The small street was quiet once JunSu had left with HyukJae. KyuJong and DongHae stood in silence for a long time, neither looking at the other. For his part, KyuJong didn’t know what to say. He’d been seeing the spirit beasts and the battles through rose-tinted glasses this whole time, and now that he’d seen for himself what kind of heartbreak it could bring, he wasn’t sure what to think.

“…If you see HyukJae again, don’t act like you know him,” DongHae said finally, glancing at KyuJong. “He only met you cause of Wukong too, so he won’t know you now. Doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with him if you want, but it’s back to square one for everyone.”

“Won’t someone else notice though?” KyuJong asked softly. “Doesn’t he have friends or family who’ll wonder why he doesn’t know JunSu anymore? Why he doesn’t know you anymore?”

“Keepers maintain a distance from the families and friends of other Keepers,” DongHae shrugged. “I never met Hyukkie’s family or his other friends aside from short moments, and neither has Su. Precautions against this kind of problem.”

KyuJong looked down, eyes dimmed. “I…never considered how losing a challenge could affect friends. Is that why JunSu and HyukJae never accepted challenges? To prevent this?” JunSu had said HyukJae promised him…

DongHae’s lips twisted from side to side. “A little more than that.” He leaned back against the brick wall, looking up at the night sky.

“Muninn isn’t JunSu’s first spirit beast. I met him a long, long time ago when we were kids. He’d had Makara, a dolphin spirit beast, for about a year before I got Abaia. We were pretty good friends, us and some other Keeper kids. But Su lost a challenge, and forgot all about us.”

KyuJong was quiet, watching DongHae’s expression as the other man continued to talk. “We all figured that was it, we wouldn’t hear word from him again. But some years ago, Muninn chose Su as his Keeper. Hyukkie and I were already Keepers by then, and of course I recognized JunSu. But he didn’t know me. I managed to keep from him that we’d met before, not to scare him. We were pretty close for a while…him, me, Hyukkie and another Keeper named YooChun. YooChun had Huginn, Muninn’s other half. Huginn and Muninn can fight together in challenges and are stronger than when they’re apart, so JunSu and YooChun got very close and ended up dating after a while.”

DongHae looked at KyuJong, wide eyes sad. “It got out eventually, I slipped up and had to explain to him that Muninn wasn’t his first spirit beast. He…was very mad, and scared. It scared him that there was a hole in his memory that he didn’t even know was there, whole years, whole friendships gone. He didn’t want to lose his memories again. So he decided not to fight, and tried to make us promise not to take challenges either.”

“HyukJae promised,” KyuJong said quietly, and DongHae nodded. “What about you and YooChun?”

“We couldn’t,” DongHae laughed quietly, shaking his head. “We’d been Keepers way longer than those two, and knew our duty. Being a Keeper is important…more important, to YooChun, than the risk of losing his memory. It was a very, very long argument, and they broke up. I don’t think they’ve seen each other since. JunSu’s scared that the next time he meets YooChun, Chun won’t know him, and YooChun last I heard was studying in America. I kept taking challenges too; it took Su years to even talk to me again. He only started talking to me again cause Hyukkie did, but that’s fine. I understand.”

KyuJong’s heart clenched when he saw tears leaking out of the corners of DongHae’s eyes. He lifted his arms and DongHae took the invitation, letting KyuJong hug him tightly. “I’m going to miss Hyukkie,” DongHae whispered, closing his eyes. “But he’ll still be around, and I can be friends with him again one day.”

“And JunSu?” KyuJong asked softly, rubbing DongHae’s back and letting the other man bury his face in his shoulder.

“I don’t know what Su’s gonna do. I’ll be watching them, but I’m sure after this he won’t be talking to me anymore. Can you just keep an eye on him with me? I’m worried he might do something stupid.”

KyuJong nodded, biting his lower lip. “Of course I’ll help.” He wasn’t sure if JunSu would listen to him either, but the heartbreak in the crow Keeper’s eyes wouldn’t let KyuJong say no.

