Chen jolted. The makeshift bed of rags, newspapers, and other insulating items crumbled from his hurried actions. There was a thundering sound that came from outside the warehouse doors, but the rain had stopped hours ago. His arm throbbed. His body protested from the unfamiliar exertion as he ran.

Sitting up, Chen glanced at the cheap analog clock on the night stand. It was only five in the morning. A dull ache on the left side of his body had woken him from his sleep. Stretching out the kinks, he rolled off the motel mattress.

Despite waking up early, he was in a good mood. He could smell it; a storm was on the horizon. One that was bigger than the last. He’d taste the pressure in the air. It was static with the potential for destruction. Flexing his fingers, Chen thought of his good fortune. It seemed that he wouldn’t go hungry for the time being. At this rate, perhaps he would store up enough energy to more than just to survive. Maybe he would fulfill his mission earlier than he thought he would.

Walking the few centimeters between the bed and the window, Chen glanced at the gloomy sky. From the looks of it, rain would fall in an hour or two. There was time to shower before he bathed in the vitality of the oncoming storm.

“It looks bad,” Suho commented as he watched the clouding skies.  The bench he sat on was beginning to chill with the drop in atmospheric pressure. His suit did not help starve away the cold.

Lending onto the metal table, Kai hummed, “Maybe our plan pissed them off more than it delayed them.”

Suho clicked his tongue in agreement. Glancing around the mountainside, he noted that most of the animals had hidden themselves. An odd, eerie silence cloaked the mountain, not a tree or pebble stirred.

“I wonder what is taking Xiumin so long,” Suho thought aloud.

Kai shrugged, pulling his sweater tighter against his skin. Shoving his fists into the pockets, he watched the path as Suho did.

“I apologize,” Xiumin bowed slightly as he walked up the gravel path.  His voice was a sword that pierced the silence of the forest.

“It’s fine,” Suho and Kai chorused.

Suho shifted in his seat to make room for Xiumin on the metal picnic bench. The older man walked closed but stopped short of sitting. His feet dug into the dirt as he maintained his position. Suho felt Xiumin’s eyes probing hm for answers.

“Sehun says that they’ve been gathering less since we introduced the interference,” Kai stated.

“Chen’s been keeping away for now,” Suho reported.

Xiumin nodded, “I see.”

“Is something wrong?” Suho inquired.

Xiumin sighed, running his fingers through his hair, “No, there is no problem at the moment.”

Suho pressed his lips into a thin line; at the moment implied that there would be problems soon.

“Yes, Tao?” Luhan asked as he bit into a sandwich.

He’d felt a set of eyes drilling holes in the back of his head. Only Tao had this sort of intensity in his gaze on a normal day. When Luhan spoke, the gaze slacked.

“Can we go today?” Tao asked.

Luhan blinked, “What? Where?”

Tapping his fingers against the plaza tables, Luhan thought for a moment. After a pause, Luhan suddenly remembered his promise to Tao - to bring him to Minute Cafe. It’d been three or four days since he had crammed in a five page essay. Considering Tao’s personality, it was a surprise he hadn’t brought up the promise earlier.

Then again, the last few days had been busy caring of Orange. Registering the kitten took a day, picking up a decent supply of care items for the kitten took a day and a half. Finding an animal hospital that was affordable took another day; Orange had an appointment in two days.

“Yeah, sure,” Luhan agreed.

Thinking about the pitiful condition of his wallet, Luhan frowned.

“We’ll have to stop at an ATM before,” he sighed.

Tao nodded, smiling. He plopped his head onto the table like a content dog.

“Where are Kris and Lay?” Luhan jerked his head to look for them.

The plaza was relatively empty except for the scattered student here and there studying between classes.

“Dunno,” Tao muttered through his arms.

“I’ll text them,” Luhan commented, “and see if they want to come along.”

As Luhan pulled out his phone, he was forcefully stopped. Tao’s fingers formed a cage around his cellphone.

“Don’t,” Tao said.

Shocked, Luhan lowered the phone. Tao wasn’t the type to like to be alone, so it was odd that he didn’t want them to come.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Tao explained.

Luhan nodded slowly. Pondering the possibilities, Luhan decided that Tao probably wanted to complain about Lay or Kris or he had gotten into an argument with one of them.

“Thanks, hyung,” Tao leaned back into the seat.

