Seonghwa POV
I wake after Wooyoung accidentally punched me in the chest in his sleep.
When I look outside through the small window the sun is about to rise. I wash my face in the water bucket that Mingi got yesterday and decide to take a walk. If I am hopefully allowed to. Opening the door of the barn, I am greeted by are guard that thankfully has fallen asleep. I walk past some fields and a few trees and bushes here and there. It has been a while since I had a quiet morning like this.
In my hometown I often took morning walks with my fiancée. We would walk around the lake with our fingers intertwined and talk about our future together.
Thinking about it makes my heart ache. I still miss Rosalie a lot. I miss playing with her hair, her flowery scent, her laugh. I miss dancing with her over the fields and sharing my feelings with her.
But slowly I am coming to terms with it. That she is gone and that I have too live on without her. It helps a lot that I have my friends by my side. I made a lot of meaningful memories with them and I love them just as much as I did her. I just hope I don't loose any of them on this dangerous journey.
I return to the barn. The guard looks at me panicked and stops me to search me. Of course he doesn't find anything and lets me inside. The others have also finally woken up.
"I am hungry.", Yeosang utters.
"We can eat Seonghwa.", Wooyoung jokes and bites into my arm. Ouch! It hurts a lot.
"Maybe they will give us something to eat.", Hongjoong says.
In this moment someone knocks on the barn door and enters. Two nuns bring eight slices of bread with cheese on it and eight cups of water.
It's not much but better than nothing.
After eating we are unsure what to do. We try to leave the barn but aren't allowed to.
A few minutes later two monks with a dog come and tell us to follow them. They bring us to a stable full of goats. They free the goats and we walk with them to a free patch of grass, where we sit down.
"Seems like we are supposed to watch the goats with them.", Mingi says.
"Are sure the monks and the animals aren't watching us?", San jokes.
"What now? Cause it feels like they are set on holding us captive.", I ask.
"Let's look out for ways to steal the key and flee from here. I am still kind of hoping that the leader will change his mind but it seems unlikely now.", Hongjoong states.
We sit and talk about ways to escape for a bit before one if the monks tells us to bring back some goats that have strayed to far off. We try to shoo them back to the group but they either ignore us or walk away from us. Yunho tries to pick one up but it slips through his arms and runs further away. I try to pick one up too but it wiggles around a lot, so I loose my grip on it. I can see the monks laugh at us in the distance. I approach another goat and try to gently push it into the right direction. It kicks me and walks away. I sit down and hold my leg. Ouch that hurt!
We try to gather them for ten minutes but theybonly seem to disperse them even more. Eventually the two monks step in to help us. They command their dogs to shoo the stray goats towards the group and use their bodys to block them from going anywhere else.
It feels a bit embarrassing that they did it so quick and easily while we took so long and failed.
We change the location and sit there for a bit until it is time for lunch. We bring the goats back to their stable. Then the monks motion us to come with them. They bring us to the room where we ate yesterday. I am super hungry. I hope we get a little bit more to eat this time. Today's lunch is a warm spicy soup with some vegetables in it. After I ate it I still feel hungry.
"Do you think we can get a second portion?", I ask Yunho.
"We didn't give out any second portions yesterday. So I doubt it."
Do these people here eat so little?
After lunch a monk and a nun bring us back to the barn. Before the two go Jongho tries to ask what they planning to do with us and the key.
It takes a bit for them to understand what he means. They explain to us that they don't know then they leave.
We play some silly games to make the time pass faster. After an hour the man from yesterday comes in with the key. He just hands it to Hongjoong and tells us to get out. We look at him confused. He explains to us that he read about the key and doesn't know what to do with it, so he's giving it to us, so we won't bother him anymore.
Well, I am just happy to get out of here. They really seem to be annoyed that we are here.
For some reason Hongjoong motions the priest to follow us. We finally return to the ship. Hongjoong tells the man to wait on the deck while he goes inside to get something. He comes back with a vase which we found some time ago in his hands. He gives the man the vase. The man smiles and thanks us. We hoist the sails and start the motor. The priest and the old man that lives at the landing stage wave us goodbye.
I am excited to fly back to Wajasi. As much as exploring completely new islands is fun, it is also more stressful and can make me anxious sometimes. Then I remember that our next destination is the Nekra Kingdom. Let's hope we will find the key there quickly. I also can't imagine what it is going to be like to not see the sun for weeks. It sounds really depressing.
Well for now we should probably worry about flying through the barrier again. I hope it goes smoother than last time.
It takes us a while to reach the border again. We have to search for a day to actually find the passage but thankfully we won't be stuck here. Hongjoong and Yunho are going to do the navigation while the rest of us are going to be stuck inside again. This time we chose to switch each day, so the navigators aren't going to be too tired. Tomorrow it is my turn. I am honestly very nervous about it. What if something like last time happens again?
We pass time by playing card games. Mingi always grabs onto my arm when the ship shakes strongly and San whines everytime it happens. You would think that they get used to it...
Shortly after noon I bring Hongjoong and Yunho lunch. I put a scarf over my mouth and nose to protect my lungs and step outside. The wind is stronger than I expected it to be. Hongjoong looks a bit tired already but he gives me an eye smile as soon as he sees me. I give him his sandwich and go into the crow's nest, hug Yunho and gives him his lunch.
"Is everything going well?", I ask.
"So far, yes. I'm a little bit nervous to navigate in the dark later. How are the others?"
