Another early morning with sweat beading on his brow found Taeyang disgruntled as he focused intently, the warmth of the sun just rising above the horizon to kiss his bare flesh fondly.  He took another deep breath as he struggled to see the threads of the wind he knew were all around him, tried very hard to make them do what he wanted them to.  But it was difficult work and he hardly had the patience.  Especially when, at any given moment, Hyoyeon was likely to entrap him with her own manipulation of the wind as he tried to concentrate.

                Even as the thought crossed his mind, Taeyang barely had time to recognize the familiar tendril wrap around his ankle, wind’s touch both firm and incorporeal at the same time, before it yanked and he fell flat on his face.  “Hyoyeon!” he yelped, pushing himself to his hands and knees immediately so he could glare back over his shoulder at the amused wind Tamer who stood several yards from him.

                “What?” she asked innocently, as if she hadn’t been the one to put him in his current predicament right then and there.

                “You’re not helping,” he huffed while he got back to his feet, brushing normal, woven pants off with bare hands.  Maybe she could wear wind woven clothes all the time, but he still had no idea how she made them and since she refused to replicate the process on him, he was stuck with more mundane attire.  Which really suited him fine.  The possible idea of losing control and ending up bare assed did not please him in the slightest.

                “Of course I am,” she shook her finger his direction, giving him a teasing wink.

                He didn’t deign to respond to the comment and simply glared a moment longer, shrugging tense shoulders to return his focus on the task at hand.  With her helping and guiding him, he had no trouble at all in harnessing the power of the wind, but by himself and not acting on instinct, it was considerably harder.  Especially since it wanted to be fickle anyway.  In partial anger, he reached, intent on yanking the strands into submission, and they fled through his fingers like water in a leaky bucket, leaving him floundering.

                Hyoyeon laughed behind him and he whirled on her, fists clenched in frustration.  “What am I doing wrong?!”

                Instead of giving him a direct answer, she gestured towards the wind, gentle and inviting, and he watched the element answer her call effortlessly.  Strands twined around her arm, down her body and over her until they lifted her from the ground as if she weighed nothing.  Only when she was floating above the surface did she respond.  “You treat it like you are still the blacksmith I saw in town,” she shook her head, brow furrowed at his frown.  “The wind cannot be beaten and forced into submission the way you seem to think it can,” she chided, the instructor once more and no longer amused by his fumbling attempts.

                “I’m not trying to force it!” he snapped by, irritated by her calm.

                “Aren’t you?” she shot back, one brow raised while her feet touched the ground again.

                Taeyang saw the flicker in her eyes, bright green embers warming from their depths, and he inhaled quickly when a strand reached for him, fast and intent.  Reacting, he jumped away from her unexpected attack with ethereal grace, aided by the wind that had so blithely ignored him a moment ago.  Really?

                Another swipe tried to encircle his body, both larger and taller than he was, giving him no room to dodge.  Pivoting in place, a counter current at his back nullified her attack and allowed him to stay where he was without moving, his eyes glowing an answering shade of green while his hair itched as if it wanted to rise.  The next blow caught him entirely unawares, coming from the front and slamming him in the chest like a horse kick, knocking the wind from his lungs and laying him out on the ground.

                “You were supposed to react!” Hyoyeon yelped with her fingers in her hair, rushing over to him on foot, her steps announcing her arrival through his ringing ears.

                “I didn’t even see it,” Taeyang groaned through a tight throat, his eyes fuzzy while he tried to focus on the maddening woman above him.

                She sighed and shook her head, easing her hands under his shoulders to assist him.  “Come on.  Stand up,” she urged, standing him up with unnatural strength.

                For over a moon they’d been working at trying to get him to understand his ability and while he had made definite progress, there was much to get through.  She was right in that he wanted to muscle the wind to do what he expected, since it did work on occasion, but not half as much as he needed and she was still always able to beat him.  “You’re a hard teacher,” Taeyang grumbled with a hand over his chest, rubbing at the bruised spot with a grimace.

                Hyoyeon barked a laugh and rolled her eyes.  “You didn’t know my teacher.”  Her expression was light but her tone held volumes of layers he wasn’t sure he could try to touch without her shutting down or pulling away.  She didn’t talk about him, or her though Taeyang had the impression the other person was male, but she mentioned them often enough when he complained about her.  Just what had her training been like if that was the case for surely she was a difficult taskmaster?