It took a few minutes for DongHae to let go of KyuJong, the other man not pushing him and rubbing his back in slow circles. Finally his arms dropped to his sides and he stepped back, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “What’re you doing around here, anyways?” DongHae asked, wiping at the last of his tears and peering at KyuJong.

“Oh…I was going to watch two Keepers practice,” KyuJong said, remembering why he was in this part of town in the first place. “A new Keeper I know, and uh…SungMin?”

“Oh, I know SungMin,” DongHae hummed, nodding as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. “He became a Keeper…I think it’s been almost eight years now. Almost as long as me. Who’s the other Keeper?”

“Pantera’s new Keeper,” KyuJong replied, and he saw DongHae’s eyebrows go up.

“Huh. Hope he or she’s better than the last one. Where are they?”

“I don’t know, they were supposed to meet at the coffee shop at nine…” KyuJong glanced at his watch: 9:25. “Don’t know where they are now.”

“Abaia’ll find them.” DongHae lifted one arm and his eyes shifted to gold, the eel appearing and wrapping around his arm before swimming up to the rooftops. “They’re probably on a roof somewhere.”

“Why rooftops?” KyuJong asked, hands jamming into his pockets.

“Seoul is way too crowded to fight on the streets, someone would get hurt. We’re lucky no one ran into the challenge with that Hunter. You know what, I think I’ll go watch the practice with you; don’t feel like going home right now.”

KyuJong nodded, somewhat surprised. This had to be the longest he’d spoken with DongHae before the other man could run off somewhere. But obviously HyukJae’s loss had hit him hard; there was a dazed look in his eyes still.

Abaia returned after a moment, and DongHae nodded to some unspoken conversation. “Okay, he’s found them. Follow me,” he turned to head down the street, Abaia floating after him. KyuJong walked beside DongHae, watching the eel curiously out of the corner of his eye.

They headed to an office skyscraper and got into the elevator, riding it to the top floor. Once there, DongHae easily found the way to the rooftop. “You learn quickly which buildings are easy to get up onto,” DongHae tossed over his shoulder as they stepped out into the cool night air. “Ah, here we are.”

KiBum and SungMin were on the other side of the rooftop, both of them looking over when KyuJong and DongHae appeared. “KyuJong…oh,” SungMin blinked. “Long time no see, Hae. You finally come to challenge me, or what?”

“Hey, I know my reputation, but I’m not that stupid,” DongHae laughed loudly, bright grin back in place as he walked towards them. Looking at him, it was hard to tell he’d just lost one of his friends, KyuJong wondering if DongHae was really over it that quickly or just good at covering it up. “KyuJong was looking for you two, and I’m tagging along to see how Pantera’s new Keeper’s doing.”

“We haven’t gotten very far yet,” SungMin rolled his eyes. “Took forever to find an unoccupied rooftop, seems like everyone’s out in full force tonight. You here to watch, KyuJong?” Yuetu was slung over his shoulder, pink eyes watching KyuJong.

“Yeah,” KyuJong nodded. Learning alongside KiBum, a new Keeper, was the best way to go. KiBum seemed clueless about many of the same things as KyuJong.

“Then sit down out of the way,” SungMin motioned towards the enclosed stairwell, and KyuJong and DongHae went to sit against the wall. “We’re gonna start with quick quiz. KiBum, what has Pantera explained to you so far about Keepers and their duty?”

KiBum looked nervously down at the panther spirit lying by his feet. “She said that spirit beasts stabilize the world, and without them there’d be complete chaos. At some point centuries ago, spirit beasts began losing their power and now they need Keepers to maintain world stability.”

“Right,” SungMin nodded. “Our spirit beasts are the embodiment of the legends that form our world. Belief in them used to be enough to give them power, but obviously in the last several centuries belief in theology has...waned quite a bit. They aren’t strong enough on their own, so they turn to Keepers and Spirit Kings. What are Keepers?”

“Keepers are humans with an unusually high amount of spiritual energy and chosen by a spirit beast,” KiBum answered, not missing a beat. “The strength of a Keeper multiplies the power of their spirit beast.”

“Correct. And Spirit Kings are centers of strength, their spirit energy feeds into the power of each spirit beast in their region. Spirit Kings are relatively recent, only needed in the last two centuries when the power of spirit beasts took another nosedive.”

