“Is everybody okay?” Jinki tried to make himself heard over the rushing of the river the three of them had fallen into. At least, a river was the faerie’s best guess as to where they currently were. It was deep and cold and moving rapidly. It was also extremely dark and incredibly loud, so he was also busy trying not to panic as he thought of how he could possibly find Kibum and Minho once he realized he was alone. His mate wasn’t the strongest swimmer in human form and he had no way of knowing how good the full human was. He himself was competent enough when it was calm, but this was a nightmare of fluid.

  “KIBUM! MINHO! CAN YOU HEAR ME!” Jinki kept screaming over and over whenever he managed to get far enough out of the water to make an effort, but he knew he was wasting his breath. He was already exhausted and freezing, and could feel panic rising despite his best efforts not to. Out of desperation, he closed his eyes and tried to do something he hadn’t in he wasn’t sure how long, shift to his true form. For a moment nothing happened, but then with a massive jolt of pain he found himself shrunk, with his strong wings already forcing him out of the river and into the air above. To his relief and delight, his old magic was truly working as his knapsack had shrunk to fit his tinier form, and he was also able to form a light between his hands in order to help his search. He couldn’t see the others, but he noticed a piece of string attached to his left ankle. With the help of his light, he was able to follow it to the surface of the water, where Ball seemed not to be floating as he had expected, but rather still rolling as though it were on dry land, though more slowly than it had before.

  Praying that Ball knew where the others were and was leading him to them, Jinki began to follow it, flying close enough he didn’t have to strain hard to see it, but high enough he wouldn’t get splashed by the waves. It now seemed less like a river and more like an ocean, though there had been no taste of salt. Was there such a thing as a freshwater ocean? he found himself wondering as he flew after his guide, who somehow seemed more confident it knew where it was going. It definitely wasn’t a lake. He’d never heard of any natural body of fresh water having such strong currents or high waves, even the largest. But he was also sure wherever they were wasn’t natural, at least by the rules of the world he and the others lived in so he supposed it could simply be an enormous lake. It wasn’t like he and Kibum were considered natural either, but they were air and land supernatural species respectively and operated by biological laws that managed to be compatible with all sorts of worlds. Minho however was natural according to the world he lived in, and the faerie sincerely hoped the human would be safe from whatever they were facing. At least Kibum had ways of defending himself, and as they were mate-bonded each could tell if the other was hurt. He had that comfort that Kibum wasn’t injured, at least yet. He didn’t know about the human however and that worried him. Minho wanted to help the mated pair, and instead may have already drowned.

  Finally, Ball seemed as excited as a sentient ball of string could be and started moving faster. It also seemed to be pulling Jinki along, and before long he was able to dimly spot the beautiful sight of his mate in full gumiho-incubus form draped in front of Minho as he sat on the back of a, the faerie blinked, not sure if he was truly understanding what had [probably] come to their rescue. Were his mate and their companion really riding on the back of a giant glow-in-the-dark fish?

  “BALL! THERE YOU ARE! WERE YOU ABLE TO… JINKI! IT FOUND YOU!” Minho yelled happily as the faerie neared the others, finally settling onto the human’s shoulder as Kibum seemed to be passed out currently. Minho let go with one hand from where he was holding onto the gumiho-incubus’ knapsack long enough to scoop Ball out of the water, giving it a few good squeezes to get out most of the water it was soaked with as it unwrapped itself from Jinki’s ankle and wound itself up completely before tucking it into his shirt pocket and taking a firm grip on the gumiho-incubus once again.

  “I’m so relieved Ball was able to track you down. Kibum and I landed near each other, and I’m afraid he swallowed a lot of water before he thought to try his real form as a Hail Mary. I’m almost completely positive he’ll be fine. He’s just tired is all. I’m a good swimmer, but those waves are rough and cold and I had a really hard time trying to keep his head above water, even after he discovered his form-changing ability worked here. Ball led this fish to us before rolling off, and all we could do was hope it went looking for you. Now we hope this fish leads us to the shore or next world or wherever we’re supposed to go.”

  Jinki made himself as comfortable as he could on Minho’s shoulder and tried to relax as he rested, though his wings still fluttered nervously. He didn’t like the fact that they were currently at the mercy of a creature they probably couldn’t communicate with, though the thought finally occurred to him that he could try his telepathy since he doubted a fish would have the physical capability of speech, even if it understood them. The true beauty of speaking mind to mind however was the fact that there were no language barriers since it was concepts, not words being exchanged. Each brain involved then formed those concepts into a form that the being receiving them could understand. He just wished it was a universal ability.

