Do you have a visual on Daehyun? The matoki whispered telepahically with his black and yellow ears outstretched. 

Negative. The second shorter matoki replied a few meters ahead. It's just a bunch of Lower life forms. 

They may be Lowers but they have weapons. They wouldn't have been able to detain Daehyun otherwise. The first answered back.

Unsure of his elder's words, the shorter matoki reconfirmed again using his dark brown and green ears which blended in well witht the environment. Are you sure it was him, Youngjae? You could have been mistaken in the dark. 

It was white ears, Jongup. I know Daehyun's ears. Youngjae replied matter-of-factly. 

Jongup merely shrugged his toned shoulders and continued his reconnaissance mission.

He was unusually comfortable alone with Youngjae while others, like Zelo, were immediately repelled by Youngjae's by the book attitude. But then again, Jongup was never fussy about who he was paired with or who he worked with. All he had to do was follow instructions and being the second youngest meant following a lot. Unlike Zelo, he was accepting the calm, adaptable, but he always secretly admired Zelo's passion.

Jongup had a serious case of detachment sometimes. He just...didn't care. 

"Anything?" Youngjae asked, beside him now. 

Eyes trained at the series of tents and a condo stationed amidst the trees, Jongup shook his head slightly. After the escape pods landed, Jongup had quickly found Youngjae, who was scouring the area feverishly as was taught by the academy. Both matokis continued their search for others and chanced upon Daehyun's empty pod. Close to the area, Youngjae claimed he spotted some humans carting off an unconscious Daehyun. Upon following the tracks, the pair discovered the hidden camp.

"This is truly strange. I've tried to connect with Daehyun telepathically but he's still not awake yet. Also, I've never actually seen these Lowers in the flesh before. The books do not describe such strange behaviours such as living in the forest." Youngjae whispered to which Jongup curtly nodded. 

Youngjae appreciated the silence of his companion but he couldn't feel relaxed. There was such a barrier between them despite their closeness in age. Neither of them were the personal expressive type.

Youngjae preferred the more talkative and expressive as friends. They were less mysterious and easier to predict. Youngjae preferred Daehyun. Or Zelo even, with his endless banter and eagerness to fight.

They watched the humans scurrying about in the clearing from a far off bush. There were people in white lab coats, in dressy tuxes and people in camouflage armor. Anybody could tell that there was something going on inside the tents.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Youngjae, much to Jongup's surprise, motioned to move closer. The rule book had specifically advised Matokis to avoid single rescue missions without the whole group. It was reckless and dangerous, something Youngjae was not accustomed to doing. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening to Daehyun and it scared him to not know.

Nonethless, Jongup followed wordlessly until they were a few meters away from the closest tent. 

"This will be an impromptu rescue mission. We'll sneak in as humans, do some recon, find out where they took Daehyun and rescue him. Then we can meet up with the others." Youngjae instructed. 

Again, Jongup complied with a simple smile and nod. Both matokis proceeded to retract their bunny ears to look like a human. Their ears were usually out all the time so hiding them at the back of their heads were uncomfortable.

Right as they began to move, the lights surrounding and inside the tents went out and the world plunged into the darkness of midnight. The humans panicked. All Youngjae could hear was the human's shouting at each other to turn on the electricity once more. The two Matokis ducked back into the bush as two soldiers ran by in a flurry. They gave each other a look of gratitude. 

It took them a short moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, something their eyes were capable of doing upon instinct since birth. It was similar to night vision goggles but much more clearer.

Youngjae darted into the closest tent with Jongup following in close proximity. Luck is on our side, Youngjae thought. 

They moved farther into the tent, hiding in crevices when humans could be sensed and going into random rooms to check for their capture comrade.

With the passing of every room, Youngjae's suspicions grew. One room contained a bounty of medical supplies and anesthesia. Another contained an arsenal of guns; some had bullets, others had syringes, others with what looked like tracking devices. It was certainly a strange array. As the two searched what looked like a hospital ward, three humans walked in with a flashlight in hand. 

Startled, Youngjae jumped behind a cabinet of medicine. In one swift movement, Jongup followed and slinked underneath a bed. The flashlights scanned the room and proceeded closer.

One of the humans slumped on top of Jongup's hiding spot. Jongup clasped a hand against his mouth to slow down his pounding heart. 

"Argh. That damn monster hit me with fire. I'm going to get burns all over my arm." He complained while ripping the singed clothing off his forearm.

The other human stood by at the tent entrance and another approached the cabinet where Youngjae stood.

Youngjae inhaled sharply and held his breath as the cabinet rattled open and medicine bottles clinked. One slight movement to the left and he would be seen. 

