(a/n: Sorry for the delay!  I had a hard time writing the first part of this chapter and I continue to maintain there is simply not enough time in a day.  >.>  At any rate, I hope you enjoy it and I would love to know what you think.  Thank you to my readers, both silent and otherwise and I hope you have a great day!)

                When Eunhyuk woke the following morning, he was groggy, sore and absolutely ravenous, all of which were pushed aside as realization of where he was settled in.  The plush bed he was resting in was impossible to miss, as were the new clothes he wore, mostly hidden under the covers…clothes he did not remember putting on.  He flushed bright red as he realized what likely had happened and then frowned as he slowly eased himself up to look around, muscles complaining bitterly.  He had absolutely no idea of where he was.

                Further inspection showed that his bad arm had been looked at and was currently wrapped firmly in clean gauze so that he couldn’t actually see the still tender flesh beneath.  His other wounds had been attended and he smelled fairly antiseptic, but clean as a tentative sniff of his person showed.  The curiosity wore off quick enough though, replaced by other more immediate needs.  A rumble from his stomach prompted him to frown and he gingerly moved to slide himself off the bed, noting for the first time it looked as if he had not slept alone.

                Blankly, he stared at the other side of the bed and then finally shook himself free, not really wanting to puzzle it out.  “Summer?” he called in a muted tone as his feet touched the unexpectedly carpeted floor.  Even the inns they had stayed at didn’t have covered floors…  He was instantly alert, body tensed to react, when the door to his room cracked open slowly and a young woman, maybe a few years younger than him, slipped inside with a covered tray.

                “Oh good.  You’re awake,” she smiled as she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed.  She looked a lot like a younger, more pampered version of Summer with the same eye color and familiar features but her hair was more of a reddish brown and her voice was a higher pitch too.  He found it slightly grating actually.

                Eunhyuk nodded warily and then eyed the tray with no small amount of longing.  The most delicious scent had reached him and his stomach growled like a living thing.  He glanced down, embarrassed and the new girl giggled, a more pleasant sound than her normal tone.  “Where am I?” he managed to ask, despite being distracted and uncomfortable at being alone in a strange room with an unknown young woman nearby.

                “You are in Silverberg Manor,” she explained sweetly, a slightly haughty air about her as if he should know that fact already.  “This is one of our guest rooms.  The Wind Room as it were,” she added, drifting over to the dining table near the middle of the room to set the tray down elegantly.  At her explanation, the muted greens and the layout of the chamber made sense as the décor leaned towards wispy and light with flowing drapes and lots of swirls.  He supposed they were supposed to indicate the flowing wind…

                She had just stepped away from the table and had moved to assist a nervous Eunhyuk before she jumped when she heard her name called outside the door.  “Amber!”

                The newest girl pouted visibly as her sister stepped in, thoroughly annoyed.  Her pout vanished in an instant as she her considerable charm and smiled sweetly, “Looks like you found me, Summer.  I was just taking care of your guest,” she assured her innocently, though the inflection was such that it sounded as if the eldest should have been doing this already.

                Visibly, Summer seethed and she bristled, “Well then why don’t you go entertain mother and father.”  Pointedly, she moved over to Amber, placing gentle but firm hands on her upper arms, and assisted her in heading towards the door.

                “Oh, but I always do that,” she whined unpleasantly, dragging her feet slightly, almost getting tripped up in the floor length hem of the pale purple gown.

                “Out,” Summer stated firmly as she pushed her younger sister out the door and closed it with a deep sigh behind her, a very confused expression on her face.  “Sorry,” she murmured in Eunhyuk’s direction as the bewildered look lingered.  “Please.  Help yourself,” she gestured as she saw his gaze switching between her and the tray on the table.

                Carefully and with his focus still on the table, he got up and took slow, measured steps, feeling the way his body moved.  “That was…odd,” he finally stated as she came up next to him to offer support when it showed he was still feeling the effects of their ill fortune.

                “You’re telling me,” she muttered.  “Three.  I have three siblings!” she grumbled, already exasperated by them and she had only been introduced to them this morning.  Amber was the most insufferable of the bunch too…  She had sort of figured having siblings would be like their group was at the monastery but if this was it, she was sorely mistaken.

