Chapter six: The unseen enemy

After a few days of traveling throughout the forest and finding nothing of interest Soonyoung called for a longer stop. The food supplies could use some extra meat and so he assigned people to hunt. In the end after a long discussion Soonyoung was allowed to hunt by himself while the others would travel in groups of two and before anyone would change their minds he ran off into the woods.

With a short bow in his hands he was quietly observing a hare across from him, a few more feet and he would be in shooting range. Careful not to alarm the hare by making a noise he moved forward. Lifting his feet weightlessly from the ground, avoiding twigs and piles of leaves while keeping his eyes focussed on his prey. One more step, he slowly raised his foot up but a sudden movement behind the hare distracted him for a bit, resulting in him stepping on a twig that broke in two pieces with a loud snap. Instantly the hares ears shot up, eyes facing his direction, the next moment the hare was gone. Soonyoung sighed, annoyed by his own mistake. There was no point in staying at his current position and so he moved further towards the place where the hare had been. His eyes looked at the ground searching for more tracks, what he found wasn’t just the hares track, he saw footprints and from the looks of them they were not even older than one hour! The hunting was forgotten and he decided to follow the footsteps. After trailing the path of his predecessor for a good amount of time he reached a clearing in the forest. Not just a clearing he concluded at closer inspection, a cliff. Before stepping out of the forest trying to hide his presence he scanned the surrounding for traces of other living beings, when he saw none he decided that it must be safe and made his way to the edge of the cliff. The moment he reached the cliff he held his breath, the view was absolutely stunning.

His entire horizon was filled with mountains looking over a huge valley. Massive rocks were clouding parts of his vision but what he saw was nothing like he had ever seen before. Beneath him he saw a little waterway meandering down the mountain side. Just what he needed, fresh water! Without further ado Soonyoung started walking towards the little river, strange footsteps long forgotten, because if he had paid attention he would’ve noticed that the footsteps were still going towards the same direction. Suddenly he halted, a strange melody hit his ears, it seemed to be an instrument. A bit more careful than before he continued his way, trying to find the source of the music. Still following behind in the tracks that were embedded into the damp forest floor. 

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The tall trees suddenly spread out and created a wide open field, layered with tall rocks, sloping down towards what seemed to be the waterway from before. On the side of the river he found the source of the music. A person was sitting cross-legged on a high rock overlooking the river. In his hands he hold a wooden plank with some strings attached. Somehow the person was able to create a melody while plucking at the strings with his hands. In awe Soonyoung moved forward, unnoticed by the person in front of him. The grey and green clothing of the man would provide good cover in the forest, but on the river bench it only highlighted his presence. When he got closer the person he could make out his features. A small frame, dark hair covering his head but overall muscular in appearance. He was still facing his backside and Soonyoung wondered what the person looked like. That was the moment the person turned around, probably because of the sounds Soonyoung was producing while walking over the rocky slopes, letting some rocks roll along the mountain side until they dropped into the little river. The man seemed to be quite young with a round face that appeared even younger than he probably was. Dark brown eyes were taking in his own appearance, most likely judging if he was a threat or not. Not wanting to scare the person in front of him Soonyoung quickly took of his bow and placed it on the ground.

“I am sorry for startling you, I heard a melody and wondered what it was, what kind of instrument are you playing?” The alpha approached the other person curiously, completely not noticing the other persons discomfort. Weary brown eyes were watching his every move, judging what to do about the situation. “Would I be able to play it too?” The judging expression from the other took him aback but he interpreted it differently than what the person was feeling. “Is it that difficult to play the instrument?” His worry spread all over his face causing the other person to unwillingly chuckle a little, revealing little dimples on his cheeks as he laughed gleefully. Soonyoung decided that he had to make this person laugh more, it looked  good on him. “Ah, I forgot my manners, Jisoo would murder me for this, my name is Kwon Soonyoung, pleasure to meet you.” The other person remained silent, simply watching him in confusion. “What's your name?” Since Soonyoung did not notice any particular scent he concluded that he man had to be a beta.

His own loud voice seemed to startle the smaller one of the two a little. “Woozi.” He said with so soflty that Soonyoung almost didn't catch it.

“That’s a strange name, I have never heard it before. Not that I am judging it, your parents must have liked the name therefore they have chosen it. It probably holds a lot