You looked up in awe. The tree that loomed over you was thick around the trunk and allowed its large roots to freely surface from the ground. Your ape friend stood a meter or so away, its gaze matching yours. Without noticing, animals from all around came to pay homage to the symbol as well. 
Breaking away from your trance, you asked softly,
"What is this?"

The creature beside you grunted in response. A somber look crossed its pale face as it repeated the noise it made. 'It's as if he wants to speak, but can't,' You curiously stepped toward the brute, a familiar feeling enveloping you. It whined softly and your hand went on its own accord. Taking a giant paw into your petite grasp, you gave it a lightest squeeze not really sure what else you could do. The creature took your actions well though, and returned them with without crushing your hand. Large steps from behind suddenly made themselves audible as you turned around. You couldn't help but jump in surprise as you stared face to face with three more of the large gorillas. They were almost identical to each other and their friend beside you except for the dark brown fur that adorn their skin. With all of them in the vicinity, you could also tell the group varied in heigh and face as well. Some were taller than others while one had more  prominent facial features. Unlike their friend, they seemed more outgoing—noticeable as they gamboled over towards you. You stepped back, unsure but your friend gave your hand plan other squeeze and you reluctantly stayed in place.

-----

Birds from a 5 mile radius flew from their perches, scattering about the forest. Max and the others winced as Jaejoong paced around furiously. Coming to an abrupt stop, he sighed,
"I suppose nothing can be done now. All we can do is rely on Yun Jun."
The rest of DBSK didn't question their leader. Whoever 'Yun Jun' was, their identity would be revealed. Jaejoong never left any spoken words open ended—or when he did, he was sure the they would understand eventually. 

"We won't be the only ones waiting for her return," Max reminded, thinking about the Shadows. 

"True,—"

-----

"—it seems we'll have to work with those damned cats—"

"—whether any us like it or not,"

The two alphas finished explaining to the ten in front of them. 
Some nodded in understanding, while others just scoffed. 

"We all want the same thing, which is: ~~~'s safety."

Kai, D.O, Xuimin, and Luhan begrudgingly agreed to this. 

Jaejoong frowned slightly, still in thought. 

"What is it?" 

"We'll just have to wait until she releases ~~~ then,"

"She?" Kris couldn't help but question.

"The spirit of this forest, of course. It's not a matter of ~~~ finding her way out, more rather being allowed out. There's no doubt Boa will want to see her child again. Hell," he smirked, "Who knows, she might just keep her there for an eternity."

"Child? What are you talking about?" Suho frowned. 

Exo was clearly displeased by their lack of understanding, and Jaejoong indulged himself in their helplessness.

"Perhaps I will tell you more as the night draws nearer," he hummed, earning glares from the wolf pack. 

-----

You giggled as the apes played with your hood. Two of them took turns inspecting the red fabric, while the other picked up strands of your hair gently. Your friend kept close distance to you, his shy demeanor evident among his easygoing friends. Moving away carefully, your locks slipped out of the gorilla's fingers like sand as you stepped back to the albino. You smiled kindly at the tall creature as he gazed back with the same affection. He suddenly grunted and motion for the others and they left.

-----
Sehun stared at the sky with a dull look in his eyes. The clouds were starting to take on a warm red-orange color as they swirled around with the fading blue. Tao whine from beside him,
"Ugh, this is taking forever! I want ~~~ to come home to us now."

All who heard the pup silently agreed, as they patiently waited.

-----
As the sun continued to set, you heard steps pad lightly in the dirt. You looked up in surprise to find three young men  walking towards you. Fearfully you stepped back as they advanced. There was a familiar look in their eyes that made a shiver run down your spine. 

"Hey, girlie. Have you been taking care of our Yuju while we've been gone?" A deep voice asked aloud. 

This caused you to panic as they strolled on. 

"Well..?" The boy next to him question as he looked you up and down.    

You shrunk down, your body shook unconsciously. 

The third walked straight up to you, a handsome yet goofy looking smirk on his face. 

"You gonna tell us, Doll Face? Or are we just gonna have to ask him ourselves?"

He motioned away from where the two of you stood. You followed his gesture to find find your white companion. The ape grunted loudly and hobbled over protectively in front of you. 

