By mutual agreement, the party opted to stay one more day.  They needed the normalcy of camp life to steady themselves, if only for a day and true to his word, Marcus agreed.  There was some muttering from others in the camp that were impatient and eager to get to town so that they might be able to rebuild faster, but the Chieftain would not be dissuaded.  The small group in their midst was the best chance they had of rebuilding and keeping the village standing later.  He would give up a day for that.

           When Siwon returned to the tent after delivering their decision, the others had drifted slightly from the position that he had left them in.  They were still within easy touching distance, but most of them seemed in their own worlds.  Thoughtful glances drifted around slowly before turning introspective as another memory returned.  Carefully, he seated himself near the group and regarded them all with intense eyes.  Of the group, he seemed to have had the least difficulty in coming to terms with his strengths and weaknesses.  The others were still wrestling with their own, to varying degrees, as he could see by their reactions.

           Leeteuk still seemed the most disturbed by his outburst, his face dark and shadowed.  It made Eleanara fret when she thought he wasn’t looking and it was obvious she was still frustrated by the inability to heal their current wounds.  Kharin appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness as she had resumed resting her head on Eunhyuk’s lap.  The rhythmic motion of her hair and arm seemed to be putting her to sleep, though every now and then she murmured something which he would lean forward to listen to.  He would nod or shake his head as was apparently appropriate and then sit back, his sight distant.  Summer and Kyuhyun had more of an aloof air about them and Siwon could tell that both were trying to regain a semblance of composure.  He wondered how long it would last…

           They weren’t sure of how much time passed as they were lost in their own thoughts, but it was Tierne that interrupted them as he made his way into the tent, arms loaded with weapons.  “I believe these are yours,” he stated bluntly as he set the wrapped bundle down at the edge of their cluster.

           Dazed eyes focused on the bundle nervously, each of them aware of exactly what would be beneath it.  “Thank you,” Siwon murmured, getting up to start unrolling the weapons.

           Tierne nodded and shrugged.  “I cleaned and repaired em.  Should be good as new.”  As seemed to be the norm, he didn’t wait for them to inspect his work and instead bustled back out again, busy with some task or other.

           The group glanced around uncertainly, all eyes falling on Siwon as he retrieved his maul first from the bundle, metal clinking softly as the other weapons shifted.  With a grimace, he eyed the weapon, seeing no difference at all in it from when he had first gotten it.  The blacksmith had done a good job.  He adjusted the weapon slowly, feeling the heavy weight settle upon him like a familiar but somewhat unwelcome presence.  No…he was not ready to fight again.

           When it became apparent that the rest had a general reluctance to retrieve their weapons, he opted to at least set them closer to give each person time to adjust.  It was not difficult to recall which weapon went to whom and Leeteuk actually accepted the plated quarterstaff with little change in his demeanor.  Neither Eleanara nor Eunhyuk had any additional problem and Kyuhyun grabbed his short sword with a heavy sigh, setting it beside him for now.  Kharin stared at her mace and he could tell she was weighing the cost of picking it back up again.  She had killed a man with that weapon and while she didn’t look as if it was going to bite her if she tried to pick it up, it was clear she was uncomfortable.  Summer, on the other hand, stared at her sais in an entirely different way.

           Kyuhyun noticed her general reluctance and he sighed and rolled his eyes.  “They’re not going to bite you, ya know?” he stated, reaching out to pick them up and then offering them to her.

           Reluctantly, Summer held out her hands to accept the weapons.  When Kyuhyun placed them into her grasp, she gasped slightly and dropped them, the tines clanging sharply into the silence.  “There’s still blood on them,” she whispered, her gaze confused.

           “Huh?” Kyuhyun muttered, leaning closer to inspect them further.  “They’re fine,” he muttered, nudging them with his hand.

           Carefully, Summer reached down to poke them herself, shaking her head when she sat back and stated again.  “It’s still there.”

           With an annoyed sigh, Kyuhyun reached down and picked up the weapons, wiping them off perfunctorily with his shirt.  “See?  They’re clean.”

           Summer realized she was becoming the center of attention and forced a smile, reaching out to take them from his grasp and fighting not to recoil from touching them again.  Even after he had wiped them down, the blood was still there.  Why was there still blood on her weapons?  “Of course,” she said instead, chewing on her lip and laying the weapons in her lap hurriedly.

