A cool breeze traveled lightly over the surface of the lake, gently caressing Baekhyun’s skin and making him shiver. The dreamless black shook and seeped away and Baekhyun struggled against looming reality. He shivered again. It was cold, colder than it should have been. Finally, he gave in and cracked open his eyes. Baekhyun blinked away sleep and the early morning sun came into focus, just barely over the horizon of the lake. The uncut grass swayed in the cool breeze, lightly tipped with frost. The lake reflected the sun and glittered like flakes of gold while a frosty steam danced lazily on the surface.

It was like a scene from a hero’s adventure. Something magnificent and otherworldly. If someone told Baekhyun that that place was the entrance to Olympus, then he would have had no doubt that it was true. He watched, still, not daring to move lest the scene shatter and disappear. His breath uncurled from his lips, just barely visible in the cool air. Morning dew that had settled on his body held tiny frozen crystals that made his skin almost sparkle in the morning light. He was cold and so was Chanyeol’s body.

A moment of panic swept through Baekhyun until he felt the rise and fall of Chanyeol’s chest. He was still asleep. Looking up, Baekhyun could see that the slushy-like dew covered his body, clinging to his hair and eyelashes, and making him look as though he was some kind of art piece.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, his voice scratchy and hoarse. He flexed his muscles, testing them out and warming them up. They felt stiff and moving was unpleasant, but he raised a hand to touch Chanyeol’s face, repeating his name in a louder voice. Chanyeol’s eyes fluttered, the warmth created between their flesh stirring him from the darkness. Baekhyun called out to Chanyeol again, that time his voice broke through the barrier and Chanyeol groggily stirred awake.

“It’s cold,” was the first thing that came from Chanyeol’s mouth. Baekhyun only hummed in response, shifting his body to sit up. Chanyeol groaned as he attempted to move his stiff muscles, which caused that pin needle static buzz to erupt on the right side of his body on which Baekhyun had been laying. He took in a sharp breath at the sudden unpleasantness.

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol with concern. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah, my leg just fell asleep, that’s all.” He took his time stretching and massaging his muscles. Not only were they stiff from the cold, but they were also sore from running. Running. The memories caused a feeling of heaviness like a damp wool blanket to layer itself on top of Chanyeol’s head and shoulders and he suddenly wanted to just go back to sleep.

He looked up to see Baekhyun scrunched up, arms wrapped around his legs that he folded up to his chest, gazing out at the soft rippling of the lake’s water. The sun had risen higher in the sky allowing the surface to reflect a brilliant blue. The fog had thinned out, but still curled whimsically across the water. Light fractured on the ripples as they chased the shore and gave the illusion of flitting fairies glowing with playful mischief.

Chanyeol felt as though he should do something. He wasn’t sure what or how, but something needed to be done. Baekhyun looked calm, peaceful even, but he knew that that was impossible. If Chanyeol felt the weight, then Baekhyun had to feel that weight ten times as much. There hadn’t been much time to think or do anything except for run, so the gravity of what Baekhyun had went through didn’t hit him until then. Chanyeol couldn’t imagine what it was like to be that close to a demon, much less have his friend ripped apart right before his very eyes.

There was a silence, a quiet, that seemed to encase the lake, like a timeless bubble separate from the rest of the world, separate from evil and tragedy. Baekhyun found that the rhythmic song of the waves lapping at the shore somehow kept him at ease. He could easily clear his mind, the horrific images from yesterday reduced to muddled white noise. There, Baekhyun could stay there forever. He and Chanyeol could live out the rest of their lives there at the lake. They could manage somehow.

Chanyeol shifted to sit up next to Baekhyun. He looked into those dark, unfocused eyes and knew that Baekhyun was slipping. Even though Chanyeol could understand and relate, one of them had to be strong, had to keep them going. There was a part of Chanyeol that was angry with Baekhyun for forcing him to be the strong one, but a much larger part of him felt pain at Baekhyun’s state, felt anger at the creatures who were responsible, and mostly felt determination to survive, even if only for Baekhyun’s sake.

