~Chapter 15 – Frustration Levels~

            The rocks were fast approaching and Luhan had to think quickly, clutching the gem box tighter he used his speed to his advantage. Luhan made it to the wall of the pass and pressed himself as close to it as possible in a hopeful attempt that most of the rocks would miss him, the more medium sized rocks are already beginning to hit the ground he stands on with a deafening boom and as Luhan crouches down to further minimize himself he spots a small opening near him at the base of the wall that had been hidden by a few larger rocks.

            Luhan's heartbeat quickens, that small opening may be his only chance, it looked like animals must have used it as their home temporarily and it looks a bit cramped but someone of Luhan's stature should be able to get into it without a problem.

            'I'll need to rely on my speed, I need to reach that opening before the rocks crush me,' Luhan didn't hesitate, hesitation would have killed him, he ran the fastest that he ever had before and slid himself into the little opening just as a large boulder smashed into the ground, rumbling and shaking everything in it's way.

            Luhan covered his head with one arm while gripping the gem box against his chest, all of this would have been for nothing if anything were to happen to the gems. There was tons of debris that kept flying into the mouth of the opening thanks to all the destruction outside but Luhan would have to endure it there wasn't any other choice at the very least he wasn’t severely harmed.

            Eventually the rocks that were ripped up due to the explosions settled down once more and the dust calmed enough so that they were able to see again.

            Sehun slowly opened his eyes and sat back up as he quickly scanned the area to assess the situation. Shin was no where in sight, there were huge craters all over the passage way now, Kai was still injured but Kyungsoo and him didn't seem to acquire any new injuries due to the explosions and other than the ringing in his ears Sehun seemed to be fine too.

            "Stay here, don't move from this spot. If anything happens or you need me call out for me and I'll be back," instructed Sehun firmly as Kai and Kyungsoo nod in understanding.

            "Find Luhan," replies Kyungsoo seriously, there's no doubt in his voice it's almost like Kyungsoo was giving Sehun an order.

            "He's down there, he's smart Sehun so no matter what Luhan's alive down there, you just have to find him," encourages Kai.

            "Yeah," Sehun doesn't wait any longer as he stands and makes a calculated jump off the side ledge, he uses the scramble of rocks to his advantage as he carefully makes his way down. His heart is pounding painfully and he feels his gut wrenching in sickening twists but of course his expression doesn't show it, it's only his two friends that had noticed which was the main reason they said anything at all before he left.

            Sehun stands at the bottom of the pass with a blank look as his insides rip themselves apart in desperation. Sehun's panicking internally as his heart and mind wage war on each other, where would he even start… He opens his mouth to call out for his childhood friend but the name gets caught in his throat, what if he doesn't get a response?

            Sehun closes his mouth, he'll do this himself on foot instead. He'll start where he last saw Luhan and from there he'll keep looking. A million and one things are running through his mind, clouding his thoughts and judgment of the situation and he forces himself to bury them deep. He manages only a few steps before his ears pick up on a bit of scuffling, Sehun pauses and looks for a source to the noise. He sees a few rocks down the way starting to move on their own and he immediately heads over, his stomach is doing twists and flips again and his heart clenches. As he gets closer he can hear grunting noises and cursing in Luhan's voice.

            "Stop moving and put your arms back," Sehun said it loudly so  Luhan could hear him and stop fussing so he wouldn't get hurt when Sehun pushed the rocks out of the way to free the opening up.

            Once Luhan saw the opening to the little cavern he was hiding in free, he reached a hand out which was grabbed by Sehun who swiftly pulled the latter out.

            Luhan sat up on his knees and looked up at Sehun. The younger had a blank expression, Luhan felt a bit unnerved he was ready to get yelled at for disobeying orders but it seems Sehun wasn't in the yelling mood at the moment.

            Slowly Luhan got up and gave a nervous grin while holding up the box, "Hey, I got the gems back…"

            Sehun glanced at the box in Luhan's hand before turning his gaze back to the older.