           Fortunately, she didn’t have to focus on it for long as Marcus returned soon after that, a platter of roast elk and hard rolls in his hands, with three waterskins hanging underneath.  “I figured you might want to be eating in here,” he shrugged, setting the platter down on one of the vacated cots.  “I’ll have your packs brought over soon,” he assured them matter of-factly.  “The tent is yours for now.”  The Chieftain did not stay to talk long before he up and left, leaving them to the food and drink.

           Kyuhyun had no such problem with wanting food and was the first to retrieve it, cutting open one of the rolls and placing a slab of meat on it before returning to his spot and eating, a waterskin in his other had.  Eleanara and Siwon watched him with a rueful shake to their head.  At least he was eating…  The light and water elementalists assisted each other in making enough sandwiches for the others and themselves.   Eleanara took one to the entranced Summer, who took it almost too gratefully as her focus was shifted from the weapons to food.  The light elementalist shrugged and took a seat next to Leeteuk, nudging him firmly to draw his attention.  “Eat,” she instructed with a smile, offering the warm sandwich to him insistently.

           “Thanks,” he finally smiled, accepting the roll and the smile actually reached his eyes when she returned the gesture.

           Siwon took it upon himself to drop off a sandwich to both Kharin and Eunhyuk.  The latter had little problem in accepting the food and eagerly started eating, briefly casting a glance down at Kharin to make sure she accepted her own share.  At last, she took the food from Siwon and sat up reluctantly, remaining close to Eunhyuk as a waterskin was placed between them.  Satisfied, the water elementalist settled himself across from them and began eating, eyeing the mace with interest as she had still not touched it yet.

           Marcus had made sure to include enough for two sandwiches each and Siwon refilled the waterskins without prompting when needed.  Taking the first bite was the hardest part for many of them, but after that, hunger returned forcefully and they ate quickly, despite the presence of the weapons some of them had so disdained to touch a moment ago.

           The normal activity seemed to help perk them up for the most part and at last they seemed better able to handle their thoughts.  Eleanara took a deep breath and glanced around, eyeing the empty cots as the memory of the injured filtered back to her.  A glance at Leeteuk next to her still showed him as pensive, but at least he wasn’t quite so dreary anymore.  Still…  “Would you care to walk with me?” she asked softly as she stood up, reaching her hand down.  When he didn’t answer immediately she added, “I just need some fresh air, but I would like the company.”

           Leeteuk laughed softly and nodded slowly.  “Fresh air is not a bad idea,” he agreed, accepting her offer of assistance and hiding his amusement when he did most of the work in standing up.  Still feeling a bit weird about earlier, he let his gaze sweep the tent and noticed the others were not looking at him oddly at all.  They acknowledged the pair was stepping out, but it was a friendly concern.  The thought eased that small bit of tension just that much more.  Politely, he held the tent flap open for Eleanara and gestured her through, releasing her hand when they stepped outside.

           She started a slow circuit around the camp, smiling up at the early afternoon sun.  While he had released her hand, she remained close; not enough to touch him but within easy reaching distance.  When the villagers saw them, many offered them friendly waves, which she returned easily.  Of course the elementalists were known, but she had made herself a friend of theirs in healing them.  Because he walked with her, that friendship extended to Leeteuk in turn and as life continued to go on around him, he finally felt himself starting to relax.  When she touched his arm entreatingly, he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed the feel as she sought his attention to point out a bird or small creature that she had noticed at the edge of the camp, quiet happiness radiating from her.  If nothing else, Eleanara was not afraid of the emotions he had felt or his reaction during the battle.  The silent support she offered meant more than he figured she would know.

           Back in the tent, Kharin continued to stare at her mace intently.  She had finished eating by now and Eunhyuk continued to sit at her side, though he was getting restless.  He didn’t like being inside all the time and he felt the need to get up and do something.  A small sigh escaped him as he didn’t want to leave Kharin either.  She had seemed so uncertain…so hurt by what she was dealing with.  He started fiddling with the sais at his side subconsciously.

           The action distracted Kharin and she glanced over, noticing his body language and she cocked her head to the side in thought.  Despite whatever they were feeling, life continued to move on and her thinking about it wasn’t going to make a of difference.  Inside, she trembled to pick up the weapon, but that wasn’t going to make it go away either.  Resolutely, she pursed her lips together and grabbed the weapon before she had a chance to talk herself out of it and stood up smoothly.

           Startled by the unexpected reaction, Eunhyuk looked up, reactively grabbing the sais.  “Kharin?” he asked before he glanced around, looking for whatever had prompted her to stand.

           She laughed once and reached down to grab his arm persistently.  “Come on.”  Uncertainly, she hefted the mace in her other hand and added, “You’re as restless as I am and I need to remember how to use this thing.”