The light wasn’t gone, but it was dangerously dim. The cold seemed to slowly sap the light from Baekhyun’s eyes, and he didn’t fight it. Maybe he didn’t notice or maybe he didn’t care, but either way Chanyeol was determined to keep it burning. Even embers were better than darkness, so he jumped up and, despite the pain, started doing jumping jacks. Baekhyun’s attention was redirected and he stared blankly, almost not comprehending what was happening.

“What….are you doing?” Baekhyun asked, his voice quiet for fear he’d burst the bubble. But instead of answering his question, Chanyeol just continued to do jumping jacks. Thinking he hadn’t been heard, Baekhyun cleared his throat and asked again in a louder voice.

Chanyeol stopped and held up a finger to say “just a moment” before he began stretching. He jumped up and down a few more times, shaking out his body, and just before Baekhyun was about to question him again, Chanyeol plopped down behind him, pulling Baekhyun’s balled up body into his lap. Baekhyun made a sound of confusion as Chanyeol wrapped his arms around him, hugging Baekhyun close to his chest.

“Chanyeol…?” Baekhyun questioned as he shifted to look at Chanyeol’s face, but Chanyeol just pressed him back into his chest.

Chanyeol ran his hands along Baekhyun’s arms and legs. “You looked really cold all balled up like that,” he said. It was no use warming up someone without stimulating some body heat first.

Baekhyun felt more than heard Chanyeol’s voice rumble in his chest. The sound was almost as comforting as the lake’s rippling waves, maybe even more. He mumbled a ‘thank you’ and allowed Chanyeol’s body heat to seep into his flesh, waking his body and drawing him back to reality. When there was cold, the world was slowed, stilled. Like the world decided that it needed a couple of months to just relax and sleep, to take a break away from all the buzzed heat activity. He almost didn’t want the warmth to come.

“Come on, get up,” Chanyeol said as he pushed himself to his feet, pulling Baekhyun with him. “Let’s move around, get our blood flowing!”

Baekhyun groaned. His muscles were sore and movement sent that dull ache pulsing through his legs, but he made the effort anyway. He wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t notice how hard Chanyeol was making an effort for his sake. In his mind, he knew and he understood that he too should make the effort, a step in the direction of healing, but more often than not his body refused to comply.

There was pain and fear haunting the depths of Chanyeol’s eyes, but if Baekhyun only looked at the surface he could pretend it wasn’t there.  If he didn’t look so close, the way Chanyeol’s lips strained to form an encouraging smile wouldn’t be very visible and if looked only at the sky he could trick himself into believing that he could hear the sounds of campers just beyond the trees.

Baekhyun blinked, his eyes suddenly focusing on the very close face of Chanyeol. He made a small sound of surprise, but exerted no movement. Normally he would have pulled back and maybe cracked a joke, but the intense seriousness of Chanyeol’s gaze left him blank and unsure.

Chanyeol’s gaze was unwavering even as he whispered his concerns. “You keep dazing off.”

Baekhyun looked down, but he didn’t have the energy to feel any shame or guilt at his withering state.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol called out to him in a gentle voice. “Look at me please, Baekhyun.” His eyes stayed focused on Baekhyun, noting even his slightest movement, any kind of clue to fill him into Baekhyun’s mental state.

The pure gentleness and concern in Chanyeol’s voice caused an ache to erupt in Baekhyun’s chest and it scratched its way up his throat. He had always been stubborn, always tried to take on the whole world on his own, convinced he was strong enough. That was why, despite having been always surrounded by people, he was ultimately a loner. He had kept even his closest friends at a distance, and bailed the second they started to push that limit.

He was afraid. He had always been afraid. Fear would twist his imagination to envision his world falling apart with nothing left except for the stench of death, betrayal, and that cold, lonely darkness. His morbid fantasies led to him clinging to those closest to him. Baekhyun was not as concerned with mental or spiritual closeness; all that he really needed was for someone to physically be there. For him to be able to touch them, feel the warmth of their body. They were real and they were right there, with him. Baekhyun was content with that.

Once again Baekhyun felt that warmth as Chanyeol brought him closer, hugging him as if he was protecting something precious. The hold was not entrapping or forceful but tender and strong; it was safe. Baekhyun closed his eyes and listened to the steady rhythm of Chanyeol’s heartbeat. His world had fallen apart, but he wasn’t alone. There was a living, breathing person who had risked his own life to save Baekhyun’s.

