COUNTDOWN: 4 DAYS TO FULL MOON

“So who do you think will show up?”

Kita shrugged, looking over at Chanyeol whose eyes were fixed on the forest. Actually, every wolf was watching. Only Kris, Suho, and Chanyeol were sat on the porch with her, but the other wolves had piled into the bedrooms with forest-facing windows and practically had their noses pressed to the glass to watch.

Suho had received a message that today was the day a Fey would be showing up with belongings for Kita. At first, Kita’s mind had been in overdrive.

Who was going to deliver them? Would it be someone she knew? Secretly, she hoped it would be Captain Donghae, just so she could apologise to him for the whole mess she’d created.

What could they be giving her?

How long were they expecting her to stay here?

Would they bring news?

But after a surprisingly effective pep talk from Chanyeol, she’d decided to try and be a little more positive about the situation. At least now she would have her own clothes, because as fun as walking around in the wolves shorts and baggy shirts, having her own clothes would be heavenly.

“What time did he say he’d be here again?” Chanyeol asked.

“Fey don’t really give times, it’s more of a ‘we will be there when fate allows us to be’ kind of mentality.” Kita offered, Suho nodding along in confirmation that he’d received no definite indication of when to expect their guest.

Chanyeol flopped down on his back and let out a sigh, then jumped back up again, jiggling his leg as if it was impossible for him to sit still for more than two seconds. And Kita had no doubt that he couldn’t, she hadn’t seen the boy calm and relaxed for a single second in the whole time she’d been there.

She turned her sights back to the forest, her heart leaping with the flutter of every leaf just waiting for someone to walk from the trees.

“Would any of your family come to give it to you?” Chanyeol looked over at her.

Kita turned back to him, surprised that he’d even bother to ask about her family. “No, they aren’t authorised to come this close to the edge of the woods. It’ll have to be a guard who comes here.”

“What do you mean they aren’t authorised?”

“Fey can’t leave the forest.” Kita said, leaning back on her hands as if this was normal information, “regular Fey can’t come near the edge, and un-bound Fey can’t even come that far.” Since Kris had come back, word about the binding of Fey souls had spread throughout the pack. Kita had said nothing more than what Kris had already discovered, and refused to say whether she was bound or not. “It makes sense really,” she continued, “we’re beings of the forest, it’s where we belong.”

“Didn’t you ever want to leave?” Kai’s voice trailed down from the second floor window.

Kita thought about it, “No, never. The forest is all we need.” The moss soft beneath her feet, the light dappled from the thick canopy of leaves above her, that soft earthy smell whenever it rained. Everyone she knew was in the forest. And no matter what a Fey’s soul would bind to, every Fey was bound to nature, it’s just who they were.

And for those who could sense magic, the forest had a buzzing current running beneath their feet that kept them connected to everything else. It had grown fainter over the years, but she’d still felt it. She could feel it now from her seat on the porch, but so much fainter as she was so far away from the centre, the source of the Fey.

Then the soft mumble of conversation in the floors above her quieted, and Kita knew the Fey had arrived. She stood, gaze fixing on wide eyes, faintly tilted up in the corners just like her own.

“Who is it, do you know him?” Chanyeol whispered.

But Kita shook her head, she’d never seen this Fey before. It wasn’t Captain Donghae and it wasn’t either of the others who had escorted her here. He stood at the very edge of the forest, obviously not willing to take another step. A nudge in the back from Kris made Kita stumble forward, and she shot a glare behind her as she continued walking to the forest.

“Kitaria?”

She nodded, obviously that’s who she was, there weren’t any other banished Fey around here.

“My name is Eunhyuk, I’ll be the coordinating ambassador for your foreseeable future.”

“Foreseeable future, what’s that supposed to mean?”

A faint crease appeared in his brow, as if he was confused, “You were told before you were dispatched here, you are to remain here until the Moonstone is found and returned to its rightful place. Only then will you face a Fey punishment.”

Oh no.

He continued, slinging a bag from his back, “I have here your belongings, along with approved letters from those closest to you.” He tossed it to her. “I am required to ask you if you wish to disclose the location of the Moonstone.”

Kita curled her fists around the straps of the bag. “Still no.”

He didn’t flinch, obviously expecting her answer. “Having expected this answer, the Generals request that you take this.”

He held out a small pouch, made of thin leather. It looked to be nothing special, and even when Kita took it she felt nothing special about it, not even a thrum of faint traces of magic. “What is it?”

Eunhyuk didn’t smile, if anything the corner of his mouth grimaced as if he held reservations about his next words. “You may want to be alone when you open it. I know I would.”

And then he disappeared into the darkness of the forest, just like that, leaving her with a small pouch and a bag of clothes, and more questions than before. She shrugged the bag over the shoulder, looking down at the small pouch in her hands.

Why would he tell me to open this by myself?

What could it be?

Was she sure she even wanted to open it? She heard footsteps run around her as the wolves crowded her, multiple pairs of hands gripped her shoulders to steady her. She could hear them ask her if she was ok and other things along that line, but the blood was rushing too quickly through her ears to hear them properly. However, one question stood out from the others.

“What’s in the pouch?”    

With trembling fingers she pulled it open, reaching two fingers in and almost freezing at the texture she felt inside. Smooth, and cool, a texture she’d felt a thousand times.

“Come on Kita, what is it?”

Her fingers shaking even more, she pulled it out, breath catching as she saw her fears confirmed.

“they wouldn’t.” She whispered, they couldn’t possibly…

“I don’t get it?” Chanyeol asked loudly, “It’s just a leaf!”

                Kita was curled up in the blankets at the bottom of Chen’s bed (which she had claimed as her own for the time being). She hadn’t said anything for hours, as soon as she’d seen the leaf she’d retreated to her room and bundled herself in warmth to try and chase away the chill she felt harbouring inside her.

