"Hey Kris. You know for a guy that's ridden on steeds before; you're pretty good at managing a dragon." Luhan laid down on the saddle as he twirled his bracelet around his index finger without a care in the world.

“Shut up.” Kris grumply replied, holding the reins with a loose grip than compared to earlier before they took off.

“Are we there yet?” Sehun whined, lifting his right leg into the air with his left leg following later.

“For the billionth time Sehun, no.” With both of his arms supporting his chin, Tao gazed down at the fluffy, white clouds drifting along.

Minseok and Junmyeon were currently catching on sleep as they had stayed up a bit more than the others. Yixing, Kyungsoo and Jongin were having a casual talk. Baekhyun, Jongdae and Chanyeol were being their usual loud selves. Areum was doing what she was supposed to be doing; flying. She enjoyed the sights she was seeing and couldn't help but be in awe at landmarks that she only saw in books.

Once she felt the leather around her torso and chest lessen in strength she began to move side to side freely, humming the tune Daena taught her. This caught everyone in surprise from the sudden movement.

"Hey!" Yixing yelled holding onto the rims of the saddle. Junmyeon awoke from his sleep first and crawled his way to Kris. "What's going on?!" His voice filled with panic.

"This thing is going crazy!" Kris pulled back the reins. Areum screeched at the harsh pull, and swiftly turned her head around a bit confused at the scared faces she saw the boys were sporting.

“Can’t you fly properly?!” Kris yelled at the dragon.

Areum rolled her eyes at the man. Technically she was still human. And he’s supposed to be my master. She puffed out fire from her lips and faced the front until her ears heard something strange. Areum flapped her wings with more force than needed.

"What's wrong now." Baekhyun voiced to Kris, analyzing Areum’s actions.

Areum looked from all sides, even up and down. Where was this bad feeling coming from? Not taking any chances, she descended down from the skies until she saw the deep, blue ocean glistening in the sunlight. She glided with ease through the salty air, her muscles getting tense from the menacing aura.

"Where are you going?!" Kyungsoo yelled, his hair flying wildly.

"We're changing course. Something's not right." She voiced, landing down gently on a small island with an abundance of vegetation.

"Get off." She ordered. The boys felt like little children being scolded for being too "childish."

"No. You'll be taking us to the Sand Dunes instead." Kris said firmly, tugging on the reins which burned against Areum's skin, making her cringe slightly.

"Get. Off. Now." Areum growled, fighting back Kris' binding force against her own will. It’s that damn bracelet. She bared her teeth at her master even though she knew it was wrong. Kris' bracelet glowed along with the others and they swore that all of them felt a sting.

"Now!" She repeated flames oozing out from her closed mouth. Like an assembly line, they carried their bags with them and stood on the sandy beach.

"For a kid, she's pretty tough." Yixing whispered to Luhan. Luhan could only agree, but he needed to see how powerful she was with his own eyes.

"Areum. I don't see anything that's dangerous." Jongin offered, pointing his arms to clear skies and the silent ocean.

"I think so too. We need to get going." Minseok walked cautiously in front of Areum.

"No. You all stay here." She stood her ground.

"That's it. I've had it!" Kris roared. "You're going to ing listen and take us to the Sand Dunes right now whether you like it or not!"  His bracelet reacted with his discontentment and Areum imagined chains on her body.

"I don't care." She seethed. "I'm the guardian. I'm the one protecting you. I do what is necessary to —"

Areum flew and she crashed into the tall canopy trees. The impact created a backlash and made the boys fly and fall flat on the hot sand. They groaned trying to regain their footing. Jongin felt something slither up his body, he screamed as he was pulled up.

"Transport out of there!" Minseok yelled shooting bullets of ice at the creature once he saw that Jongin was caught. Kyungsoo went first running. He pulled back his fist but before he could land a punch he was slapped away and crashed into Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

"Holy ! That's a basilisk isn't it?!" Sehun flew up with Kris.

"No it's not. This one is black. It's an Anacondour. Still we can't take any chances. Anacondour are more vicious than basilisks." He confirmed, both him and Sehun dodging the harmful sound waves the lizard emitting from its tail.