            Luhan's grin faded slowly when he saw Sehun's unresponsive reaction, from all the time that the two have known each other Luhan knew for a fact that Sehun only did this when the younger didn't know how to handle what he felt and without much speculation Luhan's sure that the younger was definitely pissed beyond belief right now for nearly giving the younger the scare of the lifetime.

            "Say something…" It was a quiet mutter.

            Sehun opened his mouth and closed it again, he didn’t even know where to start at this point. Instead of saying anything Sehun turned around and began walking away, he's sure if he talks then he's going to start yelling and he's still relieved from finding Luhan that he doesn't want to do that and start up any arguments at the moment no matter how much frustration and anger he's holding in at the moment.

            Luhan furrowed his eyebrows as he watches Sehun walk away, "Wait-" Luhan runs after the younger and grabs Sehun's hand to stop the younger, "Sehun-"

            The skin to skin contact burns a lot more than it should to Sehun and he tries to pull his hand away from Luhan's grip but the older persists with a firm hold.

            They're at a stand still now as they stare at each other, there's too many emotions crossing across their eyes to pick any out.

            "Sehun…" Luhan starts again, he just wants a response from the younger so he can judge how badly he's scared the younger but instead of a verbal reply Sehun attempts to pull his wrist free again. Luhan applies more pressure to keep the younger in place.

            "You have to say something," Luhan looks at Sehun almost desperately.

            Sehun stops trying to free himself and suddenly seeing Luhan's expression has him feeling like they're kids again and they're fighting over treats or something ridiculous instead of life and death. It really was ridiculous though, everything is so… much more of a pain now than it was then.

            Luhan tries again now that he sees Sehun's stop struggling, "Sehun-"

            Sehun unexpectedly tugs Luhan towards him, unprepared for the move Luhan releases the younger and stumbles into Sehun's chest. As Luhan regains his balance he feels Sehun bring his arms up and hold him tightly, Luhan freezes.

            Not a single word is utttered. But more than enough is said.

            Cautiously Luhan brings his arms up and returns the embrace as best he could with the gem box still in his hand. Guilt drops into Luhan's heart as he buries his face into Sehun's neck, reassuring the younger that he's here, "I'm sorry…"

            Sehun doesn't respond for a moment but Luhan hears the quiet tired sigh the younger releases, "Let's go. Kai and Kyungsoo are waiting."

            Sehun pulls back first and breaks out of the embrace, turning around to make his way back up to the mountain pass.

            Luhan stares for a moment and bites his bottom lip, 'It doesn't end here does it Sehun?'

            When the both of them finally make it back up to their teammates, Kai is temporarily bandaged up and is being supported by Kyungsoo as they stand up to greet their returning team.

            Kai and Kyungsoo smile in relief as they spot Luhan with Sehun and the two embrace the oldest as best that they could, welcoming Luhan back.

            Sehun stands and watches, he wasn't going to ruin their reunion with the next step in their plans just yet.

            When they finish Kyungsoo looks towards Sehun, "So what are you thinking we should do now?"

            Sehun looks over his battered team for a moment before solidifying his decision, "We need to make it to the town and check into an inn where we can properly take care of Kai's injury and rest for the night."

            The others nod in agreement before they gather whatever they can and head off to their much needed destination.

            It takes them a bit longer than they initially thought it would as their fatigue begins to wear on them but they make it there nonetheless and check in as quickly as possible.

            There's actually two rooms this time around and Kyungsoo helps Kai into one of them while Sehun and Luhan follow them.

            "How bad is the injury?" questions Sehun as he reaches for the vial of medicine from Healer's Fields Kingdom.

            Kai shakes his head, "It's not that bad, there's no need for more of the medicine."

            "Kai's right it’s a shallow cut but it'll cause problems if it's aggravated. I can patch him up better now that we're inside with running water and I can clean the wound. You should check over Luhan though I'm sure he took a hell of a beating after falling off the ledge," replied Kyungsoo.

            Lu