Chanyeol was totally shivering, now that the adrenalin had worn off from their flight down the mountainside. The two dragons had disappeared, their friends were left behind in the dust, almost literally. Jongin wore a steely grin and Baekhyun was uncharacteristically silent. Sehun walked behind them with a murderous, sullen expression. Alistair trailed along with his jaw shut tight, nose in the air as if scenting how much farther they travelled from his master.

Silently, so as not to intrude upon everyone's bad moods, Chanyeol counted a tally of all the supplies they would now be low on. Each of them carried packs with individual food rations, but no cookware. They had a few blankets and sleeping pallets to go, but only two winter coats. Baekhyun wore one of them now and Sehun the other. Winter had been creeping upon them as early as their trip up to Gherlen's Pass. After spending so much time in Orzammar and the Deep Roads after that, the thought of cold weather became fleeting. Now, however, they were experiencing it in full for it had arrived early on the western side of the Frostbacks. This was Orlais they traversed now. Over half their number were left behind, and with them, over half the supplies Chanyeol had calculated necessary for them to get to their next destination, wherever that was, only Jongin knew. 

"I'm hungry."

It was the first phrase Sehun had uttered in hours. Chanyeol didn't dare respond. He waited for Jongin, and indeed the warrior informed the boy, "Wait until we find shelter. Night's approaching."

Sehun said no more, but Chanyeol caught Baekhyun giving the boy a pitying look. It was getting harder and harder to forget how they'd intentionally sacrificed the others in order to get away. Were they still trapped up on the ruin? Were they able to find another way down? More importantly, were they able to do that before one of the dragons returned, the one not named Yixing?

But this was all going according to Jongin's plan. Ditch the others, save themselves. Safer this way, without the burden of the others' woes hounding them wherever they went. Still though, Chanyeol didn't think Sehun would ever forgive them. Chanyeol barely forgave himself.

By dusk on the first day, a light snow began to fall. 

"Baekhyun," said Jongin.

"Time to find a spot, I got it," said the elf with gladness. 

Their resting place became a small enclosure beneath a rocky overhang. It wouldn't shelter them completely from the wind, but it was mercifully dry underneath. Chanyeol lit a small fire while Baekhyun rustled through their packs. Jongin set up their pallets as close to the rock as they could get. Alistair disappeared for a while but he came back sporting his own supper, a small dead fennec with half its head already torn off.

"At least we know Alistair will eat well tonight," Sehun remarked. "Who knows what the others are eating. If they're even alive to eat-"

"Sehun, please," interrupted Jongin with a sigh. 

Sehun smiled wryly in return. "Please what? Please stop wondering what happened back there after we left? Am I supposed to forget it already? That we ran away with our tails between our legs, fleeing like cowards, while they could have been stranded, left to be eaten? Kyungsoo might already have been dead, but I'll never know! We'll never know-"

"Sehun!" Jongin shouted again. He didn't look at the boy, but his voice held command nevertheless. "Look, I'm sorry! I'm sorry we had to leave like that, but there was nothing we could have done differently. That bridge wasn't going to hold and you know it."

"But our friends-"

"Will have found another way down, I'm sure of it. Sehun, I... I liked them too but we did what we had to, and that's... that's something I will never be able to forget for as long as I live, so just..." Jongin's voice faded to nothing, and he sighed again, softer this time. He ran a hand across his brow and stared at his feet. Baekhyun chewed on his lower lip and stared between the two men, but he didn't interfere. 

To be honest, not that Chanyeol would agree with this aloud, but this was almost how it should have been anyways: Jongin, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun escorting Sehun across the continent with no one interfering. The fact that they now had a giant mabari hound who belonged to an apostate mage was just the t on the package. Sure, they should have reached their original destination by now, but after all that happened this was the safer option. 

So why did everyone, including himself, feel so glum?

Sehun sighed and slumped up against the rock. At first he crossed his arms, but at a consolation from Alistair he unfolded them, pet the hound, and then remained with his arms dangling down by his side. 

"Get some rest, Sehun," said Baekhyun softly. "We'll take care of dinner."

The elf turned towards the fire where Chanyeol knelt, Jongin joining them a moment later. But not even a minute after that, Sehun crouched beside them.

"I can help too, no need to fuss over me." 

"You sure?" asked Baekhyun. Sehun nodded. 

They said no more about the events of the day, or their lost friends. As darkness fell and Sehun fell asleep beside the hound, Jongin lead Chanyeol and Baekhyun away from the small fire out into the snow which was still falling lightly, an ominous sign of the upcoming winter. 

"Alright," started Jongin, "let's talk plans."

"All I know," said Baekhyun," is that you have me leading us southwest, at least as far southwest we can go with the river in our way. Is that where we're headed? Jongin, I'm going to need you to trust us and tell us exactly where Lady Hyori's estate is, else we can happily wander this entire winter without a solid direction to go to."

After a few moments' deliberation, Jongin finally told them. Not the exact location, but the immediate region surrounding it. It almost stung, Chanyeol thought, that after all this time he seemed to trust them so little. Chanyeol was born on the estate with Sehun with barely a few years between them. He had sworn an oath of allegiance to his lord, Sehun's grandfather, and served them well. Handpicked from all the other warriors on the estate to make this journey, and here was a man who, short of recent events, had been a stranger to them all. And yet he was their leader. Chanyeol knew from watching Jongin every night that the shield warrior stressed himself to sleep worrying about their safety, that his every action was devoted to keeping Sehun safe. But safe from what? And for how long? Supposedly Baekhyun had read the letter Jongin received in Redcliffe Tavern warning them away from the bog fever, but Chanyeol hadn't seen it. How could he truly know then what was inside. Who was this Jongin, and why did he trust the orders he evidently received when everything prior to that had seemed so simple?