           Eunhyuk allowed himself to be hauled to his feet, the sais grasped firmly in his other hand.  It felt good that she had a spark of her usual self back, even if she had to work at it.  “If you say so,” he smiled, throwing his free arm around her shoulders and shaking her playfully.  “But you’re still gonna lose,” he winked, both challenging and gently teasing.

           Kharin managed a weak grin and pushed him away, not too hard.  “Hah!  We’ll have to see about that,” she shook her finger at him as she preceded him out the tent flap and headed around to the back of the tent, away from the eyes of most of the villagers.

           Their first moves were testing, the easiest of feints and they worked slowly into the practice of sparring.  The snow crunched softly under foot and they focused on the feel of the weapons in their hands, the absence of any use of their power a comfort.  As they warmed up and grew accustomed to the terrain and each other again, their moves became more sure and at last their weapons clashed, the sharp clang of metal meeting resistance.  Facing Eunhyuk, she didn’t see the faces anymore or even hear the screams that continued to follow her.  She only saw his focused appearance as they paired off, an equal in this ring.  Easily, they gave themselves up to the feel of combat, for the sake of technique and footwork, lacking any intent to harm.  The simple physical activity of sparring was more soothing to them than few things would have been at this time and they relished in it.

           When the others left, Kyuhyun stood up and followed after them, a distracted look on his face.  He left the short sword where it lay and just walked out without a second glance.  The fire elementalist looked through the faces of the villagers, searching for one in particular.  When searching failed at first, he paused to listen and recognized the sound of a hammer rhythmically clanging.  He followed that sound and finally found Tierne hard at work at an anvil where he was working on another’s blade.  There was no smithy nearby, just a small campfire that he had to himself with a small set of portable bellows resting near it, ready for use.  The fire elementalist stared at the flickering flames intently and after a time, shifted his gaze to watch Tierne.  The blacksmith didn’t seem to notice him, didn’t change anything about his routine but he spoke as he worked, startling Kyuhyun.  “Are you going to help or are you just going to stand and watch me all day?”

           Kyuhyun looked around uncertainly, not sure if there was someone else here with him.  When it was confirmed that Tierne was speaking to him, he chewed his lip nervously.  His dark eyes rested on the old, healed over scars that had been made long before Eleanara healed him and his brow furrowed.  “How do you do it?” he asked instead, regarding the other man with a quiet desperation in his gaze.

           Tierne didn’t have to ask to know what Kyuhyun was really inquiring about.  It certainly didn’t have anything to do with him mending a sword.  He hefted the sword up, now a cool orange color, and eyed it critically.  He set the hammer down and drifted to the fire, gesturing to Kyuhyun, “Come here.”  Warily, Kyuhyun skirted around the flames and moved to stand next to the blacksmith.  “Hold this,” he stated as he set the sword in the flames where he wanted it and waited for the young man to take the hilt.

           The fire elementalist looked at the handle and then at the flames, feeling his skin crawl as the heat brushed him softly.  Finally, he shifted down enough to grip the handle and then looked at Tierne with confusion in his eyes.  “Now what?”  Tierne moved to the bellows and pressed down hard with his foot.  The generated air fanned the flames and intensified the heat Kyuhyun felt immediately and the young man yelped in alarm as he dropped the hilt and backpedaled, a shaken look in his eye.  “What the hell?!” he demanded angrily, his heart racing.

           Unperturbed, the blacksmith nodded and stood up to retrieve the sword, pointing at the bellows stoically.  “Go on,” he stated bluntly, kneeling before the fire and waiting patiently.

           Still shaken, Kyuhyun brushed off imaginary debris from his clothes and looked around to see how many had seen his reaction.  When only one or two persons even glanced at him, he his dry lips and carefully hedged his way over to the bellows.  At Tierne’s nod, he carefully placed his foot on the top of the handle and pressed down gently as he had watched the other man do.  A gentle stream of air emerged and the fire flickered hungrily but didn’t do much more than that.  He looked at Tierne again for some sort of comment, but the blacksmith remained silent, focused on the blade in the coals.  Tentatively, Kyuhyun released the bellows and tried again, harder this time.  A stronger breath of air resulted in a larger and more intense fire for the effort he put into it.

           “Good,” Tierne encouraged, waiting for the young man to go again.  With greater confidence, Kyuhyun repeated the action and as he fanned the flames, he made the connection that the fire responded to how much effort he put into it.  The older man watched the understanding spread across the younger one’s face.  “In my profession, the only times I burned myself were when I forgot to respect the flames.”  His sincere gaze held Kyuhyun’s and he waited for that to sink in.

