In the resultant silence after the combat, Ryeowook felt lost anew, especially as he stood face to face with Henry.  Even more alarming was the fact he had the strangest look in his eyes and Ryeowook wasn’t sure what it meant for him.  He opened his mouth to try and say something but he was interrupted before he could begin.

                “He’s with me,” Kyuhyun murmured from the side, dark eyes fixated on Henry.

                The other male inhaled sharply and swallowed once, acknowledging the vampire before looking at Ryeowook with a pitiable expression.  “Oh Wookie,” he whispered, sadness evident in his tone.

                Guilt hit the half-turned then.  Under Henry’s scrutiny, it felt wrong to be what he was now… no matter why he had come to be his current state.  “I’m…” he trailed off when he tried to manage some sort of defense, but then he noticed two figures running up from the back.  They were familiar though there was something very odd about them.  Both Ken and Chaerin had a strange aura about their persons and this time, he noticed they moved in an odd pattern; almost too fluid and perfect.

                “The puppets,” Kyuhyun commented under his breath, startling Ryeowook who recalled what the vampire had told him about them.

                Still nervous, Henry looked between Ryeowook and Kyuhyun but stepped back as the main werewolf near him started to change into a human form while Chaerin at least paused to speak with him briefly.  Ken skulked off and started moving amongst the dead, reaching down to snatch things here and there in a manner that was wholly uncharacteristic of what Ryeowook would have expected for him.

                Movement behind alerted them to the fact that the rest of the walking survivors were starting to get up and mill around, their wounds and trying to make sense of everything.  Kangin cautiously approached from the side, taking care not to move too quickly so he wouldn’t spook anybody, and grumbled, “Well this turned out different than expected.”

                “And how was that exactly?” a new young man spoke, his voice deceptively soft and sweet.

                Ryeowook flinched in surprise as he noticed the dark haired male ease up beside Henry in what was a semi-protective gesture as he pushed him back and stood to face the three males alone.  Though he was small, closer to Ryeowook’s height really, there was definitely a presence about him that spoke of power.  He was also familiar for Ryeowook since he vaguely recalled seeing him one time before when he was staying with Yoochun and Henry.  “It’s nice to see you too, Junsu,” Kyuhyun smirked sarcastically, his tone full of dry humor.

                “What are you doing here, Cho?” he asked quietly amidst a palpable tension in the air between them.

                “What’s it look like we’re doing here?” he shot back, completely unrepentant.  Junsu just glared at him with a nonplussed look on his face.  He relaxed his guard a fraction when someone else called his name though.

                “Junsu!”  All four turned to look at the short young woman with lengthy, brunette hair who was pointing at the only two werewolves still transformed on the field: the same two that had nearly squashed Ryeowook.

                “Aish,” Junsu exhaled, brushing past the vampires without a second glance as he went to deal with them.

                Freed from scrutiny, Ryeowook focused back on Henry who was still regarding him with uncertainty.  “I’m still me,” he shrugged hesitantly, not sure what else to say.

                “Are you?” Henry challenged with a glance at both vampires beside him.

                “Mostly,” Ryeowook admitted with a partial smile, hands gesturing before him helplessly.

                “What’s wrong with the runt?” Kangin tilted his head to the side and pointed at the smaller, pale werewolf nearby.  She was making a strange whimpering sound as she hovered over Minsoo’s body.

                “Luna!” Henry gasped, rushing over to the werewolf hurriedly.

                Instinctively, Ryeowook followed after, pulling up short when Luna turned a conflicted snarl on him, apparently confused when he was both familiar and not.  “Easy, Luna.  It’s just me,” Ryeowook soothed, his expression turning pained when he saw the wounds on Minsoo’s body.  “Oh my god,” he exhaled, placing his hand over his mouth.

                “He’s still alive,” Henry exclaimed, pulling away torn shreds of clothing to get a better look at the damage underneath, his face paling considerably.

