Who didn't love to sail and enjoy the beauty of the ocean? 

Yuri certainly loathed the idea of that, especially due to the fact she had a severe anxiety of not being grounded on the planet she was born on. The female didn't need fancy yachts or sailboats, she much preferred land and it's rich soil and soft grass. The earth bender was perfectly alright with swimming in shallow bodies of water because her toes could reach the floor, but anything that prohibited her from reaching the bottom or seeing it was simply not her cup of tea. 

So you could easily imagine how distraught and hysterical she was when awakening on a ship in the midst of a storm. Her fingernails dug into the texture of the chipping and obviously aged wood as her stomach decided to empty itself in the middle of the boat. Yuri's body heaved until there was no more vomit to slip past her lips and she barely crawled towards an array of barrels when a wave managed to splash onto the floor. Her shaking hands gripped onto the supply container as her eyes stayed glued to the layout of the wooden craft, attempting to make out any other heaps of water that could potentially sink her only chance at survival.

The earth bender felt a dip and her stomach as a loud creaking sounded below her and the vessel began to tip to the side, resulting in her body to be tossed like a rag doll to the opposite end of the ship. Due to the adrenaline, Yuri didn't feel the cuts and bruises the wood gave her, however she did feel the surge of water suddenly covering her entire body. There was no time to in a deep breath of air, and she realized that too late when she attmepted to breathe and instead inhaled a lungfull of water. Closing her eyes from the discomfort, the female leader felt herself being tugged back into the ocean with the wave, but she was able to cling to the railing and wait for it all to return without her.

After holding her breath for so long, out came all the water residing in and mouth as her burning lungs wheezed for air. Her long black hair was almost covering her entire face and her head felt light and dizzy from going so long without oxygen. The girl weakly dropped to the ground and desperately crawled back towards the barrels, which were strewn around the ship from the wave. Her hands fumbled about for anything to hold on to until they seeked refuge in to the handles of a container. It was honestly difficult to figure out what to do in that specific situation - she wanted to attach herself to something stable, however there wasn't anything but the railing in reach or in sight. Not only that, but Yuri's main priority was to attempt to steady her heartbeat to what it once was, she was still heaving and gasping.

Her legs felt like jello as they attempted to lift her trembling and drenched body, it wasn't safe to lie down in the middle of the ship and the female had to move and fast. She took quick and shaky steps to the base of the flag pole, her arms were reaching out to grasp the wood when she turned her head and laid her gaze upon an enormous wave coming right her way. The tips of her fingers grazed the smooth texture but that was it as her feet were lifted off of the wooden craft and she felt herself being pushed backwards with a force that couldn't be stopped. Yuri was dreading the feeling of the railing digging into her back as she was pulled into the sea, however the wave's impact was so great that she was sent above it.

Yuri had never felt so weak in her entire life, she was far below the surface and moving with the strong current and waves that were shoving her in all directions. She never pictured herself going like this, the female always expected to lose her life in an epic battle or surrounded by all the benders, the people she loved. The truth of dying alone, cold, and scared hurt much more than the pain of her lungs slowly crumbling into nothing. She drifted down and closed her eyes, feeling the deep sea engulf her until she opened her eyes again and felt the need to scream.

Lo and Behold, she was now on the same flying plane she was on before the boat.

The earth bender was now more than aware of the fact it would crash soon, yet after some deducing and heavy thinking - she came to terms with the fact that none of this was real. The female couldn't die, and if she didn't act soon, she would merely be sent to deal with another situation that emphasized on her fear of not being able to reach the ground. Yuri was involved in a plane crash but when she reopened her eyes, the female was on a ship in the middle of a storm and now she was back on that plane - she should have been shattered to pieces twice yet here she was yet again. 

Of course she was still shaking, getting sick to her stomach, and having trouble breathing from all the fear, but the girl had also made a decision that she was going to stick with. If dying and not facing her fear had no effect on what was going on, Yuri was going to jump out of the plane and end everything there. She thought that it would make much more sense to leave before something went wrong in the engine and caused her downfall. The girl felt like she needed to somehow change the outcome of the situations she was plunged into, she had to make something different occur - and that's exactly what she did.

