Those who go to war know that there are the soldiers and there are the fighters.
Because everyone thought Lay was a gentle healer, they didn't know that he held a secret.
♢
Lay ~ Zhang Yixing
"The touch." I heard my grandfather's soft voice. "It seems as if my grandson has a new side." I felt a familiar force running through my body; I felt much better than before.
It was dark. My head was pounding. Did I faint again?
"Elder Zi Xing, what does this mean? What other side?" I heard Suho hyung ask before I completely gained consciousness.
"It means that I have the touch. It does the opposite of my powers." I murmured as I heard gasps arise all around me.
I sat up, groaning and blocking my eyes with a hand. I open them, and everyone was here.
"Yeye, you came?" I asked my grandfather, who put on a grave face.
"Everyone was panicking. I heard a call and came right over. Are you alright?"
I nodded.
"When?" Yeye asked as everyone looked with worry or confusion. "When did your gift develop?"
"About two months ago. It was almost just after I had become a wolf."
flashback—
Yixing, the light brown pup was wandering around the Cursian king's laboratory. He was chasing a little butterfly and became distracted as his wolf pup brothers played with each other.
Interested in the fluttering creature, Lay's primative instincts led him to jump and swing for the insect— although he failed it capture it.
The butterfly flew in between two large shelves that contained Exopian medicine and potions. Lay had followed, and sat on the ground as he saw that the little butterfly was perched high above him on the shelf's open ledge.
Suddenly, his snout points towards the winged creature as it sailed down and landed right in front of him.
Slowly, not to scare the butterfly away, Lay's paw outstretched to touch it. However, the butterfly suddenly turned gray and fell over, frozen in position.
The pup whined, and looked around quickly, confused as to why this had happened. His snout sniffs at the frozen creature, as he asks himself, 'Is it dead?'
The wolf began to panic some more before he tried to touch it again, knowing that his power of healing could revive the dead butterfly.
One touch. Yixing waited. Nothing.
Maybe I have to wait longer. Nothing.
Until... a sudden jerk alerted the pup as he raised his head up and waved his tail back and forth. It was alive.
The butterfly jolted up onto its feet, looked at Lay, and continued to fly off as if nothing had ever happened.
He suddenly hears Sarang's voice calling to him...
flashback end—
"It was that long ago?" Yeye asked me as I nodded.
"I didn't understand why that had happened. My power is to heal people and others. Not to destroy and kill them."
"Perhaps something in the wolf serum changed you." Suho hyung suggested.
"No. This isn't the work of some mere chemicals." Yeye had said before a large noise echoed through the shield. Wait, there was a water shield? The two soldiers who stood guard began to panic.
"Suho! There's nothing out there, but what is doing this?!" One of the soldiers asked as Suho hyung began to yell out orders.
"Ok, everyone, in your tents now! Kai, go back to the palace and find some teleporters! We need as many as we can! We need to leave this place as soon as possible!" Suho hyung barked out orders as the people surrounding us scurried into the tents, and Kai gave a nod before disappearing.
"Everyone in the tents! Pack everything that's important and get ready to leave. Stay strong water benders! We need to keep these monsters out."
"Do you know what it is?" A woman asked in fear as she hid behind the tent's flaps.
"I have a vague idea, but... Lay seems to know what they are."
Heads turn towards me, and I began to explain, "It's an invisible monster. It can easily kill us if we're not alert. Only certain people can see them, and these monsters can only die if you split their bodies in half or.... have the 'touch,' like I do."
"How come we've never heard of it before?" Someone asked.
"There's a history of these monsters... but it's hidden by many people. These monsters can only live when they are summoned and created." I explained as the crowd began to stir.
"So that bastard summoned them!"
"Yes, possibly, but only someone with immense power is able to call upon a monster such as this." Yeye spoke as many heads nodded.
"Then how will we protect ourselves if we can't see them?" A woman carrying a small child asked.
"I can." I said as heads turned to me. "I can see the monsters. There's other ways to get the monsters to reveal their whereabouts too. You just need to cover their entire body with anything— paint, feathers, grass, anything."
The vibrating bangs continued once again, and the crowd of people cowered in panic. My friends and I looked at each other as we were afraid that there wasn't much time left.
Exopians can perform their abilities for some time until they grow exhausted...
"The water shield will work for some time, but it won't work for long." Suho spoke quietly as we nodded.
