fumbles with something then holds up a plate with steaming noodles on it up. "Lunch time! Who wants the first portion?", San asks.
There is food in the chest?!
Everyone has found a comfortable spot to sit down and has their food in their hands. I stare at the strange short white floppy noodles. They are unlike any type of noodles I have ever seen. The dish also contains melted cheese, bacon and dried onions.
"Umm, and what excactly is this?", Seonghwa asks.
"I don't know but it's delicious.", Yunho says with a full mouth.
"I forgot what it's called but it's a regional dish from Kroosborg and the neighboring islands. I actually wanted to try it for quite some time now.", Hongjoong explains. I take a bite of the mysterious dish. It really is delicious! Not as good as chicken though. We eat up, put our dirty plates and forks in the giant pot and put the pot into Yunho's backpack. "Do you often find food in treasure chest?", Seonghwa asks.
"I wish I would but it happened only two times to me until now.", Hongjoong replies.
"Hey, I think I found a cave!", Mingi says. He sprints forward and points to a small hole in the rock wall.
"Well, we will leave you the honor to climb in first then.", Wooyoung says, making everyone laugh.
"The hole is a bit small for him. Shouldn't you go in since it's more suitable for someone of your size.", I state.
"Hey, I'm not THAT small!", my best friend protest. The others laugh.
After five minutes we finally find a real cave. We light our torches and begin exploring it. The darkness somehow brings back bad memories. I reach out for Wooyoung's hand for comfort.
Then the cave splits in two directions. "I think we should split up. How about Seonghwa, Wooyoung, Yeosang and San go right and Mingi, Yunho, Jongho and I go left.", Hongjoong suggest.
"Left... left... eft... eft... eft... ft.. ft...", it echoes.
"Echo!", Mingi and San shout almost at the same time.
"Echo... echo... cho... cho... cho... o... o..."
Yunho suddenly barks, making everyone flinch. The echo of the bark bounces off the cave walls and Yunho giggles. "SEONGHWA IS STUPID!", Wooyoung shouts.
"Stupid... stupid... upid... upid... id... id... id..."
"I am not!", Seonghwa exclaims. "not... not... ot... ot... ot..."
I giggle. They are so funny when they're messing around.
"Maybe we should continue...", Hongjoong says.
I follow Seonghwa and keep an eye out for crevices that could have something hidden in them. "Hey there is a small hole in the wall.", Wooyoung says and lays down on the floor to reach into hole. "AHHH, MY HAND!" Wooyoung panics and puts all his strengh in to pull his arm out but he seems to struggle with it.
What is happening to his arm? What should I do?
"Are you okay?!", Seonghwa asks, totally shocked by what is happening.
"Just kidding! There is just a baby chest in there. TADAA!"
San, Seonghwa and me breathe a sigh of relief. "Don't scare us like that.", San says with a pouty face.
"Haha, sorry." Wooyoung hugs San. Then he opens the miniature chest. It contsins two small rings. "Great maybe we can finally buy San a new shirt then.", I say.
"Why? This one does the job. There are more important things that we need.", San claims.
I roll my eyes. "You've been running around the same holey shirt for god knows how long. You don't have spare clothes you can change into and you don't even have a coat for when it gets colder in a few weeks. You absolutely need new clothes!", I try to convince him.
"No, I'm fine. It's not that important."
Wooyoung lets out an annoyed sigh.
"He is right. You're gonna freeze to death when the weather gets colder. Stop putting yourself always last. You really need to take better care of yourself.", Wooyoung argues.
"I'm actually amazed that your shoes haven't fallen apart completely with all the climbing that we do.", Seonghwa jokes.
"Well maybe we can buy a new shirt and shoes for me soon if it makes you happy." If it makes us happy? He really needs to stop putting others before himself.
We walk deeper and deeper into the cave. Every now and then we will find a few things on the side. Then I spot a tunnel that splits off from the main path. The tunnel is quite small but maybe someone could crawl through it. "Should we see what is at the end of that tunnel? Someone would need to crawl through though.", I suggest.
"I will!", San exclaims. He gives Seonghwa his backpack and disappears into the tunnel. A few minutes later he comes back with clothes and a pair of boots in his hands. "I found a chest with these clothes in there. It's a black shirt, a black wool coat and black boots. Maybe some of you or the others want them.", San says.
"I actually think it's a sign of the universe that you really need new clothes.", Seonghwa states.
"Ehh... I guess I could take the boots since mine have a few holes...", San mumbles shyly.
Not this again. "For **** sake! Just put on the clothes.", I exclaim.
"Here? Now?", San asks.