“I’ve got you,” Chanyeol whispered. He pulled away slightly, enough to be able to look at Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun wanted to be strong, he always tried his hardest, and that was how Chanyeol had always seen him. He’d always see him wearing a face of strength and confidence, a mask Chanyeol was no stranger to.  He had often dreamed of seeing what was beneath. And there he saw it. One of Baekhyun’s many layers: vulnerability. And seeing it had an alien feeling surging up inside him.

Looking down into Baekhyun’s eyes Chanyeol could see it. There was trust, that tiny flame that kept the light from disappearing. He swallowed hard. “I-I can’t promise you anything, because honestly I’m scared less and I’m really not sure what to do,” he gave a shaky smile, “but the one thing I know is that I will always be here for you. I’ll never leave you, Baekhyun. And, and I’ll try my best to protect you,” Chanyeol watched as more of the mask broke and the trust grew. “I’ll take care you as much as you want. Lean on me until you can stand on your own. I’ll always be here beside you. And I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but we’ll get through it together. We can take one step at a time, okay?”

Baekhyun took a deep breath and nodded. “Thank you.”

~*~

Something was itching, almost tickling, and disturbing Luhan’s sleep. Half-asleep Luhan wiggled around his nose in a pitiful attempt to fight the tickle, but the intensity only increased. Finally giving up, Luhan groaned and went to bring a hand to defeat the itch, but found that his arm was restricted. It took a minute for Luhan to completely process that his body was restrained and something was itching his nose, but when he did all sleep was immediately cleared from his mind.

Slowly, Luhan opened his eyes, his muscles tensed and prepared for attack, but all he saw was…hair? Or rather fine strands of fur ranging from browns to oranges. He lifted his head from the dirty, cemented alleyway, where he had apparently fallen over in his sleep, to see the mass of fur take shape. A fat alley cat was sleeping on his chest, its long fur and tail the culprit of his itchy disturbance from sleep. In fact, most of his body was being used as an alley cat motel.

Bewildered, Luhan gradually pushed himself up to where he was propped up on his elbows, chest at a dangerous slant that threatened to send the fat cat tumbling into its equally fat neighbor. While Luhan found the concept of fat alley cats strange, he had to put it on the backburner to address the much more serious problem of why he woke up alone and covered in cats.

Luhan recalled the event of last night, going through each step they had taken and noting every detail. It was all in order, nothing strange he could note. The last thing he remembered was being exhausted and curling up next to Junmyeon who next to Kris who was next to a large dumpster. Luhan looked up and down the alley. No dumpster. Which meant he was either A: dragged to this place, B: slept walked to this placed, or C: kidnapped by fat alley cats to serve as their bed for the night.

While each possibility was very plausible, Luhan felt the most unsettled by option A. There were too many unanswered questions like: who dragged him? and why? Why there and why him? How did the cats play into it if not for option C? Luhan shuddered. He needed to stop himself before his imagination ran wild. He was a man who could survive. He just needed to think of it as a test or courage, strength, and determination. He would figure out the mystery. He would be triumphant. He would fine Minseok and whisk him away like a seasoned hero.

Filled to the brim with power of will and confidence, Luhan engaged in step one of Operation Hero Man. With the skill and ease of slippery snake, Luhan slid the rest of his arms out from under the fat balls of fur that thought they had claimed him. He grinned. Things were going smoothly. Luck was on his side as he continued step one. He laughed haughtily in his mind. Those cats might have been fat, but what they didn’t know was that it was their downfall. The ample fat allowed Luhan to easily roll the cats off his legs without disturbing their sleep, as well as sliding the two cats off his abdomen.

Luhan stood with caution and froze upon hearing a scratchy yowl from his left. In his excitement, it seemed as though Luhan had slid one fat cat onto another and caused it to yowl in discomfort. He had to get out of their fast. Concentrating, he drew in a deep breath. One skillfully executed hop would clear the mini cat minefield, but if even just one calculation was wrong it could mean big trouble. Luhan concentrated on his core. He had complete control. He just needed to clear his head, crouch, tense, and spring!

