The same sounds that had prevented them from falling asleep quickly also woke them earlier than they were used to.  Other customers were up and about well before them and the kitchen staff wasn’t particularly quiet about their breakfast preparations.  In the one room, Leeteuk woke with an arm draped over Eunhyuk’s back as he was sleeping on his stomach, one of his arms in turn was hanging off the bed.  The eldest got up, poking the other occupant in the ribs playfully until he stirred.

           “Teuk…” Eunhyuk murmured, his eyes still closed as he rolled into the now empty space.

           “Come on,” Leeteuk smiled.  “Time to get up.”  As Eunhyuk was reluctantly coming around, he focused on the other two sleepers.  Siwon was spooning Kyuhyun with an arm curled around the younger man protectively.  The eldest couldn’t help but laugh.  “Siwon.  Kyu,” he stated quietly, shaking first one shoulder and then the others.

           Both groaned and shifted.  As Kyuhyun opened his eyes, his gaze traveled down to the arm draped over him and he rolled his eyes.  “Must you always sleep so close…?”  With a long suffering sigh, he picked up Siwon’s arm and moved it off him so he could roll forward and to his feet, slightly awkward first thing in the morning.

           Siwon didn’t bother to answer.  He just rolled over and sat up on the other side of the bed, stretching hugely and half-heartedly covering a yawn with his hand.  “Morning already?” he asked instead, standing up and shuffling around to the rest of the group.

           “I’m afraid so,” Leeteuk nodded, already throwing the covers back into place and getting ready to head out the door.

           “It’s still early…” Eunhyuk sighed, laying back down on the bed and watching Leeteuk with a hopeful look in his eyes.

           “No,” Leeteuk laughed as he returned to the bed to pester the wind elementalist some more.  “We need to get an early start,” he explained.

           Next door, the women were going through an easier wake up process.  Eleanara and Kharin woke around the same time, the smaller one burrowing closer to the hollow of her sleeping partner’s body before she shifted too, removing the arm that had been resting on her shoulder.  The light elementalist sat up and looked around with sleepy eyes, listening briefly before deciding the outside noises had woken them.  “Kharin?” she asked quietly as she wiped sleepies from her eyes.

           “I’m up,” the taller woman murmured, sitting up beside her and yawning.  “Come on,” she urged, pushing the smaller woman over just a bit to get her moving.

           Unprepared for the push, Eleanara squeaked and flailed before she managed to get her feet out from under the covers and over the side of the bed to catch herself.  “No fair,” she cried plaintively, giving Kharin her best sad face.

           Kharin laughed and shook her head.  “You’re fine.  Wake Summer up will you?” she asked, standing up and listening as Eleanara had.

           Deflated, Eleanara sighed and nudged the other sleeper.  “Summer.  Summer,” she tried again, shaking her gently.  Summer giggled as she turned over in her sleep, a silly smile on her face.  “She’s dreaming,” Eleanara laughed.

           Kharin came around the bed and smacked the other woman lightly on the hip.  “Summer!”

           Startled, Summer sat up in bed abruptly and almost bumped heads with Kharin.  “What…?” she groaned, looking at the pair through one open eye.

           “Time to get up,” Eleanara leaned in smiling.  “I’d wager the guys are already up.”  Curiously, they turned their heads in the direction of the other room and listened.  The sound of a door opening next door had them all nodding in agreement before a knock on their door confirmed it.  “Coming,” Eleanara called, bypassing Kharin.

           Leeteuk looked in again when the door was opened and he waved at the newly woken women.  “Good morning.  Just checking on you,” he started agreeably.  Quickly, he stifled a yawn and went on, “We’re heading for breakfast if you would care to join us?”

           Eleanara looked back at Summer who was kicking free of the covers and nodded.  “We’ll be right there.”

           “What’s the rush?” Kharin asked as Leeteuk started to head out.

           “Just trying to get an early start,” he answered simply.

           She groaned in response but waved him away as Eleanara closed the door behind him, still smiling as she did so.  “It’s too early for this,” she groaned, scratching her head with both hands and sending chestnut strands in every direction.

           “Well, at least you’re not one of the cooks,” Eleanara shrugged, cringing to think how long they’d been up for.

           Kharin shrugged before she quickly combed her mussed hair up with her fingers and braided it again with practiced ease.  Summer threw her hair back into a pony-tail and Eleanara pinned hers up with the wooden clip she had removed last night in a half pony-tail.  Appearances straightened out, they were ready to join the others.

           Breakfast was a less hectic affair than dinner had been with the dining area being freer of persons.  Some were still sleeping and others were already gone for the day while only a handful had actually stayed to eat in.  They opted to be in the latter group and found a table for all of them.  Breakfast was simple fare of some sort of boiled oats with meat drippings and as many biscuits as you cared for.  The group did not dally long, staying long enough to eat their fill and taking a couple biscuits for the road before they returned to the rooms and finished getting packed up for the journey out.  Leeteuk dropped their room keys off for them and then headed out into the bright morning light of a perfectly clear day, the others in tow.

