(a/n:  I apologize in advance for the length of this chapter.  I didn't want to break it up given the circumstances.)

           Awareness came slowly to Eunhyuk as a general sense of discomfort and pain stole over him, bringing him to consciousness unwillingly.  Quietly, he groaned as he opened soft brown eyes, frustrated when his slightly too long hair was in his face.  His automatic attempt to brush the strands away stopped as soon as he tried to move his right arm, wincing as new pain flared to life.  It was mostly dark, though he couldn’t tell if it was because the sun was setting or because it was rising as he had no indication of how much time had gone by since they had been swept down the river.  He remembered it had been light still when he’d managed to crawl on land, but his memory stopped there.

           Cautiously, he tested his other arm and found that while it was sore, it did not hurt when he moved it.  Taking his time, he evaluated the rest of his body before he tried to move extensively.  Several deep breaths later, he was reasonably sure that nothing was broken, though his right hand and wrist were almost certainly sprained, if not worse, and the arm itself was probably strained.  Eunhyuk winced as he forced his aching body up so that he could have a better look around, noticing he’d lost a boot at some point and had numerous scrapes and bruises on the lower part of his legs.  “Great,” he sighed, resignedly brushing the irritating strands of hair from his face with his ‘good’ hand.  “Kharin?” he called out first, recalling he had been near her when they’d fought the construct.

           Agitatedly, he rubbed his face as he remembered the next few moments after that.  “Summer?”  A quiet response near-by drew his attention to the young woman lying slightly upstream from him, not more than fifteen feet away.  Walking proved that he might have strained a muscle or two in his legs as well…

           “Eunhyuk?” she murmured sleepily, shifting slowly on the bank of the river.  Her feet were still in the water, but she was otherwise on dry land.  “What happened?” she asked in mild confusion as she turned to the sound his feet made when he walked, loose ground crunching softly.

           “Ah…we fell in the river,” he told her simply as he looked over her in the dim light.  The sun was setting he finally decided, watching the last vestiges of sunlight flicker over the horizon.  From what he could see, she was a bit battered and bruised but as nothing was sticking out at an odd angle, he could only presume nothing was broken outright.  At least his efforts had been useful for something.  He had tried to shield her from the worst of the rocks and it appeared he had succeeded.

           “That’s right,” she sighed, carefully pushing herself up, testing range of motion slowly.  She winced when her left shoulder argued vehemently and nodded to herself.  Standing found her generally sore but her shoulder appeared to be among the worst of her injuries, with some additional superficial cuts on the same arm.  “How did you make out?” she asked quietly, having a hard time seeing him fully.

           He laughed uncertainly, “My right arm’s pretty much useless and I won’t be running anytime soon.”  His attempt at levity was a stretch but at least he tried.

           “The others?” she asked hopefully, her voice small and lost.

           Eunhyuk shook his head slowly and answered after a pause, all humor gone.  “I don’t know.”  The simple statement conveyed everything he felt, nor did he try to hide the unshed tears in his voice.  Abruptly, he yelled out, “Kharin!  Leeteuk!  Anybody!” the last hurt as his abdomen compressed painfully with the effort.  They both listened intently for some sort of response.  The sound of the river flowing beside them was their only answer.

           “Right,” she said as if to herself.  She had been afraid he was going to say that.  “Okay,” she spoke with a shaky voice as she forced herself to take a deep breath.  “So…what do we have?”  Quietly, she looked around and laughed brokenly.  “Nothing…okay…”

           Eunhyuk limped over to her and pulled her awkwardly to him, sensing the worry and fear in her.  He felt it too, but it wasn’t going to do them any good right now.  “We’re alive and I have to believe the others are too,” he told her firmly, unable to stop his tears as he felt her shaking quietly against him.

