The sun was beginning to set over the mountain peak, but the group was still trudging steadily onward.  They had stopped briefly to eat their box lunches at around midday, and now the shadows cast by the overhanging ledges were beginning to get longer, stretching out across their path.  Every time they passed under one, Taemin would look up and glance around nervously, and make sure he didn’t stray too far from Minho’s side.

            “How much farther to the cave?” he asked anxiously, breaking the long-lasting silence.

            “It should be around here somewhere,” Minho assured him monotonously.  “It’s not like I come here often.”

            Taemin winced as they passed under yet another jutting ledge.  “I want to go home,” he whimpered, drawing his jacket around himself nervously.  Then he turned his attention to Onew.  “What is it that the dragon took from you, exactly?”

            Onew’s stomach did a weird flip at the question, but before he had a chance to reply, a loud crash rang in his ears, and the entire ground shook violently, nearly knocking all of them off their feet.  Onew was vaguely aware of something very large and gray falling from above, bouncing once inches away from Taemin, before continuing its destructive path down the mountain, but he didn’t bother to get a closer look as he threw himself around Yoogeun, crushing the tiny form underneath his own, hoping that whatever it was would be intimidated by his back, or at least uninterested enough to leave them alone.

            Taemin screamed and threw himself behind Minho.

            “Wh-what was that?” he cried, gripping his companion’s shoulders like a human shield.  Minho looked up at the ledge above them intensely, all senses alert.

            “Whatever it was, it was deliberate,” he said darkly.  “Onew, bring Yoogeun closer to us.  We need to be as small of a target as possible.”

            Onew obeyed without a second thought, holding the petrified toddler in his arms, drawing himself up to the other man’s side.  Minho continued to watch the ledge, which seemed to be producing an odd shuffling sound.  Then, a voice.

            “Whatever’s down there, I’m armed!  And dangerous, and… mad!  Yeah, I’m really, really angry right now!  So don’t mess with me!”

            The group huddled below exchanged a collective glance, before Onew tilted his head upwards and called out, “Um, we’re not here to cause trouble… we just want to-”

            “Wha–at?” a shrill exclamation interrupted him, and caused Minho to visibly cringe.  There was some more shuffling from above, and all of the sudden a head swung over the ledge, staring at the group upside-down.  “You mean you aren’t mountain trolls?”

            For a while no one could think of anything to say, and instead they all just stared at the wide-eyed face, their mouths hanging slightly open from the sheer fact that they genuinely hadn’t seen it coming. 

            Onew, for once, was the first to find his voice, and somehow managed to stutter through the shock, “U-uh, we just… we were just looking for- for, um, d-dragon’s cave.”

            A beat of silence followed.  Then, “You want to see the Earth Dragon?”

            Onew gave a tentative nod.  The face’s lips pursed; Onew noticed how glossy they were.

            “You better follow me, then,” it said, before swinging back up and out of sight.  Onew bit the inside of his cheek and looked at Minho and Taemin; Taemin looked absolutely terrified, his eyes the size of saucers and he chest heaving, whereas Minho looked wary, but he gave Onew a shrug.

            “Does anyone have a better option?” he asked quietly.  Onew looked down at Yoogeun, smoothing out the boy’s ruffled hair with the palm of his hand, before stepping out from under the ledge.  There was a stack of insecure-looking rocks climbing up the side of the mountainside, and Onew placed his foot on them hesitantly, finding them to be more stable than he had expected.  At the top, he waited for his companions before rising to his full height and turning to face the ledge.

            A boy of about his same age stood before him, a large wooden stick in one hand, the chilling breeze blowing through his dark, multicolored hair, billowing out his cutoff leather jacket.  Pink-and-black tiger striped skinny jeans hugged his legs and hips, and the area around the corner of his right eye was decorated elaborately with what appeared to be rhinestones.

            How contemporary, Onew thought despite himself, noting the multiple piercings in his left ear.  The boy looked like he belonged in a big city, not on a mountain all by himself.  He watched the boy look the group over, before motioning in the direction that led farther up the mountain.

            “C’mon,” was all he said, spinning on his heel, facial decoration glinting in the dying sun.  Onew glanced at his companions, before following.

            “You’re lucky I found you,” the boy called from a little ways ahead, not even sparing them a glance.  “Otherwise you would’ve been out here forever.”  He finally looked over his shoulder at them, appearing rather pleased with himself.  “I mean, come on.  You don’t just find a dragon’s lair.”

