They had not been traveling for too long after the patrol when both Kharin and Leeteuk noticed the smoke rising from the path ahead of them.  Immediately, they both glanced at each other and forced themselves to hurry faster.  That was no camp fire smoke they saw and they were further alarmed when they spotted a single lone horse following the river.  As far as Kharin could see, it looked like one from the patrol based on the gear and appearance, but it was obviously injured and spooked.

                Briefly, they debated about trying to retrieve it for their benefit but neither knew how to ride and even just the thought of trying to get Leeteuk up on the creature was shudder inducing.  As they approached the main road, finally leaving the cover of the trees, they noticed the large area of scorched earth first and only when they had made it almost to the area itself did they notice the piles of burnt ash and blackened bones.  The stench was horrible as the lingering smell of burnt hair and flesh plagued the air, making their eyes water and their noses burn.

                “Kyuhyun,” Leeteuk stated simply, eyeing the one clear circle in the center with intense interest.

                “What did he do?” Kharin asked, a faintly horrified expression on her face.

                “I have no idea,” her companion responded looking troubled.  “Do you think his control has been lacking too?”

                 Mutely, she nodded in response.  She remembered how he had felt when he had killed those men in the patrol the first time they fought.  This did not seem like something he would have focused on achieving.  Even with as angry as she’d been at their being cornered, she hadn’t wanted to kill the patrol…  “Look,” she pointed towards the front of the circle and hurried around the smoking piles in her way, pointedly not looking at them.

                Leeteuk followed quickly, fighting the beginnings of nausea as the smell finally started to get to him.  He noticed what Kharin was pointing at almost immediately.  At the outermost edge of the blackened earth was another clear spot more oblong in shape.  “Eleanara’s barrier,” he murmured quietly before he carefully knelt down in the clear spot and placed his hand on the earth, hesitant and trembling.

                “He can’t have known what he was doing,” Kharin shook her head and stared at the circle again.  They did not miss the significance that she had needed to put up a barrier to protect herself.

                “Dammit!” Leeteuk growled as he hit the ground with his closed fist.  He felt so powerless and there was nothing he could do about it right now.  Abruptly, he stood up and stared at the road ahead.  There was nothing left to see anymore as the patrol had moved on already, but that did not stop him from wishing he could catch a glimpse.

Kharin stepped close and put a hand on his shoulder, reassuring and understanding.  “At least we know they’re alive.”

                Leeteuk struggled with a response, but nothing came to him.  He didn’t just want them alive…  He wanted them to be here, with him and Kharin, safe and unharmed.  At last, he forced himself to take a deep breath and look over at her.  She had at least managed a half-smile; he could do no less.  “You’re right,” he nodded once.  “Let’s go.  We’ve still got a lot of ground to cover.”

                The shadow elementalist sighed but agreed, not inclined to argue.  She waited for him to start moving and then followed along beside him.  Their initial burst of desperate energy had faded some but they were still anxious to make progress.  Determinedly, the pair set off again, sticking to the road this time.  With the remnants of the patrol behind them, they doubted very much they needed to worry about whoever might be left.  Especially with their lack of control, it would be folly for such a small group to even attempt to approach them.

                Through the rest of the day, they traveled with as much haste as they could muster, battling hunger and quenching their thirst at the water’s edge when the need drove them to.  It was not hard to tell that traveling in the injured state they were, with a lack of food, was slowing down their progress as they combated fatigue and their own weariness.  The drain on their bodies from the constant worry and fear could not be dismissed either.  Corley Port continued to remain an unattainable destination in the distance and grew in size most stubbornly, a beacon they were beginning to give up on.

                They were so focused on that being their goal that, in the darkening hours of the day, when everything started to grow dim, they very nearly missed the little cabin nestled against the woods off the main road.  Slightly more aware than her pain plagued companion, Kharin squinted at it and rubbed her eyes, certain she was seeing things.  “Teuk,” she murmured, reaching out to tap his shoulder and point at the cabin as she stopped hesitantly.