           Summer clung to him, holding him firmly but not too tightly.  Her arm complained about the movement and if he felt anything like she did, he was probably bruised too.  After a moment when she had to collect herself, she nodded nervously.  “You’re right.  Okay.”  Slowly, she pushed herself back and forced herself to look around, making note of where they were.  They still hadn’t reached the edge of the forest, a darker blur off to the left of them, which meant they hadn’t been carried very far.  They were still near the main road but they had no idea of knowing where the others were.  In her mind, she looked over the map Leeteuk had shown them.  The river extended all the way to the sea and she didn’t remember there being any other villages until the port city.  “Oh boy…” she sighed, chewing her lip nervously.

           “What’s wrong?” Eunhyuk asked, still maintaining tenuous contact with her.  Right now, she was all he had.

           “Everything,” she laughed bitterly, feeling the beginnings of hysteria teasing her.  Fiercely she shoved them away and swallowed hard as she felt Eunhyuk’s hand tighten against her right arm.  “We have no supplies and we don’t know how far the river carried them.”

           Eunhyuk closed his eyes as he took that in.  Subconsciously, he acknowledged the situation, but he rebelled against the thought immediately.  “But what if they’re hurt worse than us?” he asked instead, looking downriver as if in doing so he could catch a glimpse of them.

           “I know,” Summer muttered dejectedly.  She hated to say it, but she forced the words out anyway.  “Unless we find Eleanara too, there’s nothing else we can do for any of them.”

           The truth of that matter hurt and Eunhyuk covered his mouth in helpless frustration.  He was worried about all of them after all but gods he just wanted to know if she was okay…  Desperately, he latched onto any hope he could as he turned to face her.  “You said we were near your home right?”

           Summer nodded.  “Yes.  It’s not that far from the bridge actually.”

           “We can go there and get help then, can’t we?” he asked eagerly, urgently.

           She reached out and gripped his good hand with hers.  “Yes.  We can.  If I remember…there should be a back path to the house off the main road before the split too.”

           “Good,” he murmured determinedly.  “Come on.  Let’s get going then,” he urged, focused.

           “Now?” Summer asked automatically, looking around in the dark.  At least the moon allowed them to see something at any rate.  It was almost as bright as it had been the previous night which meant they weren’t traveling completely blind.

           “I’m not staying still any longer than I have to,” Eunhyuk stated bluntly.  “We can follow the river and when it gets light, we can cut across, as you said, but I’m not waiting here.”

           Hearing the ferocity in his tone, Summer didn’t even try to argue, actually glad that he was as determined as he was.  “Okay.  Let’s go then,” she agreed, moving close and carefully pulling his good arm over her shoulder to help support him.

           “Thank you, Summer,” he stated gratefully.

