*Warning, if any of you are thrown off by farts then this chapter may not be the best for you once the talk of gift controlling rolls in there is an overuse of farts in this filller of a chapter*

It was even more dangerous for them to be outside of their house now than it ever was before. Lee could see they were trying not to act on edge, but it couldn't be helped, even Lee was looking over her shoulder every few steps, feeling eyes on her and tingles slowly creeping up her spine when she thought about how she could be thrown into an attack any moment now. all it would take is for the Knave to be looking for them, and they were out in the open so they wouldn't be hard to find.

"Not far now" Xiumin muttered, but it hardly filled any of them with any ease, they wouldn't feel comfortable until they knew they were safe in their secret area or safe in their home. The plants were leaning towards them, but not with good intention, Chanyeol cruelly shoved his flame ridden hands at them and some of the plants hissed in protest at the overbearing heat. Chen gave some of them a zap whenever they managed to touch him and Baekhyun cut them with a sharp light when they got to close to him, making the broken part of the plant writh and squirm on the ground under their feet. Sehun could easily brush through the plants, moving them to his will and treating them like they were in a storm unable to control themselves. Lee trailed closely behind D.O who was releasing snarls of frustration, not hiding his anger when he punched an opened mouthed plant and squished a vine under his boot, both the plants screamed and Lee coward away from them, making sure her figure was small and hidden behind Kyungsoo.

"I'm sorry, pardon me"

"Whoops, almost got a nip in there"

"Oh dear that was pure reflex, you poor thing"

“Oh, nearly got me, you sneaky bugger”

Lay was at the back of the group, he was too soft hearted to intentionally cause the evil nature surrounding him any pain. He ducked and weaved, looking like he was performing a deranged dance in order to avoid the vines and tree branches reaching for him, but he was still smiling.

"Oh ow! That was uncalled for" Well now he was pouting, ripping out the thorn that one of the flowers had spat at him, he frowned at the flower as new thorns grew in, making his eyes widen as he picked up his pace to run away.

"Lay" Lee reached out for him, seeing him give a pathetic slap of the hand to a vine that came spiralling his way.

"Stay close" D.O commanded the older male, pushing Lee behind him again as their feet sloshed through the muddy earth beneath them.

"Almost there" Xiumin huffed out, not because he was physically tired, but mentally tired of stressing over the safety of his friends as they travelled through the forest. Black smoke surrounded a sole Venus Fly Trap that was the same size as the people passing it, making it disappear and reappear somewhere further away, causing Kai to let out a chuckle of spite.

"Stupid plant"

"I can see it now" Suho was ready to drown Xiumin at this point, he knew his friend was only trying to keep himself from cracking under the fear of being caught by one of the Queen's men, but he had been talking so much smack to himself that Suho could feel his head thumping in protest.

"Is Lee ok?" Suho decided to look over his shoulder at the others, checking on the lone female. Wide eyes peaked out from behind D.O, gripping Lay's arm despite his efforts to dodge the plants coming at them. There was a gust of wind and a tree that had been bending down towards them was sent reeling the opposite way, bending until the was a loud crack that came from the trunk breaking.

"Thanks Sehun" Lay sighed in relief and Xiumin gave Sehun a slap on the back and a nod when they made eye contact.

Their desired destination soon came into view and the feeling of safety washed over them all, putting their muscles out of their tensed misery as they looked around at the only spot of nature they could actually enjoy. Xiumin kept on high alert, his fingers brushing over the trindles of grass when he was sat down, watching what the rest of the group were doing. Lee was touching a flower and Lay was telling her all about it. It was information that Lee was sure she most likely not going to remember a lot of, but at that moment, she appreciated the way Lay's voice was so calming. The trees and the flowers didn't bend in their direction, they didn't try and attack them, instead they followed the breeze whenever wind was present and they lived in bright colours that gave the people within the surroundings a feeling of calmness, an area of safety that they wished to never be discovered by anyone else.

"Are we the only ones here?" Lee asked, her fingers feeling the groves in the leaf she held, Lay frowned tilting his head in confusion at her question.

"What do you mean?" He had to ask her and Lee let out a deep breath.

"In this world, is it only us and the Queen of Hearts? Is that why she is so determined to keep you here? So that then she won't be alone if you were to leave her here" Lay shook his head, there was a small chuckle that he released and Lee didn't mind the sound, if it only it were to be happier.

"It's just like any other place here, the Queen acts as our government and there are several towns of people, but no one besides those that are ordered to adventure out here come out. They don't want to get caught by us or the Queen's men"

"It would be trouble for them?" Lee voiced her assumption and Lay nodded in return.

"If they were to be found by the Knave, yes, but there is no hiding that we would be hostile to, we have no one but ourselves here to trust, so if they were to show themselves it would only be to cause trouble"

"Are they not like us?" Lee asked him.

"Who's not like us?" Kai cut in, appearing out of thin air and making Lee jump.

"The other people living here"

"Oh, the normals, nah, the Queen did this to us, there's nothing different except the stupidity of everyone else living here" Kai snorted and Lee frowned.

"Then what about me? Why am I like you?" There was a sudden sadness surrounding Lee, as if everything she had gone through the previous day was all a lie, and she was some plain Jane thrown into the mix for some entertainment.

"The queen did that on purpose too, you're like us so that we can think we have a chance at escaping" Kai wasn't exactly the most optimistic person out there, Lee had noticed.

"Lee, why don't you come and sit down here?" Xiumin decided to cut in at that moment, noticing a frown deepening on the young girls face.

"Oh, ok" Lee looked relieved but there was still a frown on her face, Kai had probably put it in her head that she would be here until her death, and Xiumin didn't like the thought of that. It caused Lee to tilt her head at him in confusion once she was sat in front of him, because now he looked like the sullen one.

"Xiumin?" Lee mumbled and the man in question blinked, looking a little bewildered before coming back to his senses quickly.

"Right, let's get started shall we?" He smiled and Lee nibbled on her lip in return.

"I think we should know what she is first, don't you think Xiumin?" Suho sighed, causing Xiumin to flinch, he hadn't realised he had been watching Lee nervously fiddle with her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Y