Attack of the Killer Birds
X-ExperimentsIndex:
(DH) – Daehyun speaking
(L) – Myungsoo speaking
(BY) – Yongguk speaking
(S) – Sungyeol speaking
(YA) – Yoona speaking
(J) – Jessica speaking
(JI) – Jieun speaking
(LJ) – Joon speaking
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“Hey… Daehyun?”
“Yeah? What is it?” (DH) Daehyun waited for a response, but when he was met with silence, Daehyun turned his head towards the man next to him. The sight that met his eyes made him wish that he could capture this very moment forever. Daehyun stared in awe at his face, taking in the sight of the person next to him, as the sunlight seemed to sweetly kiss this man’s milky skin. This person’s smile only seemed to brighten the image that Daehyun saw before him, continuing to entice him and lower any defenses he may have had. “I love you…” (DH)
“Wha-” The man turned his head towards Daehyun, surprised by the confession that was suddenly made. When it seemed like this person was able to recollect himself, Daehyun watched as the man turned his head away, a deep blush quickly creeping up on his cheeks. Once he realized what he said, Daehyun’s eyes widened as he quickly turned his head forward out of embarrassment.
“I-I… I’m so-” (DH)
“I love you too…” Daehyun turned his head towards the man, a look of surprise on his face as he stared at him. He could see the smile on the man’s face, but for some reason, he just couldn’t clearly see nor remember the man's face despite the fact that he had been staring at it just a mere moment ago. However, hearing him say those words made Daehyun… smile brightly. Stepping closer, Daehyun reached forward and took hold of the other man’s hand before giving it a light squeeze.
Just as he begun to lean forward though, a dark storm began to form in the sky above. Both men looked up, feelings of worry and fear mixing in as the storm drew closer. Neither one of them knew what the storm would do nor if it was even conjured up by someone, but they did know that it was definitely bad if it was forming this quickly. “We have to warn the town.” (DH)
“Yeah…” They stared at the sky for a moment longer before they turned and began making their way down the cliff they were standing by. If only they could have stayed there forever. Viewing the lush green plains from above that cliff had always been their favorite place to go to when they wanted to be alone. However, peace just didn’t want to stay for too long.
“You can see the future… right? Can you see if that storm is good or not?” (DH)
“I… I can try, but you have to carry me while I do it.” Once Daehyun nodded, Daehyun paused for a moment before he crouched down. The other man stared for a moment before he awkwardly attempted to get on Daehyun’s back. With him pressed up against Daehyun and with Daehyun’s hands firmly holding onto the man’s thighs, Daehyun struggled for a moment to get up, but he managed to stand firmly on his feet. “Okay… I’m going to start now.”
“Okay.” (DH) Daehyun began walking, trying to make the walk as smooth as possible. It was a little difficult, but as long as the other man was able to see the future well enough, then Daehyun was at least doing his job. As he walked, Daehyun couldn’t help but wonder what the man was seeing. This man was usually an outcast because of his… gift, but Daehyun found it fascinating. He, himself, never had any sort of skills or abilities. Sure, he could make puppets, but he never thought it would be of any help to anyone. Being able to see the future though would definitely help everyone. In a way, he was a little jealous. Okay… he was very jealous, but what could he do about it?
As they made their way around the hill, Daehyun found it a little difficult to keep his footing stable. The area that he was walking through was a little muddy from last night’s rain and with the rocks, it made the walk much more unstable. However, just as he thought that he was doing well, he heard a rather loud gasp that made him jump from the surprise. Due to the amount of movement the man on his back was making, Daehyun’s foot slipped before forcing him to fall forward. A loud grunt could be heard from Daehyun as he came into contact with the ground, but the mud that now covered his face abruptly cut him off. “Daehyun! The vill- Dae… Daehyun?”
