Lucid Dreaming/ RavnWoong

Chapter Six (Edited)

Hwanwoong didn't remember how it happened or why it happened for that matter. But what he did know was that he had somehow made it outside the walls of his kingdom, a place neither his father nor Ravn let him get nearby. Leedo was also nowhere in sight making the younger question what was going on. He truly didn't remember anything of how he got past the walls.

"Where am I?" He took the time standing still, to look around, the feeling of confusion weighed more heavily on him the longer he stared.

The landscape was quiet, though unsettling. Before him wasn't just a set of grassy plainlands that stretched out for miles and miles but remnants of a once lived village, a long-forgotten battlefield. Where the village once stood, now lay a grey scale of ruins. It went on for miles before stretching out into the grassy plains he thought there were. A large half standing church served as the focal point and other buildings completely crumbled around it. Just how long had it been like this? Why hadn't his father used the kingdom's funds to fix it?

Curiosity struck, making the timid little prince gain some bravery as he walked further out into the open. "What is it that's out here that Ravn doesn't want me seeing?"

Suddenly feeling unafraid and forgetting that he needed to have his guard with him at all times, for the only reason of being a prince, Hwanwoong found himself pushing forward. Walking down the dirt path that lay out before him, he stepped to the side to stoop down in front of a beautiful flowering plant. He leaned forward so he could brush the lilac dusted petals.

"I wonder why it is that father never let us come out here before? And why would he ask Ravn to keep me away as well?" He whispered softly to himself admiring the tiny petals.

"Sir, are you okay?" A soft melodic voice asked him from behind. It was like the young prince was pulled into a trance just from the sound of her voice.

Hwanwoong jumped at the voice not expecting to hear anyone speak around him. He took the chance to stand, spinning to face a beautiful older woman who had been stooping down to check if he was alright. "Oh, yes, I'm fine."

"Oh, good I thought you may have been injured or something worse." She spoke softly looking him over, a small smile on her old face.

Hwanwoong bowed his head slightly with a sheepish smile. "I really am okay but thank you for worrying about someone like me, you're so kind."

Her smile widened at his compliment, before she moved to where he had been previously. "These are a type of weed known as bittersweet nightshade; I've seen a lot of them grow on roadsides like this. Beautiful, aren't they?"

He nodded his agreement.

"It's a shame the berries dangling from them are poisonous." She added after he crouched back down beside her. That was when the young man took notice to the little wine-colored berries, they lay hidden underneath the grayish purple flowers and he felt a sense of familiarity. The familiarity wasn't a good feeling though, it was one filled with dread and fear, but he was unsure as to why. Maybe it just had to do with them being poisonous.

"They are?" He questioned looking them over wanting to reach out and pick one so he could look it over more closely but thought better of the idea.

"Yes, ten to twenty little berries and they'll bring you into a nightmare of hallucinations before killing you in less than a minute." The woman explained.

"How do you know so much about them? Are you from around here?" The curious prince asked cocking his head to the side. "If so, what's it like living on the outside of Seraphic's walls? This is the furthest I've ever gone passed them."

"I am from around here, yes, but living around here is..." She trailed off, stretching back up to her full height, her eyes casting a look around the ruined plains. There had once been a bustling town here outside the walls of Seraphic. But all that remained now was what had refused to crumble over the last few hundred years. A church stood with all its former glory casting a shadow over the deserted town, it was the only thing that stood like a sentinel in the night.