           “Of course,” she laughed weakly as they took their first tentative steps, just as eager as he was to find help.  Fervently, she prayed that the others were alright.  As Eunhyuk had said, they had to be okay.  He had to be okay.  She looped her good arm around behind him and felt her hand brush against his second sai sheathed on his other side.  Belatedly she realized she still had one too.  On the bright side, that was something at least.

~~~~~~

Leeteuk had managed to drag himself partially from the water shortly after it had gotten dark, but he had fallen unconscious due to the combination of exhaustion and pain.  When he woke again, it was fully dark and he was completely disoriented with a heavy weight on his back and a hard surface pressing coldly against his right side.  The earth elementalist groaned when he realized the waterlogged pack was still attached to him and he had fallen unconscious against the very rocks he had raised.

Very carefully, he tried to slide himself forward and found that the pack and his current state made motion incredibly difficult.  “Great…” he groaned, looking around for something to assist him with.  Taking any measure of a deep breath hurt just then and he was fully aware he still had nothing with which to cut himself loose.  Both of his arms were sore, but functional; a small blessing that as his left leg and ankle in particular ached fiercely.  That did not make him feel assured at all.

                When nothing useful came to hand, he improvised and formed a very basic knife shard from the stone that he was resting against.  Awkwardly, he sawed at the soggy straps, eventually managing to cut through the tough fabric.  The waist strap was harder to reach and by the time he’d freed that one, his hand ached considerably, a pressure mark evident in his palm.  Leeteuk grimaced, but prepared himself for his next move.

                To his dismay, his efforts to push the pack off were for naught.  At this time, he simply didn’t have the strength to do so.  Finally, he opted to use his ability again and created a pole that slowly extended from the same rock he was leaning against which promptly rolled the heavy item off him neatly.  “Oh thank goodness,” he breathed, the first easy breath he’d had since falling in the river.  He took a moment to simply breathe and relish the feel of not being squished before he focused on getting out of the water.

                Moving was a slow process as he was battered from the array of rocks he had used to slow him down.  His left leg hurt even when crawling and he hated to think what it would be like when he tried to walk.  His right arm had been scraped raw from brushing against boulders and he knew his chest and ribs were bruised.  From his slumped over position, he looked around carefully and listened through the ground.  At first, he didn’t hear anything at all, but then an off-beat walking pattern drew his attention.  “Hello?” he called out firmly, cringing when his voice cracked.

                “Hello?” a feminine voice responded out of the gloom.  “Teuk?” she asked a second later.

                Leeteuk grinned as he recognized the timber now.  “Kharin!”  Slowly, he watched her form materialize from the darkness and he was glad to see she was at least able to walk without too much trouble.  She was favoring her left side and arm but beyond that, it was harder to tell in the dim lighting.  The moon only showed so much.

                She smiled warmly, though it was a bit reserved.  “Am I glad I found someone,” she sighed, moving over to kneel beside him, her face wincing with the motion.

                “How long have you been awake?” he asked, looking behind her briefly, as if to see if someone else might appear when she wasn’t looking.

                “Not long,” she shook her head.  “I found I could walk and picked a direction.  Those lights seemed the best bet,” she sighed finally, a mixture of annoyance and frustration in her tone.  She wanted to find the others but as much as she wished she could do something for them, her left side argued enough that she wouldn’t be much help and she knew it.

                Leeteuk peered around behind him and made note of the lights in the distance.  “The port city,” he murmured, thoughtful.  “I hadn’t realized we had drifted so far,” he added finally, vague horror in his eyes.  “The others…”  It wasn’t even a question so much as a sad statement.

                The pair looked at each other and both acknowledged there was a lot of space between the bridge and the port city.  It all depended on how successful they had been in getting out of the water…  Quietly, they both looked upstream, hoping that maybe they’d catch a glimpse of something.  Eleanara’s light ability or Kyuhyun’s flare… Something…

                They both felt the beginnings of panic as they recognized they no longer had any sort of control over this situation.  “Can you walk?” Kharin asked abruptly, trying to find something positive.

                Leeteuk grimaced.  “I’m not sure.  I think my ankle is broken,” he muttered dejectedly as a hesitant attempt to rotate it caused a spike of sharp pain.  He heard Kharin sigh but was grateful she didn’t comment.  Carefully, he raised a seat up under himself to put him in a better position to attempt standing.

                Kharin moved close in preparation and watched him as he stood up.  When he put weight on the injured limb, she lurched to catch him as the knee buckled almost immediately.  His body jarred her left side and she clenched her teeth against the pain that flared to life, muttering under her breath as she sat him back down.  “Aish,” she hissed, bending over to try and alleviate the pain.

                “You okay?” he asked breathlessly, a pinched expression on his face.

                “I will be,” she murmured after a pause.  Kharin took another deep breath and nodded to herself.  Nothing was broken but it sure hurt like hell…  Unfortunately, neither of them would be able to tell the extent of their injuries without better light.  In the meantime, they had to make do with what they had.  “The better question is will you be?”

                Leeteuk shook his head and laughed once, a harsh sound.  “I’ll have to be.  Somehow…”  A thought occurred to him and he raised a very slender pole of stone from the ground.  He curved the top into a very shallow ‘u’ and then used it to stand up.  When he got to his feet, he detached it from the ground and tried the improvised crutch, pleasantly surprised that it worked but bothered by the weight.

                “Well that’s a neat trick,” Kharin laughed, genuinely amused.

                “It’s a start,” he murmured, his face slightly more pale than usual.

                Kharin shrugged and headed past him to the pack she spied at the water’s edge.  Forcefully, she dragged it back and began pawing through it to see what she could salvage.  The waterskin was gone and the rations were entirely soggy, but the meat may be salvageable…

                With a slight frown on his face, Leeteuk watched her, annoyed she hadn’t even bothered to ask, but given the circumstances...  He took a deep breath instead and limped closer to see what she found useful.  Immediately, she pulled out the clothes and set those aside.  “We might be able to wrap your ankle in the morning,” she mused out loud.

                Preemptively, he winced at the thought.  If nothing else, it would probably need to be aligned and he absolutely dreaded that moment…  Especially since he very much doubted Eleanara would be nearby to fix it as she always was.  Thinking about her hurt…  He couldn’t help but worry that the river hadn’t just taken her away.  Of all of them, she was the least able to swim or anything physical really.  Her strength had always been much more subtle and that was useless in water.

Kharin decided what was useful and what wasn’t quickly enough.  In one of the shirts, she threw the rather unappetizing leftovers of the rations and then slung the rest of the wet garments over her shoulder.  “I know you can’t carry the pack and I’m not much better off,” she muttered, aggrieved to be leaving yet more stuff behind.  It wasn’t as if they could carry it though, either…

                Slowly, Leeteuk limped forward as best as possible with Kharin right next to him in case he tripped.  Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to do much more until the sun rose.  The one nice thing so far was that at least it wasn’t cold.

