Years passed without any massive event. There’d been a few patrols where Jungeun had been attacked, but nothing more than that. Jinsoul was only grateful that she was there when it happened. Sometimes they managed to get a near fatal injury. Those were also the ones who didn’t end up surviving. 

Jungeun kept having nightmares from her past. Whenever Jinsoul woke her, she squeezed her eyes shut, as if trying to hide whatever it was that’d filled her mind. 

She’d tried to go into the ocean once every year, each time with the intention of trying to swim. She usually ended up either trying to hold onto Jinsoul so she wouldn’t sink, or she’d actually sink and Jinsoul would make the current push her back up. If that happened, Jinsoul dragged her back to shore, mostly because she was worried Jungeun would have a heart attack. Immortals didn’t have heart attacks, so she didn’t know how to heal those. 

Jinsoul managed to master the moonlight better. She still hadn’t become a healer, but she was one when they went on patrol, hunts, or other tasks they were set. 

Not once did Nuala approach her, but Jinsoul knew that the rumours were spreading. From what she could gather, people were waiting for her to make the change. Some seemed to be suspicious of it, others almost too interested. 

Haseul told her not to mind it. “Nuala’s fine with it either way,” she told her each time it came up. 

“And they’d have to shut up the moment you save their hides,” Sooyoung had added. 

Time with the Astra blended together easily enough. 

And even then, the patrols where it was only Jungeun and Jinsoul didn’t rush by. The silences remained, but their conversation had extended to easier things. Jungeun told her stories of early patrols, spirit hunts, as well as some of Sooyoung and the rest’s blunders. She called it ammunition, for when Chaewon or Hyejoo decided to bring snails or slugs for Jinsoul to speak with. 

She hardly ever spoke of her life before. Jinsoul’s outburst that one night had practically made it a taboo subject. 

So Jinsoul never asked either. At least she tried not to. Sometimes she made a mistake and there’d be a flicker of pain again, before Jungeun replied. She almost always gave her an answer. 

Something Jinsoul had started to see in the fire elf was that she barely ever defended herself. Even in small things. Hyunjin, Jiwoo, and the rest purposefully avoided certain subjects, but if there were others, people who weren’t part of their little group, it was almost unavoidable for a jab, or even a harmless remark, at Jungeun’s past. 

Either it was the suggestion that Jungeun was used to something, or there was the question of whether or not they should go after a certain threat. Be it a coven of witches, a large pack of wolves, or a rogue fairy or elf. Jungeun was consulted for those things, but people also held that knowledge in Jungeun’s face. She always accepted it and always gave them the answer they wanted. 

It didn’t happen consistently, but Jinsoul had seen it happen multiple times over the years. Enough for there to be the faintest of trends. It was also enough for Jinsoul to piece more together. 

The years had been uneventful. It had been ten years since Jinsoul had been given the moonlight. A century since Jungeun had come to the Astra. 

And then Freya had come to both of them, an elder at her side. It was Eline, one of their most powerful seers. Jinsoul still didn’t really know what ‘powerful’ was supposed to mean when they didn’t exercise it enough. They’d only warned them once in the last five years that someone was even tracking Jungeun. They had to go to witches to actually find that out. 

“Someone else is blessed the moon,” Freya said. 

Jungeun’s eyes widened. She looked at Jinsoul then. “From where?” There was a bit of hope there, as well as concern. 

They’d both wondered several times if there’d be another. Jungeun had said it would take another hundred years. Jinsoul had said half that. 

They’d both had the hope that it wouldn’t be as difficult for them. Haseul knew even more how to train someone with the magic, and they’d have two others like them. 

Jungeun hadn’t said it, but Jinsoul knew she was relieved she wouldn’t be the only one to help the newcomer. She didn’t know if it was because Jungeun didn’t want to be the only one in that role, or if it was because Jinsoul wasn’t infamous. She hadn’t asked. 

“Crosa as well,” Eline said, peering down at Jungeun. “No relation. Your paths have never crossed until now.” She looked at Jinsoul then. “Yours nearly did.” 

Jinsoul exchanged a look with Jungeun. The fire elf was more comfortable around seers than she was, but she also didn’t like how some looked too far into their pasts, as well as their future. 

“Shouldn’t be too long until you meet now,” the seer continued. “She's already left.” 

“What?” Jungeun sat up. “She’s out there now?” The worry had won over her eyes. 

Jinsoul didn’t have to think long to remember her first real encounter with a spirit. She wouldn’t have managed without Jungeun leaving her the moonlight she needed. 

Freya frowned. “Didn’t you say you’d learned the most when you’d gone off on your own?” 

Jungeun pushed herself to her feet, the food abandoned. “I’d learned how to summon the light before I did.” She was already looking to the tent, muttering something about a map and the earth. “From where is she coming?” 

“I can’t see that.” 

Jungeun’s jaw tightened. “Then I’ll get it from Yeri.” She slipped past them to the tent.

“Do you know who they are?” Jinsoul asked. 

Eline looked at her with a strange gaze. Jinsoul hoped she wasn’t currently looking at her future. 

“She’s young,” she replied. “A strong tie to the earth.” She closed her eyes. “Her path has shifted several times tonight.” 

Jinsoul frowned. “She doesn’t want to come here?”

“Sometimes she does,” Eline said. “Other times she nearly goes back. Or she decides to go to the Warsa.” 

The Warsa? Did she know anyone in the mountains? Or was that where she'd try to find a new home?

Jinsoul got to her feet as well. “How long have you known?” 

Freya pursed her lips when she looked at the seer. Surprisingly, Jinsoul saw she was irritated. “I was told they’ve known for some weeks, and only told me at the start of the night.” She sent Eline a pointed look. 

Eline didn’t look guilty. “It was never a doubt that she’d come here.” 

“And was Jungeun going to meet her halfway?” Jinsoul asked.

“On some of the paths.” 

Jinsoul had to force down her own frustration then. She wondered if it was the magic that addled their minds, or just the type of person who became a seer. 