"Yes, please! I can't stand seeing you in these rags anymore.", Wooyoung replies. San hesitates but then changes into the clothes that were in the chest. San wants to put his old clothes in his backpack but Wooyoung takes them and throws them into the dark tunnel. "You don't need them. You don't live in poverty anymore.", he states. San looks down on himself. I must say that the clothes look amazing on him. "I never had nice clothes like this. It feels weird. I feel like losers like me shouldn't wear clothes like this.", San explains.
"What are you talking about? You are not a loser. You're actually the best treasure hunter in the crew. Besides that you also look kinda hot in all black.", Wooyoung say and winks at San. He blushes.
"Thank you!"
"You really look handsome and you're in no way a loser.", Seonghwa says.
"Thanks for being always so nice to me. I really appreciate it."
"I mean how could we not like someone as awesome as you?", I say with a warm smile. San smiles shyly.
I hope that someday he will become more confident.
We continue walking deeper into the cave but after five minutes we hit a dead end. We decide to go back to where we split. After 30 minutes the others come back from their side of the cave. "Wow San! Since when do you look so hot?", Yunho exclaims, making Sans cheeks flair up bright red. "Stop making me blush.", San says.
"You look really handsome. I'm kind of jealous. Did you find the clothes in the cave?", Mingi asks. "Where else should we have found them?", San replies.
"I don't know. We found something amazing too. Hongjoong show them the giant treasure we found."
Hongjoong puts his hand into his pocket. Is it diamond? Or maybe they found one of these new... what are they called again... clocks?
Hongjoong slowly pulls his hand out of the pocket. "It's really one of my best finds ever.", Hongjoong announces.
"Don't talk so much. Just show us.", my best friend says. Hongjoong finally reveals what they found... It's a tiny wooden spoon! We all break out into laughter. "There was nothing in the cave... just a big chest at the end...", Yunho explains while still laughing. "Yeah. It was huge. So we thought to have found something big but the only thing in there was the spoon.", Jongho explains further which makes me laugh even more.
"It was also a little bit weird when we found San's clothes. We were talking about him needing new clothes and then he came out of this tunnel with a bunch of clothes in his hands. I was really surprised.", Seonghwa tells.
"No one is interested in what you have to tell.", Wooyoung exclaims and giggles. Seonghwa looks at him angrily. "Don't be so disrespectful to your crewmate, Wooyoung.", Hongjoong reminds him.
"Yes, captain.", Wooyoung says cutely.
We leave the cave and explore one other cave. We find a few chests there. They are filled with blankets, machine parts, cutlery and more jewelry. Then the group takes a short rest outside of the cave. "Should we go into another cave?", Hongjoong says.
"But didn't you want to be back before it gets dark. Because that would probably be in one and a half hours.", Jongho states.
"My feet also hurt.", San complains. "You're right. Let head back."
Jongho gives San a piggyback and we go back to the city. There we sell some of the stuff that we found and bring the rest to our ship.
We decide to eat our dinner in the city again. After that we go to the bar that Yunho and San found this morning. We all quickly wash the dirt which we collected whilst we were in the caves before we gather in front of the ship and go back into the city together.
This time we go to a restaurant. It is a neat but cozy place. I decide to eat a steak since unfortunately there is no chicken on the menu. It still was a really nice dinner.
The bar that Yunho discovered is in the western part of the city. When we walked into it, it is already pretty full in there. A lot of people are talking muddled in different dialects.
"Just go around and ask a few people about the treasure of Aninliggat. If you find out anything then tell me please.", Hongjoong says. The others spread around the room. From the corner of my eye I see Wooyoung unbutton his shirt a little bit further and approaching a tall, darkly clothed woman in the corner of the bar who has been looking at us ever since we came in. As always he is using every opportunity to flirt.
I am unsure where I should go. I am not good at talking with strangers.
Maybe I will just ask the bartender if he knows anything. They are usually very knowledgeable, aren't they?
"Uhm, excuse me.", I say to the bartender but he ignores me because someone else catches his attention.
I guess I will just try again later. Compared to the bars at home, this bar is a lot different. No music, no dancing, not as much people who puke or are unconscious from drinking to much. I guess it is because the people of Kroosborg are generally more happy and don't need these things to forget about their miserable lives. Somehow thinking about these things brings back the memories of my first bar visit.
4 years ago
"I can't believe he did that.", Wooyoung says. I can still see the shock in his face. He sits down on the bed right next to me. "He was one of the few nice people in this castle and now he had to die because of my inability. Because I am week, because I am a disappointment to my parents, because..."
Wooyoung puts his arm around me. "Shh, it's not your fault. It's this sickening place, your parents who are greedy for power and control. I wish I was able to protect you better." A tear runs down his face. I lay my head on his shoulder. "It's okay. You're doing everything you can do. I think if it wasn't for you I would have given up a long time ago."
It is completely silent for some time. Suddenly Wooyoung jumps to his feet.
