Killing Jin was no huge trial. What was one more murder after all?

Sehun set off for Haslin in the morning with a new found spring in his step, his horse seeming happier for it now that he wasn't holding so tense and holding so tightly onto the reigns. It was still so cold, his breath visible in the icy air, crystals forming in front of him. Passion fuelled a fire inside him that kept him warm. He had also brought a new pair of blue woollen mittens that were keeping his fingers from falling off.

On his journey, unlike all others, he took his time, often dismounting and wandering the nearby area on foot. He collected the frosty, sugar coated plants for the alchemy he had long forgotten about and he stopped to admire the scenery of hills and valleys dotted with the white of sheep and goats and the patter of rabbit feet in woodland areas. There was so much wonder in everything that he hadn't even noticed before, and he used his hands to reach out and touch things, the gentle waters of melting streams, the wizened bark of different types of tree, the moss under his fingertips and the grass that crunched beneath his feet, sprinkled with frozen dew. He found himself to be much happier when he took the time to look around and tread in areas never graced by human contact.

The graduation in the seasons as he passed were unnoticeable, Sehun finding himself stuck in winter one moment, and in spring time before had registered a change in the scenery. The Dry Lands made little sense when it came to the temperature.

The pastel shades of forests stole him. Pink and lilac were the flowers and mint green the leaves, latte browns were papery tree trunks and sky blue were crystal clear waters. He decided he would live there if he could, a home in the forest where he could hunt and rest and nobody would ever have to pay him any attention ever again.

He would be brought back to earth by his horse nuzzling against him or stomping a hoof from lack of patience, making his usual poker face break for a moment. 'Sorry' he'd say, beginning to ride again for a short time but then getting distracted by something and dismounting until the cycle repeated.

Just as Yixing had said, halfway along the track there was an inn called The Two Moons.

The outside of the inn was rather plain, unremarkable in looks apart from the large animal skull that sat atop the porch in a gleaming white. Sehun wasn't entirely sure what creature it used to belong to, but if he had to guess then he would say dragon due to it's size. He didn't know who would be crazy enough to kill a dragon. He'd never actually seen one in his life but he heard that they were scary enough to make people wet themselves.

The inn was much more on the inside than it was out, the seemingly plain residence large inside and comfortable with fabrics and furs. Sehun thought to be friendly and chat to the bar keeper who looked to have nothing much else to do. He rested his chin in his hands, elbows propped on the bar, framing his face, and it was quite a nice face, Sehun thought, tanned with plush lips and eyes that seemed to smoulder because they knew what a good face it was.

'Is anybody else staying here tonight?' he asked and the bar keeper replied that they were almost fully booked that night. Sehun frowned inwardly. He didn't know which room Jin was in and he didn't want to have to check them all in the midst of the night. 'Is a man called Jin staying here? There are some...documents I have for him.' he finally said after much thought on how to not look too suspicious, and although he was eyed warily by the young man who looked to be around his age, it was revealed to him that he slept in the attic of the building and hadn't left the inn for almost a year.

'Heard any rumours lately?'

The barkeeper smirked. 'I heard that EXO have their eye on someone new. Apparently he's handsome, but I'd expect no less from them.'

Sehun thanked him and retired to his room for the night, swearing that the bar keeper smiled once he turned his back enough. People seemed so friendly towards him as of late.

With little else to do he began counting how much money he had left from his journey so far. Inns weren't all that cheap when he had to stay in them almost every night but he made money selling pelts and the things he found in caves, always ensuring that he had enough if debts needed to be paid off or bribes needed to be used to change a person's disposition towards him. There was one thing he had learnt on his journey and that was that money made people open up a remarkable amount.

