C h a p t e r S i x 
The Journey Begins     Loxus - Year X665    "Stop right there!" The guard at the front gates of Loxus, the dome city, yelled out hysterically as he watched four figures, clad in dark hooded cloaks, slowly approach them after having suddenly appeared out of thin air.   It was passed midnight when the three members of the 4th Elite and the Alpha werewolf of the Southern Wolf Tribe finally made it to their destination. Not long after the showdown at RED Headquarters it had started raining heavily. That, along with the darkness of the night, made it difficult for the guard to see anything. And it didn't help that like Min had expected, everyone was in a panic with news of REDs destruction.    "Show yourselves!" The guard demanded with a gun held out in front of him and his face contorted in fear. After the news of what happened, everyone was now on edge.   L hesitated, he couldn't do much without word from his leader, but upon feeling her hand clutch at his, he knew what he had to do. The group of guards gasped when the four cloaked figures uncovered themselves, exposing their battle scars.   The four leaned against one another, the three who had fought now completely drained of energy. They were at the edge of conciousness, pushing it to the limit with the energy they still had. They were hunched over, able to feel every hit they had taken as their adrenaline had finally settled. L held Min on his right side, and Jiyong on his left as he held onto Taeyang.    "Miss... Min?" One of the young guards asked as he cautiously walked over to her, his eyes going across her injuries, injuries that he knew wouldn't have been easily sustained unless whoever they fought against were incredibly strong. At this realization, the realization that some of the strongest Hunters had been this badly injured, helped the fear he had been managing until then surface. "Is... Is this everyone?" The four continued to look down in shame and Min fought back her tears as she heard the man continue. "My fiancé... Her name was Ashley. She was a scientist there."   Min recalled the body of a girl she had found early on named Ashley and closed her eyes tightly, a silent tear falling down her cheek along with the droplets of rain. "I'm..so sorry. "   The man choked back a sob and nodded his head in understanding, moving out of the way for the goup to start forward.   "Open the gates! Now!" One of the other guards called out and watched as the four slowly walked in through the city gates.   Min hesitantly looked back over her shoulder as they walked away, and couldn't help but look back the man who now fell on his knees against the muddy ground. The gates to the city slowly closed and the last thing she saw was the way he cried out for his beloved fiancé.   I'm so sorry.           "What do you think happened?" Jia asked as she bit the nail of her thumb nervously. She along with Bom, L, Seungri and Zelo had gathered in one of the rooms of a nearby Inn that they were staying at, and watched the three who had been badly injured in battle lay unconsciously on the three cots they had prepared for them.   With their wounds bandaged, Bom had managed to heal only a fraction of their injuries, having to give up halfway through before she was finally beginning to get sick and had to stop despite her urge to continue. Unfortunately, they had lost a lot of their energy and now the five who watched them helplessly grew worried that there could be anyone  out there with that kind of power to subdue them.   "L, telepathy works the best with you and Min," Seungri began as he crossed his arm and looked over at L. "Why don't you give it a shot and see what they were up against?"   "Can it work with Min unconscious?" Zelo then asked, but kept his eyes on his older brother who he had never seen injured before in his life. The sight of both Jiyong and Min in their current state was unsettling. He looked up to the both of them and he had not once seen them like that, to think that there was something out there that could match up to them and possibly injure them was a terrifying thought that was better left not imagining.   Bom sighed and placed a hand over Zelo's shoulder. "Out of all of us L and her have a strong enough bond that it could work."   "L?" Seungri asked again with a hopeful expression.   L sighed and looked down at Min who he had been sitting next to. Her torso was completely wrapped in gauze, from her chest down to her lower abdomen; Her ribs had been badly bruised on both sides and she suffered a broken radius and also had a large gash on the side of her forehead. In all of his years of knowing her, not once had he ever seen Min injured in a fight, let alone to the point that she became unconscious. He was almost too scared to know what they had faced back at Headquarters. He also didn't like going through his comrades thoughts without their consent. "Min hasn't-"   "L..." Min breathed out softly, catching everyone's attention.   "Minyoung?" The room grew silent, all eyes on their small leader who had reached out and held L's hand in her's.   "It's okay," She assured, her eyes still closed as she brought his hand against her cheek. "Look."    