                He pulled up tiredly and strained to see what she was looking at.  Both of their eyes widened as they saw a gentle light bloom within the structure through the partially open window.  Wordlessly, they turned to it automatically, drawn by the light as a moth was to a flame.

~~~~~~

                Still bone tired but otherwise conscious now, Siwon had taken the opportunity to sit up in bed, alternately flexing one leg out and then the other as he hung them over the side.  Eun Mi kept an eye on him while he did so but was otherwise quiet.  The afternoon had been very subdued in general and the only point of interest had been a strange bit of smoke they had seen up the main road.  They hadn’t noticed it until later in the afternoon though and had no idea how long it had been there for.

                Siwon had taken a moment to look into the scrying bowl then, just to make sure.  Little had changed.  Kyuhyun and Eleanara were still riding, now a bit closer together and he thought that Kyuhyun’s rider had changed, but from his vantage, they were still in the same predicament.  Kharin and Leeteuk were walking again and while they seemed more determined, their status had not changed either.  Summer and Eunhyuk had shifted to a different room and were talking with three other persons.  It still made him smile to know that at least they were doing well.

                “I’ll go take a look tomorrow,” Yong-Soo offered, acknowledging he was just as curious as they were.

                Eun Mi nodded and Siwon just shrugged.  Since his friends weren’t directly related to it, he had pretty much already dismissed it.  Slowly, the water elementalist took another sip of the tea she had given him, sighing over the third cup today.  “Can I try walking tomorrow?” he finally asked her over the rim as he blew on it to cool it down.

                “We’ll see how you feel tomorrow,” she answered without looking up from her work at the table.  This time, she had a very sharp vegetable knife she was using to dice a handful of herbs into fine pieces.  She glanced around as she noticed the light inside was beginning to grow dim.  “Would you mind lighting the lantern, Soo?” she asked offhandedly as she squinted at her hands, taking extra care not to cut herself.

                Yong-Soo looked up from where he was tending the fire and shrugged.  “Sure.”  Easily, he took a starter piece of wood and lit it in the fireplace before carrying it over to the lantern hanging in the center of the room, well away from any of the hanging dried herbs.  The flame was protected by a slightly warped glass container, but they did not think they could be too careful, all things considered.

                “Much better.  Thank you,” Eun Mi smiled as she looked up, taking a moment to push the strand of hair away from her face with the side of her hand.  Content with her project, she wiped off the blade and scraped the herbs together with her hands, storing them in a cloth sack for easy access later.  Easily, she opened the downstairs door and disappeared below, carrying her finished product with her.  “What are we doing for dinner?” she called out, peering up from the bottom of the stairs as she waited for Yong-Soo to answer.

                “Eh…  Stew,” he responded before she saw him look over the top and down at her.  “I didn’t find much today,” he shrugged in apology.  When hunting was good, they could have more of a meat meal, but he had only managed to snare two rabbits today.  He wished he’d come across a sow or even a deer.  They were skittish though and hard to catch unawares, especially when he was just looking and not specifically tracking one.

                Eun Mi shrugged at the answer.  There were so many things she could add to it, stew never really got boring for her.  Quickly, she looked through their stores, picking out a few herbs here and there, before she grabbed an armful of various root vegetables and some of the dried mushrooms they kept before returning up top.  Yong-Soo lowered the door behind politely and then returned to the fire, stoking it to make sure the coals were hot enough.

                Siwon leaned back to watch, finishing the last of his tea in a large gulp, and sighed.  He perked up considerably when he heard a knock at the door and a masculine voice filtered through, “Hello?” as Eun Mi and Yong-Soo were settling down to prepare their food.  Warily, the latter looked at the other two and motioned for them to stay put as Eun Mi moved over to position herself in front of Siwon, attempting to hide him from obvious sight.  Annoyed, the water elementalist peered around her anyway, his heart starting to race.  That voice had sounded familiar.