"The southern Dales, huh?" mused Baekhyun. 

"Have you been there?" asked Chanyeol. The elf had a strange look about his face, once that spoke of his desire not to be present in that part of the world. 

"Hmm?" It took Baekhyun a second to respond. When he did, it was said reluctantly, with clenched jaw and a curt nod. "Yes, a few times actually." Then he drove right through his misgivings. "By my calculations based on our current topiary, I'd say we're little less than a week away. Several days if we had mounts, but on foot and in this snow... a week, pending nothing crazy happens like a freak blizzard or a giant bear. Or another dragon, in which case we may not make it anywhere and thus this conversation is moot." The elf laughed. Chanyeol ignored him.

"We don't have supplies for a week," Chanyeol interjected. 

Jongin frowned. "I was worried about that."

"Best option," Chanyeol continued, "is to find a settlement, human village, an elven camp, anything really to tie us over-"

"E-elves?!" Baekhyun suddenly tittered. "You want to find elves, whatever for?" 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at the elf. "As I said... anyone we run into who can help us would be good. And to my knowledge, Dalish elves may not be the most hospitable people to outsiders, but they wouldn't they turn us away, would they?"

"You speak like you know them. Do you?" 

"No, but..."

"Then you don't know them. Sure, they might not stick us with arrows, but really... let's just keep our sights on human civilization, hm?"

"And risk being spied upon by Sehun's enemies who could be hiding in their midsts?" said Jongin.

A cold air, colder than the weather, seemed to hover over them now. Baekhyun bit his lip and turned away, momentarily silenced, his hands on his small hips. Chanyeol stared at him for a second, then turned his sights towards Jongin. The two warriors exchanged an incredulous look but did not speak. Why on earth was Baekhyun so afraid of running into his own kind? was the question they shared. 

Finally, Jongin said, "Fine. We can talk about it more, depending on where we end up. For now, let's get some sleep. Since we have a least another week to go."

Not much farther to the south, another party laid down to rest. 

They were a ragtag group, even more so than before. Luhan stood above the group, surveying with gloom their tired state. Most sported even more bruises, skinned flesh, and dirt than before they had attacked the drakes, or been attacked by the dragon. Kyungsoo was still in the worst state, but after spending half a day scaling the ruin, which due to lack of proper descent meant a lot of sliding, skidding, and quite a few rope drops, everyone looked to be in bad shape. They barely made it down by afternoon, sweat pouring from their brows in spite of the cold weather, before the snow began to fall. Shelter was even more important now, and the Avaar ruin provided little protection from the northern wind blowing down the side of the mountain. 

After refilling their kegs in the frigid river just to the north, they set off for the forest. Lone pines gave way to a thicker patch of trees but they could find no shelter. 

"Do you think they're much farther away?" Luhan asked Minseok from under under their makeshift tent. They'd strung a few blankets between the tree trunks and everyone huddled underneath. In the middle was Kyungsoo, being tended to by Suho on one end and Minseok on the other. Jongdae and Tao made up one end of their bundle, Luhan and Kris the other. 

"Who?" asked Minseok, sleepy-eyed. "Sehun and them? Probably not that far. North of the river though, to be sure."  The collapsed ruin bridge spanning the waterfall was possibly the way across for several leagues. "Why?" continued Minseok.

Luhan hummed and to his side, his freezing hands finding their way around and between Minseok's snug arm. The mage turned his head to look at him. 

"Hm? I don't know," said Luhan. "Just that nobody talked much about it today, but... what are we supposed to do now? We were semi-following Jongin. Now we're just here, on our own."

Minseok said nothing to that. His eyes closed again, but Luhan guessed the mage was far from falling asleep. Nearly a minute later, Minseok softly murmured, "Is it so scary, to not have a plan?"

A plan... Luhan had to think about it. All his life he'd had a plan, or at least one made up for him by someone else. It was getting harder and harder to realize that for some things in life, there just wasn't a plan. Even the path he'd chosen to take in recent weeks had been something he made up himself. And all that had accomplished was for them to be here, stranded on the other side of the Frostback mountains. Luhan was far from his templar cohorts now. He'd strayed so far beyond where he'd set out to go, in effect abandoning his Order, and his life's obligation. Could a templar though actually become something else? Could he sever those ties completely and live a different way? Or would he, like a mage fleeing from the Circle, also be labeled an apostate, a traitor. A coward. Did Luhan actually have the guts to do that?

"You forget, Minseok," he said softly, "that you are used to this kind of life." 

Freedom was something Luhan had never had, nor was he likely to get it. Unless he grasped for it himself. 

In the darkness of the night, Luhan could barely see Minseok's half-open eyes. The mage's lips opened, as if he had something to say. But then he shut them. Instead, the mage turned to face him as well and a calloused rough hand came up to Luhan's cheek. 

"How much do you trust me, Luhan? Because I do still, have something of a plan."

2,204 words

Forgive me for this short chapter! It's my tentative return to this story after not writing it for so long, plus I left all the characters in such a bind after the last chapter that I needed everyone to sit down and think about life lol. Never fear, we'll get this plot moving along soon. So many secrets have been revealed, and so many plots have come unraveled, but Minseok still has a plan!!! Now then: what is it? ;) 

♡ Rosie

LiveJournal | Twitter