*** A Cave Somewhere***

Third P.O.V

A man continued walking into a dark and cool cave. The further inside he got, the lower the temperature fell. While he was walking, he saw a lot of icy sculptures. He felt wary but didn’t know what it was for. He cautiously continued walking down the path. He entered an icy, small room. There is an ice block in the center, where a cloaked figure sat.

“Did you do what I asked?” The cloaked figure stood, revealing a rather short stature.

“I apologize but I have failed to acquire-” Before the man could finish his sentence, he opened his mouth in a silent scream. A high-pitched note was heard through the echoes of the cave, yet it did not reach the cave’s mouth. Within a few minutes, the man fell to the floor. His body was ice and shattered to pieces as he hit the ice floor. The figure kneeled as the cold room turned a red color. A voice spoke.

“Father, it seems we have failed to acquire the young anima. Forgive me but I should’ve gone to get him instead.”

“Nonsense, I need you to stay hidden until it’s time. Don’t worry too much. I will always protect you even if you think you’re already strong. You’ll be ready to go out by tomorrow evening. For now, go to the village and do something.  I’ll talk to you again tomorrow, Xiumin.”

“Yes, father.”

***Suho’s Inn***

Sehun, Luhan, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo walked towards the inn. Before Luhan could touch the door knob, Kyungsoo opened the door for Luhan. Sehun raised an eyebrow at the chef’s strange behavior but he lets it go.

“Hyung! We’re back.” Suho’s head popped in from the kitchen door to see them.

“Oh, my. We have a lot of people. Kai! Get in here and show them their rooms, would you?”

“But hyung, I’m still bruising from–” Kai stopped in mid-sentence when he saw Kyungsoo staring at him. He stares back at Kyungsoo and then suddenly turns away. His face was rather red. Kai left the living room to go inside the kitchen. He pushes Suho out of the kitchen and into the room.

“Hyung, are you sure about this? You want me to show him his room?” He whispers to Suho. The guardian smiles innocently and nods.

“I’ll be outside guys, call me in when dinner’s ready.” Sehun called out, walking out the door.

“Oh yeah, your–” Luhan covers Kyungsoo’s mouth and whispers, unaware of the look Kai is giving him.

“I mean, Luhan-hyung, here’s the charcoal. You never left without them so I thought I should bring them to you.” Kyungsoo hands a box to Luhan.

“Oh, thank you! I needed this. By the way, Suho, can I have some nails and curtains?” Suho nods, leaving the room.

“I’ll see you later, Kyungsoo.” With that, Kyungsoo is left in the room with Chanyeol, who is lighting and blowing away the fire in a candle. Kai and Kyungsoo look at each other.

“I’ll show you your room.” Kyungsoo gave Kai a big smile and Kai turned away. He immediately went upstairs and showed Kyungsoo one of the guest rooms.

“Here. If you need anything, my room is next door.”

“Why thank you…”

“You can just call me Kai, for now.” Kai replied, whispering the last part to himself.

“I’m Kyungsoo. Nice to meet you, Kai-ssi.” As soon as the door closed, Kyungsoo let out a deep breath.

***In a local restaurant***

Xiumin held a baozi to his mouth and munched on it thoughtfully. It was his favorite meal. Someone tapped his shoulder.

“Do you need anything else, sir?” The young waitress asked him. He shook his head and she left. Xiumin reaches up to his ears and fixes the ear plugs he placed on his ears. He can read lips so he could understand them. As soon as he finished eating, Xiumin stood up, left some money and walked away. He let his feet carry him to the beach a few miles from the village. While he sat on one of the stones, he removed the ear plugs and listened. The roars of the waves comforted him. It was a habit of him to visit the sea. However, he heard something today that he hasn’t heard of before. It was a beautiful voice that flowed with each note that was sang. Seemed to be afar, Xiumin just listened to the voice. But all of a sudden, it stopped. Xiumin was ready to skate through the soon-to-be ice water but he saw something glistening stuck in the sand. He took it and saw that it was a picture of him.