“Jongin! Hang on!” Yixing ran with adrenaline and jumped on top of rock for momentum that gave him the push to soar into the skies.“We got you Lay!” Sehun used his wind to throw the Anacoudour off balance while Kris flew back and forth confusing the monster. Lay unsheathed a small knife from his cloak and struck it into the arm that was constricting Jongin.

The creature gave out a defying cry and let go of Jongin, who fell on the sand. Luhan went over to Jongin and put one of his arms over his shoulder to support his weight while Junmyeon covered the both of them, throwing orbs of water hoping that it would create a sinkhole for the Anacondour to be stuck in.

Once it gained back stability, its tail rose above its head and slung itself to Kris, catching him in midair. He wriggled around like a mouse ready to be eaten alive. Everyone else did their best to release their leader from its scaly clutches. Kris screeched at the pressure being applied against his body, his bones felt like they were on the verge of breaking. The bracelet on his wrist was visible even after the snake had him all bundle up with its tail, it began to glow brighter and brighter, the pain hitting the trigger.

A blast of fire soared into the sky and Areum shot up from the debris, eyes glowing a sick yellow and teeth protruding from . Without self control, she sprinted towards the Anacoudour and knocked it down, making it release Kris who rolled on the sand to break his fall. Areum spreaded her wings apart to lift up into the air and rampaged towards the warriors and stood protectively in front of them her wings still flapping. The Anacoudour recoiled itself and propelled its body through the air, knocking down Areum to the side. She bit down on it’s neck and threw it to the trees. Taking the chance, she inhaled deeply and breathe out her flames engulfing the greens and the monster to burn to ashes.

“Kris!” Sehun stumble down from his winds and propped the exhausted leader to his feet.

Areum took in deep breaths, not once had she acted like this before. It never occurred during training either. With her legs feeling like jelly, she trudged her way back to the boys and checked for any injuries. Only a few scratches and a sore body for Jongin and Kris.

She laid down her body against the warm sand and moved her head towards her direction. “Get on. We’re heading to the Sand Dunes.” She said with a soft voice. “I’ll fly properly this time and you can sleep on the way there. I’ll be on the lookout.” She reassured them, still trying to absorb what had just happened. Baekhyun and Chanyeol helped Kris and Jongin board the saddle, while Yixing helped tend to the others injuries. Once everyone was inside, Areum mustered enough strength to set off, leaving the island to burn. Thank goodness, it’s not sunset yet. She exhaled with a pained look, probably came from her ribs.

“Thank you Areum.” Kris sat upright, facing the back, unable to convince himself to fall asleep, while the rest were sprawled all over in deep slumber.

She chuckled. You’re welcome. At this rate, they would arrive at the Sand Dunes by morning. Hopefully, there won’t be any surprises. But Areum couldn’t throw away the feeling that there is going to be a next time. Still, she drifted with ease through the gentle winds hitting against her violet scales, the thirteen of them disappearing into the clouds.

The first rays of daylight had passed by two hours ago, and the sun rays were beginning to grow stronger and stronger. And that meant that it was going to be extremely hot later. Areum had been flying the desert for a while nothing recognizable in sight.

You can stop when you see the checkpoint, then you will travel on foot. Do you understand Areum?

She remembers Lan telling her before letting her off into the world, feeling the bracelet on one of her scaly dragon fingers.

With lazy eyes, she scanned the grounds. The boys had fallen asleep during the night even though they had claimed that they were “too startled” by yesterday to be thinking about getting some shut eye. She took control since she didn't feel Kris' grip anymore. 

Loud snores and sleep talk were heard from behind her sensitive ears. But she needed to make haste, the weight of the saddle and the boys combined was taking a toll on her back. The girl wanted rest, well more like she wanted to die, hopefully the leaders of the group would grant her request, if they were nice enough.

Spotting tents in the horizon, Areum sped up with glee and glided through the desert. Not knowing the full mechanics of how wings worked, she didn't know how to properly land. Yesterday was lucky, had she not felt the aura. But now, she wished Bahamut had made her do more rounds of when and how to stop.

To stop quick enough, do not flap your wings. Let the speed decrease and you will be able to land.