                “That’s nice, I guess,” Eunhyuk shrugged as he took a seat slowly with Summer helping to pull the chair out and uncover the tray.  His eyes partially glazed over as he saw the spread of food before him.  Far beyond the best that even the monastery had ever prepared, this looked almost too pretty to eat.  Slivers of shaved meat were piled atop thick slices of fresh bread with a spread of various white and yellow cheeses; a sumptuous cream based soup steamed next to the plate and a smaller plate of some sort of finely sliced and colorful vegetables, sautéed and drizzled with butter completed the feast.  Hastily, he shut his mouth as he felt himself salivating and grinned giddily, reminiscent of a little boy.

                Summer laughed and took a seat next to him, thoroughly amused.  When she had woken earlier this morning, he had been so peaceful sleeping she didn’t want to disturb him so she had left quietly.  Immediately, she had been introduced to her family and fed to a very similar meal of a more delicate nature with smaller tidbits of meat and cheeses.

Patiently, she waited for him to get a few bites down before she tried to say anything, watching the bliss cross his face at each new bite.  He wasn’t as good at eating with his left hand, but he certainly made do under the circumstances.  Uncertainly, she glanced at the door and then picked up where she had left off.  “I thought siblings would have been nice, but that one is nosy like you would not believe and the youngest is my brother and he pretty much ignores me,” she added in annoyance, crossing her arms in front of her chest, clearly miffed by the fact.

                Around a bite of food, he shrugged, “She seemed nice enough to me.”  A bit overwhelming really, but pleasant overall, though she did seem to have that switch she could flip with her facial expressions.

                “Hah!” she laughed in dry amusement as she pointed a finger at him.  “And that’s exactly what they want you to think!”  A sigh escaped her as she made herself relax and then placed her head and arms on the table.  “I don’t know what I was expecting…but I’m pretty sure this wasn’t it.”

                Awkwardly, he put the spoon back down in the soup and raised a confused brow at Summer.  “It can’t be that bad,” he stated simply.  “At least you have a family that you know of.”  He had figured it would be a good thing for her to see them again, but given her reaction now, he wasn’t so sure anymore.  Invariably, his thoughts went to what meeting his own family would be like and he couldn’t picture it.

                Ignorant of his thoughts, Summer grumbled something under her breath and then raised her head to look at Eunhyuk.  “I know…  But it’s weird,” she went on.  “I feel so awkward around them.  And they put me in a dress!” she groaned, peering down at the nearly floor length light blue empire waist dress with silver filigree stitched into the hems.  Her sister had been wearing a similar style with slightly more elaborate stitching.

                Surprised, Eunhyuk took a long look up and down, unsure how he should feel or react.  Summer was sitting so it wasn’t perhaps the best view for it, but he had never seen one of the girls in a dress.  The robes they’d worn in the monastery were so neutral it didn’t matter, but this was very pretty, even if she didn’t like it.  He was just moderately embarrassed he had missed it initially when she had stepped in.  “It looks nice though?” he complimented uncertainly before he focused on the food again.

                His response made her pause for thought as she regarded the wind elementalist and then looked back down at the dress, feeling a little bit flush.  She wondered what Kyuhyun would have said…  As soon as she thought of him her heart fell and she wondered how soon help might be able to get to them.  In the mad introductions and the busy hectic morning, she hadn’t had time or energy to worry, but now, the thought did nothing to help her feel better about their situation.  “Father sent a couple men out on horses this morning,” she told him finally as she nibbled on her thumbnail distractedly.

                Eunhyuk paused again and regarded her with intense eyes.  “Do you think they’ll be okay?” he asked quietly, the food seemingly forgotten, though mostly finished.

                “I hope so,” she murmured.  “I mean, that farmer got us here in good time…we just slept for a while.”  When they had gotten the ride, she had hoped to be awake when they arrived but that had fallen through completely.  It wasn’t as if she had expected anything less, but she had hoped, despite being exhausted as they were, she could make it.

                Satisfied for now, Eunhyuk nodded and pushed himself away from the table with his good hand, taking care to keep the other arm close to his person.  “Well, let’s go see what we can find out then.”  With no other distractions, he finally had a chance to appraise himself in turn and noticed that his clothes resembled that of a masculine dress…

                Catching his expression, Summer couldn’t help but giggle.  “Yes, it does resemble a dress.”

