Mira let out a satisfied groan as she stretched her arms above her head. She had been hard at work for the past few hours banging away at Jongin’s sword, and was content with the progress that had been made. She glanced around the clearing to account for all of the boys. Her eyes narrowed, however, when she didn’t see the future owner of the sword she had been working on, "Where's Jongin?"

"He should be with Seh- Hey Sehun! Where's Jongin?" Suho called out to Sehun who was now training on his own.

"He said he was going back inside to get us some water!" Sehun called out back.

"I just came from inside, he wasn't there," Haiku called out as he flew in their direction.

Mira frowned as she looked around for the familiar tan male. "Chanyeol! Have you seen Jongin?!"

"Nope!" He called back, dodging a hit from Baekhyun. He turned to his sparring partner and asked with a cocked head, "Have you seen Jongin?"

Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he dropped his arm to his side, "How could I have seen Jongin when I've been fighting with you, idiot?"

Mira frowned to herself; she had clearly warned the boys not to venture out into the forest alone. It was fine for her or Haiku because they could take care of themselves, but these boys were a whole different story. They were human, and humans were seen as a delicacy on this island. The number of creatures who would want to get their claws, paws, or fangs on human blood was certainly no joke.

"Do you think he's in danger?" Suho asked with furrowed eyebrows, his maternal instincts immediately kicking in.

"No, but he could be if - what is that?" Mira asked suddenly, her eyes narrowed on something snagged onto a branch. She stepped closer to examine the substance. She swiped a finger against the branch and rubbed it in between her two fingers.

Sehun peered down at the texture and cocked his head in confusion, "That looks like blood almost, except it's-"

"Blue," Mira nearly growled, her eyes flashing in anger. "Looks like I know where Jongin is after all."

"Is he in trouble?" Baekhyun asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah, if I'm right in where I think he is," Mira nodded her head grimly. She closed her eyes and murmured a few things under her breath, as if chanting a spell, and offered no words of explanation.

All eyes trained on her as they observed her standing there in silence.

"What is she doing?" Sehun asked Haiku quietly as he nudged him gently in the ribs.

"Look at the ground," Haiku answered simply.

The boys turned their gazes to the ground, and similar expressions of surprise crossed all their faces.

"Why is the ground dark?" Chanyeol asked curiously as he peered up at the sun that was clearly shining down on them. He lifted up each foot at a time to test the sudden darkness. His jaw dropped when he saw them suddenly retract back into Mira's body; the ground resuming its previous lightened color.

"They were shadows," Mira explained when she saw his expression of confusion.

“Why?” Sehun asked.

“I’ll explain as we go, follow me,” Mira nodded as she quickly darted into the forest; the other boys followed closely behind. “Stick close to me so everybody know that you guys aren’t to be messed with. We can’t afford any delays to find Jongin.”

“How do you know where he is?” Kyungsoo asked with furrowed eyebrows, brushing away the leaves and branches that kept getting in his way.

“My shadows are kind of like an extension of my own body,” Mira answered, trying to explain it in simple terms. “When I extended them earlier, I was trying to track down where Jongin was.

Chanyeol’s jaw dropped in amazement, and he tried not to stare at the girl with awe in favor of not tripping over the ground, “Shadows can do that?”

Mira glanced briefly at him from the corner of her eye, “My shadows can do a lot of things.”

Chanyeol’s eyes brightened with anticipation, “Will you show us?”

“I think your brain is focused on the wrong thing right now,” Mira retorted. “Your teammate is in danger, if you haven’t noticed.”

Before Chanyeol could reply, Kyungsoo smacked him hard against the back of his head, “Why don’t you actually think about the situation before you open your big mouth?”

Chanyeol pouted, “In my defense I hardly think.”

“Stop,” Mira suddenly ordered once she stopped moving. She held a hand back them to signal that she would go first. When Baekhyun opened his mouth to protest, she sent him a pointed look to shut him up. She stepped quietly forward, careful not to alert the creatures of her presence.

They had Jongin, she knew they did.

"I thought I told you to lay your hands off of the humans, Neptune," Mira growled as she stepped forward from behind the tree.

She heard Neptune swear under his breath before slowly turning to her, a smug expression stretched across his face; she knew that he was scared out of his mind on the inside.

“Hello Ultimate,” Neptune snarled with distaste, “What a lovely surprise. To what do I owe this visit to?”

“Don’t around,” Mira spat out, her eyes narrowed with impatience and anger. “You know why I’m here.”

Neptune thought about whether or not he should deny her accusations, but he decided against it. "If you're looking for the human, you're too late," Neptune growled in response.

Mira scoffed, "Don't insult my intelligence, Neptune. You and I both know that you disgusting creatures only like meat after it’s rotten."

"Yes," Neptune responded, a crude smirk spreading across his stout face, "and you need things to be dead to rot, do you not, dear Ultimate?"

Mira hissed under her breath. She glanced over her shoulder and ordered, "Haiku! Take them back to the house!"

"What?!" Chanyeol exclaimed incredulously as he stepped forward in defiance. "You must be out of your goddamn mind if you think-"

"I said go," Mira repeated in a low tone. "I know you're worried for Jongin, but I promise I'll bring him back."

"Mira, we know you're strong but Jongin isn't just some random kid! He's our teammate!" Suho protested, not liking the idea of fighting against Mira, but not wanting to abandon Jongin either.

Mira fell silent for a few seconds, "I... I got it. Just give me five minutes. I need you guys to go away from here for just five minutes. I promise you that's all I need."

Suho stared at her for a few seconds before letting out a reluctant sigh, "Five minutes."

"Hyung!" Chanyeol exclaimed.

"Five minutes, Chanyeol," Suho ordered as he began to head back the path they had taken.

She waited until she was sure they were out of earshot before making her next move. She shot forward within the blink of an eye and pressed the heel of her sword against Neptune's throat without even blinking. "Where's the boy? And you better pray for your sake that he's still alive. If he's dead, I'll reciprocate by killing off your whole clan."

"Y- you wouldn't dare!" Neptune gagged against the pressure.

Mira's eyes flashed a dark color, "Why do you think I sent back those boys?" She dre