Remembering his words from a distant memory, she spread her wings apart. Using the wind as her source of power. Her enormous shadow circled around the tents once or twice. She decided to land sensing that she had the hang of it—well more like she hoped she did.  She swooped down into the designated landing pad, using her wings to set herself down gently—or at least attempted to.

The wind made the flaps on the tent swish around and people emerged out from the tent to outside and gazed up, using their hands to shield their eyes from the sun. The noise woke the boys up from their blissful sleep, having a hard time getting up with all of the bodies sprawled around in the cramped brown saddle.

Areum had miscalculated on how her legs would've landed and collapsed to her side, making all of the boys roll out from the saddle into a large dog pile under their heavy equipment.

"Really?!" Jongdae whined, rubbing his left shoulder and irritated that he was awoken from his slumber.

"Finally you have arrived!" A woman's voice could be heard. She lends out a hand to Minseok would was the last one to get up.

She has short jet black hair with sun-kissed skin and she wears a fitting black shirt matched with tan shorts. She is about the same height as Minseok and he thanks the older woman for the help. “My you boys took a while getting here!”

"My name is Faela and I’m the head of this resting area. Lan gave me the heads up on you guys that you would be here at this checkpoint, I was expecting you all would've been here by yesterday. Come inside and rest up." Faela looks around with a smile, counting the number of guests in her mind, who are assisted by her workers.

"Wait," she pauses, looking with squinted eyes to double check her counting," isn't there one more person? A girl named Areum?" She says slowly.

"Here." Areum says with a heavy sigh, still in her aeon form.

"Where? I do not see you." Faela uses her hand to provide shade for her eyes.

"She's the dragon Miss Faela." Junmyeon clarifies, dusting the dirt of his clothes.

Oh, so she's the one that's special. Faela’s attention heads to Areum’s direction.

"Oh my god!" Faela rushes to her side once she sees that Areum had reverted to her bloodied human form.

The boys whip their heads around at the scream and circle around the two in a panic, not remembering any major injuries to Areum.

"Are you alright?!" Faela holds the young girl's head up who groans from the new pressure being applied to her body. Faela turns her head around,"tell the medic to set up right away!" The people rush back inside the tent.

Areum is breathing ragged breaths and holds her torso tight, where she feels the pain the most. Faela does her best to hoist the girl up into her arms and goes to the tent.

The rest of the boys follow, hoping that it is not too late.

"What the were you boys thinking?! Making her transport you to this location in that condition?!" Faela had them all assembled in the common room, where they couldn't lift their heads up, too engrossed in their own shame.

"Aren't you Sele's warriors for a reason?!" She yells.

"She's not some dog that you can just order around!" Her blood was boiling, from the memory of a blood curling scream behind those curtains that allowed the medic to work without distraction.

"Miss Faela, please let us explain." Junmyeon started, "We were attacked as we all suffered minor injuries. So we assumed she was well and we're on a tight schedule and we have Yixing—"

"Assumed?! It's because of your inconsiderate asses that you're all late now, aren't you? And depending on your friend all the time doesn't help either." She manages to silent the rest of Junmyeon's thoughts and anybody else's. Faela takes a cup of water from a table and gulps it down to parch . She sets it down with force, making the boys jump from their seats.

"Listen well and listen good." She squints her eyes.

"Lan specified to me that you must stick together and without her you'd all be goners, especially with Sele and it's citizens hanging on a thread because we're depending on you." She seethed, making eye contact with each person.

"She's young and don't get me wrong, you're all young too but you need to look after her. She could've been dead hours ago, but she it all up so you guys would be safe because she's a Guardian. If that's not dedication then I don't know what is. But I know for a fact that you all are retards and need to re-educated on your damn morals." She lectured the boys and stomped her way out.

They were able to breathe, but the tension in the air was still there.  They all felt bad, but Kris felt terrible. The light on his bracelet was flickering, while everyone else's stayed strong. He covered it with his hand, trying his best to not think of what he thought it was.

The medic emerged from the same entrance that Faela had left from, tearing away his mask and threw it into the trash can. Yixing was the first to get up than the boys, ready to listen to the doctor’s orders intently.