            Onew felt Minho stiffen slightly beside him, and was more than thankful when he decided to remain silent.  They were so close, and the last thing Onew wanted to do was scare off their much-needed guide.

            The boy weaved through the rocks with elegant expertise, and the others struggled to keep up.  Finally, however, he stopped, and Onew saw the side of the mountain gaping open, the inside pitch black.  The boy turned around, looking friendlier than before.

            “Here we are,” he told them, motioning to the entrance; “Come on in.”  Then he entered, and the others followed, Onew with less hesitance than he companions.

            “We don’t get visitors up here very often,” the boy sighed, setting the large staff against the wall near the entrance, stretching his arms above his head.  “But I don’t really blame them for being so cautious.  It’s not like we send out invitations or anything.”

            Onew wrapped his arms protectively around Yoogeun as he went further into the cave; he saw Taemin grab hold of Minho’s coat sleeve in his peripheral vision. 

            The interior was greatly confusing; it was all stone, which he had come to expect, but there was an electric stove up against the wall, flanked by a refrigerator and sink, with a wooden table with stools surrounding it in the center, and a crystal chandelier hanging from the rounded roof, dripping with sparkling prisms – and yet, old-fashioned burning torches lined the walls, filling the cave with a medieval glow, and a long crack in the wall ran from nearly the top to the bottom, growing wider as it went, creating a space just large enough for someone to fit through.  Some other mix-and-match knickknacks were scattered about; an intricate wall mirror, a gothic gargoyle statue wearing a black fedora, a rocking chair with a hot pink silk throw pillow, a towering grandfather clock, and a crooked painting of a scenic countryside.  The boy walked over and straightened the painting.

            “I’m Key, by the way,” he threw leisurely over his shoulder.  “If it’s any concern of yours.”

            Onew turned to look at his companions, who appeared to be just as surprised and perplexed as he was.

            “How does that work?” Taemin asked, pointing at the stove.  Key rolled his eyes.

            “An electrical outlet, duh,” he plopped down listlessly onto one of the stools and sighed again, placing his elbow on the table and resting his cheek on the heel of his wrist.  “Now, why do you guys wanna see the Earth Dragon?”

            Onew hesitated, unsure on whether he should be the one to reply.  Noticing his uncertainty, Minho gave him a little nudge of the elbow and a discreet nod.  Onew cleared his throat and turned back to face the boy – Key.

            “Er, well, you see, the other day I woke up and realized that my most prized possession in the whole entire world was gone.  And one of my neighbors mentioned something about the Earth Dragon flying around the night before and-”

            Suddenly Key raised his hand, turning his face away slightly, causing Onew to immediately close his mouth.

            “Never mind,” he said abruptly, dismissing the conversation with a flick of his wrist.  “I don’t care about the backstory.  Now, how about some tea?”

            Onew, suddenly not in the mood to talk anymore, didn’t reply, but Minho said dully, “I’m not really into tea.”

            “Good,” Key said, standing up and gliding over to the stove.  “Neither am I.  Hot chocolate, anyone?”

            “Ooh, me!” Taemin exclaimed, his frightened demeanor dissipating as he waved his hand in the air.  Key gave him a warm, oddly maternal smile and set a kettle on one of the coils.

            “Sure thing, honey,” he said gently, pulling four mugs off a stone shelf above the stove.  Minho pinched the bridge of his nose.

            “I’m so confused right now,” he groaned, suddenly sounding tired.  Onew continued to move his gaze around the cave in silence, unable to conjure up any words to describe exactly how he was feeling.

            No one spoke until Key brought the mugs over and set them on the table, carefully pouring clear, steaming water into each one.

            “Have a seat,” he urged them, nodding at the stools.  They were wary at first, but finally gave in to their confusion and complied.  Key joined them a moment later, wrapping his pale, slender fingers around the base of his mug.

            Onew eyed the movement silently, taking a small sip of his drink.  Is that a French manicure?

            More silence, before Minho finally set down his mug – with perhaps a little more force than necessary – and looked Key straight in the eye.

            “What I want to know,” he began boldly, causing Key’s eyebrows to rise slightly, “is why you dropped a boulder on us back on the trail.”

            “Oh, that?” Key waved his hand flippantly.  “Sorry, it was just self-defense.  I thought you were mountain trolls.”

            Minho didn’t look convinced.  “Mountain trolls live in the south.”

            Key’s petal-shaped lips twitched in the makings of a smirk.  “Is that so?  I had no idea.”

