(A/N: As always, I own nothing but the OCs)


Chapter 1 A Strange World:

Now, if you told Seok Jae Hyun that he'd end up in another dimension after stealing a music box with his three childhood friends and got separated from said friends, he'd tell you you're crazy. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened and now he's in some kind of forest with a half empty water canteen, a few granola bars and a sandwich that might or might not be molded(he wasn't that desperate for food poisoning). He also didn't have much resources. He didn't have his phone due to him dropping it the first night he came here, he didn't have the box with so one of the girls had it which meant the only thing he had was the clothes on his back. Jae sighed as he ran a hand through his messy jet black hair, scratching it lightly to get the dirt out.

"How many days has passed since I got here?" he asked himself.

He wasn't exactly sure how long he's been in this forest but he does know that if he didn't get moving, he'd be lunch for whatever animal finds him. Jae huffed as he stood up, throwing his bag over his shoulder before walking out of the cave he spent the last few days in and continuing through the forest. The sun was already high in the sky which made humidity even hotter than before. He had taken his red hoodie off and stuffed it into his bag, leaving him in his black tank top and his arms bare to the glare of the sun.

'As soon as I get out of here, I am beating the shit out of Sasha. That is…if I find her,' he thought to himself.

Jae shook his head. He couldn't be thinking like that. He just has to hope the girls are okay. Jae stopped walking when he heard something a couple of feet away from him. He looked around the forest to see who could be there.

"Who's there?" he called.

No response. Jae reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket knife. If there was one thing he learned while living on the streets, it's to never let your guard down. He kept walking but made sure to keep his guard up in case something tried to jump him when he wasn't looking. The sound was heard again but this time it seemed that Jae was closer than before. It sounded like…whining? Jae blinked. Is there an animal hurt somewhere? Jae carefully made his way towards the sound.

'This better not get me killed,' he grumbled in his head.

Jae pushed the bushes back to see a small creature pawing at a stone wall. He quietly moved forward, making sure not to startle the creature. But luck hasn't really been on his side these past few days as his foot stepped on a twig, alerting the small creature.

'Fuck,' Jae cursed in his head.

Though unlike most of the animals he encountered, it didn't try to attack him. It just stared at him, tilting its head curiously. Now up close, Jae could see that the creature was a small wolf. It had grayish blue fur with white spots on his left shoulder, baby blue eyes and light gray wings. Jae bent down to the small wolf's level and carefully held his hand out. The winged wolf pup sniffed his hand before barking and tackling him to the ground. Jae grunted as he fell on his back and the wolf pup licked his face.

"Okay, okay, okay! Get off," Jae said, grabbing the wolf pup and sitting up.

He wiped his face off as he stood up.

"What are you doing here alone anyway? Where's your mom?" Jae asked the pup.

The puppy tilted his head. Jae rubbed his neck.

"Mom? You know, like mama?" he asked.

The wolf pup stared at him. Jae sighed.

'Right, he can't understand me,' he said in his head.

The wolf pup barked before running to the stone wall, pawing at it once again. Jae walked towards the wall and looked up to see a bit of it jutted outwards to make a ledge.

'So, the little guy fell? Let's hope his mom's up there,' he said in his head.

The wolf pup looked at him with an expectant look. Jae sighed as he picked the wolf up and slipped him in his bag. His bag wasn't filled with anything aside from his canteen, hoodie and stuff from basketball practice so the pup didn't have to worry about being uncomfortable. Jae started climbing up the wall. His bag was slightly heavier but Jae managed to get to the top of the ledge. He grunted as took his bag off his shoulders, letting the pup run into a cave. Jae rolled his shoulders as he heard the wolf pup howling. He walked into the cave, pulling out a flashlight so he could see. He followed the howling until he saw the wolf pup…and the corpse of what could be his mother. Jae felt his stomach drop when he saw the blood on the ground. He walked over to join the wolf pup who was howling. Jae bent down to examine the body. It was bigger than the pup, definitely an adult. There was a long gash on its stomach where the blood was pouring out as the female wolf laid limp. Poor thing.