"She will be fine, lots of rest, most likely to wake up tomorrow, surprised you lived through Faela's yelling, good day." The medic rushed his words and left, probably exhausted from examining Areum's physical state.

"Well don't I feel like ." Chanyeol mumbled, tumbling down into the couch. The burst of energy in him died out, putting him in a horrible mood.

 "I'm going to check up on her." Kris declares as he walks further into the tent, gone from his comrades eyes.

"Me too." Yixing follows Kris. No one neglects the guilt tugging on their hearts and sprints after the two.

"You must be careful not to wake her," everyone else notices a nurse is explaining the common courtesy that guests have to abide by, "you don't want Faela blowing up on you like that again."

"We will miss." Yixing answers for all of them even though it was initially just for him and Kris. And no one really wants another round of yelling from Faela ever again. The nurse steps aside to give them enough space to let them in, once they are all crowded in the tent, the attendant leaves.

It’s quiet in the white tent, with rays of light being shaded slightly from the closed curtains. There is a table on the right side of the bed where Areum is resting with white roses placed in a blue vase. The boys maneuver themselves around trying to find a comfortable place to which takes little time since its so spacious.

"Is she knocked out?" Baekhyun creeps behind Yixing who puts his hand over Areum's forehead. He pulls away to let his arm rest on his side.

"I sense a small fever, but I think she'll be fine. Kris can you fix her blanket?" 

Kris freezes at Yixing request, but obliges anyway. He gently lifts off the blanket away from her frail body and tucks it around her ensuring her warmth. A fuzzy, warm feeling erupts in his chest.

"Let's leave before we make anymore noise." Tao suggests as he leaves first, using his hand to move away the curtain.

The rest of the boys file out the room one by one till only Kyungsoo and Kris are left.

"Kris?"

"Yeah?" Kris says to Kyungsoo, as he sits in a chair, keeping his eyes fixed on Areum.

"The light, on your bracelet," Kyungsoo starts," it's fading away."

"Yeah...it is."

Kyungsoo frowns and puts his hand on Kris' shoulder. "Come on, let's get some rest ourselves." He tugs on Kris' arm and he doesn't even try to fight back.

"...ve me." They hear as they near the exit. "Don't...me."

They turn their backs around to see Areum squirming around in her sleep.

"Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me!"

Areum springs up from the bed, hands grabbing the air and she falls onto the floor with the blanket still wrapped around her body.

"Holy !" Kyungsoo screams and the two dash their way to help Areum help. Kris is the first one to hold her up into his arms. “Shh, it’s okay.” He whispers to her, removing her hair away from her face as tears rolled down her small cheeks. He could feel the dampness of her skin as he placed his hand upon her cheek. Her body shook and convulsed as if she no longer had control of it. She struggled to breathe with each desperate gasp of air she took, only to release it again in another forceful sob.

Kris jumped his body up and down, hoping it could be a faux baby cradle. He patted her coarse hair as she continued to cry into his shoulder. Her little hands grabbing onto his shirt.

“What happened!” Faela runs into the tent, with everyone else rushing in, passing by Faela.

“I think she...she had a nightmare.” Kris finalizes, fixing his posture to hold Areum longer.

Luhan walks over and rubs the girl’s back in a calming manner, hoping it is some kind of comfort.

“Well, since she’s already up, might as well serve dinner now. Take your time, you boys know where it is right?” Faela looks at Sehun.

“Yes, thank you Miss Faela.” Sehun freezes before he answers with a bow.

Faela leaves with enough room for a runway.

“Kris, look at your bracelet, it’s not wavering anymore!” Kyungsoo exclaims, grabbing his wrist to have a better look.

"Kyungsoo!" Kris screams, but it ends up as a whisper. "Can't you see I need two arms to hold someone up."

"Sorry." Kyungsoo winces slightly.

Kris sighs,"I—I didn't mean to." Putting his arm back in place to support Areum's weight.

"Don't worry Kris, I know you mean well.

There's an awkward silence.

"Let's eat, I'm starving." Kyungsoo throws his shoulders over Junmyeon and Minseok, making the two follow his way. Now, it's just Kris and Luhan.

"Areum," Kris gets the crying girl to look at him," we're...we're going to eat now." She doesn't reply back, only to breathe back deeply for her runny nose.