Jumbled images of Min, Jiyong and Taeyang fighting a group of unknown giant creatures surfaced in L's head the moment he was allowed to sort through Min's thoughts. He could smell the potent scent of sulfur in the air and feel Min's injuries as if he was the one receiving them. He saw the devastating Photon Beams they had been able to produce and watched in horror as the group took direct hits from them. After figuring out they were weak to Holy, the three then resorted to using nothing but Charges that contained the divine magic which inadvertently weakened them as a result. Unfortunately, the creatures had been multiplying and the group got bigger. That's when L saw them. The three who they had been fighting just before he got to them. He learned from Min's thoughts that the creatures were called Shades and that the three men were from the Northern Vampire Tribe:  Leader Woobin, and his two followers Sunggyu and Yongguk.   L slowly moved his hand away from Min who had fallen back asleep. He looked over at his group, a worried expression written clearly upon his face.   With that look alone, they knew that what they were facing now wasn't anything to be taken lightly.           Taeyang's eyes adjusted to the light as he awoke in the morning. He was feeling a lot better than what he had before, but he still couldn't help but feel regretful of the events prior.   Hearing a rustling noise beside him, he slowly straightened up, propping himself on his elbows behind him and looking toward the side.    He was stunned, to say the least, when his eyes fell on the curve of a female's body. Her skin was tanned, her body taut and toned. As his eyes lingered upward, he came across a curious marking etched the skin on the side of her ribcage just below the cut of her sports bra.   He could tell it was tribal in style, the marking similar to that of a wolf's head mid-howl.   "Every division has a different brand," Min's voice finally broke through his thoughts, making him jump slightly as he moved his head upward to face the girl who watched him with an unreadable expression. She slid a black shirt over her body, hiding the marking beneath its fabric.    Embarrassed after unintentionally checking her out, Taeyang cleared his throat. "But why... is your's a wolf?" He was relieved she was at least already wearing pants before he awoke.
Min shrugged as she continued adjusting her clothes. "We never knew, but we accepted it. It was a nice design." She sat on the cot and began putting on her combat boots before she stopped to continue. "It wasn't until recently that we had an idea as to why our Divisions symbol was the wolf."   Her confident gaze was set on the wolf, who cocked a brow skeptically.  "Are you saying... it was because of me?"
"The only explanation." Min shook her head at his ignorance and continued to explain. "The division never had an official brand until 23 years ago. None of us ever knew the Master had a son who was a werewolf. Some of us liked to think that we knew everything about him. But the truth of the matter is that we didn't." She then thought of something for a moment, her expression sad. "You were definitely the reason for this symbol, Taeyang."   At the sudden of his mention of his name, he arched a brow. "Taeyang?"   Min furrowed her's in response. ​"Is that not your name?"   He shook his head. "You've been calling me mutt so far, I thought-"   "Would you like me to go back to mutt?"    "I just-"   "I expect you to call me by my name too," She then said firmly as she tied up her long, dark locks into a messy ponytail. "We'll be working together now."   Finally, turning around, Min's gaze settled on the Alpha werewolf, who sat up shirtless on the bed with gauze still wrapped around his abdomen. From what she could tell, Like her his wounds had already settled, as expected. Although obviously he was most likely fully healed while she still suffered from the aches and pains of her post-battle scars. That was the difference between a Demon and a Hunter. No. The difference between a Daeva and a Hunter.   On the other hand, now that they weren't under threatening circumstances, Taeyang took the time to really look at the young Hunter in front of him. As he what he had already seen, she had a great figure despite her size and had a face that completely contradicted both her figure and her power.   This was the infamous Reaper his kind had become wary of. The one Demons, both Daevas and Shadowlins alike, cower from in fear. And it was understandable why they would. Her powers, like the rest of the 4th Elite, were immense. The only reason they had struggled in their previous fight was because those creatures had come and weakened them.   But she took out Taeyang without much effort. And he wasn't too arrogant, but taeyang did like to think of himself as a worthy opponenet. Yet she managed to waltz into Southern Wolf Tribe territory and take him without alarming his pack. And now here he was. Collar and all, fighting along side them. But for what purpose? That he still wasn't sure about. Why had his father called him out?   "Hey," Jia greeted as she gave a little knock against the door and peeked her head inside. "You guys are finally