Flawless. That was how an onlooker would have described Luhan’s performance if an onlooker had been present. He was sure of it. His form was great, his landing precise, and, most importantly, successful. Feeling satisfied, Luhan placed his hands on his hips and let out a prideful victory laugh. Which in turn startled the sleeping cats, causing them to jump up and screech in fright, which frightened Luhan, whose immediate response was to leap into a sprint.

He flew out of the alley at a breathtaking speed and made it three blocks down before he stopped. Luhan leaned over and braced his arms on his knees as he tried to regain his breath. After a bit he straightened up, placed a hand over his heart, and let out a laugh of relief. He was slightly embarrassed at his own skittishness, but luckily enough the city was still mostly asleep as the sun was just barely making its way into the sky. Only a few hardworking citizens milled about and Luhan offered a friendly wave and smile to put a couple of questioning looks at ease.

Luhan needed to figure out where he was and where the rest of the group was, but he couldn’t just stand on the corner and raise even more suspicion, so he broke out in a brisk jog back the way he had come. Hopefully anyone who noticed him would just assume he was doing some morning exercise. As he jogged he filed away all the details his eyes took in, adding to what he had noticed on his sprint. Aphrodite had blessed him with the ability of quick processingand an ample memory. Or at least someone did. Maybe it was his human father, not that Luhan would know.

The city was not very big, but not small enough to be considered a town. Luhan had passed through the city only once. He knew little about it, but he did know that it had a common setup with more urban areas to the center and more rural/domestic areas towards the outskirts. Which meant that Luhan wasn’t far from they had originally arrived. The problem was that he had no idea just how far he had been displaced. For all he knew he could be on the complete opposite side of the city.

~*~

The warmth of the sun soaked into Kris’s skin almost acting like fuel flowing into an empty gas tank. He felt like a battery recharging as energy pumped its way through his body. Despite the magical awakening, the sun’s rays could do nothing for the consequences bestowed upon him from cuddling up with a metal dumpster. Kris grimaced as he practically peeled himself off the dirty and peeling green wall. Some paint chips even came off on his cheek and he wanted nothing more than a warm shower.

“Junmyeon,” Kris called out groggily. When there was no response he leaned over and nudged the still sleeping boy, extracting a whine of discontent. “Junmyeon, wake up. We need to get everyone up. We can’t stay here.”

Junmyeon let out a low groan, rubbed his eyes, and patted his cheeks. He was never very fond of early mornings, but a mother’s duty never ended. He stretched and sat up checking on the others. “Luhan,” he called out when he didn’t immediately see the boy. “Kris where is Luhan?” Junmyeon asked. He was fully awake and stood up, worry already setting in.

Kris stood up as well. Junmyeon was right. Luhan was definitely not where they left him. “Junmyeon, wait,” Kris said, reaching out to stop Junmyeon from running out of the alley. “You know Luhan, maybe he wandered off somewhere, or decided to get breakfast for everyone, or something.” A panicked Junmyeon was the very last thing Kris needed to deal with. Especially since Luhan was god knows where. “Just wait here with Markus and Sanchez. I’ll look around a bit, see if I can’t find him.”

Junmyeon looked unsure, but agreed in the end. After all, Luhan did have a tendency to wander off, and freaking out about it wouldn’t help anyone. He nodded and sat back down, deciding to let Markus and Sanchez sleep in.

It’d have been a bit of an understatement to say Kris was a little more than pissed. He liked Luhan a lot, but the guy was always scattered and too impulsive. He had no doubt that Luhan had gone somewhere and probably ended up lost. It was the only way Luhan could have disappeared, because if something had taken him Kris was sure he would have woken up. Even after living in the camp for so long, even the slightest distress near him would wake Kris up. Luhan had to have snuck out on his own.

It was well past the time Kris had wanted the group to get moving when he returned to the alleyway. Junmyeon immediately stood up, expecting to see Luhan jogging up behind Kris.

Kris sighed. “Luhan’s not with me, Junmyeon,” he said regretfully, “I couldn’t find him. Not even a trace.”