                Eunhyuk looked at her in uncertainty.  At least he did have a pair of very comfortable pants on underneath but the top piece resembled a robe or a dress with slits on either side that came up to the waist.  “Odd…” he frowned, pulling at the loose fabric distractedly, not sure if he liked it or not.  Right now, he would have preferred his regular pants and shirt…

                “Father’s wearing something like it too,” Summer added with a confused twist to , not sure when that style had come in.  From what she’d seen so far, her family was very big on appearances.  “At least Sage gets to wear a shirt and pants still.”  At Eunhyuk’s baffled expression, she rolled her eyes and nodded, “My brother.  Mother came up with some weird names,” she explained with an uncertain shake of her head.

                “Oh…” was the best response Eunhyuk could come up with as he tried to understand.

                “Come on then,” she waved, grabbing his good arm lightly and pulling him up and after her.  “Time to meet the family…”

                Summer and Eunhyuk left the room together with the latter sticking close to the former.  The manor was huge, if the guest rooms were anything to go by, and even though she had been through it already, it was still overwhelming.  The hallway they walked into had five other doors in all, one with the symbol of water on it directly across from them.  To their right was a smaller area leading to another door and what appeared to be two different bathing areas in the recessed sections of the antechamber.  To their left were four additional doors, each bearing a different elemental symbol on the entrance.  “Why do they have so many extra rooms?” Eunhyuk asked in awe, his eyes wide in his face.

                “For show…I think,” Summer answered, not entirely sure herself.

                Moving at Eunhyuk’s still somewhat stilted pace, they moved past the additional doors and rounded the corner into another shorter one that ended in a dead end to their left, but opened into a much larger area directly to their right.  The room they stepped into was huge with several pieces of furniture and tables throughout.  The rest of Summer’s family was currently occupying several pieces and all looked at the pair expectantly when they came into sight.  If they didn’t know better, it would appear they were waiting for them…

                Amber, two additional younger persons and two middle aged individuals were lounging carefully on couches and chairs throughout.  Two extra women stood on either side of the room, unobtrusive and plainly dressed.  As the pair approached, the middle aged woman stood up gracefully.  She wore a more elaborate gown of a similar style as Summer’s but hers was more extravagant, being of a dark blue coloration with more silver trim and delicate layers down the body of the gown.  Her graying reddish hair was expertly pinned up and she wore silver ear bobbles, accented by a simple silver chain around her neck.  “Summer dear,” she started in a voice that seemed strangely moderated.  “It’s not polite to run off like that,” she chided gently, a look of mild reproach on her face at the breach in etiquette.

                Summer struggled to come up with a more polite response than she would have normally given.  “Well, it was rude for Amber to intrude on Eunhyuk,” she stated instead, glancing at her younger sister.  Maybe it wasn’t rude for them, but it certainly was in the monastery and in every inn they had stayed in on the way here.

                “I was just trying to be polite,” Amber defended herself with a practiced pout, her arms crossed delicately in front of her.

                “Nosy is more like it,” Autumn, the youngest daughter, murmured under her breath with a sidelong glance at her older sister.  She favored their father with dark, straight hair, piercing brown eyes and features that were just a trifle too sharp to be delicate.  Autumn would be best described as striking, whereas Amber was pretty and they both knew the difference.

                The younger brother snorted where he was sitting in a plush armchair, clothed in an off white shirt, brown pants and lacking shoes entirely.  He had mischievous blue eyes and his father’s dark hair which was currently cut short at only about a finger length adorning his head.  “She just thinks he’s cute,” he laughed, looking from Eunhyuk, who had flushed a rather bright red, to Amber who turned a rather frosty glare at him, which he ignored with practiced ease.

                “Sage!” his mother exclaimed, at which he winced but did not retract his statement.  She tsked in disapproval and then shook her head at her daughter.  “Stop frowning, Amber.  You’ll get wrinkles.”  The comment surprised Summer whose open amazement was utterly lost on her family.

                “Myung Hee…children,” her father finally cut in as he stood to move beside his wife, the cream colored outfit in the same cut as Eunhyuk’s complimenting hers.  “That is no way to treat Summer and her guest,” he chided them all with a shake of his head, sending the long, black queue swaying across his back.  He stepped up in front of the pair and glanced at his daughter before prompting, “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Summer?”

                Partially baffled by the question, she frowned and looked at Eunhyuk.  With a shrug as her mother gave her a disapproving look from her reaction, she went on, “Father, this is my friend Eunhyuk.  Eunhyuk, this is my father, Sang Kyu,” she gestured politely, eternally grateful she had remembered his name from this morning.

