"My name is Yixing," the mage finally introduced himself, once Kris had let him go. No one approached him closely, and in fact everyone apart from Kris stood well away. He was an elf; Jongin saw that now. Defined tapered ears emerging past his short blond hair. But he was also something else.

"Are you an apostate?" Luhan asked coldly.

"Why, are you a templar?" The response was lightning quick. A rhetorical question, because Luhan's red and golden robes and the symbol etched on upon his armor were a dead giveaway. 

Luhan didn't need to respond. Baekhyun, however, did. "What was that spell? Will Sehun be alright?" He looked about as pissed as a firecracker, bristling unnecessarily because Yixing only chuckled.

"Just a spirit ward. Not even that powerful. I put it there only to dissuade bandits from finding my stash. He'll have some nightmares in the future, but that's about it. Sorry," he added with a casual smile. 

Once Sehun was finally able to stand up, he glared at the mage but did no more than cough, wipe his tears and fetch his fallen dagger, the cause of everything in the first place. 

"Your stash?" Jongdae's eyes lit up, just as Yixing's narrowed. 

"Well, we're not bandits," said Jongin decisively. He could tell the mage wanted to question him on it, but he said no more. He watched Luhan instead, checking the templar's reaction when he too bent towards the ground, retrieving his fallen staff, a magnificent creation Luhan thought Xiumin would be jealous of. Luhan suddenly missed the mage more than he thought possible, craving his company, craving even the dog's company. Wondering where they were and if he'd actually meet them in Haven, if at all. As a gesture of goodwill, Luhan let Yixing handle the weapon, keeping one eye on him all the while. 

"So you're just... traveling?" Yixing asked. 

"Yes," said Jongin. 

"Through an uninhabited, desecrated town in the middle of nowhere and quite far off the Imperial Highway?" Yixing's eyebrows were raised. "Quite the little jaunt."

"See, that's exactly what I said!" Jongdae cried mirthfully. Chanyeol hushed him with a hiss, and the whole thing made Yixing look between them very, very curiously.

"You have the look of a rag-tag party of warriors, mercenaries, and civilians. No ordinary jaunt, I think. But regardless, welcome to my home, for now. Stay the night. Shall we share a meal? Tell me all the news of Ferelden. I've been dying for some non-familiar company." He smiled cheekily, gesturing around the room like it was a grand palace.

"N-non-familiar?" Suho questioned him nervously.

A puff of green smoke shot up from the stone nearest the dwarf's feet, and while Suho squawked and jumped back a step, it was only a bunny on the ground, squinching up its nose anxiously with everyone's eyes upon it. 

"My familiar," Yixing offered up. "Keeps me company. Doesn't speak all that often. Is terrified of other animals. Pity, really, because these mountains are teeming with wildlife. Foxes, wolves, bears, a dragon... so they say... so these people here once used to say..." 

It was obvious he meant to frighten them, as if the bunny was bait, the dragon the switch. 

"Did you know the cultists?" Jongin asked.

Yixing shrugged, and his bunny familiar hopped past the dwarf's startled feet and settled instead around the trim of the mage's robes dirty bluish robes. "Who around these parts has not heard of them? But they are gone, as you're no doubt aware. I myself... am just stopping by for a while."

"What for?" Luhan demanded nervously.

The mage continued to smile, overly sweet and polite. "Are questions the only thing you people know how to word? How about an introduction? You know my name at least. Tell me yours? Also, if you let me, I have some herbs which may quieten the boy's nightmares. And also keep him from having any while he's still awake."

Sehun was in fact looking a bit green around the face, sweat dampening his brow, his eyes glassy. Probably about to vomit any minute now, and as Jongin observed him sadly, Sehun did just that. He made it to the far side of one wall opposite the party members and puked out everything in his guts. Only Suho had the stomach to approach him afterwards and help him get cleaned up. 

"Walking nightmare, huh?" Luhan said to the mage, referring to a spell Jongin had only heard of, whispered by some soldiers back in West Hills to the children they wished to frighten. "You're a spirit mage, then?"

"In a manner of speaking." It was all he would say. At least it wasn't blood magic. 