The man looked down at Daehyun for a moment before gasping and getting to his feet. Moving off of him, the man crouched down as Daehyun began to push himself up a bit. He couldn’t help but try and hold back his laughter as he watched Daehyun begin to wipe the mud off of his face. Daehyun spit a few times, trying to get the mud out of his mouth as well as he made disgusted noises. “Elgh… Mud… doesn’t taste good at all…!” (DH)
“S-Sorry about that! Anyway, the, uh… the village! Daehyun, it’s in trou-” He was instantly cut off as the sound of lightening crashing echoed through the plains. The ground shook heavily, forcing the duo to try and keep themselves from falling over. As Daehyun was attempting to keep from falling over, the other man’s heart sunk, as he knew exactly what this sound meant.
Just as sudden as the sound started, everything went deathly quiet with little to no warning. They both hesitated, but only Daehyun was the one able to calm himself down. As he let out a sigh, Daehyun looked up to see the horrified look on the man’s face. At first, he didn’t understand why he looked like that. However, once he began thinking back to what the man was saying before the explosions, Daehyun’s eyes widened as he quickly pushed himself up to his feet and began trying to run as quickly as possible to see the village.
The second the village came into his view, Daehyun’s chest grew heavy as he saw his hometown, or rather… what was left of it. His legs threatened to give out from under him, but a comforting hand on his shoulders gave him the strength needed to keep him on his feet. “It’s…” (DH)
“I’m sorry…” Those were words that weren’t meant to come from someone innocent. It didn’t bring much comfort to Daehyun, but… it did keep him from wanting to go out and do something rash. Turning his head towards the other man, he could see the tears rolling down his cheeks. “… We couldn’t save them…”
“It’s not your fault.” (DH)
“… I know.” Daehyun shook his head slightly as he took hold of the man’s hand. Holding it firmly in his hand, Daehyun stared at the man’s hand for a moment before looking up at him. Not too long ago, they had just confessed their true feelings to one another and now… that moment was ruined. Their friends, their family… they might be all gone because of the destruction caused by… whatever it was. But, there was still a chance that they may be alive, right?
“Let’s go. We should see if anyone needs our help.” (DH) The man looked a bit surprised at first, but he couldn’t help but smile as he gave a small nod. Turning towards the town, Daehyun took in a deep breath before the two set off running towards it. It may be a vain attempt, but if there was at least one person still alive, then their attempt was worth it.
It was at least better to be sure than to wonder…
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The sudden bump from the vehicle forced Daehyun to wake up, causing him to look around with a slightly panicked look on his face. When he figured that they were in no immediate danger, Daehyun stretched a bit before adjusting his position. Even though he wanted to go back to sleep, his mind was constantly replaying that dream he just had.
What had that been about? It felt so realistic and yet… he was certain that it couldn’t have happened. He had been in that laboratory his entire life and he couldn’t ever recall who that man was. Of course, he also didn’t really know what love was, so why would he tell someone that he loved them? That dream was confusing, but the more he tried to sort it out, the more confused he seemed to get. So, he decided to push it off to the side for now.
His eyes slowly drifted towards the window, watching as the rocky terrain passed by. It probably wouldn’t have phased him as much if it wasn’t for the fact that there was something else alongside the terrain. From what he could see and hear, there was something falling from the sky. What was that? More rocks? But every time he saw it land, it seemed to turn into something wet. Was it… water? But how could water fall all of a sudden like that?
Looking up, all he could see were dark skies. There wasn’t any sort of flying water above them, but the water must be coming from up above. So where else could it be coming from? Looking off to the others, he could see that only a few of them were interested in it. “Why is water falling?” (DH)
“Hm? Oh! You’re awake! It’s called rain. It’s supposed to have something to do with water uh… turning into gas, then flying up into the sky and turning into water again only to fall back down. That’s why it makes rain.” (J) Daehyun scratched his head as he tried to make sense of the explanation. To him, it made little to no sense for water to turn into gas, then to only turn back into water, but he doubted that he would understand if it was further explained. So, he decided to just simply nod his head before turning his attention back towards the window.