                Reactively, Eunhyuk tried to use his right hand to reach out but the simple action made him wince as it was still sore and he grinned apologetically as he offered his left hand instead.  “It is nice to meet you, sir,” he bowed slightly.

                “Eunhyuk,” Sang Kyu nodded his head, gingerly accepting the proffered hand because it would have been rude not to.  “Summer has assured us that you are a wind Elementalist.”

                “Yes sir,” Eunhyuk responded with another bow.  Self-consciously, he reached for the amulet that was just out of sight and breathed a small sigh of relief when he confirmed it was still on his person.  “I am still new to the title, but we have not had much time to get used to them,” he explained simply.

                “And the other Elementalist were swept down the Angmer River?” Myung He asked as she approached the pair.

                “I already told you that, mother,” Summer interjected, disgruntled.  She had given them the basics this morning when they had refused to leave her alone to eat in peace.

                “Summer, I was asking Eunhyuk,” her mother stated with a mildly raised brow.

                While Summer fumed quietly, Eunhyuk looked between them perplexed.  If she had already explained the situation, why would they need to hear it from him?  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered quietly.  “If you don’t mind, have either of you heard word back?  Summer explained that men had been sent out earlier,” he added, vaguely hopeful of a positive response.

                Bemused, Sang Kyu chuckled, “It’s much too early to hear back yet.  We will let you know when we hear something,” he directed to Summer this time.

                In annoyance, she looked between her parents and then over at her siblings.  No…they were nothing like what she had expected.  “Any news from Lornhaldt?” she asked instead, fixing her gaze on her father.  This was the first place they had been to that might actually have relatively new news about happenings in the capitol and what Enrhyll might be up to.

                As soon as she asked it, he seemed considerably more nervous.  “No,” he forced a laugh and waved the question off.  “If you’re asking about master Enrhyll, he leaves us well enough alone.”  Myung Hee nodded in agreement and plastered a smile on her face.

                Summer and Eunhyuk exchanged glances briefly.  That was a strange response…  Suspiciously, she asked, “What aren’t you telling me?”

                “Nothing,” Myung Hee assured her with a fake laugh.  “It’s just that he lives there and we live here.  Out of each other’s way,” she added with a searching look at Sang Kyu.

                Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Autumn shaking her head with a distracted expression on her face.  Summer confirmed that Eunhyuk had seen it too and then abruptly pushed the thought aside.  They would have to ask her later since she doubted very much that her parents would say anything more on the subject.  There was definitely something they weren’t telling her and she didn’t know them well enough to get them to tell her otherwise.  “Okay…” she finally stated with a long look between them.

                “Enough of this talk,” Sang Kyu urged with a forced air of lightness.  “Soon Bok,” he called over to the woman on the side of the room closest to him.  “Would you get some tea for our guests?” he requested politely, though it was clear it was an order.

                “Of course, master Sang Kyu,” the demure young woman spoke, bowing deeply before excusing herself to the back of the room where there appeared to be at least two more rooms and two additional doors at the very back.  She disappeared through the door at the back left and the brief peak inside showed it was a cooking area of some kind.

                “Come,” Myung Hee picked up where her husband had left off.  “The monastery is a long ways from here.  Please.  We would like to hear how you arrived here,” she gestured politely at the numerous open places to sit.