  Hello? Fish, do you understand me? Jinki thought cautiously. He didn’t really have a lot of hope since so many beings couldn’t do it, but after a minute he felt something utterly foreign struggling in his mind that eventually became

  Fly speak head?

Yes! I am Jinki. Who are you?

Jinki, who was afraid the concept was too complicated for the fish but had no idea how to make it simpler, had nearly given up on getting an answer when he finally received I Glow. Who spider and wolf?

Realizing they must not have humans, gumiho-incubi, or faeries in this world, Jinki decided not to try and correct Glow’s perception and simply answered, Spider is Minho, Wolf is Kibum. It is nice to meet you Glow. Thank you for helping us.

  Glow must have been getting more used to how Jinki’s telepathy worked, since this time it didn’t take quite so long before Jinki and Jinki’s mates male or female? Glow male, male mate Shine at home with eggs from dead friends. Raise when hatch to be strong like dead parents.

Jinki, Kibum, Minho male. Only Kibum is Jinki’s mate.

Minho Jinki and Kibum’s mate Glow seemed quite firm on this and Jinki didn’t want to argue that Minho was their friend at best so let the fish continue. Why Jinki and mates not home with eggs?

Jinki and Kibum have no eggs, only curse. Minho is helping find cure after would-be female mate mated with other males and was going to trick Minho into raising another male’s egg.

Minho will want to raise many eggs after mates’ curse gone. Minho, Jinki, and Kibum will be very busy and very happy with large family. Almost to dirt now. Will find next cave hole soon. Glow will carry til not enough water, then return home to Shine and eggs before hot ball hurt Glow.

  The conversation lapsed as Glow continued to glide through the gradually calming water while Jinki thought over everything the fish had said. He and his mate had never seriously considered children since neither was capable of giving birth to one, and with the curse they couldn’t even consider adopting. Plus, Kibum didn’t trust himself not to raise a child the way he’d been, and Jinki didn’t know the first thing about any type of normal parenthood. He was royal and had been raised accordingly. As for Minho, well the faerie just didn’t know. As caring as he’d shown so far, Jinki was fairly certain Minho would be a wonderful father. Maybe as a thank you after the human did whatever he was supposed to in order to help them, he and Kibum could help Minho find a nice human wife so he could have that family he wanted so badly.

  Glow must leave Jinki and mates here. Hot ball about to come, and sand hurt Glow too Jinki was startled a moment as Glow interrupted his thoughts, but he quickly recovered. He noticed the sky was starting to get lighter, soft shades of purple and green in what must be Glow’s world’s version of sunrise. The fish seemed slightly agitated, so the faerie tugged Minho’s ear to get his attention.

  “Glow says the water is getting too shallow for him, and the sun will harm him so you and Kibum will have to walk the rest of the way. He says the shore isn’t far, and neither is the next door. At least I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant. There were a lot of our words I just don’t think he had an equivalent for but he did the best he could. He also wants to hurry home to his mate and their eggs.”

  “Glow? Who is Glow?”

  Jinki smacked himself in the forehead. “I forgot you didn’t know. Glow is the name of the fish. We were communicating telepathically, like how Kibum and I do in our animal forms. Some of our demon friends can do it too.”

  “Uh, sure. Well tell, er Glow I said thank you for the ride and I’ll see if I can get the soggy bundle of fur to wake up.”

  Jinki flew off Minho’s shoulder as the human carefully slid off Glow’s back. He shook Kibum and called his name, but couldn’t seem to get the gumiho-incubus to respond so just hefted him into his arms and slowly started wading through the waist-high water toward what the faerie could now dimly make out must be the shoreline.

  Thank you Glow for the ride. Safe journey back to your mate and eggs. As short a time as he’d known him, Jinki knew he’d miss the fish who lifted a fin in what was undeniably a farewell.

  Safe journey to your happiness Jinki and Jinki’s mates and with that, Glow slowly turned around and headed back out into deeper water, while the faerie flew off after Minho and Kibum, who still had his eyes closed but was undeniably awake.

  You know, you could let Minho know and go back to your human form so he could put you down Beloved.

  And get soaking wet again? No thank you. I’m just starting to dry out now. I hope the next world or room or whatever to call it isn’t another water level. I’m beginning to think House operates on some sort of bizarre videogame moon logic.

  Well, we were told “impossible journey” and this certainly seems to qualify.

