Chapter Text
"But, Rok Soo-"
"You have to go, Choi Han."
Choi Han fretted with the hilt of his sword, looking back and forth between Kim Rok Soo and his own travel bags. He did not want to leave Kim Rok Soo right now, not with what he'd overheard last night still ringing in his ears.
"We're very similar, you and I," Kim Rok Soo had told the dragon. "I don't trust humans for the same reasons you don't."
The dragon had been trapped, tortured. It had been hurt beyond reason and treated like a plaything instead of with any means of respect. If his dongsaeng had gone through the same things...!
He couldn't help but think about how Kim Rok Soo had arrived, covered in blood and ash and looking like he'd been mauled in more ways than one. The weak, lifeless look on his face and the resignation in his eyes... The sight wouldn't leave Choi Han's mind.
It kept overlapping with the ruined houses, burning sheds and blood of innocent villagers that were still fresh in his memory.
Kim Rok Soo clicked his tongue. Choi Han focused, catching the knowing look on Cale's face and how the noble was chuckling.
"I told you he'd do this," Cale scoffed. "You're too much trouble to leave alone."
Cale waved at Ron, who approached them with a bundle of brown cloth and unwrapped it before offering up the contents to Kim Rok Soo. Inside the bundle was a beautifully crafted scabbard for a bonguk geom and the blade itself resting within. On the end of the handle was a melted cheap plastic keychain of a mascot character Kim Rok Soo had given Choi Jung Soo as a joke.
Choi Han gave an audible gasp as Kim Rok Soo gingerly lifted the sword and pulled it slightly from the sheath, his eyes locked on the blade.
"Is, is that a Silla sword?"
Ron had a benign smile on his face as he observed Choi Han. "The blacksmith-nim had a bit of trouble recreating the exact item. My apologies if the weight or balance in the sword is wrong."
Kim Rok Soo stared at the keychain, clicking the sword back into place before gingerly lifting the mascot with the tips of his fingers. Then he dropped it and held the sword out to Choi Han.
"Give this a try."
With shaking eyes, Choi Han dropped his bags and took the sword. He stepped back from everyone and easily dropped into a stance, making a few light practice swings. He felt Kim Rok Soo's gaze intensely locked onto him as he moved.
In the middle of one of his moves, Kim Rok Soo called out, "음 세!"
Choi Han dropped into position, then gave him a startled look. A thin, dry smile made its way across Kim Rok Soo's lips.
Kim Rok Soo turned his head to look at Cale. "It suits him well, don't you think?"
"Y, yes..." Cale caught himself from staring and nodded. "Mm, I suppose it does. He looks adequate, at least."
Kim Rok Soo shook his head. "Choi Han."
Choi Han straightened up stiffly. "Yes?"
"You must give that back to me at the capital, understand?"
The swordsman stood there with a blank expression for a moment. Then the meaning of his words sunk in. Choi Han relaxed, a bright and energetic smile replacing his shock and anxiety. "Yes! I will be back as soon as I can."
Kim Rok Soo almost had to squint and blink away the spots from his eyes. Choi Han seemed to be shining with how bright his smile was. Cale threw a small bag of medicinal herbs at Choi Han, who caught it with a momentary lapse in his output of pure light. Peeking inside at the contents, Choi Han gave Cale a confused look.
"Don't hurt your ankle again." Cale turned around and pretended Choi Han wasn't there anymore.
Choi Han chuckled and replied, "Thank you, 아름다운."
Cale's eyebrow twitched. Kim Rok Soo carefully kept his face blank, but the kittens turned away with quiet snickers.
Ever since Kim Rok Soo and Choi Han had come back from the woods together, Kim Rok Soo had been teaching the kittens and the two teenagers Korean. For Choi Han it was more a refresher, but that didn't stop Kim Rok Soo from playing a small prank on him and Cale after the two had come to him on separate occasions asking how to insult each other. He told them some "insults" that were actually compliments instead. Of course, he had taught the kittens the correct meaning of the words so the children could learn properly.