                “Then we should put him out of his misery,” Kyuhyun stated, stepping close as if he was going to do just that, though he eyed Luna darkly.

                “No!” Ryeowook yelped, shoving the vampire back at the same time that Luna growled at him viciously.

                Stunned, Kyuhyun blinked at the half-turned in surprise and actually sputtered, “But he’s a Hunter!”  He turned in mild surprise when he belatedly registered another wolf coming up behind him, glaring darkly at the familiar visage.

                “Typical vampire,” a wounded Yoochun muttered as he placed a calming hand on Luna’s head and knelt beside Henry to get a better look at Minsoo’s injuries.

                “He’s right though.”  The words made the hair on the back of Ryeowook’s neck stand on end with the familiar tone of voice and he turned to glare at the taller male.  “The only good Hunter is a dead Hunter,” Seunghyun finished with a furious glare at the downed male, though he was restrained from actually going anywhere by a firm grip on his arm from Junsu.

                Luna immediately bristled at the words, growling at him defiantly.  He snarled back at her with a clack of his teeth and she flinched, some of the wind gone from her sails, but didn’t back down, which irritated the Choi considerably.

                “Wonsik!” Junsu yipped sharply, catching sight of the tall, silver haired young man helping a one armed young woman limp back the way they’d originally come from.  “Report!”

                His brow scrunched together and he paused with a reassuring word towards the woman who grimaced and nodded, her pleasant face pinched in pain.  “Four dead and only one major casualty,” he explained with a look at his companion.  “Daehyun’s nose is going to be useless for a little while but Krystal’s taking care of the rest of the wounded,” he explained calmly, the deep voice steady despite the carnage around them.

                “Damn,” Junsu frowned as he waved for the other to continue on and then glared back at the vampires.  “Dawn’s coming soon,” he remarked with a glance at the sky, pushing Seunghyun towards the direction some of the mobile wounded were heading.

                “JR!” Ryeowook gasped, remembering his brother now that things had calmed down a hair.  He turned to run back to the trailer and was immediately halted by Kyuhyun’s hand on his wrist.  “Yah!”

                “You’re in the middle of a bunch of wolves and you think running is a good idea?” he asked meaningfully.

                “You have another friend?” Junsu asked as he let his gaze roam over the rest of the battlefield, eyes narrowed.

                “Ne.  My brother,” Ryeowook explained quickly, though he could feel Kyuhyun’s annoyance.

                Frowning thoughtfully, Junsu whistled at the other short young woman from earlier and called, “Hyoyeon.  Go with the half-blood to get his brother.”

                “Ne!” she nodded, standing upright quickly to find the nearest set of hands.  “Junhong!  Come get these two soldiers would you?  They’re still alive,” she reminded the tall young man with fuzzy, pink hair who loped over to give her a hand so she could hop over to where the vampires were.

                “We can go alone,” Kyuhyun murmured with a challenging gleam in his eyes.  Junsu just snorted at his comment, clearly amused.  “Well someone needs to open the door.”

                “I can do it,” Hyoyeon answered without hesitation, flashing him a quick grin.  While Ryeowook was skeptical, a look at Kyuhyun showed the vampire was mostly just annoyed.

                There was a brief moment of silent glaring before Kyuhyun finally relented with a snort.  “Go on Wookie.  I need to speak with the wolf anyway,” he nodded, smacking Kangin’s arm to get him moving with the rest of the wolves.

                Ryeowook wasn’t sure how he felt about how things were going.  He was still wholly unsettled by everything that had happened in the past few moments and he was no closer to understanding what was going to happen now, but his brother was more important.  That didn’t mean he could completely disregard having found Henry again though…  Another glance at his friend showed the young man to be watching him and helping Luna get Minsoo situated on her back so she could carry him with her.  Yoochun hovered around her defensively, his expression tense, but Henry remained where he was to watch Ryeowook with an uncertain expression.

