Suho tries not to look down, but it's hard not to when the wind is carrying you up and swooping over the hills and dipping low enough to skim the tops of trees. Suho sees his farm approaching and he thinks they're going to land but they just pass by it with a whoosh.

Suho twists his head, a question on his lips, when the voice speaks extremely close to his ear.

"If you keep moving around like that I'm going to drop you."

He immediately stops moving. The voice doesn't speak again.

After what seems like hours of speeding along with the winds, Suho realizes they're slowing down. Looking around, he recognizes nothing. He's floating above a wide expanse of forest at the base of a huge mountain, the top of which is lost in the clouds. A lazy spiral of warm breezes descend to the ground, carrying Suho and dumping him a tad unceremoniously on the mossy ground.

He stands on shaky legs, his head starting to throb again, and looks around. A slightly chilly puff of air hits his face and he sneezes. The air is completely still for a moment before a howling blast of wind slams into him and rushes around him and nearly knocks Suho off of his feet.

He spins around in time to see a boy materialize out of thin air and drop onto a tree branch, bits of twigs and leaves swirling in endless motion around his body. The winds that cloak the boy ruffle his soft brown hair constantly and he blinks large round eyes at Suho, a slight crease in between his thick eyebrows.

There is something very familiar about him, Suho thinks.

"Thank you," he says, his voice still a bit hoarse and shaky. "For saving me."

The boy says nothing. Suho bites his lip.

"Why did you save me?" he asks.

"You," the boy says slowly, "are an idiot."

Suho blinks a few times.

"Uh…sorry?" he replies hesitantly.

The boy jumps off of the branch and is carried by his breezes down to the ground, where he stares at Suho until Suho starts to fidget.

"You're an idiot. But you refused to kill Chen to save yourself. That's why I saved you."

Suho nods.

"Your name is Kyungsoo?" he asks tentatively, a bit creeped out by the Adar's huge, unblinking eyes.

"Yes. You called me something else though. It was highly unoriginal," Kyungsoo huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I did?"

He doesn't remember ever meeting Kyungsoo before, and the throbbing in his head is making it hard to concentrate. Kyungsoo gives him a look as though he's questioning Suho's intelligence. It's a very familiar look. One he has received many times from an owl.

"Big Eyes!" Suho yells, and Kyungsoo jumps a little, hanging in the air a little longer than a human would.

"Yes," the owl boy huffs. "That would be the name."

Hundreds of questions fly through Suho's head. If Kyungsoo was the owl, then why had he never shown his human form before? Why was he living in Suho's barn? What was the phoenix talking about when he said that Kyungsoo was supposed to be neutral?

"What kind of Adar are you?" is the question he blurts out, and he nearly hits himself for asking something so trivial.

Kyungsoo sighs and a soft current of air slips around Suho.

"I'm a sylphid. A wind-maker," Kyungsoo's eyes flash pale green as he replies, and the branches above them shake from the sudden wind that blasts through them.

Suho has never heard of a sylphid before, but saying so will probably offend Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo smiles a little at the look on Suho's face, and waves a hand dismissively.

"It's alright if you haven't heard of my kind. We tend to avoid revealing our human forms so not many are even aware we exist."

Suho nods, an embarrassed flush creeping across his cheeks. He bite his lip before asking his next question, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Is Chen alright?"

Kyungsoo closes his eyes, his expression taut.

"He won't be for much longer. Chanyeol's been waiting a long time for a thunderbird at his mercy."

"Chanyeol?"

"The phoenix," Kyungsoo clarifies.

The quiet is heavy and Suho feels like he has more questions than ever before.

"He said you were supposed to be neutral. Neutral in what?" Suho asks, staring straight at the sylphid, who blinks at him mutely for a moment.

"That," he finally says softly, "is a very long story."

"I want to hear it," Suho states.

Kyungsoo stares at him, without speaking, for another long while, before nodding.

"Very well. But not here."

"Then where?"

"I'm going to bring you to where Chanyeol would not dare go," Kyungsoo answers, as his lower half begins to disintegrate into leaves and brown feathers and cool puffs of air that swirl around both of them.

"Where's that?" Suho asks, fascinated by the sylphid's rapidly disappearing body.

"Xiumin's territory," Kyungsoo replies as his head turns into red maple leaves. The small whirlwind left behind by the Adar begins to spin faster and faster around Suho, lifting him into the air once more.

Suho barely has time to recognize the name before he's whisked off by a strong wind from the south.

Kyungsoo's voice murmurs to him in a language Suho doesn't recognize, but the words make his eyes heavy and he soon finds himself falling asleep, cradled by the winds of the sylphid.

He's on top of the mountain again, with the sun hanging over his head. He squints at it. It's so unbearably bright but somehow he's able to look at the glowing ball and he reaches up to touch it again.

"You came back."

Suho jerks his hand away, startled by the voice that comes from all around him and nowhere all at once. 

"Yes," he breathes in reply, although he's not sure if it was a question or a statement.

"You should not be here. It is dangerous."

"I don't know how I got here," Suho tries to explain. A low hum of amusement comes from the sun.

"I see. I will send you back then. You should not stay in my dreams for too long."

"Your dreams?" Suho asks, but then his eyes are closing against his will and when he reopens them, it's to the wide eyes of Kyungsoo.