When she got to the tent, Jungeun was packing a bag, her movements sharp. She was worried. Very worried. 

“You don’t have to come,” Jungeun said when she saw her. “It could either be a long trip, or a short one. I don’t know yet.” She frowned. “But that they're just saying it now,” she muttered. “We could’ve been waiting for it, or already been there.” She checked one of the knives before sheathing it. Probably with more force than she’d intended, by the way the sheath rattled. 

“I’m coming with you.” 

Jungeun paused, her eyes widening slightly. “Really?” 

Jinsoul gave her a look. “The third person who’s like us,, she should know there’s two others if she doesn’t already.” 

Jungeun’s face broke into a bright smile. 

She was taken aback by it. That was another thing. Jungeun smiled easily. They were almost always genuine too. 

“Good,” Jungeun tossed her a second bag, “I sent word to Yeri to already start looking.” She paused, looking at the entrance. “Should anyone else come?” 

“No,” Jinsoul said. “We don’t know how she’ll feel about actual Astrans.” And with how it wasn’t completely certain that the elf wanted to come here, Jinsoul didn’t want to risk her feeling trapped. 

She nodded, before sitting down on her bed. She watched as Jinsoul packed. 

Jinsoul couldn’t help but look up every now and then. Jungeun glanced away a few times when Jinsoul caught her eye. 

This time she didn’t. 

Another thing Jinsoul had noticed was that the where moments when Jungeun didn’t hide her expression had become more frequent. When that happened, Jinsoul could see past the guilt that took over so much of her. There was a side to her that fit the way she looked, something calm, free of the shame and the anger. 

“Do you think they threw her out?” Jinsoul asked. “Or that she just left?”

Jungeun shrugged. “Freya said they sent her away, and I doubt she would’ve been wanting to go.”

“Eline said her path keeps changing.”

Her brow quirked up. “I hope she says nothing about that when we get back.” Worry returned to her expression. It didn’t disappear behind a casual smile this time. She’d stopped doing that, at least most of the time. 

Jinsoul packed extra clothes. What if the newly made Astran had needed to leave before she could even pack her things? They’d have to find food before as well for her. 

“Finished.” She closed the bag. 

Jungeun got to her feet. “We’re leaving immediately, if that’s okay.” There was a hint of a smile there, but it was overpowered by the worry.  

“Of course it’s fine,” Jinsoul went to the entrance to the tent, “she might need us.” 

Jungeun’s gaze softened.

Jinsoul nearly looked away. 

And then Jungeun left the tent, holding the flap open for her. “Let’s get the third of our kind.” 

______

“I see her,” Jungeun said, breaking into a sprint. 

Jinsoul scrambled to follow, barely evading a root on the ground. 

“Spirits.” Light flooded the space around them. Jungeun held two curved blades. 

Jinsoul could hear the spirits, how they were snarling. Waiting. She could hear the panicked breaths of another. 

Jinsoul pushed her legs to keep going, even though they already burned. 

“We’re here!” Jungeun called. The air was already warming. 

There was one turned spirit. Four dark ones. They’d surrounded a large tree, encircled in dirt. 

In the next moment, one was impaled by a blade. The next was shot with flames. 

Jinsoul drew one away, holding her sharpened staff. 

The tiger leapt at her. She stopped it with the weapon. She hated how it screamed in pain. 

Another sound followed soon after, a violent howl.

Jinsoul watched as a bear began to change, going from midnight blue to a pale violet. 

The tiger was now a bright gold. 

Jinsoul dodged when the next spirit lunged. She was too slow. 

It grazed her leg. She hissed. 

She caught it with her hand and forced light in that way. 

Flames erupted around another spirit, before there was a flash of light. 

Jinsoul watched as Jungeun drove her blade deeper into the spirit’s heart. She saw an expression she recognised. It was the one she’d learned that Jungeun put on when fighting. Her eyes were cold. 

In the next moment, all the spirits had turned. 

That cold in Jungeun’s eyes faded, replaced by fatigue. Then that vanished too when she looked at Jinsoul. "Are you alright?"

Jinsoul’s hand and leg were ice. She forced light to fill her limbs. "Fine." 

Jungeun looked to the tree then. 

“Who are you?” The ground shook. The sound of bark cracking filled the air. 

Jinsoul saw the earth fall away from the tree, revealing a girl. Blood covered her face and neck. Tree branches were hovering in the air, the edges sharp.

“Astrans?” The ground trembled with each word. 

“We’re from there,” Jinsoul said. “But my magic is water.” 

The reaction was only slight, but Jinsoul saw it immediately. The girl flinched. Eline had said their paths had almost crossed. Had it been in a battle? Had she fought with someone else whose magic was water?

“And you’re the fire elf,” the girl said to Jungeun. Her eyes were purple, but they looked less bright than they probably should have. “The ones like me?” 

Jinsoul saw it then. The slightest bit of hope. “We are,” she said. “I’m Jinsoul.” 

“Jungeun.” 

“Choerry,” the girl replied. 

It was a fake name. One look Jungeun’s way only confirmed that. 

“I didn’t think you’d come.” The tree branches finally fell away. She looked between the both of them. “My eye’s like that too,” she muttered. “Is it because I’m just half of what they are?” 

“You’re not half of anything,” Jinsoul said. 

“Don’t lie to me,” Choerry snapped. “If you think you’ll be able to comfort me with empty promises, don’t even try.” 

She felt a pang of hurt, but ignored it. She could barely imagine being forced to leave by her family like that. 

“They’re not empty,” Jinsoul told her. “I thought the magic would be weaker too, but it isn’t.” 

“Then why couldn’t I summon it?” The girl’s voice was still sharp, but relief was starting to soften the look in her eyes. 

“It’s a new kind of intuition,” Jungeun said. “Something you just have to find and then use just as much as you would with the earth.” 

“It’s different from fire?” Choerry asked. “You’re summoning things.”

Jinsoul spotted the flicker in Jungeun’s expression. Choerry would’ve hopefully missed it. 

