Chapter Text
Yunho closed his eyes.
He felt the hot wind ruffle his thin shirt. It blew over his cheek like a heavy, heated kiss as he stretched his arm out, sword in hand and pointed. With his sister’s eyes on him, Yunho concentrated, eyes half-opening to slits.
From hilt to point the blade burst into flame.
For a moment he kept absolutely still. Then, he tilted his chin up and look Jihye in the eyes. “Now,” he said, “it’s your turn.”
With a little less grace, Jihye flicked her wrist, and the sword in her hand burst into flame so suddenly she fumbled and almost dropped it. Laughing, Yunho embedded his own sword into the dirt to free his hands for clapping. “Well done!” They both looked at each other across the sandy clearing and laughed.
In the desert bushes behind him, something stirred. Quick as a flash Yunho picked up his sword and turned, branding it –
Chanyeol, their young cousin, poked his head out from behind a dead tree. “I’m – I’m sorry, Yunho-hyung...”
Yunho relaxed his stance, resting sword against his battle shoulder brace, flames long gone. “You don’t need to spy; you can join in if you want.”
Chanyeol came into the clearing proper. “It’s not that. But, your father the Chieftain is asking after you.” He looked behind Yunho to Jihye. “Both of you. You have a visitor.”
Towards the centre of the Southern continent, tucked away between the great desert to the east and the plains and forests of Misra to the west and north, sat Hamsa, a dry, mountainous area. On the high slope overlooking its main village was the chieftain’s house.
Yunho and Jihye knocked and entered. Inside the wooden house their mother was cooking over the fire, and their father sat cross-legged at the table with their two guests: a man and a young boy. Yunho and his sister bowed low in greeting.
Although Yunho’s father was the head of Hamsa as well as his household, he allowed the other man to take the head of the table. “Come sit with us,” Yunho’s father, Yonghwa, instructed to Yunho. Behind him, their mother took Jihye’s arm to drag her to the cooking fires. Yunho sat cross-legged and straight-backed next to the young boy.
Although dinner had yet to be served by the women, the men had already started drinking. “What did I tell you,” Yonghwa said to the guest, as if continuing a long conversation, “he has come of age well, keeps our borders free from bandits. Strong, good blood.”
“There’s no denying,” said the man at the head gruffly.
“Yunho,” said Yonghwa, “this is King Dongsik of Misra; your king.”
Yunho looked at his king with wide eyes, then pushed himself bodily from the table, got himself closer to the floor by bowing very, very low. “Your Majesty! I am honoured to meet you, and – “ Yunho peeked at the young boy through his fringe, “- and I am also honoured to meet your son, Prince Changmin, if I’m not mistaken?”
The king made a small gesture and Yunho scrambled back into his previous position, now more conscious of his guests than ever. The king looked satisfied by Yunho’s show of reverence, while the young prince - no older than eleven by Yunho’s quick calculations – was a youthful beauty, whose wide, unblinking eyes had not left Yunho the moment he had walked in.
“Indeed this is Prince Changmin,” said King Dongsik, “who will no doubt be your king one day, when you are chieftain of Hamsa.” The king smiled kindly at both of them. “I hope from now on you can both enjoy a long and prosperous friendship.”
Yunho looked down at the little prince and smiled. Prince Changmin’s eyes were wide and brown like a doe’s, his nose large. His mouth twisted restlessly as if he wanted to smile or say something to Yunho. After a moment of silence, Yunho’s smile was reciprocated shyly.
“I was just saying to your father,” the king went on, “about how sorry I am to impede on you and your family like this without warning.”
“Not at all,” Chieftain Yonghwa reassured. “You are welcome any time.”
“We hadn’t meant to come so far south,” said the king, “but we were intercepted by a band of men dressed in black on our way to Pome.”
“Do you know who they are?” Yonghwa asked.
“By the cut of the cloth, my guess would be warriors of the Para Isles.”
Yonghwa looked alarmed. “I was under the impression the Mandarins did not control the Para Isles, that the citizens wished for independence.”
King Dongsik’s mouth was a flat line, and his eyes were hard. “The northernmost isle is renowned for its warriors. They are most likely under contract from a king in the north.”
*
“Do you want to see something magical?” Yunho whispered. He was kneeling next to Changmin, who was snuggled up in Yunho’s blankets, on his bed roll. The candle light flickered shadows over the wooden walls.