“How far is it?” (S)
“Uh… Shouldn’t be too long.” (LJ) Unknown to Daehyun, they had been driving nonstop since they left that early morning. Joon may have been getting a bit tired from driving, but Joon really wanted to reach the town before nightfall. Luckily, he knew a few shortcuts that would let them get there in that time; otherwise they would have been stuck with driving for weeks to get there. Well… that may have been over exaggerated, but it would have felt like weeks either way.
“When can we eat?” (YA) The mention of food caused Daehyun to instantly sit up before turning his attention towards the front. They both waited for Joon to say something, but it seemed like even he didn’t know when they could stop to eat. Of course, everyone except Joon hadn’t even thought about the possibility of eating while in the vehicle.
“You can eat now if you want. Bring me my bag and I’ll take out the cube with the food in it.” (LJ) While Yoona moved to the back to obtain the bag, Daehyun watched silently, his eyes betraying his eagerness to start eating. Myungsoo raised a single brow, confused and suspicious of Daehyun’s staring. Leaning towards Daehyun, Myungsoo pushed Daehyun’s leg a bit to get his attention, causing Daehyun to look up at him.
“What are you doing?” (L)
“I’m just sitting here. Why?” (DH) Myungsoo leaned back in his seat as he folded his arms. It looked like he was doing more than just sitting there, so why didn’t Daehyun want to tell him what he was doing? Was there a secret that Daehyun didn’t want to share?
“I want to know…” (L) Moving from his seat, Myungsoo moved over to Daehyun’s seat before leaning against him. Daehyun whined a little bit as he kept his gaze towards the scenery outside, ignoring the fact that he was currently being squished against the vehicle’s walls. “Tell me what you’re hiding!” (L)
“I’m not hiding anything! I’m just hungry!” (DH) Myungsoo paused for a moment upon Daehyun’s confession. Was that all that he was hiding? For some reason, Myungsoo had a feeling that Daehyun was hiding much more than that. However, for the time being, he decided to just take Daehyun’s word. Slowly, Myungsoo pulled away before switching back into his own seat.
“Here it is.” (YA) Joon briefly looked to his right to see what Yoona had brought. When he saw that it was a bag, he took a moment longer to examine it before grinning and nodding a bit. It was definitely his bag, but he was going to have to stop the vehicle for the moment so that he could dig through his bag for the storage cubes. Well, these cubes actually did have a name, but it seemed like it would be easier for these guys to remember the word ‘cube’.
As Yoona went to go sit back down, Joon carefully slowed to a stop before he began looking through his bag. There were a large number of storage cubes in his bag, though he saw it as an easier way to carry more things as opposed to just having a weird obsession with cubes. Once he found the cube that held the food, Joon lightly tapped the surface a few times before setting the cube down. In that moment, lights emerged from the cube before it began circling around to find a place to put everything. Since the doors and windows were closed, there wouldn’t be any way for the lights to create anything outside.
After everything had been formed, the light dissipated before the cube closed itself. With a grin, Joon picked up the food that had formed nearby before they began moving forward once more. Everyone else each looked around, grabbing the neatly wrapped food that seemed to interest them the most. As Daehyun begun unwrapping the food of his choice, his eyes accidentally wandered over towards Myungsoo’s food. In that moment, his hands froze as he stared at the food that Myungsoo had just finished unwrapping. “Myungsoo…! Wha-… What’s that food that you got?” (DH)
“Huh?” (L) Myungsoo briefly glanced up at Daehyun before looking back down at his food. Was he supposed to know the name of every bit of food that he ate? He hasn’t had it before, so regardless of whether he knew the name or not, he didn’t know how it tasted. Whatever Daehyun’s intentions may be, Myungsoo was determined to figure out what it tasted like. “I don’t know, but it’s mine.” (L)
“You… don’t want to trade with me?” (DH) Myungsoo thought for a moment before looking down at the neatly wrapped parcel in Daehyun’s hands. It hadn’t been completely opened yet, so there was no telling what was inside of it. For all he knew, it probably was either much worse than what he had now or it was the exact same thing. Well, it was also possible that it was something better than what he had now, but who knows whether it would work out in his favor?
