Morana was quiet the day after returning from the village. In the morning, she stayed in bed for a long time and when Yeosang offered her food; she sighed that she didn't feel like eating.

Her two guardians figured it was because of the fight and left her alone. After another nap, Morana found herself alone with Wooyoung. The gryphon-born sat against a wall with one of her books in his hands. His brow was furrowed as he tried to read the symbols slowly, still foreign to the craft of letters.

When she sat up to push her blanket aside, he looked up. Relief smoothed out his expression when he had a reason to stop straining so hard.

"Where is Yeosang?"

"Went to the surface with Mulberry to stand in the sun for a while. You know how the addiction gets." Wooyoung snickered to himself, never truly mean towards the dryad they both adored.

So he had stayed inside instead of joining his people in the village. To look after her. Morana was torn. She didn't know what to feel and what to think through all those doubts. Should she ignore the taunting of those kids? Or was it better to address the questions in her heart?

Yeosang told her if she bottled up her worries, her innards would start fouling away.

She didn't want that.

After closing the book, the gryphon-born beckoned to Morana, who gnawed on her lip with sharp teeth.

"How do you feel? Any better? We can try reheating some food."

Try, yes. Since they were always likely to burn their food if Yeosang wasn't around. Both of them seemed explosive when paired with fire.

Wooyoung was her best friend, and his grins were encouraging. Morana could trust him.

"Wooyoung, where is my father?"

Wooyoung's wings stiffened. Their junctures drew taut to hug the bristling feathers closer to his shoulders. He didn't look at her, just poking at the pot over the fire with a wooden spoon so it would heat quicker. Offer a meal to distract their mouths from talking.

Morana was too young to understand the nuance in his voice, but he sounded nervous when he replied. Shifty eyes dashed to the entrance of the cave.

"What brought this up?"

Morana dangled her legs over the side of the bed. She aged slowly and Wooyoung once calculated for her that her twelve years in this world only got her to the same size as a 7-year-old human or gryphon-born. Still, she had a wise mind for her age. More education. She knew better than to submit to needless cruelties, but she was often lost in this limited space. Felt the lack of her origins.

"The other kids in the village... They all have parents," she pointed out. She also lowered her eyes, not daring to look at Wooyoung when she realised how tense this topic was in their home.

Wooyoung tried to laugh. A silver ring with an amethyst embedded in it flashed on his finger. It didn't fit him or the colours he often wore, but he protected it fiercely.

"You have Yeosang and I. I have much more courage than the sleepyheads up there who never saw a dragon in their lives. And Yeosang is a whole tree. I'm sure that's awesome in his culture. Everyone sure acted like it back then."

At Morana's silence towards his speech, Wooyoung winced. The stew from last night began boiling anew and Wooyoung stirred aggressively so it wouldn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Morana could help him by preparing bread and drink, but she found herself deflated on the bed. So void of energy.

Wooyoung took a long while to search for words. Where he got them from, Morana never knew. He spoke so much wiser compared to others of his tribe and she had memorised his thinking face while he figured out what he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry we can't stand in. And that the other chicks were mean to you. It's the way of my people. They are just curious," he tried to explain, oddly diplomatic. Always so mellow with this topic. When he was usually full of energy and boasting.

Morana was sick of the mysteries. Of the constant guesses and wistful sighs of her uncles. She wanted to understand.

The same anger as in the village stirred inside her chest. It made her eyes flare and her chin lift, staring at the huddled figure of the gryphon-born who hugged his knees. Unseeing eyes stared at the pot on the fire.

"Then where is he?" She demanded, not letting up this time. Wasn't she old enough already? Did she never get to know? Why would they hide the truth unless Morana's parents were as bad as the kids claimed?

Wooyoung gnawed on the inside of his cheek. His voice came out reluctantly, as if he wasn't sure if he was allowed to speak on this.

Had Yeosang forbidden him?

"He's... He's gone. We lost him a decade ago."

A lame answer. The same as always. Morana was too young to remember. She shouldn't question those nightmares of fires and screaming people.

Was she the only one who hurt?

"And where is my other father?" She followed up, hoping to find any answer, somewhere. How could it be that her entire past was a mystery, and she came out with a gryphon youngster and some tree as her caretakers? When she was clearly so odd already?

Was she a failed experiment? Did her maker not plan to have her, and that demon took advantage of him and she was discarded since neither wanted her?

Wooyoung huddled into his wings. He shuddered, though no wind rushed through the cave back so far in the cliff. But Morana was bitter already. Her suspicions didn't let him off the hook.

"He disappeared that night, I... We haven't heard from him ever since."

Frustrated, Morana crossed her arms. She glowered at the ground while Wooyoung stirred the stew, apparently as helpless as her.

She smelled the lie in the air. Knew there was more to this, and they just didn't want to talk about it.

"I want to search for him. My elven father." He had to have answers. Even if he abhorred her, they didn't have to meet for long. A few answers were enough. And judging by Yeosang's and Wooyoung's longing gazes and words about their past, they also deserved solace.

