By midday Suho feels like he is baking alive, the sand around him reflecting the sun like an oven and burning every inch of exposed skin. More than once he's seen water just on the edge of the horizon, and in a burst of desperation, he's run towards it, only to have it vanish into more dry sand and heat.

He thinks he must be losing his mind, wandering in an endless sea of sand, with no idea how far he's come or how to get back. When he runs towards another shimmering illusion of water and it evaporates, he finally slumps to his knees and sobs, ignoring how the sand burns through the fabric of his pants.

Through the haze of sunburn and thirst and despair, he clutches at his scarred left arm.

"Chen," he breathes, the word cracking in his dry throat.

Nothing happens. Suho slumps forward, buries his face in his hands and tries to calm himself, tries to find the strength to stand up again and keep moving, but he can't. He can't keep going through this desert. He's never going to find Chanyeol, he's going to die out here before he can save Chen.

Faintly, in the distance, there is the merest rumble of thunder.

Suho's head snaps up, searching the sky desperately. Clouds, dark and huge, roll across the sky, blotting out the sun. As he his lips, fat raindrops splatter on the sand and a few fall in his hair. Before long, the full downpour has started, centered on Suho.

"Chen," he half-laughs, standing up and reaching up to the sky, his clothes and hair plastered to his body. "Chen."

Faintly, he hears the voice of the thunderbird, singing the song Suho still remembers after all these years.

He laughs again and cups his hands, bringing as much of the rainwater to his mouth as he can, slurping it down greedily. He takes his shirt off and squeezes the water out of it and into his mouth, trying to drown the thirst that screams at him. When his stomach can't hold any more water, he puts his shirt back on and just lets the rain fall on his face, imagining that Chen is with him, laughing.

Rain for Suho.

The memory almost makes him cry. Chen might be dying, and Suho might never hear Chen's laugh again.

Abruptly, the rain stops, the clouds rolling back as though someone was pushing them away. Heat slams into Suho, drying his clothes and the wet sand around him almost instantly. A huge red bird, sparks trailing from its wings, swoops down, bringing a fresh wave of hot air that makes Suho feel like he's about to burst into flames.

As it lands, there's a burst of orange flame and Chanyeol emerges, stalking towards Suho. Smoke and embers trail from his skin as he approaches, his eyes wide with rage.

He grabs the front of Suho's shirt, the fabric turning black and smoking slightly as Chanyeol yanks Suho up and hisses in his face.

"How dare you."

Suho swallows and gasps for air, nearly fainting from the white hot touch of the phoenix. Chanyeol doesn't seem to want an answer as his skin bursts into flame, little tongues of it at Suho and leaving angry red burns.

A scream leaves Suho's throat before he can stop himself and he struggles furiously as the phoenix grins, the smile stretching his face too wide. Chanyeol's hand clamps around Suho's wrist and the flesh sizzles, a fresh scream of pain ripping itself from Suho's lungs. 

"Your thunderbird misses you, human. Don't you want to see him again?" Chanyeol laughs as Suho screams in pain. Suho sobs, shaking in the phoenix's grip.

"Then I'll take you to him," Chanyeol coos mockingly, as two huge fiery wings unfold from his feather cloak and he leaps into the air. Suho screams again as the phoenix's other hand grabs Suho's unburned wrist, fresh pain lancing through him.

He thinks he passes out, because the next thing he knows, he's being thrown to the ground, shoulder banging painfully on a rock. He whimpers, too dazed by pain and fear to do anything else. A hand hauls him up and throws him again, Chanyeol's booming voice laughing at his distress.

He sobs and curls up in a ball, the burns on his wrists screaming at him. He's in a cave, he thinks, mercifully out of the sun, and the cold stone against his skin is a welcome relief from the heat.

"Suho?"

The voice is quiet and weak, but Suho would recognize it anywhere. Shuddering, crying out in pain when he puts strain on his wrists, he pushes himself up and sees Chen, not three feet from him, inside of a huge iron birdcage.

"Chen," he whispers, dragging himself towards the caged thunderbird. "I found you."

Chen starts to cry and reaches through the bars, straining towards Suho, harsh burns apparent along his arms. Suho reaches out as well, his fingertips mere inches from Chen's when pain lances through his ankle and he's dragged back across the rough stone floor. Chen screams and sobs, hands still outstretched.

"No! No, Chanyeol, please! Not him!" Chen's voice is strained and dry as he desperately throws himself against the bars, rising in pitch as Suho is dragged farther and farther away. "Please!"

Chanyeol's dark chuckle makes Suho shiver, tears already in his eyes. The phoenix drags Suho across the floor and into another chamber of the cave, dropping him in the center of the floor. Suho barely has time to breathe and collect himself before Chanyeol grabs him by the hair and yanks, forcing Suho's head back.

"Did you really think you could just come into my desert and free your thunderbird? Are you brave? Or just an idiot?" Chanyeol sneers, eyes cold despite the orange glow.

Suho swallows, trying to collect his thoughts. Flattery. Chanyeol is vain.

"You," he manages to get out through the fear choking him. "You really had a great plan."

Chanyeol blinks.

"I did?" He says, brows furrowing together.

Suho nods as best he can despite the iron grip on his hair.