The earth bender was terrified but at the same time she was determined, and once the girl set herself to do something, she wouldn't go back on it. Her heart was beating extremely fast and the logical side of her brain was screaming at her as she found a trap door that would lead to her fall. Her brows furrowed together as her shaky fingers fiddled with the latch a few times, not being able to open it until she took a deep breath and used both hands. The top ripped off and a gust of cold air caused her hair to twirl and dance with the wind, however that didn't faze her as she tossed the now useless door to the side. The female seated herself on the ground and allowed her legs to dangle in the middle of the air.

Her hands were sweaty and the only thing she could hear was the erratic beating of her pulse. Her head felt warm and there were a few beads of sweat sliding down her cheek as her teeth absentmindedly chewed on the flesh of her bototm lip. It was one of the most bizzare and worst feelings she had in the world, the female was literally about to hop out of a moving plane in the middle of the sky and be completely aware of it. There was nothing wrong with the situation she was in, no one was harming her and she had never felt the urge to end her life - she was doing this completely voluntarily and without any kind of a parachute. The waiting was always the worse part in her mind due to the fact she could really think about what she was about to do, so without a second thought, Yuri hopped forward until her entire body fell through the hole. 

Falling wasn't as bad as she thought.

Sure, her panic levels went through the roof and the idea of breathing had completely left her mind - however she had actually faced her fear and that was something she was definitely proud of. Yuri knew deep in her heart that if the benders were with her, they would also be proud of her and that only intensified the feeling of bravery. Her body crashed through clouds and at least now she knew that they weren't soft and warm, nope, they were cold and heavy and thick. The ground came closer and closer and her eyes merely shut and her brain chanted on repeat please. The female needed to wake up and be with the benders, because this sort of reality was absolutely nonsense. There was a part of her that wasn't afraid of dying due to the fact she had technically experienced it twice already -  but then again she really hoped that the third time wasn't a charm.

-

When she opened her eyes this time, it was reality.

But not one she wanted to experience.

Water was everywhere, there were no members in sight, and she was alone on a high rock. Confusion was evident in her eyes as she looked around for anyone to tell her what was going on, however her search came up empty until she noticed a small hand disappearing underneath the surface. Ever since the female jumped out of the plane, there was a new surge of courage evident in her spirit so Yuri didn't have much of a problem diving off the rock and into the water to search for the body being swept away by the tsunami. Her strong limbs cut through the water as she scoured the area for a trace of anyone, her eyes remaining open and sharp above and below the brim of the waves. 

It was then that a head of brown hair came into view, and the earth bender immediately surged forward and scooped the female up and out of the water so that she could breathe. Yuri's legs were forced to handle the weight of the other bender as well as steer the two away from rocks and trees that would harm them at the speed they were going. Her arms were no longer slicing through the ripples, they were now craddling the human in her arms and attempting to save her life. After successfully turning the girl around in her arms, Yuri was relieved yet shocked to find Yoona in her embrace. After hearing a few yells from up above, the earth bender was extremely lucky to find yet another bender. 

Suho was standing on the rocky ledge opposite from where Yuri first woke up, and the concern and absolute shock was obvious as he threw down whatever he was carrying and jumped straight into the water in order to join the two and help. He easily swam over and latched onto the females, attempting to rouse the unconscious Yoona while screaming her name and swatting at her face. This went on for a few minutes, Yuri attempting to direct their bodies in a safe direction while Suho tried to wake the girl up, even by removing the water from her lungs due to the fact he could bend any sort of water. 

When she finally opened her eyes and coughed out a little bit of water, the two leaders were so relieved that they could barely speak.

However, what would they do now? where were the others? how would they get out of the flood?

-

He honestly tried his best.

