A/N: THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT SO FAR! Ever grateful for all your comments. Love you guys <3 Enjoy this chapter ^^

Baekhyun was squirming out of Chanyeol’s reach when he swung his body too far to the left. That resulted in a true moment of fear as he found himself sliding off the dragon, his brother and Chanyeol yelling and trying to grab onto him to no avail. “Baekhyun!” Chanyeol screamed, arms grabbing thin air as Baekhyun fell towards ground. The Elf starting whacking Midnight’s side, “Turn back Midnight! Baekhyun fell off!” He shouted at the beady eye of the dragon that had turned back towards his passengers, however Midnight continued on flying as if nothing had transpired.

Baekhyun regretted squirming around so much the moment he felt himself slipping away from the dragon’s back. He recalled the look of horror on both Luhan and Chanyeol’s face as they tried reaching out to him, but he was already far-gone. “AHHHHH!!! Fly fly fly… you stupid piece of fabric!” The airborne twin flapped frantically at his yellow cloak, urging it to somehow develop the power of levitation. The ground was getting nearer and nearer, but before he could dwell any longer on his spectacular fall of death, someone popped up behind him and grabbed onto his arm. Next thing he knew, he was faced down on the wet earth with Kai clambering off the shell-shocked him.

It’s ok Luhan and Chanyeol. We got him… Kai plucked him out of the air, Kyungsoo informed the two still above ground. They let out a huge sigh of relief at Kyungsoo’s words. Now Chanyeol knew why Midnight was unfazed… Midnight gave him a slight nod of his head and faced forward after Chanyeol gave him a small thankful smile. We’re close to the Northern ridges of the Lost Mountain already. We’ll meet up then. Midnight knows where… it was where Sehun and I stopped for the day on route to the Woods prior. Midnight glided into a smooth descent along with his rider’s instructions. Is Baekhyun fine? Chanyeol can’t help but worry over the other ever since the incident back in the Lost City. The Elf breathed easy again at Kyungsoo’s affirmation of the twin’s welfare.

“Are you ok Baekhyun?” The said boy peeked up into the worried face of Kyungsoo. “Uiesfwegrhafsgebgeah…” Sehun and Kai glanced at each other as Kyungsoo tried again. “Baekhyun, it’s me… Kyungsoo. Are you ok? Kai saved you.” At Baekhyun’s still blank expression, Kyungsoo waved a hand in his face inciting no intelligible response from the unblinking boy, “Eauegsdkbowegwow…”

“Did you crush his windpipe or vocal cords on the way down?” Kyungsoo questioned Kai who merely shrugged in response. Sehun hopped down from his horse before stooping to Baekhyun on the ground, “Earth to shorty dwarf.” Like that will work, Kyungsoo scoffed.

…

“Yah! Who are you calling a dwarf? I’m no shorty! You stupid erm… stupid… windmill! Yes. Stupid hairdryer.” Baekhyun barked back into Sehun’s face. The latter took the supposed insults stoically and smirked at the gaping Kai and Kyungsoo, before climbing onto his horse again. Kyungsoo makes a mental note to call Baekhyun a dwarf/shorty for the foreseeable future. “Kyungsoo! You have got to help Lulu… he’s being dragon-napped by the evil flying bird. Chanyeol’s gone cuckoo and become the dragon’s accomplice. Please don’t let them feed Lulu to the dragon’s babies…” Baekhyun wailed while grabbing onto the front of Kyungsoo’s shirt. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and forced Baekhyun’s hands away from his neck.

“One, I’m pretty certain Chanyeol’s not gone cuckoo like you mentioned. And two, that is a dragon, not a bird… and his name is Midnight. He’s my dragon… he’s not abducting Luhan. I don’t know where you got that idea from.” Baekhyun blinked at Kyungsoo. “What do you mean when you said the dragon’s yours?” The boy arching an eyebrow, still unable to comprehend whatever the hell was going on. “I meant what I meant when I said Midnight’s my dragon. I’m his paired rider.”

… (Baekhyun’s face contorted in confusion)…(Baekhyun cups his chin and contemplates what Kyungsoo was saying)… (Baekhyun’s eyes, nose and lips opened in apprehension)…

“WHAT!?!?” He screeched, deafening the three boys around him. “You’re a dragonrider and you never thought it would be best to share this information with us? How could you!” Baekhyun gave Kyungsoo the stink-eye. “He’s also the Avatar…” Sehun supplemented, bringing on another wave of Baekhyun-level screech. And a Baekhyun level screech blows Sehun’s one out of proportion. The three others hurried to cover their ears as Baekhyun let out another “WHAT!?!?”

“Shut up! God… and it’s not us but rather just you that don’t know about me. Luhan knew, and everyone else too.” Kyungsoo clarified. “How did Luhan found out?” Kai asked. “We talked the night when I went to check up on Midnight,” Kyungsoo explained as Sehun and Kai let out a soft oh. “Hold up a second… so you mean to say that only I was not aware of this the entire time?” Kyungsoo nodded sheepishly. “I feel betrayed… Damn you Luhan!” Baekhyun waved a finger into the air where he presumed the latter to be.

“We should go now. They’ll reach way earlier than us… we have some ground to make up.” Kyungsoo hauled Baekhyun and shoved him up his horse before settling in front of him. The spare horse couldn’t fit him due to the bulkiness of their belongings. Kai frowned at the slim fingers wrapped around Kyungsoo’s waist. Baekhyun felt a glare directed at him and gulped when he made eye contact with Kai, he hurriedly retracted his hands for fear of the other stabbing them with his arsenal of knives. The three made for the Northern ridges, going at twice the speed compared to prior.

