Jinon watched the elf move among the fallen of his people and Jinon's. Not many of either, something to be thankful for. He knew why he was there, or suspected, and just needed confirmation. His eyes narrowed as the elf bent over one of his own, touched him, and the wounded elf stood. Yes. Good.  

He waited until the healer was alone again, and closer, before leaving his hiding place and grabbing him from behind, one arm pinning him to Jinon, the other over his mouth to keep him from crying out.

"I have need of your services," he murmured softly as he walked them toward the edge of the battlefield. "Help my friend, and you're free to go."

As soon as he was grabbed, Yixing tried to fight, but the one holding him was too strong, his grip vise-like where he held him close. Tempted to bite at the hand over his mouth, Yixing suddenly had a feeling that wouldn't go over very well, but he wasn't going to take this treatment without having his say in the matter.

"Why should I help you?" he muttered against the man's palm, his eyes snapping angrily, a far cry from their normal dreamy gaze. "And more importantly, why should I trust you?"

"You're kidnapping me!" Yixing tried to struggle for effect, not getting very far, as expected.

"To save your life," Jinon said softly, keeping him moving. "If you don't help him, I'll kill you." Not the best threat, but without this healer, Kan would die, and that was unacceptable. He had nothing else. "I will let you go. I have nothing but my word, but it is good."

Yixing snorted disdainfully. "My life wasn't in danger before you entered into it," he shot back, or as much as he could with the man's hand still over his mouth.

He was conveniently ignoring the fact that not even an hour before, his bodyguard had fallen, saving his life. Yixing was also conveniently ignoring the fact that though he'd tried to heal him, his injuries had been so severe he'd had to be taken back home to be healed by others. This upset Yixing, though he tried not to let it show. It tasted too much like failure and he still had no idea if it would be enough.

"Or at least not any more so than usual," he amended ruefully with a small shrug. "Still, it's not much of an incentive..."

"I'm not a human, to be swayed easily by paltry death threats..."

Jinon was getting desperate, but he kept the healer moving forward. With luck, once they got close enough, he'd be able to see how badly off Kan was.

"Because he'll die without help," Jinon said. "I can't give him that help, and you can. Just make it so he'll live, and we'll leave you alone."

Sighing, Yixing's resolve weakened when his kidnapper appealed to his healer instincts. "Just so you know," he murmured softly, unsure the man would be able to hear him without the anger making his words sharp, "I might not be able to do much afterwards. I've been healing all day and part of the night with very little break..."

Which had contributed to his not being able to help his bodyguard, and was how this person had been able to catch him unawares and capture him so easily. This was as close as Yixing would get to saying he'd help, and he hoped this man appreciated that and let him go.

"Then I will make sure you get back somewhere safe," Jinon said, and cautiously let him go. "He's right through here." He gestured toward a thicket, holding the branches aside to let the healer through. Enemy he might be, he was going to help Kan. Jinon could afford some courtesy. But only some.

Blinking at the injuries he could see on the sturdily built man laying on the ground, Yixing forgot all about his initial reluctance, his instincts kicking in and making him lose track of time as he healed injury after bloody injury on the man's mangled and barely alive body. Not letting up until he could feel the drain on his personal resources, Yixing looked up tiredly, his hands even more blood-stained and his face showing his fatigue.

"I've done what I can for now," he rasped, exhaustion making his voice hoarse. "But your friend will live." Yixing gave a wry smile. "Until someone gets him again, this time beyond my reach..." Wiping his sweaty face on his sleeve, he gave his captor an apologetic smile. "I'm not usually this..." He chuckled. "Cheerful, but he'll be fine, I assure you..."

Then he caught sight of the blood staining his captor's side and groaned softly, his hands out. "Hold still. You're hurt..."

Jinon watched him, watched the colour return to his friend's face, and sighed in relief. "Yes," he said, catching the healer's hands. "But I will heal, unlike my friend. You've helped him, so I'm going to help you." He pinned the healer's hands together, and pulled him gently back to the battlefield. "Someone will find you here, right?" he asked.

Able to struggle a little more now as he was being dragged back to the battlefield, Yixing protested the entire way.

