"... Hm...?" Siwon raised an eyebrow at the sudden halt in the group's movement. "... What's going on...?"

He wasn't asking anyone in particular, that's because he wasn't near anyone so he couldn't really ask them without yelling. But he'd heard Eunhyuk calling back and had to comply. Looking ahead, he could see Jongwoon and Kyuhyun heading up the front- near where Kangin was (they'd originally been behind him, but had come up from the back of the line). Eunhyuk was directly behind them with Sungmin and Heechul was in front of him. Behind Siwon were Donghae and Leeteuk... And he was pretty sure that Zhou Mi and Henry were at the back. Oh, and Han Geng had just flown past towards them (Zhou Mi and Henry)... Siwon had a large amount of space between him and the other groups. Between Kangin and the front group and Henry and the back group, there was heaps of space- with him in the middle. There was absolutely no reason to it, he simply ended up in this empty space. The others didn't seem to act hostile towards him or anything, they would talk to him on occasion but Siwon found he didn't have a particularly large amount to say. The space was a good thing for him sometimes.

"NO KANGIN, IT'S A-"

That was all Siwon heard before a loud noise pierced the air and the snow in front and behind him exploded in a looming, white cloud. He saw Donghae fly off the track behind him, as well as Sungmin and Eunhyuk in front of him, the latter trying to dash away under the powder. Leeteuk had been shot multiple times before falling into the snow. Siwon would’ve worried a bit more, but knew that he was going to be okay, or at least alive. Hopefully the snow supplied enough cover for him to go flee and heal himself.

Why hadn’t there been an explosion aimed at him and Heechul? They were a little far apart but still, Siwon didn’t think that would prevent them from being targets. Maybe he hadn’t been seen? Or the other two explosions combined were expected to affect them too? Siwon really had no time to ponder of this as what really caught his attention was Heechul struggling in some black roping. Siwon leant against the mountain side, eyes widening as gunshot proceeded to fire all around, where the other two groups were. It avoided him and Heechul, who was now being pulled up the side of the mountain. Oh...

"MOTHERER!!!" Heechul screamed, struggling against the bounds that held him. Though it appeared his voice was unheard by the others. "LET ME GO YOU ING S!!!"

Siwon's eyes widened, and he opened a crack in the mountain side to sneak in, before stamping the earth to propel himself up and splitting the earth about him. Closing the gap as he landed, he ended up on the top of the mountain, on a mound just above where the soldiers were set up. He had clear sight of Heechul, who was still trying to escape his binds, surrounded by men. His powers were being used to push them away mentally, but something was physically draining him. No guns were being used against him, guess they didn't want to harm Heechul. It must’ve been something in the ropes. Siwon ran towards them, raising the earth under the soldiers so they were flung away, and disorientated. 

"Heechul!" Siwon ran up to him, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to tear at the black straps that were coiling around him. “Are you alright?"

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Heechul yelled as his arms got free. He grasped Siwon by the arms and pulled him out of the way as a bullet whistled past them. So they only cared if one of them was alive? How strange. "Get the outta here!"

"I'm trying to save you!?" Siwon exclaimed confusedly, yanking on his arms. “They’re trying to take you away!"

"And that would just get you captured!" Heechul hopped around, and Siwon noticed his legs were still wrapped. They both fended off attacks from behind each other. "We can't fend them off, even together! There’s something on these ropes, I’m losing energy and so will you if you hang around for too long. Go! Run while you have the ing chance!"

"But what about you?!" Siwon asked in panic. “I can’t just leave you with them! They’ll hurt you, and who knows what else they’ll do."

“It’s better just me than everyone,” Heechul muttered lowly as he used his telekinesis to halt the actions of all the soldiers attacking the two, draining the last of his energy into this and almost pausing time around them. “Listen, I know I haven’t been the best guy to be around while we’ve been a group. I’ve been an to everyone that’s tried to talk to me and I hardly do anything asides from my watches and follow everyone else around…” he shook his head, tears beginning to prick at the corners of his eyes. “I never wanted to be such a burden… So… So I guess by sacrificing myself… The others will be free. You can get me out of there…"

“Heechul, I-"

Heechul held his palms to Siwon's temples, and for a moment he felt something shift, something connect. The Phenomena element's eyes glowed fuschia in those few moments, and Siwon felt his own glow in response. Somehow, he felt slightly invaded, like there was something, or someone, in his head. 

