Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sun set; the last rays of sunlight illuminated Chan’s arms as he opened the door to their home. There was already movement before he could call out a greeting, the rest of his pack had already expected him.

Chan unclenched his jaw; it was a tense and unsure time for them. The hunters were active as ever and one misstep could have fatal consequences. Just in the last week multiple supernaturals had gone “missing”.

“You’re back”, Felix had appeared on the doorstep, his brown eyes sparkling with relief. Chan was usually the last of them to return after a day full of work.  The blonde closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around him, both of them basking in the other’s warmth. All of them were struggling with the ever-present threat.

Minho appeared in the doorstep, looking tense and Chan frowned at him as if asking what was wrong. Instead of answering, Minho cocked his head in the direction of the bedroom door and disappeared. Huh, gently Chan untangled from Felix and sent him back to the others in the kitchen. Hopefully, their dinner wouldn’t be ruined by the time Minho and Chan would join them.

When Chan closed the bedroom door behind him, the first thing he noticed was Minho pacing restlessly. His distress was obvious, even if Chan wouldn’t be able to scent it in the air or feel the light drum of wrongness and distress under his skin, alerting him to the feelings of his pack mate.

“What’s wrong, Minho?” Chan tried to appear calm but really, these days it was more a fake it till you make it-mentality.

“I- Jeongin told me that they were planning another raid today”, Minho’s eyes flashed. “I’ve got a bad feeling.” An unpleasant feeling rushed through Chan, momentarily stunning him before he shook his head.

“Okay.” He paused, not really sure how to continue but Minho looked at him as if hoping that Chan would have the answer to everything as pack leader. He hadn’t but for his boys he’d do anything.

“It’s good that we know about it at least. We’ll take night shifts tonight. And if anything happens, we’ll get through it. We have a plan.” Well, sort of. The plan mostly consisted of running and hoping for the best. But really, what else could you hope for when the most competent warriors of the kingdom were out to get you?

At least werewolves were slightly faster and stronger than an average human being and their instincts would better their chances immensely.

Minho nodded, not looking exactly reassured but at least his frantic pacing had stopped. “You’re right. Besides, I’m sure it doesn’t really have to do with us.”

“Right.” They looked at each other for a second, the uncertainty still written on their faces. Then a shout from outside got their attention and Minho rolled his eyes.

“Really, it’s way more realistic for them to burn our kitchen down first.” Chan chuckled at Minho’s deadpanned comment, even though his heart fluttered because he knew how true that statement was.

“Yeah, we should probably go check on them.”

It was the dead of the night and suddenly Jisung was wide awake. His heart hammered into his chest and when he opened his eyes, he saw Hyunjin frantically shaking Seungmin awake next to him.

The rest of them were in varying degrees of alertness.

“C’mon. We’ve gotta go.” Hyunjin’s panicked voice drove away the rest of his fatigue and Jisung jumped to his feet in record time. Fear made his throat close up and he didn’t even have the mental capacity to be embarrassed about the whimper he let out.

Seungmin and Jeongin (the only other two that had fallen asleep in this bedroom tonight) were right behind him in an instant. Seungmin laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder, possibly not only to calm Jisung down.

“They’ve started raiding the building, we gotta leave over the rooftops. Probably. At least that’s what Minho-hyung said before he had gone to wake the others.” Hyunjin was rambling, also really shaken up.

Seungmin gently started pushing him forward, jolting everyone out of their state of shock. In a matter of seconds, the eight of them were huddled together in front of their window that led to the neighboring roof top.

In the meantime, Jisung had clutched onto Minho, drawing comfort from his boyfriend who still tried to project a calm demeanor even though he was about to jump over a ten-meter-deep abyss. But really, if battling his fear of heights meant not letting them fall into the hands of the hunter, Jisung knew without a doubt what Minho would do.

The both of them jumped first, Jisung only just managed to make the leap, the adrenaline coursing through his body apparently hadn't made it to his legs yet. But Minho’s hand on his arm kept him from falling down.

“Don’t you dare fall,” Minho narrowed his eyes on him and at once began backing him away from the edge.

“Yeah, that’d be pretty embarrassing.” Even to himself, his voice was shaky. Minho’s glare intensified before softening again. Before turning around to help the rest of the pack, he gently squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“Hey Changbin, make sure you jump far enough with your- “Before Seungmin could finish his quip about Changbin’s height, there was a thud and Jisung was sure that Changbin had just shoved the younger playfully to shut him up. Chan let out a warning growl.

In the meantime, I.N. had stumbled up next to Jisung, both of them anxiously waiting for the rest of them because the voices got nearer and nearer. Hyunjin landed gracefully on the roof, closely followed by Felix whose blonde hair was a strong contrast in the night, the moon barely illuminating the city since new moon was just around the corner.

The voices now rang right in front of their apartment. If Jisung focused on his senses enough, he could hear their contemplations about the rumors about them. His expression darkened. They only had a few seconds left before all hell would break loose.

Finally, Changbin indeed jumped far enough and in turn barely catching Seungmin who fumbled a bit on the roof’s edge. Jisung chuckled despite the tense situation, immediately feeling guilty afterwards but as he glanced around, he could see some smiles at Seungmin’s bashful reaction. The banging against their door redirected his attention immediately, fear squeezing his heart and shortening his breath.

Just as Chan jumped, he could hear the door give way, making him flinch. Minho just waited long enough for Chan to land before turning around and leading them away.

Not a second too early, since the hunters now stood at their window, their weapons already drawn. An arrow burrowed itself just where Jisung had been standing. He squeaked and ran a bit faster. His brain cataloged each unevenness and his body purely moving on instincts.

“They’re on the roofs!” Exited shouting started behind them, making everyone’s scent spike immediately. The real threat slowly started to sink in. Where were they even going?

“We need to get on the ground”, Minho muttered darkly, his eyes scanning their surroundings frantically as he searched for an easy way down that wouldn’t lead them right into the hunter’s arms. The streets were bustling with them tonight.

Jisung lost track of time, their footsteps echoing way too loud on the roofs, occasionally interrupted by one of them dodging arrows or stones thrown their way.

Finally, Minho guided them down a rooftop that wasn’t that high up and grabbed Jisung’s hand to pull him off of it, only hesitating for a second to exchange a glance with Chan.

Their landing was suprisingly soft and stealthy, quickly followed by six more muffled thuds. They waited for a second, listening. Then Minho guided them in the other direction of the voices. Chan kept in the back, ensuring everyone was accounted for.

For a few minutes they kept walking, the fear radiating off of every one of them, leaving a sour scent in the air, making Jisung unbelievably glad that the humans weren’t able to use their noses like them.

Every time they circled closer to the center of the city again, to maybe search refuge with one of their allys , the smoke of the villagers’ torches got unbearably thick and the voices too close to comfort.

Jisung could feel his heartbeat in his ears, making him even more anxious about being too loud even though they moved too quietly for any human ear to pick it up.

“Shit”, Hyunjin tensed and moved back, all of them falling in step with him immediately. Jisung pressed against the rough stone wall behind him, making himself smaller and holding his breath. But the voices grew unbearably loud again. “They found us again”, Hyunjin whispered frantically.

Chan’s amber eyes scanned the darkness around them, Jisung could practically see his mind racing. “We might need to split up.” Their leader seemed displeased with his own suggestion but oddly resigned. “The docks- maybe if we can get to the water, we’ll have a chance.”

“No”, Minho voice cut sharply through the night, Chan had barely finished his sentence. His fingers tightened around Jisung’s wrist protectively. Surely that would leave marks, Jisung thought absentmindedly, also distracted by the unpleasant feeling that consumed him when he even thought about separating from the others.

Werewolves, packs weren’t meant to be separated. Especially not in need. Even though his rational mind could understand the reason behind it, his instinct screamed at him to not leave the safety of his pack.

The footsteps on the cobblestone echoed eerily through the alleys, getting louder and louder.

Jisung panicked further, shoving at the person in front of him, making Changbin stumble a bit in return. “C’mon move. We can’t just stand here.” His pleading seemed to take everyone out of their stupor.

“There! I saw something move!” The voices were bloodthirsty and getting closer with every second. Jisung could practically taste their delight and excitement about nearly catching them on his tongue. He shuddered.

A howl pierced through the night- leaving Jisung momentarily stunned but Minho tugged him along. “Shit, they released their hounds. We have to hurry if we want to get out of this alive”, Changbin muttered darkly, pulling both Jeongin and Seungmin with him. Hyunjin and Felix only a few steps behind them.

Another howl joined the first one, sounding impossible close to them. Suddenly Seungmin halted, eyeing the buildings around them. “Sh- We’re cornered”, he murmured.

Jisung realized anxiously that he was right. Chan growled low in his behind him, the alpha’s instincts running high, trying everything to keep his pack safe. “Not yet”, he turned his gaze to Seungmin, Jeongin and Changbin. “You three, get on the roofs again and take the high route. We’ll meet you there again.”

“For fuck’s sake, we won’t split up Chan- “Minho started angrily causing Chan to send him a sharp glance and growl in return. “Listen- “Both of them got interrupted by Changbin’s frustrated growl. “Stop arguing, we’ll take the high route. Watch your backs.”

Both of their oldest blinked, a bit stunned for a second and Jisung released a breath that he wasn’t even aware that he had been holding. Arguing really was the last thing they needed right now.

Their youngest and Changbin quickly climbed the ladder leading up to the roof tops, sending them a cheeky salute before disappearing on the roof for a second time in this night. Chan’s shoulders tensed as he watched them disappear, Jisung guessed his instincts were running haywire exactly like his own.

“Okay, let’s move”, Felix darted to the next street, them quickly following him and being promptly caught by the flickering lights of the torch lights. Fuck was Jisung’s only thought as the groups stared at each other for a few milliseconds, everyone too stunned to react before a piercing scream rang out.

“WEREWOLVES!”

Panic exploded on both sides. The mob was quickly closing on the wolves as they started running in the direction of the harbor. An arrow whizzed past Jisung’s ear, barely missing Felix as Chan shoved him out of the way in the last moment. Jisung’s breath got caught in his throat, he glanced at Minho beside him, his devastation probably written all over his face. How were they meant to get out of this living hell?

A spear flew in his direction, aiming right at his side and he stumbled while dodging it, but Minho pulled him further along, not having let go of his hand since they had left their building. Thankfully, Jisung quickly regained his footing.

“Where to now?” Hyunjin shouted at the front of the group, narrowly dodging an open door gate as he turned his head slightly into Chan’s direction.

“The water.” Chan bit out while hovering worryingly around Felix whose face had twisted into a grimace of pain. Jisung felt a cold shiver running down his back and he swore his heart stopped for a second. But Felix pushed through, eyes glistening determinately. “Move!” Chan insisted when Hyunjin slowed a bit, probably trying to check on Felix as well.

Jisung’s legs burned; his lungs started to ache from all the non-stop running. They were at it for hours now. The air smelled of salt, Jisung could almost hear the waves beating against the quay walls.

Suddenly there were three thuds next to them and Jisung’s instincts immediately calmed down. Without having to look at them, he knew Changbin, Seungmin and Jeongin had rejoined them.

“Looks like you had fun without us”, I.N. deadpanned. “Now’s not the time, Innie”, Jisung bit out, secretly glad to have something else to focus on than their impending doom if their plan failed.

The ships were in sight now, Jisung risked a glance over his shoulder and breathed out a sigh of relief. They had outrun the villagers so far that they probably wouldn’t see them getting on a ship if that really was their next course of action.

Climbing the nearest ship nearly took out all of Jisung’s remaining strength. Hyunjin apparently felt the same way because he almost lost his balance and crashed when Minho snarled and pulled him back up right next to Jisung. One after one they climbed up, Chan helping Felix and them being the last.

They lay low on the deck, anxiously listening to the villagers filling into the haven.

“We lost them, where did they go?” “Presumably they crawled back into their burrows where they came out.” Jisung almost whimpered while listening to the harsh words but he didn’t dare make a sound in case they would find them against all odds.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the voices got quieter and quieter as the humans left to search elsewhere or let it be for the night. Still, they waited a few more minutes, cuddeling up to each other for comfort and reassuring each other that yes, they had in fact got through that whole ordeal and were still together and alive.

“Okay, then let’s find a quiet place on this ship to hide. Tomorrow we’ll figure out a new game plan.” Chan sounded utterly exhausted, portraying exactly how Jisung felt, and he more or less saw everyone nodding in agreement.

Jisung looked back at the city for a last time as they ventured deeper onto the ship.

They were safe.

For now.

Chapter Text

The cries of the seagulls filled the deck of the ship, the morning sun throwing long shadows and the waves gently rocking The Outlaw. Hongjoong stood on the bow of the ship, gazing at the sunrise stretching over the horizon. His right hand clasped an old bronze compass, the dial written in an old font and the needle spun tirelessly.

A warm presence near his back caught his attention and only a second later a shoulder pressed against the captain’s.

“Are we ready to take off? I’d rather we’d be out of here as soon as possible after last night.” Hongjoong grimaced thinking about last night. The crew had seen fit to stay in their cabins to avoid any close calls.

“Just about, Jongho is stowing the boxes away and Mingi’s getting the sails ready.” Seonghwa’s voice was as smooth as always, making his heart flutter even though Seongwha had been at his side for years.

“Have Wooyoung and San returned from the market?” Seonghwa hummed while brushing a strand of his black long hair behind his ear. Hongjoong’s gaze locked on the pointed end of his ear, making him smile almost as if it was a conditioned response.

“That’s why Jongho’s stowing the boxes away”, Seonghwa frowned at him before his eyes glistened happily and he gently flicked Hongjoong’s forehead. “Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping track of them so you could brood up here.”

“I’m not brooding”, Hongjoong pouted at his husband who just rolled his eyes at his antics.

“Yah”, Wooyoung’s voice got carried over to them by the wind. “Stop flirting over there, love birds. The ship’s ready.”

Hongjoong at once snapped around, his ears turning red and his eyes narrowing. “Don’t think I won’t throw you overboard.”

All he got back as a reply was happy laughter from his crew, Seonghwa behind him chuckling as well, bringing a light smile on his face as well.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Hoist the anchors”, Hongjoong yelled again.

“Aye captain.” Six voices echoed in unison, resulting in another fit of laughter and Hongjoong just knew that it’d be at least another five minutes until they’d set sail.

Minutes later, Hongjoong found himself standing at the bow of the ship again, watching the waves breaking and building in front of him. The sea stretching endlessly in front of him and the breeze rustled his split black and blond hair.

Everything was as it should be. He had double and triple checked everything the other boys had prepared, earning himself a few furious looks for questioning their competence after all the years.

But he couldn’t help himself, something in the back of his head was nagging him. Leaving him restless and jittery, almost as if there was something on the ship that wouldn’t let him calm down.

Hongjoong leaned against the railing, eyes narrowing as he gazed at the horizon. The ship kept rocking gently beneath him, but the the unease wouldn't let up. Something was wrong.

“You’re brooding again.” Seonghwa’s teasing voice almost made him jump, successfully bringing his thoughts to a stop. He glanced sideways to find his husbands with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.

“I’m not brooding, I’m thinking”, Hongjoong parroted absently. Seonghwa’s mere presence eased the tension in his shoulder. “It’s just- “

Seonghwa hummed encouragingly for him to continue but Hongjoong felt a bit stupid, after all his uneasiness probably wasn’t more than a figment of his imagination. After a few seconds of silence, Seonghwa stepped a bit closer to him, laying a hand on his arm.

“You’ve felt it too, haven’t you?” Hongjoong breath hitched, a bit surprised at Seonghwa’s admission. Normally, the elf talked him down from his overprotective and anxious mindset. Maybe this time there was something to it then.

“Something’s off. I don’t know what, but I don’t like it at all.” Hongjoong shrugged helplessly with his shoulders and Seonghwa smiled tightly.

“It’s fine. We’ll figure it out together.” Hongjoong hummed in agreement and gently took Seonghwa’s hand on his arm in his own hand, letting his finger run over his back of the hand, ending by the many rings gracing Seonghwa’s fingers.

The bustling of the rest of the crew and the sounds of the ocean were the only noises for a few seconds. Then Seonghwa stepped a bit back and cocked his head a bit to the side.

“Have you checked your compass again? Yunho’s been asking about our new route.”

Hongjoong pulled out the old compass again, “I mean I can check again but earlier the needle was still spinning- “As he opened the cover, he could indeed see that the needle had stopped spinning and was now pointing south-west. “I guess Yunho and me can plan the new route now.”

Usually, Wooyoung had no troubles sleeping, most of the time he was sleeping like a rock and San or Yeosang had to nudge him multiple times so that he’d wake. Still, this particular night, he slowly gained consciousness for no apparent reason except a tense feeling in his chest. He blinked, his brain still a bit slow and then he heard it. Soft creaks resonated through The Outlaw, soon joined by a few soft thumbs, almost as if something was moving on deck.

Wooyoung jolted up, rustling San and Yeosang by accident and hold his breath for a few seconds to get a better listen. But even after waiting for a few seconds, no sound followed the previous ones. As if whatever the cause was had noticed him waking up and paying attention.

“What’s wrong, Woo?”, San’s voice was rough, still riddled with sleep. Yeosang sat up a bit, shaking his head a bit to get rid of the sleepiness and looked at Wooyoung quizzingly as well.

“I heard something”, Wooyoung still strained his ears, trying to pick something up. “Didn’t you?” Both of them denied, well, San more grunted than actually formed an answer.

“It was probably just the wind”, Yeosang’s reassuring voice soothed the tension inside him a bit.

“I don’t know…” Wooyoung trailed off, already second guessing if he had heard anything at all.

“I can go check if you want”, San murmured also raising himself up a bit. Wooyoung let his gaze sweep over San, taking in his blond, muzzled hair, his usual mullet almost unrecognizable, trailing down his bare chest (Because of course San wouldn't sleep with a shirt- who do you take him for?).

The younger knew that San would go up for him in a heartbeat, but Wooyoung heard the wind whistling outside.

 “It’s okay, I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably.” Wooyoung wasn’t sure if he believed himself but if he’d just reiterated it enough, then maybe. “Let’s just go back to sleep. It’s not like something could get on board. We’re in the middle of the ocean and the sea feels rather calm.”

San hummed, agreeing with Wooyoung’s assessment. Yeosang nodded, trusting both merman, already used to them being weirdly in tune with the water because of their nature.

Wooyoung laid himself back down between his boyfriends, pulling both closer to him to ease the rest of the tension out of his body. Sighing contently, he cuddled into their warmth and let his eyes fall shut again.

His thoughts still ran quickly but with San’s quiet humming next to him and Yeosang occasionally joining in, Wooyoung felt himself drifting slowly back to sleep and his breath evened out again.

The next morning, Wooyoung found himself in the kitchen with Jongho, Mingi and Yunho. San and Yeosang were on deck, probably sparring by now since San had made it his personal mission to ensure Yeosang could defend himself. Well, they have been at it for a while now.

While rumbling through their pantry, Wooyoung frowned. He swore there had been more bread just the day before, it hadn’t been that long since they left the shore. Their other food was also draining quicker than he had been expecting. Had he been really that careless with cooking the last few days?

When Wooyoung was reentering the kitchen and faced the three men loitering at his kitchen table, the frown was still on his face.

“I swear, someone’s stealing our food. Are you two still growing or where is our food going to?” Wooyoung addressed Mingi and Yunho jokingly. Resulting in a fond eye roll from Yunho and a smirk from Mingi before he grimaced.

“You think we have rats?” Mingi’s eyes glinted uneasily and the disgust in his voice was palpable. Wooyoung shrugged. Of course, he already thought of that but there hadn’t been any evidence of that.

Jongho raised his eyebrow at Mingo, ever the sceptic. “If we do, I’d rather they stopped stealing our bread. That’s picky, they should start with your overly sugary try at cookies from last week. But I suppose even for them accidently switching out the flour with sugar is a step to far.” Jongho sighed as if he suffered greatly from the whole ordeal of Wooyoung messing up the recipe.