                Standing in the doorway, Yong-Soo pulled the door open inward and looked at the two who stood in the light that spilled out around him.  “Hello?” he started to say before the obvious injuries caught his attention and he stepped back immediately, calling out, “Eun Mi!”

                In an instant, she was heading to the door and as her cousin stepped aside, she saw a young man and woman leaning on each other.  They were looking over her shoulder, as both were slightly taller than her, in stunned disbelief.  For just an instant, time seemed to stop as everyone froze in various states of surprise.  She pivoted to look back at Siwon and he gasped, “Kharin!  Leeteuk!”

                “Siwon!” they cried in unison, a mixture of joy and relief on their weary faces.

                Eun Mi bolted back to Siwon’s side as he lurched to his feet, grimacing at the pain he felt but disregarding it completely.  She caught him around the waist as he wobbled and held him steady while the other two flocked towards him, Leeteuk hopping awkwardly with Kharin’s help as he had dismissed the crutches outside.  Abruptly, Siwon was enveloped in their arms as he threw his limbs around them both.  “You’re alive!” Leeteuk cried, tears streaming down his face at the relief he felt at knowing that fact.  He leaned on both Siwon and Kharin for support but he gripped the other man tightly, and pressed his forehead to Siwon’s in quiet joy.

                “Thank the gods,” Kharin breathed as she buried her face against his shoulder and clung to him fiercely, all injuries temporarily forgotten.

                Siwon felt Eun Mi escape the circle and held to the other two tighter.  It hurt to hold them so close but at that moment, he did not care.  They had made it to him and were here and he could touch them and he simply did not have the words to describe his elation.  Even he succumbed to the tears he had held back for fear that if he started he might never stop.

                It could have been mere seconds or an eternity that they held to each other, as tears stained their clothes and their breathing finally returned to normal.  The intense elation of finding each other slowly wore off, leaving them weary and exhausted but still intensely happy.  None of them could stop smiling and they all seemed reluctant to step back; Leeteuk was actually incapable of doing so without putting weight on his broken ankle, something he was rightfully hesitant to do.  It was the sound of Eun Mi and Yong-Soo moving around that actually prompted them to shift so they could regard their new hosts.

                The trio spread out from each other, with Siwon in the middle, and though they were not embracing, they still maintained tentative contact.  Kharin held Siwon’s hand in hers and Leeteuk kept his hand on the taller man’s shoulder, serving the dual role of support both physically and emotionally, though he needed the assistance in standing as much as the other.  “Forgive us,” Siwon laughed as he blinked tears out of his eyes.

                Kharin and Leeteuk looked over at his remark and then glanced over at the two strangers.  “It’s alright,” the young woman soothed, bowing at the trio.  “I’m Eun Mi and this is my cousin Yong-Soo,” she explained in a calm tone of voice.

                Siwon answered for the pair quickly, “These are my friends, Kharin and Leeteuk.  They’re the ones that were making their way along the forest,” he explained.

                “You saw us?” Kharin marveled briefly, looking at Leeteuk.

                “You were scrying!” he surmised with a giddy grin.  “Then you’ve seen the others?” he asked, his expression suddenly intense.

                “Yes.  They’re alive,” he assured them both.  “All of them.”

                “Oh thank goodness,” Kharin exhaled swiftly, elated by the news.  She had held to the hope but having confirmation that Eunhyuk and Summer were well too, lifted a weight she hadn’t realized she had been carrying.

                Before further questions could be asked, Eun Mi stepped up closer, a little uncertain by the proximity and condition of three elementalists now.  “Please,” she interjected, opening her hands wide.  The healer in her dictated that she needed to assess the extent of their injuries now and she could tell by their pallor that they were dehydrated and probably quite hungry as well.  “You have plenty of time to talk but perhaps you might have a seat?” she offered, looking pointedly at Siwon who grinned sheepishly, hiding the pain he was in from standing so abruptly with some effort.

