"Xiumin, where are we going?" Jinae cried helplessly, her voice drowned out by the torrents of rain surrounding the two figures. Lightning cracked and thunder boomed around them. "Xiumin!"

"We need to be away. Somewhere where others won't come looking for you!" Xiumin yelled loudly, his voice slicing against the piercing rain. Jinae had tripped on a protruding tree root, crying out. She had fell into the wettening dirt, as well as on some thorns. She was petrified, beng unable to move because of her fear and the numbing sensation on her knees and hands. The storm was simply getting angrier and angrier. That scared Jinae more than anything. Xiumin quickly helped her up, even carrying her across the forest. The young woman clutched onto his soaked shirt, squinting ahead to see if she could catch a glimpse of what was in front of her.

The two carried on silently, Jinae brooding over her scraped hands and knees. They were going to be a pain to clean out. Xiumin was looking for someone, a very familiar comrade. He was unsure whether or not he was going to find him in this outrageous storm. After a half hour of fruitless searching, the wendigo finally found a small cave in to wait out the storm. 

"As next of kin, I should've been there for my dad's funeral. Why couldn't we have waited until then?" Jinae asked as soon as they were settled in the small cave. Xiumin's face was blank as he started up at the rocky ceiling. Her eyes didn't waver or shift as she looked towards the handsome man. Xiumin noticed how she was like a sponge, trying to absorb as much knowledge, no matter how mundane, as she could. 

"Because they'd have asked you how he died, since people know you were a witness. It's safer for you not to answer and let them assume you've been kidnapped," he explained, still with the same blank expression.

"Why? Why is it safer for me?" Jinae cried, her voice turning into a high-pitched whine. As beautiful as she was, she was just as childish and immature. A spoiled brat. But she was also rather genuine. It was hard for Xiumin not to dislike her, simply because of her naivete.

Before he could answer her, a flash of lightning blinded the two creatures. A deafening clap of thunder was quick to follow as the light dissipated, revealing that they were no longer. "Because. You are no longer part of the human world, brat. Also, you really need to learn how to take care of yourself. Tch, you can never be babied forever."

The tone was angry. But Jongdae was always angry. 

"What are you doing here in Luhan's forest?" Xiumin asked defensively, "This storm could very well destory all his wildlife!"

"He asked for me. He wanted to get rid of a certain pest problem. A prudish vampire who always ventures into his forest. His cockiness travels to the moon and back. Glad to get rid of him," the thunderbird snapped back. Jinae immediately disliked this man, as his tone of voice was anything but friendly. His face was in an attractive scowl all the time. Even as handsome as he was, she could feel the rage seeping off of him and threatening to come onto her.

"Couldn't you have just zapped him with a bright lightning bolt? Wouldn't that make things so much easier?" Xiumin asked, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow of his.

"Too suspicious. Arrogant humans will look into it. Might as well just create a freak storm. Those keep humans inside," Jongdae grumbled. Jinae shifted uncomfortably, unused to all this supernatural stuff. A man controlling all the dangerous storms around the area? The idea was absurd, but she didn't want to question it. Already, there's been much stranger things occuring in her life. 

Xiumin had called Jongdae a thunderbird and was quick to get angry at him. Jongdae was used to such a thing as his anger was contagious. They two easily got into a heated argument over seemingly nothing. Jinae tried her best to refuse the boiling tempation of joining in. Instead, she sat quietly, bubbling with so many questions that were better left unasked. Soon, the two creatures were at each other's throats, spitting out insults of all sorts towards each other. Soon, Jongdae began to cuss, the words cutting Jinae's ears like sharp razors. They hurt her almost as much as an insult would, making her more and more anxious.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Jinae cried when Xiumin also began to cuss towards the thunderbird. "Stop it! Why are you using such foul language? Why are you fighting?"

"Because it's what I do, brat. They don't call me a thunderbird for no reason. I might as well live up to my name, right? Besides, it's not like you can do anything about it," Jongdae snapped at her, moving so that he'd be looking down on her. Jinae gulped and continued to shift uncomfortably. She instantly regretted speaking up.

"Jongdae, she's right. None of this fighting will help us get to Luhan and will help you kill the vampire." 

The silence was worse than his yelling. Jongdae's eyes glowed with a vicious rage that wasn't aimed at anything. There was no explanation to his anger and that angered him even more. He was just a creature of rage. He couldn't help himself. As a result, he didn't have many friends. Now that opportunity has risen, where he has met potential friends under the strangest of circumstances, he couldn't find anything to say. 

"Do thunderbirds really have a reputation for being angry? I heard that they were graceful creatures, with wings that others envied and beaks so resillient that even the proudest birds would be put to shame!" Jinae suddenly chirped, the genuine aspect of her personality shining through the pettiness of her upbringing. "Of course, I might be wrong. But thunderbirds seemed fascinating... not angry." 

Jongdae looked towards the young woman, the stormy eyes dimming some. Still, they were hard and icy. He refused to answer her and instead, turned towards the wendigo. "Where is her heartbeat? I can't hear it."

"That's why we're looking for Luhan. If anyone has answers, he does."

"... Good." It was easy to tell the word hasn't made it past his lips for a long time. "... Wouldn't want something wrong with her."

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