My eyes scanned the dusty plain, looking for any sign of life. Behind me was nothing but darkness and it seemed to be closing in on me. I became aware of my feet moving. They were carrying me away from the darkness, but not fast enough. Suddenly my eyes picked up on something in the distance. There was movement and I soon found it to be a person. As I drew nearer, the figure became clearer. It was wearing a dark robe with the hood pulled over its face. My feet began to slow and the being started toward me. It wasn’t just any being; it was an Anon. In his hand was a long blade which he held confidently.  If I kept going I would surely die, but if I stopped I would be consumed by the darkness. When I turned back, the black wall was right in front of my face and there was no escaping. At the same moment there was a loud crash and-

“Who’s there?!” I jumped out of bed and grabbed the alarm clock on my nightstand, ready to throw it at whatever had created the loud crash. At first I thought it was only part of my dream, but when a shadowy figure moved in the corner of my room, I threw the clock at it.

“Ow!”

“…Sehun?” I ran over and my light, revealing my young brother crouched in the corner, rubbing his arm where the clock had made contact.

“Why did you throw that at me?” he pouted.

“What are you doing here?!” I asked, still unable to believe that it was him. It had been a week since he and the others left.

“I was um…”

I followed his line of sight to the bag that lay on the ground next to him. Some of its contents had fallen out, including two potatoes, a jug of water and a flashlight.

“Were you stealing from us?!”

“I’m sorry!” he sat on the ground miserably. “I didn’t want to, but they made me! They said to just get the stuff and go, but I couldn’t leave without seeing you. I felt so bad about it!”

“Sehun,” I sat down next to him on the floor. “You just had to ask.”

“You’d really let us have it; even though we deserted you guys?”

“You’re my brother! Of course I would let you have it!”

“Aigoo; I miss you so much,” he sighed “Things with the others; they’re not going so well. Our food is so low that we skip breakfast and get half the normal lunch. We’re getting weaker, I can tell! If Anonymous attacks, I don’t know if we’ll be able to handle them. But Suho won’t come back.”

“Then why don’t you?” I suggested.

“I already turned my back on Kris. I can’t turn on Suho too!”

"But wouldn't coming back be making up to Kris?"

"Just... agh!"  He slapped his leg.  "I'm so confused!"

"I'm sure everything will work out. When Anonymous finally attacks we'll need each other. Suho will realize that and do what's best for the group. You know him," I assured my brother.

"Aigoo, I hope you're right," he sighed. "So how are things here?"

"They're okay I guess. Kris has been working us hard at practice though."

"He's probably taking out his anger on you guys."

"Probably."

After a brief silence Sehun gave me a nudge and asked with a smirk, "So how's Phoebe?"

"She's fine," I shrugged. "Her skills have improved a lot and her sword fighting-,"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Sehun eyed me, still smirking. "How are things between you and Phoebe?"

"Oh, um we're getting along," I answered nonchalantly and stared at the floor.

"Aish, brother you're so ignorant!" He rolled his eyes and gave my arm a smack. "Has anything happened between you two?!"

"Why would anything happen between us? We're just friends."

"Just friends," he laughed. "Right because 'Oh Phoebe is doing so well' 'I hope she has telekinesis so I can train her' 'Phoebe's hair looks nice today' is being just friends."

"It is," I said obviously. "Friends can say those things!"

"I see the way you act around her. You get all nervous and the stupidest smile shows up on your face when anyone just says her name."

"That's not true!" I gave him a shove.

"Aww, my big brother is embarrassed about being in love! It's so cute!" Sehun got up and started dancing around the room while taunting me. "Luhan's in looove!"

"Hush!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. "You're going to wake everybody up!"

"I'm sure you'd like it if Phoebe woke up..."

"You just don't stop do you," I shook my head.

Sehun giggled and lay down on his back, staring up at the ceiling. I joined him and we lay there in silence.

"Remember when we'd lay like this and look at the stars?" he asked.

"Like it was yesterday."

"Things sure have changed a lot in the past three years."

I flipped on my side and faced him. "But we've still got each other! That's a lot for anyone to handle," I smiled.

"That's for sure," he laughed, then let out a sigh. "It's been fun brother, but I really should get going. The others will get suspicious if I stay too long."

"I really wish you'd convince them to come back," I sighed as we both stood up.

"We'll see what happens. But I'll see you again Luhan, arasso?"  

"Of course," I smiled, giving him a brotherly hug.

"Yah! Enough with the mushy stuff!" he struggled to break from my grasp.

"But I love you soooooo much," I smirked, trying to kiss his cheek.

"Yah! Yah! Stop it!" he shouted, trying to wriggle away.

I laughed and finally let him go. "I'll see you around."

"Yes," he nodded. "Good night brother."

"Night," I waved, as he slipped out my window.

I lay back down on my bed and stared at the plain white ceiling through the dark. Things were so different without Sehun around. I was happy to know he was safe, but not knowing where he was was still concerning.

"In love with Phoebe," I chuckled to myself. "That kid sure exaggerates."

Soon my mind drifted from a world of thoughts to a world of dreams, and I was fast asleep once again.

----------------------

I woke up late the next morning. It was an hour past when I normally got out of bed, so I was surprised that nobody woke me up. After changing into one of the few other sets of clothes I had, I opened the door and stepped into the hall.

"Oof!" I groaned when someone walked into me.

"Oh, sorry," Phoebe apologized.

"Did you wake up late too?" I asked, surprised to see her still here.

"Yeah; it's weird that nobody came to get us. You don't think something bad happened do you?"

"I don't know. Come on," I motioned to the stairs and we headed down.

When we didn't find anyone in the house or the dining hall, we headed to the fire pit. I was growing increasingly concerned and my pace quickened with each step. I was relieved to see my friends when the fire pit came into view behind a tower of boulders. However, I abruptly stopped and pulled Phoebe back against the rocks with me.

"What?" she asked, but I shushed her right away.

I peaked around the rocks to see my friends standing there together, facing three darkly dressed figures. Their voices were barely audible from where we stood.

"Come on," I pulled Phoebe with me and we crept behind the boulders until we were closer to the group.

"You act so innocent," a gravely voice chuckled. "We know you have it. If you don't hand it over peacefully, then we will attack again and leave nothing but dust in place of this wasteland."

"Can’t you just tell us what you're looking for?" Kris asked, masking his fear exceptionally well. 

"Enough!" another scratchy voice shouted. "The talking is done! When we come back, if you don't have what we want then it's war!"

With that the three dark figures left, leaving my friends in shock. When the Anons were out of sight, Phoebe and I stepped out from behind the boulders.

"What was that about?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh my gosh!" Xiu Min jumped. "You scared me!"

"Anonymous wants something," Kris walked toward us. "We don't know what, but they're convinced that we have it."

"So what do we do?" Phoebe questioned.

"We'll have to fight for our planet and our lives," he shrugged. "If they won't believe us, then what else is there to do?"

"Will the others be okay?" Lay asked in concern.

"Suho knows what he's doing," Kris replied. "But come on; let's try to get in as much practice as we can before they come."