He read a book that had been left on the night stand a story about a thief, yawning when the moons had settled in the sky behind wisps of cloud and it was time for him to begin. He was nervous, wondering whether his hands would be too shaky to carry out the task, but breathing brought his heart rate down. He knew that he couldn't mess this up, to come so close to EXO only to fail would be worse than having no chance in the first place. He wanted to do it right and make the members proud, maybe even envious of his talent, his stealth, and his ability. Thoughts consumed him. He wanted to be able to walk into a tavern or an inn and hear people speaking of him, the new assassin under EXO's wing, the fear that there was another person out there killing with vengeance. He wasn't nervous anymore, he was only filled with a yearning for things to go how he needed them to.

Leaving his room and tiptoeing to the attic on elderly floorboards and with minimal light was a feat he was proud to have achieved, and he found himself in the attic having made little noise. The door betrayed him, groaning as he pushed it open, Sehun wincing with every movement.

Looking towards Jin's bed, he was older and more frail than Sehun had imagined, and his sleep ridden face looked weary, wrinkles pressed deep into his skin, worn from dirt and time, his mouth moulded into a small frown. There was something so innocent in people sleeping.

He hadn't come all this way to feel pity though, and his knife slipped through the skin of his wrists easily and softly, so gentle that he still slept as a beautiful incarnadine flowed from him and to the floor and bedsheets, painting them a rich colour that Sehun doubted would wash away. It was interesting to watch as the colour drained from his elderly face, and although Sehun quite liked to see people suffer, he was content with the man being asleep during his death, for him to never wake up again. He waited until the pulse had diminished and looking upon the body of Jin, Sehun realised that human beings seemed to contain quite a lot of blood. More than he expected. He felt sorry for the inn keeper who was going to have to clean the mess up.

Sehun made his way back to his room with careful feet and got straight into bed, pulling the covers right over his face. He had done it without a hitch. No dirt had even fallen upon his clothes.

He slept almost soundly for a long time, up until Yixing woke him with nothing but his heavy presence. 'Welcome to the family Oh Sehun. We welcome you with open arms. May you enter with good intention and a hope to resolve.'

Although once weary, Sehun was wide awake with the excitement that Yixing brought. 'Tell me, what now?'

'Now you embrace your fate. Jin's death was our contract, the manner being the paper and his blood the ink that signed it with your name. Travel to Newsouth and enter the basement of the abandoned house to the east of the main gate. You will be asked a question so answer thusly: naega wolf. You will be given entrance to the sanctuary. Once inside, speak to Junmyeon.'

Yixing bowed and began to let himself out, but Sehun stopped him. 'Please tell me more about EXO.' he asked, glad when Yixing smiled and sat at the end of the bed, careful not to sit on Sehun's feet. 'What would you like to know?'

'Why did EXO begin?' There was no time to be tired anymore 'How many members are there altogether?'

'EXO was made by our two leaders, Junmyeon and Yifan, both influential people in higher circles. Junmyeon was young but still a respected member of the Mage's Society and was regarded as one the best in the Dry Lands. The Mage's Society had an enemy though. This was the guild that Yifan was a member of, practising dark magic that hadn't been legal for years because of the destruction it caused.' Yixing started 'A meeting was held between the two to come to some agreement on magic that could be used but they had never been able to get on with each other due to conflicting views. Yifan and Junmyeon liked each other though. They were of a similar age and saw no reason to fight with each other.'

Yixing looked off to the corner of the room for long enough that Sehun had to put an hand on his arm. 'What happened then?'

'They left their groups and went unheard of for years. When they re-emerged, EXO had been created by them in order to rid the Dry Lands of some evil. EXO grew in size, members recruited when they saw fit. I was their first member. They were so nice to me even though I thought I was some kind of criminal who didn't deserve a second chance. Please don't take our family for granted, Sehun.'

Sehun shook his head roughly. 'No, I would never.' Yixing looked up from beneath his hood. 'Is that all?' he asked, lifting himself from the bed and to the door, pausing in the doorway. 'That's all.'

Sehun slept.