Nervously, Jongin took it upon himself to introduce all of their names, starting with himself and ending with Luhan, and when he looked around as if remembering there used to be more of them, Yixing glanced around too. Jongin refused to tell him what their actual agenda was, but the mage did not press him, just as he volunteered nothing of himself either. It was quiet sort of truce, everyone on edge but no longer in showdown. Baekhyun and Chanyeol especially softened towards Yixing when the mage's herbs seemed to definitely aid Sehun which, under Luhan's cautious gaze, Yixing ground and served him. The fact that he was an elf like Baekhyun, and that Baekhyun did not seem particularly frightened of him, also calmed a bit of Jongin's tension. 

With dusk fast approaching, Yixing lead them out of the temple and down a short path which lead back to the lake, and there they cleaned themselves off in shifts. Luhan held back to stand with the mage, and so Jongin lead the rest of them alone. He chucked his armor and tunic on the ground and waded out into the water. On the other side of the dock the dwarf could be heard sighing deeply as he finally shed his clothes to rinse them roughly in the waters, Jongdae laughing at him, and Kris still trying to apologize. Chanyeol squatted by himself on the dock keeping watch next to Sehun who still had an ick factor with still waters. The boy was only dangling his legs, still looking a bit sickly, when Jongin turned away, surprised by the splash of Baekhyun diving off the dock.

The waters around Jongin rippled chaotically as the elf submerged and then popped up with a shaky toss of his head, feet finding the mucky, uneven bottom as he waded nearer to the warrior.

"Bathing with your pants on again?" Flecks of water off Baekhyun's hair caught Jongin in the face as he grimaced. 

He didn't respond, only rushed the process because the water was cold and the elf unnerving, almost not noticing the next words Baekhyun spoke to him, although these were more practical. 

"What do you think about Yixing? Do we believe his story, or not?"

Jongin ducked under the water once more to rinse out his hair, and then peeked over his shoulder where the mage was still standing beside Luhan, the templar with his arms crossed solidly across his chest, a frown on his face. Both were out of hearing distance when Jongin admitted, "There's no story to believe or disbelieve. We're just lucky he broke the spell before something worse happened to Sehun."

"Hmmm," Baekhyun muttered, creating more ripples in the water. "Suppose so. Although I really don't like this place. Why would anyone hang out here for fun? Huh? And all by himself too? What kind of person ventures so far all on their own? I mean, I've done some solo traveling but it's not fun. Not fun at all-"

"Where have you been then?" Jongin cut him off. 

Baekhyun froze, mid wash with his arm in the air as he tried to reach behind his shoulder blades. "What? Me? Oh... around. Much safer though to travel in groups. Company's better too." The elf sent him a warm gesture, laced with his own brand of humorous self-awareness, and Jongin turned around in order not to blush. Baekhyun had a slight, dainty body, but lean too, and muscled. Part of that was a product of his race, but a good part because the elf was active and skilled at what he did, namely trekking long distances on foot and being more than handy with his bow and arrow. It wouldn't do to dwell on his other attributes though, the ones Jongin thought of during lone night watches. Baekhyun was, for all that he'd considered the Denerim Alienage his most recent, temporary home, a mercenary. He may not use that that title like Kris did, but the elf was definitely the type to move around wherever he pleased. And Jongin hadn't even asked what he'd done before he was recommended to Sehun's grandfather's service, to be part of Sehun's across Ferelden.

"I've been here and there. Wherever looks fun. Getting into trouble." Baekhyun grinned after a while.

And yes, that's just what Jongin had thought. He turned around and hauled himself back onto dry land, avoiding the mud and oblivious (mostly) to the way his dampened pants probably clung to his legs in full view of the elf. It was a better alternative to staying around and waiting for the elf to ascend instead. 

"Hey!" Baekhyun called out after him. "You're done already? And here I was going to ask if you could wash my back!" Jongin heard but did not turn to see the elf huffing self-righteously, playfully. "Anyways, never mind. I can get it myself. Maybe!" 

