Jinri sighed as she sat at the table with Suho and Kai. The two boys had interrogated her the moment she got back, wondering about the two men that had approached her at the table. It wasn't like should could tell them much of anything; the two men had been intimidating, yes, but they didn't try to harm her exactly. She had an inkling that they were from a clan that wasn't on too good terms with hers, and so she just resigned herself to accepting that people would try to push their weight around now that she had been introduced as a Tamer.

Several times, older members from other packs would come and introduce themselves to her. She noted that they greeted Suho and Kai with both fear and reverence, and greeted her with a sort of reserved curiosity. When Suho and Kai switched their self-imposed guard duty with Xiumin, Jinri saw it as a chance to get to know the ice-wielding boy better and ask him some more questions about the relationships between Tamers and their packs.

"There are so many wolves, but very few Tamers," Jinri noted. Xiumin nodded.

"Because of the disappearances and the lack of children being born with Tamer abilities, often times, Packs are headed by human Liaisons. They're mostly just relatives of pack members."

"Like Yeol's sister?"

"Yeah. Yoora is the liaison for a couple of packs south of here, she works with the Tamer Mi Ja, mostly," Xiumin told her. "Yoora is pretty cool. Chanyeol will want to introduce you two at some point, especially since you might be working with her and Mi Ja."

Jinri had almost forgotten that she would be doing some of her training with the only other surviving Tamer in South Korea. Taemin had mentioned it before that Mi Ja was very old and unable to completely train Jinri, which is why they had called in Henry from Canada. She wondered when she would finally meet the older woman.

"Have you tried using any of our abilities again?" Xiumin asked her. She shook her head and looked at her hands. "You have remarkable control for someone who is just learning all of this, you know."

"Accept for the bit where I cocooned myself like some sort of elemental butterfly in the backyard," Jinri reminded him with a slight chuckle. "That was not my greatest display of control."

"Well, you didn't burn the house down, so that's a good thing," Xiumin joked. "Have you figured everyone out yet? What we can do?"

"Almost. I think I'm just missing Kris, Tao, Suho, and Sehun," she replied. "I mean, it could be pretty much anything at this point. One of them is water, and another is wind, I'm just not sure whom. I'll figure it out eventually."

"Yeon Jinri, what a pleasant surprise."

Jinri and Xiumin turned to find a middle-aged man standing on the other side of the table, smiling kindly. It took Jinri a moment, but she finally recognized him as her world history professor from the previous year.

"Professor Song!" Jinri said and bowed hastily. "I didn't realize that..."

"That I am a shape changing wolf who is part of a larger network of similar creatures that are spread all over the globe? Not many realize that, my dear." He chuckled. She had always liked his forward sense of humor. He opened his arms to her for a hug and she rushed around the table to readily accept the gesture.

"I was so sad to hear that you went on sabbatical and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye," she told him. "What did you even do for a whole semester?" She had been close to the professor before he left, and she was glad to see a familiar face in the unfamiliar crowd of the large gathering.

"I was in the States, helping out my daughter," he explained. "I'm a grandfather now, you know."

"That's so good to hear," Jinri said. She saw that Xiumin was now standing silently at her side, and she internally scolded herself for being so rude.

"Professor, do you know Xiumin?" She asked, stepping out of the way so Xiumin could step forward. Professor Song nodded and made the Ulrica hand symbol, which Xiumin returned.

"I believe you were in my class your first semester at Seoul University," he said with a knowing smile. "Always sleeping, if I recall correctly. No matter; that's a long while ago. It looks like you've managed to stay awake for the duration of this stuffy gathering, so I supposed you've improved." Xiumin, who had been silent the whole time, cracked a smile. It was hard to ignore the wit of the older gentleman.

"Well, I best be on my way," Professor Song said. "So many more people to greet, so little time. Jinri, please stop by my office the next time you're free. I have something for you." With one last embellished bow, he left them.

"We should go get you prepped," Xiumin said after a brief moment of silence. "I'm sure they're just itching to parade you around some more."

Jinri grimaced but followed him anyway, giving small bows here and there as people called out their greetings. It was weird having so many people speak to her as if she were already one of them. Having spent most of her life living with a woman who hated her very existence had its residual effects. She wasn't used to all of this attention, certainly not from those who though she was some sort of prophetic savior. Though she knew that was the image of her the council wanted peop