                “Come on kid,” Hyoyeon knocked him out of his thoughts with a firm pat on the arm that startled him.  “Lead the way,” she winked, ignoring the vampires who frowned at her mannerisms darkly.

                “N-ne,” he stammered in response, hesitantly heading off to retrieve his brother.

                It didn’t take them long to cover the distance back to the trailer which was still untouched after the battle.  Fortunately, no errant gunfire had managed to make it this way so all that was left was to open the door.  Hyoyeon hopped up and frowned at the seal before she stabbed her fingers into the metal and yanked, ignoring the need for electricity to unlock it entirely.  Ryeowook’s eyes widened in his face when he watched her slowly pry the top open with a fierce expression, the muscles in her slender frame bunching under the effort needed.

                “Wow…” he blinked, surprised at the strength that lay hidden in her compact form.

                “Eh,” she shrugged, standing upright to dust her hands off with a satisfied smile.

                Giving her another skeptical glance, Ryeowook made his way to the mangled opening and stuck his head inside.  “JR?” he called nervously.

                “Wookie?” his brother whispered back, clearly frightened.  “What the hell happened?!” he demanded, running into sight directly below the other male as he stared up.

                “Thank goodness,” he breathed in relief as he extended his hand into the trailer to give his brother a lift up.  “Hyoyeon opened the door.  She’s a werewolf,” he explained quietly.

                “Yah!” JR gasped, retracting his hand immediately at the announcement.

                As if on cue, Hyoyeon poked her head over the entrance and waved down at JR happily.  “Hello,” she grinned, blowing at the hair that fell into her face in annoyance.

                “Come on, JR,” Ryeowook urged as he watched the conflicting emotions run over his brother’s face.  To be fair, she was rather disarming for a werewolf.  Maybe that was why Junsu had opted to send her with him.

                His brother wasn’t terribly difficult to coax out of the trailer and when he was free, Hyoyeon smashed the top back down so it was locked off once more.  She shrugged at their incredulous looks and then waved for them to follow in the lessening gloom of the night as the sun threatened to rise on the horizon.  Ryeowook was briefly confused when she led them around the site of the battle but was then incredibly grateful as he realized it was for JR’s benefit, who could only make out the destroyed vehicles as opposed to the remains of the humans lying strewn across the ground.  The bodies of the wolves were gone, as were those of the human survivors.

                They were both silent as she guided them further into the woods, leading them down a slope that eventually brought them to what appeared to be a cave…  “Lehman Caves,” Hyoyeon supplied for them, since there was no sign actually explaining what the system was supposed to be.  “Come on,” she urged, waving them after her.

                “It’s so dark,” JR whispered with an edge of nervousness to his tone as he blinked into the murky interior.

                Ryeowook held to his hand and nodded in agreement, though he could see the hint of illumination further down, giving him a slight edge.  “Just stay close,” he murmured as his eyes adjusted to the reduced light.  They both shivered when they began to hear echoes of strange cries emerging from the darkness and Ryeowook could only imagine what it meant.

                They held their silence as Hyoyeon continued to lead them on, her footsteps steady despite the uneven surface.  The further they traveled, the more light pierced the darkness, and the louder the echoes became until they reached a section that opened up to reveal a veritable room full of people.  As Hyoyeon bustled into the midst of the figures, Ryeowook and JR stayed where they were, just taking in the multitude of persons.

                Ryeowook knew several of the figures were werewolves but they were hard to immediately discern from the humans, wounded and otherwise.  Even more surprising was that there were more people than he’d originally anticipated, sitting in the too bright light of battery powered lamps stationed all over the place.  The scent of blood hung heavy in the oppressively still air and Ryeowook shuddered, swallowing heavily as JR shifted beside him.

                “What is this place?” the young man asked, clinging tighter to his brother’s hand.