            “Why were you defending in the first place?” Onew inquired, considering the question sensible enough.  Now the boy’s attention was on him.  He looked bored.

            “It’s my job,” he said dryly, now tracing the rim of his mug with one finger idly.  “I’m not usually allowed to leave the cave, but when I am, I have to be careful.”

            “Says who?” asked Minho.

            “Says the Earth Dragon,” Key snapped back, glaring.

            “Wait, is this his cave?” Taemin asked, looking around with wide eyes.  Key’s expression softened, as did his tone.

            “Mm-hm,” he murmured.  Taemin turned to look at him with innocent curiosity.

            “Then what are you doing here?”

            Key leaned in a little.  “Well, I live here too.”

            “Why?”

            Then Key leaned back.  “Because he kidnapped me, of course,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

            “Okay, okay,” Minho cut in loudly, causing Key and the others to jump a bit.  “Now I know you’re lying.  Dragons only kidnap the fairest maiden in the land, and they kill them almost immediately afterward.”

            Key scoffed and crossed on leg over the other.  “You think you know everything, don’t you?  Well, I have a correction for your story – dragons kidnap the fairest in the land.  The maiden part is just tacked on there because it’s usually a girl.”

            Minho narrowed his eyes.  “And?”

            Key smirked and flipped his bangs out of his eyes.  “And, I was the fairest.”

            Minho scowled.  “That still doesn’t explain why he didn’t kill-”

            A sudden roar from outside the cave cut him off, and caused the companions to spin around in their seats, alarmed.  Key let out an excited squeal and jumped up from his seat, clapping his hands as he bounced towards the entrance.

            “He’s back!” he shouted giddily, his black high-heeled lace-up boots kicking as he skipped past the dumbfounded adventurers.  “I’m so happy.”

            Onew and Minho exchanged a look, before they stood as well, Minho pulling Taemin out of his seat.  The young boy blinked naïvely and continued to drink his hot chocolate.

            Another roar sounded from outside, but it didn’t sound angry or threatening or even dangerous – it sounded almost like an announcement, or a greeting.  Key stood at the entrance of the cave, bouncing on the tips of his toes in excitement, looking much like a child on his birthday.  The sound of large, leathery wings flapping could be heard, followed by a small tremor in the ground; then, the strangest noise, like something being compressed, folded, like an oversized letter stuffed into an envelope.  Then, from the shadows of the outdoors stepped a young man, once again similar to Onew’s own age, shorter than Key, but more muscular, with acute facial features – he looked almost like a foreigner from the West, if it weren’t for his obviously Asian eyes.  His hair was a bright orange, the fringes lighter, like a flame.

            That can’t be natural, was the only sentence Onew could piece together of all the thoughts jumbling around in his mind.

            “Jonghyun!” Key cried, flinging his arms around the young man’s neck.  “I’m glad you’re back!  I’ve been so lonely.”

            The boy gave Key a pat on the back before sliding out of the grip.  “Did you go out today?” he asked, running his fingers through his fiery hair.  Key, who was sticking his glossy lower lip out in a pout from being ignored, instantly brightened.

            “Yep!  And guess what I found.”

            “Wha-” the man stopped in his tracks, staring intently at the group by the table, who were just sort of standing there in an uncomfortable line.  “Who are these people?”

            Key flounced past him to stand beside the companions.  “These are our guests,” he said brightly.  “I found them in the mountains earlier.  They were totally lost.”

            “We were not,” Minho protested, but he was ignored.  The flame-haired boy stepped forward, inspecting each one closely.  Then he reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Taemin’s hair, jerking his head forward – causing the boy to squeak in surprise – to press it to his nose.

            “Hey,” Minho said, lurching forward; “What are you-”

            Then he let go, pushing Taemin back into line.  “Your hair is very nice,” he told him.

            Taemin’s face was bright red.  “Um, th-thank you…”

            But the boy had moved on, now doing the same to Minho, who was extremely indignant and pushed him away.

            “What that heck?” he snapped, glaring.  The boy shrugged.

            “Yours is average,” he said nonchalantly, before turning to Onew.  The leader screwed his eyes shut and expected the worst, but nothing happened.  He cracked one open hesitantly to find the young man staring at him with what could only be described as distaste.

            “I don’t even need to check yours,” he said, his nose slightly scrunched.  “It’s just… yech.”

            Onew smoothed his hair out self-consciously and looked away.  But I washed it… recently…

            “Anyways,” said Key, his voice breaking through the tension, “You guys wanted to talk to the Earth Dragon, right?  Well, here he is.”

