It was with a mix of excitement and reluctance that the group headed out of the village.  A handful of locals waved at them as they departed, but left them otherwise alone, busy with their own tasks.  Bundled snugly in their new clothes, decently warm despite the wind, the start of the journey seemed bearable indeed.  They resumed their formation like they had at the beginning of their journey with Leeteuk and Eleanara in the lead and Kharin and Eunhyuk bringing up the rear.

           Despite the threat of patrols and the gravity of the task ahead of them, they were in surprisingly good spirits.  After a short time on the trail, Kyuhyun had even opted to regale them with his voice, a pleasant and bouncy marching song that helped pass the time.  When he started to sing it again, the rest of the group joined in intermittently, except for Eunhyuk.

           While the rest were making noise, he was listening intently for anything out of the ordinary.  Contrary to whatever direction the natural wind was blowing, he had a steady stream funneling in from behind, carrying any whispers of sound directly to him.  Mostly, there was nothing beyond the sound sof his companions but occasionally, there was a new sound…  Intently, he scanned the landscape on either side, wary of the potential sounds he was hearing.  He glanced over at Kharin who seemed oblivious to anything going on beside their group right now.

           Determinedly, he maintained his wind funnel, extremely grateful for the new coat he was wearing as it was much better than the last one had been.  That made him wonder how much it would actually cost the monastery to foot the bill and if Yoogin would be mad at them over the price…  Nah.  The cost of outfitting them for this journey was meaningless unless they succeeded.  In the meantime, cost was something they really shouldn’t worry about too much.  The thought was both exciting and disheartening in its own way.

           He remained thoughtful and alert even when they paused for a break a couple hours out from the village of Moorhall.  Leeteuk raised seats for them all and Kyuhyun set a small fire in their midst while Siwon refilled their waterskins where necessary.

           They were mildly surprised when Eleanara declined to ward off the cold.  “It’s not so bad,” she told the simply, a shy smile on her face.  She still seemed colder than the rest of them but she wasn’t shivering at least, and the sun did provide a greater measure of warmth as proven by the sunburn there were all beginning to show from the snow glare.

           Eunhyuk tossed a soft snowball at Leeteuk to get his attention, the powdery projectile exploding against his shoulder.  “How’s the way look ahead?” he asked, still grinning at his attack.

           Leeteuk scooped up a handful of loose snow and tossed it back at him playfully.  The group laughed harder when a gust of wind tossed it back in Leeteuk’s face, to his own amusement and chagrin.  He took a moment to brush the snow off and then answered, “It’s been clear from what I can see.”  He paused as he regarded the rest of them.  “I know there are patrols out there though.”

           “I knew I heard something,” Eunhyuk stated excitedly.

           “How do you know that?” Kyuhyun asked skeptically.

           “I can sort of see them through the ground.  Nothing clear,” he shook his head as if trying to puzzle out a fuzzy image, “but it’s definitely more than the normal wildlife.”

           Kharin nudged Eunhyuk, a mildly annoyed expression on her face.  “So that explains why it’s been so windy next to you.”  She shivered once as a chill got to her and then laughed, “Sound does travel well in the wind.”

           “Exactly!” he winked.

           Summer sighed and glanced at the other four thoughtfully.  “Do you have any other way of keeping an eye out?”  It was a neutral question but they could tell she was feeling a bit left out, lacking any ability to assist in this regard.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do about it in this regard.

           All around, they shrugged uncertainly.  “I may be able to scry,” Siwon offered, opening his hands speculatively.  “I haven’t tried, though it was mentioned in the notes I had.”  He shrugged as they absorbed that.

           “And you guys?” Summer persisted, regarding Kyuhyun specifically but including the light and shadow elementalists in the question too.

           “I will think of something,” he immediately responded as he glared at the fire he had summoned.  If they had some sort of extrasensory perception ability, then so did he…he just didn’t know what it was just yet.  Eleanara and Kharin exchanged glances and shrugged.  Neither of them had anything like that; at least not that they were aware of.

           “At least we shouldn’t be surprised again,” Siwon suggested.

           “I was still figuring it out,” Leeteuk defended, thinking it was a dig at him from the ambush the experienced on the mountain

           Siwon had to laugh at the misunderstanding.  “Oh calm down,” he urged, kicking a patch of snow at him.  “Ambush or not, you kept us alive that night.”  Various degrees of confirmation met that statement with approval.

           “I think he’s just saying maybe it won’t be such a concern in the future,” Eunhyuk added, his coat rustling slightly in the breeze he continued to generate.

           Leeteuk looked thoughtful and shrugged, “Maybe.  Either way, we’ll be ready,” he stated confidently.  In the next moment, he reached down to retrieve his plated staff, pausing for just a second as his hand touched the ground.  He nodded once and then looked at the rest as he stood up and swung his pack back on.  “We good?”

           “Yep!” Eleanara agreed, standing up quickly and dragging her pack on with only a little trouble.  She had started off doing well and she intended to keep it that way.

           “As good as we’ll ever be,” Kyuhyun shrugged, getting ready at a more leisurely pace and gesturing for Summer to quench the fire.  With a wave, she neutralized it and rolled her eyes, though a smile did tug at the corners of .

           Before Kharin and Eunhyuk stood up with the rest, Leeteuk lowered the seats and caught them by surprise, landing them in the snow.  Eunhyuk’s focus faltered and the summoned wind dispersed as he and Kharin laughed and simultaneously attacked him with two snowballs.  Both of them smacked him squarely in the face, exploding harmlessly and he laughed.  As if on cue, everyone who was already standing dropped what they were holding and reached down to scoop up the snow themselves.

           A mini snowball war ensued in which no one was spared.  Leeteuk did have the advantage in being able to create a wall to hide behind but that prompted the rest to gang up on him all at once.  He threw his arms up in surrender when Eunhyuk tackled him, inviting the formation of a dog pile as snow was rubbed into the hair.  After a moment of helpless laughter, they all felt the need to get moving again.

           Slowly, they picked themselves up, reluctant to give up on the enjoyment of this moment.  They could not deny that their spirits were higher for the brief and welcome delay.  Carefully, they retrieved the scattered packs and picked up where they had left off.  Leeteuk took a moment to consult the map briefly and then they continued onward.

           They aligned themselves as usual and Eunhyuk continued his wind manipulation.  While they took the precautions they were familiar with, none thought to check the sky.  High above them, where the clouds drifted through the air, a long serpentine creature undulated through the sky.  It resembled a giant snake except it had both front and back legs and while it had no wings, it could fly very easily.  Eagle-eyed vision followed the group of seven heading from the village of Moorhall, noting with intense interest that one could manipulate earth and another could alter the eddies of wind around him.  Their mock combat had drawn its attention and it had watched with amusement.  Patiently, it drifted along above them.

           The large white snow wyrm was not a very intelligent construct, but it had been created with one directive in mind: find and destroy those who opposed its master and creator.  Almost as an afterthought, it had also been instructed to deal with anything unexpected as it saw fit.  Now it had happened to spy upon two humans who could manipulate the elements like his creator.  Instinctively, it knew that was a threat and that they would have to be dealt with.  But first, it wanted to deal with the village that had helped such persons.  Surely, they were traitors to its creator in turn.  Easily, it wheeled back around and slithered through the sky, destruction in its pale ice blue eyes.