Changmin’s fingers curled over the edge of the blanket. His mouth twisted. He nodded. Yunho held out his hand, palm up, and summoned fire with a thought. From the small flames the image of a phoenix rose and flapped its wings. Yunho grinned widely at Changmin.
Changmin looked unimpressed.
Yunho deflated, curling his fingers into this palm to put out the fire. He raised his eyebrows at Changmin. “So you think you can do better?”
Changmin scrambled up to a seating position. They were in the loft, close to the roof where the heat can get trapped during cold desert nights. Both Yunho and Changmin looked over the edge at their fathers, still at the dining table, deep in murmured conversation. Yunho tilted his head to the side at Changmin.
The prince pressed his lips together and spread his hands, palms facing one another. Then, as quick as a blink, a small wave of water leapt from one palm to the other.
Changmin grinned up at Yunho, sudden and bright, eyes shining and triumphant, his little teeth glinting in the candle light. Yunho chuckled softly, tongue going to the corner of his mouth. Although Yunho secretly thought it was a pretty basic trick for an elemental, he nodded in satisfaction and said, “Well done.”
Prince Changmin smiled proudly.
Yunho put his hand on Changmin’s gently, for a brief second. Then he pulled away and made to climb down the ladder. “Sweet dreams, my prince,” Yunho said to Changmin.
“Goodnight,” Changmin whispered, hands clasped together.
*
The small, whisper-like defence mechanism inside Yunho switched itself on, and he woke up.
With royalty staying in the house, he and Jihye were sleeping in the barn with the dogs and the horses, the combined body heat keeping them warm in the enclosed space. Yunho sat up abruptly and pricked his ears. There was silence – too much silence. And then he heard the almost imperceptible sound of human movement outside.
Slowly and surely, Yunho moved towards his sister, and put a hand over her mouth. She woke up abruptly, and with wide eyes, looked at Yunho, who gave her the signal to be quiet.
He slowly pulled away and stood up.
With the possibility of the enemy so close, it would be foolish to go out the front barn door. Yunho looked up at the roof, and the high barn windows that lined it. He started to climb the ladder. Jihye grabbed his pant leg. She looked up at him with wide eyes, her lips pressed into a line, and shook her head rapidly.
Yunho, resolute, glared at her until she let go, and he climbed the ladder. He knew that his sister, prone to compete with Yunho in almost everything, would follow shortly after deliberating her options.
At the top, Yunho peered through the window at the darkness outside below. It was the middle of the night, dawn not close. Figures in black moved over Yunho’s house just next door, as light and as swift as shadows. So King Dongsik had been right – only warriors of Para Isles had such ancient knowledge and power of movement – but of what Yunho had been taught about the Para Isles people, they did not train for war, but for protection, and they were a peaceful people. For them to be this far south and taking such a huge risk there must have been something they really, really wanted.
Slowly and carefully Yunho pushed himself out the small window and sat on its sill. He only had one chance, and if he got it wrong he would put his king and prince in danger.
Stepping onto the sill with both feet, he crouched – then jumped.
He landed on the roof of his house, not as gracefully as he would have liked, but it was soundless. Swift in the dark he approached one Para ninja on the roof with him and punched him in the jaw. The ninja took it in stride and countered, but Yunho grabbed the attacking arm and knocked the long dagger from the assailant’s grip. Yunho, new weapon in hand, kicked the man off the roof. He landed on his back on the ground below without a scream, unmoving. Another caught him almost be suprise but his silent approach, and Yunho threw the dagger into the enemy's chest.
Another climbed over the roof and ran at him, but Yunho dodged and managed to grab his head and smash it into the roof, the wood eroded by years of wind and sand splintering under the ninja’s face and Yunho’s effort. Yunho threw the body over the edge, then looked down into the hole in the roof he had made.
Blankets clutched to his chest, Prince Changmin’s wide eyes stared up through the hole at Yunho in fright.
Yunho kicked at the hole to make it larger, then kneeled over the hole and put his arm through, holding his hand out for Changmin to take. “Come with me,” Yunho whispered loudly. “Please, my prince, you can trust me.”
Mouth wobbling, Changmin nodded slowly, and stood up, blanket still clutched in one little fist. With his other hand he reached up to Yunho and Yunho grabbed it, hard, then with great effort, biceps clenched, he pulled the eleven year old boy up through the hole.
