Before we Begin: Delays hurt. Badly. But here's the first chapter of 'Beware The Frozen Heart'.

The chilly waters of Port Flake rumbled with a force from deep beneath the waves, making dock workers and passers-by stop to stare at the strange phenomenon. A single white circle illuminated itself next to the pier, the water sitting on its surface beginning to churn clockwise in a gentle circle. As it picked up speed, two tendrils of salt water shot straight into the air and twisted around themselves several times similar to the pattern of a caduceus. The twisting tendrils made a beeline for the cobbles beyond the pier, smacking down onto the stones with a loud cracking sound and spinning around themselves faster as they expanded. They glowed with the same white light from the sea, and when that glow subsided a man stood in place of the water, his white robes identifying him to the masses.

“High Guardian Suho!” All the dock workers and passers-by bowed quickly, not wanting to incite the wrath of the man. Suho smiled warmly at the crowd and waved at them dismissively, turning his attention to the blizzard-shrouded Northern castle just above the docks. The crowd moved back into their routines as Suho stepped through toward the castle, stopping sporadically to speak to several townspeople about the situation at hand.

“Suho!” The High Guardian looked over as his name was called, spying Kai running toward him, his cheeks a little red from the energy exertion.

“Is everything alright at the castle?” asked the High Guardian.

“Things are as expected. Luhan’s trying his best to talk to Xiumin but he’s totally frozen over and Sehun and I have taken over Kris and Tora’s duties and-”

“Slow down, Kai. You and Sehun have taken over the duties of the Northern Guardians?” Kai flinched. He’d probably said too much, though Suho was going to find out eventually. Straightening himself, he fell into step with the High Guardian as they walked to the castle, the teleporter explaining all that had happened in the Northern Provinces over the last few days.

“…and that’s why Sehun and I summoned you. We were hoping you could speak to the Princes about the appropriate course of action.” The blizzard surrounding the Northern castle died briefly to let the two Guardians pass through the courtyard and into the interior of the castle. Servants greeted the two when they passed through, offering tokens to warm their bodies after being outside for so long. Luhan appeared at the top of the stairs to the upper level, sliding down the banister to greet his Guardian and Suho.

“It’s good to see you, Suho,” the Eastern Prince said, bowing respectfully, “Has Kai told you about the situation?”

“He’s told me his perspective, yes, though I would much like to hear what has happened from Minseok.” Luhan faltered visibly, knowing that the Northern Prince wasn’t as receptive as he usually was. Though maybe the High Guardian would have a better chance than the lover of the Northern Prince, Luhan reasoned.

“I’ll show you to his room. Perhaps you’ll have more luck talking to him than me.” Suho followed Luhan silently up the stairs, past several servants whose actions seemed…forlorn to the High Guardian. He spied Sehun several times, the wind walker whooshing around on an air bubble as he struggled to keep up with the duties of Kris and Tora.

“Here we are.” The door to the Northern Prince’s room was completely frozen over, threatening icicles pointing out into the hall as if to dare anybody to get closer. Suho held out his right hand, feeling droplets of water tingle his skin as he concentrated. He called forth a gentle waterfall of warm water that melted the visible ice, allowing him safe passage into the Prince’s room.

“Luhan, start to draft missives to the other two Points. Explain to them what has happened and the circumstances surrounding it. Make it urgent.” Luhan bowed and took off the way they had come. Suho stepped closer to Minseok’s door and gently prised it open.

“Hello, Suho.” The voice was so despondent, so sad, it made the High Guardian himself feel a twinge of pain for the Prince. Minseok didn’t look up from his pillow as Suho moved forward to him, sitting beside him on his bed and running a warm hand over his back, which was covered in an abundance of emerald green feathers.

“Are these your Guardian’s?” he asked, feeling the softness of the feathers despite their interesting appearance.

“Tora moults, and she lets me have the feathers she loses.” Minseok replied glumly, twitching when he said her name, “I let them down, Suho. They looked to me and I failed them.” Suho stayed silent and let Minseok ramble for a time, waiting patiently as the Northern Prince vented his frustrations.

“You did not fail your Guardians, Minseok. They understood what you needed to do, and by protecting you they fulfil their duties to you as your Guardians.” The Northern Prince looked up at the High Guardian for the first time since he’d entered the room, his eyes rimmed red with his anger and remorse. He understood what Suho had said. Kris and Tora were his Guardians, and by protecting him at a crucial moment they fulfilled their duties to him. That didn’t mean he didn’t want them back, however. It was to be an important time for all three of them, but this…Minseok just hoped he could put this down quickly, for the sake of the Four Points.

“Luhan is calling the other Points north,” the High Guardian explained, “This threat of yours only responds to force, and your brothers from the Four Points will support you no matter what. We are one.” Those three words made Minseok’s heart harden, and he slowly stood up as Suho did.

“I’ll take you to the war room. Luhan will most likely be there.” he stated.

~~

“Tora!” Said Serpent peeked her head into her Prince’s room, spying his angry face next to a small pile of green that she immediately recognised. Shuffling herself inside, she stood and faced Minseok.

“You hollered?” she asked.

“Why are there so many feathers around the place?” Minseok indicated the pile of green he rested next to, “The servants keep finding them everywhere and they have no idea what to do with them!”

