Aron's birthday was coming up, and Chanyeol decided to prepare a party for him. Ren had arrived on Monday, and Aron's birthday was on Wednesday. When he wasn't party planning or working on the electricity Chanyeol worked with Ren on drawing out the frost element, since it seemed that Ren couldn't draw out lightning. "The concept's the same, but I'm sad you can't use lightning yet," Chanyeol had said when they saw that Ren couldn't use lightning.

Chanyeol was working on the electricity again today so Ren was left to his own devices while Aron and the other trainees were busy with training. Aron left Baekhyun with Ren, since Luhan took over for teaching him and the others how to counter magic for the time being.

Ren walked down the street of the market district, looking around the food stalls for any new interesting food. He was also looking for cake, or at least a bakery that allowed Baekhyun inside. It was a hot day, and Baekhyun had thick fur even in the summer time. "You need to get a haircut pup," Ren said, patting Baekhyun on the head.

He saw a coffee shop up ahead and ran to it. "Stay out here, okay? I'll get you some water," he said before going inside. Baekhyun stayed by the door, panting. Ren came over to the door and opened it. "Come on in, they said you could come inside to cool down," he said, and Baekhyun walked inside. Ren ordered a cold drink and a bowl of water before going to a table by the windows and putting the bowl down on the ground so Baekhyun could have a drink. Baekhyun drank from the bowl rather quickly. "I told you, you need a haircut," Ren said with a snicker as his name was called. He went to get his drink before going to sit down.

Ren spent the rest of the afternoon in the market district, getting various snacks and jerky. The jerky was for Baekhyun of course, Ren didn't like the texture of it. Chanyeol found him as he was window shopping a bakery, looking at different cakes. "How's my favorite nephew? Hope you weren't too bored," said Chanyeol as he scratched behind Baekhyun's ears. "Nah, I spent the afternoon looking for cakes," said Ren as he turned to look up at Chanyeol. "No one accepted pets, except this really cool coffee shop," he said, smiling some. "It was a hot day today, at least Baekhyun got to cool down a bit," said Chanyeol. "Come on, I want to take you to the training grounds to meet the others," he said. "Okay," said Ren before he and Baekhyun followed after Chanyeol to the training grounds.

Chanyeol reached the training grounds with Ren and Baekhyun when Luhan was sending his ice spears out of the ground. It wasn't going to hurt them, but Aron, Minhyun and JR had trouble dodging since they've been doing the same thing for about 2 hours straight. Baekho was in another part of the training grounds working with Jongin and they were working with the change. "Aren't you making things a bit harsh?" Asked Chanyeol as Luhan called a break. Aron, Minhyun, and JR slumped to the ground in exhaustion. "Hey, you were doing the same thing yesterday, don't give me that talk," said Luhan as he fake glared at Chanyeol. Chanyeol grinned.

"Well, you know Aron already," he said to Ren. "This is Minhyun and JR," he said, introducing the two to Ren. "Hi," Ren said, giving a shy smile. Minhyun and JR smiled tiredly. "You're the kid Aron kept talking about," said JR as he chuckled. "I'm still a kid, but I want to be in the guard," said Ren. "You'll be joining us soon hm?" Asked Minhyun. "Yeah," said Ren. "Next year," he said. "Dad still doesn't want me to go, but I'm going," he said. "Mm," said JR.

Aron smiled some. "Be prepared for intense training," he said, shaking his head. "Uncle and Luhan already put me through enough intense training," said Ren. "I'm not scared," he said, crossing his arms. "You're an orb user, that's nothing compared to what they put us through," said Aron. "Plus we have to work together to counter each of our own attacks, and then some," he said. "You have it easy, for now," he said.

"You going to work with archery too when you get here?" He asked. Ren nodded. "I'm no where as good as you, but it'd be a good way to test and improve what I already know," he said. Aron offered a soft smile. "It'd be a good thing to learn, especially when your magic may fail," he said. "Not that it won't fail, but we have to prepare for situations like this," he said. Ren nodded.

Jongin came over with Baekho, who looked exhausted. "What'd they put you through this time?" Asked JR. "Well, I'm learning to fight, we had a sparring match," said Baekho. "Ouch," said Minhyun. "This is Baekho, he's a shapeshifter," said Aron, introducing Ren to Baekho. "I'm Ren," said Ren. "Nice to meet you," said Baekho, as he offered a tired smile. "I'm having trouble shifting between forms, it's annoying," he grumbled. "But I'm not letting that stop me, I'm working to become an assassin of sorts," he said. "Cool," said Ren. "What animal are you?" He asked. "I'm a leopard," said Baekho. "That's awesome," Ren said, smiling.

Chanyeol was off to the side with Luhan and Jongin. Yixing and Kyungsoo were out of the capitol running some errands. "Ren seems like a good kid," said Jongin. "He's my nephew, of course he's a good kid," Chanyeol said with a chuckle. "Must mean he's a prankster too," Luhan said with a grin. Chanyeol laughs. "Well, I must get going," he said. "Aron, Ren, let's go," he said. Baekhyun walked over to Chanyeol, his tail wagging. "Time for dinner," said Chanyeol. Aron stood, stretching, before going over to Chanyeol with Ren behind him. They left the training grounds.

"Looks like it's back to the dorms for me," said JR. "Hey, you can stay in our room, I'm sure they won't mind," said Minhyun. Baekho nodded. They left the training grounds, heading to the dorms.

Luhan and Jongin exchanged glances, before shaking their heads. "Let's get dinner I guess," said Jongin before he left with Luhan.