Watching the others bathe and rest, Luhan was the only one still basically unnerved. Yixing was now the second apostate he'd come across, and far from even trying to apprehend him, here he was actually conversing casually with him. Yixing, obviously amused, chatted to like him a friend. It was deceptive, even if the information he shared - the landscape whereabouts, what kinds of wild herbs Yixing liked to harvest, how cold the winter nights would be in a few months time - was all good to know. But Yixing talked like he planned to spend a long time here in these parts, which was a sly warning to Luhan that Yixing planned on doing anything but. 

"You haven't told me much about yourself, templar." Yixing too crossed his arms, the sleeves of his robes hanging heavily across his torso. The mage was definitely shorter than him, but his stance and posture made Luhan feel very small. It did in a way, remind him of Xiumin. Perhaps apostates like them were all like this - raised tough, demonstrative. 

"What would you like to know?" Luhan thought maybe he could at least act like his life was an open book.

Yixing unfortunately called his bluff before he even tried. "Templars don't just travel without an entourage of their own. I'm already surprised to see a party such as yours out here, but what your deal is... that interests me."

"Maybe I'm apostate hunting?"

Yixing smirked. "Maybe you are. So what am I then? It's my experience with templars that you attack or arrest first, questions later. Are you on vacation or something?"

"Or something..." Luhan liked this answer, and so long as the mage seemed disposed to be friendly, he could live with this. 

They waited for the others to leave the lake, Yixing inviting them back to the ruined temple for the night, and Luhan couldn't help noticing everyone's sighs of relief that they'd have a roof over their heads, at least for one night. He wouldn't leave the mage alone though out of his sight, and luckily Yixing seemed to know this and he didn't object. 

They were the final two into the lake, sun already sinking behind the mountains with a dull cloudless sky left behind. The moon reflected off the water, rippling when the mage swam through it, and Luhan tread water right behind, his mind still a bit deadened except for his immediate surroundings. Two days without Xiumin, but no dragon attack. Instead a new apostate, and who knew what had become of Luhan and his templar pride. If anyone observed him now, they'd see just two people - strangers too - swimming at night. 

"Hey, I hope you don't mind water snakes!" Yixing called out, a taut grin stretched across his face.

"Of course I don't!"

Suddenly, even underwater reed felt like it might be encircling Luhan's ankles, although he did his best to ignore them. Rather believe Yixing was bluffing, than accept reality. That there were probably serpents beneath the water's edge. He ducked his head, turned his back for the first time on the apostate, and swam for shore. The sooner he was out of water, the better. He wanted the see the others again, make sure they were okay, check on Sehun, or double-check that Suho hadn't accidentally bludgeoned either Kris or Jongdae in self-righteous inner fury. He hoped nobody would hear a dragon tonight, so they could sleep. He did think he heard an animal though, off in the distance. A hound... or perhaps just a wolf. 

"Luhan, watch it." Yixing's voice echoed from behind him, closer than he'd previously thought. 

Luhan did not watch it. Instead, his ears trained on listening for the wolf, hoping it was a hound, he missed the very thing Yixing had been warning him about. 

"Snake! Watch out!" 

Luhan screeched just as he saw it, winding through the shore reeds and poised just to attack. His body reacted instinctively, flinging towards dry land. But one foot sunk instead into the shallow muck, and he landed no further away than where he'd started. It was only thanks to two strong arms around his waist, hauling him back, that he avoided being bitten on the face. 

His heart raced, body shuddering, lying on his side in the dirt. Silence all around them until he heard the hollow chuckle coming from the body behind him. One just as wet and as himself. 

"Oh, just a harmless water snake, sorry. Thought it might have been something different."

The offending serpent, no larger than the length of Luhan's forearm, looked almost as startled as he did, slithering away as fast as it had come. Frightened more probably by the templar's groan of frustration and subsequent giving up of life. A wolf howled in the distance, a real wolf now that Luhan listened properly, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Now that he was lying in dirt, he'd have to bathe again, which meant back in the water again, with a strange mage who wasn't Xiumin. 

He barely even got to the point of thinking of sitting up, however, when a familiar set of robes over familiar leather boots strode up and blocked his vision.

"Uhmm, well hello again," said a sweetly confused voice.

"Xiumin!" Luhan was up in a heartbeat, gathering his robes around his still filthy body even though that hadn't been his plan.

