Sehun woke with an empty gasp and tremors all over; a bead of sweat streaming down his forehead. His breathing was shallow and erratic, matching the unsteady pounding of his heart. His brain was still trying to discern between reality and illusions. The hard floor of the room felt like a spinning disc that propelled him around and around. He put a hand over his eyes and ordered himself to calm down, forcefully halting his heartbeat.
Flashes of his nightmare popped into his head. Fear. Panic. It played so vividly that it almost seemed like he was reliving it. Their second leader, Kris, plummeting from god knows how high up with no sign of stopping. An exhausted Tao on the brink of tears, his dark circles having never been more prominent. Yellow eyes like night beasts. Crying. Screaming. Gunshots. Blood. Lots of it. The blood of his friends. The idea triggered the nausea bubbling in the pits of his stomach. The last image he could remember formed a lump in his throat- Luhan at gunpoint. Right after that, a loud bang sounds and Sehun wakes up with a sore voice.
Like always, he screamed in his nightmares, so much that his throat hurt in reality, but no sound ever came out. Nobody ever noticed him watching them fight and die. He was just an audience, watching the hell unfold.
It wasn't fake, but it wasn't real. It wasn't the future or the past. It was the present. Sehun's subconscious often connected with Luhan's; a reflection of their inseparable bonds since childhood. Their dreams and nightmares were connected, meshing what they've both seen or experienced into a loopy array of flashing scenes. It was a side effect of Luhan's telekinesis. Sehun, having been dangerously exposed to it at a young age, became compatible with it as well. Their other close friend, Kai, had experienced it before with him as well. Ever since the war started, Luhan's experiences were more prominent, more vivid and more cruel. The deer-like elder Exotic was desperately fighting on the frontlines with the others while Sehun had to watch excruciatingly from the sidelines, in nightmares or in the real world. Sometimes, Sehun could witness what was happening to Luhan in the very moment it occurs.
"." He swore.
His voice was hoarse and wavering after swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.
Get a grip, Oh Sehun. He thought with more conviction.
He removed his hand to see the white ceiling of the room, reminding him of his own tight situation. He sat up and leaned back onto the paneled walls for support, half alert if something was to pop out again. His entire body was shaking and his heart racing although he was mentally calm now.
He shut his eyes and took in deep breaths. This was also an echo of Luhan's present condition on Exoplanet (which was usually a one way transmission). He rubbed the palm of his hands against his shoulders, attempting to send the comfort to his jittery other half.
It'll be okay. He thought to himself. He meant to convince Luhan, who was planets away, but he didn't believe in it himself. The war would ruin everything. All they could do was salvage whatever they could. Everyday, he silently prayed that they wouldn't receive that hollow string of words, lined with condolences and sympathy.
There was a ruffle of clothes against concrete.
The sleeping Matoki beside him stirred in his sleep, a lot more peaceful looking than Sehun's. He stared at the boy's rugged clothing that made his own dirty jacket seem flawless. While Sehun could almost blend into the similarly coloured panelled background, this Matoki stook out like a sore thumb. It was almost laughable.
It had been ages since he last fell asleep and even then, his instructors reprimanded him for it. Rest was not something Matokis did frequently. When he woke up, he didn't open his eyes, silently wishing to fall back into the favourable dream world. The world of happy moments, mindless fun and foot. Reality dulled in comparison. His back hurt, a bruise was forming at his side, his wounds (although quick to heal) were stinging and he was more drained than ever. He groaned in his mind. He couldn't do it outload. Especially not when there was somebody else in the room.
Slowly, he opened his weary eyes and blinked the blurriness away. The white ceilings and dim pot-lights came into view. His mind rewinded to it's last conscious memory; the fight at the forest.
I've been caught. He frowned at the thought.
"You shouldn't move." A low voice instructed to his left.
He glanced in its direction and for the first time, got a good look at his unfortunate roommate. They locked eyes for a split second before the boy sharply turned away to gaze at the empty room. Daehyun's first impression of him was summed up in one word-white.