~~~~~~

           Discomfited rest was pierced by a persistent call that rang painfully in her ears.  In annoyance, Eleanara opened her eyes to see who was making so much noise and cringed as she heard it again through the insistent ringing in her ear.  Her head ached horribly and so did the rest of her for that matter.  “Hey!” she heard, cringing when the word came out sharp and slightly panicked.  “Stop messing around you guys!”  She knew that voice…

           Quickly, she took stock of herself and almost immediately stopped trying to analyze her injuries.  They didn’t matter.  With the ease of practice, she mended her body, stifling a cry when her ankle aligned properly.  Relief flowed through her in the next moment but she still cringed when the voice called again, “Anybody?!”

           With the headache and the ringing in her ears finally gone, she looked up carefully and called out, “Over here!”

           “What?  Who?” came the immediate response, followed by a stumbling sound and then a pained groan.

           Alarmed, Eleanara stood up, feeling a deep soreness throughout her body.  A pity healing didn’t take care of that entirely too.  It was full dark but she could see a figure moving around slightly downstream from her.  She summoned a light when the sounds of dry heaving reached her.  “Kyu?” she called softly as she approached the figure on the ground.

           He was on his hands and knees on the ground, but his right arm hung uselessly apparently dislocated.  His head hung low as his body heaved again but after a pause, he looked up and she could see blood smeared all along the right side of his face and in his hair.  “Hold still,” he told her as his body swayed to the left and he rolled over onto his back with another groan.

           “Kyu!” she cried, very worried now.  He had some sort of head wound that she had to take care of immediately.

           “Huh?” he asked looking at her upside down, his eyes crossing briefly and then focusing on her and the light again.  “Who are you again?” he asked, confused.

           “It’s okay, Kyu.  It’s just me.  Eleanara,” she told him softly as she came to rest next to him.

           His eyes followed her jerkily and he laughed.  “You’re too tall to be her.”

           “Shhh,” she urged softly as she placed her hands on his chest.  Easily, he was as bruised as she was, but the right arm was dislocated, he had a bad head injury and how he’d been limping around on a sprained ankle she wasn’t sure.

           “That feels nice,” he sighed as the warmth spread through him.  When it reached his right arm though, “Ow…OW!” he cried as the joint was forced back into place painfully.  His body jerked in reaction as he tried to push her away with his other arm.

           “It’s okay, Kyu.  I know it hurts,” she explained in a tear filled voice as she grabbed the hand firmly with hers and held it to her , leaving her other one on his chest.  “Shhh.  It’s okay,” she soothed again as the arm settled in place and he relaxed almost immediately.  As his breathing returned to normal and she felt the last of his wounds heal, she smiled, “Kyu?”

