Episode 3. The Journey Begins

Only after the iron door closed did Minjeong’s arms begin to shake. Junho pushed their bags aside and spread four blankets on the floor. As Namjeong lowered Duri and Shiru, his sister kept checking the small rises of Moa’s and Pori’s chests. They had been so heavy on the stairs. Now, out of her arms, they looked terribly small.

JunhoLet’s change the water. We need clean cloths, too.

Nobody asked why they had fought. Namjeong unwound the damp bandages while Junho worked dirt from the injured fur. Minjeong paused over Moa’s face. When he had first jumped into her arms, those little paws had gripped her jacket so tightly. Now she slipped a finger beneath one, and it did not close around her.

MinjeongHold on, Moa. I’m right here.

Ruby took a step toward the blankets, then stopped. All four places were full, and the children were busy changing water and tying bandages. Junho glanced up and nodded reassuringly, so Ruby moved out of the passage. Chiru sat beside him. They waited a little, but there seemed to be nothing the two of them could help with just now.

Ruby crossed his forepaws, uncrossed them, and glanced back at the blankets. Chiru looked from one busy child to another before nudging Ruby’s shoulder. Neither of them was very good at sitting still with nothing to do.

ChiruWe’ve got nothing to do here… Want to come over to my place?

Ruby’s ears pricked up. He had thought visiting a home would mean climbing the stairs and going out into the village. But Chiru was pointing away from the exit, toward the lanterns deeper inside the bunker.

RubyYour home is in here?

ChiruYep. My sister and big brother are over there. I’ll show you.

Ruby glanced at Junho. The boy paused with a wet cloth in his hands as Chiru explained where they were going. He told them not to wander too far and to come back if he called. Ruby gave his tail a little wag.

Chiru set off down the passage. Ruby followed carefully on his bandaged foreleg. Chiru glanced back and slowed until their steps matched. Behind them came the sound of fresh water being poured; ahead, an unfamiliar corridor stretched into the bunker.

Chiru knew the bunker’s corners better than Ruby had expected. He slipped behind pillars and squeezed around a shelf Ruby had mistaken for a dead end. When Ruby sneezed into a cloud of dust, Chiru hid a grin and chose a slightly cleaner route.

At the end of the passage lay a room lit by a low lantern. A hedgehog with gold markings through her violet quills was putting away empty tins. Behind her rested another hedgehog whose shoulders stood nearly three times as high as Ruby’s. One eye opened the moment the little fox reached the threshold.

ChiruMy sister Rani (Chiruk) and big brother Taeo (Chirgas)!

RaniHi, it’s lovely to meet you. Come on in.

RubyHi. I’m Ruby.

Ruby looked from one sibling to the next, his gaze finally catching on Taeo’s enormous quills. Chiru puffed out his chest. Rani smoothed one crooked quill on his head with a gentle paw.

RaniDid you sleep in another corner? Your blanket was empty. We were looking for you.

Chiru explained that he had made a new friend, neatly leaving out the fight in the storeroom. Ruby gave him a sideways look. Chiru pretended not to notice and patted an empty blanket. Taeo shifted his broad body to make room, and Ruby finally stepped inside.

Ruby kept looking up at the tips of Taeo’s enormous quills. Thin sparks appeared between the golden markings, then vanished. Noticing the curious gaze, Taeo opened his paws. A small current gathered between them, curled into a ring, and bent away from Ruby’s nose before returning to his own back.

TaeoThere’s a difference between letting electricity loose and knowing what to do with it.

He led them deeper into the bunker. Beyond the beds and storerooms, they reached an unfinished tunnel littered with stone dust. Solid rock sealed its end. Taeo explained that widening it would make room for more people and might let them reconnect a blocked passage. Rani guided Ruby and Chiru behind a sturdy support.

Several fine currents crept into the cracks. They twisted together, brightening into a spiral. The playful little light from Taeo’s paws grew thicker and louder until even the pebbles underfoot began to shake. Ruby found himself crouching lower.

TaeoWatch this. Straight through!

Taeo planted all four paws, and every quill along his back blazed at once. A massive bolt struck the tunnel’s end. White light split the rock, and deep cracks raced outward. The first layer collapsed, then the stone behind it broke in turn. Thunder hammered through the passage as spiraling currents drove the rubble inward and carved the tunnel walls wider.

Ruby flattened his ears but could not close his eyes. Taeo was pouring out a force far larger than his own body, yet he had not shifted an inch. At last the lightning faded and the dust settled. Where solid stone had stood, a passage now ran deep enough and wide enough for several pets to walk side by side.

