***

Yes. This was it. 

Freedom. 

Twelve silhouettes raced through the darkness of the forest, chasing one another, as their blood pumped in exhilaration. Their eyes didn't need light to see. The darkness could not have been more clearer to them. They knew which hidden paths to run and they could do so without restraint. 

Well, maybe a little restraint. Seeing as they were a day or two away from the full moon, it was rather dangerous to transform completely into wolf-form. This was the point when they were most vulnerable and changing completely could mean not changing back for a while, limitless and without control- dangerous. It was safer to wait until the moon had stabilized and then they could freely transform, whenever they wanted, at least until the next full moon came again. So, twelve young men ran as though they were possessed by the wildest spirits, moving like wolves when they sprinted. 

Tao shook his head wildly, laughing loudly as he saw Kris soar by, floating just above the ground, making skating movements as though he were leisurely gliding on ice. His glowing red eyes were a good match for his deep red hair and dark undercut, his canine teeth sharper and longer than usual, were showing when he grinned at his little brother. Tao had long given up trying to race him, since his ability to fly made him faster than anyone. But don't think Kai wasn't aware of that. 

On cue, his younger brother appeared and disappeared in clouds of black smoke, and Tao was only able to see glimpses of Kai's red eyes and his boyish smile, steadily catching up to Kris who seemed to have picked up his pace. Tao bore a wide grin on his own face when he saw that his two eldest brothers didn't want to miss out on a chance of winning a race for once either. Xiumin jumped high to gain momentum as his hands shot out steady streams of ice for him to glide on, his bronze red hair swaying in the wind. Luhan wasn't far behind, trying to create obstacles for Baozi-ge, as he easily moved boulders and tree stumps with his mind. Tao cooed in awe when Xiumin deftly avoided all of them, creating amazing paths of ice as he slid over them. 

Having fun, Tao-di? 

Tao smiled happily when he heard Luhan's voice in his mind, calling him his little brother. His dark brown hair had made way for a pale blonde coif, which Tao secretly admired. His own jet black hair had turned blonde as well, but his was more golden than pale. He heard Luhan laughing in his mind after nodding his head in excitement. He pondered a moment on whether he could cheat and just stop them in their motion while he ran forward to win the race, but laughed giddily again when Luhan's voice said,

Ah, don't even think about it, little brother!

He warned, quickening his pace. Tao watched them, avoiding the frozen trees and ground. 

"Careful, Tao-Tao!" Lay's voice called to him as he jumped from the trees beside him, running easily next to him. His yellow hair had traces of pink in them, but Tao thought that anything looked good on Lay-ge. "Don't fall, okay?" he smiled his dimpled smile at him, his eyes gleaming red in playfulness while he moved his hands in an elegant way, negating Xiumin's freezing and healing whatever needed healing. He was faster than Tao, so soon, he fell behind him, but Tao didn't mind. 

Chanyeol followed after that and Tao burst out in laughter again when he saw the concentrated look on the tall boy's face. He knew that he was holding back the fire but the heat that came off him was sizzling, almost like he was running next to an oven. It caused the remaining ice to thaw and Tao made sure to jump away when Chanyeol ran past him. Tao pushed his feet against the bark of a tree, flipping in mid-air before landing perfectly on the ground once more. He shrieked when he felt a splash of cold water hit him in the back of the neck and he attempted to catch Suho as the leader raced by, laughing loudly at the younger brother's reaction whilst ruffling his hair when he passed him. Suho's hair looked wild and shone with hints of red. 

"Suho-hyung!" Tao protested when another splash of water hit him in the face, but he laughed nevertheless because this was the first time since a while that Suho just let loose and enjoyed himself. It was the first time since forever that they just seemed to play and have fun, instead of hunting for something. He liked Suho much better when the leader wasn't so uptight and constantly worried about everything and anything. 