Wooyoung chuckled fondly at Jongho. Then he turned his attention to Yunho who had a thoughtful expression on his face.

“How long is it until we reach land again? Maybe we have to ration along the way- “Wooyoung sighed, his cortisol levels rising just thinking about having to make the others ration. It was always a battle of sheer will for him and Mingi to enforce it and not cave in the middle.

“Wait, ration? Is it that bad?” Mingi appeared alarmed, making Wooyoung shake his head at him. Well, it really depended on how long they were on the sea for.

Yunho cleared his throat to gather their attention. “Probably two weeks, depends a bit on the wind. The torrents and winds are always a bit tricky in this part. Maximum three weeks.” Wooyoung sighed, a bit more relaxed. “Okay, we can do that easily.”

“Well, if push comes to shove, Mingi has to fish again.” Jongho’s eyes glittered mischievously, his proposal leaving Mingi spluttering in indignation.

No, they wouldn’t want a repeat of last time they sent Mingi fishing, Wooyoung grinned at the memory.

“I only fell into the water because of your voice, you- “ Mingi suddenly stopped his tirade when Jongho tensed as if standing up to come closer to him and pouted instead.

Wooyoung laughed wholeheartedly, shook his head and turned to the stove to start preparing breakfast. After all, eight weren’t fed by doing nothing.

Days went by seamlessly, the crew continued with their everyday tasks, ensuring that The Outlaw ran smoothly. The ship was filled with laughter and happiness even though strange incidents piled up, leaving all of them on edge. From misplaced books and cards, to missing food and non-identifiable noises, Yeosang knew everyone got more and more restless.

It was late at night again, San, Wooyoung and him had just returned to their room after gazing at the stars together and telling stories. There really wasn’t much you could do that would count as a date when stuck on a ship. Maybe he should take them out when they’d arrive at the next city, Yeosang pondered.

It was then that he heard it again. A muffled rustling from the storeroom which was located right next to their cabin. Yeosang frowned, glancing at his boyfriends already sitting on the bed, who also tensed at the noise.

“Let me just quickly check that out”, Yeosang murmured, not even waiting for a response before turning to do just that. Maybe if he hurried, he’d finally figure out what was going on this ship the past few days.

Maybe Yunho was playing tricks on them again as he had been surprisingly quiet on the matter or Mingi couldn’t sleep and had decided to check their inventory again, having become a bit paranoid with the disappearing food and no sign of mice.

He narrowed his eyes at the closed door, pretty sure that it hadn’t been fully closed when they passed by earlier. As quiet as possible he opened it, peaking inside and staring into pitch darkness, leaving him a bit unsettled.

He clenched his jaw and stepped a bit more into the room. It was probably nothing after all. With determination he lit up the torch hanging next to the door frame. The light of the fire flickered slowly, illuminating the room.

Yeosang couldn’t keep the startled yell that escaped his lips to himself when he found himself staring at eight sets of eyes hurdled close together in the furthest corner from the door.

For a millisecond they just stared at each other before Yeosang finally got with the program and flinched backwards, of course hitting the doorframe with a loud thud while trying to back out of the room. Because there was no way that he would win in that particular fight if the men sitting in their storage felt cornered. There were strange men in their storage.

The door to their cabin hit the wall as Wooyoung and San drawn by his yell hurried towards him.

“Yeosang, what’s wrong”, Wooyoung’s voice was frantic, his hands fumbling with his belt to remove his dagger from it. San’s eyes were wide in alarm, clutching a heavy book, probably having grabbed that instead of the sword at their bedside.

Wordlessly, Yeosang gestured into the room, his brain still processing what the fuck was going on. San stormed past him into the room like the reckless fool that he was, pausing when his eyes landed on the intruders who still hadn’t moved.

Heavy footsteps rang along the corridor, announcing the arrival of their remaining crew mates that had heard Yeosang’s yell. Hongjoong and Seonghwa had already drawn their weapons when their frantic eyes landed on the trio, Yunho and Mingi, only a few steps behind them, looking ready for a fight. Jongho joined the tumult last as his cabin was on the other side of the ship.

All of them filled into the room, pressing past Yeosang just to falter in the step when looking at the intruders and San with his heavy book in his hands raised threateningly.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa stepped forward as a unit, swords pointed at the group of people. The rest of them fall into formation behind them, Wooyoung transferring his dagger into San's hand.

For a second, they all gazed at each other before San darted forward, pulling the nearest intruder forward and putting the blade to his throat. “Don’t move”, San hissed, his eyes narrowing at the rest of them.

Hongjoong sighed behind him but didn’t object. The intruder had long brown hair, pulled up in a ponytail and he started moving around almost immediately after San had grabbed him but stilled when a snarl came from his group of people.

Some of the guys stepped forward to shield the others with the bodies with the open threat. Their eyes glistened furiously and Yeosang guessed that if it wouldn’t be for the blade at the tallest guy throat and if they’d be armed, San would already be impaled by a weapon.

Hongjoong stepped forward next to San and his voice was sharp like a blade when he spoke.

“What the hell are you doing on my ship?”

Chapter Text

Chan’s heart hammered loudly in his chest, so loud he was sure the humans in front of him would be able to hear it. His eyes weren’t able to leave Hyunjin’s who was roughly held by the blonde and was trying very hard not to swallow and keep calm as to not draw blood with the knife on his neck.

As the one who appeared to be the leader, the smallest with a split black and blonde hair color, asked them a question, Chan forced himself to shift his attention and look at him.

He quickly glanced at the eight figures, seizing them up, trying to figure out what his next step should be. His boys behind him were tense and eerily quiet, waiting for Chan to indicate their next move.

A fight would be stupid, hopeless. They wouldn’t have a chance, if not for the weapons already drawn then at the very least because Hyunjin was held at knifepoint.  Werewolves were fast, sure, but not fast enough to stop a blade directly hovering over their jugular vein, waiting for the slightest wrong movement.

Chan had taken a second too long to answer, the captain’s brows furrowed, his displeasure wafting through the air. His body locked up even further in response, his pack shuffling restlessly behind him as the tension rose even higher.

“Start talking.” His words were more of a sharp snarl, the man’s fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword, his stance widening as if preparing to be attacked any second. “Who the hell are you?”

Chan stepped forward, slow and holding his hands up in a way that he hoped was non threating while eyeing the man holding Hyunjin dubiously. At least his hand seemed steady enough.

He could feel his pack shifting behind him, restless. They wanted to run, to get out of this situation. Tired of being on the edge constantly and feeling threatened. He sensed it, smelled it even but this time they couldn’t run. There was nowhere to go.

“We’re just travelers”, Chan said carefully, trying to not stumble over his words and giving his nerves away. “We needed a way to get out of the city.” Chan left it at that, aware that he couldn’t give away too much or else he would out them.

The captain looked at him skeptically, raising an eyebrow. “And stowing on my ship seemed like the best way to do that?” He looked back to exchange a look with the one on his side. “Why were you getting out of the city anyway? Are we harboring criminals now?”

The implied will you bring trouble hang heavy in the air.

“That’s our business”, Seungmin’s voice come across as cold and study, not even hinting at his anxiousness that Chan could practically taste on his tongue. Still, Chan would’ve preferred it if he hadn’t brought attention to himself.

The one who had found them narrowed his eyes at that. “Not when you’re on our ship.”

Chan felt the tension almost boiling over now. He had to act soon or the ending wouldn’t be pretty for either of them. His thoughts went into overdrive, finally coming to a decision.

He stepped a bit more forward, slowly sinking to his knees and lowered his head a bit, baring the stranger his neck. His instincts screamed at him and with sheer power of will he bit back a growl. Hopefully the gesture was as big for humans as it was for werewolves and the captain would consider his offering.

He smelt his surprise and felt the palpable shock rippling through his pack mates. Jisung inhaled sharply and Changbin took a step forward, probably to pull him back to his feet and tell him not be that stupid but Chan knew he had to.

Even the unknown people in the room shifted a little bit, unsure what exactly was going on but guessing by the reaction of his friends that it was something big.

“Let my people stay”, Chan more asked than said calmly even though his insides clenched uneasily. “I’ll do whatever you want. If you want payment, I’ll work for you. Whatever you need.”

Chan could feel his pack stiffen behind him as his desperateness could be heard in his voice. The man across from him appeared taking aback, leaving his pack mates the ability to protest.

“No”, Minho said immediately, voice impossibly cold and Chan felt him gathering the strength to lunge at something but barely holding back because Hyunjin and Chan were both still in a vulnerable position.

“Chan, you can’t-“ Speaking of Hyunjin, the man had started but quickly stopped his protest as the hand around his neck instinctively tightened his hold and a faint scent of blood rose in the hair. Chan’s jaw clenched but Hyunjin and the rest kept quiet except for a quiet snarl from Minho, so it probably wasn’t a big cause for concern.

There was a bit of movement behind him. “You’re not doing this.” Felix growled lightly, probably being held back by someone else. He seemed intent on getting him out of there.

But Chan didn’t look back to them, instead he raised his head again slightly to lock eyes with the captain. This was something between them. Alpha to captain. Leader to Leader.

Something flickered across the man’s face. Maybe surprise followed quickly by something else. He glanced back at the man from before, probably his second in command and a silent conversation passed between them.

It ended with a sigh and the black haired man leaning against a nearby crate muttering something along the lines off And there he goes, picking up trouble all by himself. Chan probably wouldn’t have heard it if it wasn’t for his enhanced senses. Still, he didn’t really know what to make of it.

The captain in front of him exhaled, ran his left hand through his hair and sheathed his sword before taking a step back. “Get up.”

Chan hesitated for a second, searching in his face for some kind of catch. There didn’t seem to be one.  He rose to his feet again, awkwardly shuffling on his feet after having his submission plainly disregarded like that.

“I don’t do well with begging”, the other muttered, narrowing his eyes at him as if waiting to be challenged. “And I sure as hell don’t like the idea of making a deal with a desperate man.” He paused for a second. “You’re here because I allow it. You work. You don’t cause trouble. Don’t keep secrets from me and we’re alright.” The captain made sure to make eye contact with every single one of his mates before refocusing on Chan. “Lie and I’ll throw you overboard myself.”

Chan cocked his head to show that he understood. The silence stretched for a few uncomfortable seconds before Jeongin, bless him, blurted:” … Does that mean we get food?”

When he glanced to the side, he could see Seungmin elbowing the maknae in the side.

All the heads turned into Jeongin’s direction, making Jeongin uncomfortable shuffle under the weight of their stares and gazing down at his boots.

There was a muffled chuckle from the other side of the room. At least his pack wasn’t the only one acting inappropriately. Whatever that meant. Chan hadn’t made it a habit to be held at knifepoint.

“Well, if that’s settled, maybe you could let go of me now”, Hyunjin drawled, exuding a confidence that Chan could easily identify as fake but made the blonde let him go as if he had burned himself.

Hyunjin stumbled a bit back, surprised by the sudden change. His hand instantly went to his neck and came back with a bit of blood. Probably only superficial and it should be healed in a few hours.

Still, Chan let out a breath of relief when Minho pulled Hyunjin into their corner to check on him.

Chan locked eyes with the captain a last time. Hopeful that maybe everything will turn out alright.

Mingi was weirded out by the people that had invaded their ship, every time he looked at them his neck prickled uncomfortably. The introduction (very awkward if you asked him) hadn’t really made it better, leaving him to exchange a glance with Jongho, reassured that he wasn’t the only one unsettled about Hongjoong’s decision.

To be fair, Mingi was aware that he wasn’t really the most trusting and outgoing person, especially when it came to their safety and strangers being on the ship. Really, it was only sensible that he kept hovering around them since they had left the storage. The eye rolls that Seonghwa kept throwing at him meant absolutely nothing.

And that the newcomers looked uncomfortable was just a bonus. He just had to watch and wait. He was sure, sometime soon they would overstep a line.

Casually, he leaned against the railing. The list in his hand more of an alibi, the had finished cataloging their resources meticulously hours ago and his eyes trailed behind Chan, the oldest who was listening to Yunho showing him the ropes.

A few minutes later, Yunho came over to him, blocking his line of sight and raised his eyebrows at him.

“You’re staring.” Mingi blinked at him; a bit affronted at being called out like that.

“And?” Mingi prompted him to continue, not really seeing the problem because after all it was their ship. Yunho sighed at him, as if Mingi was behaving impossibly.

“It’s rude, your mother would pull your ears.” Mingi’s eyes narrowed at the unnecessary mention of his mother, Yunho’s face softened in return. “They haven’t done anything. They’re just as lost as we once were.”

Mingi scoffed, folding the map in his hands carefully to avoid answering for a few moments. The uneasy feelings in his chest eased a bit. Yunho stepped a bit closer and Mingi scowled at him as he invaded his space.

“Come on, lighten up. Hongjoong has everything under control. And it’s not like they have anywhere to go now.” Yunho gently nudged his arm and Mingi’s lip twitched a bit against his will. “It’s only for ten days, maximum two weeks. Then they’ll be out of our hair.”

Mingi hummed, his posture relaxing as he realized that Yunho was right. Maximum two weeks.

“And it’s not like Hongjoong can adopt eight of them at once, right?” Yunho’s eyes glistened amusedly and Mingi felt his lips tugging up in response.

“I’d imagine he’d have to fight Chan on that. They seem rather close.” Mingi nudged Yunho, feeling a bit relieved after talking to his childhood friend. He usually had that effect on Mingi. Yunho shoved him back in retaliation.

Mingi stumbled, losing his balance as he had not expected the playful shove. A laughter burst out of Yunho, making Mingi glare at him playfully in return but the big grin on his face betrayed him.

Seungmin couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t anything highly unusual when his emotions were running high as his inner wolf was always restless. And after the last few days they had it shouldn’t have come as a big surprise.

Still, ever the perfectionist, Seungmin felt frustrated at himself for not finding rest even after searching for comfort in the presence of his pack alpha. Chan blinked sleepily at him as Seungmin left again, settling down only after Seungmin waved him off and Felix moved in his sleep, half of his body squishing Chan’s limbs.

Seungmin left them to it, instead making his way on deck, quietly watching the night sky. The boat rocked beneath him; the motion unfamiliar but calming in a way.

Familiar footsteps resounded next to him and a second later their maknae sat beside him, leaning on him to seek shelter from the light breeze.

A few minutes no one said anything, the soft creaking of the mast in the wind the only thing that broke their silence. Then Seungmin cleared his throat.

“Can’t sleep?”

Jeongin grumbled sleepily. “You didn’t come back to bed.”

Seungmin felt guilty at the thought of keeping him up, the younger wolf was probably just as on edge as him. Both of them were still battling against their instincts most of the time. With the unfamiliar surroundings and people, it was hard to relax, Seungmin had found.

Probably one of the reasons it had drawn him here in the middle of the night. Seungmin looked up at the moon, worriedly he observed the fullness of it. It wasn’t long until the full moon. Eight days, maybe ten. They had left their calendar behind when they had run, and the last few days had been a blur.

Soft footsteps and a quiet humming could be heard behind them, the person heading up on deck. It took Seungmin a few seconds to identify the voice and the heartbeat, not as familiar with the pirate crew.

A second later, before Seungmin could make an educated guess, Jongho appeared in his vision. The black haired man immediately stopped humming, freezing right on his track as he saw both of them.

Obviously, he hadn’t expected to stumble across them at the late hour. Seungmin felt inexplicably drawn to him, something in him tugging to stand up and take the last few steps. Jeongin straightened beside him, suddenly way more awake.

Jongho cleared his throat, and the brief moment passed, leaving Seungmin a bit dazed.

“What are you two doing here?” Seungmin couldn’t quite grasp if Jongho was asking if he was genuinely interested or because he was distrustful.

The pirate moved a bit closer to them, Seungmin deliberately released the tension in his body and Jeongin followed suit to not appear as a threat. They were only guests after all.

Then Jeongin shrugged, his black hair with orange highlights was ruffled by the wind. Both of them weren’t inclined to give away their unease and inability to sleep.

Jongho seemed to get it either way, hesitantly sitting a few steps away from him and turning his gaze to the dark sea, the stars mirrored in the reflection.

A few moments no one said anything, the quiet tense but not unbearably so. Still, Seungmin considered leaving as Jongho had probably come up here for some alone time.

Just as he was about to get up, Jongho started quietly singing again, the wind carried away most of his voice but thanks to their enhanced hearing, the boys still picked up most of it. The thought of leaving immediately left Seungmin’s mind, almost desperate to listen to the man’s voice a bit longer.

Seungmin wasn’t sure how much time had passed until Jongho looked back at them, locking their eyes and abruptly stopped singing again. Which left Seungmin oddly disappointed and Jeongin sighed barely audible.

Seungmin blinked a few times before averting his gaze, the uneasiness in his chest had eased up, leaving room for the tiredness to return. Maybe he could sleep now.

Slowly, he started moving a bit so as not to startle Jeongin who had started leaning against his shoulder again. Almost immediately he got his intention and nearly in sync they both stood up, hurrying back under deck. But not before they threw a last quick glance at the black-haired pirate.

Almost as soon as they had got out of sight, the voice started singing again. And Seungmin felt something he hadn’t felt a lot in the last few days. He felt safe.

Sleep came easily after that, huddled back into the pile of bodies in one of the rooms they had gotten, the breaths of his pack mates and a distant voice guiding him into his dreams.

Chapter Text

Yunho sat at the kitchen table, pondering over the map and effectively using up all the space on the table. Wooyoung was tinkering away in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for sixteen people now instead of eight and quietly murmuring to himself.

Right next to him sat Jongho, yawning and looking like he had just fallen out of bed even though he had to have been up for at least an hour by now. Yunho raised his eyebrow at him, shortly looking up from his scribbles on the map.

“And what have you been up to last night?” Wooyoung quieted down at that, redirecting his attention to them. Jongho only glared at him and huffed unhappily.

“This morning, Hongjoong said something about hearing him sing”, Wooyoung’s voice shook with suppressed laughter, obviously enjoying finally having something that he could tease their maknae about. Yunho chuckled quietly, remeasuring the distance between the isles and frowned. Huh, weird.

“Well, easy for you to make fun of me”, Jongho groaned. “You don’t have to worry about making humans jump from the boat when your voice gets scratchy.”

Wooyoung abruptly stopped laughing, turning around to face them, his eyes wide. Yunho looked up from where he had been watching Hongjoong’s compass carefully and sent Jongho a sharp glance.

Right, Jongho somehow had to find an outlet for his powers as to not accidentally project unwanted powers into his voice and causing accidents. With their crew, it wasn’t really a problem anymore, Jongho felt comfortable after the years they had spent together, and his magic was fond of them. Most of the time, the crew loved to gather and listen to the sung melodies wrapping them in a feeling of safety.

With strangers, it was a completely different story. Jongho had once explained to Yunho that it was way harder for him to guide his voice into a positive and gentle influence. Especially if he was wary, then it tended to go off the rails real fast.

“Oh, Jongho, I didn’t think about that.” Wooyoung worried his hands, exchanging a look with Yunho, already asking him to be a part of finding a solution for their youngest.

“Stop worrying about me, rather make sure that your eggs don’t burn”, Jongho sent Wooyoung a deadpan look, gesturing for him to turn around and face the stove again. Wooyoung yelped turning around and thankfully saving the eggs if the lack of smoke said anything.

Yunho sent Jongho a scrutinizing look. Brown eyes stared right back at him, daring him to say something and not adhering to his wish. Shrugging, Yunho glanced back at the compass needle that had slightly changed direction since the last time.

His brow furrowed further; they wouldn’t land on the island that he had previously calculated if the direction changed that fast.

Jongho glanced between his handiwork and his thoughtful face, after the conversation being more awake than before. “What’s wrong?”

 Yunho hummed in thought, rearranging the thread that should’ve shown their route to fit the new course. The first land they would come across was only a small, probably unpopulated island that they had never been to before. It also deviated greatly from their previous plan.

