Iris looks down at her feet. She's stepping on black and cold soil. It feels wet and disgusting, nothing like the soil of Lystheria forest grounds that she was always used to. She finds herself surrounded in black smoke clouding around her, thick and heavy; and when Iris steps forward to find a way out of the darkness, she stops in her tracks and finds everything around her burned; destroyed as if acid and fire had rained down on the forest. She starts to panic and looks around however, instantly regretting it as she sees corpses everywhere. Bodies dried up as if their souls have been sucked out of their being.

In shock, she takes a few steps backward but unfortunately falls into a pile of bodies which have turned out to be a pile of dead wood sprites. The collision had caused a dead body to fall and it hangs over her. It's face bloody and aghast, too familiar that she breaks down in tears.

"H-Hyunwoo?" she's sobs. Everything was too much to handle. How did it end up like this? "Hyunwoo!" she screams his name and as if it heard her, the corpse of her friend opens its eyelids with bloodshot eyes.

Iris sits up and finds herself back in her hollow. She's sweating and panting hard but there is a shrilling shiver that still runs down her spine although she realizes it was another one of her eccentric dreams.

"Hyunwoo?" she says to herself. She's fully awake now, but the image of her dead best friend is still there and it still feels so real.

"You're so noisy even when you're asleep."

Iris turns her head to the opening of the hollow and finds Hyunwoo peeking in.

"Wake up, sleepy head. It's my turn to patrol the outskirts of the forest." He leaves as soon as he relays the message. Still groggy, she shakes some sense into her head. It was all just a dream. She convinces herself for the second time.

When Iris leaves her trunk, the sky is already bright although the sun has still yet to come out. She walks down the village where other wood sprites are just about to start their day. Although a wood sprite herself, the others here never really took much interest and most of the time avoided her due to some rumors that she had grown up with. She didn't quite understand it though. Iris grew up with no parents and was always under the care of Hyunwoo and his family, who were the only people who were ever nice to her. Being always condemned by the sprites of Lystheria, she learned to ignore these rumors and as they often denied her existence, she did quite the same.

When Hyunwoo was on guard duty on the outskirts of Lystheria, Iris took it as a chance to come along and spend some time outside of the forest. She would usually hang out by the river until Hyunwoo finished his guard duty so that they could go back together.

"You had another nightmare?" Hyunwoo walks ahead as Iris skipped over rocks after him. He doesn't even stop to turn around to see if she even responded.

"What was it this time?"

Iris immediately stops because she is instantly reminded of the image of Hyunwoo hanging upside down over a branch, dead. Hyunwoo also stops in his tracks and turns around when he realizes that Iris is not responding to her at all.

She never really understood why, but she had always had these dreams. Sometimes they would recur in her sleep and most of the time they would happen in real life; however thinking that they might just be a coincidence, Iris never took them seriously.

She always asked Hyunwoo about it, and although most of the time it sounded like he was interested in these dreams, other times he would just brush them off telling her they were just silly.

"Just - nothing probably." She lied. She would never want to tell Hyunwoo about how she dreamt him dead.

"Yeah, right. Nothing for you to nearly pee in your pants." He teases her to lighten up the mood.

"H-Hey! I did not!" She shouts back at him and watches as he chuckles then turn back around to continue his journey. He ignores her and hears her scoff behind him.

"So why are they sending Royal Guards out here early in the morning?" She asks. It was pretty unusual for Lystherian Royal Guards to roam the perimeters of this part of the forest. Not a lot of sprites come here due to it being too far from familiar grounds and Hyunwoo only would ever let Iris come along if he did not have a partner on guard.

"Stay here until I'm done, you hear me?" he orders her, not even turning back to look at her, again ignoring her question. Iris mocks him behind his back and crosses her hands over her chest.

"I heard that!"

Iris dips her feet in the cool water, enjoying her time alone as she hums a made up melody. Unfortunately, her time of solitude was cut short when suddenly she's splashed with water in the face. Bewildered by this sudden ambush, she gets up from the rock and wipes her face with her sleeves. She hears giggles and chuckles and when she opens her eyes, she sees baby water sprites playfully hiding behind the mossy rocks and the rotten tree branches in the river. Wood sprites such as herself, although not very fond of getting wet, she jumps up and chases after them. The baby water sprites scream in delight, having caught the attention of this lonely wood sprite all alone at the river bank.