  Soon enough, the trio made it to what turned out to be a soft, sandy beach. Minho then unceremoniously dumped Kibum onto his paws, which made the gumiho-incubus growl softly.

  “Look Princess, I carried you so you wouldn’t have to get drenched again, but that’s it. You’re awake and rested, and not coughing so I’m pretty sure you’re fine. Now, kindly choose a form that will actually be helpful right now so we can gather firewood so we can dry out and rest properly before continuing on. We’re all cold and tired and I don’t know about you two but I’m hungry after hauling your furry through the water twice and holding onto you so you didn’t slide off Glow’s back, so no ing right now, please.”

  Jinki nearly had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at his mate getting scolded as he tested his magic again. Relieved he could in fact go to his human form, he slipped his knapsack off his back and peeked inside, crowing in delight at finding their spare clothes dry. He pulled out sweaters, pants, thermal underwear, wool socks, and hiking boots for each of them as the wind had picked up and everyone was shivering.

  “Oh good. There looks like there’s some driftwood or something a little further up the beach and I’m pretty sure that smudge is a copse of trees that I’m hoping will have deadwood since we don’t know the rules of this world and I want a campfire but not at the expense of anything living. This spot seems safe enough to rest for a while. We’ll be able to see anything coming, and if we build in the sand we shouldn’t cause any unnecessary damage.” Minho unashamedly stripped and shook as much water out of his hair as possible before starting to get dressed, much to Jinki’s and from the look on his face Kibum’s shock.

  Holy Elders! He’s even more beautiful than I imagined! Jinki could feel a full body blush starting as he quickly stripped off his wet things and pulled on his dry clothes, only to look over at Kibum who had walked a little way away and was now vigorously shaking himself dry before shifting back to his () human form despite being perfectly capable of changing forms with clothing the same way he did and unabashedly staring at their companion, who was still shirtless but seemed amused.

  “You two like what you see?” Minho asked, flexing. “I’ve never been one for men, but I have to admit you guys aren’t so bad looking yourselves. I half-expected the Princess to be all soft under his shirt but there is muscle under there isn’t there? And he does have gorgeous skin as well as eyes. As for you Jinki, I was expecting you to be built because you can fly, but I don’t think I was expecting that. The human gestured toward the front of the faerie’s pants, causing him to nearly topple over in surprise at Minho’s boldness.

  “Apparently male faerie royalty is always hung like a horse, but Jinki more than most” Kibum replied, striding over to grab his own clothes. The faerie was expecting his mate to stake his claim since he’d always had a tendency to act jealous whenever anyone complimented him in the slightest, but the gumiho-incubus only dressed quickly before rummaging around in his own knapsack for food and cooking supplies.

  “I thought we had the stuff to make stew. It won’t be as good as with fresh food, but it’ll be edible” Kibum stated with a note of satisfaction in his voice. “Now we just need wood and a small firepit. I’m probably the best digger so I can handle that part if you two muscle men want to get the wood.”

  “As you wish Princess” Minho said with an exaggerated bow, actually taking Kibum’s hand and kissing it before picking up his hatchet and a length of rope.

  “Yell if you need us Beloved” Jinki told his mate, kissing him softly before following the human to see what they could find.

  It took longer than expected for the faerie and human to locate enough wood they were sure would burn and wouldn’t affect anything if they took, but finally they agreed on the amount for their best guess at how long they’d be staying at their little camp. After bundling everything up and tying it with the rope, Jinki and Minho hoisted the load onto their shoulders and after a few missteps were able to match their strides well enough to head back to Kibum, who had been rather busy in their absence. Not only had the gumiho-incubus dug a firepit away from the water but not too near what turned out to be deep purple grass, but had formed a nest in the sand big enough for the three of them and lined it with their blankets with their tarp shook out and waiting, draped out their wet things to dry, and was now standing there waiting with his arms crossed, large spoon in one hand and fire-starting kit in the other.

  “Sorry Beloved, but a lot of the wood didn’t seem suitable so it took longer than we expected” Jinki apologized as he and Minho set down their load with a grunt. The human however said nothing, quickly untying the bundle and building a sturdy-looking campfire before impatiently gesturing for the fire-starting kit still in Kibum’s hand. Rolling his eyes, the gumiho-incubus handed it over only to jump back when Minho snatched it and immediately struck a match. To everyone’s surprise, the wood caught immediately and they were soon huddled together to try and get themselves less freezing as the odd-colored sun that had appeared was providing them with no warmth.

  “Glow called that thing the hot ball and said it would hurt him, but I think it’s broken” Jinki finally spoke, fluttering his wings slightly.