“What in Halazia’s name are we supposed to do there?” Yunho’s voice appeared incredulous in his own ears, the ship suddenly rocked abruptly, almost causing Wooyoung to stumble and Yunho to lose balance on the chair he had perched on. Jongho seemed completely unbothered by it, an amused glint in his eyes.

“Yunho!” Wooyoung barked affronted. Yunho murmured a quiet apology, rightening the pins that had loosened.

“How many years has it been? You know she doesn’t take kindly to being questioned.” Jongho leaned, his eyes flitting over the map, quickly assessing their new course. Then he groaned. “That means that we have those guys on our ship way longer than expected, right?”

“That’s exactly my thought.” Yunho muttered darkly. “Who also knows what’s awaiting us there.”

“Wait, wait, we changed course again?” Wooyoung asked alarmed. “Please tell me we’re reaching land quicker because honestly, Mingi and I don’t really know how long our stock will last. I mean, we’re feeding eight people more now- “

Yunho interrupted Wooyoung’s word-vomiting, having heard the same train of thoughts for the last few days. “Good news is, we’re reaching the island faster. Maybe four days from now. Bad news, I’m not really sure how easy it’ll be to stock up on new supplies.”

Wooyoung sighed, looking down at the nearly down breakfast. “That’s just our luck.”

Changbin was on edge, constantly. He hadn’t relaxed since his pack got chased out of their home. Something was buzzing under his skin, leaving him restless.

Carefully, he kept watching. Chan had taken upon the role to communicate; to make compromises and leveling Minho out whose protective watchful gaze never left the humans who sheltered them.

Changbin had taken it upon himself to carefully watch his pack mates. All of them had been through a stressful time, the realization of what had happened and what they had lost only slowly starting to filter in. Hell, Changbin had to include himself in that assessment.

Still, no one had come to him or any of the elder pack members until now. Which made Changbin worried, even more restless as normally his younger friends weren’t one to not search for comfort.

Nonetheless, Changbin adhered to his usual principles and let them come to him if they needed him, making sure that they knew he’d always listen.

Right now, he was hovering behind Minho, not daring to take off his eyes of the tension wracking the black-haired man’s shoulders. Minho had been glaring at the strangers non-stop, never one to open up quickly and probably overly suspicious of their reasons to just taking them in like that. Changbin was hesitant to leave him alone these days if a situation arose that would need him to hold his hyung back- or have his back.

Someone cleared his throat behind him, causing him to spin around immediately and he caught Felix’s soft eyes that readily alerted him that apparently now was the breaking point. Changbin’s demeanor softened, of course their softhearted Lixie would be the first one to start processing.

“Can we talk for a bit?” Felix’s voice wavered a bit but determined to keep it together until they were in a more private setting. Probably not wanting to draw attention from San who kept polishing his weapons on the other side of the deck and was the subject of Minho’s glares right now.

“Sure”, Changbin smiled gently at him, laying a hand on his shoulder and started guiding him to the bunks they were currently residing in.

Felix’s breath hitched, slowly getting more and more overwhelmed by his emotions and Changbin gently tightened his hand to keep him in the present.

As they entered the room, Changbin quickly headed to the bed, Felix trailing behind him and immediately collapsing on it. Changbin smiled down at him, settling next to him, giving Felix a bit of space but limbs still touching.

 The mood turned somber as Felix sat up, trying to blink the tears back but ultimately failing as more and more tears gathered. Changbin kept quiet, his hand settling on the blonde’s neck, satisfying both of their instincts.

“I just- “Felix paused, unable to put his feelings into words. “I’m scared.” His voice quietened, as if ashamed to admit it and Changbin felt himself bristling in response. Instead of promptly reassuring him, he squeezed his neck, the muscles beneath his hand instinctively relaxing.

“I don’t know what we’ll do. I don’t know what we’re doing right now. What if we’ll never settle again?” Felix grew restless, more anxious again and Changbin shifted more into his space in response. Changbin pulled him into his arms, letting him cry for a bit, gently murmuring words of affirmation in his hair.

After a few minutes, the blonde still hasn’t calmed down, rather growing more frantic, the thoughts running wildly in his heads and shortly it got a bit harder for Changbin to breathe. It hurt seeing him in distress.

“Hey, hey, Felix. Take a deep breath again”, Changbin’s heart squeezed when he looked into lost brown eyes. Still, the younger listened, forcing himself to take a few calming breaths, probably while paying attention to Changbin’s calm steady heartbeat if his crooked head was anything to go by.

“I just- You all seem so fine, sure you’re probably not, but I feel like I’m the only one slowly breaking apart. I just miss our home, the peace and quiet. Our daily life. My work at the shelter. I miss Jem from down the street even if he was a complete asshole.” Felix chuckled self-deprecatingly, tears silently running down his cheeks. Changbin gently wiped them away and produced a tissue out of seemingly nowhere to give it to the younger.

“Thank you for sharing.” Changbin leaned a bit back while Felix blew into the handkerchief, hesitating a bit about what he should say next and carefully turned the words over in his head. “I can only speak for myself, but I don’t think you’re alone in your worries. I miss home, too. I barely manage with everything that happened, but I also don’t really feel like there’s time to process right now.”

Changbin trailed off, not really wanting to only talk about himself as Felix had come to him to open up.

“I think you’re handling it astonishingly. We all love you for never putting your emotions on the back burner and not letting us forget the important things in life.” Felix’s eyes sparkled and a light blush crept on his cheeks, pronouncing his freckles.

“I mean sadly, we can’t really do anything about the future now. Not while we’re stuck on the boat in the middle of nowhere. But I know whenever and wherever we’ll end up, we’ll push through and rebuild our little home. I can’t imagine anything else.” Felix nodded, agreeing with Changbin on this. He still seemed shaken up but less frantic than before, shuffling closer to Changbin and the older caught himself thoughtlessly putting an arm around his pack member.

“You’re probably right. It just still leaves me unsettled and restless”, Felix sighed, laying his head against Changbin’s head. Changbin hummed agreeable. “It’s hard to come to terms with not being able to do anything.”

“I know, that’s totally fine. We’ll figure it out on the way. Together.” Changbin breathed in deeply a few more times, trying to calm his own slightly elevated heart rate.

“At least the pirates seem nice. Most of them anyway.” Felix voice was soft, growing stronger again and his tears had slowed. Changbin chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“Jongho’s a bit unsettling though, there’s just something about him”, Changbin added, preening in the way their scents mingled together, now void of despair, leaving room for a tentatively happy feeling.

“Really? I think Seonghwa’s way more intimidating”, Felix almost whined. “Maybe it’s just because he’s so unbelievably pretty. He sometimes seems like an ethereal being.”

Changbin laughed wholeheartedly, endorphins running to his veins. “Really, you’re saying that? I suppose one ethereal being knows another.” Felix squirmed a bit next to him and Changbin just knew that he was blushing again.

A knock at the door startled both of them. The door creaked lowly as Hyunjin peaked his head in after waiting for a few seconds. The brunette took in the dried tear tracks and them cuddling on the bed, stepping in further in the room and closing the door behind him.

Changbin saw him narrowing his eyes worriedly and Hyunjin shifted his weight uncertainly. To his eyes, the younger seemed emotional as well.

“You okay in here? Minho said you might be here?” Hyunjin’s voice was soft. Next to him, Felix shifted to turn to Hyunjin.

“You wanna come over here and cuddle?” Changbin offered, patting the space next to him and sending him a reassuring smile. Hyunjin was next to them in no time, practically draping himself across both of their laps.

Both Changbin and Felix yelped at the suddenness, their arms holding Hyunjin to keep him from falling backwards before their brains registered. All three of them laughed quietly, before calming down again and just basking in their presence in silence. Savoring peace and quiet.

Seonghwa was startled when the door to Hongjoong’s quarters flew open, looking up from the book he had been reading. Since there had been a few more hands on deck recently, Seonghwa had had a bit more free time.

Hongjoong barely kept himself from throwing the paperweight on his desk as Mingi stormed into the room, slamming the logbook in front of their captain. Wooyoung trailed behind the tall man, uncharacteristically quiet.

“We have a problem.” Hongjoong raised a brow at Mingi, trying to appear nonchalant and Seonghwa hid a smile. “Our reserves are running low.” The elf watched as his husband’s face derailed as he looked at the numbers in front of him.

“Shit.” And really, Seonghwa couldn’t blame him for putting it like that. With no food they were screwed.

“How bad is it?” Seonghwa cleared his throat, looking at Wooyoung and Mingi for an honest estimation. Both exchanged glances, even though they probably had run over the numbers over and over again before coming here.

“It’s hard to say, really. With eight new people on the ship…” Wooyoung answered diplomatically, trailing off unsure. Mingi continued. “Probably like one week. If we ration maybe two.”

The mood in the room turned somber, all of them turning their options over in their heads.

“Yunho said our course changed again”, Hongjoong pointed out. “We’ll cross a small island. Maybe we’ll also find new resources there.”

Seonghwa cocked his head, pondering about it and sighing. It was rather rare that their quests actually turned out good for them (seven times to be exact), but they had to make do with what they’d get.

“If push comes to shove, we’ll have to fish and get seaweed and whatnot. Not like we haven’t dealt with worse”, Seonghwa concluded. The other three didn’t seem overly enthusiastic but nodded in agreement. Nothing they could do about it now.

It started with small things. The air was filled with tension, making Felix’s nose wrinkle because anxiousness and uneasiness smelled unbelievable sour. Sometimes he could easily be overwhelmed, still not used to his enhanced senses as his inner wolf was still young and they kept learning more and more as the time passed.

Anyway, he noticed. The pirates grew tense. Seonghwa’s patience was thin, Felix easily spotted his annoyance a mile away, leaving the werewolf to keep a distance as to not start a fight. His pack members treaded carefully as well. They had nowhere to go after all and no one was keen on pissing their hosts off.

San’s jokes seemed more cutting than funny in Felix’s ears but maybe he was just overly sensitive. Judging by the raised eyebrows of San’s friends, Felix wasn’t too off about his assessment. Something was wrong and the whole pack didn’t know what.

Changbin got a glare from Wooyoung when he took another piece of bread. Previously, Felix had assessed him as an easy and outgoing person who got along with almost everyone. The interaction left Felix unsettled. Caught between keeping the peace and the desire to growl at Wooyoung for looking at Changbin like that.

The straw that broke the camel’s back happened over dinner. Felix had caught Jeongin gazing at the last piece of dried fruit, all of the werewolves holding themselves back as to not eat more than an average human. His heart broke a bit for the youngest, none of them a stranger to hunger but it had been a long time. The jobs in the city had paid them well.

So, he reached over the table and handed their maknae the fruit, preening over the smile that Jeongin gave him.

“Are you kidding me?” Mingi snapped. Felix’s eyes widened at the sheer anger in the orange-haired’s voice and froze in his movements.

The chatter previously filling the room abruptly silenced, everyone turning their attention to him and Mingi. Jeongin awkwardly shuffled closer to Changbin next to him, obviously nervous about the sudden tension in the room.

Hongjoong on the head of the table, sighed. Maybe he knew where this was going.

Mingi narrowed his eyes at Felix, in return his hackles immediately raised at the challenge. “We’re running out of food, and you’re handing out extra?”

Felix frowned, okay, that was news to him. It still didn’t give the taller the right to act like that. That was just openly rude. “He’s the youngest.” The blonde defended, gesturing at Jeongin.

“We have a youngest too”, Yunho pointed out, his voice calm but dangerous.

Jeongin looked down at his plate, Felix knew he hated being caught in the middle like that. He almost felt guilty for it.

Then, Changbin leaned forward, his voice low but still cutting. “Watch out what you’re saying next.”

At the barely concealed threat, the pirates all sat up. Jongho’s jaw tensed and Seonghwa’s hand got unsettlingly close to the knife he always carried with him.

In return, the pack straightened, Minho on the other side of the table let out a slow, low growl in response that, with a lot of fantasy, could maybe be interpreted as a grumble.

Their instincts buzzed below their skin, edging them all to watch out, causing them to move as one.

Jisung gently laid a hand on Minho’s arm, urging him to settle down again because none of them really wanted to start a fight right now anyway. Hyunjin fiddled with the plate in front of him, his eyes flickering from one person to another in the room.

“Changbin”, Chan’s voice was firm, portraying how he disapproved of his behavior. Changbin backed down a bit at the reprimand, but it was too late.

The damage was already done.

“Don’t dare insult us. You are here eating our food, taking advantage of our kindness.” Wooyoung’s eyes glistened furiously.

“Enough.” Hongjoong rubbed his temple, seeming just as exasperated as Chan at this point.

Everyone fell silent, Felix’s fingers twitched uneasily. All of them were on edge now. He could see it in the way that Jeongin had shrunk into himself, unsure. The way Seungmin’s face was an eerily blank space, missing his usual sassy smirk.

They felt threatened, cornered, hunted. A feeling that Felix knew all too well.

Chapter Text

Hyunjin was glad that he and the rest of the pack escaped the tense, awkward atmosphere as soon as it was appropriate. For all that mattered, the pirate crew didn’t seem keen to spend more time with them as well.

Jeongin and himself had gravitated into a corner together, both of them trying to calm down after the dinner as the fight had evoked a familiar uneasy feeling. His uneasiness was accompanied by a slowly building deep rage.

“Was that really necessary?” Hyunjin surprised himself, just as taken aback at the bitterness in his voice as the others. Backpedaling a bit, he cleared his throat. “Did we have to pick that fight?”

Hyunjin watched as Felix shrunk further into himself, the blonde probably already regretting and overthinking everything he had said earlier. Most of the pack looked down at the floor; the only one meeting his eyes was Minho and Hyunjin could practically hear his disagreement that mirrored in his brown eyes.

Apparently, no one really felt inclined to answer him. Hyunjin sighed, turning back to Jeongin and pulled him closer again. Both taking a deep breath and relaxing at the familiar scents around them. His skin still buzzed, his body not really believing that they weren’t back in their old… pack.

“I agree, we shouldn’t have picked that fight”, Chan’s voice took Hyunjin out of his musings. “But what’s done is done.” Hyunjin’s shoulder tensed, feeling the rage growing lager at being so carelessly dismissed.

“However, I think you guys owe Jeongin and Hyunjin an apology”, Chan’s voice took on a sharp edge and Hyunjin let out a relieved sigh. Of course, their alpha would pick up on their discomfort and do something about it. The leader’s stern gaze trailed over Felix and Changbin. “We don’t need any infighting. It’s challenging enough as it is.”

All of them nodded in assent, Hyunjin relaxing as the remaining tension drained out of the room. Jeongin took a step back, detaching their limbs from each other and Hyunjin noticed that he looked a bit livelier again.

“I’m sorry”, Felix spoke first, truly seeming rueful, “I didn’t mean to make any of you uncomfortable. I promise to do better.”

The rest of Hyunjin’s rage left his body as Changbin apologized, both boys looking like drowned rats.

The next few minutes were only filled with some quiet shuffling as everyone got comfortable.

“They don’t trust us at all.” Felix was the first one to break the silence, causing everyone to look at him.

“No shit, what made you come to that conclusion.” Jisung drawled sarcastically, immediately getting a shove of Minho in return who was draped over the younger’s shoulders. Hyunjin rolled his eyes fondly at the open affection. It for sure killed them both to tone it down in front of the strangers.

Felix huffed unhappily at Jisung’s comment, pouting a bit at the brunette. “I just think it’s weird they didn’t even tell us food was running low.”

“To be fair, I wouldn’t trust eight stowaways either”, Seungmin pointed out just as Changbin let out an affronted noise and almost squealed:” Food is running low?”

Hyunjin fought to keep a smile to himself as all of them simultaneously turned exasperated.

“Did you just start a fight without knowing what it was about?” If Chan had spoken to him, Hyunjin would’ve cowered under the look that screamed disappointed dad. Changbin spluttered, a light blush rising on his cheeks.

“Yes- no, I mean no. I don’t know. I only paid attention when they made Lixie and Innie uncomfortable”, Changbin trailed off, abruptly adding Hyunjin’s name as well causing Hyunjin to smile fondly in return.

“Whatever, the crew is weird. They’re acting off and I just know they are hiding something.” Minho pitched in, portraying an air of boredom while gently carding his hand through Jisung’s hair as if he wasn’t interested in continuing the quarrel.

 “Not like we can say anything about that. You know, as in, we’re keeping a big secret from them.” Seungmin deadpanned, not backing down when Minho turned to glare at him. If Hyunjin hadn’t known Minho for years and hadn’t known what a softie he really was, he would fear for Seungmin’s intact throat. As it was, Minho actually backtracked, averting his gaze, instead burying his face in Jisung’s hair.

Chan at the other side of the room sighed and Hyunjin turned his attention from the two lovebirds to him. “It’s only for a few more days. Then we’ll be on our own again and probably never see them again.”

Hyunjin hummed consideringly, really hoping that Chan’s word would become true.

“We’ll just keep our heads down and listen to them. They know how to run this ship. We really don’t.” Chan sent them a stern glance, every one of them giving some form of understanding.

Hyunjin had to agree, after all without the crew they’d be stuck in the middle of the ocean.

An uncomfortable silence lingered in the air. Everyone around him was brooding. Jongho internally rolled his eyes as he flicked to the next side of the book in his lap. After the disaster, also known as dinner, the crew watched as the strays had quickly filtered out of the room and since then they were biding their time, none of them really wanting to leave but no one in a talkative mood.

Another few moments passed, his brow furrowed as he noticed that he had reread the last sentence at least three times and still didn’t know what it was about. Apparently, he was missing the loud chaos that his friends usually created around him when he was trying to read. Sighing, he closed his book with a loud snap, startling the rest of them with the sudden noise.

“So, are we gonna talk about it? Or are we just going to ignore what happened and keep brooding?” Jongho raised his eyebrow, his hard gaze settling on Mingi and Yunho whose faces were both unusually dark.

“They started it”, Mingi grumbled, his lips forming a pout. Jongho rolled his eyes, straightening a bit. Wooyoung scoffed, his hands intertwined with Yeosang’s and San’s.

“They really didn’t, though.” Jongho had to agree with the merman. “Not that I support their careless behavior and ignorance but starting the fight’s all on us.”

All of them were quiet for a few seconds, everyone following their own brooding train of thoughts.

“We didn’t talk with them about the food situation, did we?” Seonghwa asked, sighing and he ran his hand through his hair. Jongho suppressed a groan himself, of course no one would’ve.

“Don’t think it is any of their business. They’re still guests on our ship. We make sure they’re cared for and in return they don’t question us”, Hongjoong pointed out, picking at his nails while trying to appear aloof. Jongho watched as Seonghwa interrupted the nervous tick, instead taking the split-haired’s hands into his own. Hongjoong’s ears looked suspiciously red.

“Exactly”, Mingi jumped at the opportunity, happy that their captain had said something to his defense. Yunho was suspiciously quiet. “It’s none of their- “The orange-haired man deflated as Hongjoong’s eyebrows raised with every word.

“However- “, Seonghwa stressed, looking chidingly in Mingi’s direction. “Even if our captain decides that this is how we treat our guests-” Hongjoong visibly shrank at Seonghwa’s obvious dislike of his view and Jongho barely kept the amused smile to himself. San and Wooyoung didn’t care to hide their amusement as they outright burst into laughter. “There is no reason to be rude to them.”

Mingi and Yunho looked called out at that, appearing at least ten centimeters smaller.

“They were rude, too”, Jongho pointed out as the conversation seemed to have ended for the time being. What can he say, he was a bit of a fan of drama after all. And he still felt unsettled at how easily things have turned hostile between the two groups.

Seonghwa narrowed his eyes at him, but Jongho didn’t back down. He stood to his opinion that neither side was innocent.

“You’re right. But we can only change our own behavior”, Seonghwa’s gaze softened as he took in the way Jongho’s body was tense. All of them have known each other too long to really hide anything from each other. Jongho inclined his head slightly.