            Onew blanched.  “Wait, this is the Earth Dragon?”

            Key nodded.  “Well, technically his name is Jonghyun.”

            “But he’s not...” Onew hesitated.  “A dragon.”

            “Yes he is,” Key insisted.  “This is just his human form.”

            “Dragons can change form?” Taemin seemed oddly excited about this. 

            Key nodded again – he seemed to be doing that a lot.  “Yep!”

            Minho began massaging his temples with his fingers.  “This is all so…” he groaned and sunk down onto his stool.

            The Earth Dragon – or, Jonghyun, apparently – ignored him and turned to face Key.  “Here,” he said pulling a small package out of his clay-red scale jacket; “I got you something while I was out.”

            “Really?” Key squeaked, eyes lighting up at the sight of the gift.  He took it and set it on the table, carefully pulling off the lid before jumping around in celebration.

            “Hair dye!” he exclaimed, pulling a bottle from the box and hugging it to his chest.  “Just what I wanted!  How did you know?”

            Jonghyun watched him, looking thoroughly amused.  “You were talking about it the other day during dinner.”

            Key squealed again and rushed over to set the bottle on the stone shelf.  “Now I can bleach my hair blonde!  La, I’m so excited.”

            Onew watched the scene in speechless silence, barely noticing that Yoogeun was playing with his hair.  Off to the side, Taemin was talking in a soft voice to Minho, who was shaking his head and continuing to rub his temples.

            Then his attention was back on Jonghyun, who now looked mildly concerned.  “I heard that bleaching can be dangerous, though,” he commented, walking over and taking the bottle off the shelf to inspect it (which included a sniff, , and shake).  “Maybe I should bring you a stylist next time?”

            “No, no, that’s fine,” Key snatched the bottle away and waved his hand, placing it back in its place on the shelf.  “Don’t steal me any people.  That’ll only cause more problems.”

            Jonghyun still looked unconvinced, but then Key spun around to look at Onew, causing the adventurer to jump a bit in surprise.

            “Oh!  Yes,” he said, waltzing over to Onew’s side, placing a hand on his shoulder.  “Jonghyun, this young man wanted to talk to you – what’s your name, honey?”

            Onew’s mouth opened and closed a few times in silence, before he finally managed to choke out, “O-Onew.”

            “Onew,” Key said to Jonghyun, as though he hadn’t heard it himself.  “Nice name.  Now, what was it about a stolen item?”

            Jonghyun walked over, eyeing the newcomer warily.  “You need something?” he asked roughly.  Onew nodded awkwardly.

            “Um, I come from a farming village at the base of the mountain, and, uh…” What was I gonna say again?  …Oh, right.  “Well, something important was stolen from me, and my neighbor said that the Earth Dragon was flying around the night before, so-”

            “Are you accusing me of stealing?” Jonghyun snarled, his upper lip curling to reveal pearly white, sharp canine teeth.  Onew felt his heart leap into his throat.

            “N-no!  Well, yes, but-”

            “What,” Jonghyun hissed, the sound bubbling out of his throat like a serpent, a forked tongue whipping out towards Onew from between his bared teeth, causing him to take a startled step back; “Makes you think I would steal anything from you?”

            Onew stuttered a few random syllables, but found himself unable to form any reply.

            “Be honest, honey,” Key piped up from the sidelines.  “It’s not like you exactly buy stuff with your own money.”

            Jonghyun’s head snapped to face the boy briefly, throwing him a threatening growl, before whipping his attention back to Onew.  Key gave a disgruntled frown, but didn’t say anything else.

            “Do you know who I am?” he demanded, his tone dominant and commanding, filling the entire cave.  Minho and Taemin had stopped their conversation to watch, and Yoogeun had wriggled out of Onew’s arms and hurried to hide behind Taemin’s stool.

            Onew took another step back, suddenly wondering if he had gone about this the right way.  “Well, yes, I do.”

            “Do you know what I’m capable of?” he continued, voice rising, and Onew was sure that little old man back at the village who was hard of hearing could clearly hear and understand every word.

            “Er, yes,” Onew stammered, and then, not thinking straight, dumbly added; “But it’s hard to be quite as frightened when you’re so short-”

            “Short?”  Jonghyun roared, squaring his shoulder, his eyes ablaze with uncontained fury; “I’m short, am I?”