                Taeyang tried a different question instead.  “Why is it so important that I learn this as quickly as possible?”  Despite her never saying it, there was always an undercurrent of hurrying to their lessons.  She pushed him hard to pick up the newest material but never offered an explanation beyond the fact that he needed it.  Or she deflected the question entirely.

                “Do I really have to remind you what almost happened the first time I found you?” she coyly responded, expression amused while she stepped back.

                “No,” he muttered, taking a calming breath.  He would be sore tomorrow but for the moment, the tightness in his chest was receding and he could breathe normal again.

                She watched him a moment longer, the rise and fall of his shoulders, sweat glistening on his bare chest and making its way into his lengthy, limp hair, his tightly clenched fists while he tried to gather himself enough to concentrate again.  “Come on, Taeyang,” Hyoyeon motioned then, gesturing back towards the carefully banked fire where a small pot of boiled oats simmered over the resting heat.  That much he knew how to handle very well, whereas she was lacking.  “You’ve been at this since before dawn and we both need food.”

                A quiet gurgle from his stomach answered her before he could deny and Taeyang grinned sheepishly, all resistance fleeing at the sound.  “I guess a break wouldn’t hurt,” he conceded, wandering closer so she could hand him the first filled bowl, complete with a hearty addition of fresh picked berries and a wooden spoon.

                Their regiment was much the same everyday.  Rise before dawn and practice.  Sometimes Hyoyeon would taunt him, as she had today, and other times she would join in, guiding him to new heights of control and ability.  A break for the morning meal always followed.  She was adamant about eating, claiming they needed to replenish their strength, but he was halfway positive she just liked food.  Then more training until their afternoon meal, after which she made the decision to stay or move on again in her role as instructor and little else.  The mountains they stayed in held many places to rest and Hyoyeon used a large number of them.

                His question of “Why do we move around so much?” received a stock response.

                “Because it’s too easy to be found when you stay in one spot.”  The wink she’d given him, which he had learned were simply characteristic of her and not flirtatious in any way, hadn’t banished the concern of just who they were fleeing from.  Of course the tameless were obvious but he had a nagging suspicion she was equally worried about other Tamers.  Too many times, he caught her looking out toward the horizon, and more than once, he heard whispers in the wind; nothing they decided to let him in on but the words were there and for Hyoyeon’s ears only.  It was frustrating.

                Another place simply led to more training and whatever food they could find in the area.  She admitted to having no problem with stopping by towns whenever she felt like it but Taeyang was still nervous after his last escape so she stayed with him instead.  In truth, he wasn’t sure if he appreciated her presence or resented it.  She was the source of all his current misery, but also most of his success and joy.  Especially in the evenings when they worked on control in a much smaller scale.  Usually.

                “Of course you have power and strength enough to move mountains if you had to,” she laughed standing in front of him, the light from the fire dancing on her profile, casting the other side of her face in a myriad of mesmerizing shadows.  “Maybe, though an Earth Tamer could do it better,” she couldn’t help but add, leaning forward with a playful wink, one finger held up between them.  “But you can also do so much more to a greater effect with a fraction of the effort if you think about it.”

                To show him, she stood up straight and started to dance in a very small area, her body swaying to the music of the wind.  He could hear it too when he opened himself to the sound – a chorus of chimes and whistles that should have been annoying but blended harmoniously in an orchestra of sound that thrummed through his being, striking all the rights chords.  With a gentle hum, Hyoyeon coaxed the wind to come to her, glistening, iridescent strands appearing around her body, augmented by her presence into becoming visible.

                With her hands weaving before her, eyes glowing a brilliant green in the dim light, she focused on her work and Taeyang watched, entranced, as she wove together a tightknit latticework of threads between them.  It looked like a square patch at first but then the edges bent to one direction, smoothing out into a circle as the threads curled themselves into the boundary, turning into what looked suspiciously like a round shield.  As soon as she finished, the threads disappeared in front of her, though her smile did not waver in the least.

                Taeyang blinked in surprise and then frowned.  “It disappeared.”

                “Did it?” she challenged, one brow rising in amusement.

                “I watched it fade,” he commented, reaching out a hand to test for himself and then startling as he connected with something all too solid.  Taeyang pressed harder against the surface and felt a hint of flexibility but the barrier remained firm.  “What is that?” he demanded in irritation, feeling out of his league once more.  She was his age and had harnessed vast numbers of abilities he could only dream about.

                “Essentially, it’s a shield,” she dipped her head, hands behind her back while she bounced on the balls of her feet.

