Chapter Fifty-One: Onwards
A Crack in HistoryIt began to snow at the beginning of the day when reached the foot of the mountain they'd have to climb to head around the camps. By mid-afternoon, a heavy blanket of it smothered the ground, mid-thigh deep even on the tallest members of the group. Ryeowook, Sungmin and Donghae almost couldn’t walk. While Henry was delighted, even he knew that this would be a moderate obstacle for them to overcome. And setbacks were something everyone wanted to avoid.
"This is it." Kangin declared, pointing up at the snow-coated trail.
So, thirteen coat-clad teenage males began to trek up a mountain (not so) path that was covered in snow.
"This is ridiculous-" Eunhyuk muttered to himself as he hauled his leg up from under the white powder and stretched it far in front of him. He hopped slightly and got himself stuck. Again.
"You think everything we do is ridiculous." Kyuhyun deadpanned.
"How are we meant to get up there without just sliding back down again?"
"There's ground beneath the snow, you just have to feel for it," Siwon rolled his eyes as he took a step forwards. "I would make an avalanche to clear the snow but that would cause attention, and it would clearly not be good from this angle."
"I could melt it!" Henry suggested happily, enjoying the change in weather.
"Still attracting attention, Henli-ah," Zhou Mi trudged after the youngest with a blank face. "It's snowing all around N.K but there's this trail where it's been cleared. Not suspicious at all."
"Just trying to help!" Henry pouted as he bounded up the front.
"At least you guys have superpowers!" Kangin huffed, digging in the snow for hand and footholds. "I had to do this alone!"
"Yes, but it wasn't snowing." Han Geng floated past him lazily.
"Yeah, and I wasn't ing floating."
"Behave!" Leeteuk intercepted the two with a sharp demand.
Both fell silent.
"Well, that's just lovely," Kyuhyun pulled his coat collar up as he brushed past them.
Noticing that a certain swordsman wasn't immediately on Kyuhyun's tail, Eunhyuk stopped and looked around, twirling in a circle until there was a hole in the snow where he'd been spinning.
"Um, hey, Kyuhyun?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's Jongwoon?"
"Oh, right. Um. Good question," Kyuhyun looked back at him with a wink. "He's somewhere between you and Henry up the front."
"What do you mean in between-"
"Hyuk. Use your initiative. Where else could Jongwoon be?"
"You can't be serious," Han Geng languidly glided next to Kyuhyun's head. "He's abandoned us for some shadows?"
"Um no, he's in the snow." Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow as if that were normal.
"In the snow?" Donghae asked incredulously looking down at the ground. He was flying using his jetpack. How Eunhyuk wished he had a power which allowed it to be easier to move through this goddamn powder...
"Apparently crawling through air ducts is a helpful skill outside of buildings."
"There are no air ducts here..." Donghae said confusedly.
As if he'd been summoned, Jongwoon burst through the snow and emerged next to Eunhyuk. The black of his outfit was an intense contrast against the pure white, his swords clanged at his sides. Shaking his head to clear his hair of snow, he immediately began spouting out words.
"You've already estimated the depths. You are right Master. The ground beneath appears to be dirt, sodden by snow, but frozen into a mixture of mud and ice due to the temperature," Jongwoon informed Kyuhyun, but everyone was listening. "The snow is rather easy to move in, most probably the easiest for a while as it is fresh powder. By tomorrow the temperature would've dropped and will be thicker, but not compact enough to stand on. Oh, and I found this."
Jongwoon pulled a human skull from his backpack and tossed it towards Kyuhyun daintily. Eunhyuk recoiled back as it was thrown in front of his line of vision, empty sockets staring at him as it sailed by. The Death element caught it swiftly, pulling open the top and retrieving a small bag before discarding the cranium over his shoulder.
"Where the hell did you find that?!" Eunhyuk yelled in panic.
"Oh, Jongwoon, Kibum says hi," Kyuhyun said casually, eyes on the paper. "And here," the Darkness element was chucked a small bag pulled taut by a drawstring. "He says- and I quote- If you're gonna not eat for the next couple of weeks, at least eat these."
Jongwoon pulled open the small velvet pouch with curiosity, lanky legs still managing to manoeuvre his way through the white powder even as he peered into the pocket. He shook the contents out on his palm, three small cubes piled out. One cream, one a light shade of brown, and one a dark shade of brown. The Darkness element left out the white cube, pocketed the pouch with the other cubes in it, and popped the white one in his mouth. Eunhyuk caught that it vaguely smelt sweet, sickly so. Was it a type of Underworld medicine that allowed you to go for long periods without food or something?