He woke late in the day to the chaos caused by Jin's murder. He pretended to look horrified at what had happened but in reality he didn't particularly care. The bar keeper from last night had gone, replaced by an annoyed looking man who was middle aged. Consulting his map he found that Newsouth was a fair journey in the western direction and he estimated it would take him around four days of travel. There would be no more exploring this time. He wanted to arrive there as fast as possible. 

Newsouth was again very different to his own town and Xila, the whole east side surrounded by sea, boats and beach. The buildings were of white stone and marble, glittering from the reflected ocean, and mosaics lined the streets with fishes and mermaids in colourful chips of glass and rock. Children ran around with wooden buckets and spades tucked under their arms, and people with skin tanned from the sun spent most time outside, market stalls set up on the streets. It smelt like salt and seaweed to Sehun and it was the perfect sea side town, hardly seeming the place for a group of assassins to accumulate. 

Despite his eagerness in meeting EXO, he still took time to walk down the pleasing streets to the beach front. He had never seen the sea before, nor the sand and seaweed that tangled around his ankles once he took his shoes off and stepped into the froth of waves. With his trousers rolled up at the ankles he kicked at the water, sending it flying upwards and creating rainbows in the droplets. As the sea ebbed and flowed at his feet, he watched as a sandcastle was made by some children in colourful bathing suits. He pushed back thoughts of stepping on it with a grimace. No wonder he never had many friends. Making his way back up the beach to sit atop the wall that briefly separated the sand from the street, he realised that he had now seen snow and sand, the latter holding onto his skin even when he tried his best to brush it all away. 

With a view of the whole strip of beach he could see plenty of things; A couple of young boys poking at the remains of what looked like a jellyfish (he wasn't entirely sure of what it was but he had read about ocean animals once and the name jellyfish was brought forward in his mind), a cluster of elderly people resting under umbrellas to shade them from the midday sun, someone swimming back and forth with practised , hypnotic as he came from the sea and up the shore, nodding slightly in acknowledgement at Sehun who in return blushed rose. With the muted sun rays on his skin he thought it was definitely a possibility that he was happy with how life had turned out for him, a thought he had seldom ever had before embarking on his little adventure. A seagull joined him on the wall, looking up expectantly with a tilted head, coming closer to him until he became uncomfortable and decided to leave the beach and go find the place he needed to. 

The street sellers were packing up their stalls as Sehun walked the town pathways, their yawns infectious.   

He found what looked like a supposed abandoned building and entered, the door almost off its hinges and not particularly serving its purpose as a door very well. All the rooms in the house were empty except for the occasional wooden crate or barrel and no sunlight was allowed to enter apart from through cracks in the curtains, showing up flecks of dust as Sehun moved around. It was slightly off putting with it's seemingly untenanted appearance. There was an undisturbed feel to it, something of a relic or religious ground in which he wasn't supposed to linger. 

He made his way down to the basement to be greeted by a large, sturdy looking door, a hexagon painted onto the dark wood with red sharp . He knocked and waited, squinting at the hexagon, finally noticing that it said EXO in some way. It was slightly obscure to him though, only seen after quite a bit of looking. He tried not to look at the claw marks that were dragged down the wood, nor the questionable print of an outstretched hand.
The time he had to wait seemed to stretch.  

'What are you?' Came a voice from beyond the door. 'Naega wolf?' he replied cautiously, not completely certain that it was the answer expected from him despite what Yixing said. It wasn't even true. He wasn't a wolf, he was a person who killed wolves and took their fur. If that was the animal that epitomized them then Sehun's hopes had been slightly dashed. It should have been something sleeker in his mind, like a snake or a raven, not the snarling beasts that he had before encountered. 

With the acceptance of his words, the door opened slowly to reveal a darkened narrow hallway that led into a vast, lighter space. He turned to the person who answered the door for him, recognising his face. 'I've seen you before.' were the first words that passed his lips. It was the same person from all that time ago, still looking as delicate as ever with the same doe eyes. Ash blonde hair fell slightly over them yet did not do anything to overcome their sparkling quality. 