Junmyeon shook his head in bewilderment. “What do mean? You mean he just got up and left? Just walked away?”

Yes. That was exactly what Kris meant, but he didn’t have the heart to tell Junmyeon that so he just shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe? Maybe he just got lost in the city.”

“Well?” Junmyeon asked, “What are we going to do? Are we going to wait for him here?”

Kris shook his head sadly. “You know we can’t.”

“Wait for who?” It was Sanchez. She and Markus were just waking up.

Kris sighed again. “Luhan’s not here. We’re not sure how long he’s been gone, but he wasn’t here when I woke up.”

“We aren’t going to look for him?” Markus asked as he stretched out his muscles.

“I already did,” Kris said slightly perturbed, “No sign of him.”

Sanchez looked confused. “He would just go off on his own like that?” she asked, “Why? It’s dangerous. He’d be better with a group.”

Kris just shrugged. It always was hard to figure Luhan out. No one could ever figure out how he functioned. No one really except for Minseok.

“He always was pretty independent,” Junmyeon said staring out of the alleyway.

Markus shook his head. “But that just doesn’t make any sense. Its stupid and dangerous.”

“Luhan doesn’t make a lot of sense either,” Kris said.

“Aren’t you guys his friends?” Sanchez asked. She was beginning to get upset at Kris and Junmyeon’s behavior.

Junmyeon put his head down. “Yeah,” he answered, “and that’s why we know that if there’s one thing more important than his own life…”

“It’s Minseok,” Kris said finishing Junmyeon’s sentence. “They’ve been together always, even before the camp. They’ve never been separated like this, and especially not under these circumstances. For so long they only ever had each other, and even though they don’t show it, being separated is their biggest fear.”

“What do you mean, “they only ever had each other”?” Markus asked. He wasn’t one to normally pry, but there were too many missing pieces that could affect them in the long run. And he did not like the idea of Junmyeon and Kris keeping him and Sanchez in the dark about something.

“We don’t really know exactly,” Junmyeon answered, “All we know is that they were abandoned or forgotten, somehow found each other, and grew up together on their own. They hopped around from place to place, city to city, just surviving until they found the camp.”

“So, what…?” Sanchez questioned, “They were abandoned babies raised by friendly forest animals? I mean we may be demi-god, but we’re still human too. There’s no way infants could survive like that.”

Markus nodded. “She’s right, you know. It’s really strange and hardly believable. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well,” Kris said, “no one asked you to understand it. You wanted to know why Luhan would leave on his own, and we gave you the answer. So sorry if its not up to par, but we really don’t have time to stand around and argue the believability of Luhan and Minseok’s past. The fact is that Luhan is gone, and if he’s in the city we’ll find him, but if he’s not then there’s nothing we can do but hope he’s the survivor he claims to be.”

With no room left for argument, the four set out into the city. They needed more food, water, clothes, and money. Kris needed to contact his brother. He had a feeling his brother and “mother” would know what they needed to do. And Luhan, well, if anyone could recognize a survivor, it was Kris and Kris knew there was a lot more to the son of Aphrodite than he let on. In the end, his instinct told him it would be better to go on without Luhan. Kris wasn’t sure why, but he had already learned to never doubt his instincts. 

idk why this went from campy to like sad mystery

but i only write what demands to be written lol 

tbh i just cant help having drama

hope you guys enjoy :)

until next time~

update:

just in case of confusion with the setup of the story: each group's story is happening simultaneously. So for example Baekhyun and Luhan wake up pretty much at the same time on the same day. They're just in different places. I drew a rough sketch of a map of the camp and marked where each group started and what direction they escaped. 

1. The first to leave were Yixing, Chen, and Minseok marked with blue.
2. The second to escape were Kris, Junmyeon, and Luhan marked by green and merges with Markus and Sanchez, also marked with green.
3. It's only much later after the above groups have left and the demons have infiltrated the camp that Chanyeol finds and escapes with Baekhyun, marked with orange.
4. Not too long after that, Kyungsoo's group discovers the attack and they escape, marked in red.

yeah it might be a bit hard to see all the labels but this is mostly just to give you a sense of where they are relative to each other and stuff