"What was that?" Sungmin hovered on an energy plate near them.
"Medicine." Kyuhyun smirked at his retainer, whose lips quirked up.
"I meant the message douchebag."
"Oh, that," Kyuhyun unrolled the note once again. "It just says stuff about the Underworld, nothing you'd be interested in. And after that, it gets personal. Yadadada, from Kibum."
"And who is that?" Han Geng folded his arms.
"Kibum is the, to put it colloquially, the Underworld secretary," Kyuhyun explained blankly. "He keeps the place in check when I'm away."
"What? You just leave him to do all your work?" Ryeowook asked suspiciously.
"Well, for now," Kyuhyun glanced over at him. "I can't be here and there simultaneously. And besides, I've been running that place for over four hundred years. A guy deserves a break."
"Why do you keep saying you're four hundred years old?" Siwon asked curiously. "You only look eighteen or something."
“Yeah, I know, funny, isn’t it?" Kyuhyun cackled in amusement. "No, no, no, I’m old. Four hundred and twenty seven years old. But that was mostly spent in the Underworld. I've only been here in the world of the living for sixteen years. As a consequence of this, most of my friends are of the dead variety. Not that that should be surprising."
"What about Jongwoon?" Donghae asked, jet pack enabling him to fly with Han Geng.
"I said most."
"I don't count." Jongwoon stated calmly.
But you do. You even mean more than that to me. Why try deny it?
Kyuhyun looked hurt by that statement, but lowered his face to hide the feelings. Eunhyuk kind of felt sorry for him. Having someone that's completely devoted to you but isn't even your friend? That in itself is heartbreaking. When you looked at it from another angle, Jongwoon and Kyuhyun were complete strangers. Slowly making his way to the sullen Death element, Eunhyuk nudged at his shoulder.
"Does it hurt when he says that?" He asked lowly so no one else could hear.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Kyuhyun stayed quiet. His eyes looked like hardened steel as he straightened up and stormed forwards.
"No."
---
There was something different about Han Geng lately... Ryeowook just couldn't put his finger on it... It was probably staring him right in the face but he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Had he changed his jacket or something??? No, it seemed more complex than that if he couldn't figure it out from just looking at him.
"Why are you staring at me?"
Oh. Never mind. He hadn't changed coat... What was it though...? This was really bugging him. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to identify what was different about the older. It had been happening these last few days and it was weird, whatever it was. They were both taking shift for the night, but Ryeowook had a familiar hunch that a certain was still awake...
"Seriously Ryeowook, you're making me uncomfortable..."
"There's something different about you..." He murmured aloud. "Something..."
"What are you talking about, I'm fine," Han Geng raised an eyebrow.
"Have you cut your hair or something...?"
"What? No. Ryeowook, I really have no idea what you're going on about. I'm fine!"
That was it. He finally understood now. Han Geng had never sounded so on edge before. Usually, he was quite calm about almost any type of situation. At the current moment, he was all jittery. The next question was; why?
"Something's up, isn't it?" Ryeowook asked knowingly.
"And what makes you say that?" Han Geng leant back on the bag he had propped up with an incredulous look.
"Well for one, you're getting defensive," Ryeowook deadpanned. "And two, you're never defensive. Unless it's about Leeteuk hyung... Wait, this is about Leeteuk hyung, isn't it?"
"No!"
"Han Geng hyung, you're a horrible liar."
"Shut up!"
"So I'm right?"
"No!"
"God... You're just like Eunhyuk," Ryeowook laughed nostalgically, remembering his first talk with the Electricity element. "Contrary to popular belief; talking about your feelings actually helps."
"Yeah right." Han Geng scoffed, looking at the glowing orb between them.
"Hey, I've talked to Eunhyuk. And he's doing better. Seen how he hasn't fought with Donghae as much?"
"That was your doing? I thought he'd just grown up."
"Of course it was me, Eunhyuk has a lot of opinions. I can't tell you though, patient confidentiality."
"So you're a shrink now?"
"I'm empathetic enough to know what's going on, yes, a psychiatrist? Not so much. I deal with emotional people, not lunatics."
"Don't you know? We're all lunatics 'round this joint."
"Hey!" Ryeowook punched his shoulder playfully. "I'm the sarcastic one, not you! Do you want to talk about it?"
"Will you promise to not tell anyone?"
"I've been talking with Eunhyuk frequently, you haven't heard any gossip about him around here have you?"