“Who has an image of me?” His eyes were suddenly fixed to an orange picture at the corner of the glass.

“Could it be?” Xiumin looks longingly at the sea but he heads home, ignoring the ache to see whoever owned that voice.

***Luhan and Sehun’s Room***

Luhan cleared the wall, next to his bed, near the window. He looks out and sees Sehun. He was beginning to practice his wind dances. It was really a sight worth sculpting on stone. However, since he didn’t have the materials, Luhan brought out a piece of charcoal and started drawing Sehun’s face full of concentration. He drew every nook and corner of Sehun’s face on the wall. He smiled as he watched Sehun dance with the wind. His coat floated about his figure as he turned and flicked his blade. As Sehun finished, Luhan quickly took the nails and covered his drawings with the curtain he got from Suho. By the time Luhan laid on his bed to take a nap, Sehun enters the room and looks at Luhan’s turned back. He sighs and changes his clothes.

Meanwhile… Downstairs

Kyungsoo rubbed his forehead as he looked at the kitchen Suho worked on a couple of minutes before.

“You have made a mess of the kitchen… and your reason was because you tried to cook rice!?” Suho sweat dropped as he heard Kyungsoo’s voice drop. It was cold.

“Ah, Kyungsoo-ssi, I think I’ll leave the cooking to you.”  Suho sheepishly smiled. Kyungsoo sighed.

“Okay.” Out of the corner of Suho’s eyes, he saw Kai staring intently at Kyungsoo. Suho had an idea.

“Ah, Kai-ssi can help you if you need anything Kyungsoo-ah.” When Kai’s name left Suho’s mouth, he smiled as he saw both of them flinch. Suho waved goodbye and on his way out, pushed Kai in the kitchen. Kai stumbled in and slightly grins.

“So, help?” With that, Kyungsoo and Kai fixed tonight’s dinner. In a while, Kai came into the dining room helping Kyungsoo get everything on the table. Sehun stares at Kai’s sudden change of work ethics.

“Wow, I think this is the most work I’ve seen you do in like, ever!” Sehun laughed.

“Shut up!” Kai retorted while his face turned red. With that, everyone ate dinner. Kai sat next to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo sat next to Luhan who faced the maknae sitting next to Kai. With a few empty chairs, Suho sat on one end and Chanyeol sat next to Luhan.

“That was the best meal, I’ve had in days.” Sehun nodded at Luhan’s comment about Kyungsoo’s cooking.

“I’ll be in my room.” Sehun said as he left the dining room. Luhan stood up and followed Sehun, waving to the others.

“How much do you wanna bet that those two are together?” Chanyeol nudged Kai.

“How much do you bet?” Kai replied, earning a light hit from Kyungsoo.

“Don’t even try. Seriously, I don’t know how you two are getting along when you’ve just met a couple hours ago.”

“Well, I guess great minds think alike, no?” Chanyeol said.

“Him, yes. You, I’ll have to think about.”

“Hey, my position’s higher than–” Kyungsoo kicked Chanyeol’s leg from underneath, using a huge amount of strength. From Kai’s point-of-view, he was too busy looking at Kyungsoo’s eyes that he didn’t even notice the table shifting.

“Remember that an angry deer will hit you if you talk about the big house.” Suho nods at Chanyeol. Kai was still oblivious to anything. Wow, when I meant someone to distract Jong In, I didn’t expect him to actually be distracted like this. Good job, Xing-ah! Suho thought as he looked at Kai’s unending and unblinking stare towards the new chef. I guess all I have to do is find the light guardian and the ice guardian then we’ll be ready.

***Somewhere Far Away***

A thin figure hid in the dark. He wore dark clothes that covered him. On the young man’s right hand, a hand ornament glowed in the middle of the night. He held a picture of Chanyeol. Throwing the picture on air, four claws tear it apart.

“Park Chanyeol, I’m going to kill you.”