                Only when his condition was called to attention did the obviously injured pair take note that the stolid Siwon was more hurt than he was letting on.  Kharin and Leeteuk both scowled, expressions that didn’t quite lose the happiness they were still radiating.  Fortunately, he had not made it more than a step from the cot when they had rushed in and while Leeteuk hopped out of the way, Kharin helped Siwon to sit back down.  On impulse, she sat down next to him and seeing them like that, Leeteuk followed suit, partially falling onto the comfortable structure and glancing down uncertainly when the cot creaked.

                “It’ll hold,” Yong-Soo assured them from next to his cousin.  “Here,” he offered, handing over a waterskin for the three.  He and Eun Mi hid grins when the newcomer’s eyes lit up at the sight of it.  Leeteuk refused to drink before Kharin and she grumbled at his polite behavior when he was worse off but took her share and then handed it back.

                “We were just making dinner if you would care to join us?” Eun Mi prompted openly, catching the trio on the bed with her eyes.  They were polite enough not to jump at the bit but it was obvious they were nigh on ravenous.

                “We would,” Leeteuk volunteered, a slightly guarded expression on his face as he started to ask some of the questions in his mind that Siwon had when he had been found.  He glanced at Kharin and could see that she was wondering too.  The fact that Siwon was here carried a great deal of weight but with what they had faced so far, it did not eliminate all suspicion just like that.

                It wasn’t hard to read the wariness in their faces and Eun Mi smiled.  “Perhaps you would care to fill them in?” she asked of the water elementalist with a quirked brow before she turned around and focused on preparing the root vegetables.  “Here,” she handed the mushrooms to Yong-Soo who put them in the pot to start to soak.

                As they took the time to start their dinner, Siwon explained all that had happened since he had been washed down the river, including how he thought he should have drowned but didn’t.  He detailed how Eun Mi had found him and brought him back; how she had treated his wounds and cared for him in the meantime with the help of her cousin.  They eyed him speculatively at that part but refrained from saying anything to his relief, though he felt his ears grow warm at their continued scrutiny.  His explanation on learning to scry diverted them for a bit, if nothing else.

                He had to slow down some when he got to the part about Yong-Soo and Eun Mi being from the Order of the Elements and he had to stop entirely when they learned she was Enrhyll’s half-sister.  It took them a moment to come to terms with that and even when Yong-Soo showed the symbol that was originally theirs, they were hard pressed to remain calm.  Siwon had to remind them they had seen the symbol with Summer and on Sinrielle in the monastery, at which point they finally did relax, if a bit reluctantly.

                Siwon also explained Eun Mi’s presence out here and her role with her mother’s shop in Corley Port.  With some embarrassment, he detailed his disastrous attempt at getting better faster and then looked over his companions pointedly.  It was clear they were going to need some sort of treatment as well.

                When Siwon was finished speaking, Kharin and Leeteuk leaned back and took a moment to go over everything they had just been told.  It was a lot to take in all at one time, even if he did give them an abbreviated version.  Still, it took him long enough to explain everything so that the stew was ready by the time he was done.

                Thoroughly distracted by the smell of food after having none since the day before, Kharin and Leeteuk had a very difficult time focusing for long on their thoughts.  They didn’t have very many bowls, but Eun Mi and Yong-Soo gave up theirs for now so the elementalists could eat first.  “Slowly,” she warned gently as she handed two bowls to the newest pair.

                With a great deal of self-control, both Kharin and Leeteuk accepted the bowls politely and couldn’t help but shovel the first bite into their mouths, swallowing hastily as it was still hot.  “Easy,” Siwon laughed as he pat Leeteuk on the back when he started coughing.  Leeteuk grinned sheepishly, eyes teary from the heat, and tried again with considerably more success.  Siwon accepted the third bowl from Eun Mi with a bit more grace and watched his friends out of the corners of his eyes as he ate with them.

               While they were taking care of themselves, Eun Mi observed them with a critical gaze.  Siwon she had already treated as much as she could for now, but his companions were in desperate need of care.  She was considerably worried about what appeared to be a broken ankle on Leeteuk and Kharin seemed to be favoring her left side.  Both had obvious bruising she could see through the tears in their clothes and on their arms and she would wager that they were close to exhausted, even if they weren’t showing it yet.