“You could tell them to mix a glass of water with one to make a healing tonic.” The Northern Prince opened his mouth to say something about that, but no sound came out of his mouth. He studied Tora’s face carefully, watching for any sign of a twitch that would indicate she was joking. When there was none to be found, Minseok sat up and stared.

“Your feathers can make healing tonics?” he asked. Tora nodded.

“Serpents aren’t just vindictive poisoners, you know. The misconceptions surrounding my kind are abundant, but if you stop to get to know us then you’ll learn a lot.” She pointed at the pile of green, “If you get enough of those you can make a blanket that will heal many injuries.” Minseok looked at the feathers he rested next to, then up at the Serpent, then back to the feathers. Maybe he’d done the wrong thing by jumping to conclusions about his Guardian’s moulting, but angry servants were much worse to deal with than angry nobles.

“May I keep these?” he asked meekly.

“Sure, it’s not like I need them again.” Tora laughed, which made Minseok laugh too, “Kris’ scales can be made into weapons and armour, in case you’re interested. Though you’d need to find someone willing or with enough experience to work on dragon scale, though.”

~~

Zhang Yixing didn’t notice the bird flying over his head, but he did notice the letter being deposited into his lap. Looking down at the letter, he noticed it bore the snowflake symbol of the Northern Provinces pressed into the wax seal. He picked up the letter and headed for the green-covered castle he lived in – the Western Palace.

“Zitao!” he called out, his voice echoing around the stony walls, “Huang Zitao!” A dark mop of hair poked itself out of a door, the one leading to the kitchen, Yixing noted mentally.

“What?” asked the new face.

“Chen’s got a letter. Is he in there with you?” asked the elder Guardian. Zitao shook his head, stepping out of the door to face Yixing properly.

“He’s in the courtyard putting on a show for the people.” replied the younger, fiddling with a strange ring around his finger. The emblem of the ring depicted a sideways hourglass, one half of which was full and the other half was receiving the sand.

“Xiumin sent a letter.” Yixing held up said letter and led Zitao outside to the castle courtyard, where Prince Chen was making rings of lightning dance among the gathered crowd. The children had fun jumping amongst the lightning, giggling as static electricity zapped their legs and made their hair stand on end. The Western Prince himself laughed at the delight of his crowd, snapping his fingers once and making all the electricity rise into the air where it exploded into electrical fireworks.

“Thank you!” The Prince bowed, the crowd clapped, and Yixing moved forward once enough of the people had moved away.

“A letter for you. From the Northern Provinces.” Chen nearly ripped the letter when he snatched it from Yixing, tearing at the wax to get to the writing inside.

“It’s from Luhan.” Chen frowned at the letter, “He says that Xiumin is calling for help against a rebellion.” Zitao and Yixing shared a look behind Chen’s back, “Boys, pack your things. We’re heading north.”

“What?!” Zitao balked, “Just like that, Jongdae?!”

“Just like that.” Chen handed the letter to the younger Guardian, whose dark-rimmed eyes skimmed over the words written on the parchment. Once he’d finished he handed it over to Yixing with a shaky hand, Yixing responding in a similar way to Zitao.

“We are one.” Chen declared as he his heel and strode inside his palace.

~~

“Chanyeol! Baekhyun!” Prince Kyungsoo – D. O. to foreign dignitaries – folded his arms across his chest and glared daggers at the two males play wrestling in a mixture of golden orange feathers and white down from three ripped pillows. The taller of the two looked up at the Southern Prince, a wide grin on his face that was offset by the golden orange feathers that stuck out of his hair at odd angles.

“We were just playing.” he said in a deep voice. The smaller – Baekhyun – nodded vigorously.

“It may be the last time we get to play for a while.” he added. Kyungsoo fought back an eye roll and produced a letter from behind his back, pointing at the blue wax seal on the back of it.

“The Northern Prince has sent us a message.” he said. Both his Guardians sat up from their prone positions on the floor and stared up at the letter, paying attention to the snowflake seal on its back. Kyungsoo turned the letter around and undid the wax, unfurling the parchment inside and reading what was written on its face. His face scrunched into a frown the more he took in, and by the end of it his hands were shaking.

“Luhan wrote this on behalf of Xiumin,” he explained, passing the letter to Baekhyun, “and given the circumstances described I can understand why.”

“This is disgusting!” Baekhyun exploded, flashing with a brilliant but angry light briefly, “Prince Xiumin doesn’t deserve this; it wasn’t even his fault!” Chanyeol remained silent, but his anger was present through the tiny flames that danced over his skin and the sudden heat he radiated. Both his fellow Guardian and his Prince knew why he was so upset, but until they headed north there was really nothing they could do to calm him down.

“We need to go north, to Port Flake.” Kyungsoo said.

“Right away. They need all the help they can get.” Baekhyun nodded in definition.

“We are one.” Chanyeol hissed out finally, standing up to prepare himself for the journey.

Author's Note: Why do you think Chanyeol would be angry? And a teensy insight into what Minseok might do with those feathers and how much of a support Luhan will most likely end up being for his lover.

See you in the next part!

-GuardianOfTheDawn :3