Kyungsoo was eating cereal, shoulders slouched awkwardly and throbbing as a result of one of Yong's sparring session— which, speaking of, was set to reoccur that afternoon, much to his utmost displeasure— trying to ignore Jun, who was glaring at him from across the table. Kyungsoo wasn't too sure if it was intentional or not. Jun's mood had been horrible since his brother's arrival, and a frown had become default while in the house, so it was entirely likely that he was absently staring, not really seeing anything, and Kyungsoo had just happened to be caught in the line of fire.

It'd been three days since the mother-son duo's arrival, and now that it was Monday, it was apparently Yubi's time to leave. She was packing, flying around to collect the bits and bobs floating about the house while Kyungsoo watched on, pondering on the best way to pose his request.

"It's been lovely to meet you, Kyungsoo," Yubi called from the kitchen, a short-lived cacophony of clanging sounding before she flitted to the dining table, all kind smiles. Chen came in, holding a suitcase in either hand, watching the exchange eerily as ever while he waited for his wife.

"Likewise," Kyungsoo replied, mustering a soft smile. Truly, he did like Yubi. It'd be impossible not to. "I, uh, I actually wanted to ask you something."

"Mhm?" Yubi's smile didn't falter, but her eyes dropped a little, as though she knew what his request was going to be.

"Could- I mean, I really..." He coughed, voice cutting off momentarily. "Sorry, just, my mother. Could I maybe see her?"

This time, Yubi's face fell.

"Kyungsoo, honey, I'm sorry, but if you were found anywhere in the castle you'd be arrested along with her." Kyungsoo inwardly argued that honestly, that wouldn't be too bad. "I'd also lose my job... And, knowing Pi Quan, I could be imprisoned as well..." She looked up, eyes glistening sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Kyungsoo, I really am."

"It's, uh-" he swallowed down the beginnings of a lump in his throat, shaking his head, "It's fine. I understand." And he did, but it was still with reluctance that he dropped the matter, forcing a smile as Yubi swept him into a short, awkward (at least, on his end) hug before she left, Chen in tow.

Yong finished saying his own loud goodbyes before striding into the dining room, combat boots hitting the ground irregularly and with obnoxious volume. Jun very quickly got fed up, high tailing it to his room, and Kyungsoo avoided making eye contact while he waited for Yong to tell him to hurry up so they could spar.

Unfortunately, what he got was much worse.

"Say, Kyungsoo," Yong began, attention trained on his fingernail, which he was picking at idly with a pocket knife, "How about you come on a hunting trip with me today?"

Kyungsoo quickly swallowed his mouthful. "No," he all but burst out, "No that's really fine."

"I wasn't actually asking, you're coming with me regardless." Feet hit the ground loudly, and then Yong was walking out. "Dress comfortably, and meet me at the car in twenty."

Kyungsoo sighed, continuing to chew despondently on his cereal.

Sure enough, half an hour later, Kyungsoo found himself bundled into the car with daggers already strapped into his boots, bag of weapons slung across the backseat rattling almost in tune to the rusty trailer attached to the back.

The scenery was somewhat interesting, at least. They were heading south of Glaross, away from the city, so paddocks and farms and workers toiling knee-deep in rice fields lined his view, and opposed to the smoky high-rises of the city. It was refreshing, and soothing in a way. This was more Kyungsoo's pace— Glaross had been electrifying, but these peaceful, spread out abodes were somewhat more relatable.

He was watching a water buffalo tilling rice fields, the small farmstead peaceful from where he was, when there was a sudden presence in his head.

Miss me? the Voice all but crowed, Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at his own faint reflection, opening his mouth to retort before thinking better of it. With every accessible part of his brain, he instead screamed out a resounding negative response, to which he received a dry chuckle. Ah, cat got your tongue? Don't fret, I'll hang around until you can talk. Don't have anything better to do, at this point anyway. 

Kyungsoo sighed, settling into his seat with this silent, but almost smug, aura just hanging around his consciousness. 

All too quickly, it was revealed that Yong had a passionate penchant for country music. Kyungsoo, consequently, spent the following hour suppressing the urge to hurl himself out the car, leaning as far from the boisterous Walker as he could get. Realistically, he knew his head wouldn't explode (even with that unnecessary volume) but it was hard to think with rationale with a quartet crooning to the rapid twanging of a guitar blaring in your ears. 