How cruel must he be to curse all three of them with his ignorance? Why have Morana if he abandoned her? Wasn't she good enough? She could learn, she could grow. She didn't have to be like the person who hurt him.

"He has been gone for ten years, we won't-" Wooyoung began, but Morana cut him off.

"Elves don't age!"

Morana knew he had been a mighty elf. The mightiest of all. The emperor of an empire long fallen. She was some princess, a bastard child by the sound of it. Discarded from the family even after their royal blood no longer gave them a reason to shun her.

Her upset must have cut through Wooyoung's bubble because he peered up at her furious eyes. Hot tears pooled in them, since she didn't understand. Felt so lost and ignored by everyone around her.

Was there no one who cared about her?

"I'm sorry, Morana," Wooyoung whispered, and his throat bobbed against his own defeat. He blinked rapidly to focus back on his stirring.

"I also miss him. I wish I had answers for you. But everything changed back then. For us, too."

"Did you never go back to search for him?"

Wooyoung shook his head.

"It was too risky. That area is cursed now. And... Yeosang and I were afraid of what we would find."

Them? Didn't they also come from different places? Morana had studied the map. She knew Yeosang's home was supposed to be in the far west and Wooyoung was born here.

After a moment of icy silence in the cave, Wooyoung exhaled.

"I understand what you feel like," he muttered, as if afraid to admit it. As if Yeosang would materialise in their midst to hiss at him for speaking about this with her.

"I wish I knew more. Answers might make the pain easier, but... We all dealt with it differently. Some moved on better than others. We had you, and... Taking care of you and giving you a home was the greatest respect we could pay Seonghwa."

Seonghwa. Right, that was his name. The name of the person who made Morana. And whom everyone wept for, the stars and the trees.

The more she had to listen to his sob story, the more she loathed him.

Who was he to deserve all that attention? Why couldn't people live in peace? He ditched Morana, so why did she have to keep hearing about him?

Bothered, she scowled into the room. Wooyoung poured the burnt stew for her and eating distracted them. Still, Wooyoung's feathers continued to tremble.

"A lot of time passed. I'm sure it's fine to go back now," Morana argued in her limited knowledge. "Maybe you can find him, or go back where you lived or something."

"No," Wooyoung hummed into the stew. The fish was still cold inside. "Everything is gone now. Fallen to ruin. And our star himself is gone. In a place where not even the most powerful can reach him."

"Says who?!" Morana barked, fed up with yet another nostalgic sigh. "Who says he is gone?! Why did he ditch you if you love him so much?!"

"He didn't want to," Wooyoung whispered and a trickle of tears trailed over his cheeks. He didn't wipe them, just let them drip from his jutting chin. "He never wanted to. You can't remember, but we saw. The images are still fresh, even after ten years. There is nothing left for us to find."

Frustrated with his hollow pain, Morana dug into her stew. Eating distracted her fury, but she wasn't soothed.

If he was gone, it was time to move on. And to let her explore her legacy if they couldn't. Morana was old enough now to question the world and to feel stifled in her limited surroundings.

After their meal, Wooyoung had calmed. He exhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes to dissolve the tension in his body. When he nodded, Morana peered up at him from gripping her bowl tightly to keep her hands from lashing out in ire once more.

The one she wanted to hit wasn't there.

"I will ask Yeosang what we can do. You reminded me that I also don't like to sit idle... I know there is nothing to find there, but I want you to know who you are. That place helped me find myself, too. Perhaps your past can help you grow."

Wary, since she didn't want to fall under the same spell as they did, Morana nodded. When Wooyoung got to his talons, he took the empty bowl from her to wash them out later, ever so lazy to commit to work when he was full and warm from food.

"Don't wait for me. Drink some mead if you feel like it. I won't tell Yeosang, but it can soothe your mind. If you catch a fever, I will have to dunk you into the ocean to cool you down." He threatened.

At Morana's smile, a faint grin returned to his lips.

The girl was giddy, glad her confession brought progress. When she clambered into the bed with her book, eager to do whatever they wanted so she could go on this journey, Wooyoung chortled at her. The glimmer of her eyes could be so sweet to get what she wanted.

"Will you talk to Yeosang? About going?"

Steady fingers caressed through her hair, and Morana liked the twinkle reflecting at her. It was so lively compared to the usual gloomy look she knew him with.

Was this what he meant? What Seonghwa could do? Did he make Wooyoung's eyes shine?

Could Yeosang look this bright, too?

Awed, Morana snuggled into the caress as he tugged playfully on a horn.

"Aye, for you, little imp. I might go mad; I miss him that much. Even if there is nothing else there, it's a place of memories."

Whatever he needed as an incentive. When Morana huddled under their blanket, she was excited, as she had rarely been. Her nose still hurt, but perhaps that hit had shaken her awake.

Now she only needed to hope Yeosang would also get infected by that same curiosity.