                She missed the warmth and comfort of the forest, where she could hide from her problems behind the thick branches of trees. She missed the comfort of having family to turn to who could understand problems like this. She missed the constant current of magic that connected her to everything else, she’d never felt more alone than now when she could barely feel the current at all.

                But… there was still magic around her… in Kai.

                The wolves were in a pile outside her closed door, ears perked to try and listen to anything she could be doing.

                “Think she’s ok?” Luhan whispered.

                “Oh course she’s not ok.” Xiumin hissed back, “did you see her face when she saw that leaf?”

                “But it’s just a leaf!”

                “It’s probably some weird Fey thing! But it’s obviously important to her.”

                “Well what should we do?”

                The wolves all looked at one another and then pressed their ears closer to the door as they heard shuffling footsteps. They scrambled away to pretend that they weren’t spying on her, but failed miserably when she opened the door and looked at them all piled there.

                “Kai.” She whispered, holding one hand out from the blanket wrapped around her. “Can you help me?”

                   The wolves all looked at one of their youngest whose eyes were wide with confusion. “Me?” He pointed at his chest, looking at the other wolves as if they could provide some clarification. But Kita just smiled slightly and nodded. She watched as Kai slowly stood and hesitantly reached for her hand, lacing his fingers in with hers.

                The shock raced through her fingers and settled comfortably under her ribs. In the kitchen, the first time she’d felt it, it had scared her. She wasn’t prepared, she hadn’t been expecting it. This time she was waiting for it, she needed it, some form of comfort and security. Already she could feel herself warming, her joints becoming looser and her body bending unconsciously to his.

                She felt the tingling grow stronger as Kai’s arms wrapped around her shoulders and she allowed herself to be pulled into him. He was so warm, his heat engulfing and burning away the final lingering iciness inside her. Her hands wrapped in his shirt, pressing herself closer to him and feeling his magic spark against her. They were so close, her forehead pressed against his neck and his nose buried in her hair. He was firm and steady.

                Kai felt like home.

                After she calmed, Kita pulled away just enough, but still kept herself close enough to feel him beside her. All of the other wolves were staring at her with wide eyes, even Kai looked confused. But he seemed to realise what she needed, as he laced his fingers with her once more and pulled her down to sit in the circle with everyone else.

                Honestly he’d had no idea what he was doing, but she looked so sad… he’d just wanted to give her a hug. And it’d seemed like it’d helped, now that she was over whatever aversion she’d had to him before.

                “You wanna talk about it?” Suho asked gently. Sat on her other side, he began rubbing his hand in comforting circles on her back.

                Kita looked down at her hands, the leaf still rolled up in one of them. Gently, she placed it in the centre of the impromptu circle.

                “It’s a warning from the Fey Generals, letting me know they’re waiting for me to step out of line.”

                “Kita, sweetie… you’re going to have to explain that a little further…” Chen said, leaning closer inside the circle.

                She shook her head, leaning against Kai’s arm. “Don’t worry about it.” She bit back her lip. This was something she couldn’t tell them. She’d already crossed too many lines telling them about the moonstone, but she was no traitor to her kind, this was something that didn’t concern the wolves.  

                Kai’s arm slung over her shoulders, his hand rubbing up and down sending that comforting tingle deep into her gut. He looked over at Suho who was ignoring angry glares from Kris.

                “Kai, why don’t you take Kita back into her room” he said, “looks like she needs a rest.”

                Kris gestured at Suho, who gestured back, the two of them having a silent war about the decision before Kris finally gave up, flinging his hands up and stalking off. A small almost-smug smile listed Suho’s lips as he nodded towards the bedroom. Ushering the other wolves away, he gave one last message of parting, “take as much time as you need Kita, Kai will take good care of you.”   

                Kai stood with Kita, and following Suho’s obvious glances, led Kita into the bedroom and shut the door behind them. He’d picked up the leaf on his way and now twirled it between his fingers, how could this little leaf make her so sad? And not just sad, he could tell she was worried and scared and lonely, and it was these feelings that made him take long strides over to the wall she was sitting against and sit beside her, arm over her shoulder and letting her cuddle into his side. Slowly, her breathing deepened, and he realised that somehow she’d fallen asleep.

                Hours later, she finally woke up, only to find herself burning with heat. She was still wrapped in her blanket from earlier, and she was sleeping with her head on a firm chest, and she knew by the way it radiated warmth that it could only be a wolf. Then she remembered.

                Kai.

                She scrambled to get up, but she was too tangled in limbs and blankets, and only succeeded in waking him up.

                “Evening.” He mumbled, raising one hand to rub his eyes. Kita noticed that his other hand was wrapped around her and resting at her waist.

                “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to sleep on you I just-”

                Kai shushed her, pulling her back down to lie on him again. His voice was groggy, “S’ok, you looked like you needed it.”

                They lay there in a strangely comfortable silence, Kita feeling the current flow between them, easily passing from his chest to her lungs, then through her fingers to his chest, and circling round and round. Kai was trying to wake up, a feat that usually took him quite a bit longer and today was no different. His mouth, taking advantage that his mind was still foggy and couldn’t properly engage its filter, decided it would finally ask the question.

                “Why me?”

                “Hmm?”

                “Out of all of us, you asked for me?”

                Kita hummed again, but thoughtfully, “I guess it’s because you feel the most like my home.”

                “I.. feel like the forest…?”

                Kita nodded against him, “more than you know.”

                But Kai felt her mood turning again as she thought of the forest, so he stopped asking no matter how curious he was. He her hair, soothingly humming and feeling that she was slowly inching her way back towards contentment.

                “Just go back to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

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I’ll be super busy tomorrow, hence the update today, see you all Saturday!