           Even as early as it was, the city was busy with pedestrians walking up and down the street and vendors selling their wares already in small hand carts and stationed along the side of the road.  Their eyes widened in surprise as they had missed that aspect of the city coming in later in the day as they had.  They regarded the street vendors warily, distrustful of their loud attempts to grab attention.  Leeteuk moved them forward as best he could, holding to Eleanara’s hand again as he was always nervous she’d somehow get lost in the crowd.  She didn’t seem to mind the contact at any rate.  He kept his eyes peeled for a general store that might have additional travel supplies they were lacking.  On the whole, they knew the weather was going to start getting warmer and they might well have to contend with rain soon as opposed to snow.

           Near the other side of town, heading in the direction they wanted to go, they found a general store by the name of the Travelers Pack.  Well, that sounded about right enough.  He didn’t want everyone heading in with him so Leeteuk took Siwon into the store to see about provisions they might need while the rest waited off to the side, still looking about curiously in the morning light.  On a much larger scale, it actually reminded them of the monastery when they thought about it.  The differences were huge, but there was a certain routine feel to the people who populated the streets just now.  Their group did get just a bit nervous when the recognized what appeared to be a law enforcement official making his rounds first thing in the morning.  To their great relief, he didn’t pay them any mind as he continued walking by their group, his hand resting comfortably on the short sword in his belt.

           Still, they were unaccountably relieved when Leeteuk and Siwon returned with an armful of supplies, most of which the latter was carrying.  “Here,” he offered, dropping off a small wrapped bundle to each person.

           “We’ll probably start seeing sleet and rain soon,” Leeteuk explained as he settled his own waterproof cloak into his pack.  The thought made the rest shiver as it was still plenty cold and they hadn’t yet escaped the snow.  It was definitely not as prominent in Fairwinter, but it was still there.

           “Lovely.  More good weather,” Kyuhyun sighed, rolling his eyes when Summer gave him an aggravated glare.

           “Can’t be helped, I suppose,” Kharin murmured, carefully packing her own cloak.

           “We’ll manage,” Eunhyuk offered, looking around at the others for agreement.

           “Of course we will, Hyuk,” Eleanara agreed emphatically.  “We’ve made it this far.”

           “And we still have a long way to go,” Summer added with a sigh as she looked ahead to the edge of the city and the trail beyond.  It was a big world out there and they had only just started to see it.

           “Which is why we have no time to waste,” Leeteuk followed up smoothly, adjusting his pack so it rested comfortably on his person.  “Are we good?” he asked, looking around to make sure the cloaks had been stored and that they were ready to move forward.  As nods met his query all around, he took a deep breath and peered at the new map he had acquired here, which was more accurate for the purposes of heading for Lornhaldt.  A long path lay ahead of them and along the way it appeared that they would have to skirt around Mount Balaron and cross the Angmer river that flowed from Denmer lake.  On the other side of the Angmer was the Sedgewood Forest and finally Lornhaldt…

           “We’ll get there,” Eleanara said quietly at his elbow as he stared at the distance ahead of them.

           Leeteuk gave her a grateful smile and nodded once, folding up the map and storing it inside his shirt.  Carefully, he felt for the plated staff strapped to his person and took another deep breath.  After the first step, the others fell into place behind him, their path easy for now.

           As they made their way out of Fairwinter and onto the path that would lead them to Lornhaldt, they were struck by the sheer size of everything they had not seen within the walls of the monastery.  It was one thing to learn about them, but another entirely to actually see them and in the light of day, it was breathtaking.  Silence reined over them as they took the sights in and warily passed by travelers on their way to the city.  Once, they were startled by riders coming up fast behind them, riding striking black warhorses and bearing Enrhyll’s symbol.

           The party moved to the side of the path as quickly as possible and watched as the group of twelve riders got closer.  Warily, hands reached for weapons slowly as their hearts raced, beating an erratic tattoo against their chests.  Their relief was palpable as the war party passed them by without a second glance, the thunderous sound of the hooves soon receding, leaving an eerie quiet in their wake.

           “Do you think they found out about the patrols?” Eunhyuk asked into the silence, glancing at everyone when they looked at him immediately.

           “It’s as good a guess as any,” Kharin finally sighed, reaching out to punch him lightly in the shoulder.

           He dodged adeptly and grinned at her.  “Too slow.”

           “Oh quit flirting you two,” Kyuhyun smiled sardonically.

           As the wind and shadow elementalists looked alternately perturbed and flustered, Siwon leaned on Kyuhyun’s shoulder.  “Jealous?” he asked playfully, poking the slightly shorter man in the cheek.

           “No,” Kyuhyun scoffed, stepping out from under his arm so that Siwon stumbled forward.