In short, Choi Han had meant to call Cale ugly just now, but had called him beautiful instead.
Choi Han said his goodbyes to the crying Hans and warm Hilsman and finally set off on his part of the journey. Kim Rok Soo gave him a gentle wave and followed Cale inside their inn, sitting down in an armchair and glancing outside the window. His mind was complicated and full of thoughts now that one of his problems had left.
How was he going to escape from all these watchful eyes for long enough to get the Vitality of the Heart?
There was the slightest hint of a breeze and a brush of scales against his shoulder, and the corner of Kim Rok Soo's lip twitched.
Time to go down for a nap.
"Dragons truly are great and mighty."
"Hmph! Of course!" The dragon held its head aloft, then peered at Kim Rok Soo as he crawled through the cave. "But, will this really make you healthier?"
Kim Rok Soo grunted and pulled himself the rest of the way through the small crevice and into the larger cavern within. "Yes."
The dragon eyed the whirlwinds, floating closer to Kim Rok Soo's side. "I do not understand why you had to sneak out to get it. Wouldn't the other humans understand?"
"They would, but then you would not be comfortable enough to show yourself."
The dragon's wings faltered mid flutter. It quickly caught itself as Kim Rok Soo began to walk into the whirling winds. "Wa, wait! I will make a shield for you!"
Kim Rok Soo glanced back at it and scoffed. "It's alright. I have to do this." He raised his palm and summoned the Indestructable Shield, promptly grabbing on to the handle on the inside. "See?"
He stood still for a moment, allowing the dragon to fly closer and examine the shield before pressing forward. The little dragon hung back and landed on the ground, watching him walk deeper into the cave with wide eyes.
The little dragon didn't understand this strange human. He did his best to try through observation, but no amount of watching this man wake up to nightmares or watching him pretend he didn't care about others let him know nearly so much as their conversation last night had. He had to make sure this stupid human survived.
It wasn't because the human was warm and interesting! It wasn't! He just...
The little dragon just wanted to know more about the world, that was all. And the human could not be left alone.
He watched the pale figure move deeper into the whirling winds and talk to a pile of rocks before kicking it over. His blue eyes were wide as the human absorbed some power, and he sent some of his mana to feel the human out. He could sense the change immediately.
"...It really worked."
"Pfft."
"A, are you laughing? Hey! Stupid human!"
Kim Rok Soo lightly stepped on the balcony of his room and paused. Staring up at him and the little dragon with wide, shining eyes were On and Hong.
"I knew it."
"Knew it, nya."
"Our little brother is here!"
Kim Rok Soo smiled slightly, patting his chest to dust off some dirt. The dragon, avoiding the Cats' gazes, quickly cast a spell to remove all the dirt from Kim Rok Soo's clothes.
On and Hong gasped. They both hopped up on the railing to approach the little dragon, tails in the air and whiskers forward accompanied by kitty smiles.
"Amazing, nya!"
"That's right! Our little brother is so talented!"
"Hmph!" The dragon remained hovering, but did not move away from the two. "I am a great and mighty dragon! This much is nothing for me."
"Wow!"
"Nya, so cool!"
The dragon's wings fluttered and its tail twitched. Kim Rok Soo held back a laugh and patted each Cat on the head.
"It's a secret, okay? Just between the four of us. You understand?"
All three children nodded eagerly. Kim Rok Soo didn't have to explain what the secret was; these children were smart and needed no further explaining. His outing with the dragon, the fact that the dragon was hanging around them- all three children knew the drill.
Kim Rok Soo held out a note to the kittens with a small smile on his face. "I have a job for you two. Do you remember the wheelchair driving priestess?"
On and Hong nodded again. Kim Rok Soo's lips twitched as he tried not to smile more upon noticing the flecks of cream stuck to Hong's chin. The children had been eating well thanks to a certain cat loving butler and were much healthier thanks to that. Their coats were lovingly brushed and groomed almost every day.
