1 ⌇ the escape

She should've realized it earlier, but she hadn't. 

She was probably too young have made anything out of the fact the crystal clear fountain water pouring from the golden center piece would ripple whenever the most leaderly of them would saunter by, or that the fireplaces seemed to burn a little brighter in the presence of the tallest one with big eyes and a short temper. Maybe the fact the quietest of the four made flowers bloom at a single touch should've signaled something, no matter how young she may have been, but she never made much of it. 

She knew they had spent a long time hiding it from her. She would beg the tallest to let her touch his glinting sword constantly swinging at his side as he pranced along in his long gait. She would ask him if he would teach her to handle it as he had, with such finesse and ease, and he would brush her off, and as he walked away, she saw the silvery metal become a brash golden color, and one time she swore she saw flames manifest around the edges. Of course, it had been a brief moment before she was shooed away and sent to play in the courtyard or 'earn her living' by doing chores around their enclosed dwelling. 

And, whenever they caught her longingly gazing at the pristine, smooth white walls blocking off the view of anything outside of their home except the sky, she always heard the same thing. 

"Haneul, you are not ever to leave this place. Do you understand?"

"Why not?" She had asked too many times. 

Three would answer, "Because Suho forbades it."

But, Suho would answer, "Bad things happen to humans beyond the wall."

Then, she would ask, "What bad things happen?"

And Suho would grunt and turn away, ignoring her. 

She was never upset. They ignored her and sent her on her own way too often for her to start to care they seemed so indifferent to her. Eventually, Haneul learned why they had done it, and she learned of each power they wielded. 

She first learned about their powers the day she was about fifteen and she walked in on the tallest, Chanyeol, bearing down on the quiet one, Kyungsoo. Chanyeol's sword was tight his hand and raised high, the metal alight with sparkling, dancing flames, but a vine had wrapped its way up Chanyeol's body, restricting him from making any move further to hurt Kyungsoo. After that, they found it pointless and irritating to have to hide their powers from her, and Haneul had been sheltered for so long, they didn't scare her. They didn't even seem out of the normal. 

†​

"Why can't I leave? I've been here too long. You've been here too long. Don't you want to leave this place once and a while?"

Suho was quiet for a moment, walking down the main corridor, marble under his feet and a long stretch of white gossamer fabric floating out behind him. Haneul supposed he wore it because he was their leader and he called the shots; it was just the symbol of his leadership. Still, she found the gentleness of the cape to be very similar to the ease in his personality. 

"Haneul, I have told you that you cannot go beyond the walls because it is dangerous. You would hardly last a day out there. I'm doing you a favor." 

The girl sighed, "You say the same thing every time, but I want to know. What's so dangerous out there?"

"Everything is dangerous." 

"Then, one of you can come with me if you're so worried, can't you?"

"I'm afraid what's happening beyond the walls is dangerous to even us."

"Really? That seems a bit extreme. Are you just trying to keep me holed up here?"

Suho turned to her, his gaze stern, "I'm thinking about your safety, Haneul. You are only safe here, in these walls." 

"And, the others? The people beyond the wall? We're not going to protect them?"

"Haneul," he sighed. 

"So, there are people beyond the wall. Others. Others suffering?"

"I never confirmed that."

"But, there is." 

"Haneul, why don't you go bother one of the others? I'm sure Kyungsoo would be more than thrilled to answer your questions." There was an air of dismissal in his voice, but Haneul was too furious to take heed of its warning. 

She latched onto his arm, turning him to face her rigid glare, "You have powers, Suho. Y-You can wield water, Chanyeol fire, and so on. If there was something so dangerous beyond the walls that not even you could take care of, wouldn't it have broken down those very walls by now?  Why can't you go out there and save the poeple suffering?"

"Because," Suho ripped his arm away, the soft, white fabric of his tunic slipping from her fingers, "they are the danger."

An air of silence wrapped around them, and Haneul fisted her hands in her gossamer gown, staring at the older, more powerful non-human with such terrified horror that he could not bare more than stare for only a few second and turn away. He stalked down the marble corridor once more, his thin, shimmery cape jerking along as he went. 

Haneul stood there for a good time, wondering and thinking. Humans were the danger? Poor, defenseless people, no one more different than her own father? It didn't make any sense; there was no logic. Suho's words, yet, had been unusually cross and hard, and hardly ever did he speak not of the truth. Sometimes he avoided it, but he had never told her a lie. Until now, it seemed. Humans were far from dangerous. She could hardly swing a sword, yet they all had such finesse in their fighting skills that they'd take her down in a mere second. Shaking her head, she headed the opposite way Suho hd gone, and from then on, she avoided the men so they did not have to endure her so terribly dangerous prescence. 

†​

"You are... upset."

