Few Hours Later.....
The same feeling.....
Everywhere, everything was just bright, White.....
Is it a dream again??
What is happening here??
JK slowly opened his eyes. His eyelids unwillingly opening because of the amount of pain. His eyes all read and puffy from tiredness and lack of sleep. He was not ready to wake up but he wanted to get out of that brightness inside his head and wanted to see where he was and what was happening.
Slowly trying to sit up, his face grimacing in the process due to the immense pain shooting up in his shoulders, his back and his arms, JK blinked his eyes several times to get adjusted to the lighting and the atmosphere. His eyes scanned the surroundings, finally landing on a pair of eyes in front of him.
Staring into the hazel orbs of the almond eyes, JK lost track of himself for sometime before he was brought back to his senses by a voice.....
"Hello or should I say Welcome Back?", a sweet voice was heard followed by a chuckle. JK came out of the trance and looked at the person sitting opposite to him. He recognised the person to be the girl from earlier who claimed to have brought him home when he was stranded on the shore and who also tried to save him when the other people were trying to kill him.
"With all that efforts you tried to go back to your land but ultimately, you returned to the same place, here. I must say you have some connection with this island huh..!!". JK was silently observing her, her words never entering his ears and he didn't bother to reply.
"Because of all that swimming and the salty water hitting you, the previous wounds that I had beautifully treated have opened up. Although I'm very mad at you, I'll still put it together. AGAIN". The girl gave a huff trying to show that she was mad and continued to apply the green substance on his red wounds. JK now shifted his attention towards his body. His shirt was completely ripped with his torso in display, wounds everywhere. The remainder of his shirt was hanging down from his sleeves. His pants were torn in many places with some veins and twigs hanging around. His feet were bruised badly with cuts and blisters.
"See, I don't know who you are, where you are from, what you do. In fact, I could care less. But seeing the way you have come here, not once, but twice, I feel it's your fate that has brought you here. So, listen to me. For now, without denying and talking back, stay here and do as we say".
JK's eyes grew a little bit at that sentence. He was little shocked and disappointed that for now, there's nothing he can do. "This island is really huge. The place we are here now, the place we all live in and are using, is just a part of this island. What lies and lives in the rest of the island, none of us know. So I believe, it is good for you to stay here, with us, as one among us. That way you can be alive and also find a way to wherever you want to go or in your case, wherever your fate takes you".
JK was now comprehending her words. He understood that he can't do anything. All his efforts are a waste. This place in new, all the people are new. So new that they don't recognise a King. Poor common man..!! Everywhere he looks it's just water and waves. No sign of another land. For once, he felt so defeated, dejected. The King of Zodia, known for his achievements, for his affection, but here, he's a stranger that is being suspected like a criminal. All he could do was blame his damn fate. For now, he decided to listen to the girl and go with the flow.
"I have spoken with the others. After a lot of persuasion, they have agreed to let you stay here. So I suggest you to be on your best behaviour. Besides, I have borrowed this from Shaedi. Tomorrow, I'll fix you something new.
For now, wear this and come out, I have to show you around". The girl got up to get to the other end of the hut and came back holding something in her hand. She handed it to JK and without looking back, went out of the hut shutting the makeshift door behind her, leaving a dumbfounded JK back to figure out things on his own.....
After sometime, JK came out of the hut and saw the girl waiting outside with her back towards JK. Contemplating on how to get her attention he came forward but was hit with a ray of sunlight directly on his face. He grimaced and moved a step back. The girl sensed some movements and turned back. She noticed JK and his attire. Laughing, she came towards him.
"It fits you but this is not the way", she corrected his dress in several places and took a step back once she was done. "Now, Follow me", the girl turned away and JK innocently followed her.
They reached to the shore. The vast sea in view with the sun was close to the horizon, about to set in some time.
The girl turned towards JK and spoke, both of them now standing opposite to each other, "This is Sequoya Island", she gestured to the island that they were in, "and I am SHERA", she finally told her name.
"We are the BANGTAN Tribe and the person you met that day, the big man, he is the Chieftain of our tribe and my father. A long long time ago, we stayed in Zodia Province. Along the border of Zodia and Quera. Our tribe always protected the province from the intruders as we were in the border, sort of like Bulletproof Vest, so we got the name. But maybe like a hundred years ago, we moved out of the province. We were not happy with the way we were treated. So my great, great, great..... ahhh whatever, let's say my ancestor, spoke to the then King and asked to let us go and live in this island. He promised the King that we would never come back to Zodia and in return we should not be disturbed and should be left alone in the island. That's why, we don't easily let anyone enter into here. But we are making an exception now", Shera rolled her eyeballs suggestively making JK realise that he was that exception.
JK was surprised that his dad or anyone in the palace failed to mention about this island or the tribe. But again, he felt that maybe it was for the best that people didn't know about them.