It was after an hour plus of endless riding, coupled with a whiny Baekhyun and later Sehun that they reached the wide plateau where Luhan, Chanyeol and Midnight had been waiting patiently. When the boys dismounted, Luhan ran up to Baekhyun. Expecting a relieved hug, Baekhyun jumped in shock when Luhan slapped him across his cheek. Everyone stared on in surprise… who knew the forever-quiet boy had it in him to -slap his twin. Don’t ever do that again Baekie… you scared me! Luhan signed to his brother. Baekhyun nodded wordlessly before Luhan pulled him in for a hug.

Sehun stared curiously at Luhan. The latter was forever using sign language to communicate. Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard him utter a single word… What’s up with that, Sehun frowned. “My turn!” Chanyeol jumped in, wrenching the twin away from his brother and wrapping him into one of his giant bone-crushing hugs before Baekhyun tapped out citing that he couldn’t breathe. He turned away from the Elf, only to come face to face with Midnight. Baekhyun let out a loud squeak and dodged behind Chanyeol again as the rest of the boys laughed their heads off, Midnight too.

The party decided to camp at the plateau for the night before making headway to Air Nation’s border in the morning. It was now almost evening, the boys having traveled far during the day were exhausted and most wanted nothing else but sleep. In the end, they built a small campfire and rotated turns to catch up on some snooze time. They picked the pairs by random this time, choosing to draw lots and leaving things up to fate. Sehun and Luhan were chosen for first watch, as the rest settled down beside the fire. It was the perfect opportunity for Sehun to learn a little more about the mysterious Lulu.

The Prince found the said boy staring at a sparrow at the edge of the campsite with the egg in his lap. “Hey Luhan.” Sehun greeted the elder, but he was puzzled to not have received any response. Maybe he’s just too focused, thinking about something else that he couldn’t hear me. He cleared his throat and said “Luhan hyung…” a little louder this time. Still, the boy didn’t respond. Weird. He reached out to touch Luhan on the shoulder, causing the latter to jump and turn around in shock. The sparrow he was eyeing chirped loudly at the other boy’s entrance. Luhan grabbed onto the egg and tried to cover up his shock by waving for Sehun to sit beside him.

“Were you conversing with the sparrow hyung?” Sehun wiped away his confusion before smiling at the other. Luhan blushed and nodded slightly. Why won’t you talk to me? “You know Kai was like you… talking to a strange looking dog just a few hours ago.” Luhan’s eyes crinkled in a silent laughter. Sehun chuckled too, “he said the dog had been following us ever since we left the inn.” Luhan’s eyes widened. “The dog is gone though… disappeared after we arrived here at the plateau. Although… this sparrow here suspiciously has the same glint in his eye… just like the dog before. Hmm… I wonder…” Nah! It can’t be! Sehun shook off the thought and scoffed inwardly. Did he seriously consider the thought that this sparrow here was the dog that was following them previously? It can’t be right. Animals don’t just shape-shift. Sehun shook his head to disperse all crazy thoughts, as Luhan smiled shyly at the cute frown on the younger’s face.

“Hyung, the intangibility power you have… That was pretty cool earlier.” Sehun praised. What’s intangibility? Luhan thought. At the other’s confused face, Sehun laughed heartily and explained, “You could walk through walls hyung-” Luhan’s face lit up in understanding, “Intangibility is the power of being able to pass through solid matter.” The older gave Sehun a thumbs up before carving out words in the soft sand at their feet: Your wind powers were pretty cool too. Sehun smiled and the two continued on their conversation in this unique way.

After a while, footsteps could be heard trudging towards them and Sehun looked up pass Luhan’s head to witness Kyungsoo and Kai walking over. “We came to take over the shift.” Kai spoke, voice growing increasingly loud as they came over. However, having not heard the latter duo’s oncoming, Luhan continued to scribble words into the sand. Let me test my theory… Sehun thought to himself as he stayed silent, not affording Luhan a hint of the other two’s presence. As Kai plopped down beside Luhan’s feet, the poor boy jumped in shock again at the unexpected intrusion. Luhan turned to wave at the other two and Sehun gave one last shot at proving his guess. “Luhan hyung…” There was no reply from the other as he still had his back turned. I’m right…

He’s deaf. Sehun’s mouth opened in shock. He’s deaf… He wasn’t ignoring me just now… He can’t hear… Luhan’s deaf. Sehun turned to Kyungsoo for confirmation and at the latter’s nod, Sehun returned to staring wide-eyed at the older boy. “Sehun?” He jolted at the sound of his name. Apparently Kai had called out to him since Luhan had been trying to get his attention for a while now but Sehun was too caught up in his thoughts to notice. Luhan gave him a ‘are you okay’ look. Sehun gave a stiff nod and popped up from his sitting stance, “I should sleep now. Wake me when it’s time to leave.” And without waiting for a reply, he stalked off and deposited himself beside Midnight.

Luhan stared worryingly at the retreating figure and turned to Kyungsoo. “He’s fine. Just tired… that’s all.” The other gave him a wry smile and Luhan left the couple alone as he himself went to catch up on some sleep, his thoughts never wandered far from Sehun’s sudden weird behavior just now. Why you may ask… Why would Luhan choose to keep his inability to hear and speak a secret? Well, he didn’t want to be judged first of all, and he didn’t want other people’s pity. He was every bit as capable as the average man. And in no way did he want to be considered weak and useless just because of his disabilities.

Several feet away from where Luhan slept, Sehun tossed and turned having not fell asleep yet as his mind was still busy thinking. This quest is too dangerous, and especially if Luhan has his weaknesses… what’s stopping him from getting hurt. The boy is incredibly stubborn and has a near certain