Even if he could invoke the wind, such a silent and stealthy force, Haneul had heard him coming long before he arrived. She had heard him following her, and maybe, he had meant for her to hear him. Sehun hardly showed his face, seeming aloof and cold, but Haneul knew he was simply shy. 

"Is there something you need, Sehun?" She heavily sighed, the blossoming multi-colored flower in front of her. If Kyungsoo had been around, he would have severely scolded her and swatted her hand away. He was always so bitter. In fact, they all seemed so. So terribly brusque and mundane. 

"Yes. I need to know why you are upset. You have been upset for an entire moon; that is a very long time to feel such a way."

Haneul rolled her eyes, "You guys just have this special... thing about you that makes it very, very easy. You push me away for years, you will not tell me a thing, whether it be about my father or the world outside of here, and finally, you tell me humans are dangerous. Tell me, does this really hurt?"

Sehun didn't move a muscle as her tight fist slammed into his shoulder, but a breeze ruffled her hair and she could tell she had agitated Sehun. 

"I don't understand, Haneul. Which is it that upsets you?"

"All of it, you idiot!"

Another breeze zipped by, and Sehun furrowed his eyebrows, "Please, calm down. What do I do that will stop you from being upset?"

"There's not a thing you can do, Sehun."

"There must be something. A hug? A kiss?"

Haneul scoffed, "You'd love that, wouldn't you? Are you sure you want to hug and kiss such a dangerous human?"

"In truth," Sehun monotonously answered, "you are quite dangerous with your tongue. I wouldn't say these things to the likes of Chanyeol, or maybe Kyungsoo. They have little, if any, patience. You could get yourself hurt."

Haneul was furious at first, but as he went on, she furrowed her eyebrows in shocked fear, "They wouldn't hurt me... would they?"

"I do not know. I am not them. But, I can make an educated guess."

"You wouldn't hurt me, would you?"

"No," Sehun blinked, "I have much patience, and no hostility."

Haneul dryly laughed, stepping away, "Good. Great. That's... wonderful. I'm... just going to go now."

As she bolted away, she felt the wind follow her. 

†​

A cloak? Check. Rations saved up over many days? Bread was drying quickly, but she'd manage, so check. A sword? She'd lift one from the weapns rack by the main door. There was an unused blade they often just left there, and they'd have no suspicions about its disappearance until she was long gone. Right? Right. Check. A horse? There were a few, yet all were unsaddled as any of the men hardly, hardly ever ventured out of the walls and she hadn't a clue about how to do up a saddle. She'd just ride , then. 

The doors. She stared at them, in wonder of just how she'd get them open. They looked far to heavy for anything, any man, any non-human, anyone to lift. But, they were the only thing stopping her and she'd be damned if she let them get in her way. 

With practiced footsteps of silence, she fled down to the pavilion in whic the horses were tied, her cloak heavy on her shoulders but suitable for if it rained. Cursing, she realized she had walked right past the sword she needed, and she quickly fled back, wincing at the unexpected heaviness of the blade. She slid it through her belt, feeling as if it was the weight of a small child pulling at her side. And, when she walked, it irritably smacked against her leg. However, it was somewhat of a dull, quiet sound, and she needed all the quietness she could get. She was never quite sure whether or not the four men actually slept as the moon rose or simply retired inside. Nonetheless, she was too be quiet either way if she was going to succeed.

With the extra weight of the cloak, the sword, and the bag of rations hanging from her otherside, Haneul barely managed to sloppily hoist herself onto one of the horses, feeling it dance beneath her. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay," she whispered. Her words hardly had much effect, so she guided the horse forward, her attention shifting to the omnious arched doors of such a great height she could not see their edge. 

"Now, how do you suppose we get through here?" Begrudgingly, she slipped off the horse, approaching the door. She sighed, her breath cool, staring up yet again. "Do you think I can push it open? Suho claimed humans are dangerous, and if I'm a dangerous human, that means I'm terrifyingly strong, right? Yeah, yeah, that's it."

To her utter astonishment, as soon as she lifted her fingers and pressed them againt the door, it creaked and groaned and very, very gradually slipped open. 

"How—"

"Haneul! What are you doing?"

She didn't even look back, the voices striking such fear that she shouldered open the door and clambered onto the horse once more, kicking into its sides viciously. It set off at an alarming pace, and Haneul knew she was free. They may have been extraordinary, with their powers and whatnot, but they did not have super running speed. She was a goner, and she was about to find out for herself what lied beyond the great arched doors.

"You foolish girl!"

A/N: Hey guys. I'm super sorry about this nearly a month late update, but I had to finish my first main story and after that, I got sick.  Author is really sick and not feeling great at all and won't be better for a while. So, updates will be slow, pretty rare, if at all. I'm really sorry. I want to write so bad. But, I hoped you enjoyed the beginning and are excited for more!