                “Why can’t I see it?” he couldn’t help but growl, running his hand over the smooth, invisible surface again, staring hard for some indication it was there but only seeing Hyoyeon’s face a couple feet from him.

                “Because it’s tied to me and I don’t want you to unless you can figure out how,” she teased, taking a step towards him that had the effect of pushing Taeyang back since the shield remained in place.

                “Hey!” he growled, shoving against it in reaction.

                “As Wind Tamers, we have a unique advantage in that our element is the unseen when we want it to be,” she breathed, as if quoting something from memory.  “And the only thing more dangerous than a Wind Tamer is one with more power and experience.  Or friends,” she added at the end, a shadow flickering over her features, the effect disappearing before Taeyang could be sure he saw anything.

                Irritated now, Taeyang tried to banish the shield himself but only managed to earn a face full of deflected wind that yanked at his hair.

                “I thought we’d gotten past the blacksmith,” she rolled her eyes, turning her back on him to head for the fire.

                “We did!” he grumbled at her back, fists clenched and teeth crammed together.  He really had managed to get past trying to muscle the wind into doing his bidding, except for moments when he was frustrated or annoyed.  Like now.  Which was probably the point.  Twirling in place, he whisked a handful of threads out like a whip, hoping to catch her from the side.  Hyoyeon didn’t even look up or react at all when the attack broke upon the shield, their power disrupting and scattering it against the now seamless surface that flared once when their powers connected.

                “Wrong tactic,” she called over her shoulder, pitching her voice to carry as she ladled a bowl of thin stew out.  He tried again but from two sides, glaring hard when the invisible shield appeared long enough to show him its ability to stretch around Hyoyeon as much as needed to remain whole but still counter his dual attacks.  “Nope,” she grinned before setting the bowl down near him and then stepping back to serve herself.

                “What’s this?” he asked at a loss, pointing towards the bowl on the ground and glancing at her in confusion.

                “Your dinner,” she quirked a smile, blowing her first bite off before trying it out.

                He forced a laugh he didn’t feel at the amused look in her eye when he bent down to retrieve it.  “Very funny,” the Tamer added, messing with the food in the bowl.  “Seriously though,” he spoke, taking a seat across the fire from her, searching for the shield he could feel was still there.

                “Seriously what?” she asked, focusing on her food and looking up only long enough to meet his eyes with an infuriating smile.

                “You’ve made your point.  Go ahead and drop the shield,” he waved, still waiting to take his first bite.  He didn’t quite trust her not to try something.

                “Nope,” she giggled, a bit of broth from her bottom lip.

                “Eh?” Taeyang blinked, his loose hair fluttering in the resultant breeze.

                “I said no.  Not until you figure out how to unravel it yourself.”  She pointed her index finger at him while holding her spoon and winked.  He glared at her with a deadpan expression that made her laugh.  Loudly.  “No, Tamer,” she chided in amusement.  “When you figure out how to find the weakness in your own element, it becomes possible to find the weaknesses in other elements.”

                “Another teaching point?” he couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation, finally taking his first bite and nearly choking when it was still too hot.

                “Exactly!” she beamed, giving him a thumbs up, though she watched him carefully to make sure he was alright and wouldn’t keel over from being too hasty in eating hot stew.

                Taeyang flashed another false smile, trying to laugh her teaching style off but he muttered constantly under his breath and refused to look at her while he continued to eat.  He suspected she could hear him and at that moment, he didn’t really care.  Her method of instruction was both excellent, like how she taught when they danced together, and confounding, like now, since he had no idea where to start.  How could he unravel something he couldn’t even see?!

                They ate in silence that evening and he moved off to the side to work on his own, leaving Hyoyeon, and her shield, to themselves.  His eyes glowed green and his hair rose on his head while he danced roughly with the wind, asking and demanding in equal measure as a way to vent his frustration.  The wind disagreed with his method and overcompensated, pulling him to and fro in his bid for control until it finally tossed him down like it used to in the first days of his training.

                “You know better than to play with fire,” Hyoyeon called out from the fireside, just watching him with intense eyes.

                “I’m not!” he shot back, getting to his feet in a hurry, eyes and hair returned to normal.

                “If you say so,” she shrugged, apparently unconcerned.  Hyoyeon ignored his immediate glare and stretched with a yawn.  “I’m going to bed.  Feel free to keep trying though,” she added in a sleepy voice as she spread out her sleeping roll and promptly laid down.