Finally, after what seemed like years, Yong turned down the volume. "Here we are," he declared as he stopped the car. Peering around as he got out of the car, Kyungsoo couldn't see anything but trees; it was comforting, even more so than the farmland. 

He heaved a sigh of relief, then sniffed. "Do I smell salt?"

"This is the only patch of land before the ocean— ferry port is an hour that way-" Yong jerked his thumb vaguely overhead, "-and usually I'd go up to Naille, since it's so underdeveloped urbanely in comparison, but I figured you wouldn't be into camping, so I made it a day trip."

Kyungsoo shuddered inwardly. "Thanks." It was offhand, but Yong could tell, really, that it was sincere. Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, he glanced around again. "So I get that we have to kill animals and all, for pelts..." He begun, looking this way and that, "But is there anything in specific that you-"

Before he could finish, Yong was ing a laminated sheet at his chest. "Here. This is what you're hunting— and I want these pelts, these ones only. Most expensive are down the bottom, so I'd kind of prefer... But they're all worth quite a bit, so as long as you meet your quota..."

Kyungsoo scanned down the list— it was diverse, to say the least. Yong wanted everything from bears to tigers to snakes... Three quarters of the way down he saw a small picture of a shark even, and looked up to shoot Yong a quizzical list. "You do realise you brought us to a forest?"

Yong glanced over at the paper. "Yeah, but you might be on the cliffs, right, chasing a cobra or something-" Kyungsoo sincerely hoped not, but kept it to himself, "-and then you could see one from the cliff. And then you'd kill it."

"Uh huh."  

"Kay, anyway." Yong reached over and wrenched open the backseat door. "Get some weapons. You'll need long, mid and short range. Don't take anything you can't handle, either." Kyungsoo did not like his tone, and Yong looked wholly aware of that fact. Inwardly, the Voice snickered to itself. "I mean, I know a bow and arrow looks cool and all, but you aren't very good at it yet. And trust me, it's a lot less cool when you put an arrow through your own eye."

"I wasn't going to get the bow," Kyungsoo snapped, darting forwards, "But noted, nonetheless."

After short deliberation, he picked up a slingshot (Yong gave a quiet hum of appreciation), a long-bladed dagger (another hum sounded), and the small pouch of shuriken stars— Kyungsoo shot Yong a pointed look before he could make any noise, scooping up his favourite studded gauntlets as he did so.

"That's all good," Yong mused, "But make sure you take them off before you shift, and clip them to your belt."

"What belt?"

"This one." Yong rummaged around a little, before pulling out a thick, black band with elastic loops running around the outside, a stack of silver harness clips jingling at one end. Kyungsoo took it reluctantly, studying with a disgruntled expression. "Everything is to be hung and secured to this. That way you can shift if you need to without losing anything- and I swear Kyungsoo, those gauntlets were not cheap, so if you lose them-"  

"Save it." Kyungsoo held up a single palm, "I get it. I won't lose anything."

"Humph, fine," Yong huffed. "Your quota is five at the very least, and you have three hours. I want the entire body intact, minimally maimed, and in the trailer, covered with tarp. That's all. See you later." Yong tossed a piece of paper his way as he scooped up his own weaponry, strapping it to himself with ease. For a moment, Kyungsoo envied the Walker ability to change shape without needed to get rid of clothes, or strap things onto obnoxious belts. "That's a map. Try not to get lost though— I've marked where our trailer is, and the boundaries of the forest."

"Thanks." Kyungsoo then his heel, and began to trudge into the forest. He could hear Yong going in the opposite direction, those combat boots pretentious and noisy as every, cracking everything but the earth's core itself, it seemed, underfoot. Very quickly after came whistling, to the very tune he'd blasted a solid three times at least on the drive up. 

Kyungsoo could only thank his lucky stars that it was getting more and more distant, he supposed, speeding up until the sounds were only a faint humming in the background.

Getting deeper into the forest, Kyungsoo looked over the animals pictured and named on the paper, then back over his shoulder just to double