“They…weren’t around when Keepers were first needed?” KyuJong asked from where he was sitting, confused.

“No, the Keepers were enough by themselves back then. Spirit beasts have a way of knowing when they need extra help, and exactly how to get it.” SungMin pulled Yuetu off his shoulder and set the rabbit on the roof in front of him. “Moving on. KiBum, how exactly can Keepers strengthen their spirit beast?”

“I’m…not sure,” KiBum mumbled sheepishly. “She didn’t get to that part. Training?”

SungMin grinned. “Not precisely the answer I was looking for, but it’ll do. When you train, you hone your spiritual energy.”

“Not the spirit beast’s?” KyuJong asked.

“Why would they need to hone something they’ve had for centuries?” SungMin chuckled. “They aren’t the new ones to this. You are the weak one dragging you both down,” he pointed at KiBum. “A Keeper takes a spirit beast’s power and multiplies it. A thousand multiplied by zero is still zero.”

KiBum flushed in embarrassment, looking down at Pantera. “So by training and taking challenges, I can help her to be stronger? And that’s what holds the world stable?”

“Precisely,” SungMin nodded. “You strengthen your spiritual energy and tune yourself to her, and she’ll take care of the stabilizing part.”

“Tune myself to her?” KiBum blinked.

“What, did you think she would do all the fighting by herself?” SungMin chuckled. “There’s a special link between Keepers and their spirit beasts. You fight as one. You see through her eyes, hear what she hears, and when she’s hurt you feel it too. The more you train and let her in, the stronger the bond becomes.”

“Some Keepers can speak to their spirit beasts using only their mind,” DongHae piped up from where he was sitting. “Abaia and I can, and so can Yuetu and SungMin. If a Keeper has to actually speak out loud to get instructions across, there’s either something wrong with their connection or they’re not as experienced as they’d like to think.”

“Who’s training him here, you or me?” SungMin sniffed. “He’s right, and Keepers and spirit beasts who’ve been together a long time even start taking after each other. I swear Anansi wasn’t as much of an when KyuHyun first got him.”

“Anansi’s a trickster spirit, maybe it’s KyuHyun who’s taking after him now,” DongHae laughed, stretching his arms.

“No, he’s always been that way. KiBum,” SungMin turned to the new Keeper with a bright smile. “We’re going to start with some focusing exercises.”

“You mean we’re not actually fighting?” KiBum asked, seeming both disappointed and relieved at the same time. “I thought we were up here to fight.”

“Hell no; jumping straight into fights is a greenhorn mistake. You asked me for help, so you’ll do what I say,” SungMin replied. “Sit down, make yourself comfortable. You’re going to learn how to sync your energy to her, and see through her eyes.”

KyuJong watched as KiBum grudgingly sat down. Pantera shifted closer, a supportive black shadow against KiBum’s side. “This is the boring part for us,” DongHae said with a loud sigh, dropping onto his back and stretching out. He twined his fingers together underneath his head. “Wake me up if I fall asleep.” Abaia disappeared, apparently just as uninterested as his Keeper.

Even as silence fell over the rooftop, KyuJong couldn’t agree with DongHae about it being boring. He watched SungMin take a seat across from KiBum, pulling Yuetu into his lap and smoothing his fingers through the pink rabbit’s soft fur. He was speaking softly, giving instructions to KiBum whose eyes were closed. KyuJong wondered what it was like, seeing through the eyes of another.

Five minutes passed, then ten, without any change. Without anything to do but listen, KyuJong decided to try following SungMin’s instructions himself out of boredom. It was a lot like meditating; opening your senses, taking in everything and nothing at the same time. At the very least, it seemed soothing (he wondered if KiBum had fallen asleep). Closing his eyes, KyuJong exhaled slowly and let his muscles relax.

“You can feel her next to you, can’t you?” SungMin’s murmured words reached him louder with his eyes closed, the loss of one sense strengthening the others. “Listen to her heartbeat and her breathing. Match your breathing to hers. Listen to her thoughts, and let them be yours too.”

