Kihyun winced in a familiar state with his back against a tree and his chest rising and falling in heavy breaths. His eyes were clamped shut and his hands were raised awkwardly in the air, not sure what to do with them as pain shot through his body. Things weren't good, in fact, things were horrible. Kihyun pried his eyes open through his pain gasping as he breathed in and out and looked at his surroundings.

No he hadn't been imagining things, he realised, Hyunwoo had really run off and left him on his own. Kihyun let scowls and pushes a scoff out of his mouth before clucking his tongue and letting his arms drop in defeat at his sides. He should have known, Kihyun cursed himself. If Hyunwoo had been so willing, so unhesitating in leaving Hoseok behind, what made him different? And if Hyunwoo hadn't batted an eye at leaving the others to go their own way without him, then what made Kihyun any different? Kihyun winced holding his breath and waiting for the sudden surge of pain to pass through his body. But Kihyun knew he couldn't just remain sitting on the ground like he was, he had to move before any more attacks were made on him.

So Kihyun struggled to come to a stand on his own to feet again. He pushed himself against the tree and grunted and groaned, trying not to make too much noise that would draw any attention to him. He stayed still for a moment when he was finally on his feet with his hands on the tree and his head hanging, trying to catch his breath. He pursed his lips and raised his head, letting out a sigh at the thought of moving once again. With unwilling and rough hands, Kihyun pushed away from the support of the tree and took staggering steps forward.

Looking back on things, Kihyun could only scoff at the turn out of those things. They came in here together intending to finish the same way. But Hyunwoo had no plans of taking his team into consideration anymore, angry that he was still in the race after so many weeks had passed. Hoseok didn't care to follow anyone that wasn't going to listen to him and the people that did want to stick together as a team were out of his range, he had no clue where they were or if they were in any better shape than he was currently in. Kihyun could feel that he had made the wrong decision, following Hyunwoo because he opted to be the one leading them was wrong to do when he had no intentions of keeping them all safe anymore and he let himself realise that the hard way. Now Kihyun wanted nothing more than to be surrounded by a bigger number of people, to seek that safety in numbers and have his group around him. But he had no idea where any of them were, or if he was going to be able to find him and he continued to curse himself for what he had done to himself, at where he had gotten himself.

He knew he needs to find the others, and he had to do it quickly.

Kihyun grit his teeth, he didn't care if this was the worst physical pain he had to face, he was determined to find his way back to the others. He would throw away his ego and apologise to them, beg them to let him back in if he had to, he would do it. Just as long as they forgave him and he could still be part of their team, as long as he could still be their friend.

A howl echoed through the trees and Kihyun's eyes widened when the sound met his eardrums, he knew he really had to get a move on now. So he shifted forms into one that could glide effortlessly across the ground, despite the pain his body was in, one that could escape from danger and merge in with the forest, hiding him from his enemies. But he wouldn't give up his sense of smell, that was going to help him find his way back to the others. He just hoped he was moving in the right direction.

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"It's big"

"Yeah" Changkyun nodded absentmindedly as they all cast their eyes upon it, having stood in the one spot for minutes without saying anything.

"Well, we need to cross it, right?" Hyungwon looked to the others and heads nodded slowly, their minds wandering off as they blinked slowly.

"Yeah, we do" Jooheon nodded.

"What if there are more alligators in there?" Minhyuk pointed out as he came back to his senses and Changkyun shrugged his shoulders.

"There's not much of a choice, look how long it goes on for" He pointed down the river and they all cast their eyes to the right, where finding the end of the body of water was impossible to do.

"Well then, how are we going to do this?" Everyone looked at each other and Hyungwon shrugged his shoulders, taking the first steps into the water, his black boots went first and then he looked back at the others with a pointed stare. 

"We just have to do it, right?" The rest of his body entered the water and none of them saw him again until a fish dived into the air and back into the river.

"I guess he's right" Somi breathed out a loud sigh, walking into the water as she grumbled to herself under her breath. Jooheon reached for her hand, making sure she wouldn't fall.

"Swimming is not my strong point" Somi bit on her bottom lip as the water met her hips, then her stomach before she waded forward, letting to water skim over her clothes and flesh as her feet lost their connection with the floor of the river.