There was no sign of Alistair, nor of the gray one, but Xiumin in all his beauty was indeed back, just as he'd promised. This was not the way he expected to be found though, lying in another mage's arms.

"I see you replaced me rather quickly. I feel almost... disappointed." Xiumin smirked, a chuckle bubbling as Luhan quickly denied everything, anything, whatever Xiumin thought this actually was. Forgetting in his haste and embarrassment that the mage had probably seen the entire water snake fiasco. 

"It's... it's not... uhm."

He almost tripped in the muck again. Only Xiumin throwing out his arm to catch him kept Luhan from face-planting in the dirt. "Sure. Sure. Care to introduce me?" he teased. "Where are the others anyways? Somewhere in the village?"

"Yes. The temple. We... we found- well, we got here an hour ago and..." Luhan was conscious of the other mage behind him, listening in. "This is Yixing.

The spirit mage was already donning his robes when he stepped around Luhan to greet the other mage. "Xiumin, is it?" he held out a friendly hand, smiling politely, but his eyes danced even in the moonlight. Xiumin tensed for a half second though, eyes flitting over his apparent rival. 

"It is," he said, cooly refusing the offered hand. Then he stared again at Luhan. "Wasn't sure I'd catch up with you today, but it looks like our paths have aligned. And none too soon." He grinned, just as a wolf howled in the trees, cut short with a yelp. Luhan raised his eyebrows.

"Alistair?"

Xiumin shrugged. "Maybe. Shall we go see the others now? Or haven't you finished up here?" He flashed Yixing a curious smile which had Luhan blushing and feeling guilty once again. The other mage, however, took it in stride and offered to lead the way to the temple, after Luhan deigned he was clean enough to actually fasten his robes. Yixing waited patiently, the two mages staring down the other, and Luhan felt oddly like he was missing something here. He sat against a rock, shaking out a dirtied but dry sock before pulling it across his foot. He frowned though, glaring at the gaping hole stretching across his big toe, and Xiumin chuckled again. 

"Aww, looks like your sock as a hole in it."

Way to state the obvious, Luhan thought. Yixing only smirked curiously. 

"So, you two have been traveling together?"

Xiumin looked at him. "Isn't it obvious? I'm actually his prisoner. We're on a lovely little vacation together before he locks me up in the Circle Tower. Care to join us, apostate?"

"An apostate and a templar," said Yixing tightly. "Impressive." 

"It is, isn't it? Come on, Luhan. Maybe if you're especially nice to me I'll think about darning your socks as well." Just as Luhan thought he was about to be sweet though, he added, "Unless of course Alistair gets to them first. He does so love socks." 

The reunion wasn't anything special, except that Sehun seemed overjoyed. Everyone else, especially Jongdae was surprised to even see Luhan return with two mages instead of one. After hearing the story of the spirit trap and Sehun's potential lingering nightmares, Xiumin confirmed that the herbs Yixing had given him was indeed a good remedy. The boy still looked a bit sick, but he was quickly improving. Although in his excitement to see Xiumin, he looked around a little too much for somebody else... 

"No dog?" Chanyeol pouted, misinterpreting Sehun's concern.

"He's around," said the mage. "For some reason we were followed by a small band of wolves, so I believe he's taking care of the outliers. Oh, and did anybody hear a dragon last night? Because we did."

The room exploded with righteous indignation, Kris jumping up victorious. "I was right! I heard it! I heard it, and the rest of you didn't-"

"Okay, okay, quanari, we get it," Baekhyun sighed in annoyance. "You're the big guy. You heard it. Now can you let us eat? I've been so looking forward to sleeping on dry ground with a roof over my head and you're killing my buzz. Hey, Jongdae. You still hoarding that bottle of Wilhem's Special Brew you nicked back in Redcliffe? And don't give me that look. I saw you take it so you can't lie now."

Very late into the night, Kyungsoo crept cheerlessly through  the deserted village, the hound at his side. The ruined buildings cast almost no shadows with the moon so directly overhead, illuminating the shells of the homes and the rubble left inside. A light wind whipped across the lane, blowing the hood back from his face. He hastily dragged it back into place, concealing most of his face. Alistair growled at a small animal hiding behind some brush, until Kyungsoo shushed him and the dog whimpered instead. 