                Unused to this aspect of her, Taeyang stared at her while she turned her back to him, for all intents and purposes, sleeping.  At least until he felt the barest tickle of wind at his ankle in an all too familiar touch.  “Yah!” he yelped, irritation turning to surprise which shifted immediately into a trained reaction as he banished the thread with a wave of his hand a quick step.

                Mutely and without looking back, she raised her fist up with her thumb standing upright, obviously pleased by his performance.  Taeyang was still perturbed but he had to admit, it felt good to finally keep her from getting the best of him with that one.  Her hand dropped down in front of her and she stilled before her torso rose and fell with the steadiness of sleep.

                For a few moments more, Taeyang watched her, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully.  A thin blanket covered her body but her dirty blonde hair spread out behind her in unbound waves, coiling on the ground and her other hand which she used for a pillow.  She was far enough away from the fire that it wouldn’t touch her anyway, but the illumination gave the strands a life of their own, not unlike how the threads of the wind when they danced together.  He would much rather be training with that instead of this new task.  Which reminded him of her permission.

                Wandering close, Taeyang reached the extent of his range and felt the shield brush against him, a soft warning at first unless he tried to move closer.  Then it solidified immensely and he could make no further progress.  His investigation didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest though so he let his hands run the length of the surface, feeling for an edge he simply didn’t find.  Either it was larger than he thought or it moved to make sure he wouldn’t.  Whatever was happening, his search was fruitless that evening, leaving him frustrated and irritable the next morning.

                Hyoyeon, however, was her usual, bubbly self.  She made them breakfast and left him a bowl so he could retrieve it without running into her shield again.  There was no other instruction beyond those she’d given him before but she talked off and on.  “Have you ever heard of the Four Terrors?” she asked just after breakfast, when Taeyang was still puzzling out her challenge.

                “Everyone has,” he sighed with a creased brow, fingers rubbing against his chin in thought.  “They’re the main reason the tameless are so afraid of us,” he added, focusing his gaze briefly on her face when he realized she was watching him intently, dark eyes unreadable.

                “Mostly true,” she agreed with a nod, grabbing a strand of hair to with both hands.  “The original Four sowed the fear deepest.  Leaving the rest of us to try and counter their influence.  Not that it’s easy,” she conjured a shallow smile and sighed.

                Curiosity piqued, Taeyang sat up straighter and blinked, resting his palms on his knees.  “What do you mean ‘original’?”

                She smiled and graced him with her focus again when he caught the discrepancy.  “Exactly what I said.  They were the first but they were hardly the last,” Hyoyeon explained quietly, glancing outward as her eyes traced the area around them.

                “So… there are other Terrors out there too?”  He just managed to keep himself from referring to the other idiot Tamers that gave the rest of them a bad name.  They were an unspoken and unquestioned given.

                “Oh yes,” she nodded and whispered softly.  “The more powerful a Tamer you are, the more chance you have of drawing their attention.  Unless…” she trailed off, giving him a sidelong look as she waited for him to think of something.

                “Unless… you can defeat them?” he asked curiously, which only earned him a delighted laugh.

                “That would work,” she nodded with a bright smile.  “But not since the first Four were slain have their apprentices been successfully countered at the same time.  And they have always managed to find another.  To regroup and regain their full power and glory.”

                Taeyang frowned at the explanation, a thought worrying the back of his mind.  “But wouldn’t they be easy to notice and track?  Why don’t the others just rise up and try to destroy them as a larger group?” he couldn’t help but ask.

                Hyoyeon nodded in understanding and took a shallow breath.  “They have learned some things since the old days.  The Four now are more subtle.  They mask their attacks as natural disasters and kill the competition in silence.  Fear keeps the others at bay and cowed.”  Taeyang gulped loudly, feeling very much as if he had a target painted on his back.  A quick glance over his shoulder to check made Hyoyeon giggle but he felt better when he didn’t see anyone there.  “You are safe enough with me for the moment,” she assured him with a knowing smile.

                “Why?” he demanded immediately, looking her in the eyes.

                Her gaze flashed green and she confidently responded, “When you figure this out,” and he pointed to the hidden shield, “then you’ll know.”

                Taeyang groaned and slapped his face with an open palm.  “What if I never figure it out?” he exhaled loudly.

                “You will, Taeyang.  I know it.  Trust me.”

(a/n: Okay!  Plot line fleshed out - for me.  The additional chapters begun.  I have until the 28th of February to make sure it's finished.  I should be able to do this!  Let's see just how low (and high) I can bring our dear Taeyang.  Welcome to the rest of this rollercoaster ride.  And thank you for continuing to support me!  Happy reading!)