Taehyun thought he was dead.

When the last branch had wrapped around Taehyun's mouth and suffocated him, he had lost all hope of possibly making it out of here alive. So like a smart person, he started reciting his will out loud, hoping that Meyli was still somehow alive and would use her magical essence to translate it back at the palace.

What he was not expecting, was to be pulled into more branches and roots. He was dumbstruck as the pressure of all the branches continues to drag his weak body through the roots that covered the dense forest. Merely seconds later, he was tossed out into what seemed like healthy grass and crystal flowers.

"What the actual hell... is the world out to show me what gratitude feels like every second if so, HEY WORLD! I'm GOOD, WOULD YOU STOP TRYING TO KILL ME" Taehyun exclaimed out loud, his eyes closing out of the fatigue of thinking that he was about to die.

But then, the thought struck him and his eyes flew wide open. In front of him was the border between the hemlock and shadow woods and behind him was a forest he didn't recognize. Now, Taehyun wasn't stupid and he liked to think that his bread was bigger than that of others. So, connecting the dots wasn't something that Taehyun struggled with but just to make sure he started climbing up a tree. 

Before he could even reach the first branch he felt something nudge at his shoulder, this making him fall backward and onto the back of Meyli. 

"Well, you're late" he chorused before chuckling lightly and brushing through the horse's mane. Meyli neighed in response before flapping her wings and launching herself into the air. Taehyun felt the wind slap his face as the two continued their ascend into the air. Sadly, this was cut short by Meyli's head hitting the vines that covered the dark forest and the two of them tumbled onto the grass. 

"that didn't work" Taehyun mumbled, quickly rubbing Meyli's head to ease the pain on her head but was cut off by the feeling of blood trickling down his forehead. Meyli neighed. Taehyun screamed. 

His terror was cut short by a small fairy zooming out of nowhere. The creature settled on his hair and first pulled his bangs up. Then, he started sprinkling his fairy dust on Taehyun's head. Taehyun simply sat on the grass with a startled expression as the fairy continued his work before finally zooming down and floating in front of Taehyun. 

"Um, hi" Taehyun awkwardly muttered this making the fairy rage for a few seconds before zooming right up to Taehyun's face. 

"Who are you and what are you doing in here" The creature questioned. Now was the time that the prince really bothered to get a good look at the flying humanoid. The fairy was wrapped in what looked in a dark blue leaf and had small vines holding his apparel together. His eyes were dark purple and his hair a gorgeous shade of blonde with purple tips. His glare seemed endless and his wings were a shade of light blue. 

"I-I- I am the prince of Xania and-" Taehyun was cut out by the scoff of the fairy as he pointed his fist in the direction of the prince's nose. 

"Do I look like I care? All I need is your name and why you're here" He lectured once again before flapping back to his position away from the prince. 

 "I was getting to that part. My name's Taehyun Kang and I was sent here by Spiro to-" Once again the poor boy was cut off by the fair who exclaimed a "That old bastard is still alive?" 

Taehyun was dumbfounded. All the fairies he'd encountered before were not only comforting and caring; they were also lovely. Clearly, this one was the exact opposite of that as he not only threatened to punch taehyun but was also currently ranting about how much he hated Spiro. 

"I'm sorry but why exactly am I being lectured?" Taehyun questioned, this question making the fairy scoff in response. 

"Not only were you and your big dog tossed in here by the vines, but you guys also tried to fly out and hurt and angered the vines. Are you aware of the fact that you and your pet head-butting the vines were as hurtful as someone punching you?" he questioned, this making Taehyun shut up and simply listen to the tiny flying creature lecture him on. 

But that was after muttering a small 'meyli isn't a dog, she's a horse' as the horse sassily neighed. 

"I don't really care. My point is that Spiro can't keep sending people in here and trapping them. I'm sure even you know well enough that the forest is cursed and our guardian went missing decades ago. Not only does every venturer get stuck in here, each time someone new comes they try to break the vines, and in return the vines kill them. That means more work for me because I have to clean that up," the tiny creature continued to rant, taehyun simply staring at him and occasionally feeding a leaf or two to meyli who looked just as confused. 

"um...may I ask your name, sir?" taehyun questioned, this making the fairy pause. slowly, the creature flapped its wings and turned to face taehyun. never had an adventurer ever requested to know his name. 

"say, why did spiro send you in, again?" he questioned, eyes narrowed at taehyun questioning. upon receiving taehyun's response which consisted of flying red sparkles, a flying horse, some stuff about fate, and a dying guardian, the fairy calmed down. taking a seat on taehyun's shoulder, he pulled taehyun's ear to check if the latter was lying. an ancient trick amongst the fairies to separate the honest from the liars. 

"and the vines let you in by themselves? you didn't fight them or anything? they just, opened up?" the creature questioned once again, taehyun simply nodding in response. finally, after a few minutes of silence, the fair stood up and fluttered up to taehyun's eye level. sprinkling the latter with a little bit of purple and green fairy dust, the fairy grumbled about how tiresome it was to deal with this. 

"my name... it's renjun. it's certainly not a pleasure to meet you." the fairy who taehyun now knew as renjun, mumbled. taehyun mumbled a small, "ah" and stuck out a finger to shake hands with the fairy. 

"why did I have to be the first fairy to encounter you, just my luck. all I try to do is go out and collect a berry for the month and I end up running into some stupid prince." renjun grumbled, glaring at taehyun. "I'm sorry, do I need to give you an invitation to stand up?" almost immediately, taehyun stood up, shaking the stray grass off his armor mumbling a "sorry" in the process. 

"out of all the fairies I could've encountered, I just had to run into the grumpiest one, didn't I?" taehyun sassed back, renjun scoffing at this but smirking at the fact that his company wasn't all boring after all. 

"Welcome to the shadow woods I guess, it's really dangerous here so I would suggest keeping your hands to yourself, not trusting anyone you see, and only communicating with fairies who have light-colored wings." renjun mumbled, nudging taehyun to follow him as he walked through a wall of leaves, pushing past the layer to enter the other side. 

when taehyun followed after him, he could've sworn it was the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.