Young and Wild || seongjoong || ATEEZ

Chapter Ten : Forget Me Not

Chapter warnings: slight violence, a panic attack, and memory loss

There was a dark and looming cloud that had taken over the land.

Metaphorical in nature, that cloud was not truly there, even Seonghwa knew that. He knew that the skies were clear and sunny when he tilted his chin upward to peer into the blueness of the open sky which reflected the ocean. There was nothing there, not even a small hint of a wisp of one. Pure blue, the sky was crystal-like.

But oddly enough, when he found himself looking down at the ground where his feet were buried in the snow, there was a shadow that stretched on as far as he could see.

The sounds of the other pirates were quiet as they threw their supplies into the rowboats that had been brought onto the shoreline. Some of the boats were buried under a decent amount of snow, the wood frozen with crystals as they were pushed into the ice-cold water and held there for the others to finish loading up their supplies to head back to the Destiny. The crew wasn't trying to be quiet, their noises were just muffled slightly as Seonghwa couldn't help but notice a slight tremble in his heart.

The tremble only grew the more he focused on it, which he blamed on the fact that he hadn't slept in two nights and the stress of the morning.

There was a mysterious and very powerful aura that the land held. It was not dangerous, Seonghwa could feel deep within himself that the power of this land was not there to try and hurt them, but it was still incredibly powerful. An icy wonderland, one that held many secrets that no one other than the inhabitants would be able to learn of. The crystals sang to them as they moved on from the snowy meadow- passing by the frozen pond and the dying willow tree that watched over the peace grounds even as the years of snow piled onto it.

The dying willow tree.

The same willow tree that Seonghwa swore seemed to look a little warmer as he left the meadow. The same willow tree that sat there with little drops of water falling from its branches as the sun rose completely. The same willow tree that Seonghwa made an undying promise to, a promise of his own life.

In fact, maybe it was his own haze that had taken over him, but it seemed that the entire meadow looked just a little warmer as they left.

Perhaps a spell had been broken.

At least that had been what the first mate muttered in a joke when they had stopped at the forest's edge and looked back upon the snowy meadow that shimmered delightfully under the morning sun. It had been an airy joke, one spoken with awe as they all let their eyes gaze over the winter wonderland for the last time. Seonghwa knew that there would never be a sight like this one, and he knew deep down in his heart that if he ever tried to revisit this place, he would find that it simply would not be the same.

The magic would be gone.

"Seonghwa!"

The man in question jerked at the sound of his name, spinning on his heel after finding that he had been staring back at the edge of the forest to turn and see that the captain was standing on the rocks just before the water washed up on his boots. Hongjoong was bent over slightly, his hand pressing down on the front of a rowboat that was filled with bags of supplies with a rather curious and almost impatient look on his face. Seonghwa knew the captain was more than ready to step foot on his ship, he had been antsy the entire morning ever since Seonghwa woke up and nearly panicked to death after finding out that no one else was able to see the footprint he had rolled into.

Mingi's odd disappearance that morning had set them back timewise.

No one had seen him go off anywhere, and after the night Seonghwa had only assumed the worst- only to find that the tall pirate in question randomly emerged from the edge of the forest amidst his internal turned external panic with absolutely no explanation at all.