                “Their haven,” Kangin supplied as he seemed to just appear out of nowhere, making both brothers jump in surprise.  “And possible death trap,” he shrugged with a wry expression on his face as he frowned at the interior.

                “Why would they…?” Ryeowook started to ask before he noticed Kyuhyun making his way over, a pensive look on his face.

                “Because you can’t see them underground,” he chuckled as he looked around himself.

                “Who are they?” the half-turned murmured, taking in everything with wide eyes.  He could feel his brother’s curiosity and mild horror at the injuries he could see.

                “Wolf kin,” Kangin shrugged.  “And wolves.  Though it’s strange to see so many packs together,” he admitted, obviously confounded by that.

                Ryeowook had to agree.  From all he’d heard about them, he would not have expected to find the Chois, Kims, and Parks together in any fashion.  He tensed when he heard his brother hiss under his breath, “Him.”  Turning to follow the very angry expression on JR’s face, he noticed the younger male glaring heatedly at Seunghyun.

                The werewolf seemed oblivious to their scrutiny as he kept himself sequestered in a part of the cave that was relatively bereft of people while he attended to the young female werewolf that had lost an arm.  Junhong hovered near with a tense expression on his face that was periodically interrupted by the attention of a fairly short young man who kept pestering him intermittently.

                Looking harder at the setup, Ryeowook noticed that they were sort of spread out in a discernible pattern with the Chois at the back.  There didn’t seem to be many humans that he could tell hovering around them, though a couple of the faces were new since he hadn’t seen them above when they were fighting.  He was surprised to see one of the young men near them with a blackened nose very much as if he’d been burnt or shocked.  Closer to the center of the cave were the Parks with Henry lingering near the transformed Luna who kept a defensive guard over Minsoo’s body.  Apparently, he was still alive…

                Closer to the front of the cave were the Kims with the rest of the wounded, including the injured soldiers who had survived in the attack.  Not surprisingly, he saw Chaerin wandering through the wounded with critical eyes, tending to as many as she could.  Ken on the other hand, was pawing through a pile of unidentified goods with interest, inspecting bits and pieces and sorting them into additional piles.

                “Kyuhyun.”  All four of them looked up when Junsu called the vampire and waved him over towards a small crate near the wall of the cave.

                “I’m here for five minutes and already they want to use me for their own purposes,” he snorted with a shake of his head.

                Ryeowook looked at JR who just shrugged in response and, for lack of anything else to do, they followed along with Kangin in tow as Kyuhyun headed for Junsu.  The werewolf eyed them all as they approached but didn’t say anything otherwise.  He simply focused on Kyuhyun and nodded towards the portable laptop that was sitting, waiting for him.

                “Yes, oh master and commander?” Kyuhyun taunted drolly, crossing his arms over his chest as he peered down at the shorter male.

                Junsu huffed quietly and pointed at the laptop.  “You tell me.”

                That got Kyuhyun’s attention and he frowned before leaning closer to peer at the screen, running his fingers over the touchpad and clicking on links quickly.  “Well, well,” he mused, though there was no amusement in his tone.  “They must be getting desperate,” he commented with a tense expression.  He pursed his lips and opened the email to send a note to someone, though Ryeowook was confused as to how that was even possible.

                “How are you getting a signal in here?” he asked, glancing at the rock walls all around them.

                Junsu pointed to a cable that was linked to one of the USB ports which extended towards the entrance.  “It’s not ideal but a weak signal is better than nothing.”

                “What’s going on?” Ryeowook asked with another concerned glance at Kyuhyun who still seemed absorbed by what he was going over.

                “Nothing good,” the vampire remarked with a glance at Junsu who sighed in agreement.  “Kangin.  Go get them settled,” Kyuhyun commanded without looking away from the screen.

                “Kyu?” the other vampire frowned, clearly caught off guard by the comment.

                Kyuhyun took a seat on the ground to make himself more comfortable and cracked his knuckles in preparation.  “I’m going to be here for a while,” he explained in a flat tone of voice.