Then Changmin was in Yunho’s arms. Two ninjas had run up the side of the house and were coming over the edge; Yunho ran in the opposite direction, over the roof and towards the mountains. Changmin held tight in his arms, Yunho jumped off the roof and landed, knees bent, falling into a quick body roll. Then he took off into the bushes and headed for the trees, running as fast as he could in the dark, and with the prince in his grip.
Luckily, Yunho knew these woods like the back of his hand and could navigate it in darkness or light. It would be easier to carry the prince on his back, but he knew the enemy most likely had throwing stars, and it was important the future king of the Southern Continent live.
Yunho pumped his legs until burning, until he could not feel the pain of his muscles screaming at him. Now far from bushland and deep in the forest, Yunho kept on, changing direction slightly as he went hoping that the men running after him would lose them eventually. He knew they were after him and the prince, though he dare not look behind him to check in case he slowed. He hoped there were no elementals among the pursuers.
Yunho knew there to be a cliff-like burrow before the land dipped into a small valley. He jumped, then doubled back, going to his knees and depositing Changmin under the ledge of earth, then crawling in after him and curling himself tight to Changmin’s body. Changmin whimpered.
There was no room to move, else Yunho would have given him a sign to be quiet, or to calm down. All he could see in the darkness, surrounded by sandy earth, was the whites of Changmin's eyes. Yunho could feel Changmin’s anxiety and fear in the way he shook.
Above them, the ninjas ran over them, their footfalls swift and quiet but not entirely silent. Each warrior leaped off and over Yunho and Changmin’s hiding space, causing some sand to sprinkle onto them. Yunho and Changmin closed their eyes against it. The ninjas sped on, not realising that their target was now well behind them...
Yunho knew the night would only get colder, even in their tight hiding space. Arid country was often below freezing at night. Yunho cuddled as close to Changmin as possible, giving as much heat to the boy with his body as he could. He hoped there would be enough air for them to breathe.
Yunho prepared himself for several hours of wait. Eventually Changmin fell asleep, curled up in Yunho’s embrace.
*
Morning’s light crept upon them, and Yunho awoke from his half-sleep. Panic setting in, he took a hold of Changmin’s small shoulder and gave it a shake –
Changmin awoke abruptly and punched Yunho in the chest.
Eyes wide on Yunho’s, Changmin pressed his lips together. The space was too small for Changmin to have damaged Yunho with something like a punch, but regardless Changmin seemed apologetic.
“I think we can go – “ whispered Yunho, before cutting himself off as the sound of horse hooves sounded above them. A horse stopped, stamped its foot, and snorted.
“Yunho,” called his father.
Yunho scrambled from his hiding place and stood and stared up at his father. Behind Chieftain Yonghwa King Dongsik sat on a horse of his own, the hard stare of his small eyes not quite hiding the anxiousness held tightly within. Yunho ducked under the crag yet again, grabbed Changmin’s hand and pulled him out. “Your father is here,” Yunho told Changmin to dissipate any reluctance he might have.
Changmin scrambled out, then Yunho, with hands under his armpits, helped Changmin climb over the hill and into his father’s awaiting arms, as he was pulled onto the horse.
Yonghwa got down from his own horse. “Please, Prince Changmin, take this stallion; with two horses you can ride faster.”
The king regarded his friend fondly. “You have already done so much for us – and now you give us these gifts?”
Yonghwa bowed. “The enemy may still be lingering around the border. Take both stallions so that you may be swift.”
King Dongsik nodded and looked at Yunho. Yunho lowered his gaze. “Thank you, Jung Yunho, for saving my son. This will not be forgotten.” To Changmin, he said, “Hop down and take the horse.”
Changmin did, sliding off the saddle. Yunho helped him onto Yonghwa’s steed, and as Changmin slid onto the saddle and took the reins with one hand, he held onto Yunho’s hand tightly. He looked down into Yunho’s eyes.
Yunho gave him a brave smile. “Goodbye my prince,” he said.
Changmin shook his head, eyes bright.
“We shall see each other again, someday,” Yunho promised. Changmin squeezed his hand tightly, as if he didn’t want to let go.
The king turned his horse. “Come Changmin, it’s time we went on.”
Yunho patted Changmin’s small, soft hand, and made him let go.
The king and prince rode off into the morning. Yunho watched them leave.