"Consider yourself lucky, man. Seems like Mike got into contact with another one like that specimen and it shot him with this, like energy burst or something. Three broken ribs. Heartless aliens." The human consoled his partner as Youngjae attempted to piece the information together.

"Did you see the specimen team 3 brought in? It looks like a kid." Said the man as he closed the medicine cabinet with his elbow.

"They all kind of look like kids." The man at the door grunted as he shifted positions. 

"Yeah. Ouch-gently, will you?" The injured human yelped as his friend treated his burns, "What'd he say? Oh yeah, a kid with bunny ears and a sword."

Youngjae's alarm went off. He was right. Daehyun had been taken by the Lowers and was in captivity somewhere in this camp. Youngjae's heart began to thump loudly; his hand began to sweat. He could see Jongup under the bed listening intently as well. Upon processing the news, Jongup jumped and hit his head on the bed. A creak permeated the air.

The flashlight moved all around the room again. 

"Hey, did you hear that?" The bearer asked.

"You mean my pain or the bed?" The injured said.

The man put a finger to his lips and stalked into the room. Youngjae shot a quick glance for action to Jongup. They would have to expose themselves. They definitely still had the advantage in the dark but it wasn't clear whether any of them were armed. If they had managed to subdue Daehyun, they must have had some very powerful weapon.

As the flashlight drew closer to Jongup, Youngjae sprung into action.

The human with medicine was closest and taken by complete surprise. Youngjae whacked the man in his sweet spot on the neck and the human crumbled to the floor unconscious. The injured man stood up in reflex but Youngjae punched him square in the face with much more strength than one would pin him for. He was being merciful in a sense by not hitting the man in the ribs again.

The third human saw the scene unfurl and had drawn a gun out of his chest pocket, both flashlight and gun aimed at Youngjae. In another fluid movement, Jongup bolted out of his hiding place and grabbed the human's arms from behind. He twisted the man's arms behind him. Startled, the human dropped both of his items and wriggled againts Jongup's incredibly strong hold.

Youngjae bent down and grabbed the Lower's gun and aimed it at their new hostage. His finger was steady on the trigger. He was trained for this. 

"Speak. Where is this specimen you speak of?" Youngjae demanded. 

The shock finally dissipated and the human focused on Youngjae with an incredulous  expression. He ceased struggling and simply gaped at Youngjae's presence. 

Frustrated, Youngjae yelled, "Speak human! Or my image will be the last you'll see."

"Who are you? Are you guys also...aliens?" The human rambled out.

To him, this was an ambush by high schoolers. 

"Where did you take the specimen?" Youngjae reinstated more forcefully as he held his newfound gun at closer range. 

He then aimed at the human's leg and pulled the trigger. Click! The empty sound of the safety filled the room.

Matoki guns didn't have safeties. That would be useless in battle. All were trained to use one. All had experienced the dangers of careless use.

It was one of the reasons Youngjae gave Daehyun a sword.

Youngjae peered at the gun curiously as he analyzed the weapon's structure. He was intrigued for a few brief moments before regaining his initial concentration. The human realized their blunder and began squirming once more in Jongup's embrace but to no avail. Giving up on the gun, Youngjae patted the human down for any other useful devices. He drew out a map from the man's back pocket and after deeming the human of no further use, knocked him unconscious.

Jongup silently dragged all of the Lowers into a corner of the tent. He carefully moved a gurney to obstruct the eyes of any wandering humans. He smiled with pride at his work and turned back to Youngjae who was scrutinizing and deciphering he map. 

"I believe we're here." Youngjae pointed to the bottom left corner of the small paper map. "If these labels read correctly, then Daehyun should be near the center of the camp at this 'quarantine section'."

Jongup nodded and walked to the exit as a lookout. Youngjae grabbed a walkie talkie from a human and followed while still staring at the map for directions. Although they had no need for the contraption, he figured it would be of use to eavesdrop. He also considered taking clothing as a disguise but thought against it. 

He gave the signal to turn right and both of them slipped back into the darkness of the hallways once again. 

In the silence of the night, Youngjae's mind wandered to the times in the Academy. He had loved his solidarity; it allowed for educational discipline. Then Daehyun transfered in and everything seemed to get busier. Daehyun's natural ability to excel frustrated him. However, Daehyun was unaffected by such standards and started to hang around him, despite his protests. Everyday was just the endless chatter during lunch. At first, he disliked the constant ranting but soon, he grew accustomed to hearing it. He fell into pace with him.

Now, silence unnerved him. Now, solidarity was lonely. 

Unable to communicate telepathetically, Youngjae thought in his mind.

"Please be safe."