            And then it wasn’t just his voice that was filling up the cave, but his body as well; his muscles bulged, grew, morphed; and his scaled jacket seemed to tighten around him, stretching and skewering until it was melded with his skin; and his nose and chin molded together, growing outwards; and then there was a tale and horns and claws and a deafening roll of thunder – or was it a roar? – that split through the night like an axe, splinters of the darkness flying as they shattered, in all directions.

            “Now you’ve done it!” Key shouted above the din, looking more annoyed than anything else.  Then he spun around and dashed out of the cave, leaving Onew in the direct line of the raging beast.

            Another snarl, which caused smoke to billow from his nostrils, covering the upper atmosphere of the cave with a thick haze, and the spiked tail swung around, knocking over everything on the shelf, and the kettle of hot water, which bounced off the wall and dented quite nicely on one side.

            Onew stared up at the dragon, his mortal terror rooting him to the spot.  Minho was by his side in an instant, shoving a stool into his hands while he held onto one of his own.

            “Use this!” he shouted, his voice nearly drowned out by another roar.  Onew forced himself to nod and flip the stool around, so that the flat seat was pressed against his stomach, the legs pointed towards the dragon defensively.  In the corner of his eye he saw Taemin ducking behind the overturned table, clutching Yoogeun protectively.

            “Please!” Onew called up to the dragon urgently, beginning to grow desperate; “I just want my chicken back!”

            “Chicken?” Taemin’s voice shrieked disbelievingly from the sidelines.  “We’re going to all this trouble for chicken?”

            Suddenly a flame blazed over their heads, bursting and crackling and climbing up the walls and sticking to the furniture, getting everywhere at once, only to be snuffed out by the deathly smoke if it climbed to high.  Onew looked over at Minho worriedly, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

            We can’t do this, he thought desperately.  We won’t even be able to hold him off for five minutes.

            Then he shot a glance at the hiding place behind the table – Taemin, wide-eyed and breathing rapidly, holding Yoogeun against his chest; the tiny boy gripping his protector’s shirt in tiny fists, burying his face in the crook of his neck.

            Onew adjusted his grip on the stool.  But I have to try.  If I can at least keep him occupied long enough for Taemin and Yoogeun to escape, maybe-

            “Onew!” The boy’s head whipped around at the sound of his name, and he saw Key running towards him, lugging a large tin pail, crystalline water sloshing over the sides, his eyes intent.  “Use this!”

            When he got close enough for the exchange, Key practically shoved the handle into Onew’s hands; he dropped the stool to prevent it from spilling, then stared down at the rippling water dumbly.

            “Idiot!” Key snapped, slapping him on the arm.  “Throw it at Jonghyun!”

            Onew looked up.  “What?”

            “Splash it on him, stupid!  Do it, hurry!”

            Onew turned to face the dragon, his stomach fluttering and his head feeling light.  Then, he lifted the bucket, and just sort of chucked it at the dragon.

            It didn’t make it very far, but it hit the beast in his gold-plated chest, causing him to freeze mid-blow.  And then he was shrinking, compressing, and his skin loosened back into his jacket, and his face flattened to become human, and the flames died and the smoke cleared and Key let out a huge breath of relief.

            “Well, that was pleasant,” he said in exhausted sarcasm.  Jonghyun stood across the room, looking highly confused, flame hair dripping with sparkling water droplets; Minho set down his stool, still eyeing the shape shifter warily; Taemin peeked over the edge of the table, Yoogeun’s back soothingly; and Onew just sort of stood there, staring at the tin pail as it rolled to a stop at his feet.

            “Nobody says anything,” Key growled darkly, carefully articulating each word; “My hair is ruined, I got mud on my designer boots, my new bleach is smashed, and I broke a nail.  Nobody is going to move – I’m getting an aspirin, and I’m going to bed.”  He stomped over to the large crack in the wall, throwing over his shoulder a cautionary, “Good night,” before disappearing into the wall.

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This is the chapter that makes me wonder if I shouldn've turned this in to my teacher. ;;_;; But, oh well.  I won't have him again until possibly Junior year, so.

Thank you all SO MUCH for such nice comments! :) I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far, and I hope you liked this chapter as well, haha.  Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet... and for all you silent readers out there, I understand that commenting and/or subscribing isn't really your thing, but I sure would appreaciate it nonetheless!  I myself don't subscribe to stories (I save them to my computer's favorites bar, kekeke), but I do leave comments, most of which are detailed and lengthy.  So, please do one or the other, if not both!  It'll make my day! :)

Alright, enough rambling from me.  Next update will be tomorrow, as per usual... interesting events take place.  If Onew's chicken isn't with Jonghyun, then where is it...?