Seokjin

“Shackles of gilded chains, A crown that weighs a thousand dreams, I'll chase the horizon's edge to be free.”

Prologue

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The Fugitive Prince.

He woke to the sound of horses in the middle of the night.

They weren’t trying very hard to be quiet. Judging off their awkward gait and the loud clunk of their armor, they are lost as well. Leaves crunched loudly; heavy breathing echoed from a mile off. Seokjin sat up from his resting place—a tree branch thick and sturdy, a long drop from the ground. A bird's nest was resting across from him on another tree. The blanket of night had pulled taut across the sky, a vast expanse of darkness cloaking the forest in shadow. Not a single pinprick of starlight twinkled through overhead.

A weighty stillness saturated the woodlands, the dense thicket of towering tree trunks standing as silent sentinels encircling the small clearing. This was the best place to rest, where humans couldn’t get to him. Humans wouldn’t want to risk climbing them.

It wasn’t everyday he had new guards hunting him. He knew because the old ones didn’t usually target him in the middle of the night. They learned after a few bad attempts. Nighttime was his domain, where the stars shone brightly and he could reach out and pull their ethereal abilities into the tips of his fingers. Feel the thrum of stardust alongside silver blood. Cold. Not warm. Powdery, like fresh sifted wheat flour.

Seokjin raised his left hand, tiny star-like symbols dancing on the lines of his palm like the rings of planets. Dancing and swirling in mesmerizing patterns. He curled his fingers into a fist before flicking two stars out. They shimmered and fluttered around his fingers like excited children before he sent them flying in the direction of clopping hooves. Then he just settled back against the tree and closed his eyes.

Behind his lids, he could see through the two stars. They were smaller than butterflies but moved so fast, sprinkling stardust in their wake. Trees passed in a blur until the sound of hooves grew louder, louder, until–

THUMP!

One of the stars streaked across the night sky like a radiant comet, its brilliant tail of incandescent stardust searing the darkness, before plummeting towards the shadowed forest in a blinding arc. It smashed into the trunk of an oak.

Seokjin swiveled the fallen star to illuminate the narrow path ahead. Six imposing figures materialized from the darkness - knights of the royal empire clad in dark steel plates. Grim-faced and grim-visaged, their flinty eyes were haggard and sunken from endless days of restless pursuit, gloved hands trembling with fatigue as they clutched a tattered map.

The weary huntsmen scanned the forest, their horses stomping the loamy soil with heavy iron-shod hooves as they crept ahead at a ponderous gait. The stardust cast stark shadows across the knights' weathered features, deepening the creases. The horses didn’t take notice of the stars, nor did the guards. They were burning themselves out quickly with their hopeless chasing. Seokjin never planned on returning to the palace, and he didn’t understand why they sent humans after a royal with magic.

"Night night..." Seokjin whispered with a twirl of his finger, and two glimmering stars began circling the unsuspecting guards, trailing a shimmering waterfall of stardust behind them.

The horses caught sight of the twinkling lights, their eyes widening as they reared back on powerful haunches with a piercing bray. One guard was nearly thrown from his saddle, cursing as he struggled to regain control of the spooked beast.

One of the armored guards furrowed his brow, head whipping around in alarm. "What's happening? Hey!" His gruff voice cut through the stillness, laced with rising panic.

Before the words even finished leaving his lips, he hissed sharply - grasping at his head as if struck by a sudden, blinding pain. His body went rigid in the saddle for a breathless moment. Then, like a puppet with severed strings, he slumped forward and tumbled off his horse, hitting the ground with a dull thud. The stallion reared back, whinnying in fright at the lifeless lump now sprawled in the dirt. It pawed the air anxiously before its legs buckled, collapsing beside its unconscious rider in a clatter of metal and hooves.

"Micah?" The second guard's voice wavered with disbelief and trepidation. He glanced around wildly, one hand inching toward the sword at his hip. "Who's out there? I swear by the King, if you cowards think you can ambush His Majesty's men–"

A strange glittering filled the air around him, stardust shimmering in the darkness filtering through the trees. The guard sputtered, mouth agape, as flecks of sparkling dust drifted past his lips with every ragged breath.

His words cut off in a gurgled choke. Defiant eyes rolled back in their sockets as he slumped bonelessly over his saddle, finally sliding off to join his fallen comrade in the dirt with a soft thump.

The third guard's panicked shout was drowned out by a thunderous whinny as his horse began to teeter. "By the gods, this can only be–"

The rest of his words dissolved into unintelligible mumbles as the same ethereal sparkles danced before his face. He made a feeble attempt to cover his mouth, but the shimmering dust slipped through his fingers effortlessly.

In mere moments, the guard had stopped struggling, slumped over the saddle like a boned fish with glazed, half-lidded eyes. He toppled to the ground in a clatter of armor as the horse collapsed beside him with a pitiful whinny.

The forest fell eerily silent once more - only the faint rustle of leaves in the breeze disturbing the clearing where three grown men and their powerful steeds now lay unconscious, helpless against an unseen force as the mans last words whispered out weakly.

“...The Star Prince.”

