Minseok spent the first night running.

He'd swept over the dry, twig ridden earth of his once home until the dirt cooled and became damp, and the fallen branches became a rug of crackling leaves. He'd run through the night till the fire was no longer warming his back and collapsed at a river when dawn sent soft rays of light streaming through tall pines. Minseok laid himself out on the lip of the river, breathing hard, letting the rush of water cool him and the morning fog tickle his nose.

Hey, don't sleep here.

Minseok's eyes briefly fluttered open. He could make out something brown and equine-faced through his hazy vision.

“Hey, you'll fall sick with those injuries.”

Minseok blinked and the image in the haze faded. There was person now, his face with the suppleness of a woman but the lines of a man.

“Hey, are you even listening?”

Minseok was not, because by then he had fallen into slumber.

-

“Hunters. Getting themselves into all sorts of needless troubles-”

When Minseok woke, the peach sky had been replaced by tightly woven vines and the tang of herbs had chased away the scent of heady morning dew. Minseok moved his hand experimentally, lifting it to his eye, and in a moment the hut owner was upon him.

“You! Don't aggravate your injuries!” The man said, pushing his hand down and tucking a blanket over it. “Wait here.”

‘Here’ as opposed to where, it's not like I can move, Minseok wanted to say but his throat had become dry and the air he had tried to gather for his voice made it sting.

“Here.”

Despite the gentleness of his features, Minseok found himself being pulled up firmly as his companion brought a bowl to lips. Minseok took a sip, grimaced, but kept sipping.

“Great. You know how medicine works.” He snarked. Mineok bristled and shot back. “Who are you, again?”

“The person loaning you his bed.” He scoffed, putting away the bowl. “I'm Luhan. I found you by the river.”

Then Luhan asked, in a suddenly much softer tone, “Did you come from the village in east forest?”

Minseok tensed and bit out a clipped yes.

“Okay. Rest for now alright?”

-

Yixing comes back with a sack of herbs just minutes after the stranger falls asleep.

“Did he wake up?”

“For a while,” Luhan sighs. “I didn't catch his name but he is from the east forest.”

Yixing rubs a hand on Luhan's shoulder as he passes by, easing tension from strung shoulders. Luhan fixes his gaze on the far off figure of Yifan in the sky, circling over the remains of what would have once been this stranger's home.

“He's welcome to stay with me if you're uncomfortable.” Yixing offers.

Luhan looks back at the man, his features still wrought with anguish even in sleep, and recalls the shadow of crystalline snow in his eyes when Luhan first found him.

“It's fine.”

-

Later, when Minseok wakes without his head ringing and his body feeling detached, Luhan brought him out to the village.

“Well, I live in a smaller section of it.” Luhan said as he sat Minseok down on a large stone outside the doorway. The burns hadn't healed yet, and Mineok hadn't trusted him enough to tell him that these were not from the fire but the cold.

“That house is Zitao and Yifan's,” Luhan pointed out a cave and Minseok wondered if he was joking. But then again, Junmyeon had a home under the water and Kyungsoo had an abode deep the earth. It was not so unusual.  “The hut up front is Yixing's. He's our healer.” Luhan says, explaining the small gathering by Yixing's hut.

Minseok nods politely and waits for Luhan to continue. There is a catch, somewhere. The west forest has always argued with it's eastern counterpart.

“Yifan should be out and I'm sure Zitao is off entertaining the younger ones. Do you feel up to taking a walk in the forest?”

Minseok nods politely and gets up with little strain on his weakened muscles.