"There is no way that I'm going to lose to Suho-hyung!" came Chen's cheerful voice from behind him. Tao could literally feel the air buzzing with electricity when this hyung was near. Chen's childlike laughter filled the air when Baekhyun joined, his violet red hair standing upright with static electricity due to running next to Chen all this time. Tao was unable to stop his high-pitched laughter when he saw Baekhyun's hair, pointing at him. 

"Oh, what are you laughing at, Namekian?" Baekhyun commented, making a playful face at him so that he looked even more ridiculous. 

"I am not a Namekian!" Tao protested at the teasing of his older brother. 

"Maybe not, but you are slow, kkaebsong!" Baekyhun said in a singsongy voice as he raced past him, Chen closely behind him. Tao stomped his feet and tried running faster when he saw a distinct ripple in the earth that moved forward, like a wave in the water. It directed itself immediately towards Baekhyun, and again, the forest was filled with Tao's wholehearted laughter as the earth caught Baekhyun by surprised and tripped him. 

"Oh- kkaebsong~!" D.O. called after him in a similar fashion, a bright smile appearing on his hyung's face whilst winking at Tao. He could always count on D.O. when Baekhyun was teasing him again, and Tao was grateful for it. As was the case with Suho, Tao preferred it when D.O. was more like this. Unbridled, free and happy. His appearance seemed more bold and free than his usual self as well. His hair was red, almost like that of Kris, with a pronounced undercut and flowy, wavy hair that looked thick and blow-dried to perfection. 

"You're not going to let him win, are you?" D.O. asked, his eyes shimmering crimson as he stomped on the earth, making more ripples appear. He jumped up and rode on them as though he were surfing. It was in moments like these that Tao envied not having a more direct and active power like most of his brothers. He could freeze all of them, but where was the fun in that? More often than not, it had made him feel rather lonely, since time stopped all around him and he was the only one that noticed- that is, unless he expanded his gift, purposely targeting his brothers as well, so that they could move freely along with him. But that cost him a whole amount of energy. 

Out of nowhere, a strong gust of wind had picked up, pushing him forward and even lifting him slightly from the ground, so that he made another flip in the air in order to keep his balance and land safely on the ground. Startled, his mouth was still agape when Sehun appeared in his full rainbow hair glory, taking hold of his hand and pulling him with him. 

"Come on, hyung! Just because we're the maknaes does not mean that we have to end up last!" Sehun urged. They ran together to try to catch up to their brothers, but of course they ended up last. Sehun seemed a bit upset, but Tao was having the time of his life. They managed to climb halfway up the mountain where they were in an isolated clearing, a small waterfall nearby, being able to overlook the whole city. Tao stopped a moment to look at the sparkling lights in the sky and on the ground and smiled contently. He was naturally drawn to the moon above him, shining so brightly and nearly in full, but he enjoyed watching the quiet town of Hanwol just the same. When he looked at the spectacular view of his island, his home, he felt a need to protect it somehow, to safeguard it. He didn't want anything bad happen to it, ever. 

Tao turned around when he heard his brothers behind him, laughing and playing games. He watched in amusement as Kris and Kai were arguing who had gotten first place, trying to gather witnesses to plead their case. However, since they were both extremely fast, there wasn't anyone around who could tell who was right or wrong. To end the arguing, Suho moved a large amount of water from the waterfall and splashed it over his brothers. He was met with shouts of indignation and laughter while he joined in as well. Tao saw all the happy smiles on his brothers' face and felt his own heart swelling up with happiness. He looked around at them, feeling a warmth fluttering in his chest. He was content, and even though he knew that he shouldn't, he scratched his chin and flicked his wrist. In that moment, time had stopped and his surroundings froze, like a realistic photograph that only he could walk in. 

He made sure to look at his brothers' faces, all of them, passing them by quietly, remembering how joyful they looked, how free and unburdened. He never told them because telling them straightforwardly would be lame, but his feelings were real. 

"I love you, guys," he said, meaning every word. He looked up to all of his brothers and cared for them deeply. When he found them, he didn't know that it was possible to have such strong ties to people who weren't even related by blood. But here they were. Twelve of them, as if they were always meant to have found each other. 

