AN: This chapter is dedicated to Denzell, who has been so amazing. Thank you so much, dear~! <3

Alright then, on to the story~!

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“You’re sure they didn’t feel a thing?”

Kyungsoo nodded furiously, even as he began to skin the animals. “Of course, Iola. Look here.” He brushed the animals’ long, pointed ears aside to reveal its head and pointed to a small, blackened hole just above its third eyes.

“Is that….?”

“Yes, that’s where Jongdae’s lightning burned them. It was just a small zap,” Kyungsoo quickly added when Iola grimaced. “It’s small enough to kill them instantly but not too much to bring them unnecessary pain.”

“…so they were not in pain?”

“Well.....at least the pain was as minimum as possible.”

Iola wasn’t really satisfied with the answer, but knew it was useless to ask more. From the corner of her eyes she caught Yixing’s questioning gaze.

“Iola, are you alright?”

She nodded weakly. “Yeah. Sorry for making a fuzz.”

“Iola-”

“I’m fine, Yixing! Now, why don’t you help Kyungsoo with dinner.” She pushed him toward the other man. “With both of you working it shouldn’t take too long, which is good because I’m starving!”

Yixing let himself be pushed forward, but not before giving her a certain look. Iola tried to smile for his benefit, though she knew Yixing wasn’t really satisfied and was just letting her off the hook this time.

“You’re sure you’re alright?”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Yes, yes, I’m alright. Now go and help Kyungsoo.” Once he’d turned his back did she mumbled under her breath. “At least I think I’m alright.”

To be honest, Iola herself wasn’t sure what happened.

After they left the clearing Yixing brought her back to the other Guardians who immediately crowded around her, asking if she was alright. She’d made numerous assurances that she was indeed alright, grateful that they didn’t press her any further. Once they’d all calmed down Joonmyun suggested that they went back to camp, since they’d left all their satchels and supplies there.

It was on their way back passing a small clearing when they saw some animals hopping around, the ones Iola had seen before that reminded her of rabbits. Iola didn’t waste time and quickly asked Luhan for its name, something she never had a chance before because of the language barrier, to which he answered that it’s called atavo. Someone, she forgot who, had exclaimed that they should catch the animals for dinner, and Jongdae and Tao had quickly run forward.

They make a good team of hunters as she watched the two men in action. When the atavos ran away from them, Tao simply waved his hand to stop time and freeze them in motion, making it an easy target for Jongdae to kill them with a burst of his lightning.

It wasn’t an unusual sight for Iola; during their time together she’d had seen both of them hunting down animals for their meals. But there was something different this time.

As the atavos scattered around to avoid their demise, the hum in her mind grew louder and she felt a jumble abstract of emotions rolling in waves over her, threads of presences mishmashed all together making a ball of confusion. It wasn’t something clear which she could identify, but the feeling of fear and desperation were patent enough to make her tremble in nausea.

When Jongdae killed those atavos, she felt her heart stopped for a second, before it beat again and a sense of balance struck at her mind. Her hands were still trembling though, and she didn’t realize she was swaying until Yixing had shaken her shoulder lightly, worriedly asking if she was alright.

She tried to convince him that nothing was wrong, but couldn’t help her shudder when Jongdae and Tao came back with the animals’ carcasses, tied up in a single net. For the rest of the way back she couldn’t look at it and swayed slightly in her steps, so much so that Yixing walked closely by her side. His hand reached up to pat the small of her back from time to time, a small act of comfort for which she was grateful.

Once they reached camp Kyungsoo had immediately began to skin the animal and swallowing her nausea, she bombarded the man with her question, emphasizing again and again that the atavos had indeed, didn’t suffer pain on their demise.

It was silly when she thought about it. She’d seen Jongdae and the others hunt before, and knew that the men always kill quickly and efficiently. Even now she’d seen that there were hardly any blood spilled; Jongdae had indeed kill them in an instant. And yet she couldn’t shook off the unease from her veins.

Leaving the two men to began their dinner preparation, she had only taken a few steps before being cornered by Tao and Jongdae, both of them wearing the same guilty expressions on their faces.

Tao looked as if he was at the verge of tears. “Iola….are you angry at us for killing those atavos?”

Jongdae wrung his hands in his tunic from nervousness. “I...I’m sorry, Iola. I didn’t know you didn’t like me killing them. It’s just that....well, you never mentioned any dislike over it before. I mean, yes, of course, before you couldn’t talk to us. But then again, you also never acted like you disapprove of it, so-”

“Stop.” Iola cut off Jongdae’s rambling. “Just stop, alright Jongdae? It’s not your fault, both of you.” She raked a hand through her hair, trying to come up with some explanation to her strange behaviour.