                Uncertainly, Summer and Eunhyuk exchanged glances.  The last thing they wanted to do was sit around and wait, retelling the events of how they got here, but there was little else for them to do until they heard word back from the men who had gone out riding.  Reluctantly, they took a seat together on one of the shorter couches, their sides just maintaining a reassuring contact, and regarded her parents evenly.  They almost didn’t know where to begin.  Fortunately, Soon Bok arrived with a tray of tea and snacks shortly after they sat down and over the mild flavored drink, they were able to tell their story as the family listened raptly to the tale.

~~~~~~

                Kharin woke first in the dim morning light, feeling very enclosed and almost panicking at the surrounding walls around them.  She reached over quickly to shake Leeteuk awake.  “Teuk,” she spoke firmly, needing very much to see the sky above them again and not the stone that currently entombed the pair.

                He groaned softly and came to life next to her, reaching up slowly where his hands brushed against the ceiling, the tips of his fingers trailing against the smooth stone.  “Oh yeah…” he murmured, lowering his hands and opening the shelter with the same action.

                A relieved breath escaped her as she sat up and took a deep breath, feeling much better for the open space.  The area around them was completely clear and they had not been bothered at all in the night by anything worth worrying about.  Insects they could do nothing about but a quick slap in the dark handled them easily enough.  “I don’t argue that was a good idea, but can we not do that again?” she looked over at her slowly sitting up companion, watching the muscles of his face contort periodically as he used stiff muscles.

                “We’ll see,” he grimaced before a sigh of relief escaped instead upon sitting upright.  “We might be able to split a watch now,” he mused thoughtfully, still not inclined to only have them with half a night of sleep.  They both needed the rest and while she was less injured, it would still take time for her to recover completely as well.  Carefully, he reached over and retrieved the tied makeshift bag of food and set it between them.  “Here,” he offered, opening the sack and waiting for her to pick first.

                In the day and with hunger not so prominent in their thoughts, the food did not look as appetizing as it had the night before.  Somewhat burnt and still very bland, she reluctantly picked a piece and chewed it slowly, a pattern that changed to chew and swallow as fast as possible.  “At least it’s food,” she admitted around a mouthful as she watched Leeteuk react in a similar way.  He shrugged in response and ate methodically.

When they had both eaten enough to take the edge of hunger away, they wrapped the remainder up and carried it with them as they hobbled down to the river to quench their thirst and wash up before slowly heading down the road again.  They paused once to look behind them, searching for a sign of something, but the way remained sadly empty.  Determinedly, the pair continued their trek, watching with some annoyance as the sun moved above them but their own progress still continued to feel painfully slow.

                Just after midmorning, Leeteuk paused, a curious expression on his face as he stared at the ground, pensive.  “Teuk?” Kharin asked as she touched his shoulder gently in inquiry.

                “I feel something…” his voice trailed off as he quirked his head to the side and started to lower himself to get a better idea of what it was.

                While he did that, Kharin looked around and so was the first to notice the dust cloud rising up from down the path ahead of them.  “What is that?” she asked as if to herself, the fingers of her hand trailing tentatively on Leeteuk’s shoulder subconsciously as he sat slightly propped up beside her.

                His eyes slightly out of focus as he placed a hand on the ground, Leeteuk responded, “It sounds like a group of people…horses I think.”

                With a knot of nervous tension growing in their bellies, the pair watched the dust cloud grow in size as they started to see figures on horseback within.  Almost immediately, they noticed the pennants flapping wildly above the riders, poles attached to the saddles sturdily as they rode.  Their eyes widened in alarm and the same thought ran through their head.  Enrhyll.

                “Run,” Leeteuk stated, turning to the forest line awkwardly and moving as quickly as he could on both his crutches.  He watched as Kharin started to outdistance him and then came back, clearly torn.

                “Hurry,” she urged needlessly, the fear and worry warring on her face as she kept looking over at the patrol.

                In response, Leeteuk looked over at the approaching patrol as he hopped along on the crutches, his pace frustratingly slow.  There was no way he was going to make the forest and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to outdistance them there…  “Go!” he told her again, desperate that at least one of them get away.  Abruptly, he turned to face the patrol, watching as they turned to follow their path.  “I’ll try to buy you time,” he explained, already planning what he would do as he dropped one crutch, using the other to steady himself.

                Kharin glared at him, angry at the thought.  “Idiot,” she spat, hitting him in the back of the head one good time with an open hand, completely ignoring the oncoming crowd for the time being.

                Confused and upset, he flinched and looked at her in surprise.  “What are you doing?!” he demanded heatedly, his gaze switching rapidly between her and the patrol.