                “Oh…” Kangin trailed off, even more alarmed by the calm response.  “Come on guys.  You can keep me company and make sure that burnt nosed wolf stays away,” he grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

                “That wasn’t nice you know,” Junsu chided, though he was at least partially amused.

                “Serves him right for trying to bite me,” Kangin snorted, rolling his eyes before he nodded at the target in question.  It was the young man hovering near the Chois in the back with light brown hair and full lips that were doing a lot of frowning lately.

                Sticking close together, the three traveled over to the Parks who were generally more tolerant of all sides.  Plus, Ryeowook really wanted to get back to Henry to at least try and explain the situation.  As they drew near, a bandaged Yoochun murmured without looking up, “Well look what came back.”

                Immediately, Ryeowook flinched and looked down, though the action did not go unnoticed by JR or Kangin.  “Shut it, wolf,” Kangin hissed under his breath.

                Yoochun ignored the comment and looked up to regard Ryeowook intently.  “Henry told me about what happened and I’m still trying to figure out if you were just being brave or incredibly stupid.”

                “Yoochun,” Henry called as he his lips nervously, looking at Ryeowook with a series of conflicted emotions.

                The werewolf laughed once and waved his hand dismissively.  “Go on brat.  You know you want to,” he urged, turning his attention back to Luna and Minsoo with a tense expression.

                Henry frowned at the utterance but sighed and stood up, approaching Ryeowook uncertainly.  “Can we talk?” he asked in a quiet tone of voice, glancing to either side where he noticed JR with some surprise.

                “Ne,” Ryeowook nodded in quick agreement.

                In awkward silence, the two friends picked their way through the crowds as they tried to find a spot that was relatively clear of people so they’d be able to speak with a modicum of privacy.  They both knew it was a moot point since wolves and vampires had particularly good hearing but it was better than nothing.

                “Wookie…” Henry murmured when they finally paused, giving each other a chance to look themselves over.

                “It’s good to see you again, Henry,” Ryeowook spoke before his friend could say anything else.  He looked over the more slender than usual frame and figured Henry could use a haircut, but at least he seemed relatively unharmed.

                “You too,” Henry managed a weak smile and nodded, shifting in place uncertainly.

                “I’m not a vampire you know,” the half-turned explained hesitantly.

                “I know,” Henry sighed with a shrug.  At Ryeowook’s confused look, he laughed and explained, “Yoochun could smell it.  I’m… sorry,” he apologized with a pained expression.

                “You have nothing to apologize for,” Ryeowook urged, stepping close to grab Henry’s arm lightly.

                Henry covered the hand with his and shook his head in denial.  “I feel that if I’d told you about things before that night, this might never have happened.”  At Ryeowook’s very confused look, Henry ducked his head to continue on quietly.  “I know you were trying to save me, but the vampire wouldn’t have killed me.”

                “What?” Ryeowook blinked, feeling a nervous ball form in his gut.

                “It wouldn’t have been the first time I was fed on,” he admitted with a grimace.  “Wolf-kin…  Eh.  Vampires prefer to feed on people like me because we carry traces of what makes a werewolf by blood relation.”  He fidgeted in place then, having a hard time meeting his friend’s eyes.

                “But he was biting you and you were so scared.  I was scared!” Ryeowook explained, tightening his grip slightly.

                “I know,” Henry nodded.  “But vamps don’t kill wolf-kin intentionally.  Usually,” he amended with a grimace.  “You don’t mess with a wolf’s family,” he explained with a guilty look in his eyes.

                “So… I offered myself for nothing?” Ryeowook blinked, a nauseous sensation beginning in his stomach.  Had he really gone through all of this for nothing?

                “No!” Henry hurried to assure him, stepping close.  “You did what you thought was right.  I couldn’t have asked for a more meaningful gesture.  Ever,” he admitted, biting his bottom lip.  “But now you’re like this and I can’t fix it.”

