Suho rubbed his waist as the accident replayed in his mind. It would bruise, he could tell, and then it would make his friend feel even more guilty. He let out a heavy sigh and winced as it caused a short numbing pain on his waist. Sometimes, the leader title was really heavy.
"Kyungsoo!" He had yelled the name repeatedly over the last few hours.
His throat was starting to hurt from the strain and dryness. Everything was beginning to irritate him.The trees constantly whipped his bare arms and he was shivering. His hands were sticky and dirty and he was getting dizzy from looking around. He lacked sleep and food and water. He couldn't sense any water around him, which would definitely render him useless in a battle. His gaze fell on a peculiar looking tree stump and he sat on the wood to catch his breath. From his stool, he gazed to the left. Then right. Then left again.
Yup. I'm lost. I was definitely here before.
Suho had generally always had a horrible sense of direction. It was why he liked having Jongin on his side as a scout. Even on board their ship, he would frequently get lost. Many times, he would confidently walk into the room to speak to his friends and find himself instead in the kitchen. It was the same reason why he had no jacket anymore. After waking up to find Kyungsoo gone, he had taken off his jacket to use as a blanket instead. He had originally intended on returning for his jacket before looking for his friend, but he had already gotten lost. The pitch black night did not help.
"Kyungsoo! Where are you?"
He hollered for the umpteenth time.
"D.O!" He tried the nickname that others often called him, hoping it would envoke more of a response. Nothing.
Suddenly, Suho became enveloped in a panicked state. The world grew in front of him, the trees becoming increasingly taller and menacing with their branches that wanted to grab you and steal you away. He became unsteady and scared. Stinging came to his eyes as tears started to form. He absolutely hated being alone like this. Alone and helpless and lost. At one point, it wasn't just hate for him anymore. It became fear. The sun that commenced to lighten the forest made everything feel colder. Holes and shadows looked deeper and darker to him. Every single horror movie that he had been teasingly forced to watch by his friends came to mind.
"Kyungsoo!" He screamed desperately, almost begging, "Don't do this to me! You know how I hate this! Kyungsoo!"
The sound of ruffled leaves sounded and Suho's head snapped to gawk at it's direction. His entire being high alert for any signs of life. A bush swayed and Suho jumped from his seat. The movies and stories filed through his head once again, showing him every bloody execution and ghostly screams with a vivid memory. In each memory, the one alone died first.
Is it human? An animal? An Exotic? Is it a demon? Is it some sort of monster?
He tried to remember if he read any books on Earth's animals but nothing would come up. His body began to move closer to the bush despite his mind's screaming protests. He knew that he should never approach the scary sounds but his legs just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
"Ky-ky-kyungsoo?" He stammered out, knowing full well that he would not get an answer.
He stalked closer to the bush, curiousity and stupidity overruling fear. His jaw was clenched taut and fists in a ball. He would be ready, he prepared, for anything to come.
A face jumped out at him, unexpected, undetected, zooming close for a split second and letting out a horrendous and bottomless roar. Suho let out a high pitched scream and stumbled back. Tripping over a conveniently placed root jutting from the ground, he fell backwards roughly, not paying any attention to the twinge of pain coming from his waist. His body reflexed into a defensive position, arms over face and eyes shut. His mind stopped functioning, the shock wracking his body.
As a second passed by and no ripping of flesh came about, he started to register his surroundings. His body rebooted, brain sending signals for the heart to restart. He inhaled a sickly sweet incense and the smoke singed his nostrils. But it was a familiar scent. At the same time, he heard a deep laugh and plucked up the courage to peel his eyes open.
"Hy-hyung." He was having trouble forming words from laughing, "I knew you-you were scared." He took several deep breaths, "But not that scared. I can't believe you. Really?"
The tall lanky figure mocked his terrified expression and continued to laugh. Suho connected the low yet hearty voice with a familiar flappy-eared face, Chanyeol. His face was scrunched up and a wide smile plastered on. He doubled over and held his stomach, laughter echoing through the cold morning air. It took him a while to notice that he was still shaking, synchronized with Chanyeol's jeers. Rewinding his startled memory, he pieced together Chanyeol's face rushing out of the bush. Fueled with the blood rushing to his face, Suho stood up and smacked his friend on the arm harshly.
"Aish, seriously? My heart almost stopped!" He irately cried.
"I couldn't help it. You-you just looked so scared. You should've seen the look on your face, hyung." Chanyeol sputtered out, still gasping for air in between sentences.
Suho pushed him back roughly. "Yah! What do you think you're doing when we're in this situation!"
Chanyeol wiped a tear that brimmed at his eyes.
"Sorry. I'm really glad to see you actually." He extends his long arms and embraces Suho in a warm bear hug.
Chanyeol is always warm, like hot chocolate on a snowy day.
"Are you alone?"
"No, I was...well...yes. And you?" Somehow, Suho found it difficult to explain why Kyungsoo had left him. It was not his place, especially as leader, to outline somebody's insecurities. Chanyeol stared a moment longer at Suho and seemed to nod in understanding. He was always quite a wise one, despite being so loud and raucous. He hid a mature mentality inside of a childish personality.
"Nope. I met somebody quite interesting." He spoke with a gleam in his eye before calling out over his shoulder, "You can come out, you know?"
From the bush which Chanyeol emerged, another boy cautiously appeared. He also towered over Suho despite his obviously younger age. Suho studied the boy once over with mild interest. Strawberry blonde curls that look like noodles, pale skin, an outfit clad in black, adorned with metal accessories including a black mask and a military belt on his waist.