"There, I'll talk to you later," Heechul stated firmly, eyes fading as he collapsed from overexertion and the soldiers moved into action again. "Now go!"

He was pushed away by an invisible force, flung off the mountain, the opposite side of the path. Siwon landed deep within a pile of snow, but reemerged in time to see what was happening to Heechul. The older was being taken away, his binds further tightened. Something was dug into his back before Heechul spasmed in seizure and collapsed. A taser. Siwon had to stop himself from yelling out, but outstretched his arm as if he could reach him. 

“Find the others…” a voice emanated in the back of his head, strangely familiar and somewhat comforting. “Tell them that I’m sorry…"

---

"Mrrrreeeeoow!"

Siwon jumped in shock, turning in several circles before he spotted a small cat being prodded at by a couple of large birds. That had scared him out of his wits, but the cat didn’t look feral, it just looked like a lost pet. As Siwon approached, the two birds were startled and flew away, leaving the cat to compose itself. It didn't seem like it was going to attack him or lash out, perhaps because it had been injured... Well, that and the cat was of a domesticated breed. It didn’t seem to be hurt, which was good because Siwon didn’t really know how he’d deal to that... He came closer, the cat began to notice him. Its yellow eyes gleamed at him, pupils contracting as the light shifted from its vision. 

It had only been a few hours since he’d witnessed Heechul being taken away and after they’d left, he’d gone back to try and see whether there was anyone who had stayed at the explosion site. The whole track had been destroyed by avalanches from the explosions (and maybe him), with no signs of life anywhere. Siwon would’ve hung around but saw that some soldiers were still patrolling the area and decided that it would be best to get away from there as fast as possible. Hopefully he could just wait for a while before they decided to head off again.

"... Heebum???" Siwon narrowed his eyes cautiously.

All cats look at people in a somewhat condescending way... But this cat eyed him up differently, with a somewhat excited look as its ears perked up. As if it recognised him.

“Siwon-ssi!” the cat’s voice rang clear in his head, though his purr was aloud, which still freaked him out but he guessed he was going to have to get used to it. “I am glad that someone has stumbled across me… I’ve been on my own for hours. I lost Heechul in the explosions, would you happen to know where he is?"

Siwon blinked down at him. How had he survived so long by himself? He was just a cat. It was a surprise that the soldiers didn’t find him and take him out of curiosity, because what would a domesticated cat be doing in the wilderness of North Korea? Surely he would’ve been associated with the Elementals. Also, he wasn't sure cats were made for this weather, which was made evident by the scarf wrapped tightly around the cat's body. He didn't know how warm it would be keeping him in this wet state though... Siwon would probably have to find a way to dry and keep him warm. 

“I… I lost the others… All of them…"

“… Oh,” Heebum mused softly, ears twitching in thorough thought. “That’s a bit of a nuisance. It’s okay though. We will just have to-"

“Heechul,” Siwon stammered in embarrassment. “He, uh, he was taken away by the soldiers… I saw him… I couldn’t save him in time, he pushed me away and… Well… He, he did something to me... I... I'm sorry, I tried, I really did - "

Siwon knelt down by the cat where he sat on his perch, unsure how he would react to his owner being captured. He hoped that Heebum could forgive him for not being able to look after him in the way that Heebum would’ve liked Heechul to be looked after. After all, Heechul hardly looked after himself sometimes, much like Jongwoon. He would just neglect his body’s needs, power on through the pain until what he needed to do was done. Then he’d move on to the next thing. 

“It's okay, Siwon. You are not at fault, Heechul was probably trying to protect you wasn't he? That's what he does, and I can’t really control that. I don't expect it from you either,” Heebum shook his head before cocking it to the side confusedly. “... But you say he did something to you. What did he do? Explain this to me."

“He put his hands to my head,” Siwon tried to mimic what the older had done to him a few hours ago. “His eyes glowed, so did mine. And it kind of felt like there was something entering my mind, and something connecting-"

“Oh…” Heebum’s eyes widened in realisation. “Do you mind having your mind invaded for just a moment longer?"

“… Sorry?"