“Fire is,” Jungeun trailed off, “it’s always moving. The light isn’t like that.” Then she went over to one of the spirits. “The emotional fae’ll tell you there’s some connection to emotions, and there probably might be.” She knelt down beside it. The tiger regarded her with trusting eyes. They were blue, a great contrast to the gold. “But what matters is that our light changes them.”

“And turns them good?” 

“Good,” Jungeun repeated. “Not good,” she said. “The other spirits aren’t evil either, but they’ll attack. That’s either because they’re scared of us, because the light hurts them, or they want to turn us too.” She looked at the tiger. “I don’t know.”

“But we’re hurting them,” Choerry said, eyeing the spirits. She didn’t look afraid. “Are we supposed to be okay with that?” 

Jinsoul stayed quiet. She was content to just watch. She also wasn’t sure if every word she said would end up setting the girl off. Keeping it to one person was better. At least for right now. 

“Not okay with it,” Jungeun replied. “It’s just something we have to do. Both for everyone else, and maybe even the spirits themselves.”

She thought of that expression on her face from before. The one that meant she was trying not to focus on what she was actually doing. 

They’d talked about that. Jungeun hated hearing the screams, so she tried to make it as fast as possible. She’d learned that the flames actually helped to cover as much of the spirit in the shortest time, letting the transformation finish quickly. It was either that or a well placed blow to the heart or head. 

“And you?” Choerry looked her way then. It wasn’t a challenge, but something close to it. 

“I don’t like it,” Jinsoul said. “But the look in their eyes changes once you turn them.” Going from being full of anger and hate to being free of it. “They’re at some kind of peace when it happens.”

“I thought they weren’t sentient.” She frowned. 

“Nobody really knows,” Jinsoul replied. “Not one fae can read their minds and no one can really talk to them.” She looked at the other two. “But look at their eyes. Does that seem mindless to you?”

Choerry’s frown deepened. “Is that important? If all we’re supposed to do is turn them?”

Jinsoul wondered if Choerry was just looking for a reason not to trust them, to find a reason not to care about what the Astra did. If that didn’t matter, then there’d be the chance she could just leave without having to regret it. 

“You’ll learn how to do it, and then you can see if you’ll actually want to seek out the spirits,” Jinsoul told her. “But you decide.” She couldn’t help but think of when Jungeun had told her something similar. She didn’t know what Choerry had done for her people before, but she also didn’t know if she’d even be coming back with them. 

Then Choerry’s expression softened. “Alright then,” she sighed, “can we get out of here?” She looked at the ground, before shaking her head. “The spirits—what they were before, I mean—they do something to the earth, to the trees.” 

Jinsoul didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. She was almost certain Jungeun didn’t either. 

But she still nodded, briefly meeting Jinsoul’s eyes, before looking back to the girl. “We’ll set up camp then. Can Jinsoul help with your wounds then?” 

Choerry’s eyes shot to her, both surprised and still harsh. 

Jinsoul almost looked away. 

“You’re the healer?” Choerry asked quietly. “You came to my people once already.” She looked away. “We were only a bit across the ocean, on an island, right at the base of the mountains there.” Her jaw tightened. “A group of your people from under the surface attacked us, wanting one of theirs who we’d sent to the Warsa. Remember that?” 

Her heart sank. “I remember.” She almost told them they weren’t her people, but that wasn’t really true. “Not all of them were from under the surface.” Just the mention and the way Choerry was acting made sense. She was afraid of water and that was because of an attack from an Arcsan—maybe even one Jinsoul knew. Was she scared of Jinsoul too?” 

“Didn’t really make a difference to us.” Choerry scoffed lightly. “Doesn’t matter if you’re above or below the surface, the magic still drowns.” 

Jinsoul looked away this time. She knew that. She also knew who Choerry was. From what she’d heard at the time, Choerry’s magic hadn’t been as under control as it was now. She’d gotten caught in a whirlpool and lost control of her magic, killing the Arcsan who’d tried to kill her. 

She’d seen it too. The trees had practically been torn to pieces, all reaching for the elf. The ground had opened up below the Arcsan. He’d probably been held in place while the trees had impaled him. 

Choerry had refused to see her. She hadn’t been the only one who hadn’t wanted to be healed by an Arcsan. 

“It heals too,” Jungeun said then. She was frowning at the forest to the west. “There’s a spirit slowly making its way here.” She then started walking in the opposite direction. 

Choerry’s eyes were still on her. “I shouldn’t have said that,” she said. “I know why you were actually there.” Her gaze fell to the ground, which started to smooth over. The tree also reverted back to normal. 

Then Choerry walked after Jungeun. 

Jinsoul followed. She couldn't help but think of the terror that Choerry must have felt. When you were drowning, you were alone. The peace that Jinsoul coveted under the surface became a prison. She'd put people there before. Someone had tried to do that with Choerry as well. 

______

Jungeun had made the three of them dinner: a curry just spicy enough to leave a slight burn, but not enough to leave them on the brink of tears. She’d made that once and Jinsoul had walked all the way to Yeri to get her to summon a glass of milk, because the delivery hadn’t come yet. The burn had barely subsided when she’d gotten there. 

Choerry had let Jinsoul heal her. She hadn’t flinched away from the water and she’d given her a curt thanks. 

Jinsoul counted that as a win. 

“So you’re actually nocturnal?” Choerry grimaced. 

“It starts to feel natural over time,” Jungeun said. “But you don’t have to sleep during the day. We won’t be either.”

The girl frowned. “And when will you two sleep?” 

“We'll manage a few days.” 

Apparently, the longest Jungeun gone was two weeks, helped by potions to keep her awake. Jinsoul had managed a week. 

“I’m not gonna run away,” Choerry said. “You can let me keep watch during the day.” 

Oddly enough, Jinsoul believed her. She adjusted her hands around the bowl. It was getting colder again. She let a bit of moonlight into her skin without making it glow. It helped a bit. 

“You probably will,” Jungeun nodded, “but right now, I think it’ll be better if we’re all up during the day.”

“Is there a difference?” Choerry asked. “I usually felt clearer once it was night. Is that because of the light?”