"No, look, stop," he said angrily, wrenching his hands away, though it hurt. "I'm trying to help you!" Muttering under his breath about ungrateful dragons and how clearly uncivilised they were that they didn't even know when he was trying to be nice, Yixing reached out for his captor again. "Now let me heal you!"

Jinon caught his hands again, fixing him with a glare.

"And how grateful would I be if I let you heal me, and it drained you enough to kill you?" he asked softly. "You did as I asked. Kan will live. I might be in discomfort for a while, but that's life. Thank you for helping him, for wanting to help me, but you've done enough."  

He looked around, frowning. "Did they... leave you?"  

"I'm not that far gone," Yixing replied, though he himself wasn't entirely convinced by his own words. He was just desperate to help, despite this man being a dragon, a mortal enemy, and his kidnapper to boot. It was as if he could try to make up for his failure to heal his bodyguard, though it didn't really make sense to him. At the other man's words, Yixing collected himself and looked around, startled. "Oh..."

"They're...gone." Unable to hide the disbelief and pain that fact caused him, Yixing stumbled and nearly fell. "They...left me..."

Jinon caught him, carefully supporting him, and let him go. "I'd rather not take that chance," he said. "A healer is not something to waste, no matter whose side he's on."  

He helped the healer sit down and knelt in front of him. "I'm sorry for that," he said. "I didn't think they'd leave a healer. But, um," he went on, flustered. "Would you like something to eat? And if you need to rest, I can make sure you're not disturbed until they come and get you again. Just come back with me, and it'll be okay."

Yixing looked up at the man as he helped him, finally getting his first proper look at him and nearly fell over as something clicked in his mind, his heart racing so fast he had to lean forward to keep from passing out. This isn't possible, Yixing screamed inside his mind, deeply shocked at what had just happened to him. It's just not. It can't be! And the other man, no, dragon, Yixing bitterly reminded himself would doubtless think he was insane. Or delirious from overdoing it.

"You don't understand," he choked out when he could breathe, his brain still feeling weird. "I don't understand. Why would they leave me here?"

Unless the dragon mentioned anything, Yixing was going to pretend nothing had just happened to him, even if that thought made him want to scream.

The healer looked at him for the first time, properly looked, and Jinon's grip on him tightened as for the first time in years, he nearly lost control of his form, the dragon self wanting out now, to... He didn't even know. His mind felt both sharper and more muddled than he'd ever experienced, his vision narrowing down to this healer for a frighteningly clear moment, then everything went back to normal. Or almost.  

He could understand the healer's distress, though, when it finally registered.

"I might, at least a little," he murmured, loosening his grip with an apology. "Why would they abandon a healer of your calibre?" The elves were not that stupid. The only answer was that he had enemies. "Come on. We'll both be better for food and sleep."  

He hadn't even taken a step before he knew what a bad idea that was. He waged a totally different kind of war in his mind, struggling to control the urge to tell this elf his true name, bind himself that way.... No. Not possible. So not possible. His people would tear him apart.  

So, the dragon felt the binding too, did he? Yixing could tell, from the fact that he'd tensed so completely that he'd almost stopped breathing (and hurt him, though that was minor and went away when he loosened his hold), and looked so...confused for a moment, rather like he felt.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" he murmured, ignoring his first instinct, which had been to keep it quiet and pretend it didn't exist. Yixing pointed to his eyes and then his heart. "Here, and here," he added, not moving.

He couldn't even address the reasons why he'd been left behind, having suspicions only, and nothing concrete to go on. Not just that, it would alert the dragon as to who Yixing was, something he was not keen on happening until he could no longer avoid it.

Felt? Like it had stopped? "Yes," Jinon said finally, because it was useless to pretend otherwise, but he said nothing else, afraid of what might come out of his mouth next. Even more distressing, he couldn't make himself let go of the healer. Instead, he urged him on, back toward where his friend lay, still recovering.  



Baekhyun paced anxiously, glaring at anyone who got too close until he found the person he was waiting for, and rushed up to him.

"We have to go back," he insisted urgently. "You left Yixing behind! He's still alive. I know he is..." Biting his lip, the young faerie resisted the urge to grab the man's clothes and shake some sense into him. "We need him!"

Kyuhyun scowled at Baekhyun. "We saw no sign of him," he said flatly.