Suho came from a strict, wealthy and powerful family. His father, grandfather, and even his great grandfather had all been very powerful individuals in the military service, so you could only expect that Suho and his brothers were pressured to do the same. It was painfully obvious of how much the boys were pressured into becoming sergeants or any sort of a military officer, instead of teddy bears they had toy guns. It was almost an unspoken secret that they would eventually be forced into the army, navy, or the air force 

Speaking of his siblings, the male leader was the youngest of 4 and they were all boys who loved to tease and push him around. He certainly wasn't weak, however he was the baby and that meant he was practically sheep to the slaughter. They would joke about him and his water ability, sometimes spitting on him and other times embarrassing him in front of their father's important clients and business partners. The male could distinctly remember they purposely spilled water on his crotch at a fancy dinner and the bender hid underneath the table to avoid being ridiculed by everyone else.

Not only was Suho the baby of the group, however his father and him didn't seem to meet eye to eye. His older brothers were perfect in the man's eyes, they were strong, muscular, and simply perfect to follow in his footsteps - Suho wasn't like that at all. The male leader was strong, but in a different way. His limbs weren't like sasuages and his abs weren't  perky and blown up - he was nimble and quick, his skin was pale and soft while his muslces were a lot less evident and certainly not bulging. This of course, wasn't okay for his father. His father was convinced of the fact he raised soldiers, not benders.

It was discovered at an early age that he had the ability to manipulate water, it came from his mother's father and she was absolutely ecstatic to learn of his gift. His mother honestly loved all her children, but it was obviously she cared a lot of Suho. Maybe it was the fact he reminded her of her father or because he was constantly bullied by the others, the male couldn't be sure. His father however, wasn't so happy. The man saw this as abnormal, he wanted all of his sons in the military fighting, he couldn't live with the fact his youngest would be playing with puddles instead of sparring with his brothers. The belief that Suho was weak caused a huge rift in their relationship, and that definitely led to Suho's belief in not being good enough as a leader. 

Leaving to the academy in order to train was an absolute blessing in his mind, not only was he able to get away from his brothers and his father, but he was also able to be himself and make friends for the first time in his life. Due to the fact his other brothers were strong and handsome, they were popular and attracted a lot of people. Since they picked on Suho, everyone began to and the boy became a laughing stock. Sometimes he would return home with black eyes and cut lips, other times he wouldn't even leave the house. He loved his mother dearly, but she didn't know what she was doing, she would merely patch his wounds up and act like nothing was wrong. She would tell him to fight back but the male was certain that would only cause violence - something he refused to do, he wasn't a soldier.

Because of the fact he wasn't a soldier and he wasn't accepted as being strong and valued in his household, that caused the male to be insecure in his career. When Master Kim invited him into his office alone and was notified the bender of his position of leader, Suho smiled until he left out the door and crumbled. He felt flattered that he was chosen out of the other 8, however he felt like he wasn't good enough - he simply didn't think he would be a good person for others to look up to and depend on.

Time passed and the male became somewhat comfortable with his title, the water bender could handle the others and eventually learned the reins of the new job. However, sometimes Suho made a mistake. It could be a huge and drastic event, like that one time he forgot Jessica was napping in the woods when they went hiking and left her behind. Other times it was so miniscule and unimportant that his slip up wouldn't matter, like when he forgot to pack a second water pouch for Chanyeol when it wasn't even needed in the first place. Either scenario caused a deep hurting within his heart, he felt as though scars were reopened and becoming infected - failing at absolutely anything involving the benders made the male extremely upset.

So when he's helplessly watching his own members die in front of his own eyes, the male leader is completely losing it. He can't comprehend the fact that the most precious people in his life are becoming extinct when he could have done something to change it, he could have saved them.

Suho was currently holding a dying Sehun in his arms as fat tears shamelessly dripped from his red eyes and rolled down his cheeks. His nose was running and his voice was cracking weakly as he attempted to comfort the youngest male, even though he could barely pull himself together. Sehun seemed to have a problem with his chest due to the fact it was heavily bleeding and there was just a hole underneath the thin fabric of his chest. Blood slowly dribbled down from his lips as the male wheezed and coughed with the last breaths he would ever take, his trembling hands attempted to reach up to touch the sobbing water bender. Suho grasped his soft hands and held them to his chest, telling him that things would be okay and that everyone loved him. 