RubyWhoa… you made a tunnel!

Chiru puffed proudly beside him, as if he had done some of the digging himself. Rani checked for loose stones before allowing them out from behind the support. Ruby laid a paw against the new passage’s edge. The stone was warm, with a faint tremor of electricity still running through it. Strength could do more than stop an attack or push an enemy away. It could make somewhere new to go.

When Taeo offered to tackle the next wall, Rani stepped in front of him and declared that quite enough. Ruby laughed, but he kept looking down the passage. The size of that lightning—and Taeo’s steady back within it—stayed bright in his mind.

In the infirmary, Pori’s ear finally twitched. Namjeong stopped wringing out a cloth and leaned close. Her eyes wandered from the ceiling to his face. Then she pushed herself up in a hurry, only to sag as pain caught her side.

NamjeongEasy, Pori. Don’t get up yet.

He caught the edge of her blanket before she could tumble. As she steadied her breathing, fragments returned: rolling stones, Moa’s stream of water, the plants she had sent forward. Above all, she remembered a little bear falling into the dust.

PoriDuri is… here too?

Namjeong pointed to the next blanket. Duri lay on his side with his eyes shut, his stone necklace lifting slightly with each breath. Only when Pori saw that movement did she let herself exhale.

The relief did not make her feel better about everything. Outside, she had thought only of protecting Moa. Here, with Duri lying so close, she could no longer put aside the memory of her own attack knocking his small body to the ground.

Pori crept toward Duri’s blanket, keeping her aching body low. Namjeong started to stop her, then paused. She looked nothing like a pet preparing to attack. After studying the bandage on Duri’s foreleg, she began gently licking dirt from the fur on his cheek.

PoriI’m sorry about earlier. It must have hurt.

Duri did not answer. Pori lowered her ears and groomed another small patch. When her nose strayed too close to the bandage, Namjeong indicated the fur beside it.

NamjeongThat spot’s sore. Let’s clean around it.

He softened the dried dirt with a damp cloth, and Pori carefully untangled the fur away from the wound. When Junho needed a fresh bandage, she nudged the basket toward him. When Duri shifted, she smoothed a fold in the blanket with her nose. Her side hurt whenever she strained, so she worked slowly, resting between each small task.

Instead of demanding to know why she had attacked him, Namjeong moved a bowl of water within her reach. Pori drank, then turned back to Duri. Even if he could not hear her apology yet, she wanted waking up to hurt a little less.

The first thing Shiru saw when he woke was Pori beside Duri. His ears snapped upright before the rest of him had quite caught up. He tried to growl, but his sore throat turned it into a cough. Pori looked around.

Shiru…What are you doing beside Duri?

PoriThere’s still dirt in his fur. It must hurt.

A faint chill gathered beneath Shiru’s paw. Pori neither fled nor braced for a fight. She worked a small clump of dirt free, accepted a cloth from Namjeong, and set it beside Duri. When the bear flinched, she stopped immediately and waited until his breathing settled.

Shiru watched the whole small exchange. Outside, he had seen only the moment Duri fell. It had never occurred to him that Pori might stay beside Duri afterward like this. His raised ears slowly lowered. His paw loosened its grip on the blanket.

ShiruCould I… help?

Pori hesitated, then pointed to the blanket slipping off Duri’s back. Shiru came closer, took the edge gently between his teeth, and drew it up. There were still things neither of them had said. For now, they were holding the same blanket over the same friend.

Duri opened his eyes a little later. He stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, then tried to sit up all at once. Pain ran through his foreleg and drew a small whimper from him, but he was already looking toward the door.

DuriWhere’s Dad? Is he here too?

Minjeong supported the blanket before he could topple. His eyes searched behind her, darted to the door, then turned to Junho. He looked ready to run the moment anyone nodded. That hope made Minjeong hesitate. Then she realized she must not leave him waiting for an answer she did not have.

MinjeongWe haven’t found him. We’ll help you look.

For a while, Duri said nothing. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and pressed one stone of his necklace with a paw. When the tears finally came, Shiru leaned gently against him. Pori pushed the water bowl closer and gave them room.

Minjeong did not promise that his father was waiting in some place she could name. She asked where Duri had last seen him, and which roads he had already searched. His answers broke off whenever he began to cry again. She waited and remembered each turn. When Duri next looked at the door, he did not try to get up alone.