Pantera was a comforting, mother-like spirit, more than any of the others KyuJong had encountered. Every time he’d seen her, she’d been right beside her Keeper keeping an eye out for them, a silent, protecting shadow. He could feel how she cared for KiBum despite just meeting him, thinking of him as one of her cubs; inexperienced and awkward, but hers. And she would do anything to protect her children, even a pink-skinned, hairless one.

His breathing and heart rate had settled, and he felt strangely warm. Completely calm, KyuJong slowly opened his eyes. The world seemed clearer than before, colors slightly muddled but the edges of objects crisper than he’d ever seen them. He could hear faint sounds of battles across the rooftops, wondering how he’d missed them before. There was a steady thumping of a heartbeat beside him, and the sound of breathing. His cub couldn’t focus on the task, fidgeting where he sat. Silly boy. He’d get it eventually, but not tonight. A quiet, childish giggle got his attention, both ears flicking idly as he looked at the rabbit spirit looking down at him from his spot in his Keeper’s lap.

It was looking up at Yuetu directly in front of him that snapped KyuJong out of it. Jerking his head back, he blinked repeatedly and saw that no, Yuetu wasn’t in front of him. The rabbit spirit hadn’t moved from SungMin’s lap in front of KiBum and Pantera.

Head spinning, KyuJong covered his hands with his face. He felt deaf all of a sudden, the sounds of the citywide battles muted. His eyes hurt, and his heart raced uncomfortably in his chest.

“Hey, you okay?” A hand rested on his shoulder and KyuJong jumped, looking up to see DongHae peering at him.

“I…yeah,” KyuJong mumbled, even though he was dizzy beyond measure. “I think, just…tired.”

“Okay, enough for tonight,” SungMin sighed, looking at his watch. “An hour…aish. Practice on your own whenever you have the time KiBum, and stop fidgeting for God’s sake.”

“Sorry,” KiBum winced, opening his eyes. “I think my leg fell asleep.”

KyuJong watched, dazed, as SungMin got up and helped KiBum to stand. Pantera butted her Keeper’s leg lightly, and he looked down at her with a strained smile. “Sorry. Your Keeper’s a little slow.”

“I’ve never seen someone get it right on the first day, don’t worry about it,” SungMin said, holding onto his arm until KiBum was steady on his own two feet. “I’ll help you home.”

“Looks like the fun’s over for the night,” DongHae hopped to his feet, holding a hand out to KyuJong. Blinking at it blankly, KyuJong took the offered help after a moment and stood. It felt a little weird standing on two legs.

SungMin helped KiBum back towards the staircase. KyuJong looked down at Pantera following behind them, eyes widened as he saw Pantera watching him. There was amusement in her eyes, which was silly to think because he’d never been able to tell any sort of emotion from them before.

“I just need a moment,” KyuJong said to DongHae, leaning back against the wall and staring down at his feet. He was fully aware what had just happened…what he didn’t know was how. Or why.

Wow! :O We've passed 10 subscribers, AND 425 views! You guys are awesome! <3

Oh, I moved my graphic shop from a blog post to a proper...well...shop. I've also figured out how to do layouts on here so go ahead and request if you'd like anything! ----> YeonAh's Graphic Design Shop

We've also got a background. Yes, I went a little design-happy. I'm sleep-deprived atm, let me have my fun .____.;;;

Thank you for reading~!! Comment, subscribe and vote if you enjoyed the story so far, more to come!

@Forest_pixi: I'm sorryyyyy I did that to Hyukkie D: *hides* and LOL 'A spider and bunny's love story'...don't tempt me to give them their own spin-off story, cause I can't resist KyuMin ever. How's that time machine going? xD;;

@Forever5501: LOL You're not the only one who wants to kick them back to China... and bunnies like carrots too =P JungMin can't have them all

@ping501: Nooooo don't shut up~ it's fun listening to your ideas! XD Even if I can't really answer most of them without giving something away...LOL but Kyu is always the Center, isn't he? In real life and in fiction, he's the heart of the group :P

@curionenene: Busy bee you are! Miss youuuu *glomps* And oh fine, I thought I was being clever with Byakko but I guess not :P Your guesses make me happy~