A few minutes passed, Yeosang, San and Wooyoung quietly talking in their corner. Jongho picked up his book again, hesitantly opening his page again. But he couldn’t even get started before Yunho cleared his throat, in turn drawing attention from everyone in the room.

“They’re still not normal.” Yunho’s statement followed a silence, everyone contemplating it. “There’s just something about them, nothing I can pinpoint.” Yunho gestured helplessly, the words failing him as he tried to describe his gut feeling. But Jongho got him as it described the feeling, he had had for days perfectly. There wasn’t any totally obvious tell but they were unsettling in a way. Jongho’s song was buzzing restlessly under his skin, but he didn’t know if he could only attribute it to them being strangers or if there was something else.

“Yeah, they’re definitely hiding something”, San pitched in. His blonde hair was disheveled as he heavily leaned against Wooyoung and Yeosang was playing with it, Yeosang’s glowing eyes to go by, it was his goal to make San as unpresentable as possible.

All of them hummed agreeably.

“Let’s just keep an eye on them. I don’t want to throw them off the deck if they haven’t done anything to harm us. And it shouldn’t be that long anymore either.” Hongjoong concluded, his voice leaving no room to doubt his decision.

The next morning, the sun was slowly illuminating more and more of The Outlaw as everyone tended to their tasks. Quiet knocks on the door drew Hongjoong’s attention away from the papers spread before him. His brow furrowed in thought, already not expecting one of his crew as they would’ve stormed in without knocking.

“Come inside.” As Hongjoong debated if he should stand up or stay seated, the door already opened and gave way to Chan who looked like he hadn’t slept the previous night at all. The black-haired man tried to hide his nervousness, but Hongjoong immediately caught him fiddling with the bracelet on his left arm.

“I think we need to talk.” Still, Hongjoong had to give it to the older, his nervousness didn’t reach his voice as it didn’t shake one bit. Hongjoong hummed in a uncommitting way, not really knowing what Chan was getting at but guessing that it had to do with the dinner from last night.

 Chan stepped a bit further into the room, Hongjoong suddenly remembered his manners and gestured at him to sit down.

“First of all, I’m sorry for the behavior of my- “Chan paused for a millisecond, almost stumbling over his words. “-friends yesterday. We talked and agreed that it was unacceptable.” Chan leaned his neck to the side, making Hongjoong’s eyes narrow as he really didn’t like the direction where this was going. He really hoped that Chan wouldn’t start begging again because that made his skin crawl.

“I still think it would’ve benefited everyone if we knew about the food situation.” Surprised, Hongjoong stared at Chan who had jutted out his chin defiantly even though his eyes spoke of uncertainty. Hongjoong could respect that, even though something inside him prompted him to snap at Chan that it was absolutely none of his business.

He tightened his jaw, keeping the kneejerk reaction to himself.

“I hope you do understand that we don’t make a habit out of trusting complete strangers”, Hongjoong almost winced at the unexpected sharpness in his voice, but Chan didn’t bat an eye, instead he calmy returned his gaze.

“I do.” Chan paused for a second. “However, we have to figure this out. None of us wants any of our people to go hungry and as you are generous to host us, I feel responsible to contribute what I can.”

Even if politely spoken, Hongjoong got the feeling that Chan wasn’t really up for a debate. Hongjoong narrowed his eyes at him before leaning back in his chair, sighing.

“You think I don’t know that? It’s probably- easier if we find a solution together.” Hongjoong ran a hand through his already messy hair, regretful over having to give way.

But both of them were leaders, responsible for more people than just themselves and Hongjoong wasn’t selfish enough to not accept the help if it meant an easier time for his own family.

Both stewed in their own thoughts for a few moments, turning the sudden truce over in their heads.

“So”, Hongjoong started, digging out the logbook cataloguing their resources. “We’re running out of food.” The captain felt awkward, but Chan took the olive branch he offered in stride.

“Yeah, I figured.” The black-haired man’s eyes quickly scanned the numbers in front of him, even though he probably couldn’t really tell their significance.

“If we’re gonna survive out here, we need a plan. The sea is always a bit unpredictable and I’m gonna be honest with you. We don’t know if we can restock on the next island.” Hongjoong met Chan’s gaze and saw his irritation at the last declaration. He probably asked himself why they we’re even going there then. Apparently, he decided that the battle wasn’t worth fighting right now as he exhaled slowly.

“Okay, what are you suggesting then? Rationing?”

Hongjoong inclined his head. “Sure, if we keep doing that, Mingi and Wooyoung said we should be fine. If there are any other incidents- “Hongjoong trailed off, chuckling darkly before continuing. “Well, we’ll have to figure out something new. Not like that has never happened before. Admittedly with eight more people-”

Hongjoong spared himself the trouble of elaborating on the sentence as Chan seemed to have understood his implication.

“Okay, I’ll break that to the boys later. I’m sure yours are already aware of it?” Hongjoong nodded, not envying Chan for the job. Because if his friends were anything like his, rationing was always the hardest thing to have them do.

Loud shouting from outside caused both of the leaders to tense, immediately ready to act. Their eyes locked and Hongjoong could see the determination that for sure was reflected in his own eyes.

Voices from the main deck were getting louder before one rang loud and clear.

“What did you just say?” Hongjoong’s heart stopped at the sheer anger in Yunho’s voice. The normally calm boy sounded furious, the sharpness alerting him to the seriousness.

Both Hongjoong and Chan were on their feet in seconds, already on their way to the main deck to check on their respective crews.

By the time they reached the scene, it was already chaos.

Chapter Text

Usually, Minho would describe himself as a rather laid-back guy. Sure, it was important to him to think critically and not blindly believe his gut feeling or instincts. But most of the time, Minho tried to have an open mindset, especially regarding strangers. Emphasis on tried. Some might disagree on his definition on openness.

Which probably made it even more concerning that his skin crawled any time one of the crew got close to him. That he couldn’t care less to control his glares around them because there just was something deeply unsettling about them. Maybe it was because of the way they had threatened Hyunjin’s life so easily back on that first night. Or maybe it was their own glares, not outright hostile but judgy nonetheless. Or maybe it was the way they acted, especially around their younger pack mates, always ready to pick a fight.

Minho couldn’t pinpoint the reason. All he knew was that Nothing nice comes without a price, Minho and really maybe that was all the reason he needed to cultivate the tension in himself, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But for all that was worth, he couldn’t stop himself giving them a hard time and who knew maybe it was for a reason after all.

Whatever it was, it didn’t make it any easier to deal with the crew. Minho found himself hovering near his boyfriend who was trying to make friends and even though everything in Minho screamed at him to pull him away to safety, he let him be. Because it wouldn’t be fair to Jisung and Minho wasn’t keen to get chewed out. Jisung was quite temperamental when he wanted to be after all.

Still, Minho was just waiting for something to happen, for something to go wrong. Especially now that Chan had left them to talk to the crew’s captain, in turn leaving all of them alone on the deck.

Minho watched as Jisung awkwardly tried to make conversation with the two tallest. The one with orange hair seemed a bit judgmental but maybe slowly warming up a bit to him. Almost against his will, a smile formed on his lips. Yes, his Sungie had that effect.

The taller, blue-haired one seemed a bit distracted, rather more focused on the task at hand instead of making conversation.

Suddenly, the atmosphere got tense, Minho straightened as he watched Jisung gesturing wildly, slowly stepping a bit away from the other two who seemed furious now. His eyes narrowed and before he knew it, his body had already moved in his boyfriend’s direction.

“What did you just say?” Yunho’s voice was cold and loud, causing everyone’s head to turn in their direction. Immediately everyone was on edge.

Jisung raised his hands a bit, as if trying to appease and looking as if he regretted ever trying to make small talk. At his visible unease, Minho felt himself getting even more restless, a growl rumbled deeply in his chest.

Mingi looked murderous as well, half hidden behind Yunho’s body who stood protectively with clenched fists before him. As if ready to start a brawl any second. As if Mingi was his princess and he had his honor to defend. Minho scoffed quietly.

Absently he noticed Seonghwa and Jongho edging closer to their crew mates, the elder’s hand laying unsubtly on his sword while the youngest cracked his knuckles.

Minho stepped in front of Jisung, getting right up in Yunho’s space and barely keeping himself from baring his teeth as that gesture would decidedly not be human. Still, he was sure every one of his own could see his readiness to rip someone’s throat out any second now.

At least Jisung was, his hand laid subtly on his back, trying to get him to calm down a bit. Minho grumbled lowly in response.

“I swear, I was joking.” Jisung began to ramble, making Minho’s eyes twitch in response. “I mean, sure, Mingi is a giant with those long legs of his. And I’ve seen him stumble around a lo- “

Before Jisung could finish rambling, Yunho snarled, cutting him off abruptly.

“Don’t you dare trying to talk yourself out of it.”

“I’m not, I’m not, I swear. But I just meant that Mingi is a bit of a slacker?” Jisung himself winced at his try to talk himself out of it and Minho could hear Seungmin quietly sighing behind him.

“So, you’re basically calling him a lazy giant?” Yunho snapped, the rest of the pirates getting closer to them as well. Minho’s eyes narrowed, his mind already conjuring up all possible scenarios.

“I was trying to paint a picture, not like I mean- ““C’mon, I dare you. Say it to my face.” Mingi’s jaw clenched, his entire posture suggesting consequences if Jisung would dare to comply.

Jisung choked on air and Minho growled lowly, his skin was buzzing as he got closer and closer to his animal form. “I’d rather not actually.”

Even though Jisung was trying to backpedal now, Yunho’s eyes flashed angrily. “So, you want to make some jabs but are too much of a chicken to actually insult him?”

Minho stepped another step forward, their bodies almost touching. “Watch it.”

Yunho and he stared at each other tensely. Minho could feel the rest of the pack piling behind him. Felix edged closer to Han, his tenseness radiating of him. A few moments later, Minho felt Seungmin’s presence almost next to him.

Even without turning he knew that Jeongin was probably shielded by Changbin and Hyunjin, their sour scent alerting Minho of their unease. Their youngest and Hyunjin were always the most uncomfortable with physical altercations.

But all of them were ready to protect themselves and Minho saw in Yunho’s eyes that they saw it as well. That even if they were at a disadvantage, they wouldn’t just stand there watching them as they tore Jisung apart.

San’s expression darkened as his hands on his sword tightened, moving closer to Minho and Yunho. Wooyoung shuffled, pulling Yeosang a few steps back behind him and distancing them.

The tension in the air was palpable, making Minho’s nose wrinkle in response. Yunho and Minho stared at each other, almost as if they were two cats circling each other, each of them waiting for the other to make the first move and show a sign of weakness.

“Enough.” Minho tensed as Chan appeared on deck. His voice firm and unyielding, the alpha calling to his wolves to back down. The rest of the pack froze but Minho didn’t waver, not wanting to let the slight against Jisung go like that. They’ve been letting the pirates walk over them for a while now.

“Stand down.” Hongjoong’s voice joined the mix. Minho could see his crew hesitating as well.

Suddenly, Chan and Hongjoong stood in front of them, forcing Minho to take a step back to give his pack leader some space. However, Minho’s gaze didn’t waver, never trailing from Yunho’s eyes for a second.

“Let it go.” Chan got more insistent, not leaving him room to disobey if he didn’t want to outright challenge his alpha. Minho let out a low growl in response, his jaw tightened at the thought of being forced to submit and letting Yunho get away with his behavior.

Chan stepped a bit closer, covering Yunho’s silhouette and forcing Minho to meet his eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds, Minho’s posture screaming tension. Minho’s instincts and head working together to figure out if it was worth it to not listen to Chan just so he can give Yunho a piece of his mind.

And for a second it seemed worth it, but then someone behind him whimpered and his anger at Chan crumbled instantly, causing him to step back and forcing his body to relax, barring his throat subtly as an apology.

Chan stepped beside him, looking quickly over his pack while brushing Minho’s shoulder in a reassuring way before he turned to look at the pirates.

In the meantime, Hongjoong exhaled, seeming rather exasperated and looked at Yunho. “C’mon, you too.”

Yunho’s fist clenched, leaving Minho unsettled because what if- Minho forcefully shook his head since it didn’t help to stew in his thoughts. After a few more tense moments, Yunho turned away with a sharp inhale and stormed off, Mingi following closely behind him.

Minho rolled his shoulders, uncomfortable with the remaining pirates’ sharp gazes as he knew he wasn’t supposed to antagonize them further, but he was really tempted right now.

The argument might be over, but the damage was done. Minho was aware that none of them trusted each other right now. What little trust they had built was lost again.

San sat at the long table, playing with Wooyoung’s hand in his lap as he needed a way to release the uneasiness in his chest. It was not working but it still brought him a bit of comfort. His gaze trailed over the others seated at the table again. It was crowded, all sixteen of them huddled into the space under the deck while both groups simultaneously tried to keep their distance.

San felt uncomfortable and awkward, certain that he wasn’t the only one feeling that way. No one looked happy about the situation. When Hongjoong had gathered them earlier to talk about the situation, neither Wooyoung and Yeosang nor himself had expected that Hongjoong had actually wanted to include the strays in the conversation.

“Alright.” His captain’s voice pulled San back into the present, his calmness immediately transferring over to San. “We’re all stuck here for a bit longer. So, we’re going to talk civilly.”

No one made a noise for a few seconds.

Then, San swore he heard Seungmin across from him sigh and mumble something like We’re doomed. And San felt inclined to agree, he knew Mingi and Yunho were still quite shaken up and San himself didn’t exactly harbor positive feelings for the stowaways.

Chan across from the table nodded in agreement, gesturing at Hongjoong to continue.

“We need to solve the food issue first.” Hongjoong sent meaningful glances at every one of their crew, asking them to play nice.

Yeosang, next to Wooyoung, crossed his arms. “It’s quite simple. We ration.”

“Haven’t we already been rationing?” Jeongin appeared hesitant, probably not keen to start another fight. San figured he was the one that least liked confrontations.

“Not like you followed it.” Mingi grumbled loud enough that everyone in the room heard it. San could watch as Minho’s eyes went blank and cold fury reached Chan’s eyes at the insinuation. The others either leaned forward or got even tenser.

San could feel Wooyoung respond in kind, his own grip tensing on his boyfriend’s hand in return.

“Not like you told us that we had to ration.” Minho sounded aloof, his nonchalant way provoking Mingi and Yunho who still were quite agitated because of him. Chan cleared his throat, sending his second in command a berating look.

“Not like we asked you to hijack our ship.” Wooyoung spoke next to him, his voice pointed as he probably had enough with the subtle jests against their friends. San had to agree; it had gone too far the last few days. Even their hospitality had their limits.

San could watch the other side of the table fuming, shortly rendered speechless. Yunho snorted. Minho and Felix glared at him in return.

Hongjoong sighed, causing San to turn his head in his direction. “Just stop. If you keep acting like little children, we won’t figure something out. Let’s talk sensible about this.”

When San turned his head back to Yunho, he suppressed a sigh as he saw him still interlocked in a staring contest with Minho. Both radiated aggression and San was honestly surprised that neither had jumped at the other over the table.

Jisung was squirming uncomfortable next to Minho as Yunho’s hard gaze had settled on both and honestly San couldn’t blame him. A mad Yunho was always scary. Even if you had known him for years.

“Maybe we should separate them.” Seonghwa’s low voice barely reached San, most likely only meant for the split haired right next to him. Hongjoong answered just as quietly. “We should just throw both of them overboard.”

On the other side of the table, Chan pinched the bridge of his nose. Great, this was going absolutely well.

Eventually, after at least an hour of bickering, way too many close calls with arguments and lots of eyerolls and groaning, they settled on a plan. San had doubted that they would ever come to a sustainable conclusion.

Of course they would continue rationing, Wooyoung promised to make plans, so it got more transparent for everyone. They would wait until they’d hit the island and scout for resources. Depending on their loot, their crew would handle fishing while setting up the new course and teach the newbies ways to gather more food on the sea.

Everyone promised more open communication from now on but really, San could already guess that all of them were still holding back. Well, San was for sure not telling them about him being a merman as he was not keen to be hunted down on his own ship. Humans were fickle like that. Always scared about things they didn’t understand or were different to them.

So, to speak, one could say that no one was happy but at least they got along and weren’t actively trying to murder each other. Optimists would call that progress. San would settle for a tentative leaning in the right direction.

San watched as Wooyoung and Yeosang sat down. The soft familiar clicking of Yeosang’s spyglass let San close his eyes to calm down further. Wooyoung draped himself over the floor, so that his feet splayed across San’s lap and his head leaned against Yeosang’s knee.

“So, I’m not the only one that thinks that they’re really suspicious, right?” Wooyoung broke the silence first, never one to keep quiet for long. San hummed in agreement.

“You mean that in the I know they probably are criminals on the run-way or in a My magic is acting crazy around them-way? Because I don’t have magic running through my veins pointing me in the direction of everything slightly magical.” Yeosang looked at both of them the way he always did if he felt a bit excluded because of their similar upbringings and culture.

San shook his head as fast as he could. “I don’t know. I guess it could be both. They seem tight as a group. But just because they are protective of each other doesn’t mean there has to be anything special about them. Humans are quite dense in that regard after all.”

“Your hatred of humans shows again, San.” Wooyoung yawned as he gently kicked San to keep him from brooding about all the way that mankind had failed in the past and justify his dislike.

“As your token human, I feel deeply offended.” Yeosang joked, not in the slightest bothered as he had long learned that San would never dare to include him or any of the human crew members in his tangents.

“Not like you really count as a human anyway.” San muttered, playing along, feeling comfort in their usual banter. Yeosang laughed happily at that, adjusting his spyglass to gaze in another direction.

“Either way, they don’t act normal”, Wooyoung added after all of them had quietened down again. Yeosang giggled again, making butterflies in San’s stomach flutter excitedly.

“You’re one to talk about acting normal. I’ve never seen you glaring this much as the past few days.” Apparently Yeosang wasn’t afraid to call them out on their behavior and San felt probably chastised as well. All of them had been tense.

“I swear, Changbin is either weird or sick. I’ve seen him sniffing countless times the last few days.” San chuckled at Wooyoung’s affronted declaration that was accompanied by a weak slap against Yeosang’s shoulder. Yeosang glared as his spyglass nearly fell out of his hands.

“Maybe he has allergies?” Even to himself San sounded doubtful, but he just wanted to contribute something to the conversation, so Wooyoung’s eyes kept sparkling.

“On the sea? There is no pollen around here. And it’s not like we have any animals on the ship either.” Wooyoung deadpanned, sounding vaguely amused. San shrugged, choosing that moment to tickle his boyfriend’s feet, causing him to shriek and flail around, almost knocking Yeosang over.

“Guys, stop. I’ve gotta work. Be quiet or you’ll have to leave.” Yeosang sent them a stern glance even though his eyes glittered fondly. He’d be mad if they’d be the reason his spyglass broke, it had been quite challenging to hunt that particular item down. Deciding that he still wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight and opting out of having to bunk with Mingi, he ceased his attacks on Wooyoung. Wooyoung also stopped his seagull expression, calming down again.

The next few minutes, they quietly exchanged some words, enjoying each other’s presence while Yeosang attentively watched the sea around them. Suddenly he straightened, excitedly pointing in a direction.

“Look, there’s the island Yunho has been talking about.” His eye’s followed the direction Yeosang was pointing and if he squinted his eyes, he could actually make out the silhouette of the island. Suddenly, he just felt as excited as Yeosang because he was curious which next adventure awaited them.

Wooyoung straightened himself as Yeosang nudged him, glancing at him expectantly.

“Huh? What? What am I missing?” Wooyoung sounded genuinely puzzled and a bit worried at being targeted like that, a big smile spread on San’s lips as he could guess what Yeosang wanted.

“Well, go on. If you’re up here bothering me, you can at least make the announcement.”

Wooyoung groaned but Yeosang just smirked, not backing down and San was just happy to not be picked. The younger pulled himself up on the railing, gazing down at the deck and gathering a deep breath before shouting.