"This world is fucked up," he mumbled.

Jae walked out of the cave with the wolf pup behind him. He climbed down the cliff and grunted as he landed on his feet. The wolf pup landed on the ground with a thud. Jae shook his head and picked the wolf pup up into his arms.

"I guess you're coming with me, little buddy," he said.

And with that, Jae continued his walk through the forest.


Hours later:

Jae huffed as he looked at the sky. The sun was setting and the stars were coming out already.

'We should probably get some rest and continue tomorrow,' he said in his head.

After finding a clearing, Jae placed his stuff down and started collecting wood to make a fire. He grabbed a lighter from his pocket and lit the wood. And people said holding a lighter was a dumb idea. Once the fire was lit, Jae sat down on the mossy ground. The light from the fire illuminated the area around him. The wolf pup was sitting beside him, gnawing on a stick. Jae chuckled as he grabbed a granola bar from his bag and opened the wrapper. He took a bite out of it and leaned back against the tree behind him. As he ate, Jae pulled out a picture of him and his three friends. The picture showed Jae in the middle with a slightly annoyed look on his face as he sat on the ground, a Thai girl with tan skin, curly, fluffy brown hair and dark brown eyes sat on his left with a smile on her face and her arm wrapped around his, holding up a peace sign, on his other side a Taiwanese girl with olive skin, short, shiny black hair and light brown eyes sat on the ground with a small smile on her face. Behind him stood a girl with fair skin with a beauty mark under her left eye, blonde hair tied into a ponytail and baby blue eyes. Her arms rested on his head as she smirked. Jae felt something nudge his arm and he looked to see the wolf looking up at him with a curious look.

"Those are my best friends. The one on the left is Anne, she's the softie of our group, the blonde girl is Sasha, the rebel and troublemaker and that's Marcy, the little nerd," he told the wolf pup.

He sighed as he looked at the picture.

"I hope they're okay. They're really important to me and I wouldn't forgive myself if something remotely bad happened to them while I wasn't there to help," he said.

The wolf barked slightly. Jae gave a small smile as he gently patted his head.

"You're something else, little dude. Huh. I should probably give you a name since we're going to be traveling together for a while," Jae said.

He began to think about what to call his little friend. Eventually, Jae came up with one.

"Hey, how does Apex sound?" he asked the winged wolf pup.

The pup sneezed. Jae laughed lightly.

"Apex it is," he said.

Jae laid down on the ground, hands resting behind his head. Apex curled up into a ball beside him and fell asleep. Jae looked at the stars in the sky and sighed. First thing in the morning, he should see if he can find civilization. He shifted to get more comfortable on the ground before closing his eyes and falling asleep.


The Next Day:

Jae was packing up his stuff as Apex ran around the open space chasing some kind of insect the size of a rat. The insect had run into some bushes. Apex stopped and looked at Jae as if asking permission. Jae rolled his eyes.

"You can chase it but don't go too far because I won't be able to find you," he said.

Apex ran off and chased after the insect. Jae placed his stuff in his bag and threw it over his shoulder. He looked up at the sky.

'It's still bright so finding civilization won't be hard,' he said in his head.

He heard something from the forest and turned to it.

"Apex?" he called.

Five seconds later, Apex jumped out from the bushes and ran towards him. Jae rubbed his head. He saw some green stuff on Apex's snout and snorted.

"You ate the bug?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

Apex barked before looking behind Jae and started growling. Jae blinked and looked behind him but saw nothing. He turned back to Apex.

"There's nothing over there," he told the wolf.

Apex ignored him as he kept growling. Jae sighed and walked to the bushes. He moved them aside and saw nothing.

'What's got the little guy all worked up' he said in his head.

Jae heard a yelp from behind and turned to see some figure holding Apex by his scruff. They looked to be around his height, maybe taller. They were wearing a black armored vest, a chainmail shirt underneath, a sheath strapped to their back, holding a machete, brown pants with black buckles and some kind of tribal mask with red paint covering the right side and blue paint covering the otherside. Jae noticed that the person had a tail and brown hair which poked out from the top of the mask. He glared at the person.

