Hansung looked up from the note, face pale as he let out a whispered "No..." He began sprinting towards the courtyard, where he knew his two Hyungs would be 'sparing' with only one knowing how deadly one cut could be. He arrived just in time to see his brother knock Sunwoo's sword out of his hands and thrust his sword towards him. Hansung, acting purely on his protective younger brother instinct, launched himself forward and caught the blade before it could slice into his Sunwoo-Hyung.

"H-Hansung? What are you doing?!" Dansae asked desperately, shocked at his little brothers act and worried about the consequences for Hansung. Dansae had only been doing this to protect Hansung and now he was the one to cause his death.

Dansae fell to his knees as Sunwoo carried Hansung in his arms to try and find Ah Ro in time to save him.

~~~~

The hwarangs mourned over the loss of their little brother as they left the room, the body was to be buried under Hansung's favourite tree the next day at sunset.

~~~~

Hansung's eyes cracked open, it was dark... Only faint candle light could be seen through the blanket covering the cot he lay in. He glanced around in a panic, this wasn't his room... Or the medical room either. He looked down at himself and noticed a strange thrumming in his body. Almost as if there were some sort of energy coursing through his veins. Hansung paused in his self studying to stare at his hands, the cuts from Dansae's sword still lingering but healed over. the skin black like that of the decorative tattoos Hansung had seen and from the scars were small, spider-web like tendrils of the same black substance that the scars were made up of. 

Belatedly, Hansung recognised them as the sources of the strange energy coursing through him and as he found the strength to stand he realised that he wasn't breathing. Hadn't been breathing. Not since he awoke at least. Now slightly panicked, he tried to take a breathe and found it rattled uncomfortably in his chest, as if his lungs could no longer respond to breathing with the ease that they should naturally possess.

Hansung spun around quickly, gaining his bearings and making a plan. He could go to Ah Ro for help but somehow he knew that she wouldn't be able to help. In fact, she would probably be just as clueless as Hansung. No, he needed to find someone who can help, someone who specialises in weird energies and people who shouldn't be alive, being alive... Or at least somewhat alive. He realised that this journey was going to take him far beyond Silla and the neighbouring kingdoms and that he might never return from it. 

'I cannot give my hyungs the burden of keeping this secret, so much has already happened I do not want to be the cause of even more unrest' Hansung thought as he took a deep breath and took his first step to leaving the world and people he knew behind, to become a ghost.

Hansung quickly and quietly snuck over to the dorms and slipped in to grab the most essential of his items. He was extremely glad for his hyungs being deep sleepers and having trained himself on making sure his steps were as quiet as possible, though maybe not as graceful as they could be, should be. Oh well, at least he'll have the time to work on that while he travels. 

Grabbing his necessities and a small stuffed toy Hare gifted to him from Yeowool and Suho, Hansung paused to look forlornly at his hyungs who had done so much to look after him throughout his time with the Hwarang. He snuck back out of the room and ran to the wall to disappear into the forest, quickly wrapping up his hands in bandages to obscure the odd markings.

Hansung was quick to determine which way he should go as he realised that travelling by water would be much quicker then travelling by land and he wanted to avoid the borders between Silla and Goguryeo just in case there happened to be a patrol of soldiers to see him. Instead, he made his way to a small port town, it was simple and evidently not as wealthy as it could be, though he could see the growing potential of the town and theorised that it would not be much longer until it became very wealthy due to their increasingly large port. 

Hansung wondered through the streets, marvelling at the feeling of freedom, of not having the expectations of his grandfather, and by extension, his brother. He could explore and do what he wanted without having to worry about legacy and living up to his parents, his family name, his blood status. Here, he was nothing more then a simple traveller passing through, perhaps a good target to sell some of their hard earned goods to. 

Hansung turned a corner and, yes there it was, the sea. Glittering hues of blue shimmering in the sunlight and the closer he was to it the more he was able to see of both the sea and the sky, the clouds and the docks. 'Right! The docks!' Hansung thought, mentally kicking himself for being so absentminded. He swiftly made his way to the docks, immediately beginning to size up the boats and their respective sailors, searching for one that might be able to take him far North, past Goguryeo and perhaps might be able to tell him where to start looking for someone who deals with strange energies.

'No... No... There!' Hansung thought with joy as he spotted a rather stubborn looking boat that was clearly made for long voyages across the water and not just for a day out fishing. Beside the boat, cleaning it and obviously preparing for at least a few days voyage was the ship's captain, who looked just as stubborn and stern as his ship and, Hansung thought privately, ruggedly handsome. With messy hair pulled up into a bun with simple wooden hair pins and very worn, ragged hanbok that had most definitely seen a good few years of constant use and hard work.

"Excuse me?" Hansung asked tentatively, "I uh... I was wondering if you'd be willing to allow me to travel with you, preferably North, however far you're willing to take this one."

The man stared back at Hansung, eyebrow raised. 

"Shouldn't you be at home with your parents kid?" He asked.

"Ah! I'll have you know I am an adult! But that is partially the reason I want to go North. My... Brother has come across something that has made him sick and caused some sort of odd energy to thrum throughout his mind and body. I am heading North in search of answers while the rest of my family search elsewhere and our mother remains to watch over my brother. If we cannot find anything to help him and soon, well I worry over what might happen. Please sir, I have the coin to pay you and I bring my own supplies" Hansung resorted to pleading with the man, now knowing that he does not actually require food. Sure it was nice to eat flavourful sweets but it is like Hansung is frozen in time, unable to age, lose or put on weight or even breathe.

The man sighs.

"Alright fine kid, be here at 4am sharp tomorrow, that's when we set off and not a moment later. If you're late I leave you behind and you'll have to get someone else to take you, we'll stop off at Usan along the way and it should take us a couple of weeks at most depending on weather conditions. I'll take you up past Goguryeo but after that you're on your own. The name's Saejin, pleasure doing business with you kid." 

Hansung started, realising that he had never told the man, Saejin, his name. 

"Hansung"

They shook hands and started preparing for the next day.

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Hi guys so if you're reading this and it doesn't make sense with the rest of the chapters, that's because I've decided to edit this! I noticed recently as I was working on another chapter that the first few chapters didn't make sense. I gave no reason for Hansung to leave, when, in reality, his character would've just surprised everyone with being alive. I have now given him that reason along with setting up a bit more of the thickness to the plot.

Snow out! ❄️❄️❄️