“Probably,” she replied. Then she tilted her head slightly. “Was it always like that for you?” 

“Not every night,” Choerry shrugged, “but often enough that it was something.” Then she looked between them. “It wasn’t like that for you?” 

Jungeun met Jinsoul’s eyes then. “Night’s always been peaceful for me.” A silent question. 

“I spent most of my nights swimming,” Jinsoul admitted. “But I did love the nights before too.” 

“You never thought that was weird?” Choerry raised a brow. “It made sense to me once the light came.” Her expression soured a bit. For obvious reasons, it was a touchy subject. 

The question made Jinsoul pause. Was Choerry suggesting they'd meant to be chosen by the moon? A part of Jinsoul wanted to believe it'd just been random. There wasn't something they all shared, except for the light they'd been given. 

“I didn’t care much about it,” Jungeun said. “And day was just as fine with me.” 

“Because of the sun?” 

“It’s warmer, so probably because of the sun too, if it’s a ball of fire.” Jungeun shrugged. “I can’t reach that far.” 

“Did you ever try?” Choerry asked. “I can feel the ground for several leagues away if I concentrated enough.” 

“If the humans are right, then the sun’s even farther away than anything else,” Jungeun said. “And I did try, a few times, but there’s a better chance I’ll lift lava than get anything from the sun.” 

Her brow shot up. “Can you?” 

“I’ll get the worst headache trying to.” She shrugged. “And even after training with it, it never got less.” 

Jinsoul held back a frown. 

“You should’ve just stopped once it didn’t work,” Choerry said. “Why get a headache over and over again?” 

It was almost funny how Choerry wasn't quite holding back on the questions. Maybe she knew that Jungeun would answer them, or she was trying to see how much she'd tell her. 

“I was stubborn,” Jungeun chuckled, “but trying to ended to teaching me how to stop it burning me immediately.” 

Choerry cringed slightly, but nodded. 

Jungeun didn’t seem to notice, but Jinsoul knew why. Sometimes Jungeun talked about her training, about the lengths she went to, as if they were normal. Jinsoul avoided pointing it out, because when Jungeun realised it, she got that look in her eyes again. The one that was full of doubt and shame. There were a lot of looks Jinsoul didn’t like seeing on Jungeun.

“And lightning?” 

“No hope of controlling it,” Jungeun said. “But I have some resistance. Not the best, but enough.” 

“Enough?” Choerry looked at her, confused. 

Jungeun was quiet for a few seconds. A shadow of the look appeared. 

Jinsoul almost told Choerry not to push it, but she knew neither would appreciate it. 

“Enough not to get killed in the first blast.” Jungeun slowly absorbed the bowl of moonlight she’d made. 

Choerry didn’t ask anything after that. Her eyes had gone to the fire, her mind at work. Jinsoul both wanted to know what she was thinking about and didn’t. She knew that if Choerry did start asking those types of questions, she’d get the answers. Jungeun would hide the fact that she didn’t want to answer them too, so the questions would keep coming. 

Then Choerry pointed at Jungeun’s eye. “How’d it happen for you?” she asked. 

Jinsoul shouldn’t have been so relieved, but she was. She looked at Jungeun, only to find her looking back, silently asking her who would go first. 

She nodded once. She hadn’t heard this either. They’d never talked about it.

“The light came without me realising it,” Jungeun said. Then she hesitated, “it was on the way back from a fight. I was an easy target.” 

“Why?” Choerry leaned forward.

“If you’re afraid, angry, anything like that, and alone,” Jungeun shook her head, “then they come. Usually more than one.”

“Like earlier,” she finished. 

Jungeun nodded. 

“Who came to get you?” 

No answer. 

Choerry’s face fell. 

“It wasn’t all bad,” Jungeun said then, a smile forming. “I lived.” 

The girl’s brow rose. “So did I, and it was terrifying.” 

Jungeun laughed softly. “I didn’t say I wasn’t scared.” 

Choerry frowned then. “Did they send you away?” 

She shook her head. 

Purple eyes shifted to Jinsoul. 

“Jungeun brought me to the camp,” Jinsoul said. “I’d gotten the light, but I’d barely used it.”

“Me too.” Choerry sighed. “But with you being their healer,” she looked back at Jungeun, “you their—” She looked away. Her shoulders drooped. 

“Hey,” Jungeun moved over to her, settling down on the ground in front of her, “you meant something to them. People get scared like that all the time. They turn away from what they shouldn’t more often than you’d think.” 

She gave her a look. “Is that supposed to be reassuring?” 

“Yes and no.” The next smile was a bit sheepish. 

Choerry snorted, but she looked less dejected. 

Jinsoul saw the relief in Jungeun’s eyes then. 

That‘d been her plan. 

“We didn’t know about you until a few days ago,” Jungeun said, getting to her feet. “More?” She looked at the pot before looking back at Choerry, who shook her head. Then she met Jinsoul’s eyes, tilting her head slightly. 

When Jinsoul nodded, her bowl slowly left her hands, drifting to the fire. Jungeun refilled it, before sending it back to her. 

“And where were you coming from?” Choerry asked. “From what I can tell, the Astra aren’t exactly nomadic.”  

“Uh,” Jungeun frowned at where they were, “we’re on this continent. And,” she narrowed her eyes. 

“That way,” Jinsoul said, pointing her spoon. “It’s a two nights’ walk, I think.” 

Choerry looked between her and Jungeun. “Aren’t you the one who’s been lunar longer?” 

The fire elf laughed. “I just follow the light now. Once you know how to see it, that’s all you’ll need.” 

Choerry looked to Jinsoul. “Is that true, or does she just let you lead the way?” 

Jinsoul smiled. “Both.” 

Jungeun sat down beside Jinsoul then. The air around Jinsoul warmed almost immediately. Had she even known she was cold? Or was she just warming the air up for all three of them? 

“She also knows where the river flows, and I have no idea about any of that.” Jungeun glanced at her, a slight playfulness there. 

