As the sun rises, the woods seem dark still. The beautiful vibe from the pond is completely gone. The trees look dilapidated.
DH: "Normally the trees would cry very loudly if they're in such a bad state. But these seem like they're just... dead. It's completely silent." No one says anything.
The silence is literally painful. Not a bird to hear. Nothing.
CH: "LOOK OUT!" Suddenly something jumps towards Jun and he ducks. Chan quickly shines a beam on it and the creature screeches. "Quickly!" Sehyoon shoots water and makes the monster fly against a tree. It runs away in fear. Everyone takes a deep breath.
BK: "That was close."
"Even so, you guys did well. There will be a lot more ahead of us."
DH: "Well.. I'm not looking forward to that," he says with a sarcastic tone.
"I'm so sorry guys. Sorry to have to put you through this. How I wish the way back home would be an easy way."
CH: "It's okay Y/n, it's not your fault." Chan pats you on the shoulder.
You start walking again, when suddenly someone from behind you holds your hand. You turn to see Sehyoon smiling reassuringly at you. He doesn't let go for a while. Even though it's a small gesture, it makes you feel safe,, at ease.
You encounter a few more monsters. Just a few scrapes that Byeongkwan can heal fairly quickly.
Although the next day, the amount of monsters increases a lot. The monsters often come in groups and the members struggle at first. The more they encounter, the better they get. Not only in using their powers, but also in teamwork. Even though you'd rather not have any monsters, somewhere it makes you happy to see the group get stronger.
The nights slowly get longer, but that's actually good. The boys can sleep a little longer after such draining days.
It doesn't take long until you end up in an open field. The pathway ends. Now it's only grass... and grass. Dried grass, dark yellow. There's nothing but grass for miles. Nothing in sight, nothing to use as direction point.
DH: "So? What now?"
BK: "Is this where another one of those riddles comes in?"
CH: "Oh, right! Y/n," he looks at you and you know immediately what he's talking about. All the rest, except for Sehyoon, look questioning at the both of you.
"Chan might've solved a riddle that could help."
CH: "We have to follow the stars. Since the riddle says to follow what's most similar to an old name. Star village."
DH: "So we have to wait until it gets dark?"
CH: "I guess."
J: "Wait, but what exactly do we follow? I suppose the stars don't point very specifically to Star village."
"You're right about that," you think deeply for a moment.
SY: "Follow what's most similar," Sehyoon whispers to himself. But loud enough for you to hear. Suddenly you think of something.
"Of course! Follow what's most similar. It's not just about the stars, but about the star."
BK: "The star?"
"There is one star called 5tar. It's the one most visible, but only at certain places in this world. I was mostly visible in Star village, that's why it's called 5tar. If we can find that star, we will find Star village. Or Kul Tamar."
DH: "Okay, but that means that we still have to wait until it's dark."
"Well yes. But it won't be much of a problem. Since the nights keep getting longer. We can travel during the night and sleep during the day. And we won't encounter any monsters in an open field like this, so that's good."
BK: "Oof, that's a relief."
You would say that walking in an endless field of nothing but grass would be very tedious. But the night sky with the stars actually makes it quite bearable. You try to keep each other busy. Mostly the two youngest are able to keep the mood up. Atleast one good thing comes from this journey: your bond with the boys. Little by little, day by day, you grow closer.
Another morning where the sun starts to come up and Jun makes a fire. Everyone goes to sleep. Sehyoon and you lie face to face, staring into each others' eyes. Both lost,, and in love. Adoration. Sehyoon caresses your cheek. A sudden peck on the cheek. Then on the nose, then on the other cheek, then on the forehead.
Feather kisses.
You giggle lightly. He then stops to look you in the eyes again. A short kiss. Even though it lasts for a only a few seconds, it's as sweet as ever.
"Nighty night," he whispers very softly and deeply.
More walking, following the 5tar. Boredom. Chan sighs deeply.
CH: "When will this neverending field end? How long has it been now? Three days? How long can a field be," he sighs again.
J: "Every step we make is a step closer to home."
BK: "And there's our old man Jun with his quotes again."
J: "I'm-"
DH: "Guys, I think I'm feeling something."
SY: "What do you mean?"
DH: "I think we're getting closer to a forest."
CH: "Really?"
BK: "Another forest," Byeongkwan sighs this time.
CH: "It's better than this endless empty field."
BK: "True..."
An hour later the forest start to get in sight. The mood goes up again. Even though you want to warn them that there will be a lot of monsters ahead, you don't want to ruin the mood.
"Let's rest guys."
CH: "Now? But we're almost there."
DH: "And the sun isn't up yet."
"It's better if we rest now. We will need to walk during the day in the forest. So it's best if we sleep now so we can enter the forest in daylight."