“Yah, guys. Land ho! There’s an isle up ahead!”

San watched as the strays flinched at the sudden sound, their own crew was already too used to it and immediately started bickering about logistics. Of course, not without shouting some playful quips to embarrass Wooyoung a little bit.

But San had to give it to him, Wooyoung was a good sport and only blushed a little bit before rebuking some jabs with witty comebacks, threatening to come down and dunk Mingi in the ocean if he wouldn’t stop making fun about his slight voice crack at the end.

A few minutes later, all of them stood by the railing as they watched the island getting closer and closer. A shiver ran down San’s spine as he took in the shores filled with thick bushes and overgrown trees, promising an exhausting and thorny trip to explore the island.

The mood of the entire group turned somber, as even the strong rays of the midday sun didn’t seem to be able to lift the fog clinging to the trees. There was something off about the eco-system as well, it almost seemed as if the island was in a slumber. No chirping of birds could be heard and the fish in the water seemed to be swimming sluggishly. San frowned, tentatively feeling for his own magic but nothing appeared to be amiss.

“Okay, let’s quickly set our anchor and then check out the first part of the island before sundown. Maybe we’ll find some supplies.” Hongjoong gestured at Yunho and Jongho to take care of it while his eyes didn’t leave the shore. His sharp, analyzing gaze let San relaxed. Of course, Hongjoong would plan, mindful of every possible danger and minimizing it as quickly as possible.

“We should split into groups to cover more ground.” Chan pitched in; his expression eerily similar to Hongjoong’s.

“As long as you’re not alone in one.” San rolled his eyes at Yunho’s distrustful statement. In turn, Minho got tense again, staring at Yunho disbelievingly.

Great, here they go again. San couldn’t be more excited to start their mission.

Chapter Text

The first time Jeongin’s feet touched land again, it felt like waves kept moving beneath him which almost caused him to stumble as his vestibular organ hadn’t caught up with him being on steady land. Thankfully, Chan put a supporting hand on his elbow, keeping him from stumbling over a root sticking out of the ground and embarrassing himself.

Still, he felt San’s amused look on him as he gathered his bearings, waiting for his head to stop spinning. Jeongin kept a scoff to himself at the judgement, it had been his first two weeks on a ship after all.

Hongjoong cleared his throat, having been the first to leave the ship and immediately having started to gather Minho, Changbin and Seongwha around him. Both of their leaders had stepped aside to come to an agreement about splitting up the teams. They hadn’t been far enough so that werewolves’ ears wouldn’t pick up their conversation, but Chan’s eyes had narrowed when he had caught them looking in warning.

Not like Jeongin would’ve adhered, still a bit uneasy and on edge after the most recent confrontation that had left him feeling helpless in wanting to protect his friends but not being able to at the same time. Either way, he had caught them agreeing on splitting up the teams evenly and keeping Minho and Yunho separate.

Chan had locked eyes with Jeongin as he insisted on being on the same team with him, the calmness he radiated immediately projecting on Jeongin himself and letting him relax a bit. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t want to be with any of his other pack mates, but Chan had been the most levelheaded out of them and was probably not going to start any fight soon.

“Okay, get to your teams and spread out in your assigned directions. I want us to cover as much ground as possible until sundown. Maybe we can set sail tonight depending on what we find.” Hongjoong radiated authority and determination and all of them followed his words quickly.

Which left Jeongin standing close to San, Yeosang and Chan. Maybe he was standing way closer to the latter than normal, but that was neither here nor there. A shiver ran down Jeongin’s spine as San casually inspected his sword, not even trying to be threatening. Calm down, Jeongin, he reprimanded and forced himself to breathe.

“So, we’re supposed to check on the north-west...” Chan frowned as he looked around, having naturally taking the leadership even though Jeongin was pretty sure that none of them had any clue about navigation and any of the pirates would be a better fit for the position. Well, maybe Hyunjin would be good at it. San raised his eyebrows, Yeosang’s face was blank, not portraying his opinion. Jeongin found himself nodding along supportively.

Chan opened the compass that Yunho had begrudgingly given him earlier, looking a bit lost for a second before rightly aligning it and finally pointing in a direction. “Let’s go this way”, he urged them as they all kept standing there for a few more moments. Even though Jeongin saw out of the corner of his eyes how San pinched the bridge of his nose and Yeosang sent him a sharp look, all of them started moving.

As they kept making their way down the shore, an awkward silence spread between them. None of them really wanted to talk to each other, not with the strangers and not with their own friends as they didn’t feel comfortable falling back in their usual banter.

Jeongin saw in the tenseness in Chan’s shoulder that he wasn’t as relaxed as he tried to appear. It left him pondering on the thought for a while that Chan hadn’t been really relaxed in a long time, carrying a burden on their shoulder as their oldest that he generally didn’t want them to see and share. The last time Chan was that tense had been shortly after Minho had joined the pack.

“Are those buildings?” Yeosang’s questioning voice disrupted the silence, causing all of their heads to the direction he was pointing. Between vines and moss, Jeongin could barely make out weathered, old bricks.

“Oh, good catch”, Chan mumbled and Jeongin didn’t miss the proud look San gave Yeosang. “Let’s check that out. Maybe we find some people or at least resources after all.”

As they got closer and closer to the stones, Jeongin felt more and more wary. A shiver ran down his spine involuntarily, something about this place told him to run as long as you can.

“Hyung”, Jeongin surprised not only himself with speaking up, Chan looked back over his shoulder. “I- there’s something going on here.” Chan hummed in agreement, probably also having clocked it.

“So what? We’re just not checking it out?” San pushed passed Jeongin as he had slowed down. “Don’t be a coward.” Jeongin frowned the blonde’s back, noticing the way San’s hand tightened around his sword. Apparently, he wasn’t so sure after all.

 Chan shrugged helplessly, feeling obligated to follow the other two and not split off as Jeongin sighed. “We’ll be careful”, Chan concluded, even though his doubt was obvious.

A few seconds later they stood in the clearing, surrounded by ruined buildings that revealed that no one had been here for decades. Jeongin’s eyes twitched, he swore he had seen the shadows move. Even though no trees covered them, it seemed unnaturally dark as if shadows were closing in on them.

Yeosang shuffled uncomfortably, San adjusted his stance and Chan edged closer to Jeongin, living up to his protective nature as Jeongin rolled his eyes. He wasn’t a baby anymore; he could take care of himself.

“I don’t think we’ll find anything here.” San nodded at Jeongin in agreement, even though it visibly pained him at having to agree with him.

“Let’s just quickly check a few of the ruins out, maybe we find some hints what happened. The sun’s going down soon anyway.” Yeosang pointed out; a bit of worry creeping into his voice.

Jeongin trotted closer to the nearest building, Chan following closely as Yeosang and San went into a different direction, still staying in their vision.

“Looks like there’s been a fire”, Chan’s eyes travelled over the darkened stones that had probably once been enclosing the inside. Jeongin hummed in agreement, taking in the way nature had reclaimed the soil.  Blue flowers climb up the wall’s façade.

Chan kneeled on the floor, trying to figure out if there’s a cellar hidden beneath but the search seemed to be fruitless. His neck prickled but as he turned around there was nothing there. Jeongin shook himself to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling of being watched, his paranoid mind probably making him see and hear things that weren’t there.

Chan stood up again, yelling to the others that they should get back again if they didn’t want to be lost in the dark. Jeongin had to agree with his leader, he was unsure whether the twilight would bring something dangerous with it.

Wooyoung wasn’t a big fan of arguments which in itself didn’t seem like a controversial take. But considering the fact that most of the time he was the reason for playful fights on the ship, it might seem like a paradox. However, Wooyoung lived to be contractionary which led him back to the fact that right now, he was deeply uncomfortable.

Yunho was still brooding over Jisung insulting Mingi’s honor, his usual openness and composure replaced with dark looks and thinly veiled jabs. Honestly, if Wooyoung didn’t know of the special bond Mingi and Yunho shared, he would’ve thought something had possessed his blue-haired friend.

Whatever, Wooyoung really wanted to strangle Hongjoong right now. Which wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling as well, but this time he was tempted to actually act on it. Why did their captain think it was a good idea to put Jisung and Yunho on the same team? Not that Felix or himself did anything to ease the tension with their equally defensive postures. But Jisung practically got smaller with Yunho’s intense attention.

Wooyoung could be glad that they hadn’t put Mingi or Minho on the team, because he wasn’t sure if everyone would survive.

“Don’t touch anything. You never know if there are cursed objects lying around. You lot are feral enough as it is.” Yunho’s voice was cutting, reprimanding Felix who was fiddling with the swollen wood lying around the shipwreck they had found.

Felix eyes narrowed but still stopped touching everything near his hands. Wooyoung sighed quietly, worrying Yunho will keel over any second now with his elated blood pressure.

From afar, Wooyoung watched as the three kept searching the shipwreck. Wooyoung wasn’t keen on outing himself, it was always a bit of a hit or miss if he’d be able to keep his powers to himself when he touched water. Yunho sent him a knowing look, successfully distracting everyone from Wooyoung’s inactivity with his jabs.

“Felix, I said don’t- “

“I’m not an idiot”, Felix fumed, Wooyoung was surprised he didn’t steam from the ears. “It’s not the first time I handle cursed objects and stop being such a demeaning a—”

“Stop it. If you keep fighting, I’ll push you both in the sea”, Jisung snapped, his voice low and dangerous. Wooyoung eyebrows raised in surprise, not having expected the outburst.

Felix looked crestfallen at the reprimand, bowing his head to Jisung in a quick apology while Yunho only rolled his eyes at the threat. Wow, the strangers really did a number on him, Wooyoung should probably talk to him about it later.

“Whatever, let’s get back to the ship, we won’t find anything here”, Yunho grumbled, gesturing at the other two to make their way back while sending Wooyoung a meaningful glance. Wooyoung sighed, of course he had to do all the work again.

A giddy feeling spread in his body as he got closer to the ship while the others got further and further away. The gentle waves drew him in, and a grounding feeling filled him as he put a hand on the old ship’s bow.

Wooyoung closed his eyes, trying to listen to the magic pull inside him and he swore he could hear far away whispers and screams. Nothing concrete but suddenly he felt unsettled and hot. Trying to search for a bit more information, Wooyoung determinedly pushed forward in his thoughts. His body grew hotter, a deep feeling of rage building inside him making him clench his jaw because how dared they-

Suddenly, he got pulled back in reality as a cold wave rushed over him, breaking up his concentration. Dazedly he looked down at his palm, the skin was tinged red, almost as if he had burned himself. Huh, that was weird. Normally, the sea water shared only a fraction of memories, most of the time unintelligible and more of an afterthought.

Voices shouting his name, got him to turn away from the sea. Apparently Jisung and Felix had noticed that they had left him behind. With a last glance at the ship, Wooyoung lightly jogged to catch up with the rest of his group, shaking his head slightly at Yunho’s questioning look.

The further they stepped into the forest, the more Hongjoong wanted to turn around, gather the groups and sail away again. Hongjoong didn’t often doubt Halazia or her intentions, bluntly speaking he never did but sometimes he questioned his own sanity at his eagerness to throw himself into unknown, potentially dangerous situations.  But they owed it to her anyway, it was his destiny after all.

“Stay close”, Hongjoong’s voice was sharp again as his eyes scanned the trees, ever vigilant.

Seonghwa was right behind him, just as attentive as himself, having his back as always. “We need to stay together. No one knows what’s out here.”

Hongjoong glanced over his shoulder at his husband’s worried voice, maybe he knew something he didn’t but most likely he just had a gut feeling. Seonghwa’s gut feeling were rarely wrong though.

“You think we don’t know that?” Minho muttered disgruntled; his gaze fixed on the path ahead. The other had been quite brusque the entire time, probably still upset at being told off like that by Chan in front of everyone else. To Hongjoong he seemed like that type.

“I’d rather deal with whatever’s here than some of their team’s snark”, Changbin whispered a touch too loud. It was most likely only meant for Minho’s ears- who quietly chuckled- but Seonghwa and Hongjoong could pick it up just as well.

Hongjoong’s lip twitched, annoyed at the way the jab bothered him. As captain he should be the bigger person after all. “Watch it. We don’t need any unnecessary aggression.”

According to Seongwha’s concerned facial expression, he failed at keeping his voice unbothered. Hongjoong clenched his jaw, choosing to hurry along instead.

“Is that a threat, captain?” Minho appeared rather amused, probably not even really having the intention to question him but not wanting to pass up the chance.

Seonghwa straightened, sending the other both a sharp look. “Focus. We’re here for a reason. Let’s just get the job done.”

They moved in silence, Seonghwa’s warm presence never leaving his side as they lead the group further into the jungle. Minho and Changbin kept close to them, all of them uneasy since the island was eerily quiet, the sounds of nature unnaturally silent.

Even minutes later they hadn’t come across anything remotely resembling an infrastructure and Hongjoong had to admit defeat. It had gotten darker quicker than he had expected, they would have to hurry to get back before sundown and Hongjoong really wasn’t keen on being stuck here longer than he had to.

“Let’s get back”, Hongjoong sighed, all of their disappointment palpable at not having found anything useful and not being able to solve their food problem. Hopefully, the others had more luck.

On the way back, Hongjoong wondered. Normally it didn’t take long for something to point the crew to their new quest, but it had been oddly quiet. Most of the time that wasn’t a good sign. Hongjoong had a long time to think, their journey back feeling twice as long as before.

Maybe it was the fact that Seonghwa had fallen a few steps behind, Changbin and him bringing up the rear and leaving Minho and him in an awkward silence. Distantly Hongjoong noticed that the remaining sunlight got less and less, the forest feeling colder than before, causing him to shiver every now and then.

An alarmed yell from behind let Hongjoong and Minho turn around immediately. His brain took a few seconds longer to process the situation, but his body moved almost instinctively.

Seonghwa and Changbin were engulfed in shadows, their limbs flailing as they tried to break free from the hold. Hongjoong drew his sword even though he wasn’t sure who or what exactly he should attack.

“Let me go!” Changbin growled, then suddenly his eyes rolled back, and his defense stopped. Hongjoong’s heart stopped as he saw that Seonghwa didn’t seem to fare any better.

Minho ran forward as if he could just tackle them to the ground to free them but only stumbled and fell on his knees as the shadows moved back fluently, dragging the bodies of their unconscious friends with them as if they weighed nothing.

Hongjoong himself tried cutting the shadows away but the shadows moved too fast, his anxiousness rising as he felt unable to do anything to get to Seonghwa fast enough. His body floating further and further away from him, paralyzing him with fear.

After what felt like an eternity but could have been only milli-seconds, the shadows left his side. Hongjoong dropped to his knees, the sword clattering to the ground. His body caught between throwing up and crying desperately.

Dazed Hongjoong blinked, slowly registering that he was screaming Seonghwa’s name in despair. They had taken him, his breath shortened, he couldn’t think.

A hand on his shoulder barely made him jump, maybe they would take him away too. At least then he could try to save him.

“Hongjoong”, Minho’s voice was rough, the low rumble that seemed to come from him was never stopping. Hongjoong blinked, still staring at the spot that Seonghwa had been a few seconds ago. Minho shook him, trying to get him to snap out of it. “Hongjoong. Captain. Fucking-“Minho caught himself off with a growl.

Deciding that he had enough, he pulled Hongjoong to his feet and pushed the sword back into his hands. Hongjoong let himself be manhandled, feeling oddly out of tune with his body. “Come one. We gotta get back to the others.”

Hongjoong blinked again, the words slowly registering. Right, the others. His stomach plummeted. He had to tell the others. “Right…” Hongjoong’s voice sounded foreign in his own ears. Minho started pushing him in the direction of the ship, and after a few stumbling first steps, Hongjoong’s legs caught on.

“We have to hurry. The faster we get back, the more likely we are to get them back alive.” The more Minho talked, the more Hongjoong registered that the other barely kept it together as well. That was what pulled him back into his body more and more. Right, they would get them back. “Chan has probably already noticed. They’ll be on their way to us.”

Hongjoong noticed the frantic, almost feral look in Minho’s eyes as he let himself be pulled back; the shore already visible through the trees. “The traces are still fresh. We’ll find them. We have to.” At this point Hongjoong wasn’t sure who Minho was talking to, the black-haired boy seemed rather panicked.

It took only a second after they emerged from the trees to be crowded with the other groups, all of them had apparently already made it back. Chan was on Minho in a second, asking franticly what had happened, radiating an intense aura that made Hongjoong want to hide because by Halazia, he had lost both of them. They had been his responsibility.

Yunho was at his side only a few moments later, gently laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Hongjoong, what happened?” Hongjoong gathered all his courage to look his friend in the eyes. The feeling of failure returning full force again.

“They got taken. Yunho, I lost Seonghwa. He’s gone.”

Chapter Text

“Are you okay?”

Changbin groaned, slowly being pulled out of his slumber by an unfamiliar voice. That wasn’t quite right. He knew the voice; it was one of those pirates. Seonghwa. But why would he enter their cabin-

His eyes flew open, unfamiliar scents flooded his nose. It immediately registered in his brain that the tingling mix of his pack mates was missing. Where was he?

For a second, the picture in front of him didn’t make any sense. Seonghwa was sitting cross-legged in front of him, careful not to lean against the iron bars behind him if his tense posture was anything to go by. His hands were chained together behind his back and a tense expression looked down upon Changbin.

Changbin blinked in confusion, he put his hands on the ground to push himself up, distantly noting that his own hands weren’t chained together for no apparent reason. A sharp scent of iron lay in the air, making him frown because he didn’t feel hurt and Seonghwa didn’t look like he was.

As he moved to sit up, a chain jingled next to his ear, pulling his focus to the added weight around his neck. Huh. Reflexively his hand went to his neck to check and felt a coldness against his palm. Confused, his fingertips trailed over the rough, five centimeters of ribbon stretching around his entire neck. Some kind of metal.

“You’re wearing a metal collar. Looks like silver.” Seonghwa appeared tired, his usual friendliness and energy exchanged with wariness.

Suddenly the words registered in Changbin’s head. A silver collar? His eyes narrowed, at least it would explain the tiredness he felt in his bones. Silver was a werewolf’s kryptonite after all. He shuddered; his parents had told him about the times hunters used to collar werewolves when they were caught. These days, they mostly got shot or burned as quickly as possible.

As he met Seongwha’s intense gaze, Changbin felt as if the other could read his mind, leaving him deeply unsettled. For a second, Seonghwa didn’t seem normal, fulfilling Felix’ and his ongoing joke about him being an ethereal being. Changbin shook his head to get rid of the thoughts.

“We need to get out of here.” Changbin felt himself growing restless at the thought of just sitting there defenseless and waiting for whoever or whatever had taken them.

“Well, my hands are bound. Literally. So, if you figure something out to get out of here, I’d be glad”, Seonghwa rolled his shoulders, probably to get some circulation back into his bound arms. How long have they been here? Changbin had completely lost track of time. From what he could see of the sky, it was pitch black.

Changbin inspected the cage, trying to push further than what the chain allowed him, but ultimately giving up because his throat burned with the silver biting into his skin. It wasn’t like there was much to discover anyway, all of the iron rods seemed sturdy. Even with his enhanced strength, Changbin wouldn’t be able to make them budge.

Especially considering that he didn’t want to give his secret away if it wasn’t completely necessary. Frustrated, Changbin sighed as he sat down again.

The candle placed between them flickered dangerously as a gust of wind blew. Changbin wasn’t sure if it was a concession to them so that they could see a bit in the darkness or if it should keep them from actually seeing something useful outside the cage because their eyes didn’t adapt to the darkness appropriately.

Either way, it grated on Changbin’s nerves. His loss of freedom was slowly getting to him, his inner wolf growing restless, wanting nothing more than to let his body morph and weasel his way out. The collar kept him from doing that, that was its main benefit after all. Changbin was aware that a transition would surely break his neck. He rolled his shoulders, uncomfortable at the thought.