"Which means he's still alive," Baekhyun retorted angrily. "No body means he's not dead. You know that as well as I do." He glared at the commander. "If you don't send someone back for him, I'll go myself, and then when we get back, you'll have to explain to the King, the council and his bodyguard, when he wakes up, why you left your best healer, Prince Yixing no less, behind and refused to go back for him."

The commander poked a sharp finger in Baekhyun's chest, shoving him back. "Then we wait to hear from the dragons that they've captured him and are ready to ransom him," he said coldly.

His eyes narrowing in anger (Kyuhyun was going to regret doing that, Baekhyun vowed, fury running like ice through his veins), Baekhyun stepped back, adjusting his uniform with a sharp tug.

"I just hope you have no dependents who will suffer for your foolishness," he murmured softly before holding his hands palm upward, the star bracelet on his hand catching the light as his palms began to glow. "Nobody treats me like that and gets away with it, elf or not."

Letting the light twist and bend around him, Baekhyun was gone.

Kyuhyun watched him go, and his scowl deepened. He gestured sharply, and a tall man stepped out of the shadows. "Go back," he spat. "Bring me something I can use." The elf nodded and slipped out.



Baekhyun appeared on the battlefield, running around randomly and shouting Yixing's name frantically. "Yixing!" he shouted, growing more and more frustrated and worried when there was no answer. He could only hope he was right, that Yixing was still alive despite losing his bodyguard to serious injuries earlier in the battle. "XingXing, dammit, answer me! Where are you?!"

"Please, he muttered under his breath as he searched the bodies for any signs of his friend. "Don't make it easy for Kyuhyun, please..."

Kan looked up at Jinon and the elf, frustrated. "There is some idiot fairy running around out there looking for a XingXing. Who... Who is that?" He pointed at the healer.

"That is the reason you're not dead," Jinon said dryly. He could speak to his friend then, without the danger of spilling everything. That was good.

Yixing stiffened and went pale, trying to extricate himself from the dragon's arms. "I'm very sorry, but I have to go," he murmured breathlessly, turning to run toward the voice he could now hear as well. He looked back, a suddenly amused smile appearing on his face. "And he's a faerie, not a fairy, though I'd have to agree about the idiot part..." he added impishly, his dimples showing clearly when he smiled. "Baekhyun would be very offended, so I think I'll just leave that part out..."

Turning again, he went to leave, feeling a horrible wrenching feeling in his chest. He didn't want to leave now, but he had no choice.

"I'm really sorry..." Yixing murmured, his smile fading.

Jinon let him go slowly, focusing on one hand at a time. "Sorry," he murmured at the red marks on the healers arms. "Be careful."  

The last look, the smile, everything made his knees buckle and he sat down, perfectly willing to blame his injury for that. Not to mention the devastating dimples. Not fair. As soon as the healer turned away, he looked back at Kan.

"So," he said quietly, "Are you quite done with heroics, or will I have to kidnap another healer to keep you around?"

He didn't see the hidden elf smile slyly at the news.

"You are not one to talk," Kan said acerbically. "You didn't let him take care of you."

Jinon shrugged. "He was too drained. He saved your life, I wasn't going to let him kill himself for this little scratch."  

The hidden elf slipped back out and went to report what he'd found.



Pushing his way through the branches, Yixing sighed heavily, feeling tears prickle at the backs of his eyes. He couldn't even look back, the area the dragons hid in was pretty well concealed, so he concentrated on Baekhyun's voice, the younger man growing nearly hysterical.

"Yixing, please, come on, don't do this to me," Baekhyun screamed, resting his hands on his knees as he leaned over, tears making dirty tracks down his face. "Where are you?" If he lost Yixing like they'd almost lost... No he couldn't think like that.

He almost jumped out of his skin when Yixing appeared behind him, his head down.

"I'm here," Yixing murmured softly, not even aware he'd frightened his faerie friend until Baekhyun launched himself at the tall elf healer/prince, sobbing in hysterical relief. Putting his arms around him, Yixing smiled gently. "I'm sorry I didn't come right away..."

But he didn't offer any clue as to where he'd been; the dragon he'd somehow bonded to was his secret, and his alone.