The solemn crooning of song birds filled the chilly air, their songs echoing in the thick forest.  You opened your eyes, and vision slowly focused back.

 'Where am I?'

 The canopy above was consolidated enough to block out the major storms, so only sprinkles from the previous downpour remained. Drops lightly ghosted your bare arms and legs, tickling your nose and eyelashes. There was no other presence, it seemed, for miles except the melancholy dirges of birds and the eerie sway of branches and leaves overhead.

It was then when you remembered where you were. Well, you didn't exactly know where this place was, but assumed it to be someplace deep in the forest. You frowned, all thoughts drifting to Max. His brief words and sickly burn engraved for a moment into your mind. Whatever he had said prior to the first hit from the Shadows, had to do with you, no doubt about it. Your worry soon directed itself toward your wolf boys. They were probably going out of their minds by now. You left to the bathroom in late morning and had passed out, for who knows how long. There wasn't much that could indicate time but from birds that came out and sang, you guessed it was sometime in the afternoon. You got up.

'I need to get back to the others,'

Your bare feet squished lightly on the damp ground, a calm settling into your stomach. Everything around you was overgrown, from the old knotty trees to the wild toe-tickling grass. Their aged exterior assured you of no danger, and had a familiar effect on your being.

A stir from the bushes made you jump and had you fearing a déjà vu. You held your arms over yourself defensively. A bulky figure emerged from the foliage. It's movement was awkward in a sense, as it lumbered toward you. You watched it wearily, the first thing notable being its stark white color. When the ape advanced, you stepped back unsure of its motives. The aura emitting from it was not threatening, but you still held your ground. Finally, it stopped short a meter or so in front of you remaining still. You blinked, staying glued to your spot as well. Slowly the ape inches forward and in response, you flinched away. It grunted a little, but then surprised you with a soft whining you never would've guessed could come from a creature its size.
The ape turned and began to tread another direction. It stopped, looked behind to you, then went on walking. Curiously you followed. While walking, all around you flowers seemed to bloom in your path. The leaves shimmered and animals slowly appeared, visible to you or eye, watching with interest. You shrank a little into your steps, suddenly feeling self conscious. Nervously, you quickened your pace from behind as the ape lumbered on.


The big cat limped stiffly into the shade. Rain tapped on his backside, and mixed with the mud and scarlet sticking to his fur in tangles. He hissed on pain as he walked on. Max hadn't been anticipating the Shadows's new offense and with now with you out of either sides' hands, their moves had to be monitored even further more. And on top of the new issue, he had yet to tell Hero. Max knew both parties—Hero and the mutts wouldn't be pleased with your disappearance.  He mewed softly out of frustration and began to pad away in the opposite direction.

**flash back-hours prior to the present**

Meanwhile eight boys lazed around the small cave. The day had been unproductive so far due to the gloomy weather, and none were really in the mood for any work. Occasionally some would leave while others come back, however a few stayed out completely for reasons unspecified. You had left a while ago, and for those who had remained since then grew ever so anxious of your return. Finally at least an hour of silence had elapsed between Baekhyun, Chanyeol, D.O, Xuimin, and (surprisingly) the pups. Baekhyun was the first to notice and whined softly while Tao and Sehun quietly attempted to entertain themselves.  The other three lay unmoving, asleep, except for the gentle rise and fall of their chests. Baekhyun nudged his litter mate before standing up himself. Slowly, Chanyeol awoke rubbing the slumber his eyes.

"What is it, Baek?"

"It's ~~~. She hasn't come back from the bathroom yet. An hour has passed—something isn't right."

Analyzing his brother's words for a moment, the giant paused then gave a gruff bark. The other two sleeping jumped while the pups turned around to face Chanyeol. Cursing, Xuimin and D.O both offered their own glare to their alarm clock who in turn, shrunk back sheepishly. Baekhyun immediately took the initiative and reaccessed the issue to the four, then looked out to the tearful sky saying, "We need to find her before someone else does."


   Luhan stared blankly at the never ending rain. His heart was iron in his chest and he couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling grow in him. Something was off, but whatever it was seemed to slip from his mind. Paws squishing the damp earth, he made his way over to the stream before his nose picked up a familiar smell. Ever so faint, he immediately recognized the sweet scent of you..and more. His fangs bared.
A cat..and those damned Shadows.
The traces of your being were barely present anymore thanks to the rain washing away any smell normally left for an extended period of time. At least an hour had passed since you had been there, and any sliver of of hope left to find you was fading fast. On his haunches, Luhan set out into a full sprint letting his nose take command. He flashed past forest before a group of figures ahead caught his attention.

"You three, stop idling and wasting time."
He knew how they might counter and quickly supplemented,
"With the rain working against us, there's only so much we can do. If you can no longer smell, your ears will guide you if your nose can't. No sense is meant to dominate the others. Learn to stretch each to their limits and you won't worry about losing your main light in the darkness. I don't won't to hear any if, ands, or buts—find ~~~."

His tone was fierce as he growled and Kai felt his knees go weak for a moment. The omegas nodded quickly before taking off, leaving the two rivals alone.

"So you sensed it too?"

The younger wolf stiffly nodded and closed his eyes briefly. He passed by slowly his brother slowly then without looking back, ran into the rain.
Luhan frowned, staring at the disappearing black dot.


The angel sniffed the air, his expression grim. On the other hand, his brother remained stone-faced as he too searched. Blue eyes scanned across the cloudy sky before looking away.

"We have failed her.."

"We mustn't give up—"

"Don't be ridiculous! In this weather it's nearly impossible for our kind to track. The only one of us who actually has the ability to find her is Luhan! For the rest of us to try to look for her is just a waste—"

A low growl made the alpha stop mid sentence. He gave a bewildered look towards the now menacing beast beside him. Crystal blue eyes flashed to red and back to their saphire state again as the boy regained his composure.

"Perhaps your heart has hardened too much since that time, but we can't give in. Not yet. Not until we are satisfied with what we have done. I highly doubt you are content with all that's been left unfinished so please..let us find ~~~ so we can keep our promise."

Kris slowly nodded, his gaze cast downward in shame. "Of course, what was I saying.." He then looked up muttering, "Please forgive me, ~~~."

"Let's search somewhere else," his brother suggested, trying to lift the mood. Agreeing, they bounded in another direction.




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Sorry this took awhile! Finals were a scramble—just like everything else at the end off the school year. Anyway, I hope to get start writing more often now on break, so you can expect the next chapter out by Wednesday or so. Thanks for reading, subscribing, voting, and commenting! ! ! Leave your thoughts below, thanks again!
 

Please check out my new story too!

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/744131/

~Toasty