"... Fine, whatever..." Han Geng looked from side to side before whispering to him. "I'm just really worried about Leeteuk. He's been hanging out with Jongwoon a lot more often than they ever did... I feel like something's up."
"Oh, it's that ," Ryeowook raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you hadn't noticed, something's always up with him."
"I know. But this is Leeteuk."
"And thus the world is ending," Ryeowook rolled his eyes. "Look, if you want to vent-talk, feel free, I'd happily agree with you."
"I don't vent-talk," Han Geng huffed angrily. "I just worry."
"Unacceptable."
"Just because you hate him."
"I have a right!-"
"What about Zhou Mi and Henry? They have rights and-"
"He's a !"
"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't be so loud." Jongwoon called out to them, making both of them jump.
"He was awake?!" Han Geng exclaimed.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Ryeowook frowned confusedly.
"No! How did you know?!"
"He's my bloody opposite. Of course I know when he's awake. I get all tense…”
“You’re always tense.”
“He’s always awake… The bastard…"
"... Well you could've warned me!"
"I didn't know you were going to talk about him!"
"Quiet, please sirs," Jongwoon's bored voice drawled out. "You're getting increasingly louder, if you hadn't noticed."
"Stay out of this !" Ryeowook called back.
"Oh, yes, of course, because I'm just going to materialise a pair of head muffs from nowhere?"
"Stop eavesdropping then smartass!"
"You do realise that you are surrounded by the darkness. I am Darkness. You are literally speaking into me. I can't help it."
"You're a ."
“Insults do not affect my conscience. Not that I have one."
"I hate you."
"I've been reliably informed," Jongwoon sighed blankly, materialising next to him. "Many times, in fact. A majority by you."
Ryeowook jumped, and tried to push the older away to find that his hands went straight through his side as his body was still forming. He gave an undignified splutter and jerked away from his opposite, eyes hardened and glaring. Han Geng watched the interaction between them. Well, mainly from Ryeowook, because Jongwoon barely reacted to anything the Light element did to him. Although, Ryeowook's expressions, posture and gestures only ever seemed to speak disgust and hate for him. Wasn't really much to observe
"Don't ever do that again!" Ryeowook hissed sharply, shuffling towards Han Geng.
"Of course, Nari," Jongwoon leaned back on his pack (which he never seemed to remove... What was in that thing anyway?). "I promise I won't do it again."
If it was meant to be a joke, it didn't really sound like it.
"Um... I might go to sleep if you're up..." Han Geng stood up and hurried away, Ryeowook giving him a 'seriously?!' face. "See you in the morning!"
Ryeowook noticed Jongwoon's eyes followed him as he left, but there was no clear sign of what he was feeling. The latter then turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Aren't you going to leave too, Nari?"
"I was here first, bastard," Ryeowook spat bitterly. "You go somewhere else. Check up on your 'master' or something."
"I believe he's in the Underworld at the current moment."
This made Ryeowook look at Jongwoon with surprise. Why hadn't Jongwoon gone with him then? Yet again, it was the Underworld, he was pretty sure no one alive could go in there. Except Kyuhyun, but when you really thought about it, Kyuhyun wasn't exactly 'alive'. His expression changed back to the scowl he always wore around the Darkness element and shook his head.
"Why?"
"He said he was cataloging the dead animal kingdom. Apparently the dinosaurs were getting restless. How he planned to deal with them is unknown to me. I have heard they're very violent."
"Dino-what?"
"Dinosaurs, sir."
"What the hell are they?"
"They're reptilian creatures, varying size and shape, of the Mesozoic era. They are catalogued by hip structure into two groups; Ornithschians and Saurischians. Some may have been warm-blooded and their closest living relative now would be some species of bird. They became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period, which was approximately 65,000,426 years ago. Possibly due to a catastrophic asteroid impact located in the Gulf of Mexico. Dust clouded around, blocking the sun and eventually, they all died."
"I asked what they were, not for a whole bloody essay." Ryeowook deadpanned.
"Why am I making the effort to talk to you."
"Ditto."
"I'm going to explore the outskirts of this area of scrub," Jongwoon stood up. "Not that I expect you to care, sir."
"Got that right." Ryeowook huffed looking at his light orb.
Even so, he turned his head to watch Jongwoon walk away. Before he could fully disappear, Ryeowook yelled out.
"Oi, !"
Jongwoon stilled and looked back at him.
"Yes sir?"
"I still hate you. Just because we talked doesn't meant we're all rainbows and butterflies."
