poppy_sky | The Red Caravan [1]

Pairings: YunJae
Rating: PG-13 for now
Warnings: boyxboy, no historical/geographic setting, AU.
Summary: It's Spring time in the capital and everybody rejoices when the Red Caravan and its performers arrive, signaling the start of festival season, however, Prince Yunho is also in town, returning after three years battling in the Holy Land. What happens when the Red Caravan's most famous peformer, Kim Jaejoong, and Prince Yunho meet?
A/N: This is what I've been working on for around a month now. I decided it's time to post something since my last update was ages ago. Hope you like it!

The main square had never been so busy and full of life. It was the first real day of spring; the remaining snow finally melting down entirely, creating small, mud-colored rivers that sloshed through the dirty streets of the capital, around the hooves of annoyed horses and through the wooden wheels of carriages. Peasant women held up their skirts so that they would not trail in the scum-filled water as they went on with their business; herding groups of children or carrying baskets of produce towards their vending stalls and shops. The aristocrats were carried around in small but opulent carriages held by haggard-looking slaves wearing no other protection against the watery filth than thin sandals falling apart from years of use.

Everyone stopped moving and heads turned west when a cheerful tune was carried from the surrounding hills and into the city. First the steady rhythm of a drum, followed by the playful notes of a flute and the melodious strumming of a guitar. Murmurs broke through the crowds. Women crowded together to comment in hushed whispers with one hand hiding their mouths while men shot each other jittery looks; children and work forgotten for a moment.

It was only when a huge, red-colored caravan pulled by two mighty oxen appeared at the top of the hill that the crowd erupted in loud cheers and laughter. With spring finally arriving it was soon going to be festival season, a time when tourists from neighboring towns arrived to the capital in herds to enjoy the food and entertainment provided by the city during that period. Most, however, traveled the long miles between their town and the capital just to see the performances by the members of the Red Caravan.

The Red Caravan was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Arriving at least a week before the festival they would set up an enormous stage just outside the cathedral’s gates, completely disregarding the distasteful glares of the Bishop and the other priests. Rumor was that the actors were magical beings as nobody ever saw them practicing, using their time to go around visiting every beer house and brothel they could find when they were not building the stage. Their plays were flawless, not a single line forgotten or a single awkward movement. The special effects were mind-blowing and the stories captured the hearts of adults and children alike. They even had a sorcerer with them that would distribute love potions to distressed young maidens trying to catch the hearts of the knights that would be stationed in the city around that time as well.

But all those things were not what caused the majority of the gossip about pagan practices and witchcraft. Their best actor, Jaejoong, was said to be demon himself. With the chiseled but lean body of a god and shoulder-length blond hair framing a beautiful face with cold, gray eyes and rose-tinted lips, he was said to lure women and men alike with his beauty and into the hands of sin. All of the performers in the Red Caravan were handsome but Jaejoong had an ungodly allure about him.

He mostly played female roles because of his beauty since women were not allowed to perform in theater, but a lot of whores from the local brothels claimed he was a fantastic lover and could satisfy any woman’s desires. The Church would have him burned at the stake if he was not so popular. Killing him would mean risking a riot and they could not afford that with the Holy War in the East taking all their troops and any able-bodied man that could hold a sword.

The caravan was already crossing through the city gates and people were already gathering on each side of the street to welcome them with loud clamoring and shrieks of joy. Children ran next to the oxen and clung to the large horns of the massive beasts as they made their slow way towards the central square.

The canvas, dyed a rich red with a golden trim, was pulled open to reveal the performers inside, either smiling and waving at the crowd or playing an instrument. A tall young man with purple robes was strumming a guitar along with a black-haired, goofy-looking guy that would constantly stop to poke a grinning man playing the drums. The happiness-radiating youngster would squeal and break into pearls of peculiar laughter when he poked the other man back and made him miss a chord. The sound of the flute came from the top of the caravan and when people turned their heads up they came face to face with the sight of the blond beauty; one leg was thrown lazily in front of him while the other was curled up, an elbow resting on top of the raised knee as he played the thin instrument.

The crowd followed the brightly colored caravan throughout the city, their cheers accompanying the music coming from the moving structure. When it finally stopped at its usual place in front of the cathedral the crowd started to dissipate, the only remaining people were a group of young women trying to buy a potion early with no success.

After that the city went back to its busy state; the excitement from the arrival of the Red Caravan bottled up until the Festival started.

♥ ♥ ♥

“Move out of the way, scum!”

Yunho watched as his cousin carelessly pushed a boy out of his path. The scrawny boy stumbled into the muddy streets, barely avoiding falling face-first into the dirty cobblestone. He frowned at the knight’s antics but he was too tired to argue with him. They had just returned home after three years of fighting for the Holy Land feeling like they had not made any progress. After half of his company was killed they were finally allowed to return to the kingdom when the King saw fit that Yunho started to get familiar with his royal duties.

“So rude.”

A soft voice snapped Yunho back from his thoughts. Crouching in front of the child was the most beautiful man he had ever seen. He had blonde hair and extravagant clothes; a pair of tight pants with knee-length boots and a loose white shirt. His ears were pierced with numerous pendants and the way he held himself was too graceful to be human. A woman was standing next to him, hand coquettishly holding his shoulder. With the amount of make-up she wore and how exposed her breasts were Yunho easily identified her as a whore.

The strange man helped the boy stand up and send him away after the boy assured him he was fine. He did not even glance at them before he stood to leave; however, he turned to the woman now clinging to his arm and said in a low voice that Yunho suspected was loud enough for them to hear him:

“War-men are so uncivilized. I don’t know why they’re even allowed back into the cities.”

“Such insolence!” Heechul screeched, hand already at the hilt of his sword.

The beautiful man turned towards the source of the noise, and upon seeing the knight’s angry face he readied himself for what was to come. Before the incident could escalate into a fight Yunho put his hand firmly over Heechul’s own and watched as the furious man tensed up with forced obedience.

“Let’s go get some rest,” Yunho said, feeling as his cousin’s fingers slowly uncurled themselves from the sword, albeit reluctantly. “This gypsy is not even worth the effort.”

“Performer,” the blonde corrected him.

“Same thing,” said Yunho barely concealing a sneer, leading his cousin and the rest of his company away.