Jinsoul looked back to Choerry, glad to see her more relaxed. There was even a smile tugging at the corner of . “Can I ask what your magic is exactly?” She knew the effects, but was that everything? 

She looked surprised, before nodding twice. “Plants and dirt is the simple way to say it, but, well,” she put a hand on the ground, frowning for a bit, “there’s a lot.” A flower rose from the ground, blooming immediately. On the rocks around the fire, moss grew. The trees leaned over, but their branches parted, revealing more of the night sky. 

“Wow,” Jinsoul felt herself grinning, “is navigation also included there?”

Choerry smiled. “It will be once I’ve been there.” Then the expression faltered. 

“Do you want to?” Jinsoul asked. 

She quirked a brow at that. “What?” 

Jinsoul looked to Jungeun, before meeting Choerry’s eyes again. “Do you want to go there?” 

“I don’t have a choice,” Choerry said, a bit more harshly. “I’m a hazard until I know how to control it. Even then I’ll still be a risk.” 

“You can choose,” Jungeun replied. “We’ll teach you what we can. If you don’t want to be among the Astra, you don’t have to be.” 

Choerry frowned. “And what, you’ll just stay away from camp? I learn slow.” She looked at the ground. The expression in her eyes was familiar. 

Jinsoul immediately wished she could say something to get rid of it. “We have time.” 

She shook her head. “And after that? I can’t go anywhere else,” she bit her lip, “and I wouldn’t go back home.” Tears were building in her eyes. 

Jinsoul nearly reached out, but thought better of it. “We’d figure that out once we got there.” 

“Why’re you’re even offering me that?” Choerry asked. “What would the Astra think if they sent you out, just for one person—maybe both of you—to be training someone outside side of your camp?” 

“Wouldn’t really matter.” Jungeun shrugged. “But you could get to camp in a few days, turn around, and get to somewhere else that might be safe. You could leave after ten years, or a hundred. Whenever you wanted to.” 

“Did you ever want to?” Choerry looked both hopeful and hesitant. 

Jinsoul hadn’t asked that, at least not like this. Not that directly.  

“A few times,” Jungeun nodded, “but my life there, it—“ Her gaze grew distant. She pressed her lips together. “It’s the right one."

Choerry looked at her for a long moment. Then she looked at Jinsoul. “How’s it look after, well, however long you’ve been there?” 

“Ten years,” Jinsoul said. She should’ve expected that the girl would ask this. She had no idea what to say. She couldn’t tell her she’d just accepted it, not when Jungeun had said what she had. 

And it wasn’t exactly true either. 

She could feel Jungeun’s eyes on her. When she looked up, her red eyes were both encouraging and ever so slightly uncertain, as if she wasn’t sure what Jinsoul would say. 

Be honest, Jungeun seemed to say with the smallest of nods. 

“I’m still trying to find what’s right for me there,” Jinsoul said, pulling her eyes away from Jungeun. “It’s not home yet, but it’s,” she paused. She thought of the many meals had around the fire, the laughter and simple feeling of ease she’d been starting to get there. She still went to the sea and felt that ease ten times more, but it wasn’t as painful to leave the sea either. “I’ll be happy there.” 

Choerry was quiet for a long time. It felt like she was overturning each word they’d said in her head. She was very clearly young, much younger than them, but there was still an intensity to her gaze. 

Jinsoul looked away, letting her think it over. Maybe she’d change her mind tomorrow, or even later tonight. They wouldn’t know. 

All they could hope was that Choerry would give them the chance to teach her how to use the light. After that, they’d have to let her do whatever she wanted. If she didn’t want to be among the Astra, then neither Jungeun or Jinsoul would be allowed to force her to stay. 

And then Choerry nodded, deflating slightly. “I’ll see what it’s like there.” 

Beside her, Jinsoul felt Jungeun relax ever so slightly. She knew that if she looked at her, she’d see barely concealed relief in her eyes. She knew she probably wasn’t hiding it as well in her own. 

“Relax,” Choerry laughed lightly, “I’m not gonna run away from you.” She frowned at the direction they’d come from. “I’m not going off on my own until I know how to survive for at least a week.” 

Jungeun frowned. “I think we’d get you to a month.” 

“Two,” Jinsoul added. 

She looked between both of them, rolling her eyes slightly. “You’d think the two of you would be agreeing with each other about this.” 

Jungeun chuckled softly. “And once we do agree, we’ll make sure you’ll be managing a lot longer than that.” She gave her a small smile. She didn’t say it, but that expression said, trust me. 

Jinsoul watched as Choerry gave another short nod, looking a bit more relaxed than she had all evening. 

______

“I like her,” Jungeun said, her words breaking the silence of the night. 

Jinsoul had been dozing. She straightened. 

A small chuckle. “Did I wake you?” She nodded at the tent. “I did say I’d have the first watch.”

“We’re both nocturnal,” Jinsoul muttered. “We’ll be doing all watches.” 

They were quiet for a few moments then. Jinsoul absorbed some more light from the moon. It woke her up again. Properly. 

“She’s honest,” Jinsoul replied. “Except for the name part.”

Jungeun huffed. “Yeah. It’s a good strategy. If she’d ended up running, we wouldn’t have technically been able to find her again.” Then she sighed. “Do we tell her that the seers could do it anyway?” 

Jinsoul shook her head. “That just makes it all worse. If she does end up wanting to leave.” 

“You’re right.” She nodded. “All we can do is just keep the Astra in a good light, but also keep it obvious that it’s not all easy.” Then she straightened. “Or I can, if you don’t want to. I just thought that since, well—”

“We’ll both do this,” Jinsoul told her. She almost reached out again, but held back. “It also makes sense, since she’s coming into a situation a little more like mine than yours.” She glanced back at the tent. She heard no movement. “And I think she’d like me even less if I didn’t get involved.” 

Jungeun then turned to face her completely. “I don’t think so,” she said. “She’d just not like you as fast as she would me.” She winked, but there was still a seriousness behind that expression. 

Jinsoul focused on the fire instead. “You want to say something else. Just go ahead and say it.”