“Guess we’re stuck here.” Changbin concluded, making Seonghwa chuckle. The older had kept quiet, watching Changbin in his restless pacing. Maybe he had already known that nothing would come from it. Silence hung heavily between them, both captured by their own musings.

“I’m sure the rest is already searching for us. They won’t leave us here.” Changbin almost laughed at Seonghwa trying to reassure him but didn’t because it would be rude. It just never crossed his mind that as long as they were alive his pack wouldn’t find their way back to him. Also, werewolves were good trackers.

If they were lucky, Chan would be at his side in a few hours. The others most likely closely behind. But Chan had promised them. Always find me, yeah? I’m not gonna leave you behind.

Well, this time you have to find me. Changbin chuckled quietly and the collar around his neck jingled. Seonghwa looked at him like he had lost his mind.

The moment Chan watched Minho stepping out of the wood without Changbin and a deeply worried expression on his face, Chan knew that his gut feeling had been right. Something was wrong, his inner wolf had been running in circles, anxious to herd his whole pack together and make sure everyone was okay.

The rest of his pack members had been feeling it as well, sending each other secretive glances and trying to urge the pirate crew to go check on the last missing group because the sun had already set. So, really, when Hongjoong and Minho had stepped out of the forest, all of them had been unsettled and ready to storm to their side.

If someone asked, Chan wouldn’t be able to recall how he felt on the way until he was right by Minho’s side, engulfing him in a tight hug while the question where the fuck is Changbin was already on his lips.

“I don’t know.” His heart broke at Minho’s seemingly calm voice, a crack of desperation seeping into it. “I don’t know, someone took him. I couldn’t stop them.”

Chan laid a calming hand on Minho’s shoulder as he took a step back again, Jisung already hovering around them, anxious to get to his boyfriend. A quick look confirmed to Chan that their remaining pack mates were just as close and waiting for their moment to make sure that Minho was okay. And gather more information about Changbin’s disappearance.

“It’s not your fault.” Chan narrowed his eyes at Minho sharply, not wanting him to misunderstand and take the blame. As Chan was sure that Minho had done everything in his power to protect the younger, probably ready to offer himself up instead.

Their gazes locked for a few seconds, Minho’s eyes reflecting the doubt but still he nodded, very likely deciding that they had more pressing matters than searching for the guilty party.

Chan nodded slightly at him in approval, moving a step to the side so that Jisung could finally swoop in and hang at Minho’s side like a deadweight. Not very discreetly, they immediately started scenting each other, basking in the others comfort. Under any other circumstances Chan would’ve reprimanded them to tone it down in public with werewolf affections but right now, he couldn’t even bring himself to roll his eyes.

The jittery feeling in his chest intensified, an intense panic shortly overwhelmed him before he shoved it down hard as he needed to keep it together right now. A quick glance at Hongjoong told him everything he needed. Yunho and his eyes met, slowly a plan was forming in his head as he saw his own determination to get his friend back reflected in them.

Finally, Chan was leading the groups into the dark forest. Their surroundings were barely illuminated by their lanterns. Every rustling leaf, every cracking twig made Chan’s eyes dart around. At this point he wasn’t quite sure if it was a form of paranoia or if he truly had heard something moving in the shadows.

In his opinion, they had taken way too long to get ready, but Yunho had insisted on equipping and had pressed Minho and Hongjoong for more information on the creatures that had taken their friends. Rationally, Chan had to admire him for his levelheadedness because no one would benefit if they ran into an ambush unprepared. Irrationally, Chan had to stop himself from snapping and just running headfirst to follow the trace.

So, you could say, Chan was running on his last fumes, so close to breaking and collapsing but keeping it together for his kids because Changbin’s disappearance had shaken all of them.

For a second, he glanced back over his shoulder. Hongjoong hadn’t spoken more than three words at a time since he had come back with Minho. A feeling spread in Chan’s chest that might be best described by some kind of worry for the younger captain.

His heart tinged with sympathy, certain that both of them felt very similar right now as they carried very similar responsibilities.

Felix was hovering beside him, the only one who dared to get close to him right now. Guilt blocked his throat, making it harder to breathe as he hated the way the tension made him snappier and his tongue sharper. Normally he held himself to higher standards and didn’t dare to take his mood out on any of his friends. Right now, he could barely keep his thoughts together to keep track of the trail he’s been following.

With a sigh, he stroked his hair, pulling at it as his thoughts turned unbearable dark for a second.

They had been trudging through the woods for hours now. The trail Chan had been following in the beginning had turned out as dead end. Everyone got more restless as more time passed with no apparent success.

The further away they got away from the ship, the harder it got for Chan to get an inkling of the right direction. The scent trail had long since evaporated, forcing him to tune into the vague connection that had formed when Changbin had officially joined their pack ages ago. It wasn’t as strong as usual, leading them more on a wild goose chase than actually letting him track but at least he knew Changbin was still alive.

Chan was quite glad that Hongjoong still seemed dazed, and Yunho was apparently focused on keeping them all together as none of the pirates questioned him leading. After all, he wasn’t sure how he would explain the concept of a pack bond to a human without directly telling them that they were wolves. Somehow, he doubted that they’d be happy about that particular revelation right now.

I’m not gonna leave you behind.

His own promise haunted his thoughts, afraid that maybe this time he wouldn’t be able to keep it. The more time passed, the more he got keyed up. Most of the others tried to give him space, searching for comfort in each other as they let him work. Even the pirates weren’t keen on getting snapped at, only occasionally pointing him in a different direction because they were too close to the shore again.

Suddenly, Chan got the feeling his bond with Changbin grew a bit stronger, pulling him in a new direction and without hesitation he let his body follow along. What other choice did they have after all? Maybe Changbin had regained his consciousness. Maybe they have gotten closer.

Felix appeared at his side, somehow having noticed the switch and his eyes were wide with alert.

“We’re close”, Chan muttered quietly, not keen on drawing any unwanted attention the further they got into enemy territory. Felix hummed in response, falling a few steps back to pass the message along, immediately getting replaced by Hyunjin and Minho instead.

Their younger pack members hovered right behind him, the pirates moving in their midst as if they had trained a formation and had fought at each other’s sides for years.

Chan was the first one that stepped a foot in the clearing in front of them. Even though the moonlight illuminated the open space, the light broke unnaturally, oddly shaped shadows that vaguely resembled human figures stared right at him. He froze in his step, oddly entranced by them as his heart raced and everything in his body prepared to run rather than fight.

For a second nothing moved, only their short breaths reached Chan’s ears, accompanied by their loud heartbeats. Then the first shadow moved, causing Chan’s panic to spike, almost making him choke.

Hurriedly he turned, pushing at Minho and Hyunjin. “Get back. Get back.” His command seemed to snap his pack out of it, over the years all of their panics had become intertwined, causing them to act first and ask questions later.

Jongho and San took a millisecond longer before pulling Yeosang and Wooyoung back with them, almost running into Jeongin and Seungmin on their way. Quickly glancing over to the rest of the group, Chan saw Yunho urging Hongjoong away who seemed torn between trying to fight and stopping to breathe. The sentiment felt familiar to Chan, the shortness of his breath almost sent him into a hyperventilation, not taking away from the steadily rising fear.

Mingi was the only one still frozen, almost as if his feet were rooted into the ground. His eyes wide blown wide open and Chan could practically taste his fear in his mouth. Felix was moving quicker than he could, already at the taller man’s side and grabbing his arm to pull him along before Chan could say anything.

“Run!” Yunho yelled, desperate to get everyone moving.

Worriedly, Chan watched as the others were running a bit ahead as Mingi was still trying not to stumble over the uneven grounds. Which automatically caused Felix and him to lag behind because they weren’t about to leave him alone with the thing chasing them.

Minho looked back, probably just as worried about losing them but Chan waved him off. Everyone had to focus on their steps now. The panting of them echoed loudly through the otherwise eerily quiet forest.

They were too loud. They could easily find and follow them that way. Chan tried wracking his brain for a solution, but it was admittedly hard for him to think of anything useful. He still felt shivers running down his spine, if his thoughts strayed back to the shadow.

He didn’t dare look back, in fear of seeing it come closer and closer. He couldn’t even hear it move. But something in him was aware of it, knowing that if he stopped now, that that might be their end.

Chan shook the thought off, determined to keep going. Suddenly, the air in front of them got darker. The sparse moonlight seemed to disappear, and Chan realized a moment too late what that might entail.

Felix reacted quicker than him, turning so quickly that he slammed right into Chan’s body and pushed him in a new direction while tugging Mingi with him because he had never let go of his arm.

Chan almost stumbled, barely catching his balance at the last moment. “We’re losing the others”, he grunted, frustrated. Just what they needed right now.

“Better than running headfirst into that thing”, Felix’s voice was dark, a few notes deeper than usual at his grim mood. Chan had to agree. They’d find the others. They had to. Everyone would be fine. Hopefully.

Mingi’s breath was still echoing loudly in his ears, even if they had stopped running what felt like ages ago. Truly, it had been a minute at max since Felix still hadn’t let go of his arm, too caught up on catching his breath himself.

But Mingi really felt unathletic next to them, both of their breathing patterns coming back to normal while Mingi felt like vomiting and hyperventilating at the same time. His blood pressure acting up, one of the downsides of being tall. Or unathletic. He could hear Wooyoung cackling in the back of his head.

“Ah fuck”, while forcibly trying to slow down his breaths to not seem as pathetic, Mingi looked over to Felix who looked like he bit into a lemon.

“How are we supposed to find the others?” Mingi took in a quick breath again, as he got dizzy, panting even more desperately than before. Chan and Felix shot him concerned looks but opted out of saying anything. Embarrassed, Mingi felt his ears heating up and gave up on maintaining his honor.

“We’ll figure it out, Felix”, Chan’s voice was calming even though his eyes kept flicking around, trying to take in as much of their environment as possible. Mingi felt his own anxiousness creeping back.

“The isle shouldn’t be too big”, Mingi added but even he recognized his uncertainty. Felix scoffed.

“For sure didn’t feel like it when we were wandering through the woods the past few hours.” Mingi huffed, offended at the statement and feeling his temper rising even though it probably wouldn’t be smart to piss off the only people with him right now.

The cracking of a branch made all of them jump and Felix and Chan yelped in shock. Mingi refused to acknowledge the embarrassing sound that came out of his own mouth.

Instinctively, all three of them huddled closer together.

“Is it still following us?” Mingi couldn’t bring himself to speak louder than a whisper, his hand edging closer to his pocket, wrapping around a dagger that he absolutely couldn’t handle but might be his only choice soon.

“I didn’t think so”, Chan’s voice was also barely above a whisper. “Or else I wouldn’t have stopped running.”

Felix whimpered quietly next to them, drawing Chan’s attention and even though Mingi could tell the oldest was just as on edge, he made some soothing noises and laid a hand on Felix’s shoulder. Mingi wished for one of his friends next to him even though they might tease him again later.

Maybe Chan noticed his look, maybe he just had a sort of sixth sense for younger people being in peril, either way he used his other hand to pull Mingi closer to them and let it rest against his back. Mingi let out a breath.

Seconds turned into minutes, none of them daring moving again but nothing happened. Gradually, they slowly started relaxing again.

“It surely would’ve attacked by now, right?” Mingi surprised himself with his own volume. Felix hummed in agreement and Chan inclined his head in thought. Maybe he tried listening for something. For what, Mingi wasn’t sure. He couldn’t hear much even though the woods were quiet again. Probably a good sign though.

“Okay”, Chan apparently deemed them safe because the remaining tension bled out his posture. “C’mon let’s get back to the others. Or find Seonghwa and Changbin.”

Chan stepped a few steps forwards, obviously expecting them to follow him.

“Oh, and you’re leading us? Because that went so well earlier”, Mingi bit his lip at the harshness of his remark. He truly meant it more as a joke, but the remaining uneasiness let it seem as more of an insult. Felix stared at him with wide, unbelieving eyes. An awkward chuckled left Mingi’s mouth as Chan turned around slowly with raised eyebrows.

“I mean if you want to, you can lead and we’ll follow.”

Immediately Mingi shook his head. “No, no, it’s fine. Go ahead”, he laughed awkwardly while rubbing his neck. “I’ll just chase us around in circles.”

Chan shook his head, an amused smile grazing his lips and Felix’s eyes sparkled. Mingi watched as they started moving cautiously in the direction they came from before remembering that he had to start walking as well and hurrying behind them. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of being left alone.

Chapter Text

Jisung did not necessarily feel comfortable right now. It might have to do with the fact that he’d been running a lot the past few days. Or that he was alone with Yeosang and Hongjoong right now.

To realize the extent of his discomfort, one had to know that Jisung was not a big fan of strangers and social interactions in general. His anxiety made his heart flutter right now and he was afraid that he’d just puke when he’d open his mouth. Which ultimately would only make matters worse.

His instincts were buzzing uneasily under his skin, Jisung felt like hiding in the next dark corner with his tail tucked between his legs. He really wished for a member of his pack right now. Most of the time one of them jumped in when they saw that he felt uncomfortable so he wouldn’t have to deal with whatever he was feeling right now.

It could be worse. The voice in his head unhelpfully supplied, not as comforting as the words suggested because it had a rather sarcastic undertone. It could be Yunho.

Jisung shuddered at the thought, his anxiousness rising even higher as he remembered all too well why the pirates were fed up with him. And rightly so, Jisung bit his lip harshly as he reprimanded himself why he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut in certain situations. Or in general really.

It wasn’t as if Jisung had a personal problem with any of them. It rather was his own fault that the pirates surely wouldn’t be fond of him. The sharp sting in his lip pulled him out of his self-destructive thoughts, his teeth had gotten sharper at his rising anxiety, breaking the soft skin. An intense scent of iron filled the air, making Jisung wince as he absolutely hated the scent of blood.

Hopefully, these shadow creatures didn’t have an enhanced scent. Or else he might have put a target on their head again. Oh no, maybe they were like sharks and could scent even the teeniest tiniest drop of blood. Jisung eyes widened at the thought, worrying his tongue over the small cut, willing it to heal even faster than his enhanced healing powers made possible.

Hongjoong sent him a piercing look, probably irritated by his sudden agitated movement. Thankfully, since they had lost the rest, Hongjoong had gotten a bit livelier again. If you could describe the captain as lively. Jisung ducked his head, trying to make himself smaller and hiding from the intense gaze.

Hongjoong shook his head while frowning and turned his attention back to Yeosang. The two of them had been discussing their next steps for the past few minutes while Jisung had been fighting the impulse to lay on the ground crying and hoping for Minho to come find him. Really, he wished that against all odds, he was only stuck in a vivid dream and would wake up any second now to escape this nightmare.

“As I was saying. We don’t have any clues where any of the others are or how we can defend ourselves against those creatures. Maybe I should just-“ Yeosang stopped himself abruptly, sending Hongjoong a meaningful glance while gesturing at Jisung. It really wasn’t a subtle message, Jisung wished he had the courage to say fuck it and wander off as they obviously didn’t want him there. But he didn’t want to decimate his survival chances to zero. Even if he survived, Chan would have his head for being foolish. Well, if any of them survived at all. Jisung’s breath shortened at the thought and absently he started scratching the back of his hand.

“No.” Hongjoong sounded rather finite, sending Yeosang a scalding look. “There is no room for any self-sacrificing stunts right now.” Jisung, being pulled out of his dark thoughts, felt utterly lost right now. He felt as if he had missed something important to be able to follow along. Yeosang huffed, looking as if he had just bitten into a lemon.

“Well, what do you suggest instead? There’s no point in running around like headless chicken again.” Yeosang’s eyes were filled with a fire that had Jisung automatically taking a step backwards. Hongjoong blinked, not bothered by his friend’s temper. Jisung actually flinched when Yeosang turned his attention towards him. “Or you? Any idea? Not like you contributed much.”

Jisung felt put on the spot, his heart beating so strong, he could feel it in his throat. “I-“, Jisung’s eyes flicked nervously between both of their faces as his brain scrambled for him to say anything, but it almost felt as if he had forgotten to speak. “I- don’t…”

For a second, Yeosang’s eyes promised another hurtful comment, but the moment passed, and the pirate only sighed dejectedly. Jisung shrunk further into himself. In what mess had he gotten himself into now.

Moments passed in which the trio was silent before Hongjoong suddenly jerked back to life, muttering something under his breath that Jisung only caught snippets of. Something about a compass and being an idiot. Jisung’s brow furrowed in confusion.

At least the compass part made sense to him as Hongjoong pulled a bronze compass out of his pocket. Even though he wasn’t quite sure how it would help. Because while knowing cardinal points might be helpful for navigating, their main problem was more to know where to navigate to.

Maybe if Jisung were calmer and more trained in following scent trails, he’d be able to help them with that. But right now, the only scent he could pick up was his own sour panic. He turned up his nose, well, maybe he was at least a beacon to any other pack member because of that.

“How is a compass gonna help us?”, Jisung blurted out, not wanting to be kept out of the loop any longer because Yeosang’s eyes had lightened up as if he had any idea what Hongjoong was planning. Of course they fixed their gaze at him at his outburst, making him regret saying anything immediately and he shuffled awkwardly, trying to avoid looking in their eyes directly.

They both exchanged a gaze, as if deciding on a story to tell him and Jisung visibly deflated at the thought of being lied to. Sure, they still didn’t know nor trust each other but it would be nice to know about their plan to get out of here.

Go on then, tell him you’re a wolf, little one. Jisung winced. Fair. Maybe it was okay if they weren’t so forthcoming with their information. He would make do with whatever story they would come up with.

Meanwhile, Hongjoong had fixed him with a thoughtful look, before slightly shaking his head and gesturing for him to step a bit closer and take a look at the display. Jisung frowned as he saw the needle spinning wildly before slowing down and pointing in a direction while occasionally flickering.

“That’s not how a compass should normally act, right?” Yeosang laughed next to him, not in a demeaning way, rather a genuinely happy way and even Hongjoong let out a surprised snort.

“You could say that”, Hongjoong offered. “I’m not sure what you’re experiences with magical artifacts is-“

 And Jisung realized suddenly the reason for their hesitant behavior regarding the compass. Right, human were normally scared of magic and judging everyone remotely connected with it. At least from where his pack came from. Hence the reason they were here. Pirates probably were a bit more open-minded in that regard. Jisung tried schooling his facial expression in something more open and curious, so Hongjoong would go on.

“This one shows me where we should be.” Jisung raised his eyebrow. Great, that explanation was as good as none.

“Meaning?”, he hesitantly prompted as Hongjoong had awkwardly stopped.

“Ah, most of the times it leads to our next quest”, Hongjoong visibly cringed as he tried to find a better way to explain it to him. Though it left Jisung more confused as before.

“So, you just follow a random compass? Without knowing where you’ll end up.” Hongjoong’s face did a funny thing at his statement. Almost as if he wasn’t sure if he should laugh, cry or sneer at Jisung in anger. Great, the next blunder.

Yeosang cleared his throat, trying to dispel the tension. “The enchantress gave the compass great powers. It always had a purpose in leading us until now.” Hongjoong relaxed at the brunette’s words.

“Sure, then it probably also led us here and Changbin got taken because of it. Seems really purposeful to me”, Jisung drawled sarcastically, growing more and more irritated as more pieces fell into place. After all the crew had apparently decided to take the risk of exploring this island and changing their predetermined course just because a compass had told them to. If they hadn’t, maybe they’d already be in a new city, building their new life.

A loud noise made all of them jump, apparently a branch had broken off, making its way loudly through the thicket. It was eerily close to Jisung, he rather took a step back to not get hit.

Yeosang and Hongjoong sent him a dirty look, probably being fed up with his judgement. Honestly, Jisung didn’t really care. If they wanted to risk their life on the regular, that’s their thing to worry about. But to draw his pack into it without asking was rather rude.

“Whatever, keep your thoughts about it to yourself. I’d rather take the chance and find Seonghwa”, Hongjoong muttered annoyed, turning so quickly that his cloak whirled just as temperamentally as he appeared and walking in the direction in which the needle pointed.