Kim Rok Soo greatly preferred this look on them over the dirty, struggling pair he'd met near the man-eating tree.
"Don't get caught."
On took the note and pushed her head against his hand before jumping off the balcony. Hong also brushed against his hand before turning to look at the dragon.
"See you soon, dongsaeng!"
The dragon quietly watched Hong leap off of the railing after his sister, remaining in place even as Kim Rok Soo turned away to climb back into bed. Kim Rok Soo chuckled softly as he laid down alongside the illusion the dragon had conjured of himself, watching the dragon absentmindedly dispel it while still watching for the Cats.
As the group traveled on towards the capital, they moved with two extra passengers. Taylor Stan and Cage the priestess had joined them, riding in the same carriage with Cale and Kim Rok Soo while their small set of two or three staff members joined Cale's own staff for the time being.
"They will ride with us into the capital to keep their heads low," Cale had told Kim Rok Soo. "I will provide them some funds to keep their heads afloat. Ah, don't worry, I had them each take a vow of death to not say a word about what happened to you in exchange."
Now in the carriage, Kim Rok Soo handed Cage and Taylor a magical artifact. They peeked at it curiously as he explained.
"This will turn the selected lifeforms invisible for a short duration. This is how we will get you past the capital's security."
Taylor picked it up and turned it over. "Ah... we were planning on entering through the temple."
"Don't." Kim Rok Soo shook his head at them. "Either Venion or the Marquis will hear about it within three days. They likely have informants in the Temple of Death."
"You are very well informed." Cage smiled, and Kim Rok Soo looked away.
I'm just doing my part.
"Get ready," Cale commanded, gently placing a newsboy cap on Kim Rok Soo's head.
Taylor and Cage held hands and activated the artifact. They vanished instantly with smiles on both of their faces. Kim Rok Soo nodded at Cale and snuggled into the corner of the carriage, closing his eyes.
Cale pulled out a bottle of alcohol and took a few swigs. As the carriage pulled to a stop he tugged Kim Rok Soo's hat down to partially cover his face, then roughly opened the door with a glare at the guards outside.
"If any of you wake my cousin I will make your life hell. I just got him to fuckin' sleep. Got it!?"
The guards were already stiff, but Cale's quiet hiss made them all even more nervous. With no small amount of trepidation they peeked into the carriage and checked it over. One guard kept glancing back at Cale every few seconds as if expecting him to start breathing fire as another approached Kim Rok Soo. The guard moved to shift Kim Rok Soo's hat, but froze immediately when Kim Rok Soo let out a little sigh.
Kim Rok Soo could not see any of what was happening, but that was okay. He had a little narrator telling him everything.
That guard is shaking in his boots. Is the red human really that scary?
The "red human" was Cale. The little dragon seemed to be very curious about how all the other humans were terrified of him.
Ah, now they're backing off! The red human is coming back to the carriage. You can't act like you're awake yet, but don't fall asleep, okay? You can't fall asleep yet!
Kim Rok Soo ignored the last part, instead choosing to listen as Cale climbed back into the carriage and the guards welcomed them to the capital. Cale kept eye contact with one of the guards as said guard very carefully shut the door, then leaned back and relaxed with a smile.
As the carriage began moving once again, Cale waved at the seats opposite them and patted Kim Rok Soo on the shoulder. Taylor and Cage reappeared, glancing at Kim Rok Soo.
"Nice to meet you, young master Cale's cousin," Taylor said. "May I ask what your name is?"
Kim Rok Soo adjusted his newsie cap and looked at Cale, who replied with a smug smile.
"Bob Henituse."
...Huh? Bob who?
Kim Rok Soo's eyes shook. Taylor's smile twisted as he struggled not to laugh and coughed into his hand.
"Ni, nice to meet you, young master... Bob."
Cage echoed the sentient, failing harder than Taylor was to hide her feelings. "Hehe, ahem! Nice to meet you, mister Bo, hehe, mister Bob."
They arrived at the capital sharing a moment of soft laughter.