"I hope Kai's found enough people to help us..." Chanyeol added before more echoing 'bangs' rumbled the shield.
The angry pounding of the monsters continued to ring, and Suho hyung and Chanyeol began to yell orders for everyone to hold hands, for we had to be prepared when Kai and the other teleporters came.
I winced as I tried to sit up, and the people were already making a large circle, each person holding each other's hands tightly as if the can't let go.
Yeye helped me move towards the empty end of a circle, and we left gaps in the circle to make sure that we can all teleport. Yeye then goes around, giving the exhausted water benders with enough energy to keep their powers flowing.
The banging suddenly stops, and the air is filled with a thick, tense silence. No one spoke. No one breathed so loudly, as if a sigh or an exhale could trigger the monsters into hurting us.
I saw Suho hyung move towards the water benders, and he himself held his hands out to help make the shield stronger, for we didn't know what could possibly happened right now, in this instant.
We all breathed slowly and silently, our hearts were beating so fast as we all waited for something to happen. A noise, a voice, a roar, something.
We needed to know if we were safe.
I saw some people praying with their eyes closed, head down, and lips silently moving as they said prayers for the safety of their children, their family, themselves.
The silence still hung in the air. Some people began to relax, but my friends and I all know that with Minhyuk, you can never relax until it was over. Completely over.
The sudden loudness of the banging continued once again, making many many of us cry out in shock.
I could hear Kai's frantic voice in my head, as he yelled that he'd be there in just a few seconds.
Junmyeon hyung began to yell loudly with authority, and we all fell into place. Kai was coming any second now.
A puff of smoke appears, and we're all relieved when we see Kai with a small group of teleporters. Once they heard the immense vibration of the pounding, they since but quickly disperse around the circle.
The waterbenders continue to hold onto the shield, and Junmyeon hyung waits until the time is right.
As suspected, the banging stopped after a few more minutes, and we all look at each other, waiting for the perfect moment to leave. Junmyeon hyung yells, "Now!" and the water benders sprint towards our group as the monsters can be seen rubbing their eyes from the water.
And like the monsters themselves, the shield, the camp, the Exopians— we were all invisible, leaving the land barren.
—
I realized that my eyes were shut during the quick journey across to our final destination. I opened them slowly as I smelled the smoke lingering around us.
The marble floors. The large white columns. The buzzing energy of the air. We were back in the palace.
I see some of the Elders rush out to help us, and Suho hyung quickly explains what happened.
"We cannot send any more troops anywhere." Elder Jun Moon suddenly told us. "We physically have no more soldiers to send out."
"Many are injured, and many are occupied at their posts to even help during... certain circumstances." Yeye said, but added, "Our numbers... they're dwindling. I can feel it..."
"Which is why you twelve need to fight where troops cannot." Elder Min Sook says with a dark tone but with a hint of... guilt. We all nodded, knowing our responsibilities as the grandsons of the Twelve. But... right now, we're not... all here.
"But what about Baekhyun?" Chanyeol asked as Xiumin hyung added, "And Chen? They're missing right now. And it's my fault. Luhan hyung is injured too..."
"I'm doing much better Xiu, thanks." Luhan ge said as he walked into the room. His wounds didn't seem that bad, for many of the bandages that I put on for him had been taken off.
"I agree with Chanyeol and Xiumin hyung." Suho hyung says as we look at him. "We need to find Baekhyun and Chen first. We can't do this without them. Even if... that horrible accident happened, it's not Xiumin hyung's fault. I believe that they're still alive. They could be hiding or trapped somewhere, but their bond with us... it's not gone. Elders, I know that our missing members are here somewhere on Exopia, and... if you don't mind, we're going to find them."
As leader, Suho hyung had times where he just seems really cool and manly, but mostly, encouraging. He really is a protector, isn't he? His name really suits him.
"Alright, but we don't have much time." Elder Wu spoke. "It would be wise to find Baekhyun and Chen as soon as possible, before that Minhyuk kid pulls more tricks up his sleeves."
"And in the meantime, some of us will stay here to protect the wounded. Others will be fighting where help will be needed." Elder Dae Hun said. Sehun protested, "Hanapuji, but won't this be... difficult?"
"Child, I'm not that old! Your old grandpa still has some energy in him. After all, I am the maknae." This statement seemed to calm our own maknae very much, and we nodded.