“There’s no point in arguing with Hongjoong about this. It’s a very… sensitive topic for all of us”, Yeosang offered quietly, most likely feeling a bit sorry about his captain’s short-tempered reaction. Jisung shrugged and watched as Yeosang turned to follow Hongjoong deeper into the jungle.

Jisung sighed. Great, following a magical compass. At least they hadn’t anything else to go off. Anxious at being left behind, Jisung hurried to follow them.

San was fuming. And honestly, Jongho was surprised that there was no smoke coming from his ears. As he looked over his shoulder to check if Seungmin was still keeping up, Jongho realized that Seungmin had probably only kept quiet because he wasn’t keen on a fight breaking out.

Well, San had the tendency to appear angry when he really was scared. As if, by shouting loud enough, his fear would disappear. Jongho’s heart ached for the older boy. Of course, they had all taken it badly when Seonghwa disappeared. But being split of from everyone else as well- San was barely holding himself together right now with neither Wooyoung nor Yeosang around to pull him out of his thoughts.

Jongho almost stumbled over a root but gracefully managed to hide it. Seungmin used the chance to step up next to him, they exchanged a meaningful glance. Honestly, Jongho was a bit surprised by Seungmin’s perceptiveness as he seemed to have caught on onto their crew’s quirks already but maybe it wasn’t too surprising when Jongho took into account that it appeared they had some similar character traits as far as he could tell.

Seungmin gave him a prompting look causing Jongho to sigh. To be fair, it was his friend after all. “Hyung?”

Abruptly, San halted and turned around at Jongho’s voice. There was a wild expression in his eyes that cleared up when he took in Jongho’s and Seungmin’s hesitant stance. Questioningly, the blonde raised his eyebrows.

“Can we calm down for a bit? What are we even doing right now?”, Jongho shrugged helplessly and Seungmin nodded in agreement next to him. As if having to contemplate, San frowned but ultimately stepped closer to them.

“Well, I thought we’ve been searching for the others.” Now that he wasn’t stomping through the woods, his anxiousness was visible in him playing with the knob of his sword. Jongho nodded slowly, not wanting to let San think that he’d been somehow in the wrong as the boy tended to fret over himself if the smallest criticism got voiced.

“Maybe we can take a second to think about it?” Seungmin pitched in, his stance still defensive as he probably was a bit worried about San’s mood and didn’t necessarily want to start a fight. Jongho almost chuckled as he always found it a bit amusing how San’s hard exterior hid his soft side for strangers.

San nodded eagerly, having also picked up on Seungmin’s uneasiness. As far as Jongho was concerned, San probably took offense to that as even if he didn’t necessarily like the strays or humans in general, he didn’t like to evoke uneasy feeling because of his appearance or mood in others. If Jongho hadn’t built his I-don’t-like-physical-affection-image meticulously for multiple years, he’d feel inclined to pet the older boy’s head.

“So, we somehow have to find the others again.” Seungmin started as Jongho and San kept quiet, looking at him expectantly. “And we have to figure out how to deal with those shadow creatures. Preferably before encountering them again.”

Jongho and San exchanged a look. “We’ve never seen anything similar before in our travels”, Jongho offered. “So, I’m guessing they’re somehow connected to this island.”

Seungmin nodded, as if their declaration of having met a lot of magical creatures wasn’t anything unusual. Well, maybe it wasn’t. Jongho didn’t really know how humans thought about pirates. Maybe they thought that they were eccentric.

“Still doesn’t really give us a clue how we could defeat them”, San pointed out grimly. “Minho had said that their attacks hadn’t done anything.”

All of them shuddered, not really keen on going up against an opponent that they couldn’t defeat. “I don’t think pondering over it will help”, Jongho pointed out, frowning at the thought. “Let’s just focus on finding the others and maybe we’ll stumble upon some more clues on the way.”

“Let’s go in this direction”, Seungmin suddenly pointed out, having seemed lightly distracted before. Both of the pirates raised their eyebrows, surprised at the sudden initiative.

“Why?”

“Ah, let’s call it a gut feeling.” Wow, ominous. But sure, Jongho shrugged, not like they had a better idea. And he had to agree; this direction had a magical pull.

The further they made their way, the more rays of sunlight illuminated their way. The forest almost seemed friendly in the gentle morning light, the rough edges blending in softly. Jongho could almost imagine birds singing in the distance.

The sunlight also had the positive effect that Jongho rarely stumbled across a sudden unevenness in the ground as he could see better and better. Seungmin had started humming under his breath a while ago to fill the quiet. Jongho’s skin was itching to join in but instead he clenched his teeth as he wasn’t quite sure if he was able to control his magic right now. It had been behaving weirdly since Seonghwa had been taken. Because he’s been on edge and worried, he couldn’t promise a friendly intention. San was as a creature of the sea and a year-old friend more immune than the average person. But Jongho couldn’t guarantee for Seungmin’s safety. Losing someone else would be unfavorable.

San was at the front again, his hand on his sword as his eyes took in every single detail of their environment. Even though they hadn’t exchanged many words, everyone was comfortable indulging in the silence.

Suddenly, San stopped and gestured at them to wait for a second.

“What’s wrong?” Seungmin ignored San’s gestures which made the blonde’s eyes twitch in irritation and stepped up next to him to take a look at what San found. Jongho also came closer and frowned.

On the ground, a weathered stone which was almost covered by vines and roots was located. Jongho could barely make out some lines that were intertwined with each other. With some creativity, it looked like old symbols but none that Jongho recognized. Again, he wished for Seonghwa to be with them as they probably wouldn’t be here at all then and more importantly, the elf most likely knew what they meant. And if he didn’t then it would have to be ancient.

“It looks like it might be leading us somewhere”, San pointed somewhere and Jongho realized that there were more stones on the ground.

“That’s oddly convenient”, Jongho couldn’t help but be distrustful. Well, it was probably more than justified. Seungmin hummed in thought, his lips quirking up in the way that Jongho always reminded of an innocent puppy.

“I vote we follow it. Maybe it leads us to wherever Seonghwa and Changbin have been taken.” Seungmin looked at them expectantly. San and Jongho exchanged a look and both of them shrugged at the same time.

Still, Jongho was the first one that moved, following the symbols and careful not to step on the stones. Probably unnecessarily careful but you could never be sure with unknown symbols.

The longer he walked, the louder the blood in his ear swooshed. It might just be because he got more and more tense and expected to be jumped by something any second now. Whatever, Jongho was relieved when they came to a stop in front of an entrance to a cave.

“Oh great”, Seungmin muttered and Jongho had to agree. Who wouldn’t want to go into a dark, unknown cave? Especially if they were shadow creatures hunting them down?

Chapter Text

If anyone asked, Hyunjin couldn’t tell them what had happened the last few minutes. His muscles were burning, his breath only gradually slowing again. Strands of long brown hair that had fallen out of his braid fell into his face, almost obscuring his view of Wooyoung.

In his opinion, Wooyoung didn’t fare much better as he propped his hands on his knees and still gasped for breath. They had been running at a very fast pace, even faster when they had been almost surrounded. Probably, why they had lost the others. At least that was the only reason Hyunjin could think of when he couldn’t spot any further familiar faces.

“We truly have the worst luck.” Apparently Wooyoung had caught his breath again. Hyunjin loosened his hair tie and tried to make a new braid but his hands were still shaking from the adrenalin that now quickly left his body. Sighing, he gave up and let his arms fall to his side dramatically.

“We don’t necessarily have a history with good luck either. One would hope that would be enough to balance it out again.”

Wooyoung visibly lightened up at his response, Hyunjin would almost go as far and say that he started vibrating with energy.

“I feel like it should work like that”, Wooyoung ruffled his own hair, making Hyunjin tug the strands behind his ear just so they could fall forwards again immediately. His nose wrinkled in displeasure, normally he loved his long hair but situations like that made him wonder if simply shaving it would be worth it.

“Soo”, Wooyoung had gotten closer in the meantime, almost directly standing next to him. “Maybe someone has decided that’s our destiny. Sending us off in pairs to bond.” Wooyoung’s eyes sparkled with mischief and Hyunjin wasn’t sure if he should be scared or happy about it.

“Sure”, Hyunjin trailed off, a bit unsure where Wooyoung was going with this. Then he decided fuck it, because really, what else could he do stranded in the middle of nowhere with basically a stranger.

“Can I braid your hair?” Only because Hyunjin had noticed the way the older kept gazing between his arms and hair, he wasn’t totally thrown off guard by the request. Still, he blinked a few times, trying to reorient before he found himself slowly nodding.

Wooyoung brightened even further, grabbing his arm without hesitation (and almost gave Hyunjin a sudden whiplash) and dragged him to a nearby log while ushering him to sit on it because Hyunjin might not be as tall as Yunho but Wooyoung would not be able to braid his hair without him sitting down.

A bit dazed, Hyunjin followed the instructions and heard himself chuckling at Wooyoung’s antics. When the older one gently started carding his fingers through his hair, Hyunjin felt the rest of the tension bleed out of his body. At least the mental breakdown about future choices got pushed back a bit.

“Yeosangie’s and Sannie’s hair has gotten longer, so I’ve been learning how to braid other’s hair recently”, Hyunjin tuned into Wooyoung’s blabbering again who didn’t seem to necessarily mind that Hyunjin didn’t pay attention before. “But I don’t really have a comb right now, so no promises that it will actually turn out good.”

“It’s fine. I’m just glad it’ll be out of my face”, Hyunjin turned his head slightly to look roughly in Wooyoung’s direction and got promptly softly slapped on his shoulder in return.

“Yah, don’t move or I really can’t guarantee anything. Though I’m sure you’d pull it off with that face of yours.” Hyunjin laughed wholeheartedly, a slight blush rising to his cheeks because of the compliment but Wooyoung was already moving on as if that had been the most normal thing to say.

“Do you have any idea on how we’ll find the others? I could probably lead us back to the shore, as you know, but I have no idea how to orientate in a forest honestly. Wrong element and all that.”

Hyunjin’s brow furrowed. He did in fact not know and if he were allowed to move, he would send Wooyoung a questioning look. But he wasn’t, alas he settled for a confused noise. Wooyoung didn’t elaborate, so he guessed that it probably had something to do with him being a pirate. Maybe you developed a feeling of becoming one with the sea, the longer you sailed on it. Whatever, Hyunjin was not one to judge quickly.

“I mean I could try to locate the others? But I’m not really good at it yet. Chan and Minho have been teaching me-“ Hyunjin abruptly stopped, realizing that he had almost given away their secrets. It would probably come up rather sooner than later with the situation they found themselves stuck in, but it would be foolish to just give it away like that. Seungmin would never let him live it down. “- how to read tracks. Since you know, Minho is from the country.”

His coverup sounded lame even in Hyunjin’s own ears but Wooyoung didn’t comment on it.

“Perfect, then you can try lead us back to the spot where we lost the others. I’m sure the others have the same idea. If not, I’ll lead us back to the ship. They have to turn up there sooner or later if they want to leave the island after all.” Wooyoung finished braiding the hair and gestured for the hair band. Absently, Hyunjin gave it to him while thoughtfully humming at Wooyoung’s plan. It seemed like the best they could do for now. After all Hyunjin wasn’t a big fighter, and he assumed that Wooyoung probably wasn’t as well. Trying to save Changbin and Seonghwa alone was a foolish plan if they hadn’t been able to do it easily as a group before.

“By the way, what is your zodiac sign?” Wooyoung stepped in front of him, reaching out a hand to help him up. Hyunjin didn’t even question the change of subject, taking Wooyoung’s hand and elegantly getting up again. Carefully, he touched the plaid. Wooyoung had done a fishtail braid, pretty smoothly as well as far as he could tell.

“Pisces”, Hyunjin answered finally, smiling at the smaller boy. “Don’t tell me you couldn’t guess that. I’ve been told it fits multiple times before.”

Wooyoung smirked at him, his eyes twinkling again. “Well, you seem like the artsy type. I’m a Sagittarius. So, we should work well together as long as we avoid any deeply emotional topics.” Hyunjin laughed quietly, even though it almost got covered by Wooyoung’s own happy laughter.

“Well, as long as we don’t stumble across Seungmin. He’s a Virgo”, Hyunjin added as explanation and Wooyoung just nodded as if that explained everything. And maybe it did.

“Anyway, lead the way”, Wooyoung practically bounced next to him and when Hyunjin blinked next, he realized that Wooyoung had sneakily linked their arms. Well, maybe it was better this way anyway. The last time they had wandered through the forest, they had managed to lose the others.

Though it left Hyunjin at a disadvantage as Wooyoung was awfully close in his space. Still, he discreetly tried to scent the air, glancing at Wooyoung in the meantime. Wooyoung looked like he was forcing himself to look in a different direction.

They could work with that, if they pretended not to notice anything off about the other, that was fine with Hyunjin. As long as Wooyoung kept his mouth shut, Hyunjin would as well. He began leading them roughly in the direction they had come from, hoping to meet the others soon.

Normally, Yunho wouldn’t describe himself as a person that was easy to anger or one to hold onto grudges. Really, the last time he felt such a rage was when Mingi and his family had moved away and his mother had told him: It’s better this way, Yunho. They never fitted here anyway. It had been unjust, leaving him wanting to show everyone how wrong they had been as they had taken his best friend away. It had only mellowed out when he had stumbled across Mingi again.

Yunho scared himself a bit with how easy he was to anger when it came to these strangers. Almost as if their mere presence was amplifying his emotions since they had stepped on this island. His stomach was churning, and it felt like he would explode if he didn’t find an outlet for his anger. Preferably in the form of Minho or Jisung because both of them made his blood boil.

Admittedly, it was quite tempting to get revenge as Minho was trudging through the forest right next to him. Both not ready to fall a step back because that would mean giving the other an inch and letting the other one lead. Jeongin was trailing behind them and every time Yunho looked back, he caught the younger one rolling his eyes and muttering something under his breath.

He probably was frustrated because Minho was pushing a fast pace, forcing Yunho to lose his breath as he tried to keep up. Minho didn’t even glance back once to make sure Jeongin was still behind them. No wonder Seonghwa and Changbin had been taken if Minho had been so careless and Hongjoong would’ve been forced to keep an eye on everyone. Yunho clenched his teeth, pushing a twig out of his way with more force than necessary and almost hitting Jeongin on its way back.

“Guys!” Jeongin called out affronted, letting both of them halt immediately in alarm and turn around. “Could you stop behaving like little children? If I almost fall over another root because you can’t pick a normal pace, I’m going to have to strangle something!”

Yunho blinked, irritated at his sudden outburst and almost a bit intimidated by the fire in the youngest eyes. He wouldn’t put it past him to act on his threat. Minho beside him, held up his hands defensively.

“Innie, you could’ve just said something. For all I care, we don’t have to walk that fast.” Minho glanced meaningfully at Yunho. Immediately Yunho bristled. What did Minho mean? It’s surely not because of Yunho that they had picked such a fast pace.

“What are you talking about? It’s you who’s been pushing the pace the entire time.”  Yunho narrowed his eyes and turned around to face Minho, he clenched his hand in irritation. Seemingly that man just had a talent to piss him off.

 “I did not!”, Minho was offended, frowning at him while taking a threatening step forward. “I would’ve liked to take a minute to go over a plan but you just dashed off-“

Yunho’s mouth fell open at the audacity to frame the situation like that. “What do you mean! It’s been you who-“

“Guys!” Jeongin interrupted both of them, completely exasperated now. “Stop fighting! God, I feel like I’m babysitting two little children.” Jeongin stepped forward and roughly pulled Minho by his arm to get a bit of space between them. Yunho smirked as Minho almost fell because of the suddenness while Jeongin winced.

Minho turned his furious eyes to Jeongin. “Yang Jeongin, that is not how you treat your elders.” Yunho watched as Minho immediately softened again when Jeongin sheepishly apologized before Yunho was fixed with a piercing glare again.

“Could you please stop fighting for like five minutes? I feel like we have more important things to do.” Jeongin pitched in again, distracting Yunho for a second and causing him to lose the unspoken battle of glaring as he looked away. Yunho scoffed as Minho’s eyes glistened triumphantly.

 “Oh, like finding  Seonghwa and Changbin because Minho-“ Yunho got suddenly caught of by a growl from behind him. Minho’s and Jeongin’s eyes were fixed at something right behind him, their expressions tense.

“What is it?” Yunho was frozen right on the spot, anxious what he would find if he’d turn around. He could see the fear in Jeongin’s eyes.

“Don’t make any sudden moves”, Minho’s voice was firm. “Just turn slowly around and step behind me.” As Minho spoke, he stepped a bit forward, shielding Jeongin with his body. Yunho could see a slight flicker of annoyance in the youngest face.

For once, Yunho decided to listen to Minho, at least partly and slowly turned around. Even slower he drew the sword by his hip, as he took in the source of the growl.

Yunho didn’t know what the best way was to describe it, he suddenly got why Minho hadn’t just warned him. The closest similar description would be that of a wolf, but Yunho had never seen a wolf that tall that hadn’t been a werewolf. To be fair, he hadn’t seen that many werewolves either.

Oh, and the most confusing part was the shadows that enwrapped the creatures, most likely made them up as Yunho swore, he could partly see through them. It almost seemed as if the human shaped shadows had decided to take on a wolf form now.

When Yunho glanced to the side to check on his companions, he noticed that neither had pulled out their weapon, instead they had taken in a fighting stance as if prepared to fight with their hands. Which would be utterly foolish.

“What are you doing? Take out your weapons.” Yunho hissed, partly understanding that they had not a lot of fighting experience but more importantly not wanting to go down without a fight.

Minho and Jeongin looked at him like he had lost his mind, which baffled Yunho almost so much that he missed one of the wolves moving. It was slowly stalking closer and closer, readying itself for it’s attack. Shortly, Yunho pondered if it was worth it to try make a run for it but quickly dispersed that thought. There was no way they’d be able to outrun the wolves.

“I’d rather not die”, Minho answered Yunho’s question, his watchful eyes not leaving the approaching animal. Jeongin shifted closer to the frontline again, Yunho sighed but it probably wouldn’t make any difference after all.

Before he could retort something, the first wolf pounced, spurring the rest of them in action and the world devolved in chaos.

Chapter Text

There wasn’t an awful lot to do in the small iron cage. Especially not with being tied up.

Seonghwa took a deep breath, trying to focus on anything else than the sharp pain in his wrists and back that had been torturing him since he had woken up. It worried him as well. Of course, the iron shackles could only be a coincidence as the metal was quite common after all, but Seonghwa rarely believed in true coincidences.

Across from him, Changbin moved, and the quiet clanking of the silver collar pulled Seonghwa out of his thoughts. Yeah, there was no chance that all of this was purely coincidental. Seonghwa was no stranger to magic customs as he had studied them throughout his entire youth and reading about how humans dealt with magical creatures was part of his lectures.

Seonghwa sighed frustratedly. Not only did the iron on his skin hurt and had long since caused him to bleed, no, it also cut him off from the nature around him and left him feeling even more defenseless. Or else he would’ve long since coaxed the plants around him to help him get out of the chains.

“I’m sure it’ll only be a few more minutes”, Changbin sleepily said across from him. The younger had been nodding off occasionally, the heavy silver collar probably leaving him exhausted and Seonghwa would make an educated guess and say that the flowers around them weren’t necessarily helpful for Changbin’s nature.

After all, wolfsbane was known to make werewolves weak and paired with the silver, Seonghwa was honestly surprised that Changbin was still that responsive. But it had also been a long time since Seonghwa had stumbled across a werewolf and it hadn’t been a friendly encounter as well. Which might be most of the reason Seonghwa’s thoughts were as coherent as they were now as he also slowly felt his strenght draining.

