A Tiger Called Rapunzel ✓ || TaeGyu || HYBEPride 2021

THE TALE OF THE LION, THE TIGER, AND THE BEAR

THE TALE OF THE LION, THE TIGER, AND THE BEAR

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, unbeknownst to most others, there lay a kingdom rich in soil and beautiful in every way imaginable. The Naeil Kingdom began as several small outposts, soon linked together by a great King Bang Si-hyuk, who made the entire land prosperous. King Bang was a magic user, who could wield the powers of the elements to do his bidding. But with great power comes great responsibility, and King Bang used his power to charm and enhance the world. With his trusty rabbit daemon Dohyeong at his side, King Bang ruled until his days were at an end. Then, his son Sejin took the throne, and so on and so forth. The kingdom was ruled by magic users who were honest and truthful with each other, and the commoners who did not necessarily have magic lived in peace, away from war and threats of evil. There was never any famine in the land, and everybody was happy.

Generations passed, and the time came for the new Prince, Namjoon, to take a bride. Namjoon and his sister, Heulin, were different from the other rulers who had come before them. For Namjoon did not want to take a bride, and Heulin did not want to be married to a groom. The people in the great Naeil City were worried about their prince, as he had rejected every female suitor he had been shown to date. Any suitors who had stayed too long were chased out of the castle by Saja, Namjoon's lion daemon.

One day, on the thirteenth day of the third month, the great lion daemon sprang from the castle windows, racing to the town faire below. The lion ran all the way through town to the great ocean's shore, stopping on the beach. Namjoon was whisked away in a carriage to follow his daemon, and when he arrived at the shore, he saw the lion daemon had been tamed by a man he had never met before, a man dressed all in black with a tiger daemon of his own, with beautiful eyes and a gummy smile to match.

So it was that Prince Namjoon courted Yoongi, the magic user from the shore, and fell in love. And they were married in a great celebration, and Namjoon was crowned King the very same day. But if you think this is the end of our story, you are quite wrong.

A year after they had met, when it was once more the thirteenth day of the third month, the lion and the tiger daemons came together. They let out a great roar across the kingdom, and the stars themselves fell from the heavens. They twinkled among the townspeople, then raced to the castle, where they combined together and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, a new heir for the kingdom! Namjoon and Yoongi were overjoyed, and because it was Yoongi and his tiger daemon who had made everything possible, they named the baby boy Beomgyu. It was decided that there would be a Tiger Festival held in the Naeil Kingdom, every year, on the thirteenth day of the third year, to celebrate the Prince.

Namjoon's sister Heulin and her lover remained in the castle, assisting with the kingdom duties. But it was no secret that Heulin's heart had turned dark. If Namjoon had never married, she and her lover would have certainly produced a child, and Heulin would have risen to Queen ahead of her brother.

It was just before the child's first hundred days when Heulin sneaked into his bedroom late at night. The guards heard her, and King Namjoon and Yoongi were alerted, but by the time they got to Beomgyu's bedroom, it was too late. The guards had watched Heulin ride off into the sky, on her own hawk daemon, carrying Beomgyu in her arms. A search and rescue was put out immediately, but to no avail. Both Heulin and Beomgyu were gone.

Devastated at the loss of his son, Namjoon fell into a deep depression, refusing to govern the kingdom. While Yoongi took over as the face of the kingdom, holding events and smiling at banquets, Namjoon continued his lawmaking. Gone was the happy King. Namjoon passed laws forbidding fun, music, and dancing, only decreeing that they could happen on the thirteenth day of the third month. So it was that the Tiger Festival became a memorial, during which every citizen of the Naeil Kingdom was required to attend or be taxed heavily. Each citizen would also put a yudeung water lantern into the ocean, at the site where Namjoon and Yoongi first met. The meaning was obviously futile, but it was a sign of solidarity, and maybe possibly one of hope: that somewhere, somehow, their little lost prince Beomgyu would find the lanterns, and that some day he might return home...