Calm Waters:

Hayan:

The following day they were off again, Chanyeol leaving his dragon at the ridge (still refusing to tell anyone her name). They walked the whole day until they came to a stream where Haru wanted them to make camp, so like the end of any other day they did. They ate, the guys chatted and Haru forced Hayan to sleep in the tepee again.

They were all lying down, fire out and the night dark. It was clear that no one was asleep yet with the constant moving and uneven breathing. Hayan wished she was in her own shelter so maybe the atmosphere wouldn’t be so tense. Swallowing the nervousness she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling hoping to find some sort of answer as to what was going on there.

Instead of an answer from the universe someone in the tepee spoke.

“Okay I can’t be the only one who wants to know what Baekhyun went to talk to Hayan about,” Jongdae blurted out.

Hayan’s pulse quickened at the sound of her name, and her hands curled in the the fabric of her blanket for comfort that it didn’t really provide.

“It’s none of your business,” Baekhyun snapped from across the space.

They were laying in a big circle, Hayan situated between Kyungsoo and Junmyeon though there were big gaps between them. Baekhyun was almost directly across from her with Chanyeol, with Minseok and Jongdae between him and Junmyeon, while the youngests were between Kyungsoo and Baekhyun.

“Oh come on,” Jongin joined in with a snorted laugh. “You never talk to Hayan directly. So what did you say?”

“Baekhyun won’t spill, just ask Hayan,” Sehun suggested with a bored yawn.

The girl’s heart nearly exploded at that, because she could feel all the attention in the tent shift to her and that was the last thing she wanted. Maybe if she buried herself deep enough into the blankets she would disappear and wouldn’t have to speak.

“Don’t bother her. She’s probably already asleep,” Baekhyun argued.

“Not with all this noise,” Kyungsoo growled. “Who could sleep with your loud mouths yapping.”

“Fair,” Jongdae hummed. “Okay, then Hayan, what did Baekhyun say to you all alone?”

“Uh,” she stuttered at a lost as to what to say.

“I said let it go!” Baekhyun fought.

“Why?” Minseok challenged. “You’re making it sound like you did something terrible to her. Do we have to have some sort of trial, ert?”

“Wh-What?” Hayan squeaked at the threat. What was happening? Did they always have conversations like this when she wasn’t around? Boys were so weird.

“No! I’m not a ert,” Baekhyun retorted frantically.

“Then just fess up what you said. If it’s not bad then you can tell us,” Jongin said.

“And if it was bad, Hayan you need to tell us so we can do something about that ert,” Minseok added.

“I’m not a ert!”

Hayan yanked her blanket over her head trying to hide from the conversation while her cheeks felt like they had caught fire. “Can’t we just go to sleep, please?” she begged in a small voice.

“Not until one of you two spill,” Jongdae announced.

Baekhyun groaned and there was a thud on the ground while Hayan silently whined to herself.

“I apologized for being an , alright,” he caved.

“That’s it?” Sehun deadpanned.

“That’s all I had time for. There was a dragon remember,” Baekhyun growled back.

“Boring,” Jongdae whined with the rustle of fabric. “I wanted something better than that.”

“Like what?” Kyungsoo challenged. There was an edge to his voice that Hayan picked up on as he added, “Some sort of love confession? You guys are talking about Baekhyun, the guy who goes into town every weekend to pick up the local girls who fall for it every time. What makes you think Hayan is as gullible as those pathetic girls?”

There was a stretch of silence as the humorous and joking mood died. Hayan wasn’t sure if Baekhyun or her had been insulted by what Kyungsoo said, or if they both had been ridiculed. Whatever it had been Hayan removed her head for the blankets and dared to break the tense silence between the nine of them.

“Kyungsoo, Baekhyun isn’t that bad,” she said in a quiet voice. “And he did apologize. Now I think we should go to sleep. I have a feeling the professor is going to have us up early tomorrow.”

And with that they went to bed without another word, though Hayan wasn’t able to fall asleep until nearly day break.

•••

Junmyeon:

The one joke that got real old real fast when Junmyeon was brought to Elyxion was being awoken with a bucket of water to the face. The first time he found it funny and like a sort of initiation into the next generation of guardians, but after the fifth time in two weeks he had had enough of the prank and always retaliated twofold when it happened. Now out on a series of tests he figured they were all old enough to move pass pranks, but apparently he was wrong when a splash of cold stream water landed in his face giving a rude awakening the next morning.

Spitting water from his mouth he yelled, “Baekhyun? Jongdae? I’ll kill you guys!”

But no snickering or defensive comments came his way.

Rubbing the back of his hand across his face to rid his eyes of water he glanced about the tent to see no one there. Sleeping spaces empty and drenched and a rippling transparent figure standing at the foot of his blankets hovering over him with a featureless face. Yelling in fright Junmyeon scrambled backwards until his back hit the thick tarp of the tepee, his eyes taking in the figure that seemed to be made of moving water that was slowly approaching him. It had the form of a human, but only so basic with a body, limbs and head, yet no distinguishing features like normal creatures had.

“Stay away,” he warned.

Yet when it only continued to approach him with an arm outstretched Junmyeon yanked up the tarp and rolled out into the crisp morning air.

The sun had barely risen above the horizon, painting the surroundings in a soft orange light that Junmyeon wasn’t given the chance to appreciate with the sloshing approach of the water thingy following him. He quickly jumped to his feet and glanced around for any of his fellow guardians, but the clearing they were in was completely silent and still. Where had they gone?

Without much time to think he began running for the professor’s hutch that was a little ways up the stream. But as soon as it was in sight something wrapped around his ankle and tugged him harshly to the ground with an oof. Glancing down and back at it, thinking it was a root or vine Junmyeon yelled when he saw it was serpent made of water much like the human thing in the tepee. It wound tighter and higher up his leg leaving a trail of wetness on his pajama pants in its movements. Then it paused at his knee with a hiss and suddenly Junmyeon was being dragged towards the stream where the tail of the serpent was at, disappearing and morphing with the flowing water there.

“Get off,” he ordered it, but it had no effect. No surprise.

Junmyeon dug his fingers into the the earth trying to stop himself from heading to the stream, but the water-being was far stronger than him.

“Ju-unmy—eon,” coughed a familiar voice. Turning his head up stream he spotted a soggy Hayan dragging herself from the streams banks and moving towards him. “Magic,” she hacked passed her lungs full of water. “Use your magic!”

Duh! he thought lamely as he turned back to the serpent on his leg.

Lifting his right arm he pointed it to the creature and with a simple flick of his wrist the serpent went shooting off his leg and splashing into the stream with a hiss. Now free he got back to his feet and dashed to Hayan who was wobbling dangerously on her feet. He took hold of her shoulders that had been bared from the heaviness of her waterlogged clothing. Her hair was sticking all over her face and her pupils were blown out like she was on something giving her a high. She sounded like it too.

“Oh, magic,” she giggled when he reached her. “That’s a good idea. We should do that.”

“Hayan, where are the others?” Junmyeon asked ignoring her senseless babble.

“Others?” she repeated in a slur. “Oh! Playing with da water people,” she replied. “Wait no,” she shook her head sending water droplets everywhere. “Not playing. Bad! Bad bad water people.”

“You sound like a child,” he groaned exasperated.

She pouted up at him like one too.

Rolling his eyes Junmyeon figured he had no other option seeing as the others were gone and Hayan was his only help. “Are the others in the stream?”

She nodded.

That was a start. “Are they okay?”

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