Haven. No special place on its own, but laced with magicks unused, left to spoil. It was no wonder the Chantry wished to reclaim the town, although they would be hard-pressed to truly do so. Everything about the place reeked of a sense of finality. If not now, then later. This place was destined to return to its origins, buried by nature, by the mountains above. 

He followed the sounds of life towards the abandoned temple above, the pulse of magic that had been his beacon for months. How simple it was to follow, how easy, trailing in the night, staying undercover in the day. Fearful to all who accidentally beheld him, deadly to those who would stop him. It prickled his conscious that Sehun was not afraid. Fascinated perhaps, but not afraid. That was good; that would make it easier to take what he yearned for, when the time came. The boy with pale spotless skin was no match for a creature like him, because he had no knowledge of the power Kyungsoo concealed.

The mage only suspected. Or maybe Xiumin really knew everything. How, Kyungsoo did not know, but as long as their paths were aligned, they were no danger to the other. It was almost a relief, to be noticed by someone so intelligent, someone so unlike the trio that had begun with Sehun originally, guarding his beacon, all strength and muscle and know-how, but no conception of what Kyungsoo was, what he possessed, or even what Sehun possessed. 

It was all progressing according to plan, and it wasn't even Kyungsoo's plan. He just knew how to follow the signs. 

"Come along, Alistair," he barked at the dog who was roaming at whim. Alistair quickly lowered its head, obedient to Kyungsoo's call, and together they strode up the hill. 

Two bodies stood outside the entryway of the temple, huddled in the shadows but whispering fiercely. They didn't even notice him coming.

"You still won't tell me what you're doing here?" said one to the other. Kyungsoo crouched behind a tree, a hand upon Alistair's back to still the animal as well. 

"It's none of your business, Yixing. My travels are my concern, and I have no reason to report to you anything-"

"You're with a templar," Yixing snapped. "A templar and who knows what other people- How can you even know to trust them? With your life? I've never seen you acting this careless before."

"Because you haven't been around to see. Anyways, I know what I'm doing, and Luhan I trust."

"And does he also trust you? Xiumin? Xiumin? Really? I'd flame that bastard alive if I could find him, but haven't you guessed how the templars might have found you? Xiumin?!" 

Alistair whimpered, but Kyungsoo gripped his collar tighter to keep him silent. 

"I... I have my speculations," said the shorter mage, just a tiny bit more downcast than he'd appeared before. 

"Your speculations? If that's all you've got, then it's a wonder you aren't dead already."

"I'll be fine, Yixing. We're always on the move and Luhan, well... he won't turn me in." 

The second mage huffed, not at all impressed with Xiumin's defiance. "If a life of imprisonment in the Circle Tower is all you fear, then you may be in for a rougher haul than you think. My guesses are, you'd be safer under guard of the Chantry and their minions than out here in the world. And that's saying something. At least there you might only die once."

There was no keeping Alistair back now. The hound lifted itself off the ground and trudged softly towards the two mages. Their gazes shifted as one to see the animal, Xiumin first with a smile and then a frown when he followed Alistair's trail in reverse. Kyungsoo knew he was caught. Sideways he stepped past the tree line and approached the mages, one an elf, the other a human with a price upon his head, two apostates bound to the fringes of the world almost as much as he. 

"Who is that?" asked Yixing, his voice low and warning.

Xiumin sighed, making no move to attack or disarm him, although Yixing looked about ready to. "This is Kyungsoo. He's an ally, of sorts. For now."

"Kyungsoo?" Yixing repeated his name, just as Kyungsoo stood before them, sure that his hood and robes concealed his face. At a look from Xiumin, however, he slowly lifted his arms and drew the material away, staring at Yixing right into his eyes. It pleased him when the mage drew breath, an expression of mild horror when he recognized his power. "But... but he's... not... surely not...?"

4,100 words

Plots abound. Can you follow them all? Let's recap: water snakes, and suspicious mages, and Kaibaek happening in a lake. Xiumin is back and he knows Yixing, but somebody is after him and who who who?  Also what on earth (or what world) is Kyungsoo even, and what does he want?! Okay so I probably didn't answer anyone's questions. All in good time. :)

♡ Rosie

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