                She waited to say anything until they were finished eating though and instead busied herself with going downstairs, a surprise that startled them briefly, to retrieve various supplies she thought she would need.  While she rummaged, she also managed to find a pair of clothes for Kharin and Leeteuk.  Eun Mi was a bit smaller than the other woman, but most of her clothes were a bit larger than they needed to be and Yong-Soo was a bit taller than Leeteuk so that shouldn’t be a problem either.

                When she returned, Yong-Soo had started to eat a bowl of stew and the three on the cot were sharing a waterskin again, talking quietly.  Their conversation died down when Eun Mi appeared and they looked at her with focused attention.  “Siwon has been telling us that you are good with injuries,” Leeteuk started awkwardly, uncertain where to begin really as he glanced hesitantly at his ankle.

                “I have had some practice,” she agreed with a smile.

Yong-Soo snorted in amusement at her response but waved at Kharin and Leeteuk in assurance.  “Don’t let her fool you,” he chuckled.  “She’s been doing this almost as long as she could walk.  Almost,” he winked, grinning mischievously at her annoyed glance.  The trio couldn’t help but smile at the interaction and both Kharin and Leeteuk felt some of the tension slip from them at the light hearted assurance.

                Eun Mi carefully set her supplies on the table and leveled her attention on Leeteuk first, an expression that made him slightly nervous.  “Well.  Let’s have a look at you,” she stated calmly before she pulled the chair up closer.  The quarters were a bit more cramped than she was used to, but she was not unused to working with what she had.  Over the course of the evening, she assessed the extent of both Kharin and Leeteuk’s injuries.  She exhausted most of her regular first aid supplies on the pair, but wasn’t too concerned as she always had extra for emergencies.  A large amount of the healing salve she had would have to be replaced, but overall she was content with its use.

                For the sake of privacy, she had gone downstairs with Kharin to address her more hidden injuries while Yong-Soo assisted Leeteuk on the cot.  It was a good opportunity for the pair to try on the new clothes too.  As expected, Kharin’s pants were a little bit snug, but the shirt was big enough, if nothing else.  Nor could the shadow elementalist complain when her aching side was finally numbed by whatever it was that Eun Mi used, and then bound securely, giving her support she hadn’t realized would make such a difference.  “Nothing broken, but you certainly came close,” she assured the rather stoic young woman.

                “I wish I could say the same for Leeteuk,” Kharin sighed, shaking her head slightly at the misfortune.  Without Eleanara, their wounds were subject to heal naturally with time, and breaks just didn’t get better overnight.

                Eun Mi agreed quietly and then tilted her head to the side as she listened to the sounds above.  When it seemed as if things were clear, they returned and she finally sat herself in front of Leeteuk again, ready to tackle the ankle.  The clothes were a bit large on him, but at least they were whole and clean.  She had wanted some relief for him before she started messing with something as nasty as a break.  While Kharin took another chair to give them more room to work, the healer unwound the hasty wrappings and removed the makeshift brace, her expression neutral as the action made Leeteuk wince.

                A slight frown crossed her face and she sighed, “Sloppy…” 

                Kharin bristled at the word.  “Hey!  I wasn’t trained for any of that,” she grumbled irritably.

                “I can see,” Eun Mi answered dryly, her gaze still focused on the swollen, black and blue limb.

                “I did the best I could, alright?” she muttered before crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the healer.

                “You’re lucky you didn’t do more damage,” she murmured in return, reaching back to the table for a cleaning cloth and catching sight of the angry look in Kharin’s eyes.  She met the gaze evenly before Yong-Soo smacked her in the back of her head, startling her and Kharin.

                “Stop being a brat,” he chided and chuckled when she looked slightly abashed.