"Put him down!" he growled.

"Tell me what are you doing near our home and maybe I'll let him go," they said.

Jae could tell by the voice this was a male.

"I'm warning you, let him go, now," Jae said, clenching his fists.

The figure pulled his machete out and held it up to Apex's neck. Jae growled.

"Get Away!" he shouted.

Before the figure could react, Jae charged forward. The figure swung his machete. To his surprise, Jae dodged it with ease.

'This kid's fast,' he thought to himself.

Jae pulled his fist back and sent a hard punch to the figure's stomach, sending him to the ground and making him drop Apex. The figure laid on the ground. Jae panted as he glared at the person.

"What kind of person tries to hurt an innocent animal?! I don't know how you people do it here but where I'm from that's cruel," he said.

The figure chuckled as he stood up.

"I have to say you can pack a punch but you only managed to hit me because you caught me off guard," he said.

He charged forward at Jae with an amazing speed. Jae grunted as he blocked a punch with his arm. The figure jumped back and sent punch after punch at him. Jae managed to block them but got hit in his arms, shoulders and stomach. The figure kicked Jae's legs from under him, making the Korean boy fall to the ground.

'This guy strikes hard and fast,' he said in his head.

Jae jumped to his feet and held his side. The figure sent another round of punches at him. Jae used his hand to redirect the punch to the ground and sent a knee to the guy's face. The masked person stopped the knee and elbowed Jae in the face. Jae staggered back holding his nose. He felt blood dripping from his nose.

'Okay..now I'm pissed,' he said in his head.

Jae charged at the guy and grabbed his shoulders, taking him by surprise.

"AHH!" Jae shouted, launching his head forward.

His forehead collided with the mask as Jae clenched his teeth. The figure staggered backwards, dropping his machete before falling to the ground unconscious. Jae pants as he calms down.

'I actually knocked him out? I did hit him in the head pretty hard,' Jae said in his head.

Deciding he should get out of here before the dude wakes up, Jae grabbed his bag and was about to walk away when a sack was suddenly thrown over his head.

"The hell?!" Jae shouted.

Something struck him in the neck and Jae fell unconscious.


Hours later:

Jae groaned as he opened his eyes. He saw multiple blurs in front of him. His vision cleared and Jae saw what looked like giant humanoid axolotls. Jae tries to move and finds that his hands were bound in front of him. He cursed to himself and looked up at the creatures in front of him. The group of 8 looked like they were probably around 3 to 4 years older than him. In the middle of the group stood someone who looked to be the youngest, probably a year or two older than himself. He had olive skin with yellow spots, spiky brown hair and green eyes. He had a bandage on his forehead. Was this the guy he headbutted?

"Man, you weren't joking. That is disgusting," one of the others said.

Jae snorted.

"Where I'm from, giant talking lizards are considered freaks of nature," he said.

The brown haired axolotl glared at him and grabbed Jae by his tank top.

"Do we look like lizards to you?!" he shouted.

"Xavier, that's enough," a voice said.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as two other axolotls walked into the was tall, standing at 5'10 with a muscular build. He had olive skin with black spots, curly black hair and green eyes. He was wearing a pair of gray and black armor with a sword strapped to his waist. The other axolotl looked like Xavier but he had yellow skin, wavy brown hair and dark green eyes. Unlike Xavier, this axolotl wore a green sleeveless tunic, baggy brown pants and a sword strapped to his back.

"Right on time, Miguel and Xander," one of the other axolotls said as Xavier dropped Jae.

The axolotl now known as Miguel bent down to Jae's level. The Korean boy glared at him with his grayish blue eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Seok Jae Hyun," Jae answered, still glaring.

"Seok? What kind of name is that?" Xavier snorted.

Jae turned to him.

"It's my last name, dumbass. My actual name is Jae," he snapped.

Xavier growled.

"You little-!" Xavier started

"Xavi," his father warned.

Xavier went silent but still glared at Jae. Miguel turned to the human boy.

"Well, Jae, you caused quite a problem," he said.

Jae's eyebrow twitched.