“… Open it first.” (L) Daehyun’s eyes lit up with hope as he quickly went back to undoing the wrapping once more. He was a little shaky, but one way or another, Daehyun had managed to reveal the contents of the parcel without ruining the food in any sort of way. “Well? Do you still want to trade?” (L)
“… I don’t know. Can we take a bite out of both of them to see if we like them?” (DH) Myungsoo didn’t necessarily like the idea, but at the same time, it did make sense. If they wanted to know which one would taste the best, then they would each have to have a bite of one another’s food.
“Okay.” (L) They each took a bite out of their food, thoroughly making sure that they had a good enough taste of the food, before they reached out and switched with one another. When they had finished chewing, they took a bite out of the food that they were currently holding before trying to see what the taste was like for that one. When they were finished with their bite, the two stared at their food before looking at one another. “… They’re the same thing.” (L)
“Yeah.” (DH) They were both a little dumbfounded that that had just happened, but at least neither one of them had to worry about trying to figure out which one they each wanted. So, without worrying about it any further, the two continued to eat their food.
As the group ate their food contently, Joon kept checking the side and rearview mirrors. The reports that he had read beforehand constantly said something about there being attacks by a creature that looked eerily similar to a bird. It was a mutated bird from what he could tell, but he’d rather not encounter it any time soon. Sure, they probably could face it if it was by itself, but reports stated that this large bird usually had a flock with it. So, it was best to avoid it at all costs.
“Ooh! What kind of animal is that?” (J) Joon looked over to where Jessica was pointing at and silently cursed before trying to get the vehicle to move faster. The bird that was flying next to them would have been identified as an O-Deren, a usually peaceful little brown bird with a light brown belly and a cute little beak. This O-Deren, however, had a longer, more crooked beak, long flowing tail feathers, and its entire body in general was much bigger, maybe three or even four times bigger than the usual O-Deren. The only reason he knew it was an O-Deren were because of the comparisons made in the reports.
“Hold on!” (LJ)
“For wha-” (J) In that instant, any words or thoughts that were forming were cut off as Joon suddenly made a sharp turn, causing everyone and everything to slide to the opposite way. Hands flew everywhere in an attempt to grab onto something and something between gasps and yells sounded within the vehicle. Regardless, it was utter chaos for everyone but Joon.
“What’s going on?!” (S)
“Just hold on!” (LJ) Just as he said that, the vehicle made zigzag motions, forcing everyone that didn’t have a seatbelt or wasn’t already holding onto something to move left and right every time. It was evident that they were in danger, but other than Joon, no one really knew what was attacking them.
Soon, instead of just one bird, there was a whole flock chasing after them. They were composed of mostly O-Deren’s, but there were other birds that Joon couldn’t necessarily identify at that moment. He probably would know what they were, but since he was driving and he was just catching brief glimpses of these birds from his rearview mirrors, it was rather difficult to identify what these birds were.
Closer and closer, the birds seemed to get. Normally, it would be easy to lose birds like these, but due to the mutations, the birds were keeping up with them with relative ease. It truly seemed like a fight was going to have to occur and Joon was worried that he might not be able to keep all six of these guys safe from harm’s way. However, just as he began formulating plans, gunshots began echoing along the mountain walls.
Looking ahead, Joon could see the walls of the mountain city closing in. On top of these walls were scouts each armed with guns shooting away at the birds that were chasing the vehicle. It brought hope to Joon as he had the vehicle speed up a bit more. The city gate was starting to rise and from the looks of it, there was a gap in the city shield, indicating that they were definitely expected to come in. Joon only hoped that they were able to make it in without any unwanted company following after them.