“I’m sorry I was acting like this. I...I don’t know what came over me.” Seeing Jongdae and Tao’s still distressed faces she quickly grabbed both their hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “All I know is that it’s not your fault. Maybe I’m just too tired or just feeling not quite myself; that’s why I was acting like that. I’m sorry if I worried you before.”

“So...so you’re not angry with us?” Tao’s voice was hoarse and cracking and Iola felt a lump of guilt heavy in her chest seeing the young man’s watery eyes.

“Of course not, Tao.” She reached up to pat his cheek affectionately. “Like I said before, I don’t know what came over me. I’m not angry at you at all, little brother.”

Tao’s eyes widened with surprise at her words. “W-what...what did you just call me?”

Iola didn’t know what she said that could’ve caused his reaction. “...uhm, I called you little brother. Why?”

“N-nothing. Just....you never called me that before.”

Iola could practically see the pink tint grazing Tao’s cheek crawling to his ears as well and chuckled at the adorable sight. “Ah, I’ve always called you that! Just that before we couldn’t talk to each other, that’s why you just knew now.” The thought that the man might not welcome the term of endearment came to her and she quickly asked, pulling back her hand. “Unless you don’t want me to?”

“No, no, no!” Tao quickly objected. “I....I like it. Being your little brother, that is.”

Iola smile’s grew wider as she tiptoed to ruffle the man’s hair. “Good, because I like having you as my brother, too.”

“Hey!” Jongdae whined at the side. “What about me?”

“What about you, Jongdae?”

“If Tao is your little brother, then what am I?”

            Seeing the small pout on his face Iola couldn’t help the laughter bubbling from . “You, Jongdae.” She slung an arm around his shoulder. “Are my partner in crime in making daily life miserable for your leader.”

“You mean teasing and making fun of Wufan to no end?”

“Exactly.”

Jongdae chuckled evilly as he also slung his arm around her. “I like the way you think.”

Iola let herself be pulled by Jongdae, grabbing Tao’s hand and the three of them walk together to the others. Someone had lighted a fire since it was already twilight, and Jongdae steered her to sit closer to the welcomed warmth. The other Guardians who’d huddled around it made some space for her and she found herself sitting between Luhan and a Guardian from the other group, the one who found her first.

The tan-skinned man looked her over carefully. “Are you alright now, Iola?”

“Yeah, I’m fine…,” She racked her brain for a second to remember his name. “Jongin.”

She shot the tan man a small smile, rather sheepish and a bit awkward since she’d barely knew them, even if they were also Guardians. But the hum in her mind purred pleasantly towards these newcomers, the same way it always does whenever she was with Yixing and the others, and as Jongin grinned back at her, his smile wide and happy just like a little boy, Iola thought that she could easily forget her initial uneasiness.

Luhan frowned slightly though as he peered closer. “Are you sure? You still look a bit pale.”

Before Iola could answer, another Guardian spoke up from his seat besides Jongin. “You should ask Yixing to heal you if you’re feeling unwell.”

She turned to face the silver-gray haired man, Sehun if she remember his name correctly. Sehun had look the other way, as Luhan and Jongin continued to talk to her. Jongin tried to include him in the conversation, but Sehun only nodded or hummed in agreement, keeping his silence. Iola wondered why he kept quiet all the time and made a mental note to talk to him more when the situation comes.

Chanyeol bounded over to them from the other side of the bonfire, his grin wide and looking so much like an overgrown puppy wagging its tail excitedly.

“Iola, want to see something amazing?”

She couldn’t help but grinned back; the tall man’s deep voice contrasted heavily with his wide smile but somehow it suited him and his seemingly boundless energy was infectious. “Sure, what is it?”

The tall Guardian faced the bonfire and waved his hand, and suddenly tongue of flames shot out into the air, dancing merrily. It reached high into the night sky, painting it with streaks of red and orange. As Chanyeol continued to waved his hands the flames changed its intensity, almost dying down to a soft blue before burning bright again red hot and orange, dancing to its own tune and Iola clapped enthusatically with every change.

It was cut short when Wufan strode angrily towards them, Joonmyun just a few steps behind.

“Stop that, Chanyeol!” he barked loudly. “We don’t need you to make a fire sign to let the Teimans know our position!”

“B-but-“

“Wufan’s right, Chanyeol,” Joonmyun cut him off. “After what happened, I think we need to be mo