  “How much would it really take though? If he’s used to being underwater since he’s, you know a fish it would probably take hardly anything. I’m also wondering if it’s not late autumn or early winter or spring in this world. As cold as it was, the water was warmer than the air” Minho commented, finally standing up from where he’d been fussing over the fire. “Okay Princess, I think this thing is almost ready to cook on.”

  “My hero, my Prince” Kibum retorted sarcastically, hands clutched to his chest before shooing Jinki and Minho away from the fire. “Go be manly somewhere else while I do something useful. Unless, you’d rather not have a hot dinner before bed.”

  As though he knew there was no arguing with the gumiho-incubus while he was cooking, Minho dug out the lined jackets they’d packed, as well as beanies and fingerless gloves as the wind had picked up and it was getting colder.

  “Here Princess” the human said gently, quickly bundling Kibum, while Jinki got into his own warmer clothes and fought with the twin emotions of shame and jealousy that Minho was looking after Kibum, who had actually given him a smile and quick kiss on the cheek, when he should have been the one looking after his mate. He’d just assumed the gumiho-incubus would stop what he was doing, somehow managing to forget how absorbed Kibum was while cooking.

  “Come on Jinks” Minho said, coming up and slapping the faerie on the back to knock him out of his thoughts. “We picked up some decent branches among the deadwood and we have a thin clothesline I found with everything else. The tarp has grommets, so I want to see if we can jury rig some kind of tent over the nest to help block out more of the wind. The Princess dug pretty near that, what would you call that anyway?”

  “Ledge? I’m sure there is a real word but I can’t think of it if I ever even heard it.”

  “Eh, close enough. I think we might be able to use it to wedge that one long stick and build from there. What do you think?”

  “All we can do is try, right?”

 

  It took a few tries, but eventually Minho and Jinki figured out what to do, and ended up with a decent, low-lying windbreak so they wouldn’t be trying to sleep with constant whooshing in their ears and the odd light in their eyes. Since rocks seemed to be a scarce commodity where they currently were, they ended up improvising tent pegs out of small, sturdy sticks, and sand bags out of their lighter weight socks. Kibum had telepathically asked if it would be better for at least the two of them to go to their bird and fox forms for sleeping, but the mated pair had eventually come to the conclusion that A- they didn’t want to risk being stuck again since they had no way of knowing the rules governing their abilities, and B- it would probably be warmest for the three of them to snuggle together as humans. So, after Minho and Jinki put the finishing touches on “the castle fit for their Princess” as the human called it as he gestured to the gumiho-incubus, who had to remind himself several times that he did NOT in fact eat human livers, the trio gulped down Kibum’s delicious camp stew, digging their spoons directly into the pan in order to minimize what they would have to wash afterward. Then, while Minho volunteered to go to the water’s edge and scour everything with sand, the mates picked up everything else, packing away their belongings and breaking apart the fire that had died down til almost nothing, pounding the ashes fine with a couple sticks chosen for that purpose, letting the wind scatter them as they went completely cold, then burying the entire firepit area with displaced sand.

  “Other than us and the nest, it doesn’t look like anyone’s disturbed this area in a long time” Minho said approvingly, coming up with the clean dishes that Kibum quickly wiped and put away in their knapsack.

  “Good! Now we can sleep, and when we wake up all we have to do is break the nest down and put on our boots and bags. There was bread and sausage among the food, so I cut some into sandwiches and wrapped them for breakfast, along with some of the dried fruit for quick energy. The bundle is at the top of the food knapsack so we don’t have to hunt for it.”

  “What would we do without you Beloved?” Jinki asked rhetorically, kissing his mate on one cheek.

  “Probably starve. If that’s the Princess cooking with dried food over a campfire, I’d probably die of bliss when he cooked over a stove” Minho answered, startling the mates by kissing Kibum’s other cheek before shucking off his boots at the entrance to the nest before crawling inside.

  “Please you two, feel free to heap all the praise on me that I deserve” Kibum spoke, a big grin on his face to show he was joking before kicking off his own boots and joining Minho, which left Jinki to hand everyone’s boots in so they could be used to further weigh down the edges. At first it was freezing, but with the trio’s body heat the nest was soon bearable, made more so by the three of them snuggling under the thickest blankets, as close together as possible, the faerie in the middle as the gumiho-incubus volunteered that he was a natural furnace. So, on his side with his mate in his arms and Minho back-to-back with him, Jinki fell asleep in their strange new environment.