After an extended second, Luhan gestured for Tao to get ready. The nearest ATM that accepted Luhan’s debit card was on the east side of the campus so they headed off.

Chen paid the money to a crusty-eyed old lady who looked like she’d rather be shopping than manning the window. Reaching for his backpack, he threw the item over his shoulder. Normally he kept it in the dimensional gap to reduce the weight he had to carry, but he was in a rather good mood.

By the time he stepped onto the pavement, a wind had picked up that sent papers and clothing flying in a frenzy. It built up inside of him like steam in a kettle. Chen breathed in the chill with a grin. He’d taste the destruction on his tongue. It tinted the sky and earth gray. His marrow buzzed in anticipation; his muscles tensed at the thought.

Vaguely, Chen recalled that Xiumin wanted him to report if anything strange happened. Shrugging to himself, Chen thought that even Xiumin would be able to sense the strangeness of the storm. He paused. But Xiumin probably couldn’t tell how close the source was.

Closing his eyes, Chen soaked in the energy that preceded the storm. It was the roar of a pride ready to pounce. Each muscle was contracted and waiting to tear into the flesh of the earth. Fangs were sharpened to consume any victim that got in the middle of the hunt. Before the storm had come from a foreign shore that was several hundred thousand kilometers away. Now it sprung from the coast.

Whoever was fueling these storms was coming closer to Seoul or maybe they were already here. Chen honestly only cared that they were helping him.

Gods migrated all the time, moving toward the pulse of humanity that boostered their existence. That was why the Olympians moved to Rome, why Christianity moved West, why Kai bummed in dingy casinos, and Suho hung out in multi-million complexes.

If an short-tempered deity wanted to live in Korea, Chen didn’t see a reason to report to Xiumin. South Korea was their turf now but Chen certainly hadn’t voted to make Xiumin the guardian of their space. If Chen could milk this wayward god for more food, he would. It would take more than one measly immigrant deity to push them off their land anyway.

“Eh!” a voice shouted after slamming onto his shoulder.

After regaining his balance, Chen opened his eyes. A set of three tall and buff man crowded around him. From the look of the scars on the middle one’s arms, they were the type to create trouble. Since this was a rather unsavory street, this sort of behavior wasn’t unusual. It wasn’t like he wasn’t use this unruly behavior - he was too use it.

“Eh, dude, watch where you’re going,” the one on the left growled.

He leaned forward, flashing his jagged, yellowed teeth.

“Yeah, be more careful,” the middle one smirked. He was obviously their leader from the way he stood with his chest puffed out.

“Who's going to pay for the dry cleaning now that my new shirt’s all dirty. . .” the middle’s drawl extended out the last syllable of dirty.

“Yeah, yeah, who's going pay for Jaejoon’s dry cleaning,” the right one joined in.

“You bumped into me,” Chen hissed. Extorting a god was probably the stupidest thing he’d seen a human try to do yet.

“What’d you say?” Jaejoon bared his fangs, “You calling me a liar?”

The trio crowded in closer. Chen flexed his muscles. It’d been a while since he last fought since Xiumin found him.

“Back off,” Chen threatened.

The holler of their laughter tired out the limited patience that Chen had in himself. Pulling on the energy he’d recently gained, Chen focused. Since there were onlookers, he couldn’t make too big of a scene.

Electricity pooled in his core and pulsed out to his fingertips. Chen struck. His fingers dug slightly into the ribs as they released their stored static. Before baffon one and two could blink, their precious Jaejoon was on the floor, not breathing.

“I said back off,” Chen said once more, slowly.

“What the did. . .” one of them shouted. Their gazed were filled with fear.

Chen grinned as he stepped over Jaejoon's body and went on his way. That was relaxing - to unleash some of the built up tension he had. The relief he felt overshadowed the mild annoyance he had at the small group that had formed to watch the crime that was being committed to him. When he looked into any individual’s eyes, they averted their gaze.

Weak and expected, Chen thought, humans always cover their own hides.

Their anxiety of him made Chen smile. Maybe he’d head over to Sungmin’s shop. Even if there were more humans there, he liked the coffee. Since some of his hatred had been released onto that idiotic excuse of a sentient being, Chen could probably deal with a little more human interaction. As long as they didn’t try to speak to him, Chen supposed he could control himself.  

A/N: Does anyone have an idea of what Chen's background is yet? I hope you enjoyed the update.