Not a second too soon, she finds her head in the water feeling a pressure on the back of her head, as if someone intends to drown her. But just as she starts to struggle, the pressure is lifted and she falls back on her bottom, gasping for air.

Just about to shout at the baby water sprites for being too hostile with their playtime, instead she sees an adult water sprite; tall and gracious standing before her. Their eyebrows furrow and her eyes fierce. The baby water sprites look apologetic although they cower behind their parent.

The adult water sprite probably heard the screaming and thought her babies were in danger.

"No, I - " she tried to explain but before she could utter another word, a loud howling screech echoed through the air. The sound horrifying almost, it brings shivers to her spine and they all look up at the sound of heavy wings flapping high above them to see giant eagle-like creatures. Without hesitation, the water sprite carries her babies and she runs out of there.

"What was that all about?" she scoffs to herself and realizes that she's still sitting in the water. She scowls as she picks herself up and sits on a large rock nearby, squeezing out the water and drying out her hair.

"Iris!"

The wood sprite turns around at her name being called and sees Hyunwoo, standing at a dry area of the river bank.

"We need to go now." He insists, there is worry on his face, but Iris doesn't question it. There must be a reason why the Royal Guards were on duty to roam around these parts of the woods.

"I'll be right behind you." She says, and although discontent with her reply, Hyunwoo nods and hurriedly trudges back into the forest. She understands, Hyunwoo was like an older brother to her, they have been friends since they were little baby wood sprites so he has a strong sense of protection towards her. But now he is a part of the Royal Garrison. She gets up to follow after him, but non-mistakenly hears a faint sound in the distance. Seemingly a deep grunt, as if someone was in pain. She glances in the direction where Hyunwoo has run off too, but decides to turn back to see what it is. She was sure she was going to hear a thing or two from Hyunwoo later on, but she was used to it.

She walks up the river bank, being mindful of her steps making sure that she doesn't make a sound. She hears the groan again and she knows she's close. She tiptoes behind a tree, not far from this creature and peeks from behind the bark of the old sycamore tree.

Her eyes widen with awe. It's a Hippogriff. She had always ever seen them soaring in the sky and never once up this close. Other creatures rarely entered Lysitheria Forest due to the density of the trees in here, anyone unfamiliar with the trees could easily get lost. She covers her mouth; afraid that she might gasp out too loud when she sees the Hippogriff morph into its vulnerable form. She notices however, that the Hippogriff is injured; his face is blue and bruised and when he lifts up the cloth covering his torso, a deep gash can be seen right across the side of his stomach. The Hippogriff clenches his teeth and grunts again when he tries to wash off the blood from his wound.

Is he not in the sky because he's hurt? She thinks. Hyunwoo might notice that she's taking too long but she tells herself maybe just one more step, just to take a closer look before she leaves.

Slowly, she walks out from behind the sycamore tree, waiting for the Hippogriff to take notice of her and when he does, he tries to get up but fails and drops to his knees again.

"What do you want, wood sprite?" he heaves. Iris knows that Hippogriffs are tamer and much gentler when compared to their distant relatives the Griffins, but she has never met one before and this makes her nervous. Although hesitant to begin with, she decides to speak up.

"I - I could help you with that." She offers, trying her best not to startle the Hippogriff. He glances up at her and kneels on his calves, unable to stand the excruciating pain in his side anymore. Iris takes that sign as an agreement and splashes to his side of the river. She runs past him, already eyeing the Yarrow plant since she first saw his gash, and plucks a bunch just enough for his wound. Iris aids him to sit down against a tree, the Hippogriff choking on a whine.

"Sorry" she apologizes quickly. She immediately takes a few bunch of the Yarrow and rinses them in the river; she then scrunches them up and rolls them in her palms.

"It might sting a little." She warns him and rubs the ointment gently around his wound. He growls lowly and his body jerks at the painful sensation.