           The water elementalist carelessly tossed his arms around Summer who was the next closest person and lamented, “I don’t think Kyu likes me anymore.”

           Summer stumbled slightly and then laughed, glancing back at Kyuhyun who seemed a bit annoyed.  “Well you’ve still got us,” she winked, glancing around the party at which they all smiled, glad for the interaction.

           The fire elementalist frowned and stepped over to the pair.  “Tch.  We haven’t got time for this,” he grumbled as he grabbed Summer’s hand and pulled her from Siwon’s embrace.  “Come on,” he muttered, starting to lead the way, towing a confused Summer behind him.

           The other five looked at each other uncertainly with Siwon particularly baffled before they shrugged helplessly and followed.  For a time, the fire elementalist led the way, still holding Summer’s hand, to her pleased surprise.  As the path was straight, there was no need to call him short and he at least set a good pace so they were more inclined to follow.  At last, he seemed to realize what he was doing and he looked down awkwardly at his hand still grasping the neutralizer's.  Uncomfortably, he disentangled himself and looked at her with a noncommittal shrug.  Behind, he could see that the general order had switched up with Kharin and Eunhyuk in the middle and Leeteuk, Eleanara and Siwon bringing up the rear.  As there was no complaint with him in the lead, he stayed there until it was time to call a break as determined by the hour of day.

           Easily, they shared out rations and waterskins and kept to the side of the path, making sure not to get in the way of traffic.  When they resumed their trek, their order returned to normal and nothing seemed amiss any further.

           The party made good time in the next two days, fair weather and no further surprises forthcoming.  On the third day, rain threatened overhead until early afternoon when it fell in earnest, slowing the group down considerably as they accustomed themselves to traveling in mud.  As they traveled, a steady stream of people passed them in both directions.  The road was rarely lonely, even if it was populated by strangers.  Some of the persons appeared to be families with most of the goods in small herd beast drawn carts.  Others were vagrants and those searching an escape from the war that raged in the west.  Fresh faced fighters passed them up often, usually riding poor quality horses and in some cases, donkeys.  More fodder for the war…

           They were nearing the end of the third day and were closing in on the crossroads on their map when the area around them felt different.  It wasn’t anything overt and if they hadn’t been on edge in general, they might well have missed it, but they became aware very quickly they weren’t alone.  A quick glance around showed that they were lacking the usual persons nearby and the very location, a stretch of road overshadowed by an outcrop of rocks from a small hill ahead, did not bode well.

           “Be ready,” Leeteuk murmured, reaching for his plated staff.  Behind him, he heard Siwon whispering something to Eunhyuk and then he didn’t have time to pay attention to that anymore.

           From the structure ahead, like ants from the ground, a stream of haggard and hungry looking men in roughshod, piecemeal armor charged towards them.  Before the rest had much chance to react, Siwon and Eunhyuk pelted to the front and raised their hands before them, completely unarmed.  From Siwon’s fingertips drifted a steady stream of hazy mist that was immediately picked up by Eunhyuk’s wind and carried swiftly to the charging men.  As the bandits charged into the wind driven mist, their knees buckled and weapons dropped from senseless hands as hard eyes rolled into the backs of their heads and they subsequently fell to the ground, deep in slumber.

           As the men beyond saw what was happening, they slowed up confused and afraid.  When they seemed torn between what they should do next, Kharin stepped up and ensconced their heads in a dome of darkness, prompting terrified screams and blind running that did nothing to dislodge the force blocking their vision.  It did not take them long to knock themselves silly against an obstacle or another while the one or two more aware ones sat down abruptly with their head in their hands, crying and rocking softly.

           Their hearts still hammering in their chests, the elementalists regarded each other evenly, wide-eyed from the attack.  They shared an unspoken understanding that they were all unwilling to kill again if they could avoid it.  “Nicely done,” Eleanara finally smiled admiringly at the three who had orchestrated their retaliation, inordinately grateful that her skill had not been needed.

           Leeteuk regarded the sleeping ones thoughtfully, his expression guarded.  “Let someone else deal with them,” he stated mildly, manipulating the earth to bind the men in place with a wrist or ankle cuff.  “I’d rather they not wake and follow us on some off chance,” he murmured when he glanced back at the others and their curious faces.

           Kyuhyun threw up a flare, the small flame exploding when he deemed it high enough.  “And we shouldn’t let them be alone for too long,” he smiled, the sight slightly malicious.

           None of them could say anything to him otherwise though.  He just stated more openly what they felt…  To be preyed on by the betrayers, the dislocated, or those who simply refused to choose a side was terrible.  They wanted no part of them.

           “Come on,” Leeteuk called firmly, reattaching his plated staff and moving forward.  “We need to find a ‘safe’ place to set up camp.”  Still somewhat shaken by the attack, the group fell into line, crowding just a bit closer than normal.  Wary eyes continued to regard the others, quietly acknowledging that while they had not been practicing their powers, it was clear that some had been thinking about them quite a bit.