~ a lily among thorns~

"we need to go!"

The journey back hosted a restless aura. With every passing stranger, Nari's anxiety grew. Would the next person be known to them? If so, what then? There was nowhere to hide...nowhere to run. Her secret would be thrust into the light.

Ban-Ryu sensed the girl's troubled spirit, her eyes locked intensely on the horizon. She was determined to hunt out danger before it did the same to her. Trying to calm her frame of mind, Ban-Ryu initiated conversation.

"What were you going to say?" he asked suddenly. "Before I interrupted?"

Nari gave the man a quick glance before setting her eyes back on the road ahead.

"What do you mean?" she breathed, clearly not focused on his words. Her mind was too busily processing all the possible outcomes of the trip.

"You asked me if I remembered something," Ban-Ryu explained, looking down at her curiously. "Remember what?"

Nari turned her attention a little more towards her companion as he brought up the first issue that had disturbed her mood.

"Oh, that..." she sighed, her eyes still pointed forward.

For a moment she considered telling Ban-Ryu, sharing with him all the information she had heard at Jeong-seo's. However, she didn't want to be distracted from her mission to get home safely.

"I'll talk about it later," Nari said, before beginning to run her fingers through her hair.

"What are you doing?" Ban-Ryu questioned.

"Putting my hair into a bun. I look too much like a woman with it down."

Nari began twirling her locks onto the top of her head. Ban-Ryu was quick to protest.

"Won't that only draw attention? If you want to get through Silla unnoticed, blend in. No one will look twice if you keep your hair how it is."

"If only I weren't blonde though..." Nari mumbled, her hair colour an obvious give-away.

Finding sense in Ban-Ryu's words, she reluctantly let it fall back to her shoulders.

"He's right," she told herself. "I'll just have to act normally until I find a place to change."

It wasn't long before Silla painted itself on the sky-view. A nervous sweat broke out on Nari's forehead as her nerves overwhelmed her. Surely no one she knew would see her in this attire. Silla was too big a place. The shadowy forest ran alongside the two as they paced towards the town. Before Nari knew it, she was entering through the city gates, Ban-Ryu close beside her.

"Where now?" he asked, stopping in the middle of the bustling streets to await Nari's instruction.

"My house," she replied, already striding in its direction. "It's not too far from here."

He ran to catch up, cautiously looking around to see if anyone was watching. Instinctively, they took the side-alleys to their destination, avoiding as many hordes as possible. It wasn't long before a familiar building came into Nari's view. She stopped at the sight of it, taking in her childhood home. She saw herself sitting on the porch, a book in hand. Poong-yeon played in the dirt, Mother hanging up the washing close by.

"Is this it?" Ban-Ryu asked, Nari snapping back to harsh reality.

"Yes," she answered, before taking her bag. "I'll be quick."

The girl sped up the steps to the front door, pushing it open reluctantly. She passed through the rooms of her old home, memories of her childhood coming back to life. She got to her bedroom. It was as she left it. A hanger still hung snugly near the door – it had once hosted her Hwarang uniform. Now she sought for it again, digging through her bag to find it.