           Kyuhyun groaned once more and finally focused on the woman next to him.  “I’m okay,” he told her as he reached up to rub his face with his repaired arm.  That had been a very disconcerting feeling where very little had made sense until she found him…  “I’m good,” he stated again as he slowly sat up and retrieved his hand from her, looking around to try and put the pieces together.

           Eleanara raised the light higher, illuminating a greater area.  Next to them, the river flowed by quickly, the burbling, rushing sound almost playful.  It was late, definitely past midnight, and the moon helped to cover the ground with its pale luminescence but even then, they couldn’t see anybody nearby.  Downstream, her light picked up on something that looked a little bit off from the bank of the river.  “What’s that?” she asked quietly as she got to her feet and trotted over to it, hearing Kyuhyun stand slowly behind her.  When she got to the item, she saw that it was one of their waterskins, torn from someone’s pack and washed onto the bank of the river.  There was nothing to tell her whose it was, but she picked it up and held the container to her tightly.  “Leeteuk!  Siwon!  Kha-”  She might well have called out for all of them if Kyuhyun hadn’t stopped her.

           “They’re not here!” Kyuhyun told her, cutting her off mid-name as he pulled her around to look at him.  “If they were, they would have heard me earlier…” he muttered, an angry frown on his face.  He had certainly been stumbling around and calling out long enough before she had finally responded.

           “Then we have to find them,” she responded immediately as she bit her lip nervously.

           Kyuhyun laughed at her and then looked around pointedly.  “And how are we going to do that, Nara?” he asked.

           “But what if they’re hurt?” she resisted as she stepped around the question, staring at the blood still caked on his face and in his hair.

           “Don’t you think I know that’s a possibility?” he asked her, annoyed.  She flinched at the tone of his voice and he grabbed her arms firmly.  “It’s a big river,” he stated bluntly, his expression conflicted.

           Eleanara looked around him upstream and then behind herself.  Whatever direction they picked, it was possible she would miss someone…maybe someone who needed help as bad as Kyu had.  On their other side, the forest loomed, dark and foreboding in the night.  She shivered to herself and hugged the waterskin tighter.  “Chances are good they’re further down.”  She took another deep breath.  “If so, they also have a greater chance of being injured.”  At the thought, her face fell and she had to fight hard to keep the tears back.

           Finally, he let her go and then looked in both directions too.  “Right.  That at least makes sense,” he nodded to himself.  “Let’s go then,” he stated, stepping around her and following the river.