After taking another mental picture, he stood where he had been standing and snapped his fingers, time resuming while he simply sat down to watch his brothers have fun, unaware that he had momentarily frozen time for them. 

"Whoa, look at that moon," Xiumin noted. 

"Awooooo!" Kai immediately prompted, causing them to laugh. Tao clapped his hands, sitting on a boulder near the edge of the clearing. Just behind him, the hill rolled down, so he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't accidentally stumble backwards and fall down. 

"I can't wait for full moon," Chanyeol stated nearly dreamily, scratching himself behind the ear. "Look how close it is. Maybe we'll get a full moon tomorrow," he said hopefully. 

Tao nodded at his words, since he was looking forward to it as well. Perhaps it was rather strange to look forward to being able to turn into a wolf, but it wasn't so much the transformation that was exciting. Rather, it was the sensation of the change. Once they would turn, everything enhanced, everything sharpened. They were closer to the energy of nature, more at one with each other and the environment. Tao wasn't sure how to explain it himself, but he knew that it felt good. It felt...right. Meant to be. 

"We'll have to be careful not to go overboard, though," Suho warned then, playing with a ball of water, panting slightly. "We don't want any inexplicable, sudden natural disasters hitting the island."

"That goes without saying," Kris noted, his attention drawn to D.O. when the boy made the earth move and ripple again as though it was fluid.

"Yeah, we don't need another earthquake. Especially if it happened to hit Kenn's house," D.O. joked, the earth popping out as though a volcano had burst. The brothers laughed, as did Tao, but when he stomped his feet in mirth, he noticed that a crack had formed in the earth around him.

He was about to ask D.O. whether he was the one responsible for it- if so, it wasn't particularly funny, but he hadn't even opened his mouth or the earth gave way mercilessly beneath him and he fell back without even being able to scream. Tao rolled down the hill, hitting trees and shrubs on the way, unable to stop anything. He panicked and knew that freezing time wouldn't matter since he was the one that was in motion. 

"Ah! Ow!" he exclaimed, his body painful by the time that he landed with a thud near a dirt road. It had been a long fall and he groaned when he felt how bruised his body was. "Ah-yah..." he murmured, feeling tears welling in his eyes, but he didn't want to give in so easily. His lessons in Wushu had taught him how to bear with pain, but it didn't mean that he was immune to it. He tried to stand up, and did so with much reluctance. Wanting to see what the damage was, Tao brought his hands up to check up on himself, but froze when he heard footsteps. A strange scent was in the air and he quickly dove behind a tree. 

Why were there people here? No one ever comes to this part of the island!

He strained to listen and sniffed the air to determine the scent, but all it did was make him a bit lightheaded. Tao was sure, however, that he had smelled that scent before. His eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hand when he heard a gentle voice. 

"Hello? Is there someone here?" 

Tao didn't bear to peek behind the tree to confirm his suspicions. He only stood frozen behind it, his hand over his mouth while he tried to control his breathing to stay undiscovered. He distinctly heard the soft sound of music being played through headphones and he looked up the hill, hoping that his brothers wouldn't just come showing up in all their magical glory. 

"Hello? I, eh, thought I heard a loud voice, was that you?" the voice continued to interrogate and Tao could hardly believe that there was someone this naive out there that would actually go talk like this after hearing something suspicious. Wasn't the natural and logical option to run?

Aish, this girl...

"Hey, you know that I can see you, right? You're hiding behind that tree," the girl approached him and Tao started to freak out. 

She couldn't see me. I've my back turned to her and it's too dark to make out my face, he thought, attempting to calm himself down. His red gleaming eyes were going to be a dead giveaway if he happened to risk getting seen when he took a peek. 

"Okay, then..." she said eventually after a torturous long moment of silence. "Well, hope you're okay. It sounded like you fell pretty badly," she remarked, to which Tao lifted an eyebrow. He heard her walking away again, and since he was far too curious for his own good, he didn't want her to walk away just like that. 