“She’s not afraid of you,” Jungeun said. “And enough time has passed that she doesn’t completely hate the water. You saw how she let you put water here, right?” She pointed at her neck. “Even if it’s a bandage, I don’t let anyone do that for me.” 

Would you let me? Jinsoul nearly asked. She forced the question out of her head immediately. “I know, but you saw the way she looked at me.” 

“She's trying to find a reason not to trust us,” Jungeun said. “She’ll keep doing that, because she wants another reason not to stay.” She grimaced. “You’d have been an easy way out. Me too.” She frowned slightly. 

“She’s already warming up to you,” she told her. It’s hard not to. 

Jungeun gave her a look. “Warming up?” she repeated. 

Jinsoul smiled. “I couldn’t resist,” she said. “But I meant that. She’s already starting to trust you.” 

“It’s been a day. Less than that.”

“But you saved her life,” Jinsoul replied. 

“I didn’t save her life. We did, but those spirits weren’t going to get through the tree either.” 

“You were honest with her,” Jinsoul added. “I think that’s probably the most important thing for her right now.” 

Jungeun shrugged. She wasn’t going to argue with her, but she also didn’t believe it. 

Jinsoul fought a sigh. 

“So do you wanna teach her how to summon the light?” Jungeun asked. “Should I? Do we swap?” 

“I’m not really a good teacher.” 

“Neither am I,” she laughed quietly, “but Haseul’ll have a hard time getting through to her. At least for the first few weeks, so we’re what she’ll have if she wants to leave camp.” 

Jinsoul sighed this time. “No pressure.”

Jungeun’s smile was bright. “I know.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how Seul did it.” The look in her eyes was proud. It usually was when she talked about the green-eyed elf. “She just,” a small sigh, “managed to figure out how to do it along the way.”

She nudged her shoulder with her own. “I’m pretty sure you did too,” she said. “I’m still here, aren’t I?” 

Her smile softened. “True, but at the start you didn’t even know if you were allowed to leave. I didn’t either.” 

“If I’d really wanted to,” Jinsoul started, “then I would’ve.” 

Jungeun nodded. “I know.” She started looking away again. Jinsoul knew that meant she was looking for spirits. She also knew she wanted an excuse not to look her in the eyes. “I thought you were going to.” 

Jinsoul didn’t say anything. Jungeun hadn’t acted like that in the beginning. She’d talked to her and treated her like she was there to stay. So had the rest .

Then Jungeun laughed, but it sounded strained. “Sorry, not the way to start thinking about the newcomer either, is it?” 

“It might be possible,” Jinsoul said. “But I hope she doesn’t.” 

She nodded again, but there was still a lot of uncertainty left. 

“For how long did you think I’d leave?”

Jungeun’s eyes widened slightly. Clearly, she’d thought they’d dropped the subject. “Uh,” she glanced at her before looking at the fire, “it was probably just a gradual thing? After a year, I stopped wondering what day you’d be leaving.” A small chuckle. “And when it got to five years, I was pretty sure you were staying.” 

“Funny,” Jinsoul smiled, “I knew I was staying within half a year.” 

She looked at her properly then. “Really?” 

Jinsoul nodded. 

Her brow rose and the corner of her lip tugged up. “That’s good.” broke into a proper smile then. “Great actually.” 

Jinsoul almost asked her how long it’d taken for her, but a part of her didn’t. Choerry would probably end up asking anyway. 

And she also had an idea for the answer, but also the way Jungeun would probably look when she started to explain it. 

So instead, she asked, “you’re warm enough, right?” 

Jungeun looked confused for a moment, before laughing. “Toasty.”

“Good,” Jinsoul inched a bit closer to the fire, “because you won’t look nearly as cool if she sees how sick you get when it’s chilly.”

A soft laugh was the response. 

Jinsoul couldn’t help but smile when she heard it. 

______

Choerry had slept until mid afternoon. Jinsoul had almost gone to wake her, but Jungeun had held her back. 

"We do want her to like us, don't we?" She'd smiled. "And neither of us know if she's a morning person yet."

When Choerry had woken up, Jinsoul's skin was uncomfortably warm from the sun. She'd been out during the day plenty of times, but her skin was getting more sensitive to the sunlight. 

They started walking in the direction of the camp. Choerry didn't speak much to either of them, but she didn't walk behind them. Instead she was off to the side, pulling on the trees as she walked past. Bird calls greeted them and Jinsoul almost wondered if Choerry could also speak to animals. 

Choerry didn't make any sounds in response, but she did smile when she spotted the birds. The smile quickly left her face and she glanced there way. It was almost as if she didn't want them to see any of that. She stopped pulling on the nature around her after that. 

Jungeun tried to talk like she normally did, but after the first hour, she stopped as well. Instead she started playing with fire, letting it loop around her hands. Maybe that was one thing the two had in common. 

They kept walking. The sun set and the moon rose. Jinsoul felt the relief she felt with the night. She wondered if that coziness she'd started feeling in the night had always been there, or if it'd only come when the night came. Except when it was completely dark, she'd never been scared of the night. 

And then Choerry finally spoke. "I want to learn how," she said. "At least the start of it." 

Jungeun stopped walking. Jinsoul did as well. 

"It starts with finding where your magic'll come from," Jungeun said. Her voice had already shifted into something Jinsoul was so used to hearing from mentors. She'd been ready for this. Had she known Choerry would wait until nightfall? 

Choerry frowned. "Isn't it right there?" She pointed at the moon. 

"Yeah," Jungeun nodded, "but the light comes through us first. We have to be able to absorb it and then we can use it. I can't just pull on the light and make it into something immediately." 

The frown deepened. "That doesn't make any sense to me."

"Fire needs air to burn," Jungeun said. "Plants need the earth to grow. Moonlight reaches us first. Then we can use it." 

Choerry raised a brow. "And what do I to get that? Absorb it?" She looked at the moon, both frustrated and confused. 