"Let's go?" Minhyuk gestured with a tilt of his head for Changkyun and himself to follow the other three and Changkyun nodded, taking in a deep breath and entering the river. Minhyuk looked back over his shoulder, not sure what he was looking for when he did so. He saw nothing and it disappointed Minhyuk and relieved him at the same time, it meant they might have a better chance at making it across the river unharmed. As they swam, the only sounds that could be heard were the five of them wading through the water and the swaying of tree branches and the rustling of leaves the slight wind brought on.

"Be careful with the current" Jooheon warned them as he looked back at them. They were almost halfway across the river and things were going well, there were no attacks being made, all of them were able to keep their heads above the water and no one was getting dragged away by any currents.

"Come on" Changkyun beckoned for Minhyuk to keep up with him as he paddled to catch up with Somi and Jooheon. Hyungwon swam in front of them, warning them of the stronger pulls in the current so that none of them would get ripped away.

"We're almost there" Jooheon coaxed Somi to keep moving. She breathed out in heavy pants as she paddled, trying her best to keep up with them all.

"These currents are strong" She gasped out and Minhyuk helped pull her along through the water.

"We need to hide!" Hyungwon was suddenly exclaiming and they all looked around in alert.

"He's right someone's coming" Changkyun nodded his head.

"We have no time to get out of here, we're going to have to go under" Minhyuk rushed out as Hyungwon approached them and grabbed Changkyun.

"We have to what?" Somi gasped, not believing her ears.

"Take in a deep breath" Hyungwon instructed, a serious sternness in his voice and his eyes as he met Somi's widened orbs. Somi did as she was told, taking in as much air as she possibly could in a deep breath.

"Quickly" Minhyuk ushered them and Somi shut her eyes as they all pulled each other under the water. Somi dived down, holding onto the person next to her and kicking her legs blindly as they swam down and out of sight. She could hear yelling, it sounded crazed and wild and with all the water surrounding her, it was muffled, but she could hear them getting closer. As they swam lower, Somi could feel the pressure pressing on her ears and she reached out, moving her arm around to try and work out where she was. Jooheon pulled Somi closer to him and she didn't think it was a good idea in the water they were in but she still forced her eyes to blink open so that she could look at him. He had shifted again, she could see the gills on his neck and the shimmer in his eyes that didn't struggle in the murky water as her own eyes did. 

They were almost on the floor of the river and she hoped they were down far enough to remain out of sight from others and she hoped those others would leave quickly so that they could continue on their way again. She looked at Changkyun, Minhyuk and Hyungwon, all of them shifting in some way that would help them survive under the water as they looked back up to the surface of the river. There was a disruption in the water above them and Somi looked up to the surface again. As cries and laughter travelled down to them in dulled down vibrations. A girl kicked and flailed, struggling against the hands that pushed her into the water, trying to drown her. They could hear and see the panic that came with the battle the girl was facing and Minhyuk cringed, looking away from it. She put up a strong fight, coughing and screaming every time her heard was brought back out of the water. She pulled people down with her and blood could be seen mixing with the murky water. 

Everything was starting to strain for Somi. Being so far under the water and holding her breath for so long was starting to get to her and her lungs and mind wanted nothing more than to shoot back up to the surface to get the air her body so desperately craved. She started to fidget, not knowing what to do and Jooheon looked at her as her eyes squinted and her face contorted uncomfortably. She banged a fist against her chest and Jooheon's eyes widened as he shook his head. Somi writhed around and Jooheon quickly pulled her body to his, taking in a deep breath and using his fingers to block her nose. Somi's eyes widened as she grew panicked. She looked at Jooheon, terrified by what he was doing. Just as Somi's mouth opened on its own, hoping to take in some air, Jooheon crashed his lips over hers. He breathed out and suddenly Somi had oxygen again. She breathed it in, her arms and legs stopped moving and as Jooheon pulled away, she stared at him with wide eyes. But Jooheon looked away from her, looking to the others and nodding his head to the other side of the river. They nodded, slowly beginning to move and Jooheon pulled Somi along, swimming to the other side of the river without looking at her.

Carefully they moved until the floor of the river was under their feet. They kept their heads under water for as long as they could, trying to go unnoticed as they crept out of the water finally, reaching the ground they had been swimming towards. Water dripped from their bodies and squelched in their boots as they moved again. Somi looked back at the girl, still screaming and fighting. B