                “Don’t you dare try to force me to make that choice,” she snarled, reaching out to grab his free arm over her shoulder, heedless of his discomfort and halfway dragging him already.

                Leeteuk was both unreasonably angry and pleased with her reaction as he was forcibly dragged with her, the crutch awkward with her forced pace.  He swallowed the words he wanted to say, terrified by the approaching patrol and the distance they still had to cover to the trees.  As they moved, he reached out towards the horse mounted men, his gestures uncertain, and attempted to manipulate the earth.  The ground between them and the patrol rippled and then the same motion spread out further in both directions, upsetting the horses as they closed within range but also throwing the pair off balance as the earth rolled and bucked under their feet as well.

                “Stop it!” Kharin cried as she came to an abrupt halt, feeling his control waver on the shifting earth and her balance change alarmingly.

                Shocked by the reaction, Leeteuk had ceased his attempts to hinder almost immediately but the earth had rippled for a few seconds after, reconfiguring itself of its own accord.  “I did…” he muttered, only marginally glad that the patrol had seemed as upset by the reaction as they were.

                They recovered remarkably quickly though and were on their way again much too soon.  “Halt!” the man in the front called fiercely, his voice carrying effortlessly over the distance still between them.

                “Come on!” Kharin growled, yanking on Leeteuk again as he seemed confused by the reaction.  She attempted to blind them with darkness but her envisioned sphere was a fraction of the size she intended, landing squarely over the section in the middle and little else.  “Really?” she muttered, glaring at the result bleakly as those within were briefly confused before riding out of it, save the one poor fool she had focused on who continued to ride uncertainly.

                “Never mind,” Leeteuk sighed, pulling up as they watched the first of the riders swing around wide on either side of them.  His posture stiff, he positioned himself in front of Kharin slightly and watched the lead figure pull up directly across from him.  They had all stopped well out of range, very aware of what the elementalists could do, even if their abilities were being a bit unpredictable at just the moment.

                Jae-Yup really didn’t want any of these fools getting carried away and hurting, or worse yet, killing one of the elementalists.  Captain Kwan had made it very clear they were to be taken alive and relatively well, though he expected it was possible for some accidents to happen.  “Elementalists!” he called out, recognizing some of the features that had been relayed to him; the woman in particular was easy to confirm with her height and the reddish hair.  “His divine lord Enrhyll wishes the presence of your company at the capitol city of Lornhaldt,” he explained simply, hoping that maybe if he just asked nicely…

                Kharin snorted in a derogatory manner and Leeteuk looked dumbfounded.  “You lie!” she growled, glaring at him angrily.

                Jae-Yup’s horse shifted uneasily under him and he frowned, heavy brows over hazel brown eyes furrowing intensely.  “I do not,” he assured them.  “We were sent to retrieve you at his behest.”  His eyes narrowed as they continued to glare at him suspiciously.  “You will accompany us, one way or the other,” he assured them calmly, beginning to walk his horse forward, his weapon still sheathed.

                A signal sent the rest of the circle tightening around them.  Another signal told his marksmen to get ready as they fell back from the rest, preparing slings and retrieving ammo from the pouches they always carried at their waist.  If the elementalists could be knocked unconscious, they wouldn’t have to worry about any of this nonsense…

                “What now?” Kharin asked nervously, debating how many she could take out before they got to them.  She really didn’t want to kill them and there was no shadow large enough nearby for them to hide in.

                Leeteuk took a nervous breath, unsure how his power would answer if he tried it again.  “It looks like we fight,” he murmured, wishing that wasn’t so.  There was no way he was going to believe what this guard was saying.  It couldn’t be true…  Everyone knew they were supposed to fight Enrhyll, right?

                Kharin murmured an affirmative and abruptly threw a series of shadow blades at the nearest part of the circle.  She blanched when several skewed off in odd directions while only two made contact; one severing a rider’s head from his body and the other cutting halfway through a horse and its rider’s leg.  “Oh gods,” she gasped, unsure why their control was lacking and her own haphazard effectiveness.  Was it just because Summer wasn’t here or was it something else?

                The death scream of the horse as it careened to the side and into the next rider, throwing both men off, shook the others.  Already nervous about attacking the elementalists, their control broke and the group rushed at the pair, fear in their eyes.  “Ow!” Leeteuk hissed in surprise as a small stone pelted his neck, stinging smartly.  He saw them then, the three lagging back, their arms raised above their heads and preparing to strike again.  Immediately, he raised a barrier up to shield them from that direction.

                “Give me a shadow, Teuk!” Kharin cried as she pressed them both close to the barrier he managed to put up, ignoring everything else.

                It took him a moment to comprehend what she was telling him before he reached again, feeling the stone answer his call as he pulled the barrier up and above them to block out the sun effectively.  “Kharin!” he gasped, seeing the horses and their riders drawing far too close.