"Me?! I'm not the one who judo chopped a random kid on the neck and knocked him out!" he shouted.

Miguel was unphased by his outburst.

"You headbutted my son," he said.

Jae growled.

"Tell your son not to randomly attack someone," he spat.

Miguel sighed.

"Okay, let's just move on. I've got some questions to ask you," he said.

Jae glared at him.

"Screw. You." he said.

'This kid is stubborn,' Miguel thought to himself.

The curtains were pulled back as an axolotl in the same armor as Miguel walked in.

"Chief, we checked his bag. There ain't much in there," he said.

Jae growled and stood up. He was grabbed by his arms.

"You went through my stuff?!" he exclaimed.

Miguel turned to him.

"Safety precautions," he said.

Jae glared at him.

"Safety precautions, my ass," he growled.

He steps on the two axolotls' feet, making them cry out. The other axolotls ran towards him with some spears. Jae leaned to the side to avoid getting stabbed and used the spear to cut the ropes, freeing his hands. He ran past Miguel and out the tent. Jae pants as he runs through the small village. He dodges a few people as he jumps over crates, carts and stands. He grunted as he was tackled to the ground. Jae fights against the axolotls' grip.

"Get the hell off me!" he shouted.

Xavier placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from struggling

"충분한*!" a voice yells in Korean.

The whole street goes silent as an elederly salamander walks towards the group. The salamander had black skin with pale yellow spots, graying black hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white robe with blue designs with two swords strapped to his waist. The salamander looked down at Jae who glared up at him.

"그를 풀어줘*," he said.

"But 할아버지*," Xavier said.

The salamander looked at him.

"Xavier, 지금*," he said.

Jae felt the pressure on his shoulder leave as Xavier and the other axolotls released him. The Korean boy stood up rubbing his shoulder.

"당신의 이름은 무엇입니까*?" he asked.

Jae stared at him for a split second before responding.

"석재현*," he responded in Korean, surprising everyone else.

The salamander nodded.

"Jae, 괜찮으시다면 몇 가지 질문을 하고 싶습니다*," he said.

'I don't really have a choice,' Jae said in his head.

"좋아*," he sighed.


Later:

Jae was sitting on his knees with Miguel, Xavier, Xander and the elederly salamander in front of him. The salamander poured some tea in a cup and placed it in front of Jae. The black haired boy looked at the cup with a distrustful expression and shook his head. The salamander cleared his throat.

"Let's start with introductions. My name is Min Jeon. I'm the leader of this village. That's my son Miguel and his twin sons, Alexander and Xavier who I hear you butted heads with," Jeon said.

Jae nodded.

"I am going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them truthfully. Where are you from and how did you get here in our world?" the elderly salamander asked.

"I'm from a city called Los Angeles. I was brought here after my friends and I found a music box and it sent us here," Jae answered.

Music box? Xander and Xavier exchanged looks. Jeon nodded.

"I see. Where are these friends of yours?" he asked.

Jae shrugged.

"I don't know. One minute I was with them and then the next I'm waking up in the woods," he said.

"Also where is this "Music Box" you're talking about?" Xander asked.

"I'm pretty sure one of my friends has it," Jae answered.

Jeon nodded.

'Does this have something to do with what she told me?' he thought to himself.

A crash was heard from outside the room before Apex came running into the room with two axolotls behind him.

"Sorry, sir but that little thing got out of his cage," one of them said as the winged wolf pup jumped into Jae's lap.

Apex growled at them, making the axolotls flinch. Jae smirked as they quickly left the room.

"A winged wolf. That's a bizarre choice for a comrade. Where did you find him?" Jeon asked.

Jae looked at him. Apex nudged his hand,trying to get him to pet his head. Jae compiled before answering.

"I found him just a day ago. His mother was killed so I just took him with me," Jae said.

Jeon nodded.

"It seems you both have bonded in that short time," he said.

Jae shrugged.

"I gue-,"

He was cut off by the sound of villagers screaming. Jae looked behind him as Miguel and the twins stood up, swords drawn. An axolotl who looked to be Miguel's age ran into the room.

"Chief, the village is under attack by Herons!" he said.