The three boys burst out laughing at this action. It was then when you realized who these people were. How you didn't notice earlier was amazing as you recalled the firewood in one of their arms. 

"Alright, alright. Sorry Yuju, you both are too cute to mess with!" One spoke up from his chuckles. The others were busy catching their breath while their friend continued to speak, "We got the supplies just like you asked, the least you could do is thank us." 
From in front of you, 'Yuju' as his ape-now boy friends called him, let out a sigh. 

"Y-you guys are. ." Your voice trailed off, and you couldn't help but feel stupid for still being surprised by these transforming people. Evolved? Is that what Kris called them?

"Smart? Funny? Drop-dead y—Oww!" One of them grinned before rubbing his sore head. Your albino friend gave him a good whack on the head.

You giggled, all of your previous fears dissolved completely. 

His other friends hushed him up before waiting for you to speak.

"Evolved? You can change and speak freely?" You attempted to confirm.

"No exactly, Missy. We are even better than that! One might call us supermen, or better yet—Wonderboyz!" The one who spoke earlier exclaimed.

"Wonder. .boyz?"

"Well only Yuju thinks the name's kinda stupid—"

"—you banana-brain! We all think it's stupid,"

You gave the three a look. 

"So what do you think, miss ~~~?"

"Well," you paused, unsure of what to say. Something then came to mind. "Hey, how do you know my name?"

"Oh, yeah! We haven't properly introduced ourselves. Sorry about that! I'm Min Young, that goof is Taehyung, over there is Woo Ram, and of course you know Yun Jun" the handsome blonde pointed to a brunette who waved eagerly, then to a boy with short, dark hair who gave a curt nod, and finally to the ape. 

You nodded, soaking in Min Young's words. 

"Nice to meet you. Although that didn't really answer my question. ." 

"Right. .Yuju told us!" Taehyung piped up. 

You turned to the only silent one of the group.

"Yun Jun, how did you know my name? And why haven't you shifted yet?" 

He grunted making you frown slightly. Before you could ask again, Woo Ram came to his aid. 

"Miss ~~~, Yun Jun can't speak. Well, in your tongue at least. Shouldn't you be deeply informed about this already?"

This was a surprise.

"O-ooh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. .all of this is still pretty new to me," you apologized to him. However, the albino gave your hand a gentle gaze and whined a little as if accepting. "He's different from you guys, and yet the same as Jaejoong. Why can't he speak?"

Woo Ram seemed to ease up by your lack of information, and continued on speaking,

"Like all living things, there are always. . .to put it lightly: variations. They say only the regulars and grounded have the inability to speak with intellect or emotions. But that's obviously not true. Yun Jun, a born flighted, has never been able to communicate in his other form. Or least that's how it's been for the past hundreds of years."

"H-hundreds of years!?" You sputtered, looking at the lively, young men. 

"Any creature beyond the grounded ages at a much slower rate than humans." 

You stared incredulously at them before asking,

"How old are you then!?"

They laughed at this.

"Maybe you don't want to know," 

"What!?" You couldn't help but let your mind guess into the hundreds as well. 

Your external reaction must have been enough, because the boys were back into their bouts of laughter.  Min Young was the first to recover, replying,
"A little younger than Jun; 150ish?"

"150!?"

"You kinda lose track after the first century."

"Oh, my. ." Trying to comprehend how the three handsome, young men had nearly seven times the experience you had. Your thoughts drifted to your wolf boys. "Does that mean Kris, Suho, and all the others. . !"

"Huh? Some friends of yours? If they are anything above Regular and Grounded and look about our age, then yep! Should be into the 120s-150s." Taehyung grinned further at your bewildered expression.  

"This is crazy," you muttered, shaking your head little bit. "I need to get back to them,"

"It is. But have no fear miss, ~~~. We'll definitely take care of you until you reunite with your friends!" Taehyung grinned, the others nodding in agreement. 

Another feeling of gratitude swelled in your chest as you stared at the sincerity in their eyes. 

"Thank you," 

---

So sorry this is crazy late guys! I'll hopefully have another chapter out soon, so please bear with me. Thanks to all who read, subscribe, comment, and vote! I know I haven't had the time to thank all of you new readers, but I'm really grateful for your support! 

~Toasty