"W...Why?" he choked, multiple coughs suddenly causing his body to quiver and then stop alltogether.

Suho cupped his face with his own hands and weeped, feeling as though his entire world was crashing down around him. He just lost one of the babies in their group, the boy was only 17 years old.

When opening his eyes, it was no surprise to find that the dead body of the wind bender was gone.

"But it's not my fault."

His words were slow and his body felt almost lighter once the male clarified what he was beginning to feel on the inside.

"I love you all, but I'm not going to be there all the time for you guys. I can't protect all 8 of you at once and I can't guarentee that you will all get out of this nightmare unharmed. I will do everything that I can to protect you and lead you to success, but if I slip up here and there and make a mistake - it's okay, I'm a human too, I can't help it."

He stopped speaking and bit his lip while more tears cascaded down his cheeks. He wished that he could be with them all the time, he loved them so much and the leader wanted them all to be okay and happy. But he couldn't do that all the time everyday because then he wouldn't be happy. All of the benders were equivalent to siblings (save for Sunny) and the yearn to constantly protect them and look after them was very strong. But it was the truth that Suho couldn't be there all the time for all of them, and it was definitely about time that he accepted it. His eyes were slowly getting heavier and heavier until his body fell to the ground and was enveloped into a deep slumber.

-

He felt a hand slowly weaving itself in and out of his hair when he awoke with furrowed eyebrows and a deep breath.

A soft sigh of relief was heard above him and a familiar voice announced something to another person and Suho attempted to sit up, his closed fists rubbing at his eyes. Everything felt groggy and he was about to question his surroundings when he realized how dry his throat was from the lack of water. Whoever was above him happened to hand him a pouch of water and that allowed the male leader to quench his thirst, his groan of relief rousing a few giggles of the female above him. 

When his eyes finally focused on his surroundings, the male was surprised to find Sunny next to him, Jessica sitting nearby next to sleeping bodies, and Chanyeol and Sehun tending to a fire. They were on the beach of the lake and the sun was setting, even though the day was ending, the water bender felt as though he slept for days.

After eating dinner and stretching out his limbs, Jessica began to explain to him everything that happened. Kris and his ability, the fact it had been exactly 4 days since he went to sleep, and that the others were going to travel uphill after the night passed and morning came. Aparrently Kris had warned Jessica to do that so the benders were going to have to carry a sleeping body each up to higher ground in case his warning did come true. The healer and ice bender had been wondering and debating what the potential threat could be, however neither of their cases made sense. Sunny was convinced it had to be some sort of flood due to the fact higher ground was the solution to that kind of threat, however Jessica mentioned that she and Suho would feel it due to the fact before the event could occur, the water would have to be into the ocean and the two would be on edge. Jessica had no clue what it could be, however she figured that maybe Kris was pulling her leg and the threat could be on higher ground.

And that's what they did when the sun rose again in the morning, they carried all the unconscious members uphill to a rocky region and deposited them there. Jessica and Sehun decided to stay with them in order to guard their bodies in case anything happened, Sunny wanted to get some exercise so she went off by herself walking, Chanyeol was a bit hungry so he went to go and collect some fruit, and Suho decided to collect some more firewood and dead sticks. He was picking up a few dead twigs when he heard it - the loudest and most unmistakeable gushing noise of water, it honestly sounded like he was in the middle of a waterfall. Turning back on his heels, the leader immediately went sprinting back to the camp wondering what the hell was going on - he was the water bender of the ground, he should have been aware of what was happening with the liquid. He never got a chance to arrive at their temporary camp site due to the fact he noticed two dark heads of hair in the flood.

Yuri was thankfully awake, however she was holding an unconscious Yoona who was pale as a sheet. After screaming out her name, the male tossed aside the now useless sticks in order to bravely dive into the tsunami and swim over to the benders. He honestly didn't think of what happened to the others, his mind was so focused on the two in need that he didn't even think twice about diving in and abandoning their camp. He didn't know that it would be days before he saw any of them ever again.