As three pets woke one after another, small voices returned to the infirmary. Minjeong could not keep her attention on them. Moa’s blanket lay almost exactly as it had when she put him down. She held his paw and called close to his ear, but his eyelids did not move.

MinjeongMoa, it’s me. Please open your eyes.

Pori brought her nose close to his. She could feel his breathing. But the cool moisture that usually tickled her face was scarcely there, and his tail lay slack on the blanket, holding only a faint ripple of water.

PoriMoa… can you hear me?

Only another shallow breath answered. Pori remembered the last moment she had seen him outside: Moa stepping in front of her just before she fell. She did not know what had happened next. Across the blankets, Shiru could not quite meet Moa’s face either.

Junho brought a fresh cloth. Minjeong did not take it at once. She had wiped the same small face so many times already, and nothing had changed. Seeing her hand shake, Pori lifted her head. She remembered a shop window she and Moa had once stopped at beside the waterway.

Pori remembered the shopkeeper holding a small bottle up to the sun. He had said it was for pets that had spent so much strength they could no longer get up. Moa had insisted he could see a little current moving inside it and refused to leave the window. Pori had waited ages for him that day.

PoriThe pet shop sells Life Water. Moa needs it.

Minjeong looked up immediately. Asked where the shop was, Pori described a turning beside the waterway. Namjeong fetched an old folded map from the wall. Pori traced the street with a paw and tapped the corner where the shop had stood.

NamjeongThen we’ll buy some. Show us the way.

He shook the remaining dirt from an empty bag and gathered their coins into it. None of them knew whether the shop was still standing, or whether any Life Water remained. Minjeong began to ask, then glanced at Moa. She could not stay here doing nothing but calling his name.

Pori nodded over the map. She had not yet heard how long Moa had fought to protect her. She knew enough to understand that this time, she had to find the way. While Namjeong tightened the bag’s strap, she practiced getting to her feet without pulling at her sore side.

Shiru stepped quietly in front of Namjeong as the boy folded the map. Thinking he wanted room to pass, Namjeong moved aside. Shiru turned his head to follow him.

ShiruI’m coming too. I owe Moa that much.

He glanced at the sleeping otter. Outside, protecting Duri had been the only thing in his mind when he attacked Pori. Now he thought he understood why Moa had refused to back away. Shiru started to say more, then closed his mouth and studied the street Pori had pointed out.

Duri rose from his blanket too. When Minjeong worried about his foreleg, he took a few slow steps to show her. He was not fully better; he had to grit his teeth through the last one.

DuriI’ll come too. I need to look for Dad.

Minjeong crouched in front of him. They would get the Life Water first, she said, then look for signs of his father together on the way back. He had to promise not to run off alone. Duri hesitated, looked at Shiru and Pori, and finally nodded.

Namjeong tucked the loose end of the strap inside his bag. He had expected just himself, his sister, and Pori to leave. With three pets waiting beside the door, there would be more faces to watch along the road. Somehow, that made his heart feel a little less heavy.

Minjeong checked her brother’s bag once more: coins, clean cloths, and a small flask of water for the road back. Pori waited at the foot of the indoor stone steps leading to the iron door. Shiru watched Duri’s injured foreleg each time the bear climbed a step. Noticing, Duri lifted his head as if nothing hurt at all.

Junho set fresh water and cloths beside Moa, then rose to see the others off. Someone had to stay and watch his breathing and warmth. Deeper in the bunker, Ruby and Chiru were still asking Taeo excited questions. Halfway up the steps, Minjeong looked back toward Moa’s bed. Junho nodded to show he would stay. Only then did she let go of the bag.

MinjeongLook after Moa. We’ll bring it back.

JunhoWe’ll be waiting. Come back together.

At the top of the indoor steps, Namjeong slid out the bolt and eased the iron door open. More stairs continued beyond it toward the surface. No black smoke waited outside. Instead, the rattle of a broken sign drifted down from above. Pori sniffed the air and checked the way. Shiru looked back to make sure Duri was keeping up. Minjeong and Namjeong passed through the doorway and climbed the outer steps at the pace of the three small pets.

Junho waved from the bottom of the steps until the last footsteps faded. After closing the door, he returned straight to Moa. The little paw still had not moved. He replaced the damp cloth and wondered which corner his friends were turning now.

Outside, Minjeong looked back once. Namjeong adjusted the bag on his shoulder. Pori waited at the alley leading to the waterway. Minjeong said Moa’s name under her breath, and the five of them set off down the road.