The Legend of Magic Island | taejun + sookai

part 10: pale, sandy roads

Beomgyu hurried through the twisted forest, rushing down a white, pale path. He squeezed his eyes shut, steadying his own breathing as he finally collapsed onto the rough soil.

His chest heaving up and down, Beomgyu wiped sweat from his forehead and rolled over onto his side. He laid there on his back, the back of his palm against his forehead. He could feel his heart still pounding with desperation, after just barely escaping the cat.

Beomgyu steadied his breathing, opening his eyes and seeing the star which hung above the island. His vision was shaking from the running previously, trying to focus in on his dark surroundings. Beomgyu slowly sat up, resting his hands on his knees.

He had completely lost his way, the path from which he came had long disappeared. Beomgyu winced, gripping his sore shoulder tightly and staggering back to his feet. He wandered around the forest slowly, the whispers of the wind from before had completely silenced.

All he could hear was the sound of leaves crunching beneath his feet. Followed by his shallow, sharp breaths and the feeling of his chest rising up and down. He grimaced, turning back around him to see nothing but darkness.

"I'm going to be okay. Captain's probably somewhere waiting for me," he mumbled to himself, limping along the fuzzy pathway. "And so is Yeonjun, and— Taehyun, and Kai."

He stepped on a loose tree branch, kicking it aside and looking up at the star in the sky. He seemed to be getting closer to where its light was shining, the star gleaming on his face with a pale, white light.

He continued, if going back wasn't going to lead anywhere, going forward was his only option.

"Stay on the path," he whispered to himself. "Don't wander from the path, Captain and the others followed the path."

The cat had previously chased him, threatening to strike when Beomgyu barely had gotten away. In the midst of running away, the boy had fallen into a ditch and badly scraped up his body.

Luckily, falling into the ditch made it easier to evade the cat. It had lost sight of the boy once he had hidden himself away in the jagged soil. Once the cat was gone, Beomgyu only had a short pocket of time before he had to run once again.

Beomgyu shakily stumbled through the forest, his legs almost giving out. He squinted, seeing a clearing in the distance. His face lit up, limping over to where the clearing was. He quickly brushed aside of the dark green tree branches, seeing the clearing.

It was a circle of land, with four other paths connecting to it. The star which hung above the island shone down on the circle of land brightly, its pale light smiling down at Beomgyu.

The boy rubbed his eyes tiredly, looking behind him at the forest, then hesitantly continued forward. This wasn't like the field of flowers he had been at before, but rather... the center of the island.

Beomgyu sat himself down on the dirt, resting his hands behind him and sighing deeply. He looked down each of the four other roads, wondering which ones the others had gone down.

Beomgyu paused, taking a glance around. He could hear the slight pounding of footsteps nearby, slowly treading through the sandy pathway. Beomgyu backed away fearfully, about to run when two familiar figures emerged from the forest.

"Captain!" Beomgyu beamed, running over to him and Hueningkai. Soobin sighed a breath of relief, putting a hand to his chest.

"Beomgyu! I'm glad to see you're alright," he sighed in relief. Beomgyu nodded eagerly, looking around the forest which surrounded them.

"You didn't encounter the cat yet, did you?"

"We did, but it left us alone— It wasn't too difficult to avoid." Hueningkai explained, the three of them sitting down on the dirt. Captain Soobin glanced up at the star in the sky, his expression softening.

He sighed worriedly, "Do you have any idea where Taehyun and Yeonjun could be?"

Beomgyu shrugged, shaking his head. "No idea, I know they're in the forest somewhere. They should be fine, last time I remember they were sticking together... right?"

Captain Soobin nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "Once we find Taehyun and Yeonjun, we should make our way out of here, before we're too late. We have to get out of here as fast as possible."

There was a long silence as the three stood there, it seemed underneath the bright starlight they were safe from the darkness which resided in the forest. It was still, quiet. It seemed serene, the cat could not hurt them while they were together nor could it harm them under the starlight's gleam.

Beomgyu sighed tiredly, sitting down and resting his hands at his sides. "Even if we find Taehyun and Yeonjun, we still need to figure ourselves a way out. Let alone find the ship again"

Captain Soobin joined the other, resting his chin in his palm. "It doesn't matter at the moment how we'll get off this island, we should focus on finding the other two."

Captain Soobin looked at the ground, his heart heavy with the guilt of endangering his crew. He sighed deeply, taking a glance at Hueningkai then back up at the star in the sky. He huffed, slumping his shoulders.

"If Hueningkai and I managed to get out of the forest, Taehyun and Yeonjun should be able to as well."

"If none of us makes it out of here... I'm sorry for putting all of you in danger," he mumbled, "Magic Island isn't what the legend said it was..."

He paused. "But I guess we were the first to explore it firsthand."

Beomgyu raised an eyebrow, nudging the captain playfully. "Don't talk like that Captain! We'll find the other two and we're gonna make it out just fine! Then, when we get back into safer waters, we could talk about it all we want to—"

"Maybe I don't want to tell other sailors about Magic Island," Soobin snapped firmly. "What good is it to tell other people? We didn't find treasure, we didn't find anything! Our crew was nearly torn apart, and—"

"Captain, we found the island you've been searching for," Hueningkai interrupted, "Isn't that already a big discovery?"

The captain silenced, slumping his shoulder. He nodded, looking at the ground pensively. Hueningkai gently put a hand on his shoulder, resting his head on Soobin's shoulder. 

———————

Yeonjun and Taehyun wandered aimlessly through the trees, which all seemed to look alike at this point. There was no telling which was forward, backwards, left, or right. The two held each other's hands, Taehyun also gripping the lantern tightly.

"You think Captain and the others are waiting for us somewhere?" Yeonjun guessed, occasionally taking a glance behind him. Taehyun shook his head.

"They most likely went to look for us too after we ran off," he answered softly, "But, there's a chance they got lost in the process too..."

Yeonjun sighed to himself, occasionally glancing around. It seemed as if the cat had completely disappeared to leave them alone. There was no cold wind following the pair, nor were there voices whispering in their heads.

However, the pair still couldn't shake off the feeling of eyes constantly looking his way. It was beyond question if they could look back at them. It was silent and still between the two, following a specific path which seemed to branch off from the others.

"You think Magic Island actually has any real treasure?" Yeonjun asked in a quiet voice.

"Beats me," Taehyun scoffed. "The legend didn't specify a treasure that's here. I mostly heard about the cat which lurked here. Maybe it's here for a reason, or to guard the treasure itself?"

Taehyun shrugged. "With a cat to protect it, it's no question what the treasure might be. It could be even more valuable than jewels or something."

Yeonjun sighed deeply, shaking his head. "I'm not so sure, but I suppose you have a point. It still makes me wonder where the cat is now..."

Taehyun looked worriedly at the other. "Do you think it went after the captain?"

"Probably... I just hope they're alright," Yeonjun sighed. Taehyun looked over at the other, smiling softly under the fading lantern light.