                Ryeowook swallowed hard and took a deep, steadying breath as he absorbed the new information.  “So why did Kyuhyun…”

                Henry shook his head and managed a sorrowful look.  “Vampires are tricky, Wookie.  Even I don’t know why they do the things they do.”  His gaze shifted to regard Kyuhyun at the laptop, the vampire’s expression tense and focused.  “I don’t even know why Junsu asked him to help.  Or why he is for that matter.”

                “I need to sit down,” Ryeowook gasped, folding his legs to crumple onto the hard stone floor.  Like Yoochun had said, he didn’t know whether his action had been brave or stupid.  Especially in the aftermath.  And now he discovered it was meaningless anyway…  He covered his face with both hands and exhaled heavily, but he didn’t pull away when Henry eased his arms around him in a careful hug.

                “I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again, Wookie,” he admitted, his voice thick with emotion.

                “I wasn’t either,” Ryeowook admitted in a mere whisper, swallowing hard.

                “Thank you,” Henry murmured into his ear, tightening his embrace.  They stayed that way for a long moment, just absorbing each other’s words and enjoying the company of the other.  It was Henry that spoke first and broke the silence.  “I really am glad to see you, Wookie.  But what are you doing here?” he asked, finally pulling back enough to look at the seated male.

                Ryeowook wiped at his watery eyes and took another breath before he nodded at Kyuhyun.  “He brought us this direction.  Wouldn’t tell me why but we found the patrol and your group without too much trouble.”

                Henry frowned at the explanation and then glanced around himself.  “We were trying to get away from the rest of the humans to keep our families safe,” he explained, nodding towards the rest of the gathering.  “They’re friends and kin that want to help us,” he added with a reassuring hand on Ryeowook’s shoulder.

                “What happened?  Why were the military after you?” Ryeowook asked in confusion.

                “I’m not entirely sure.  Yoochun thinks the humans thought we were taking prisoners or something.  They might have been trying to rescue them really,” he responded with a pained look on his face, like he’d swallowed something bitter.

                “And wipe out the monsters in the meantime,” Ryeowook exhaled with a shake of his head.  “Kyuhyun said it was an ambush,” he added, glancing at his friend.

                Henry shrugged back at him.  “I don’t know.  None of us were expecting the Hunters to show up.  I do know that much.  Yoochun was pretty sure the Chois had been shadowing us but they didn’t show up for sure until today.  We were relatively lucky, though Sulli lost her arm.  Could have been worse,” he admitted when he looked at the young woman with the Chois.

                “Ne,” Ryeowook agreed softly, still feeling unsettled about everything.  It could have been incredibly worse but with another glance at Kyuhyun, he had the sinking feeling that it wasn’t even close to over.

                “Wookie,” Henry called softly, his voice tender.  When the half-turned looked up, his friend went on, “I see your brother here, but where’s the rest of your family?”

                Ryeowook’s face fell and he closed his eyes as he pursed his lips.  He sensed more than saw the shift in Henry as the atmosphere around them changed slightly.  “Well.  A lot has happened since we last saw each other,” he admitted, cracking his eyes open to stare at the ground, willing them to stay dry this time.  “I have a lot to tell you,” he admitted as he bit his bottom lip, finally looking up to meet Henry’s gaze.

                “Me too, Wookie,” his friend agreed, taking one of Ryeowook’s hands in his and holding tight.  “Me too.”

(a/n: Sorry for the delay!  I was out of town for a few days and got pretty much no writing done.  lol  But here we go!  Lots of new people and faces with a couple reunions and more explanations to come.  Why is Junsu being so buddy buddy with Kyuhyun?  You'll see soon, I promise.  haha  With any luck, I'll be able to get the next one out shortly but I do see stuff speeding up soon in terms of additional world development.  So sit tight and thank you for reading and being patient.  You guys are awesome!  ^_^)