"A little?" he groans incredulously and Iris smiles apologetically before finishing up.

"The wound will heal in a day or two." She informs him.

"Yeah? And the pain? Wait - the pain?" he's confused now. Just a few seconds ago he was in excruciating pain, but now it's - not that it was entirely gone, but it didn't really hurt that bad anymore.

"The healing hands of a wood sprite - and the painkiller effect of the yarrow, of course." She gleams proudly at him.

"Thank you, wood sprite. Ah, I need to at least know your name. For someone who has helped me in my most anxious times, I need to thank you properly." He says and Iris can't help but have her cheeks tint red.

"My name is Iris." She tells him bashfully.

"Thank you Iris. For everything." He gently smiles down at her, his eyes soft as he looks into hers. "My name is Namjoon by the way."

"Namjoon" she repeats his name. Not only did she get to see a Hippogriff up close, but she's lucky to learn his name as well. Unfortunately as realization takes over him, he struggles to get back up on his feet. "I still don't think I would be able to fly for now."

"Where will you be headed to?" Iris asks, out of pure curiosity. She catches him forcing a smile.

"To war." He breathes in deeply, and Iris is confused. A war? But there has never been a war since probably ten centuries ago. Why now? How did Lysitheria Forest not know about this? "It's not safe here anymore, Iris. Go back to your home and hide deep in the ground; that is if you still have a home."

Iris is baffled and blinks. "I don't - I don't understand."

"Iris." Namjoon reaches out one hand to hers and holds them gently. "I have to go now, be safe." He wishes and turns to leave into the depth of the forest.

Iris watches his back disappear but deep inside she's panicking. Lysitheria Forest in danger? Was that why Hyunwoo - oh no! - Hyunwoo! She turns on her heels and runs back to the other side of the forest.

She runs as fast as her legs could take her. Wood sprites were very quick on land, but why did it feel like she had run for miles but not a fellow wood sprite in sight. She couldn't even find Hyunwoo. Her breathing becomes heavy and she's quickly losing her breath causing her to trip and fall face first in the dirt and dead leaves.

What? - What is going on? Why does it feel like air around her is getting heavier and darker. She coughs; she tries to breathe in but chokes. Iris realizes that it's smoke. She doesn't know that it's not the ordinary smoke from forest fires started by dragons or chimeras but she's on her knees now, coughing and hacking, tears brimming her eyes. She can't breathe and her lungs are aching. This smoke is wretched and unholy and she's terrified knowing that death awaits her and her forest.

Iris feels lightheaded and her eyes are heavy. She drifts in and out of consciousness, a little late to realize that she is being carried by someone or something. She vaguely remembers the temperature of his body. It's hot. Literally hot as she sees in between her heavy lids that the man carrying her is in flames. Burning like a red hot fire on a non-dying ember.

She tries to say something but her mouth goes lax and her words feels like they are floating in the clouds, desperate to say something but she feels helpless, too weak at the moment; soon, she is unconscious again.

She wakes up alone, still finding herself in a part of the forest unfamiliar to her. She licks her dry lips and there is this strange tingling feeling lingering on them. Probably due to her black out? She tries to stand up but she's still groggy. Iris scans around her, but to her dismay she is alone and for the first time, more frightened than she could ever be. In the back of her mind, she remembers seeing the man carry her out of the smoke. Remembers him walking away, his body embodied by bursting red and orange flames.

Was he the one who had caused the fire? The smoke?

She had to go and find this person. Tell him to stop. She tried to look for signs, broken branches, burnt leaves, even trees on fire maybe? Someone who was deliberately on fire would most probably have left a trail of ashes or something behind, but amazingly not.

Iris decides to search for the flame man and Lystheria at the same time. The trees from Lystheria are quiet. Something must have gone terribly wrong. Iris trembles at the thought; whichever one she finds first, she didn't know, but she had to try at least.

She walks ahead and not far from where she stands she discovers some ruins. Could flame man have passed through here? There are figures and statues sculpted into the rocks of the torn down building. She carefully enters, curious to what's inside.

He must have gone through here if not anyplace else. She thinks to herself.