"You're awake," the sylphid says simply. Suho isn't sure where they are, but it's freezing. His teeth immediately start to chatter and he hugs himself for warmth. Kyungsoo notices his distress and soon a warm wind surrounds Suho and he sighs in contentment. Looking around he sees rock walls and stone pillars and realizes they're in a cave somewhere. He tries to sit up but Kyungsoo pushes on his chest lightly.

"Rest. I am going to call Xiumin and it is best that he does not see you yet."

Remembering his last encounter with the hyperion, Suho thinks that Kyungsoo is probably right. He nods and lies back down on the cave floor, the warm breeze hugging close to keep the chill away.

Kyungsoo nods in return, a slight smile on his lips, and he jumps lightly into the air, bounding forward to the mouth of the cave, where dim light spills into the otherwise gloomy interior.

Kyungsoo opens his mouth and bird calls spill from his lips, hoots and trills and even an occasional squawk. He closes his mouth and waits.

Suho wonders what's supposed to happen, and without warning snow billows into the cave as frost creeps along the ground and up the rocks. Kyungsoo is unfazed but Suho pulls his limbs into himself to warm himself further as the temperature drops dramatically and Xiumin emerges from a billowing cloud of snow and fog.

The hyperion blinks at the sylphid, his face as impassive as Suho remembers it. The sylphid stares back without blinking, and just when Suho can't take the tense silence any longer, Xiumin smiles.

"Kyungsoo," he says softly, almost tenderly, before pulling the sylphid into a hug. "It's been a long time."

Kyungsoo embraces the hyperion, apparently unaffected by the others frigid skin.

"It has been a long time, my friend. I wish I could have come here under less urgent circumstances."

Xiumin's smile fades a little and a crease appears between his eyebrows.

"Does this have anything to do with the drought pushing at my borders?"

Kyungsoo nods solemnly.

"Chanyeol is…well, he's out of control. He's upsetting the balance of things and he needs to be stopped. Chen can't do it alone."

Xiumin frowns and shakes his head.

"I thought we agreed this was between him and the thunderbird."

"It was. Until Chanyeol started marking humans."

Xiumin's expression darkens further.

"Chen marked a human."

Kyungsoo crosses his arms, his winds swirling about him.

"Yes. One human. And we both know he only did it to save the human's life."

Suho breathes in sharply. They're talking about him. Chen marked him to save his life after he was struck by lightning.

Kyungsoo glances at Suho briefly before continuing.

"Meanwhile Chanyeol is marking those followers of his; the ones who believe he's the god of light. He's marked dozens of them, Xiumin. We can't let this continue."

Xiumin doesn't reply, just begins to pace, deep in thought.

"I can't, Kyungsoo."

"Xiumin, Chanyeol has Chen as a prisoner. You know what he did to the thunderbird last time."

Xiumin's eyes flash white and he scowls.

"Did you think I could possibly forget?" he spits, his voice laced with pain.

"He'll kill Chen," Kyungsoo says softly, glancing at Suho again.

"I know. I know! But what do you expect me to do? I tried to help him last time and Chanyeol destroyed him and nearly killed me too."

Suho stands up, teeth clenched.

"So you'll just leave him to die?" he half-yells, his voice echoing in the cavern.

Xiumin starts and looks over at Suho, eyes narrowing.

"I thought I smelled lightning." The hyperion looks at Kyungsoo, hissing through his teeth. "What is he doing here?"

"I saved him from Chanyeol. I needed to bring him somewhere safe," Kyungsoo explains, unfazed.

"You…so you brought him here?" Xiumin seems almost afraid. "Chanyeol will kill us all if he thinks we've allied ourselves with Chen."

"So you'd rather sit back and save your own hide," Suho has to fight to keep himself from sneering. Coward. The word is unspoken but as Xiumin's eyes narrow at him it's clear he's caught Suho's meaning.

"What would you have me do? March in there and die trying to save the thunderbird? Chanyeol has marked dozens of people, he's far stronger than me, Kyungsoo and Chen combined. It's suicide, especially since Kyungsoo and I have no humans."

"I know you've marked someone as well."

Kyungsoo's voice is quiet but both of the others hear it.

Xiumin's eyes widen and he stares at the sylphid, fear very apparent in his stance.

"How did you…" Xiumin whispers, swallowing visibly.

"The wind sees everything," Kyungsoo says, a small smirk playing at his mouth. "You marked him before Chen marked Suho. 'It is forbidden.' You're a hypocrite, Xiumin."

"He was dying," the hyperion breathes. "Freezing to death. I couldn't just…I couldn't leave him there."

Kyungsoo nods, the smile softer.

"I understand. But even with your one human and Suho, we're not strong enough to take on Chanyeol."

Suho slumps a little. It seemed hopeless.

"So what do we do?" he asks to no one in particular.

Kyungsoo bites his lip and opens his mouth before closing it again.

"There's…one thing we could do," he finally manages to say.

"What?" Suho blinks at him, furrowing his brows as the sylphid dances nervously on his breezes and glances at Xiumin, who frowns at Kyungsoo in confusion before realization dawns on his face and his blue eyes shoot open.

"You want to wake up Wu Fan."

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A/N: Thank you for reading! Yes, you were all correct, the owl was Kyungsoo the entire time AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I WANTED TO MAKE IT SOMEONE ELSE JUST TO SCREW YOU OVER AFTER EVERYONE GUESSED CORRECTLY. But no, I always planned for it to be Kyungsoo so I couldn't very well change it. Well once again, thank you so much for the subs and comments and support, I love you all and wow I did not realize how long this was going to be but I'm really enjoying it.