"You're concerned about me?" he asked, purposely making his voice husky, in the hopes that she wouldn't recognize it. He didn't emerge from his hiding spot, though. He stood stiffly behind the tree, back leaning against the bark. 

"Well, yeah, I guess you could put it that way. Don't think too much of it, though, I can't even see your face," she mused and Tao could just imagine her trying to peer at him. He took deep steady breaths, wondering why he wanted to see her, as well. 

"You shouldn't worry for strangers. They might be dangerous," he added, hoping that would scare her off more. He wanted to see her reaction and carefully peeked from behind the tree. 

"I guess. But if you had been dangerous, you would've already did something," she stated, leaning to the side when she caught him peeking at her. Tao immediately retracted and stayed in his position. "Are you sure you're alright? Your eyes looked really red," she noted and he swallowed. 

"It's nothing," he assured. "You shouldn't be here at night, though. Dangerous creatures roaming around," he stated. "You should head home." 

"I was on my way to it, when I heard you falling down," she retaliated. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked one last time, which Tao found surprising. He wasn't sure whether he praised her for it or should be scolding at her. 

"Yes. Please leave," he answered coolly and waited for her to move. 

"Okay then. Eh, bye," she greeted and left, much to his relief. Tao took a deep breath and steadied himself. Why was it that that girl was everywhere they went? They couldn't catch a break. 

That was far too stressful for me to handle, he thought to himself with another sigh. Then, he groaned inwardly upon looking back up where his brothers were. He'd have to climb up and run up that thing to be able to join his brothers again. Accepting defeat, Tao made his way to the hill again, when out of the blue- poof! 

Kai appeared like a godsent in a whirl of black smoke, his face concerned. "Tao-hyung! Where were you? Everyone got worried when you were suddenly gone!" he exclaimed. 

"Sorry, I fell," Tao scratched the back of his head. Should he tell Kai about the girl that was here just a few moments ago? "Guess I wasn't watching where I was going, but I'm okay now," he said instead. Kai sighed and held on to him. 

"You really have to be more careful. You look like you just took a beating of a lifetime," the younger boy commented. Tao wanted to retaliate but in a flash they were back at the clearing and he had to explain himself again. Lay immediately went to work when he saw the pain and bruises, causing Tao to feel absolutely refreshed. He didn't know what he had to do without his Lay-ge. 

"Thank you, Lay-ge," he said thankfully. 

"Don't scare us like that, do you hear me?" was his soft reply while he focused on his arm. 

"Sorry. I won't," Tao promised. Should he tell them? But what was the point? She went the other direction anyway, there was no need for him to have to tell them about how close he was at nearly being discovered. He was lucky, and he wanted to keep it that way. 

"Was there someone with you, hyung?" Kai suddenly asked, making Tao blush like a child that was caught doing something naughty. 

"No, of course not!" he immediately responded, feeling his heart beat loudly out of anxiety. 

"You sure? I thought I smelled a weird scent..." 

"It's nothing, I didn't smell anything out of the ordinary," Tao persisted. 

"Good, because after the heart attack you caused us, I don't suddenly want people to know about this. The twelve of us, we're something special, and we should keep it that way," Suho added. "Don't let the world know." 

The brothers agreed in assent, but Tao only nodded his head a bit nervously. She wouldn't have recognized him, would she? Her reaction might've been different if she had...

"There. Better?" Lay asked, having healed his injuries completely. 

"Whoa, thank you, Lay-ge. I feel much better!" Tao said gratefully, seeing that his brothers had already resorted to goofing around. He decided then and there that there really was no need for them to know about the encounter he had. That girl was so naive and trusting, Tao doubted whether she was as dangerous as Suho and Chen claimed her to be, but for now, he wanted to forget her kind and caring eyes and just enjoy the night. So when he saw the moon again, he howled- loudly.