When Zhang is flung at the wall, the back of his head bumps against the wall. No, Zhang is not in any danger. After all, he is a strong man; a scratch here, a bruise there, did not matter to him. What did bother him is that without even moving a muscle, the man he had rescued had attacked him! Being a man of science, Zhang had always believed that there was no such thing as magic. Yet, what he had felt right then could only be described as hocus-pocus!

Zhang decides it best to observe the gorgeous- and surprisingly dangerous- man in front of him a little more before taking any further action. 

YiYang sits up with the level of grace only royalty could have possessed and takes a quick look around.

YiYang realizes a few things immediately; he takes mental notes, listing them from the most obvious to a little confusing and out-of-place.

'A space vehicle.'

'Equipped with atmospheric control capabilities.'

'Human...How is he in such impeccable health!?'

He turns his eyes to the monitors placed next to where he was lying down just a few moments ago and realizes that the human had brought him to the vehicle's medical facility. He analyzes the language on the monitor screen and comes to the conclusion that it is mandarin. However, it's a little different than what some of the humans had spoken a century ago.

YiYang gets off the narrow bed and walks to the control panel; Zhang wonders whether he should stop the man from looking at and observing his ship's resources, for he is sure that the man was taking note of his surroundings. It's something that Zhang would have done too if he was confident that he had the upper hand. 

 'It's hard to believe that he was gasping for breath just minutes ago. And now he is roaming around like he owns the ship... My ship!' Zhan thinks, astonished.
A look of confusion settles on the man's face, and not being able to control himself anymore, Zhang declares in an I-come-in-peace kind of tone, "Hey, listen, I mean you no harm." 

Hearing Zhang's words, YiYang spins around and takes in the appearance of the man who had so unceremoniously made him fall into the sea! The crown prince frowns.

Zhang doesn't think that he, the Savior, deserves such a sour expression. Why, Zhang feels like he is being (very unfairly) held in contempt of court!

Zhang rubs the back of his neck and presses on, his tone a little defensive and hurt, "I just saved your life, and I was just trying to see if you had a fever."

YiYang narrows his eyes as if concentrating on the man in front of him and finally speaks in an arrogant tone, "You." he lifts his finger and points first at Zhang and then at the ship in general, "You are not of this Earth. Identify yourself."

Zhang smirks, "Is this the way to thank your savior?"

"Ha! I won't call it saving. You were the one who knocked me down here in the first place."

Zhang gulps thickly. 'Damn it! So it was him that my ship had bumped into.' Realizing that it was his fault, he humbly apologizes, "I am sorry. I didn't see you." Then fringing ignorance, for he did not want to expose the fact that he had managed to steal a glimpse inside, he raises his voice, "I wasn't expecting my ship to encounter a human being flying about like a bird!"

Of all the things that the YuanJians hated, it was being addressed as 'human' that offended them the most. Thus to be called a human being does not go down well with the prince. His hand moves to his waist strap to retrieve his knife, only to find that it is devoid of his weapon.

Zhang chuckles, "Excuse me, but is it this thing that you are looking for?" Zhang asks, dangling a knife in front of the latter's face.

YiYang tries to snatch it, but before he can get his hands on it, Zhang moves away.

"Give it to me this instant!" demands YiYang, sounding exasperated and a little disappointed in himself. 

"I will. But first, could you tell me since when can humans fly?"

YiYang balks at being called a human once more and snaps, "I am not a human. I am a YuanJian. And this" his eyes roam over Zhang's ship, "This is not where you should have landed."

This makes sense to Zhang; after all, he had already guessed that the planet he had landed on was not the Earth he was born and raised on. Also, as a military man, who was on a mission to find a new home for his people, it was his duty to put his best foot forward. He knew that the future of his people depended on how he interacts with the being...the alien, who had just called himself a YuanJian. 

With that thought in his mind, Zhang had walks calmly to the alien in front of him and respectfully hands over the knife to him, "Sir, I am Captain Xian Zhang. I am a human, and I come from Earth."

Maybe it is the change in the human's attitude, or maybe, it was the fact that this human had saved his life, but in that instance, all resentment that the prince had been feeling for the human, Xian Zhang, just moments ago, leaves him.

"Captain, you are a long way from home." YiYang states matter-of-factly, taking the knife offered by the human, "I am not sure how a human was able to manage it, but it looks like your ship entered our dimension."

Zhang wonders if he had fallen into one of his elaborate dreams where he kept seeing a man with monolid eyes and a deep voice calling to him, asking him to stay, asking him to wait. 

Zhang used to have similar dreams for as far back as he could remember. Though, when he woke, all that he could recall was the intensely fond eyes and deep, smooth voice. 

'Yes, this is a dream.' Zhang concludes. 'Inter-dimensional travel is impossible, isn't it?' 

Zhang takes a deep breath before continuing, "Sir, you said that this is not my Earth. It would mean that you know where I am from?" Zhang's tone is hopeful. For, when he had stepped out of his ship, he had been able to breathe, albeit with slight difficulty. If he could get his people here, this could be the new beginning that he and his organization had hoped for.

YiYang expected Zhang to ask something on those lines. He takes a deep breath, "I may be able to tell you if you let me take a look around. May I?" he asks politely.

Zhang nods, and the prince walks out of the medical facility; Zhang falls in step with him.

After the prince takes a good look around the ship and the ship's navigation system, he turns to Zhang. His eyes filled with sympathy, the prince informs, "Captain, you belong to Earth 2.03. All life on Earth 2.03 seized to exist exactly one hundred and seventy-five years Earth years ago."

*****

On rare occasions when people crossed the barrier and fell, they usually ended up in the sea. Thus, it was natural that the first place that YiHuang scans is the waters under the area where YiYang was reported to have fallen over.

Once satisfied that his brother was not there, he commands his people to look for the prince in all directions. 
 He doesn't tell anyone about the pull he had felt as soon as he had stepped on land. So after dispersing his unit, he decides to follow his gut.

He keeps walking towards the pull, which intensifies with each step. As he goes, he keeps taking stock of what lay around him. He witnesses burnt and abandoned vehicles and empty dwellings falling apart due to decades of being neglected.

After The Millenium War, where the YuanJians had struck down every machine the humans had ever created and warned them to never try rebuilding them again, the humans had left the areas near seas and moved inwards. 

The war had ended almost a hundred years ago. It had wiped out all advances in technology that humans had made in the past three hundred years, yet, the way the humans had mistreated the planet was still clearly visible in the smog that hung over the now-abandoned human cities.

The city where YiHuang was walking now was one of the most polluted ones in the world.

After having walked a few hundred meters, he stops. For, just a few feet away, he could see an almost invisible wave-like force field. He could tell that it was a cloaking mechanism, similar to the ones that the humans had almost developed before the war. Of course, YuanJians had intervened before this technology could have been perfected.

The existence of the force field confounds the second prince. 'How is it possible that this technology is working now?' He racks his brain before lifting a finger and touching it tentatively.

Two things happen simultaneously. First, the second prince winces as a wave emitting from the force field knocks him off his feet. Second, it is precisely at this moment that the young prince realizes that this is the place he has been searching for his whole life, and something tells him that behind the wave-like veil, he will find the one he has been dreaming about forever. 

{Author's Note :- Word Count 1521

Please Vote to show your support for this update if you have enjoyed it.}