He got no reply before that same feeling entered his mind, another presence messing with the two already in there. This was going to get confusing and annoying really quickly, wasn’t it? Siwon hoped that Heebum wasn’t planning to do this often, he didn’t know how much of his personal space and inner thought privacy he could take being violated.

“Heechul…?” Heebum’s voice asked to the inside of his head, as opposed to just him. “Heechul… It’s me, Heebum… Can you hear me…?"

“… Heebum…” Siwon heard in the back of his head.

“This is weird…” Siwon commented.

“Oh, good…” Heechul’s voice sounded strained. "It worked… Well, I’ll update you on what’s happened. Heebum, I got captured by the ing NK soldiers and am noww in this concrete box of a cell with a lightbulb. They want to experiment on me, is what I’m guessing. Probably just getting everything ready...”

“Heechul -“

“The good news from this is that I’m in the place that we were heading to in the first place,” Heechul continued, ignoring the protests from his pet. “So if we can get everyone to come here as soon as possible to come save me that would be swell. Then we can defeat these damn bastards once and for all."

“And how on Earth are we going to do that?” Siwon asked skeptically, looking around.

“You don’t have to speak aloud, Siwon-ssi,” Heebum told him.

“Well… I already have this bond with you… Maybe if I can get in contact with the others I’ll be able to make connections through you, I don’t know. Haven’t gotten that far in my planning, kind of hard when you’ve been captured. I’m surprised I got this far with your telepathic bonding… I doubted it worked at first, I had so little time to initiate it,” Heechul sighed exasperatedly. “Look, at the moment I’m in a cell. I doubt I’ll have that much more time here, but I think they’re setting something up for me… An experiment of some sort… Sounds ominous but it’s true. This is probably the longest I’m ever going to get to speak to you.”

“Right, I see,” Siwon hummed in understanding. “What do you want me to do?” 

“I can’t tell you, Siwon… I’m not all that sure myself… Especially being in the position I’m in,” Heechul muttered tiredly, voice tentative and scared. “How long has it been since the explosion? I can’t tell anything from this isolation thing they’ve put me in. Maybe you can look around? See whether the others ran away or stayed put.”

“It’s only been a few hours… Night is starting to fall,” Siwon looked behind him wistfully. “I don’t think it’s safe to go back. Last time I saw, they were still patrolling the area closely. If there would be any time anyone would try and escape, it would be under the cover of darkness, wouldn’t it…?”

“That is true,” Heechul agreed with him. “Hopefully those idiots are smart enough to realise that too… I really do hope that they’ll all be alright… You guys have still got to get me outta here, I’m not letting you get past this."

“We will get you, Heechul, make no mistake,” Siwon tried to reassure him. Though he remembered how Leeteuk’s body had contorted and convulsed in pain as he’d been rained down upon with bullets, limp form collapsing into the depths of the mountain, and suddenly felt a sickening wave of uncertainty running through him. He just prayed Heechul couldn’t sense it. “As for the others, I’m sure they’ll be fine. I’ll find them, and we’ll come find you.”

“He is right, Heechul, the others would never allow you to be left in such a place,” Heebum was quick to add his thoughts on. “There is a mutual agreement amongst them, you are going to b the group who ends this war. And they care about you, you do realise. More so than you’ll ever believe."

“… I’m glad...” Heechul told him, the voice soft and gentle in his head. “Really… Siwon, I… Tell the others I’m sorry when you find them. I want them to know."

“You can tell them you’re sorry yourself when we get you out of there, or when we have a telepathic bond between all the Elements or something… I don’t know. Point is, you’ll be able to tell them yourself,” Siwon huffed as he lifted Heebum to sit upon his shoulder, the darkness was rapidly descending upon them. They would have to move fast if they didn't want to be caught in complete black, Siwon's powers weren't those that could usually generate light... That was a worry. He'd need to find some way to build a fire or something. Maybe he'd just descend into the Earth Labyrinth, though he wasn't sure how much Heebum would agree to that... "I think I’ll head back tomorrow. To the path. Might be good to see if there’s anything left there. For now, I’ll just try to find the two of us some shelter.”

“That’s a good plan,” Heechul mused. “Wait it out the night somewhere safe, go back and see if you can find anyone.”

“And if I can’t?” Siwon asked tentatively.

“Then you stay alive."