                When she turned her attention to the mangled limb, she was pierced by Leeteuk’s gaze as he waited for her to meet his eyes.  “We did the best we could, given the circumstances,” he stated evenly, his face neutral despite the situation.  Of all of them, Siwon seemed the most distressed by the reactions in the room, but he had no idea what to say just then and remained uncomfortably quiet.

                Eun Mi finally looked away from the earth elementalist’s gaze and took a deep breath, reminding herself that general first aide was not something that everyone learned as she had.  Granted, her training had been extensive but it was something she often forgot for others.  She finished cleaning the wound so she could apply some of the healing salve and took her time in wrapping it with clean, fresh gauze.  It took her a little while, but when she was satisfied with that, she swallowed her pride and looked back at a still miffed Kharin.  “For what you were taught, or lack thereof…you did well,” she admitted stiffly before focusing on the ankle and applying a more solid splint, wrapped with sturdier strips and tied firmly, but not tight enough to interfere with blood flow.

                Reluctantly, Kharin unfolded her arms and glanced at Siwon who was nodding subtly at Eun Mi and gesturing unhelpfully.  She gave him an annoyed glare and then rolled her eyes before saying quietly, “Thank you.”

                She missed the small, pleasantly surprised smile that spread across Eun Mi’s face but both Leeteuk and Siwon responded in turn.  While she finished making sure her patients were well taken care of, Yong-Soo hurried downstairs to retrieve a couple extra blankets.  Bed space was limited but the floor slept remarkably well when one was tired.  By mutual agreement, Siwon was forced to accept the bed again while the others agreed to sleep on the floor, two and two on the blankets.  There were still plenty of questions they all had, but the combination of food, shelter, care and the element of just feeling even relatively safe for the first time in days, was more than enough to send the elementalists to sleep sooner than they anticipated.

                While the others wound down, Eun Mi finally took the opportunity to quietly eat a bowl of tepid stew in the dim light of a candle.  They had blown the lantern out to cut down on the light so the others would sleep better.  Her mind worked furiously as she watched the sleepers.  She had never thought she’d ever see real Elementalists and here she had three of them under her care in her cabin.  Wouldn’t her mother be surprised?  And they were eager to be heading on too.  By force of will and determination, Kharin and Leeteuk had made it this far, even as badly injured as they were, and she had no doubt they’d somehow manage to get Siwon up and about too.  The thought made her somewhat sad…she didn’t really want him to go just yet.  Not only that, but she knew they needed more time to heal.  No matter how good they might have felt tonight, they were not better yet.

                She felt a headache start to come on and rubbed her temple with her fingers, a restless sigh escaping her.  From what she knew of Siwon and what he had told them about his friends, they were determined to get to the capitol where they were equally set upon fighting Enrhyll.  She knew they were the only ones even capable of having a chance of defeating him…but the chance was equally high that they would be hurt, or worse…die.  Neither prospect appealed to her.  She jerked upright when she felt someone nudge her foot.

                “Stop thinking so much, Eun,” Yong-Soo spoke quietly as he looked up at her from the floor, his head cradled on one arm.  “Get some sleep.”

                Reluctantly, she pushed the empty bowl of food away and took a deep breath.  “I’m worried,” she finally admitted as she crawled onto the floor beside him, lying on her side so that she could see him better.

                “I know,” he told her quietly as he reached out his free hand to lay it gently on the side of her head, a comforting, brotherly gesture.  “You’ll think better in the morning,” he assured her, giving her a confident grin.

                “I hope so,” she laughed lightly, curling up into a loose ball before closing her eyes and slipping easily into sleep.  Yong-Soo finally relaxed his smile and sat up to blow out the candle.  Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

(a/n:  Hello my wonderful readers!  I had so much fun writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it too!  ^_^  I had meant to post it a bit sooner but time got completely away from me.  I am very much excited for the next chapter too.  Thank you, as always, to my awesome readers (silent and otherwise) for your continued presence, comments and thoughts!  You always make my day!  <3 )