"Shit.." Xavier mumbled.

Miguel turned to Jae.

"You stay here," he said.

Jae shook his head.

"Like hell I am. I'm helping," he said.

Miguel looked at him and sighed. He grabbed a sword that hung on the wall.

"You know how to sword fight?" he asked.

Jae shook his head. Miguel threw the sword at him.

"I hope you're a quick learner then," he said before running out of the room.

Jae followed after him and came to a stop at what he saw. A giant heron was destroying the buildings as the warriors of the village fought. The heron knocked the warriors away, sending them to the ground.

'This world is crazy!' he exclaimed in his head.

A shout caught his attention and Jae saw Xavier fall on the ground trying to keep the heron from crushing him with its foot. The Korean boy stood there frozen. If he helped, they were both going to be killed but if he didn't then Xavier was as good as dead. Jae clenched his fists. Was he really about to risk his life from some random kid he just met and didn't even like?

"Fuck it," he grumbled, racing forward.

He bent his legs before jumping a few good feet into the air, shaking the ground. Jae clenched his fist and pulled his arm back. Unbeknownst to him, glowing red veins ran up his arm and stretched to his shoulder. Jae gritted his teeth as he swung his fist.

"AHHHHHH!" Jae shouted, his eyes flashing red for a split second.

His fist connected with the side of the heron's beak, knocking it over with an unbelievable force. The heron fell to the ground unconscious, shocking everyone in the village.

"Did you see that?!"

"He knocked it down with one clean punch!"

All around the villagers were commenting on how some kid was able to knock one of the most vicious creatures in Amphibia down with a single punch. Xander ran to help his brother up.

"You okay?" he asked.

Xavier nodded as he looked at Jae who landed on the ground.

'Who exactly is this guy?' he thought to himself.

Jae panted before looking at his arm. It was a black, purplish color and his knuckles were bruised and bleeding.

'How did I do that?' he thought to himself.

A wave of exhaustion came over him and Jae fell forward. Before he could hit the ground, Miguel caught Jae.

'This kid is something,' he thought to himself.


A couple of hours later:

After the fight with the Heron and waking up after being unconscious for three hours, Jae was told that he will be living with Miguel and his family until they could find a way to get him home, much to Xavier's displeasure. Right now, Jae was in a room that was given to him by Miguel's wife, Katherine, changing into a pair of pajamas Miguel managed to find for him. Apex was busy sniffing around the room. A knock was heard on the door.

"Come in," Jae said.

The door opened as Miguel walked in.

"Hey, I just want to go over a few things before you get settled. Firstly, you're not living here for free. Like the twins and everyone else, you'll be helping around the house and the village. Second, when you're going outside of the village, leave your hood up. There's people who don't take kindly to outsiders and they can and will try to hurt you so stay out of trouble. And third, keep an eye on Apex. I don't want to be respnosible for cleaning up dog shit or stuff he messed up," Miguel said.

Jae nodded before bowing.

"감사합니다*," he said.

Miguel nodded and closed the door. Jae sat down on his bed and looked out the window. He pulled the picture of him and the girls out of the pocket of his bag and sighed.

'I hope you girls are safe. Wherever you are,' he thought to himself.

Apex jumped into bed beside. He spun around a few times before laying down and curling into Jae's side, falling asleep. Jae ran his fingers through his fur as he laid down and went to sleep.

With Jeon:

The elderly salamander was sitting in his room looking at an old book. He turned to a page and saw a picture of a music box. Jeon sighed as he closed the book. It was just as he feared. The box brought Jae and his friends here. He thought she had gotten rid of it.

'I don't know why you were brought here Jae. But I hope it won't put anyone in danger,' he said in his head.


Chapter translations:

*감사합니다 -Thank you, sir

*좋아- Fine

*Jae, 몇 가지 질문에 대답해 주시겠습니까? - Jae, would you mind answering a few questions?

*석재현 - Seok Jae Hyun

*당신의 이름은 무엇입니까? - What is your name?

*지금 - Now

*할아버지- grandad

*그를 풀어- Release him

*충분한!- Enough!