The boy looked flawless, with angular features that gave the young man a seriousness a boy his age shouldn't have. His clothes were in semi-pristine conditions, almost as white as the room itself with light grey accents. His skin was pale, although if Daehyun compared to his own color, everyone seemed pale. He was skinny and fragile but he held his head up with pride and ferocity.
He shuffled back to sit upright and winced as he moved. There was a piercing pain in his left chest that he had not noticed earlier. The feeling was familiar to him, like somebody drove a needle and thread through him. He in a breath, responding to the torrent of pain as he was taught to in the academy. The relentless stinging numbed as he leaned onto his right shoulder for support instead. Slowly, he inched closer to the wall until finally, he could lean his head back, panting at the effort.
A rib's fractured. He gingerly checked his side and flinched as he pressed down on the soft flesh. Maybe two.
The depressing revelation reduced his chances of escaping by himself to nearly zero.
Leaning on his uninjured side, he dragged himself backwards towards the wall with his elbow. The action came with consequences as his muscles collided with his bone and he nearly collapsed from the pain. Daehyun snapped his eyes shut as the feeling dissipated into a lulling throb.
"We need to get out of here." Daehyun said.
He could almost hear his inmate rolling his eyes at the obvious. Giving another look at the scrawny kid's face, Daehyun could tell that it wouldn't be a smooth ride. He couldn't deal with serious snobs well. It required patience and energy to compromise and he didn't have a lot at the moment. With each passing moment, exhaustion crept up on him; having been overly deprived of his abilities.
"How many people do you think?" He asked after a few breaths.
The boy looked back with an empty face.
"Would we be able to fight it out of here?" He tried to ask again.
The boy looked at Daehyun up and down and scoffed. Daehyun's jaw dropped at the rude gesture. Offense replaced sleepiness. Daehyun huffed and pointed at him in disbelief, accidentally moving a fractured rib in the process. His side contracted and he groaned. He retracted the hand to tend to the injury but didn't forget the incident. He would slap him where he sat right then and there if he could.
The boy, however, showed no signs of caring. He had turned his head and was gazing at the speaker mounted in the corner of the ceiling. He stared at it as if it would be his salvation in the bleak prison.
Daehyun watched in ridicule.
"Nothing's good is going to come out of that thing." He stated out of contempt.
The boy gave a cold threatening side glance, one Daehyun didn't know non-warriors could give, and parted his small mouth slowly. Before a word could escape his mouth, the speaker buzzed to life. Daehyun's heart sped up. His Matoki blood could smell the incoming event. It echoed static for a few minutes, as if building up the anticipation in a horror movie.
Finally, a male voice sounded over the speaker.
"Morning."
Daehyun listened intently, scowling at the common gesture, but the boy darted up. The voice wasn't familiar to him, but it was to the boy.
"That 'I want to kill you' look isn't very nice." The voice spoke in a soft tone.
It didn't sound sarcastic or cynical to Daehyun's surprise. It sounded like a sincere apology coming from an innocent bystander.
"Shut up you ." The boy shocked Daehyun with his harsh remark.
Daehyun had never heard him speak the entire time and the strength behind his voice definitely surpassed his expectations. The phrase wasn't yelled or shouted out, but it rebounded against the walls endlessly. The air became still. Any movement seemed impossible.
"Where's Deer? You were inseperable from him, running after him and Baozi since you were kids."
Again, the voice showed no signs of motive. Simple nostalgia and curiousity. But the boy didn't let up. Rather, he became angrier.
"Shut up." He declared with the same ferocity.
"Oh. They must've put you in a different fighting group. That ."
This time there was no reply. The static buzzed again for a while. The boy was boring a hole through the dark glass wall with his glare. He was probably imagining choking whoever was speaking. Suddenly, the voice once again spoke calmly.
"We found Kai."
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