           Kyuhyun had to look away from the honest eyes and focused on his open hand instead.  Thoughtfully, he watched the fire burn for a moment more and then decisively closed his hand, a grim smile on his face.  “Can I try again?” he asked, gesturing at the sword in Tierne’s hands.  The blacksmith smiled slightly and easily switched off as he watched the younger man face the flames.

           As Kyuhyun left the tent, Siwon got up and knelt down in front of Summer.  The look he gave her was perplexed as she still seemed uncomfortable with the sais she had in her lap.  Carefully, he picked them up and looked them over himself, trying to see what it was that had bothered her so.  “You okay?” he asked as he looked at her over the weapons in his hands.

           She regarded him uncertainly for a moment and finally whispered, “I can’t get them clean.”

           His brow furrowed in confusion as he examined the polished tines again.  “They’re-” he started to say before he recalled her comment from earlier.  She had killed two men…  It was a bit different when they faced them up close like that.  To take a life with the use of their powers was different.  They did not have to see the faces of those they might kill up close like she had.  He knew what it felt like though.  Respectfully, he placed the sais on the ground and reached over for Kyuhyun’s short sword.  He handed it to her and asked, “Is this clean?”

           Summer looked at the blade in confusion.  “Of course it’s clean,” she assured him, not understanding where he was going with this.

           Siwon smiled and agreed.  “Yeah.  Kyu hasn’t used it yet,” he shrugged, taking it back and setting it where he had taken it from.  Carefully, he removed his weapon and held it out for her to inspect.  “And this one?”

           She nodded her head and told him, “It’s clean too.”

           “No,” Siwon disagreed quietly, retracting the weapon and bringing it close to him.  “It’s as stained as yours is.”  There was little chance the man he had struck earlier had survived the attack and even if he had, the weather or even the villagers would have finished him off.  He couldn’t see the stain she was talking about on either weapon, but he knew it was there.  It would always be there.  Resignedly, he replaced the weapon and looked at her with a sad smile.  “I don’t want to add any more stains either, but I’d rather do that protecting you guys, than just standing by and watching you get hurt.”  The stalwart water elementalist reached out and cupped her face gently.

           Summer closed her eyes and leaned into the contact as she thought about what he said.  In irritation, she wiped away the tears that pooled on her lashes.  She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand in hers, thankful for his understanding.  Her eyes fell on her weapons again and while she could still see the blood on them, knowing he could tell it was there made it more bearable.  “Okay,” she said simply, releasing his hand and reaching down to retrieve them shakily.

           “Come on,” he encouraged, standing up and reaching down to assist her.  “Let’s get out of this tent.”

           Eager to do just that, she accepted his help in standing and replaced the sais on her person in their sheaths.  For now, she could only get used to the feel of them again.  The sun beat down on them brightly as they stepped out.  The cold, crisp air felt good as they took a deep breath and paused to ground themselves again.

           Comfortably, Siwon threw an arm around her shoulder and walked with her around the camp, just taking it nice and easy.  Neither of them noticed Kyuhyun working with the blacksmith who frowned at them slightly as they walked by, Siwon’s arm still over her shoulder.  Tierne interrupted his distraction and brought him back to the task at hand.  Mindful of the lesson he had learned earlier, Kyuhyun turned his attention back to the fire, but the image of Summer walking with Siwon stuck with him stubbornly…

           By nightfall, the group appeared to be back to their normal selves again.  The invisible scars were still there and the memories had only been dampened, but their path seemed manageable again.  Of course they were still afraid of the next fight they would have to take part in, but it was not the overwhelming thing it had been when they started the day this morning.  The seven joined the rest of the village for dinner that evening and prepared themselves for heading out the next day.  They had delayed the villagers long enough, but it had been a needed respite.

           The group was ready to turn in early that evening and was grateful that Marcus had given them the use of the large tent.  Before they turned in though, Eleanara offered the use of her light ability to provide watch lights for the four sentry posts who would be switching off during the night.  It was an offer that was gladly accepted as her light was far more effective than their torches and could be covered or used as needed.  The last little use of her power pretty much wiped her out for the night and it was no surprise that she was the first to fall asleep.  Despite having the space to spread out as much as they wanted to, the group found themselves bunching together as they had on the trail down.  They did not need the warmth, but the constant presence of the others helped them to sleep better in knowing that they were not alone.  They didn’t know what the future had in store for them, but they knew they had each other.