J: "You have a point."
In the morning Jun wakes everyone up.
J: "Guys!" Everyone starts to get up, looking up at Jun through slit eyes. "Look," he points a little above the forest. There you see a something enormous, covering half of the sky.
BK: "What is that?!"
"That's..." you have trouble getting the words out of your mouth. "That's.. a mountain.."
DH: "A mountain?!" You nod. "Wha- How-"
"On top of the mountain lies...," you gulp, "Kul Tamar." Everyone turns around to look at you with eyes like saucers.
J: "So you're saying we have to get to the top of that mountain?!"
"Y-Yes."
It looks dreadful. A mountain that was once this worlds glory.. is now a ruination. Suddenly your eyes start to fill with tears, you don't really know why.
SY: "Are you okay?" He looks at you, worried. You just nod, trying to shake off the tears.
SY: "Let's go," he helps you up.
"Guys... once we enter the forest. The amount of creatures will most probably be a lot. More than last time. And stronger than last time. You'll have to do your utmost best to survive." I'm so sorry to have to put you through this.
It's suspiciously quiet for most of the day. Only one small creature attacks you.
BK: "It's gotten a little warmer than on the field."
"Maybe because we're in a forest again. The wind isn't so hard here."
In the evening everyone goes to sleep around the small fire.
In the middle of the night Donghun hears something in his dream. Yummy. He suddenly hears a very low growl and wakes up instantly. Almost as a reflex he makes a plant push the monster away. The others are startled awake. You're surrounded by a bunch of quite tall monsters.
SY: "Y/n, quickly." You nod and turn into a butterfly. It would seem like they might have a hard time, but the boys are able to fight well with a lot of teamwork. With some minor wounds the monsters are defeated. You help Byeongkwan with healing the members.
The next four days are filled with walking and fighting. Some creatures are easily defeated, some are tough. But this only strengthens the guys and their teamwork becomes so smooth and swift that it almost looks like a choreography.
BK: "This is actually starting to be fun. All this fighting is giving me a lot of adrenaline. Even though the wounds hurt a lot, they heal fast and the fighting is starting to entertain me."
CH: "Kazangan will be piece of cake!" Chan suddenly screams, all fired up.
J: "Calm down boys, he still has a whole army behind him."
"Don't underestimate him, he's strong. Too strong. I have a feeling you'll only be able to hold him back until we defeat him with what the riddle says." Sehyoon ruffles in his pocket in search for that riddle.
SY: "What shines in the night will be his downfall."
DH: "Could it be the 5tar star?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
DH: "Since Kul Tamar used to be Star village." You just lift your shoulders.
SY: "Maybe the moon? The moon can shine quite brightly."
"Could be. They do say that the moon can sometimes have healing features. But it only occurred very rarely, by coincidence. Nobody really knows how they could use those healing features."
BK: "But we don't want to heal Kazangan do we? Besides I can heal too."
"Not that kind of healing, not just physical. You could almost call it miracle healing. But maybe the moon could somehow "heal" Kazangan that would make him lose his powers?"
J: "Guys, careful. It's getting steeper here."
You've been slowly starting to go up the mountain. Using a narrow path that is barely visible.
Sehyoon and you walk more at back again. Hand in hand.
SY: "I suddenly thought of that night where I was looking up at the moon from a small window. And then you came.. how long has it been since we came to this world?"
"I think it's almost been a month now."
"Oh wow..."
"I mean our month, we only have 28 days in one month." Sehyoon thinks deeply for a moment.
"It was a full moon back then wasn't it?"
"Yes, if I remember correctly."
"So that means it will almost be full moon again."
"Yes..."
A sudden kiss on the cheek. You look at Sehyoon with wide eyes, blinking a few times.
"I'm really glad we met." You nod with a smile. "Despite the fact that we can't get out, I'm still glad we found this world."
"You found this world."
"You're right... and I found you!"
"Yes," you giggle softly.
The higher on the mountain you get, the less monsters you encounter. Everyone is able to sleep more in peace. It started to be too much, so many monsters. Strong ones. You all needed some rest.
Kisses. While everyone's asleep. Deep ones. Calm and deep. But your bodies on fire. Sehyoon's shyness completely disappeared. Reckless, or daring. Not afraid anymore, not afraid to hold it in.
A complete switch. Enjoying each other. Kind of sweet, maybe the passion and love is causing the sweetness. It burns you up inside but also makes you extremely happy.
Once you both pull away, you smile brightly at each other. Filled with glee, trying to cover up that you'll have to let go of one another in the end.
[A/n: sorry for another late update. I've just been extremely busy and got sick too. I hope you still enjoyed the chapter ^-^]