Author's Note: Hey! Sorry it's been awhile, but now that school is over the updates should be more frequent. Gongju {cong-jew} is the Korean term for 'princess', and pyeha {pay-ha} is the term for 'sire' or 'your majesty' and that is what I will be using for most of the time from here on out. It's been awhile since I saw an episode with this, but according the to translator's notes and subtitles, Alcheon's guild is named 'Celestial Angels' in English, or haneul cheonsa in Korean, so that is what I'll use, though if I'm wrong I would love to be corrected on that! Also, Yushin Rang is the head of the deulaegon kkoch or 'Dragon Flower' guild.


Hyun wasn't sure just how she had ended up walking, well trudging might be a better description, behind the yellow-clothed guild that was led by Alcheon Rang. Amidst all the confusion, with the gongju firing questions at her in the hopes that she would remember something, and the physicians pulling on her face and peering into her eyes for signs of illness, no one had thought to ask if she were actually a boy, and seeing as it looked as though it would be in her best interest to not say anything on the matter, she hadn't mentioned the fact that she was of the female gender. After the physicians' agreement that the amnesia could be permanent, or merely temporary, the gongju had then pleaded with her father to place the 'boy' into the ranks of the Hwarang. The king had been hesitant, already a new guild had been acquired on this journey due to his daughter's request, but he was overjoyed to be with her again, and the boy's mettle was to be commended, and so he had conceded and offered the proposal to Hyun, who, being over-whelmed by all that was going on, had agreed. Afterwards the king and gongju had forced Alcheon Rang into a figurative corner, resulting in him agreeing to the boy joining his guild, something the Hwarang leader was clearly very unhappy about. The gongju had smiled cheerfully at Hyun, said something about finding 'him' a set of clothing once they got to the capital, and then walked back to her carriage while Alcheon Rang had glared at his new trainee and barked at 'him' to get into line. It had been nearly six hours since then, six awful, agonizing hours of walking. She was already regretting the hasty decision to become a Hwarang. Sweat was pouring down her dirty forehead and down into her shirt where it caused the rough fabric to stick uncomfortably. She didn't think she had ever worked so hard in her life. Alcheon Rang had been sending her glares all through the walk to Seorabeol , but she couldn't even muster up the energy to send one at his unfaltering back in return.

"We halt for the night!" a man's voice carried over the dull noise of marching feet, and the company slowed to a stop.

The Hwarang guilds formed a circle around the main camp with their own separate areas, effectively guarding the royal family whilst garnering individual places for each separate group.

Alcheon Rang immediately called his Hwarang to order, an air of command seemed to follow his very presence and the men were immediately silent.

"There is a stream about fifty yards to the east, I want every one of you to wash yourselves so that you don't smell like pigs when we reach the capital, especially you, Hyun." He said, looking at the trainee with a sneer to her utter mortification.

There was a smattering of 'yes sir's, and the twenty-odd men turned about and headed in the direction of the stream their captain had pointed out. Hyun dragged her feet as slowly as possible, partly from exhaustion, but mostly so that she would have time to think of a way to avoid bathing in front of the others. Her dilemma was solved by a solid arm striking her in the gut, forcing her attention upwards into the unsmiling face of Alcheon Rang.

"Before you bathe, you are going to fill all of our water bags. I don't care how long it takes you, but you will fill and return each and every one, and then you will wash yourself until I am satisfied with your state of cleanliness. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Hyun replied rather mournfully, her face falling as he dumped twenty-two water bags into her arms, the weight of them empty enough to make her grimace in anticipation.

She made her way to the stream, the gurgling sound of the water guiding her way. Once there she dropped the bags on the ground by the stream and began filling them. She could haul no more than four at a time, and even that was a struggle. The awkward, jiggling weight of the bags, in addition to her clothes, which had become slightly water-logged due to the difficulty she was having in securing the bags, made the trips far more arduous than they should have been, and she could barely stand by the time she had returned the last bag to their bedding area. Of course, the fact that she had nearly been caught staring by some of the men while they had been bathing didn't help her mood. She hadn't seen anything beyond their lower waist, but the thought still brought a raging blush to her cheeks, and the little voice in her mind was repeating the word 'hormones', whatever that was. It also didn't help that many of the men, including a certain, sadistic Hwarang leader, had very nice looking bodies after years of training.

"Hyun!"

'Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear,' she thought to herself with a groan as Alcheon Rang made his way over to her.

"Are you finished?"

"Yes sir."

"Well then what are you waiting for? Your stench is nauseating." He told her with a harsh look, pointing his finger to the stream. "Don't make me send you back again."

She would have growled or retorted in some manner, which likely would have landed her in a great deal of trouble, but as it was she was too tired to even unclench her jaw. She tottered over to the water once more and barely looked around to make sure she was alone before peeling her clothes from her body and practically falling into the stream. The frigid water was enough to wake her up a bit and she scrubbed hard at her tired body, using reeds and even mud to scrape the grime from her skin and hair. She winced as she explored the cuts and bruises she had achieved from her 'battle' earlier in the day. Her teeth were chattering violently and her skin was covered in bumps by the time she had thoroughly cleansed herself, and she thankfully pulled herself to the bank after quickly scrubbing her clothing with sand from the stream bed. She pulled the garments on after wringing them out to the best of her ability and spent some more time in running her frozen fingers through her tangled hair in an attempt to make it a bit more presentable and easier to deal with in the morning.

Alcheon Rang was still standing by the fire when she finally made her way back to the campsite. He once again blocked her way, this time with the hilt of his sword. He walked around her in a tight circle, his eyes critically evaluating her, he even went so far as to drag his long fingers through her hair in his appraisal.

"Very well, it will do for now. You won't have watch duty until you have some training. I won't have the camp ambushed on the account of some kid's inexperience."

With that he turned and returned to his former position, leaving Hyun to stumble to where she had dropped her pack.

Later that night Alcheon looked up to see the new trainee shivering where he slept. The Hwarang captain shook his head and languidly stood from his position by the fire. He silently walked over to where the boy was lying, removed his blanket from his pack, and spread it over him before returning to his place and adding another log to the flames.

The kid had some inner strength, but that alone wouldn't help him survive in the haneul cheonsa guild.


It was late the next day when Seorabeol came into view in the distance.

"Welcome to your new home." Alcheon Rang's voice came unexpectedly from her left. She turned to see her commander staring at the distant rooftops.

"Your training as a Hwarang begins in the morning. You had better be ready."

She watched as he continued in front of her and then set off once more, wanting as much time in a real bed as possible before the rising of the sun.