“Focus on a part of you. Everyone has a piece that’s more tied to the light than others.” She motioned between her and Jinsoul. “We both have a little bit in our eye, but hers is in her head, while mine is,” she touched her side, “my liver?” She looked at her. 

“So an organ,” Choerry finished. 

“Others have their hands,” Jungeun replied. “Or leg. It could be anything.” 

Choerry snorted then. “Anything?” She raised a brow. "Has it really been like that?" 

Jinsoul watched as Jungeun started to blush. “Not that way,” she muttered. “But if you’re the first, I won’t spread it around.” 

“I’m not,” Choerry said. “Just checked.” 

Jinsoul snorted. “I can think of at least ten people who’d have sent you to guard duty for that.”

“And five who would’ve loved it," Jungeun added, sighing slightly. 

Choerry looked between the two of them. “I don’t usually talk that way,” she then smiled, a bit embarrassed, “but anyone would’ve seen that coming.” 

“Anyway,” Jungeun lifted a hand in Jinsoul’s direction to stop her, “there’ll be a part of you that has more light than the rest of you.” 

Jinsoul summoned a piece of light, feeling her eye warm. 

Choerry glanced at it, then the light, before looking back at Jinsoul. 

“Once you’ve found that tie to the light, it’ll be like having a new lens to see through,” Jinsoul said. “Jungeun told me to use my magic at the same time. There’s some kind of connection there.”

Choerry raised a brow, but nodded. “Makes sense. It’s all our magic anyway.” The trees leaned over to them. “Make sure to duck, just in case.” 

“In case of what?” Jungeun was eying the trees. 

“My hand slips.” Choerry winked, before closing her eyes. 

“Was that a threat?” Jungeun looked Jinsoul’s way. 

“Probably.” 

“I can hear both of you, you know,” Choerry said. “I’m not thinking that hard yet.” 

A few minutes passed. The trees weren’t creaking, even though Choerry had pulled them to bend almost completely over them. The branches looked more like eels than sticks as they swayed in the air. Jinsoul became more and more aware of how powerful Choerry’s abilities were. 

The ground also felt like it was close to collapsing, but even when Jinsoul pressed her foot down, it didn’t give way. She could just feel that Choerry’s magic was there, ready to act. 

Jungeun gasped. 

And then Jinsoul saw it. The way that the flowers rising from the soil started to glow, as if their petals held the light. She watched the leaves of some trees also start glowing. The cracks in the earth began to glow, as if filling with light. 

“I got it!” Choerry laughed. It was a musical sound. Her eyes opened, one of them was purple now. She was grinning. “I can feel it too.” Then her eyes widened as she looked at them. “Is that normal?” She pointed at them. “The light in you." Awe filled her eyes. "There’s so much.”

“It builds with time,” Jungeun nodded, “the Astra are born with all of it, but we have to get the rest of the light.”

“And then,” she frowned at them, “it becomes yours? Not just the moon? Or stays the moon’s?” 

Jungeun looked confused. She glanced at Jinsoul. “Does it?”

“I think it’s ours,” Jinsoul said. “But even if someone ends up using too much, once they absorb the light again, it becomes theirs again.” She shrugged. “No idea how it works, but it does.”

“Okay,” Choerry said. She smiled again. Then she looked around them, blinking a few times. “Did I do that?” She pointed at the glowing leaves. 

They both nodded. 

“Wow.” She knelt down by a flower. It bloomed. The stem started to glow then. “Does the light do anything to it?”

“Probably,” Jinsoul said. “I didn’t use it yesterday, because the injuries weren’t all that bad.” She took out a waterskin and drew some water out. She watched for a reaction, but Choerry didn’t flinch this time. She just looked at the water with interest. 

She let the water form a ball above her hand. Then she infused it with light. 

Choerry immediately stood, watching it. “Can I?” She lifted a hand to it. When Jinsoul nodded, she hesitantly touched it. “It’s warm?” Then she frowned. “And is the light supposed to make me feel,” she looked at her arms, “different?”

“Different how?” Jungeun asked. “Calm? Dizzy?”

“Energised,” she replied. “Not weirdly, but it’s still weird.” She pulled her hand away. “Does that make sense?”

Jungeun chuckled. “Definitely.” 

“Can you do the same thing?” 

Flames bloomed on Jungeun’s hand, so much brighter than normal. The orange was joined by countless tendrils of light. 

“But it’s not like Jinsoul’s. All that changes about mine is that I can use the fire on spirits,” Jungeun said. “But yours might actually end up being more like hers.” She looked at the leaves. “If there’s a change to them.”

Choerry turned to her then. “And what does it do?”

“It enhances the healing magic more. Takes away pain even better than the water does.” Jinsoul shrugged. “And I don’t have to cast as many healing runes.”

“Does it change anything when you drink it?” 

Jinsoul could feel how her surprise spread across her own face. “Drink it?”

Choerry tilted her head, confusion making its way across hers. “You never thought about drinking it?”

“Uh,” Jinsoul stared at the ball of water, “no?”

Choerry looked as if she was contemplating whether or not to laugh. 

Jungeun was looking between the two of them, clearly torn between saying something and just watching. 

“You should try it,” Choerry said. “I could try it.” 

Jinsoul frowned. “You haven’t even absorbed light yet, at least not on purpose.” And she had no idea how it would feel to drink the water like that. What if it was stronger? 

She smiled. “So how do I do it?” There was a glimmer of a challenge there. 

Jungeun held out a piece of light. “Could be an intuitive thing, or you have to actually pull on it,” she shrugged, “from what I’ve seen, it depends.”

Choerry immediately took it. Was it recklessness? Or was she just eager to get the answers to her questions? It felt like she had a lot of enthusiasm, but still had a lot of it barred off. Would it change once she trusted them? If she trusted them? 

She looked at it for a long time, brow furrowing. Then the moonlight melted into her skin. Her eyes glowed brighter. Her expression relaxed. 

“I’ve felt this before,” Choerry said. “Only really in the past few weeks.”

“When you were using your magic?” Jinsoul asked. 

She nodded, before looking confused again. “Did that happen to you too?”