                “Hold on to me!” she demanded as she gripped him tight and pulled hard, feeling herself fall into the shadow on the ground around them as she planned.

                “Huh?!” Leeteuk yelled as he grabbed hold of her arms and she pulled him after her.  He fell through the shadow too, feeling the dark substance slide over him like water as he went blind for a second and then tumbled into a strange world indeed, his bad ankle jarring painfully.  It did little to distract him from the fact he had landed directly on top of Kharin.  Unsure how to react, he froze and tried to brace his body with his arms on either side of her.

                “Get off me,” she groaned, pushing at his shoulders gently but firmly, hoping neither of them was too badly injured.  She refused to think about how they landed and simply pressed forward.  Already, she could see a welt forming where he had been pelted by a rock on the neck and as he awkwardly rolled off, she could see the brace on his ankle had loosened up.

                Leeteuk looked around, completely dumbfounded as everything seemed a shadow version of the world he knew.  Instead of the ground being covered in light, shadow predominated and the spaces where shadows would have been were made of light, throwing everything into a weird sort of relief.  “What is this place?” he asked, confounded.  The terrain looked similar and yet entirely alien and he had no good way to describe the river on the other side of them which was represented by a moving mass of shadow and light that confused his eyes.

                Kharin sat up, still eyeing the ankle as she didn’t think he’d noticed yet.  “The best way I can describe it, is a shadow world.  Give me a shadow on our side and I can walk through to this place.  Or fall, in our case,” she grumbled, brushing herself off distractedly.

                “By the gods,” he whispered, still looking around.  It took him a moment to realize that his crutch had essentially disintegrated in his hand and there were several moving bits of light on the ground around them.  Both realizations alarmed him…

                “The patrol,” she muttered, seeing where his eyes were following.  The shadows their bodies cast translated as light on the ground here and though there was no form to show it, the shadow was still there.

                “They can’t see us at all, can they?” he asked, placing his hand tentatively on the ground and then turning quizzical as he couldn’t hear anything at all.  “It’s silent…” he whispered quietly.

                “What is?” Kharin asked as she crawled over to his ankle and began fidgeting with it, making him jump in surprise, his concentration briefly broken.

                “The earth.  I can’t hear anything from her.”  For just a second, he looked utterly lost.  He hadn’t realized how much of a connection he had with it until he couldn’t feel it anymore.  It was very disconcerting…  Hastily, he got hold of himself and focused on Kharin who was pointedly not looking at him, fixing the brace.

                “We won’t be here that long,” she told him assuredly, glancing up to watch the figures moving.  They wouldn’t stay that long and if they did, well they could just make their way to the forest where a large glaring expanse of white topped by darkness off to their left showed its presence.

                He could tell she was still holding something back and he felt slightly guilty, figuring he had an idea of why she was upset with him.  Finally, he gathered his courage, “I’m sorry.”

                “You should be,” she muttered immediately and he knew he had guessed right.

                The ankle stung as she pulled just a trifle too hard and he winced, but nodded.  “I wasn’t thinking like I should have been,” he admitted.  It had felt like a decent idea at the time, but not in hindsight; at least not with her mad at him like she was.

                “No.  You weren’t,” she stated bluntly, finally meeting his eyes.  “Why would either of us being alone be a better choice?” she demanded.  Her arm flashed out in an effort to expend nervous energy, as she gestured to the area around them.  “Not to mention I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself, much less ask it of the others for leaving you behind.”  More careful this time, she focused on and finished touching up the brace, straightening out the pieces of wood and smoothing the cloth needlessly.  “Idiot,” she murmured again, angry with herself as much as him.  As much as she worried about not being able to forgive herself, she had been equally afraid to be left alone and she hated that admission…

                Wincing at the stretch necessary to lean so far, Leeteuk reached out and grabbed her nearest hand still resting lightly on his ankle.  “I’m sorry,” he stated again, waiting until she met his gaze.

                Green eyes met his chestnut brown ones and she finally nodded, her expression serious, “Okay.”

                “Okay,” he nodded in return, holding her gaze for a moment more before he glanced down at the moving ‘shadows’ again and shuddered.  “Can we get out of here now?” he asked quietly, still feeling slightly lost with the lack of his connection to the earth.

                Kharin took a deep breath and glanced around too, perturbed that they hadn’t wandered off yet.  “Sure.  Come on, Teuk,” she sighed as she stood up and reached down to give him a hand.  “No crutch?” she asked, perplexed as she just now noticed it was missing.

                He shrugged helplessly.  “I can’t manipulate it here…”

                “Hmm…  Odd,” was all she said as she carefully hauled him to his feet and took most of his weight over her right shoulder.  “One step at a time it is then.”

                “Indeed,” he agreed through clenched teeth as he focused on avoiding putting weight on the bad ankle.