Pecking could be heard from on top of the vehicle now and that only managed to make Joon feel that much more nervous about this. The sound of metal bending had everyone on edge as they each now pulled out their own weapons. Despite it being cramped within the vehicle, each person felt much more comfortable holding their weapon in their arms. “Yongguk!” (JI)
Jieun’s lantern came to life as a ghostly figure emerged from her lantern. Those whom had yet to make his acquaintance all held the same surprised expression that the others wore when they first saw him. Once Yongguk was comfortably hovering above one of the seats, he leaned back and put his hands behind his head as he tilted his head towards Jieun a bit. “Yes?” (BY)
“Can you stop the birds from attacking us?” (JI) Yongguk raised a single brow before looking out the window. He took the moment to think about their current situation, ignoring the constantly shifting people and objects all around him. However, he merely smirked as he seemed to lean further back in his nonexistent seat.
“No point.” (BY)
“What do you mean by that?!” (L)
“Look for yourself.” (BY) Myungsoo, quite irritated with constantly ramming into the vehicle wall, looked outside to see that they were now within the city’s walls. As he turned his gaze towards the back, he saw that there were birds crashing into an invisible barrier of sorts, halting the flock’s tracks altogether. “See? The barrier in this city is up.” (BY)
Myungsoo mumbled under his breath as he put his weapon down. Yongguk held his smirk as he gave a small shrug before disappearing back into Jieun’s lantern. Slowly, the vehicle slowed to a stop in front of a building that had a sign titled ‘INN’. Joon hadn’t planned on making a stop in this city so soon, but with the reports being as accurate as they were, they were at least able to get here ahead of schedule. Making a small stop to help these people with their bird problem shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right? After all, the resistance was there to help the people, not completely ignore them. “Alright kiddies! We’re taking a minor stop here. Let’s head on inside and get a few rooms.” (LJ)
“Rooms? Are we living here now?” (YA)
“Ah… Not exactly. We’re just going to be resting here for a bit.” (LJ) Though, as he said those words, he finally took note of the guardsmen that were currently patrolling the area. Normally, guardsmen wouldn’t have caught his interest if it had been Meindol City’s guards. These guards, however, were wearing the royal colors, which were purple and gold. Meindol City’s guards only ever wore leather armor, so either they had suddenly allied themselves with the Prince or… there was some sort of takeover going on.
“What’s wrong?” (J) Joon looked at Jessica for a brief moment before his usual goofy grin appeared.
“Nothing’s wrong! Just… thinking! Yeah. That thing.” (LJ) Without another word, Joon exited the vehicle, but his grin instantly disappeared as he continued eyeing the guards near them. Himchan and Prince Mak had an agreement with one another, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Prince Mak were looking for this group of kids too. So, that meant that he was going to have to keep an even closer eye on this group and make sure that they stay unnoticed. For all those guards knew, they were just simple travelers trying to make it through the mountains.
Once they had gathered their bags, the group followed Joon into the inn before being told to wait in a corner. While Joon spoke to the person at the front desk, the group each looked around, taking in the sights that this building had to offer. “Wow…! Look at these. These are um… holo… screens, right?” (DH)
“I think so… but these aren’t moving like the holoscreens we saw.” (J)
“Maybe they’re broken. What do you think Sungyeol?” (L) Myungsoo looked over at Sungyeol, but he noticed that Sungyeol wasn’t paying any sort of attention to them. Taking a few steps closer to Sungyeol, Myungsoo stared at Sungyeol for a moment before looking out the window to wherever Sungyeol was staring at.