           Still clutching the waterskin to her, she hurried to follow in his wake, struggling to keep up with the pace that he set.  She kept falling behind though, as she continued to search the bank for further items and, more importantly, any sign of the others.

~~~~~~

           A soft, slightly off-key humming sound was the first thing Siwon became aware of before he had even opened his eyes.  That was odd enough but compounded with the myriad of strange, and not unpleasant scents that surrounded him, it was absolutely baffling, considering that he should be dead…  He doubted very much the afterlife would have any of those elements, much less that he would ache as badly as he did.  Cautiously, he peeked through one of his eyes and focused on a simple wooden ceiling above him.  Hanging from the beams were all manner of dried plants of various types and in his peripheral vision were several tables, all completely covered.

           At one such table was a woman from whom the humming sound was coming.  She had her back to him and it looked as if she was working on something.  Her straight black hair was pulled up into a practical horsetail and she had a simple brown kerchief wrapped across the top of her head and under her bound hair.  Painfully, Siwon shifted to get up and the cot he was resting in, slightly too short he noticed, creaked under his weight.

           The woman stopped humming and shifted around.  “You’re awake,” she smiled warmly, a soft expression on a face that was both young and knowledgeable.  Gentle light filled the small house and showed that she had pale brown eyes in an open face, with delicate features and soft lips.  “Good,” she stated as she stood up easily and moved near the bed.  Respectfully, she retrieved a stool and sat next to him, eyeing him carefully.

           “Where am I?” he asked curiously as his eyes continued to scan the area.  His gaze fell on his pack in the corner, looking battered and torn.  The maul was still attached to it, surprisingly enough.

           “Safe,” she assured him as she reached a slender, green and brown stained hand towards his head.

           He immediately flinched away and reached to stop her, capturing her wrist lightly in his grasp, though the effort made him wince.  “Where am I?” he asked again, meeting her eyes evenly.

           She sighed and quirked into an amused grin.  “If you must know, you’re in my cabin on the edge of the Sedgewood Forest.”  Calmly, she retracted her hand, glad that he didn’t insist on holding it any longer.  Granted, in his condition, she might well be a match for him just now.

           A pained expression flickered across his face as he tried to recall what had happened.  The river he remembered and the feeling of drowning…being unable to breath…but before that?  “Was…was I the only one you found?” he asked, fear returning as he recalled his inability to get them out.

           “Yes,” she answered softly, not looking away.  Obviously, there was significance to the question and it was not lost on her.  Slowly, so as not to startle him, she reached to the side table at the head of her bed and retrieved an amulet.  “The other elementalists?” she asked quietly, extending the symbol to him.

           Siwon felt his throat tighten and he reached to retrieve the amulet, belatedly glancing down to where it normally rested.  He blinked in surprise and then flushed as he realized he was shirtless and wrapped in soft gauze from which a medicinal smell rose.  Awkwardly, he reached for the sheet at the foot of the bed and brought it up to cover the wrappings and the colorful bruises that blossomed across the top of his chest and into his shoulders.  He swallowed hard a couple times and then cleared his throat, "Yes.”  To his consternation, she seemed completely at ease with his present state and the news.

           She pursed her lips at the answer but then nodded to herself.  “You’re not the first man I’ve treated wounds for,” she told him in answer to his silent query, not focusing on his lost friends.  When his blush deepened, she couldn’t help but smile.  “I’m Eun Mi,” she offered instead, reaching out as if to shake his hand.

           Still off kilter, he reached out to accept the offering.  “Siwon.”

           “Well, Siwon.  It’s a pleasure,” she smiled, the genuine warmth enough to coax one in return.  “Are you hungry?  Thirsty maybe?” she asked, glancing back at the table where she had an array of herbs scattered everywhere.  He murmured an affirmative and she stood up easily, releasing his hand and making herself busy at the table.  “I was trying to finish before you woke up, but this is fine.”  He watched her walk over to the small fireplace where a kettle was gently swinging.  “It’s an herbal tea,” she explained as she returned to fill the mug on the table and then set the kettle aside.  “It should help you heal faster,” she added.  “And make the pain more manageable.”

           “I can’t stay long, Eun Mi,” he told her simply as he looked around for his shirt.

           She turned and raised an amused brow at him.  “You are welcome to try,” she offered, stepping to the foot of the bed where his spare shirt was resting.  “Go ahead,” she gestured, waiting for him to put the shirt on.

           Uncertainly, he looked at her and tentatively tried to swing his legs over the side of the bed.  He hadn’t done more than pick his knees up before he froze, a pained grimace on his face.  “Ugh…”

           “Most eloquent,” Eun Mi sighed as she shook her head.  “Why do men always think they can just get up like nothing happened?” she asked as if to herself, to Siwon’s acute embarrassment.

           Carefully, he straightened his ridiculously sore legs back out and managed a rather uncertain pout.  “How long?” he muttered, clearly not in favor of his current condition.

           “I would say at least two days.”  She paused at his incredulous expression and then rolled her eyes, “Maybe sooner, to get you up and walking.”

           “I don’t have that kind of time,” he explained quickly, a vaguely panicked expression taking over his face.

           Eun Mi didn’t even justify that with a response.  She took another deep breath and turned back to the tea.  “Here,” she said as she sat down on the stool again.  “Drink,” she urged, proffering the cup to him carefully.

           He glared at it balefully and then the expression was gone as he reluctantly accepted it.  “Fine.”  It wasn’t what he wanted but he was alive and until he was well enough to travel, he would have to deal with his situation.

(a/n:  So?  Too long?  Just right?  I love the fact that you're still with me at this point, but I would like to hear your feedback if you are so inclined.  As always, thank you dearly for your time and attention and I hope you (my readers/subscribers/commenters) have an absolutely awesome day!  <3 )