The Darkness element grasped at one of his sword hilts, tugging it as if it were a source of comfort (but then again, Jongwoon didn't need comfort). He started heading into the forest once more. A raspy whisper reached his ears, and every hair on Ryeowook's being stood to attention. It surrounded him, coming from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously. Flooded over his skin and washed through his veins.
"I would expect nothing less."
---
Jongwoon and Ryeowook actually talked without Ryeowook trying to kill him (that much). That in itself is a breakthrough, you should all be celebrating! Don't worry, we're getting somewhere soon...
Okay, finally getting to Donghae. He's a quiet one, who sits/hangs in the back. While most of the time, he goes unnoticed, those who befriend him find him to be a very kind, strong-willed person. He's adaptable and a wicked inventor, almost always tinkering away at something. These things later become useful, to him and others. Unlike some of the others, he doesn't like being noticed or being loud, but is able to make a point when either called upon or needed. Naturally curious and questionable, sometimes Donghae's actions can be rather questionable and/or random. He doesn't like the fact that Eunhyuk despises him, and wants to change it, but finds himself unsure of how. However, he does know that Eunhyuk's hate for him isn't something which is purely Opposite based, as Electricity and Metal are (or should be quite compatible). As a result, he's determined to find out why the Electricity Element hates him and feels as if both Leeteuk and Ryeowook, as well as Jongwoon and Kyuhyun, have the pieces of the puzzle to figure it out.
Quick reminder if you didn’t memorise what was written in the previous chapter (Don’t worry, I haven’t either, just using the copy and paste technique and adding a few alternations, haha): Each sentence has a person’s name next to it. The person whose name is there, is the person that Han Geng is ‘talking’ about (He’s talking in a way that it sounds like he’s immediately talking to them, but he actually would never say these word to them). RED means a hostile relationship, BLUE means a positive one, and GREEN means an unsure or unsteady one. Underlined means Cognate (Friend, similar element) and bold & italicised means opposite (completely contrasting, opposite powers, e.g. Water and Fire). Any name that's got both colours in it means the relationship between those two people is kind of teetering between the two statuses. Parentheses (Brackets) with any text in them are what a person thinks about them, but doesn't directly express (e.g. Sungmin -> Kyuhyun: "One step closer, and I'll gut you like a fish, sew you back together, and do it again. (You killed my brother you... You... You demon... Why?!)" <- This bracketed part is what Sungmin doesn't clearly express towards Kyuhyun. If there are a set of parentheses (brackets) that have "..." like this -> (...) or have incoherent words (... You... why... I can... No...) <- like that, then the person has hidden or obscure thoughts about the other person (basically, if I didn't make them dots or random words, I'd be giving huge spoilers)
Donghae
-> Leeteuk: "You're so nice to me even when it seems like all I've done is caused you trouble... I would've never thought that I'd ever meet someone so... Kind, in a time like this... Thank you..."
-> Eunhyuk: "I'm so confused! You're always tearing me down and yelling at me but... You've mentioned before... Argh! I hate you so much!" (What are you trying to say to me? What are you trying to say? I can't... I can't...)
-> Han Geng: "I'm happy to be working with you. You seem really nice, even if you come off as intimidating at first." (Also, you look really cute with Leeteuk. I feel like you two are going to get together. Not that that's something I'd ever tell you in person or anything...)
-> Ryeowook: "Do you think you could ask Eunhyuk to lay off the insults for me?" (Could you actually tell me why he insults me all the time?)
-> Jongwoon: "... I feel like you're one of the only ones I can talk to..." (There's something... Weird... What though...?)
-> Kyuhyun: "I... I'm not scared of you, if that's what you're thinking..." (... Death is the last thing I'm scared of... I'm almost kind of expecting it...)
-> Sungmin: "... You seem nice enough... Just don't kill me, please..." (I feel like I should be scared of you, but you aren't that bad)
-> Zhou Mi: "... Err... Hi...?" (Maybe I should start talking to the others more...)
-> Henry: "... You don't hate me, for that I'm glad. I guess the whole rusting thing doesn't affect us then..." (That's... Good)
-> Heechul: "... Kyuhyun's not that bad, is he?" (Seriously, this is worse that Eunhyuk... And I thought he was a nightmare. Poor Kyuhyun...)
-> Siwon: "It's good to know that I've got someone to talk to when I want to unwind..." (Why don't you talk to any of the others?)
Are there any artists here on AFF? I'm just curious, because I have seen some pretty cool fanarts on Tumblr and stuff ^_^
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