I'll take that as a yes.

Kris is about to set her down to stand on her own, but she whimpers like a puppy and holds onto his neck for dear life.

"You need me to move her?" Luhan asks, taking notice of Kris' little scare. 

"Ah, it's cool." Kris says seeing that Luhan is ready to flick his wrist, "I guess I'm feeding her tonight?" He tells himself.

The trio move out of the medic tent and head towards the dining room area led by Luhan. He instructs Kris on what he had missed, but Kris is only paying attention to Areum, who is silent in his arms.

"There you are!" Minseok announces, catching the attention of those around the ice wielder. "Those three seats are for you." He points out before taking the empty place beside Jongdae.

Kris and Luhan settle themselves in their chairs. Kris needs more space between himself and the table so he moves away from the table to accomodate Areum.

Plates of food and cups of water are passed from person to person until everyone has a plate. It's spaghetti and meatballs covered in a garlic tomato sauce with sprinkles of basil and lots and lots of parmesan cheese that everyone seems to fight over for.

Kris lifts Areum up to comfortable sit on his lap. He moves away her hairs that are sticked to her face and dries it briefly with one of the napkins that came with the table ware. He grabs for the fork and plunges it into the spaghetti to twist it around to get a mouthful.

Kris lifts it towards Areum, "ah." He says. He puts a hand under to the food to make sure sauce doesn't spill.

Areum is in a daze until she sees something red and yellow in sight. Her vision clears up to recognize that it's spaghetti and the stomach rumbles. Areum gazes at the scrupulous looking food then at Kris.

Kris stretches his head towards the food, telling her to eat it. Her eyes reverts back to the slightly drenched noodles, and she decides it's fine to eat as she opens wide enough to swallow it whole. 

Kris throws a small victory party and he sees that Areum is chewing the food slowly.

"Can I try?" He hears Luhan say from the side.

Kris pivots his body to allow Areum to properly face Luhan while he copies what Kris did earlier.

She takes a bite out of his fork, but she fails to eat all of it as some of the sauce is plastered around . But Luhan uses the fork to help her eat the rest of the noodle that was too long for her. 

"Is it good?" Luhan says as he wipes .

She nods slowly, breathing through her nose.

"Good." Luhan genuinely smiles, ruffling her hair softly.

Dinner goes well, and now everyone is asleep, while Areum is still awake lying in bed.

I slept too much, maybe I'll go outside. She figures. She jumps down from the bed and wraps herself in the blanket, leaving only her face exposed. With the blanket trailing behind her, she walks around all of the sleeping bodies, positioned on their respective sleeping bags.

Minseok, Junmyeon and Yixing remain stiff; Luhan, Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo are fully covered in theirs, while the tall ones have it terrible as they can't even fit since they're tiny, so they're using it as a place to lay on. 

But Areum notices that someone's missing, but she shrugs it off. She heads outside the tent like she normally planned out and is shocked to see a shadow sitting outside.

"Are you here to look at the moon too?" The voice asks, as the shadow turns around to reveal that it is Tao.

Areum is silent as she stands there.

Tao chuckles, taking in how the girl appeared to him as he pats the spot next to him.

She's stationary for a short while before agreeing with Tao's offer. She plops herself next to Tao and faces him. He gives her a small smirk before gazing up to his original target—the moon.

"Nice isn't it?" He asks without looking at her.

Areum turns her attention to the white mass in the dark gradient sky. It's plain but its strikingly beautiful features make it special. It has a calming effect to her and soothes her body.

A breezes blows through, swishing away Tao's hair, Areum's blanket, and the desert sand.

"Let's go inside now, don't want to catch a cold." Tao stands up. "Tomorrow morning we leave. Get some sleep."

Areum stands up and rushes back into the tent, listening to Tao.

Tao smiles. 

Seems like she listens. The wind softly tossled Tao's hair and he closes his eyes. He inhales and exhales, but he whips his head around fast. He moves only his eyes, keeping his body still. He squints his eyes briefly before walking back into the tent himself. I need to get some shut eye.

Once inside, the moon disappears in the form of a ghostly shadow and travels deep into the night.