We all say our goodbyes and be safes, and we all headed out in our own directions. After all the Elders have dispersed, Xiumin hyung suggested that we began our search party in the town, where Baekhyun and Xiumin disappeared in the first place.
But with so much snow and broken parts of the weather tower, it wasn't hard to find out that the two weren't there. Kai kept on teleporting to places where he thinks the two might be, such as the Tree or the youngling's den, but there was no such luck.
"I feel so bad for not fighting and helping others." Tao says to me in Chinese as I nodded.
"But the other members are important too Tao." I told him.
He nods and says, "I know. It's just weird not having Chen or Baekhyun hyung playing around in such serious times. I miss that, even if they're the annoying Beagles."
"I know what you mean."
Suho hyung and Kai call us again, and we teleport off to some other place in Exopia, hoping to find our two beloved Beagles.
After fighting a lot of annoying Satan Squirrels, running from a flock of random pigeons (in which I screamed as I saw one, but then I killed one by swatting at one by accidentally hitting it as we were running away), Kai teleported us to a barren place in the forest, near a cave.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Kai asked, taking a deep breath.
"I feel like this is deja vu..." I muttered under my breath as some members who heard me nodded.
"Where are these pigeons coming from? Unless it was 'him,'" Kris ge emphasized and pointed at me, "Poor Lay wouldn't be so shaken up."
"Lay hyung, why are you so afraid of pigeons?" Kyungsoo asked as we panted from all the running and fighting.
"Oh, uhh well... When I was younger, I was at the park with my Yeye. And then I was eating an ice cream cone, and one just swooped up at me and then—"
"Hey, I think they're outside! I can sense them!" A voice echoed from the cave. We all paused and glanced at each other in the eye, and then together, back at the cave.
"Wait... isn't that..." Chanyeol said, recognizing the voice of his favorite hyung as he softly pointed to the dark cave entrance.
"Isn't that Baekhyun?" Suho hyung said as another familiar voice was heard right after.
"Me too! Ya, there's a light!" Chen says, his voice also echoing from the cave.
We then hear the sound of pounding feet, but something seemed off. The footsteps... it sounded like there were a lot of people running. And the sounds of their breathing didn't sound human either... it was like they were...
"Hey guys!" Baekhyun's voice said as his figure emerged from the darkness of the cave. The members and I all looked at each other in shock, our eyes wide and our mouths open in disbelief. What... happened to them?
"We're alive!" Chen says, but then looks at us in confusion with a head tilt. "Why are you guys looking at us like we sprouted two heads? It's us, Baek and Chen!"
"What?" Baekhyun asked us. "No 'Welcome?', no 'You're alive, I missed you guys?'"
Chen turns to Baekhyun, and blinks. "Umm hyung... I think we have a problem here..."
"What?" Baekhyun says as he turns his face towards Chen. "Oh."
In front of the ten (human) members, stood two large, alpha looking wolves, with their large eyes, furry bodies, and wagging tails. Their pink tongues were stuck out, and they actually didn't speak at all. In fact, I think they were using our group telepathy...
"What happened?" Sehun said as the two wolves sat down and looked at each other, as if each one was guilty of doing something that they shouldn't have.
"Well..." Baekhyun started.
"You see..." Chen said right after.
"We don't know either." They said at the same time.
Me neither.
—
hullo readers! i have finally been blessed with summer vacation, and i'm trying to get back into writing after such a long hiatus. oh god i don't even think that i can write anymore... i forgot many things that happened but i'll catch up (i hope).
one of my goals is to really try to finish this fanfict before senior year starts because i just have too many things on my plate.
i'm still looking for some authors that can take over 'Enemies in Love' because I don't think I can manage so much, but I might just delete it or i don't know.
Oh and i'm secretly writing two new ffs, and there's also the seven oneshots of bts that I should finish too. and there's 'Two Romeos, One Juliet' that I still have to continue *cries
AND THER'S THE EXO IMAGINES AH NOOOOOOOOOOOO
well, anyways, hopefully i'll finish this ff in no time and satisfy your needs and finish all the other ffs i haven't written for so long...
also, please tell me which ffs to update first, so that it's easier for me to see which ones you guise want to read really badly, etc. WHICH IS WHY I MADE RANK UR FAV
anyways, have a fantabulous, daebak day guise! PLZ VOTE tyty <3
and it feels great and weird to be back :)
oh and ps. please bug me a lot to update because hopefully that'll get me to write and finish books.
alright, annyeong~ :D