A Warrior's Heart

Chapter 54; Good to be back

"Only one way to find out."

The words sounded so simple to him, but he knew they weren't. Sure, all he had to do was jump into the basket, step down the ladder until it would break beneath his weight, fall down a great height, get eaten by a huge dragon which wasn't real - that's what he told himself - and then he'd be in the other world again.

A sigh left the brunette's lips, and he nodded at the older's words. He could do that, no big deal. Except that it was. He didn't know what had him hesitating now. He had bugged Namjoon about this for so long now. He had dragged him into all of this. They went through all this struggle, but now that it was done and the basket was stood in front of him- he was hesitating. 

Still, there was something that pushed him forwards. He had to do this.

He took a few steps towards the basket, but once he stood in front of it, he stopped. He was forgetting something. Namjoon frowned from his spot, and opened his mouth to speak.  "What's wrong?"  He asked in a soft voice, sensing the younger's hesitation. Taehyun didn't answer. The only thing he did was clench his fists, and turn back around. He took two big strides and crashed himself into the older's chest. Namjoon exhaled heavily, not expecting the sudden hug but then he was smiling and hugging the boy back.

"Thank you Hyung."  Taehyun muttered, voice muffled by the shirt the older was wearing.  "So much, just- I couldn't have done this without you and I promise I'll bring him back so you can meet him and you know what you did it for and-"  He rambled on, being silenced when the taller shushed him. Namjoon chuckled and rested his chin on the boy's head.  "You don't owe me anything, really. If you say it's about something important, then it is and I believe you. I don't need to see it with my own two eyes to confirm that it's really real before I'll help you."  He smiled, patting the younger's back with one hand and bringing the other up to ruffle his hair.

Taehyun looked up at the man, all the stress from the past days finally getting to him and he burried his face into the older's chest again, a few little sobs escaping him.

"I just- I love him, Hyung! I want to see him again and you helped me make that possible and just-"  He blabbled, sniffing loudly. "I probably won't be able to ever pay you back but I promise I'll work more hours in the shop and-"  Namjoon ran his fingers through his hair and pushed him back slightly to look him in the eyes, effectively shutting him up.  "Tae, I know. And it's okay. As I said you don't owe me anything, but if you still feel like this when you come back, we'll talk about your hours in the shop, okay?"

Taehyun nodded, lifting his arm to wipe off the tears with his sleeves.  "O-Okay, don't tell anyone, I wasn't crying.."  He muttered, causing the older to chuckle and shake his head fondly.  "Of course not. But you do have to bring him back sometimes, I'd love to meet him."  Namjoon smiled. The brunette nodded quickly.  "Of course! I swear you're going to love him!"  He smiled, the sadness from a minute ago long forgotten.

"I'm sure I will. Now, I'm gonna stay here and watch a movie or something. I don't know if you can move the baskets without it breaking the portal seal when someone went through it, so I'll stay here to make sure nothing will happen to it."  The taller said and Taehyun took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for the dragon he was about to face and reminding himself it was for a good cause.

He walked towards the basket and took the lid off, not seeing anything happen but knowing that it'll be alright. He set it aside and cracked his knuckles.  "Here we go.."  He said to himself and lifted a foot.

The second his foot went past the top of the basket, a bright light shone from it, illuminating the entire room and making them squint their eyes. The bright light faded as soon as it came, making place for smoke with some sort of fairy dust to appear from under the basket, moving across the floor in light curls and twinkles. Namjoon gaped in awe and Taehyun could hear him wowing as he saw the familiar ladder appearing from inside the basket. He looked back at Namjoon one last time. "I'll be back soon, Hyung."  He smiled, getting a huge dimpled one in return and the he dissapeared from the older's eyes.

All thoughts left his mind completely as he saw the inside of this basket. It was way different from last time. While the other one was scary and had an off-putting vibe to it, this one was rather peaceful. It was a mix of soft greens, with images of big, old trees with a small village of fairies hanging from the branches and hidden by some leaves floating around. A couple of birds that were so cute they could've been from a fairytale flew past him and he couldn't help but smile softly. He could hear the tingling of some bells in the distance, but he couldn't figure out from what direction. Rather than focusing on that, he enjoyed it and kept going down the ladder.

He was surprised at the fact that it hadn't broken off yet. But then again, this was a different basket, so maybe this time he could descend down in peace. The ladder didn't protest under his weight, and never creaked once. Birds continued to accompany him, and that's when he realized something.

If this place was entirely different, then wouldn't that mean... no dragon?

A low growling sound bubbled up from under him then, answering his question. Taehyun cursed himself for jinxing the moment. His hands clamped down on the ladder, and if you'd ask him he'd probably deny it but, he was scared. He was human, of course he got scared sometimes too. He just liked to hide it under a big layed of swag. But maybe he had just learned that from the warrior and it had became his motto as well.

The growling got louder and louder and Taehyun subconsiously started to climb down the ladder faster. He wanted to reach the end of it before that dragon came into view. The tingling bells from before stopped then, and the birds which had been flying beside him squeaked and retreated quickly. They flew into an image of a tree, the picture rippling slightly. The silence that followed didn't promise much good.

Suddenly the ladder creaked and started to move, the veins from what it was made of untangling and letting the boy fall down. Taehyun screamed as he quickly tried to hold onto a vein, but he wasn't fast enough. His heartbeat skyrocketed as he soared down the basket, and even though he had experienced it once already, he still hated every second of it.

Then the thing he dreaded the most happened. The dragon he had been hearing came into view, flying around in figure eights beneath him. It was green, just like the basket, with silver linings around the scales littering its body. He wasn't really close yet, but even from this distance the animal looked huge. Maybe even bigger than the previous one.

Taehyun felt lightheaded, the pull of the fall messing with his body. The dragon then opened its eye wide, locking his gaze onto him and the brunette knew what was about to come. The dragon flew up, going straight at him and opened its mouth. Taehyun squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look at what was going to happen. He could hear it and he could feel it when the animal engulfed him in its mouth. It was a rather odd feeling, being swallowed up by a huge green dragon. But as soon as it came, it was gone as well.

Instead of the soaring of the wind from when he was falling, he heard the faint clinking of swords coming from somewhere. Taehyun opened his eyes, finding himself laying on the ground inbetween some trees. He lifted his arms to his chest and pushed himself up, seeing the basket standing next to his legs. Unlike last time, it was whole, sitting there on some fallen leaves peacefully and luckily not scattered to pieces.

He sat up and scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off a little. He didn't really mind the dirt on his clothes that much. Hell, he had even found dried blood on his clothes from his last visit once he was back home again. But he didn't want to come before the eyes of the emperor all dirty and covered with sand.

He then casted his gaze upwards, looking around the place. He could see the mountain range from here, the big open fields stretched out in front of him, and he could hear the hoofs from some of the wild horses thumping the ground softly in the distance. He smiled at the memory. Everything was just so peaceful and quiet around here. It was way different from home, but by no means was it worse.

He felt strangely at home in this world. The brunette knew he had only seen hatred and had only been fighting for the most part of this stay here, but even so, he felt at home. He felt like this could become his home. He hoped it would.

Taehyun sighed and couldn't help but smile brightly.

"Good to be back."