Across the street, one of the guards had stopped one of the people that had been simply walking along, minding their own business. The guard seemed to have some sort of smug look on their face as they spoke. The person seemed to be holding back any sort of resentment they had as they spoke, but Myungsoo could tell that they were angry about something. A gasp escaped from a few of them as the guard suddenly shoved the man onto the floor, but despite the guard’s rude actions, no one around them seemed to be doing anything about it. Myungsoo grit his teeth, his hand reaching for where his weapon should have been. Of course, it wasn’t where it was since Joon had hidden their weapons before entering the inn to ensure that they remained blended in with the rest of the civilians. “Why is no one helping that man?!” (L)
“Because Prince Mak has rule so long as the animals continue attacking.” (LJ) Everyone looked up at Joon, whom had also begun watching the guard’s detestable actions. He looked at the group, a small sigh escaping his lips as he gave a disapproving shake of his head. “There’s nothing we can do without getting this city into trouble. Come on. Up the stairs.” (LJ)
Despite the protests that were made, Joon managed to get everyone up the stairs without any trouble stirring. As they made their way down the hallway, Joon began explaining how to open the door to their rooms. Simply by pressing their cryston, the device next to the door will activate and read their cryston signatures before letting the screen down. When they made it to their rooms, Joon made sure that each and every one of them had a go at trying out the way to open the room before making his way over to his own room.
The rooms had been split between boys and girls, though all except Joon didn’t understand why. Even though it would have been more fun if all of them were in the same room, no one really complained.
In the boys’ room, Daehyun sat on the bed closest to the balcony. He smiled happily as his hands ran across the soft and really nice looking fabric that covered his bed. There were still plenty of soft things out there that he has yet to touch, but this is definitely the softest thing he’s ever touched so far! “Are your beds soft too?” (DH)
“That doesn’t matter! We have to get the guards out of here! They’re being mean to those people.” (L) Daehyun looked up at Myungsoo, his smile fading as his hands slowed to a stop. As much as he wanted to continue rubbing his hands against the soft fabric, he couldn’t help but agree with Myungsoo.
“What are we supposed to do about that? Joon said that they’re supposed to be here until the animals stop attacking.” (S) Myungsoo folded his arms as he took a moment to think. How exactly were they supposed to fix that problem then? Though, while Myungsoo was thinking about how to get rid of the animals, Daehyun’s eyes lit up as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
“Exactly! We just beat all the animals that are hurting everyone! Let’s go!” (DH) Getting up from his seat, Daehyun dropped his bag onto the floor before picking Bartholomew up. Just as he began walking, their door suddenly opened as Joon walked through the doorway.
“Don’t even think about going out today!” (LJ)
“But we have to get rid of the animals.” (DH) Joon sighed as he shook his head a bit. As nice as the notion was, these kids just don’t understand how the real world functioned, which was exactly why he had anticipated their plans before they had even acted upon it.
“No. I’m going to go see the mayor of this city, or uh… the leader, I guess, and talk about the problems. If things go well, then we’ll all be able to go. So just wait until then, alright?” (LJ) Daehyun looked at Myungsoo and Sungyeol. They both seemed a little defeated, but they each nodded nonetheless. Turning back to Joon, Daehyun gave a small nod as well, causing Joon to grin. “Good! Now, again, don’t leave! There’s supposed to be a curfew in this town and if you’re out after curfew, you’ll get arre- uh… taken away.” (LJ)
Once Joon left, Daehyun gave a small sigh as he went back over to his bed. A silence filled the air as the men waited impatiently for Joon to return, but it was probably better this way. Sure, neither one of them liked the idea of waiting for permission to help the town, but what else could they do? Stepping out there might mean making more trouble than necessary.
Of course… it might be more fun that way.
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[[ My Own Thoughts:
A bit of a flashback for those curious about the past x3
Plus, Young Jae still won’t be physically there for a while soo…
That’s the closest I could think of to get him into the story a bit more. X3
Don’t worry though ~
He is definitely part of the story!
Comments are loved!
I love talking with everyone!
It’s also nice to see how I am doing with each chapter. ]]
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