"Is this who I think it is?" He asked with bewilderment.
Chanyeol gave a sly smile back and made way for the two to introduce. Immediately, Suho extended a hand of greeting to which the boy skeptically stared at, unmoving and unspeaking. Slightly oblivious to the rejection, Suho stood in awe. He held high regards for the Matoki race.
"Don't worry about him. He's a bit of a kid but he's not a bad person. I think he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Chanyeol joked which was received with a scornful look from said person.
He slinked past Suho and searched around the area, looking for something maybe.
"We kind of got off on the wrong foot too. He won't even tell me his name. I've been calling him kid for a while." Chanyeol sighed at his failure to make a new friend, "His brother's the captain of the ship apparently."
Suho silently trailed along the Matoki's figure with his eyes, admiring the shadow-like behavior he moved with. Suho had often studied the Matoki race and their training regimes. It was amazing to him how well-trained and skilled each Matoki was brought up to be. This boy was probably only a few years younger than Sehun, and he walked with such experience in an unknown land.
Actually, Sehun does that too sometimes. Suho mused.
He briefly sorted through the files in his mind concerning his friends and their various personalities. He flipped to Sehun's information, Chanyeol's, then Kyungsoo's and remembered his original plans.
"Actually, I've been looking for Kyungsoo for a while now. We kind of got separated and...he...uhm...accidentally did something." Suho nervously wrapped his finger around the piece of metal in his pocket. He had to handle this with utmost care.
"What?" Chanyeol inquired nervously, sensing the increased tension in Suho's voice.
"Okay, but before i tell you, you have to make sure you keep yourself under control."
"What is it?" He tersely pressed.
Suho saw his veins tighten as he tried to calm himself. The cold morning suddenly didn't feel so cold. He was already starting to get agitated. Suho contemplated telling him, especially since there really wouldn't be much he could do if Chanyeol lost it. He held the lighter very dear to him. Nevertheless, it would be unfair to keep it from him.
Warily, he withdrew the lighter cap from his pocket and showed it to him, watching his expression for any signs. Initially, Chanyeol looked at the piece of metal with a stranger's curiosity but it gradually sunk, turned into recognition and then, withheld anger.
"Kyungsoo did this?" He barely muttered the words with a low growl.
"You know how he is. He didn't do it intentionally."
A drop of sweat fell from Suho's brow and nearly evaporated before it hit the ground.
"Where's the rest of it?" He could feel the energies converging.
"He has it. Don't worry. It's repairable, I swear." Suho attempted to remedy the situation with his optimism again.
As a precaution, Suho began to draw as much moisture as he could around himself. He dredged up water from the spring deep within the earth and the little droplets in the air. His power stretched itself around him. It was to be some form of a protective barrier from the oncoming heat. What sort of leader would start something and not see it to the end? He would stand his ground here.
"Chanyeol, you should calm down a bit. Restrain yourself." He whispered as he panned out his water.
It was beginning to feel like the sun was right above them when in reality, dawn was just about to break. The forest offered up the cold air to his heat, feeding it's vast energy. That was the problem with fire-related abilities. It was self-sustainable. The Matoki, sensing something was wrong, stood at a distance, watching with a cautious eye. His hand floated around his belt. Chanyeol picked up the piece of metal, ignoring what Suho had to say, and looked at it sympathetically in a trance state. Leaves were falling from the overhead canopy of trees, fluttering down like butterflies. Within a meter of approaching the two, they started to singe at the ends. His appearance was becoming the opposite, hair turning a deeper shade of red with each passing second. Suho's water barrier let off steam all around him. If he wasn't careful at maintaining it, the barrier could turn more into a weapon than a defense. Luckily, he was only wearing a shirt.
"Chanyeol!" Suho called out, clasping both hands on the younger's shoulder which had also risen a few degrees. He succeeded in gaining the boy's attention.
"You're starting to lose control again. Turn it down." He commanded with authority.
Chanyeol blinked a few times, looked back at the artifact in his hand, surveyed his surroundings and in a fluster, shut off his ever growing powers. The blackened leaves flaked to the earth where the ground had boiled and nearly erupted in flames. Chanyeol glanced at the charred debris around him sheepishly. Suho consequently relaxed his powers and returned what little water was left.
"Sorry. I let it get to me." He apologized, still clutching the piece of lighter in his hand.
Suho gave him a reassuring smile and complimented on how he succeeded in stopping at least. Chanyeol returned to his usual happy mood, a soft glow from his cheeks, and stuffed the metal into his pocket. Remnants of his heat littered the earth. There was a small sweet scent left in the air, something a bit more than just smoke but not resembling incense.
Meanwhile, the Matoki stood at the sidelines, watching and anticipating. He had realized that something was off with the tall, frazzled Exotic, something about the atmosphere was unlike his first encounter. The sudden rise in temperature, the appearance of steam, the obvious burning of leaves and grass like fireflies within a meter radius. It reeked of untamed energy. He had moved back farther to avoid getting burned by the heatwave, his black jacket already weighing down on sticky skin due to the humidity. He realized, in worst case scenarios, that a quick getaway could be a tad hard. Suddenly, he felt dwarfed by their strange abilities.
Unconsciously, his grip on his gun tightened. If they were to actually fight, things would get bad. Fast. With no warning, no ticking countdown and a narrow chance of escape. And no matter what, Zelo was determined to survive.
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