Within minutes, all six guards were asleep on the comfortable grass with their horses. These woods were safe enough for Seokjin to leave them alone. So he twirled two fingers in a small circular motion, the stars flying back towards him, planting onto his palms joining the shimmering line of star symbols that streaked his skin. Unfortunately for him, all his tattoo stars glow and make him a target at night. So he wore a black robe imbued with permanent darkness magic. The punishment was too harsh for him to stay in one place. No one should know he was here, or else the town would be punished for harboring him. Time to get moving.

Seokjin pushed off the branch, leaping down and landing feather-light on the soft grass below. Not a single leaf stirred, nor blade of grass bent under his descent. Lowering his hood, strands of soft white hair danced away on the gentle breeze, briefly revealing the faint celestial glow of his star-shaped halo before the cowl resettled over his features. A self-satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he flipped the fabric back with a deft hand. That'll show those fools what they're dealing with.

With all the silent grace of a flickering candleflame, he slipped deeper between the trees, fading into the shadows of the forest. A few scant hours remained until first light crept over the horizon, when the night guards would eventually rise - or when terrified townsfolk discovered their motionless forms littering the streets. Either way, Seokjin had no intention of sticking around to bear witness. The prospect alone was enough to widen his smile into a grin as memories of the previous dawn's events resurfaced.

Children gasped in delight, clapping as the luminous strands danced and wove themselves into intricate stars overhead. He drew the star's powers into string like puppets that danced like constellations, creating mini haloes just like his own. One by one, faint halos flickered to life around the children, bathing their upturned faces in a shower of stardust. Unfortunately, teaching someone how to awaken their magic abilities took longer than a day. So all he could teach them was that the possibility exists. The townspeople had been so kind, housing him in secret and feeding him before letting him set off. Even after running from the throne, the power of his speeches empowered the townspeople to help those who wield magic. They had even helped him, a stranger under cloak and mask, calling himself Midnight.

Unbeknownst to them, the person underneath the Midnight mask was their very own Star Prince, Seokjin - who had abdicated his throne to walk among mortals. News of his disappearance had spread like wildfire, mobilizing the kingdom's elite hunters. While he’s evaded them all, the first time he came out of hiding at a town ended with his brother paying a visit. The last time he did, led to his eldest brother being dispatched again. The Eldest Prince Haneul. The most formidable, with skills to match Seokjin's own arcane might. Not that he couldn't beat Haneul. By sheer power, Seokjin had Haneul beat. But Haneul wasn’t weak by any means. A worthy adversary, if not one that saddened him dearly.

“Not a fun reunion,” Seokjin sighs, but he shrugged it off. “But what will you do? Brothers will be brothers.” The stars on his halo glimmered as agreeing with his sentiment.

The silence of the forest night was shattered by a raucous cawing. Crows? At this hour? His boots crunched over the carpet of fallen leaves as he slowed, straining his ears. The harsh calls grew louder. Seokjin crept forward, using the thick trunk as cover. Slinking around the side, his breath caught in his throat. A murder of black-winged scavengers swarmed in the clearing ahead, pecking at some lump on the ground covered in fallen leaves. It took Seokjin a few minutes to register that it was a person. But there was something odd about this.

Odd.

Seokjin's curiosity won and he stepped out from behind the refuge of the tree, the birds flew away chittering like gossiping maidens perching on the branches to watch. Nosy Seokjin thought with a teasing smile. Not like he could judge. He was nosy enough to walk up to what could be a trap after all. As a child he used to press against a door and listen in on conversations until his brother whacked him on the head. Everyone had a good laugh on it, even Haneul, who rarely cracked a smile since Seokjin was elected as heir to the throne.

But the more he came closer, the more he realized they were strange. They wore clothes of a strange design, hair in a strange style. Seokjin squatted beside them, gently brushing his thumb across their clothes. Odd. He’s never felt this texture in his life. They didn’t make clothes that look like this or feel like this. Not even from their greatest seamstresses.

His smile turned into bemusement as he poked their shoulder, slowly turning them onto their back to get a better look at their face. Knocked out cold, but no injuries that he could see. There are no traps. Seokjin thought as he looked around, he would’ve sensed them by now. He knew every person's face in this kingdom, but he didn’t recognize this one. Maybe they were from another kingdom. But then what caused them to knock out? “Oi...” Seokjin draws out the words in bemusement, lightly jostling their shoulders. Not a single movement. Maybe they were dead. But he could feel their pulse against his thumb through their clothes. “Wake up.” Huh. Wonder where they came from?

As they started to stir. He made sure his face was concealed in the darkness of his hood, black robes concealing his rheumy white eyes and star symbols. No matter who this person was, they shouldn’t know who he was. That’s even if they knew who he was in the first place. Seokjin didn’t know if other kingdoms spoke of the Do-Hyun family. That would be interesting, meeting someone who didn’t know who he was. Especially someone who looked this out of place with their surroundings. Like he was. Spending the majority of his life behind palace walls did something to a person. Seokjin learned more about himself and the people he was going to take care of as a runaway than a prince.