"You did," he replies, his dry lips. "I mean…poisoning Wu Fan and convincing humans that you were the god of light? That's something not anyone could pull off. It would take a real genius."

Chanyeol blinks for a few more minutes before a slow smile spreads over his face. He seems to swell a little.

"Well, it was a pretty good plan. After they humiliated me, I had to get my revenge somehow," he says, releasing Suho's hair and smirking as he inspects his nails.

Suho nods fervently, scrambling to his knees and wincing as his burns throb.

"Oh, of course," he agrees, "It must have been hard to convince Wu Fan to take the poison. How'd you do it?"

Chanyeol scoffs and a blast of dry air shoots through Suho's hair.

"That was easy. Wu Fan believed he was untouchable, so he never suspected I put poison in the wine I gave him."

"Really? How long did it take for the poison to put him to sleep?" Suho's mind races, trying to find questions that will lead the phoenix to reveal the antidote to the poison.

"Not long," Chanyeol replies with a shrug. "I used the strongest poison I knew of. He barely finished the cup before he was stumbling. The look in his eyes when he realized what I'd done was priceless."

Suho nods, biting his lip. He had to keep Chanyeol talking. As long as he was talking, he wouldn't harm him, and more importantly, he wouldn't harm Chen.

"You didn't poison Lu Han, though?" he asks finally, the only question he can think of that isn't too obviously leading.

Chanyeol shakes his head, settling into a more comfortable position on the ground.

"No. Without his brother he's hardly a threat, more concerned with waking Wu Fan than with trying to stop me." Chanyeol's smirk makes Suho's skin crawl. "Not that he could stop me. I've come too far to let him undo all my hard work. And anyway, from what I hear, he's poisoning himself just fine without my help."

"He is?" Suho asks, deciding to play dumb.

"Mm," Chanyeol hums, "apparently he thinks the way to cure the sun is to draw the poison into himself. Which is stupid, by the way, there's only one cure and that's not it."

"Oh?" Suho tries not to sound too desperate, his insides churning. He's close. He's so, so close.

Chanyeol laughs, grinning at Suho with a knowing look.

"You want to know? Plan on waking up the sun and making me into a laughingstock?"

As he speaks, his eyes turn harder and harder, fire springing up in a circle around him and Suho. Suho swallows hard.

"Who am I going to tell? You're going to kill me whether you tell me or not," he shrugs, trying not to betray how terrified he is.

Chanyeol seems to consider this, his flames dancing wildly.

"It has to be something extremely rare, almost impossible to get, to counteract such a strong poison," Suho adds, as sweat starts to drip down his face and neck. "You planned this too carefully to choose a poison with a simple antidote."

Chanyeol smirks as the circle of flames starts to become smaller, closing in on Suho.

"Very well. Since you are dead either way, I'll tell you the cure."

Suho watches the flames fearfully, a stray spark catching on his sleeve before he snuffs it out. Chanyeol moves closer and leans down close to Suho's ear.

"The antidote," he whispers, breath blazingly hot against Suho's skin, "is a thunderbird's rain. It's the only thing that can wash the poison out of the sun."

Suho's eyes flick to the opening where Chen's cage can just barely be seen and Chanyeol chuckles, pulling away and standing at the entrance to Suho's chamber.

"And now, I bid you farewell, human. As long as you live, I cannot truly kill the thunderbird. Do me a favor and scream, would you? It would break Chen's heart."

Before Suho has a chance to respond, the fire circle converges on him all at once and he screams, fingers scrambling for Lay's feather. The pain is blinding and he can hardly breathe, every inch of his skin shrieking in agony. Finally his blistered fingers close on the miraculously untouched feather, and he pulls it out, sobbing helplessly as he drops it.

He slumps on the ground, still aflame, and weeps, praying to anyone, anything, for the pain to stop. At this point he would welcome death. As a creeping darkness starts to take ahold of his mind, he senses, rather than feels, the flames go out.

Hands touch him and Suho sobs again as a fresh wave of agony washes over his raw skin.

Lay's voice pierces the fog of pain and Suho tries to lift his head, crying out when just that small movement almost makes him black out.

"Sh, sh, don't move," Lay says, his voice thick with tears and fear. "I'm going to take you away from here, Suho. Don't move."

Suho clings to consciousness. He has to tell Lay the cure. Chen isn't safe. He has to save Chen. Chen.

"Chen," he rasps out hoarsely. He can't see Lay but he feels Lay pick him up and he whimpers. "No, you…have to…Chen. Get Chen."

"Sh, Suho, you're hurt," Lay replies quietly. "I can't take you both."

"Take Chen," Suho says again, with as much firmness as he can when he's so close to blacking out. "Chen is the antidote. His rain…wash out the poison. Take Chen."

"Suho…" Lay's voice shakes, pleading with Suho.

"Take Chen," Suho pleads back, desperately clutching at Lay's hand. "Please. Please, Lay. Save Chen."

Lay sobs and presses his lips as gently as he can to Suho's forehead.

"I will be back for you," Lay whispers, before laying Suho back on the ground. "I swear I'll come back for you."

Suho smiles faintly, the darkness welcoming him as he lets himself slip away.