Iris descends into the darkness of the building, unaware that there is someone watching her. Sunlight breaches through the cracks of the rock ceiling as vines and roots travel and weave their way in between them.

She reaches out and her fingers trail across the rotting wood, the moss growing lavishly on the rock walls. The trees, the wind and the soil that inhabit there tell their story and she soon realizes how old this place must be. Ten decades wasn't much long ago, probably the time when she was an adolescent sprite, but these ruins must have been older than her time.

Suddenly, she hears loud and warning whispers. Panicking. Frightened.

They're coming

"What - ?"

Unprepared for what was to come, something had grabbed her by the shoulder, forcefully turned her around and grabbed her by the neck, pinning her against the wall.

The force is so strong she chokes out a gasp. Iris scratches and writhes at the hand on her neck. The being had the most gruesome face. Large horns, grey face and sharp teeth most probably not just for show.

"Oh." Iris hears it say as it looks her up and down. He loosened his hold on her neck and lets her go. Fierce eyes immediately turning to gentle, caring ones. He slowly turns back into a vulnerable. His horns disappear and so did his fangs and grey skin.

"A wood sprite." He mentions the obvious. "What is a wood sprite doing here of all places?" He asks. Iris is catching her breath and glares up at the guy. Not even an apology she thinks.

"Did you have to want to kill me?" she massages her neck, as gets back up on her feet. "What are you even anyway?"

Truth be told, she knew a lot of creatures that were not sprites but this one was something new - including the flame guy.

"I am a gargoyle."

"A gargoyle?"

"We guard sacred buildings or what was once a building" He glancesa round fr a bit at the state of the ruin, "- and we usually have good manners, so pardon mine though for I haven't had an interaction with a creature for centuries."

Iris scoffs, probably an exaggeration but nonetheless continues to be curious anyway.

"We? Where are the rest of you?"

The gargoyle turns silent for a moment. Living through the centuries without anyone to talk to was really lonely.

"Most of the time we waste away, buried with the roots and vines."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Iris genuinely apologizes.

"It's alright. It's a peaceful way to go."

"By any means, have you seen a - a flame man pass by here?" she remembers to ask. She hasn't forgotten about her home just yet.

"A flame man?" The gargoyle shakes his head, "Not that I know of." He scratches his temple with one finger, attempting to recall any other creature that has passed through these ruins.

"Right. Then I need to make haste then." She hurries out from the ruins, making her way back into the sunlit forest.

The gargoyle's eyes widen. Horrified to see her leave so soon; actually enjoying actual company and actually, finally being able to talk to someone. Will it end here just like this? When will the next person come by? Another century? No! He didn't want to go through his days all alone anymore.

"Uh - May I ask who is this person you are looking for?"

Iris shakes her head. She's pretty unsure herself. "I don't know for sure. But Lystheria and every other forest will be in danger if I don't find him."

The gargoyle hesitates. He needs to make up his mind quick before she actually leaves.

"W-Wait!" he chases after her. Iris stops and turns, "May I follow you on your quest to find this flame man? I'm a gargoyle, I can protect you if anything were to happen."

The gargoyle reminds him of Hyunwoo, and she feels bitter now that she didn't follow Hyunwoo as she was told to. "But what about this place?" she asks, putting her thoughts aside. The gargoyle chuckles and shakes his head.

"Take a look at this place. What is there to protect anymore?" He flails his arms to exaggerate the nothingness left by the ruins. The gargoyle is panting as well, seemingly forgotten at how heavy he was and he wasn't at all used to walking so fast.

"Ok" she nods and the gargoyle smiles back at her. "But we have to move quickly to find this person." She turns back around and leads the way to somewhere she wasn't pretty sure was the right direction, but the winds had whispered to her, about the whereabouts of this person she was looking for. The direction was very vague, but something was better than nothing.

"My name is Iris by the way. What may yours be?" She asks, trudging diligently through the leaves on the ground.

"My name?"

"The gargoyle realizes he has never actually introduced himself to anyone before. After probably a century, finally someone gets to learn his name and for the first time, he hears his own name out loud.

"My name is Jin."