"You know what! Let's just leave our worries behind and have fun for once!", he exclaims.
"What do you have in mind?", I ask. "Yesterday I was bored and found a save way to get out of the castle. So how about we go to a bar?"
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea. What if my parents somehow find out. I don't want to be responsible for another death."
"They won't. I promise. We won't stay that long, we will be back before midnight. Come on, we've never done anything like that. Maybe there will even be some cute girls there!", Wooyoung reassures me. Girls... the only girls I have ever met are my sister who is married now, so I haven't seen her in a while, and occasionally the daughters of some of my dad's friends but I was never allowed to speak to any of them. I wonder what normal girls are like.
In general I wonder what normal people are like. I have only seen the citizens of our islands when father held a speach or when they were tortured or killed. Maybe I should go. Getting to know his people is actually a good thing for a prince, isn't it?
"Okay, we will go there." I am about to leave my room when Wooyoung stops me. "Wait, you can't just go there in your super fancy clothes. Everyone will know that you're the prince." My best friend goes to my closet and picks out a simple white shirt and brown pants with suspenders that I usually wear when we go hunting. While I change Wooyoung takes off the jacket of his uniform and his bow tie. He combs through his currently sleeked back hair and parts it in the middle, so that it frames his face. Then he brushes my hair and puts it in a small ponytail and makes sure that my fringe covers my birth mark. "Now we are ready to go.", he says and takes my hand. We leave my bedroom and sneak through the endless corridors until we reach the wine cellar. "There is a small trapdoor in the ceiling through which they usually bring in the wine barrels.", Wooyoung explains.
I look up. The wooden trapdoor is locked with a lock bar. We will definitely need a ladder to reach it.
Just as I think that, Wooyoung pulls out a ladder from a dark corner. He places it under the trapdoor and climbs up. He unlocks and opens the door and climbs outside. I follow after him. It's the first time I am outside of the castle without someone watching me. A brief moment of freedom. Wooyoung takes my hand again and we run off towards the city.
We go into the first bar we see. The room is dimely lit. The tables are placed in the corners of the room leaving space in the middle for people to dance. The bar is at the right side while a group of musicians is playing on the opposite side. It smells like alcohol and sweat in here. The bar is filled with quite a lot of people of different ages. There are men sitting at the table who down one drink after an other, making the waitresses run hastly from table to table. Some people also lie unconscious in the corner next to couples who are making out. The most people are in the middle dancing or waiting for someone to dance with them. Wooyoung immediately goes to a young woman who waits for someone to dance with her. I decide to watch first but it doesn't take long until a girl takes my hand and drags me onto the dance floor. I have a lot of fun dancing. The music makes me forget everything for a while. After a while I realize that we have already spent a lot of time here. I look around and try to find Wooyoung but I don't see him on the dance floor anymore. I bid farewell to my dance partner and begin to search for him. After a minute I finally spot him in a dark corner. He has pinned one of the girls he was dancing with earlier to the wall and they are making out. Would it be rude if I tapped him on the shoulder now? As much as I don't want take this moment from my friend, we really need to go now. I go up to them and tap Wooyoung on the shoulder. "I think we need to go now." He turns around. He seems disappointed but nods and says goodbye to the girl.
We go back into the castle, make sure to lock the trapdoor again and sneak back into my room. "That was amazing!", Wooyoung exclaims. I smile. "I can't believe I had my first kiss and dancing was so fun. Did you have a nice evening too?"
"Yes, it was nice. It's just a lot more fun when you can dance freely and don't have all these rules that you have to follow.", I reply. Wooyoung giggles. "We should sneak out again sometime."
Now we are here and don't have to worry about being caught or being back before midnight. "You wanted something from me?", the bartender suddenly asks.
"Oh yes. We are treasure hunters and our captain is searching for a very specific treasure. The treasue of Aninliggat. Do you know anything about it?", I explain.
"Treasure of Aninliggat, hmm... It's been a while since I last heard that name. I personally don't know anything about it but the clairvoyant might know. They have a really big library and are supposed to know pretty much everything. They also have magic powers and see the future. But if you ask me they are just a librarian with a lot of knowledge."
"Where can I find... him??", I ask. "We don't know if they're a man or a woman. From what I heard they sometimes look like a woman and sometimes like a man and sometimes something in between. But you can find them in the neutral zone, in Vretefokl. Just ask for them there. They are quite well known there."
Before I can say anything else, I hear Wooyoung scream. I turn around and see that the woman he has been flirting with, is pointing a knife at his throat.
Author's Note:
I hope you have been enjoying this story so far. Do you like the flashbacks? Also this chapter has become unexpectedly very long.
Are you excited for the next chapter?
Also I am super excited for the next kingdom stages.