"San and Mingi are a bit anxious but the rest are fine."
Yunho nods. I go back inside and decide to take a nap.
It is the middle of the night when Yunho wakes me up. Jongho and I go up onto the deck. I take over the wheel from Hongjoong who looks like he is about to fall asleep.
The first few hours go smoothly then the wind starts to become stronger. There is also a small cloud in our way.
It becomes hard to stand and harder to see. As we enter the cloud the sand starts to stick to us due to the very high humidity. Then my hair band also comes off and all of my hair gets blown into my face and starts sticking to my cheeks and forehead. Some of it also gets into my eyes.
"Seonghwa, you are drifting off to the right.", Jongho shouts.
"IT'S BECAUSE I CAN'T SEE!", I scream in frustration.
"Just spin the wheel a little bit to the left."
I do as he says.
"That was a little too far left."
I spin the wheel slightly to the right again.
After thirty minutes we finally made it through the cloud and another 15 minutes later the wind calms down again. I sweep my hair out of my face but the wind keeps blowing it back into it.
Not long after Wooyoung comes onto the deck to bring our breakfast. I can hear him laugh as soon as he sees me.
"What happened to your hair? You look like an old broom.", he teases me.
"The wind has blown away my hair tie. Can you bring me a new one?", I ask.
"Sure."
He gives me my breakfast and brings Jongho his breakfast before he disappears again. A few minutes later he is back with a comb and a new hair band. He combs through my hair and ties it into a ponytail for me.
"Thank you!"
"No problem."
He slaps my butt and leaves.
Thankfully the rest of day goes smoothly and Yeosang takes over the navigation shortly after midnight. I am so tired the next day that I sleep until noon. For the rest of the day I play with the others again.
Then in the evening of the next day we finally make it out of the clouds.
We are back in Wajasi! I go onto the deck to watch the clouds get smaller. The sight is so beautiful. I wish I was gifted in painting so I could paint it as a memory. Maybe they need to invent something that can make pictures in just a few seconds.
Over the next few days we sail past a lot of ships with tourists who want to see the wind barrier until we reach the island where restocked our supplies and ate before we crossed the barrier. Mingi parks the ship at the harbor and we decide to go to the same restaurant as last time. Like last time the food is absolutely amazing. Since San and Mingi are super tired, we decide to head back to our ship and go to sleep early.
The next day we go to the shops to sell some things that we found and get some new supplies while the ship is in maintenance. I am glad that the people here speak our language. It was difficult to explain things to people with our bodies. However when we tell people that we were on the other side of the wind barrier, they completely dismiss it. They tell us that it is impossible to get there and we must have dreamed about it.
After getting everything we need and sorting it into our storage, Hongjoong sits us down at the dining table to speak about our next plans.
"We will go to the Nekra Kingdom next, right?", Yunho asks.
"Yes, but we will need a few weeks to get there. For now we will fly straight through Wajasi. I am planning to visit the pirates on the way. I am interested how they are doing but they also might be able to help us cross the border without being caught by the border patrols of the Nekra Kingdom."
"Oooh, Seonghwa will reunite with his lover.", Wooyoung teases me. The others giggle.
I give him an angry stare.
"I also want to note that you might feel a little bit sick on the first few days after we enter the darkness since we are coming from a warmer climate with a lot of sun. It will take a bit until your body has adjusted to the dark and cool temperature.", Hongjoong continues.
"It will be so depressing. I already hated it the first time we went there.", Mingi comments.
"I already hated the first 21 years that I lived there.", Yeosang adds.
After our meeting I go into the bathroom. I decided that it is time to cut my hair. It has gotten super long since last year, even though I trimmed it a few months ago. It used to fall right to my collarbones but now it goes to my elbows. I seperate my hair into different sections and start chopping away. An hour later I am happy with the result and it is back to its original length. The door opens and Yunho comes in.
"Oh, you cut your hair!"
"Yeah, it was too long."
"Looks good. Ehm, I kind of need to use the toilet."
After Yunho is done, I clean the bathroom thoroughly.
We leave the harbor in the afternoon. Yeosang, Wooyoung and I sunbathe on the deck.
"I am going to miss the sun so much. I waited so long to take long sunbathes like this. I used to see the sun only a few times a year once I got older when my father took me to islands in the Nekra Kingdom that lie outside of the dark clouds and for a few weeks when we visited Waerglunt.", Yeosang tells.
"Are you scared to go back?", I ask.
"Yes, of course. It is very hard to survive in the Nekra Kingdom. Especially if you go against the will of the king like we do. I am not sure we will get out of there alive.", Wooyoung says.
I am a bit taken aback since it is an answer that is very atypical for him.
"I will do everything to protect you against the king. He has no power over me anymore and I will defeat him eventually. So no I am not scared.", Yeosang states.
Have they switched personalities? I guess Yeosang got a lot more confident and brave in the last few months.
"Don't worry Wooyoung. Whatever happens, we will stick together."
"I know, but I am finally happy now. I don't want to loose all of what I have now."
Wooyoung's voice cracks and tears stream down his face. I take him into my arms while Yeosang gently caresses his head. I know what he means. I am a bit anxious about going to the Nekra Kingdom too. I hope we find the key quickly and everything goes smoothly.
Author's Note:
It's been a while. My job is really physically draining and I didn't have much inspiration. I also hurt my hand and couldn't write for a week.
I hope this chapter isn't too boring. 🙈