“Whenever I was distracted, the light got into the water,” she said. “I didn’t like it.”

“Why not?” Choerry asked. “Did it scare you?”

“It was a reminder,” Jinsoul replied. “That I’d have to leave.” 

She looked away then, the excitement from before gone. Jinsoul felt guilty that she was the reason for it. 

“I ended up figuring it out,” Choerry said. “And then they told me to leave.” Her expression closed off then. 

Jinsoul started to get angry at Choerry’s people. Yes, they might’ve been scared and maybe the Astra had told them that she’d have a place, but the way it’d been done—everything that could have gone wrong seemed to have gone terribly. 

“Woah,” Choerry was looking at her, “I just saw something shift. Is that normal?” 

“Was it grey?” Jinsoul asked. 

She gave a slow nod. Her eyes drifted to Jungeun. “You have it too.” Then she raised a brow. “Is this because of what happened? You’re both angry? That shadow in the light’s anger?”

“Yes and no,” Jungeun said. “We don’t exactly see any emotions, but we see if there’s a shift, something between the negative and positive emotions?” She shook her head. “Some people learn to really see the differences, but it takes a lot of time.” 

Choerry looked at the ground, then the flowers that had sprung up. Then she crouched down again, putting her hand around the flower. She concentrated on it, before sighing slightly. Then she took a deep breath, gasped, and then started coughing. 

Jungeun lightly patted her back. 

“I’m fine,” she rasped. “Just choked on air.”

“Good job.” 

Choerry gave her a glare, but it lacked most of the intimidation she’d probably wanted. “Either way, I did it.” She put a hand to the ground, breathing in. The light slowly left the earth, making her fingers glow. “It’s amazing,” she whispered. 

“You said you’re a slow learner,” Jinsoul said. “From what I’m seeing, this’s pretty na—you’re doing better than I did.” 

Choerry laughed softly. “Maybe now, but it’ll probably look different once things get complicated.” 

“More complicated than growing plants from a seed?" Jungeun asked. "Getting trees to bend and the branches to stretch like they do?” She raised a brow. “Compared to summoning light, you’ll manage.” 

“Shaping it’ll be hard for me,” she said. “The plants,” she sighed, “it took years to get a seed to sprout. I wouldn’t have known if I could control something else if my emotions didn’t get tied into all this.” She looked at the trees. They slowly went back into place. “I don’t know how it’ll be.” 

“We’ll show you,” Jinsoul replied. “And it’ll work.” 

Choerry looked at her for a long time. Her brow was furrowed, but there was a little bit of hope in her eyes. It was growing, but confusion came along too. “Why’re you bothering with any of this?” she asked. “You don’t know who I am. You don’t have to help me.” 

“We don’t,” Jinsoul agreed. She thought of what had greeted Jungeun when she’d come to the ocean the first time. How difficult Jinsoul had made it for her. She hadn’t realised what that’d meant until now. Choerry wasn’t even difficult to deal with. She didn’t look at Jinsoul with hate even though the water had once almost killed her. She didn’t look at Jungeun the way Jinsoul once had either. “But we’re both like you, we both had to leave our homes.” 

“I know,” Choerry said. “But you don’t even know if I’m worth that trouble. The time, the work, it’ll be worth nothing if I leave.” Her lower lip trembled. 

Something tightened around Jinsoul’s heart then. She could already feel the tears forming in Choerry’s eyes. 

“Yes it will,” Jinsoul told her. “You’ll be able to defend yourself, turn them if you can. You’ll be safe.” 

“And I should believe that actually matters?” Choerry asked. “The Astra want us in the same place. Is that really done to teach us how to defend ourselves? They told me the lunar elves wanted to save face and that’s why they don’t want us outside of their camp.”

“Maybe some think that,” Jinsoul replied. “But I know that’s not all of them. The reality is that if we’re out there untrained, we’ll attract spirits and we won’t be able to protect anyone. We learn how to use our magic, and we can.” She paused. “You could too, if you left.” 

She looked away, back down at the ground. Jinsoul could still feel the pull of her magic on it. Was it because she was upset? Was it the confusion? 

“That still doesn’t answer my first question,” Choerry said. “Why do you even care what happens? There’s other people who’d do that, you have everyone who taught the other Astra.” She scoffed. “Do they not want to teach the ones like us? Or are we just that different from the full Astra?”

“I told you,” Jinsoul put a hand on her arm, “we aren’t half of anything.” 

Choerry’s eyes were on her hand. 

She pulled it away. “When Jungeun came there, she had people to teach her.” She didn’t mention the fires they’d had her make for them. “When I came, I had Jungeun and those same people.” She also didn’t mention what she’d thought of Jungeun at first. That would come later. “And you’ll have us.” 

The flowers sank back into the ground then. Choerry sat down. She was staring at the earth.

“Yerim,” she said then. 

“Yerim?” Jinsoul repeated. 

“That’s my name.” 

Jinsoul smiled. “Thank you.” 

Yerim just nodded. She looked tired. 

When Jinsoul looked to Jungeun, the rest of what she might’ve said left her head completely. 

Jungeun was smiling at her, her eyes shining. 

She felt another pang in her chest just looking at her. It was one she recognised. Had she used too much light today? They’d had to deal with some spirits. The ache usually came after they’d fought something. Other times it came just around the fire. 

She ignored it when Jungeun just nodded at her, that look still in her eyes. It reminded her of a sunrise. 

Jinsoul looked away. 

______

Author's Note 

It's so nice to write OEC here. Yerim's character is also one that went through some change, so finally writing out her character is really great now. The dynamic between Jinsoul and Jungeun isn't what they have later on, but it's definitely changed. I can tell you now, I've been very happy to write that out. 

I'm hoping to get another chapter done soon, but I have no guarantees. When uni starts again, I'll be swamped with a lot of things to do for a good three weeks. Writing is my stress relief, but editing takes me more time than it should.

Let me know your thoughts! Reading the comments for the last chapter was so nice, thank you so much for all supporting this story. It means a lot. 

I hope you're all doing well. See you next chapter.