'That's not surprising, you were being shadowed after all. I'm Luhan.' 

'I'm Sehun' he bowed a little out of respect and a hint of admiration. 'Thank you for letting me be a part of EXO.' 

Luhan looked at him quizzically, a small smile fixed on his face. 'Don't thank me, it's Yifan and Junmyeon that asked for you to be watched and recruited. You're good by the way. You aren't very refined but that should come with practise.' 

'Actually, I'm looking for Junmyeon.' 

Sehun looked around the main hall. Much like Newsouth it was mainly white stone with Arabic touches in the curved arcs and pillars, stained glass panels in dividers and a heavy scent of incense in the air. There was no natural lighting, but instead candles and torches placed around. Furniture was again white, verging on cream, made of ash. It seemed that this sanctuary was all about purity. 

Luhan shouted for Junmyeon, the noise echoing around the high ceiling. They stood in a slightly rigid silence, Luhan tapping his foot in rhythm on the floor. 'What's the weather like today? I haven't been out.' he finally asked, startling the daydreaming Sehun. He forgot how to speak momentarily. '...It's good. Warm but not unbearable. I went to the beach.' He wasn't entirely sure why he released that last bit of information. He didn't seem to mind though. 

'I'm going to the beach later with Minseok. We haven't been out together for a while. It will be nice for it to just be me and him.' Luhan began, quite obviously wanting to continue but stopping himself. 'Sorry, you don't want to hear about my love life.' 

'It's fine, really. I didn't expect any of the members to be in relationships though. I had the idea that it was all just about the assassinations you know?' 

To Sehun there had been no boyfriends or girlfriends. No relationships or affection for each other, the only hearts involved being the ones ripped from broken chests. The only desires and lust for revenge and fury. There did not seem to be a place for love in an assassin's hideout, but it was there anyway because even those with no souls needed to be needed sometimes. He did not plan on falling in something like love though. 

'So naïve.' Luhan said, almost to himself rather than Sehun 'There are a lot of members dating. It's better to keep relationships within the group to keep from strained explanations of our profession. If anything we're closer than conventional couples due to our situation.' 

'Situation?' Sehun asked. 

'Sometimes we can be holed in the sanctuary for weeks on end planning for contracts together. In that time it's hard not to get to know a person. It creeps up on you. You start to learn a person off by heart, their likes and dislikes, habits, things like that. Then there's the whole trust element. If your going on a contract with someone then you have to trust them. It all adds up and leads to the inevitable.'  Luhan finished as soon as man emerged from one of the side doors with armfuls of papers. 'I'll be with you in one minute.' he said breathlessly, leaving thought yet another door. 
'That's Junmyeon. If you remembered me then you must remember him too.' Luhan said, eyes following Junmyeon as he retreated from the room. 

Sehun nodded. 'I remember him. He's a leader? He had dark hair when I last saw him though.' 

'He changed it a couple of weeks ago. Anyway he looks docile but he's worse than Yifan when he's angry. Plus he's the best out of all of us, a mercenary really.' He laughed lightly. 'It's best not to get on his bad side. I mean, it's extremely hard to get on his bad side but Baekhyun managed once and I think he still has nightmares about it.' 

'I'll make sure to be extra nice to him in that case.' 

Junmyeon walked back in, swiping his hand over his forehead, pushing his hair from his eyes. 'It's so nice to see you Sehun, I'll give you a tour of the sanctuary.' he smiled and Sehun wasn't quite sure how he could be a murderer. With Luhan he could sort of see it. He had a certain look in his eyes that spoke of mania, but Junmyeon seemed too passive to kill anybody, especially in his current state where he wore a large navy woollen jumper that swamped him and needed rolling up at the wrists and with blonde hair that had to be pushed back from his face every couple of seconds, the middle parting necessary of persuasion to stay in place. He beckoned for Sehun to begin following him.  

i'm sorry this seems to be going so slow but in the next chapter he meets the members (some of them anyway)

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