"Initially, living here was a bit difficult. So we had made boat routes to Quera province. But from the past 20 years, we have stopped that as well and discarded all the boats. Now living here is easy and best. I love it".
"I will introduce you to all the people and places here but now is not the time. The sun is gonna set soon and we have to return before it gets dark", saying that Shera walked towards their hut but she stopped and turned around as though remembering something. "I forgot, what is your name. There should be something for us to call you right?? Please don't tell the King of Zodia and all. That will just trigger the anger in these people. Tell me your name. If you can't remember or you are not willing to give your name, then I'll come up with a name for you. What do you say??, Shera raised her eyebrows waiting for his reply.
After all this time, JK finally spoke. "JK, you can call me JK". Shera nodded her head, "JK. The name is little strange but who am I to judge. It rolls of my tongue easily so I'll let it be. So, welcome to our island, JK", Shera gestured her hands towards JK and then towards the island in a welcome way. JK didn't give any expression. Shera felt a little embarrassed. She cleared her throat to let go of the awkwardness and they both moved towards their hut.
When they were back to the hut, JK mustered up a lot of courage and asked Shera, "I want to shower". Shera blinked her eyes few times and asked "What is shower?". JK was dumbfounded. Even without his knowledge, his lower jaw dropped. He was taken aback by her question. How can she not know about shower. It's a basic need. Trying to find proper words to explain JK said, "It's like there's this showerhead from where water droplets fall on you and you clean and wash your hair and body with shower gel". "Ohhh, so like rain", Shera asked. "Somewhat similar but it's artificially made", JK was a little happy that Shera quite understood what he was trying to say.
"How can rains be artificially made. We have to wait till it rains. So, there's nothing like that. And, if you are talking about cleaning ourselves, we do that when it is raining". JK's jaw dropped further below. He was feeling a little dizzy thinking about the fact that people don't shower here and that will also be his state till he is in this island. "If not, once a week, we go to a lake nearby where we have a swim". "If you wanna shower you'll have to wait till tomorrow as it is already late now. Besides, your wounds are still fresh, so it is not good to go in the water", Shera clarified. JK was a little relieved but he had to wait till tomorrow. Taking a sigh, he sat down on the floor where a small fur made carpet was placed.
"Heyyy, get up. That's my father's. Nobody sits on that. Sit here. I'll get you something to eat", Shera hurriedly made him get up and sit elsewhere on the hard floor and went out to get food. Shera was back with a huge leaf in her hand. She gave it to JK. "Eat this and go to sleep. You need lots of rest".
There were various items inside the leaf. JK couldn't recognise most of them. He was contemplating whether it would be safe to eat them or not. Shera was observing his moves. "What now??", she asked. "Would you have a bite first??", JK said trying to be less offensive but Shera caught on. "Wow, saving you was not enough that I have to do all this. I'm not your servant and believe me, if you happen to die here, it will definitely not be as petty as poisoning", Shera replied beyond belief. She was surprised by his audacity. She thought he would give up and take a bite but JK was still, shifting his gaze from the food and Shera. Giving up, Shera took a bite from the food, tossed it in her mouth, chewed for sometime and replied in between, "Happy now. Finish it and go to sleep". Shera went out of the hut, anger reflecting in her aura.
JK was a little scared but didn't let it show. He was still lagging behind in processing all the new information. He felt lost. Staring into space, he lazily chewed on his food, waiting for the events that will unfold in the coming days. After that, he threw the leaf away, curled up into a ball in the corner and went to sleep, tears making their way out of his eyes, without his knowledge.
Zodia Province
Jeon Palace
Standing in the platform, overlooking the lake, Prince Jeon Jung Hwan was staring into the water, eyes filled with tears but were not falling. The news of crashing of his brother's jet did not sit well with the people in Zodia. That was just impossible, unbelievable. They all wanted it to be a joke, a prank, a nightmare that felt real but in reality it was not. No matter how hard the situation was, they had to move on because they knew that King Jeon Jung Kook would have wanted them to do so.
Minister Lee SongMin came towards the Prince. "Prince, the final rituals are all done. Tomorrow morning's time is set for your coronation in the ground inviting the whole country. Please let us know if you have any orders for us". Prince nodded his head. He turned his head and saw the people present. He asked the guards to move behind giving him and Minister Lee some space and the guards obliged. Prince took few steps towards the Minister and spoke in a low but determined voice, "Continue the process of searching for his Majesty. He is alive. He will surely be". Minister Lee met the eyes of the Prince in surprise but seeing the fire mixed with the tears in the Prince's eyes, he nodded his head and left the place to get into action.
Prince took a deep breath and closed his eyes praying for the safety of his brother. "Hyung, I know you are somewhere there. Please stay safe till then. I'll definitely find you, I promise", Prince Hwan promised his dear brother, the tears finally making their way out of his eyes and falling on his cheeks.