Seonghwa shook his head, instead taking in their environment again. The candle had blown out from a gust of wind hours ago, leaving them in complete darkness, so Seonghwa had been glad when the first rays of sunlight illuminated the forest. Well, Seongwha had been left in the dark, Changbin had been able to see just as well as before if not better.

Even if Seonghwa hadn’t been aware of the meaning of the silver collar, Changbin might have given his secrets away in the way that he always seemed to know what exactly Seonghwa was doing even if Seonghwa could barely see it himself. But it wasn’t the right time and place to confront Changbin right now. The elf didn’t know why the pack had decided to lie to them, but he was also aware of all the prejudices. And to be fair, their crew didn’t necessarily have good experiences with werewolves either and were rightly wary of them. Seonghwa shuddered.

Changbin across from him blinked slowly, seemingly having lost track of his statement and Seonghwa realized he still hadn’t answered. It probably would be better as well to keep Changbin more focused as well.

“You and your pack seem close. How long have you known each other?” It spoke volumes that Changbin barely reacted to being called a pack, only the slight frown showed the awareness that something was wrong. As far as Seonghwa knew, wolfsbane tended to have an effect similar to drugs for werewolves when ingested. Even though Changbin hasn’t drank or eaten anything wolfsbane infested, he had been in contact with it for several hours and had been wearing a silver collar. Seonghwa’s educated guess: Changbin probably was high as a kite by now.

“For years. Don’t even really know at this point anymore”, Changbin’s brows furrowed in concentration, most likely trying to count back. Seonghwa would smile fondly at the cute behavior if Changbin wasn’t drugged against his will. That left a sour taste in the elf’s mouth. “For seven years? Something like that.”

“Oh wow”, Seonghwa’s eyebrows raised in surprise, so they had met each other when they all had been kids. It did sound very similar to his own family story. Found family story.

“Mhm”, Changbin appeared less out of it the more he talked. ”Sungie adopted Chan-Hyung or got adopted. And then they picked up the rest of us one after the other.” There were a few moments of silence as Changbin was obviously shortly dwelling on memories. “And what’s with your crew? How did you end up together?”

“Oh, it’s quite similar to your story really. Hongjoong first found Yunho and then they both picked me up. We just stumbled across each other one after the other. Sometimes it felt like destiny.” Seonghwa felt a warmth spreading in his body when he thought about his friends. He was truly thankful for all of them. All of them had been searching for something when they met and found it in the others.

Changbin hummed in agreement even though Seonghwa wasn’t sure if he agreed with Seonghwa’s assessment of his crew, felt similar about his own pack or just wasn’t listening well anymore as his eyes kept falling shut more regularly before he jerked himself awake again.

Seonghwa felt worry creeping up as he took in Changbin’s state, his breath becoming more and more labored. Their friends should hurry, Seonghwa wasn’t sure in what state they would be in soon.

The shadows that had taken them hadn’t made another appearance yet. And Seonghwa was unsure what they wanted. Maybe they wanted to weaken them since they obviously knew of their powers. Maybe they just wanted to lure the others into a trap. The thought caused a cold shudder to run down Seonghwa’s spine. The worst part was that there was nothing he could do about it if it was. Although he was very confident in the capabilities of his friends. They had gotten out of a lot of similar sticky situations and now they had a pack of werewolves by their side. Even if they didn’t know about it. What a mess, Seonghwa shook his head.

When they found them, he really had to talk to Chan about the whole situation. He wanted to give him the courtesy to come out to Hongjoong by himself first. And Seonghwa felt connected with the pack. Truly, he could understand where they came from and that they had no ill intention towards his own little family.

Now that he thought about it, he was reminded of the hunt in the city shortly before they had set their sails and had apparently begun their journey with fugitives on their ship. Seonghwa’s heart ached in sympathy. Normally, elves flew under the radar and made up a big part of the upper class in society without humans truly noticing it. At least in the city Seonghwa grew up in and those they had visited after on their travels.

Changbin’s head slumped to the side and Seonghwa waited while holding his breath- a few seconds too long for his taste- until the werewolf jerked himself awake again.

“I don’t feel so good”, at this point Changbin’s voice had become slurred and Seonghwa’s heart ached to help him. Frustratingly, he couldn’t even call upon his magic to dampen the symptoms of the wolfsbane a bit.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Changbin looked at him weirdly, his eyes barely open but somehow still being able to portray his confusion.

“Not like you did anything”, he mumbled dismissively and barely audible. The statement was followed by a cough, almost as if his body was trying to dispel the pollen that had entered his body. “Didn’t think silver was such a pain in the ass”, Changbin weakly added after the fit. His eyes were closed as he tried to calm his breathing again.

“Not only the silver. I think the wolfsbane plays an even bigger role”, Seonghwa gently pointed out, shuffling and trying to get a bit closer to the other boy. Even though he had tried it multiple times before and the only thing he had achieved was that his chains dug even more uncomfortably into his skin and caused it to break. Again.

“That makes sense”, Changbin sighed. So out of it that he didn’t even question Seonghwa’s mention of wolfsbane. Because Seonghwa didn’t think the werewolf had caught on that Seonghwa had figured his secret out.

Changbin’s nose wrinkled just as he felt fresh warm blood trailing over his wrist. “You’re bleeding.” It appeared as if he tried to right himself to also get closer to Seonghwa and check on him if his concerned expression was anything to go by. Seonghwa had to give it to him, purely with stubbornness Changbin actually edged a bit closer so that their legs were barely touching before his body slumped down again. “I’m sorry.”

Even in this dire situation, a soft smile grazed Seonghwa’s lips. “Not like you did anything”, he parroted Changbin’s earlier sentiment, causing the younger to chuckle as well. Which soon erupted into another coughing fit, Seonghwa cringed and wished to at least be able to give the other some water.

“Besides, they’ll find us soon. Then we can take a look”, Seonghwa said confidently, even if it got harder and harder to believe it the longer their friends took. Who knows what might have happened to them.

Decidedly, Seonghwa shook his head. No, they would turn up any second now and help them get out of here. There was no other way!

Mingi almost ran into another branch that hang at the level of his head, but Felix pulled him gently out of the way. It had been their routine for almost the entire time they had started tracking their friends again. Well, Chan was tracking and Mingi wasn’t aware of it as Felix had been tasked with distracting him from that fact. Which also caused him to run into multiple objects and forced Felix to pull him out of danger just as much because he was maybe a bit too distracted. But Felix didn’t mind, Mingi was easy to talk to and actually nice if he wasn’t trying to start a fight.

“I truly liked Feyris, I’ve not been in many big cities before”, Mingi had been excitedly talking about all possible spots they’ve been to since Felix had asked if he had liked their town. Honestly, he hadn’t truly thought it through as Felix’ homesickness returned tenfold.

It wasn’t even his hometown, as Chan and himself had grown up in a city far away from Feyris and all surrounding villages. But he had been in the country long enough and with the right people to make it feel like a true home. The politics in their home country were tricky at the best of time and downright dangerous and radical in the last few years. It had ultimately left Felix to flee out of necessity. Sure, he was still sad about what he had to leave behind and that all his efforts to change something for the better had been naught, but Chan and the others had patched some of his broken heart. He couldn’t imagine life without them at this point and hopefully he’d never have to figure it out.

“Have you been to the markets?” Mingi nodded excitedly and started talking about the colorful stands and the appetizing smell of all the food specialties of the city. Felix sighed, dreaming of being back and scouring the market with Minho for fresh groceries. Most of the time it had been their chore as Minho had always driven a hard bargain, and Felix had often gotten stuff for free because everyone seemed to remember him as a steady customer. Minho had told him multiple times that the ladies (and gents) loved him and his looks.

While Mingi kept talking and Felix threw in a comment now and then, Felix looked over to Chan to gauge their progress. Obviously, Chan was tense, but he seemed determined.

Just when Felix wanted to ask how close Chan estimated that they were, Chan interrupted their conversation.

“I think we’re close again.” Felix immediately caught up with him and came to a stop beside him. Mingi was right behind them. “If I’m not wrong, they should be right behind those trees I think.”

Felix hummed thoughtfully, pulling out one of the daggers that Yunho had distributed earlier. On one hand for appearances, on the other hand because Felix was actually one of the people in his pack who had trained with weapons like swords and daggers before. Partly because he had been turned quite late in his life but also because it had been necessary in a certain episode of his life. He always learned quickly by doing.

Mingi followed his example even though he looked very unsure. Felix hoped they wouldn’t really have to fight, it seemed to stress Mingi out.

Hesitantly the group edged forward and approached the tree line slowly. Behind the trees, Felix saw a clearing with a metal cage located in between multiple big trees. Felix could make out two slumped figures inside. His body recognized Changbin even before his mind did and he found himself already running to the other side without looking at his environment.

Chan cried out surprised that he should watch out because there might be shadows around, but Felix figured he was too deep into it now, so he just kept running. Apparently, Chan concluded it as safe because suddenly he was next to him, and they came to a stop before the cage at the same time. Mingi was trailing a bit behind them.

The first thing Felix noticed was the stench of blood in the air. His eyes widened, who was hurt? How bad was it?

“Watch out”, Felix almost jumped at Seonghwa’s soft spoken word, somehow not having expected any of them to be conscious. “There’s a lot of wolfbane around the cage.” Seonghwa gave both of them a meaningful glance and Felix’s breath caught for second when he realized that Seonghwa had apparently figured out that they were werewolves. Next to him, Chan tensed as well but quickly pushed through, trying to figure out a plan.

“Okay, then we’ll have to hurry. Are you hurt?” As Chan spoke, Felix moved closer to Changbin and touched his forehead gently. Felix hissed at the raised temperature. It wasn’t as if it was unexpected, Changbin’s flushed and sweaty skin was a dead giveaway.

Felix couldn’t control the growl that left him when he realized that Changbin was connected to the bars by a silver collar. At the sudden noise, Changbin’s eyes fluttered open again, looking around confused even if his body automatically relaxed as it subconsciously recognized his pack mates and associated it with safety.

“Lixie?” Felix felt his eyes growing wet at the slurred speech, he hated seeing his packmates hurt.

“It’s okay, hyung. We’re here now. Channie-hyung is trying to get you out right now.”

Felix looked up quickly and saw that Chan was indeed trying to get the lock to open but apparently pure force wasn’t the answer. Sadly, he wasn’t making a dent in the iron bars. Mingi was hovering behind Seongwha in a similar position as Felix right now and they kept whispering with each other.

“Fuck!” Understandably, Chan was frustrated, and Felix could see the desperation rising as they both felt the effect of the wolfbane setting in. “This lock is reinforced with magic I think.” Felix started biting on his lip in worry. If the lock was reinforced, he also wouldn’t be able to pick it open.

“If you can somehow break my shackles open, I should be able to help you with that”, Seonghwa’s tired voice pulled them back out of their panic. Mingi seemed to be fussing with said shackles but unable to open them. As quickly as possible Chan went to help him, freezing for a second when he took in the sight.

“Oh”, Felix’s brows furrowed at Chan’s soft reaction. “That makes so much sense.” Seonghwa only chuckled tiredly and moved his wrists closer to the opening so Chan could put his hands on it. There was a lot of blood on his wrists, almost as if the chains were hurting him.

“Bookie, where are the others?” Changbin’s question pulled Felix out of his try to figure the mystery out, Chan would update him later anyway.

“Don’t worry about it, they’re probably by the ship right now.” Changbin frowned at him and even if he might be really out of it, the look he gave Felix now was piercing.

“Don’t lie to me. Don’t try to protect me with these half-assed truths.”

Felix ducked his head in apology but thankfully didn’t have to think of an answer as Chan made a celebrating noise. Somehow, he had managed to bend the shackles so Seonghwa could wriggle his wrists free. As the man kept rubbing his wrists, Felix could see the marks and wounds his bounds had left, partly reminding him of burn marks.

“I do think our jokes about Seonghwa aren’t just jokes”, Changbin whispered sleepily to Felix as if he was telling him a secret. Felix frowned in confusion and was ready to ask his friend to elaborate when Seonghwa got up and went over to the lock. Mingi kept hovering anxiously mumbling something along the lines Careful hyung, don’t touch the bars.

Only when Seonghwa began mumbling something under his breath in a language that Felix didn’t recognize did Felix suddenly realize what all the others were talking about. A soft oh left his lips, almost echoing the reaction of Chan earlier. Eyes filled with wonder, Felix watched as the elf released the spells locking them in and urged the nature to help him. He never really had seen a magic user in action even though he had been working in an antique shop with a lot of magic items. Felix had always had a special interest in magic.

After a few tense moments, the lock gave way and Mingi almost stumbled over his own feet as he tore the door open and pulled Seonghwa in his arms and out of the cage. This way, Mingi was able to stabilize his friend as his legs gave out under him. Chan squeezed past both of them inside the cage and kept fiddling with the silver collar.

“Felix, you have to pick the lock. I can’t break the chain like this.” Immediately Felix jumped up and made his way next to his hyungs. His hands were shaking while he picked the look with the needle he always carried around for that reason. His nervousness rose as he took longer than normal but he could finally breathe again when the quiet click alerted him that he had succeeded.

“Okay, get him out of here.” Before Felix even finished his sentence and as soon as he had ripped the collar apart which caused Changbin to groan, Chan had already scooped the smaller up in his arms and carried him outside.

All of them moved as far away as possible from the cage and wolfsbane while still staying at the clearing as the broad overview made them all relaxed. Chan gently lowered himself to the ground, setting Changbin down and leaning him against his own body. Felix felt uneasy the longer he looked at his normally strong friend rendered so helpless.

“If Felix and I switch from time to time, we should be able to get him back to the ship. Can any of you lead us back?” Right, getting back was a whole new other problem. Felix sighed.

Seonghwa inclined his head in thought. “I might be able to. However, let me quickly help Changbin heal a bit. My powers can’t do everything but I can at least lent him some strength so his body can do the rest quicker.”

“Aren’t you hurt though? You should rest as well”, Chan pointed out even though Felix read in his face that he only hesitated because of human decency. They would do anything to help Changbin.

“It’s fine. Those wounds have to heal the human way anyway. Iron sucks.” But Seonghwa waved their concerns away and simply kneeled next to Changbin, taking his hands in his. The elf closed his eyes and probably did something with his powers. At least Felix felt a slight shift in the pack bond but simply looking at it was a bit awkward. Nothing seemed to change, just two guys holding hands. Felix almost chuckled but held himself back as he didn’t want to make Seonghwa lose his concentration.

As soon as Seonghwa let go of Changbin’s hand and hesitantly got back onto his feet, Changbin slowly opened his eyes, looking more awake than before.

“What’s going on?” A weight lifted from Felix’s chest as Changbin spoke again, almost behaving like normal again. But before anyone could really answer him, their attention got drawn by the shadows that seemed to get closer and closer.

Time seemed to stop for a moment as Felix realized what that meant. Then he angled his body so he could stand protectively before Chan and Changbin as they were still seated on the ground and Changbin probably wouldn’t get up anytime soon.

They had just found Seonghwa and Changbin again, they would get back to the others. At least Felix wouldn’t make it easy for anyone who tried to stop them.

Chapter Text

Minho wouldn’t really call himself a believer. Most of the time he just went through his life and accepted anything that came at him. Some might call Jisung and him destined to be together, soulmates, Minho preferred to think that nothing ethereal had a hand in their relationship. Nothing good ever came out of godly interventions anyway, he’d like to think that their seemingly perfect relationship was all because of them.

However, if the gods were really interested in his meager life, Minho had decided that they must hate him. Of course, there was his childhood, which Minho preferred not to think too deeply about as he’d rather live in the present, and some might say he had had some unlucky tendencies in the past.

But really, Minho had to give it to whoever had decided that Yunho and him should end up together in a pair. At least they had been kind enough to include Jeongin because otherwise Minho doubted both of them would’ve made it back to the ship alive. Minho was aware that he was just as much to blame as Yunho on that front, but honestly, he couldn’t care less.

And if that whole fiasco wasn’t enough, they really had to come across those wolves who were ready to kill them any second now. Minho’s inner wolf was raging at him to let him out, to protect and defend against the threat. But Minho was a bit hesitant, sometimes he was still prone to be stuck as his inner wolf had been feral for too long. Especially if his emotions were running high like right now. And he wouldn’t have his pack leader to fall back on; he’d hate to put Jeongin in that situation.

“What are you doing? Take out your weapons.” Yunho’s hiss brought him back to the situation at hand. For a second Minho frowned, confused by the strange request before he realized that every human would’ve taken the weapons no matter how unskilled they were with it. Suddenly, understanding that their secret would probably be unveiled any second now, Minho exchanged a meaningful glance with Jeongin.

A movement in the corner of the eye caught Minho’s attention. One of the wolves was stalking towards them. It wouldn’t be long now before they attacked as they tried to figure out their weaknesses. Unconsciously, Minho adjusted his stance to more of a defensive position. They probably wouldn’t have enough time to shift now. Most of the time, it took them a few seconds to orientate in their surroundings and body.

Maybe he could hold them off long enough so Jeongin could turn. That would better his survival chances immensely as well. If they were just as hard to fight as the creatures in the forest, well, Minho felt sorry, but he had almost written himself und Yunho off.

Minho shook his head to clear off the negative thoughts, he had to do something that preferably bettered the situation and being pessimistic was not it.

“I’d rather not die”, Minho remembered to answer Yunho’s question, trying to put the younger at ease a bit trough falling back into their banter. Even though he couldn’t exactly see his reaction as his eyes never left the black wolf approaching. Its emerald green eyes seemed to catalogue every little thing about Minho.

Next to him, Jeongin shifted uneasily in his place. He could just as well see the intent to attack and Minho almost hissed at him to get back, turn and run as fast as he could (hoping that the other would run because they really wouldn’t have the time to argue). But before he could get a word out, the muscles of the black wolf tightened, alerting him milliseconds before the jump to twist out the way.

Its claws barely missed Minho, but Minho was too distracted by all the other wolves moving towards them to be grateful for it. Jeongin threw himself against the side of one of them, stumbling as the body seemed to reform itself around Jeongin’s.

Minho cursed, quickly glancing over to Yunho to see that the boy was barely faring any better. “Jeongin, get back and shift”, as Minho spoke, he hurried to his friend’s side, standing protectively in front of him. Except for one wolf, that was battling with Yunho, all four remaining wolves’ eyes turned towards him. A shudder ran down his back, but Minho was nothing if not stubborn. There had to be a way to hurt them, and he’d find it.

As they pounced, Minho somehow dodged most of their attacks, his inner wolf raging to be let out but still invested enough to jerk his body parts away so that teeth and claws only scraped his arms instead of tearing them off. Minho’s teeth hurt, he wanted to sink them into the throats of his opponents in revenge.

A pained yelp behind him alerted Minho of Jeongin’s successful transition. One of the wolves had charged past him, focusing on Jeongin instead and caught his flank in his disorientation. Minho growled in frustration, his limbs flailing and hitting one of the wolves’ head around him by chance in his attempt to get to his friend. Oh, so they weren’t completely invincible at least.

Yunho’s head ripped around at the sudden commotion. “Not another one”, Minho could hear him mutter under his breath before groaning quietly as his wolf tore his claws through his leg, ripping the cloth in the process and hopefully only nicking his skin as he scrambled backwards. Minho couldn’t blame him, Jeongin looked really similar, only a bit taller than the rest of the wolves.

Jeongin shook himself, trying to clear his head of the pain and somehow managed to weasel his way a bit further from his attacker. As Minho got distracted by dodging one of the wolves’ lunges for his chest and moving fluidly to give himself some more space, he could only hear him yipping insistently after a few moments.

Alarmed, Minho tried to turn around immediately but lost his balance as two wolves jumped at him and in turn managed to push him to the ground. Shit, his head bounced painfully. His breath caught in his lungs as he stared up in the eerie green eyes from before, that was it. After everything he’d been through, he’d die at the teeth of a wolf and hadn’t been even able to fight back.

His scent soured because admittedly, Minho came to one of the worsts realizations he ever had. He really really didn’t want to die. But before Minho could feel the sharp teeth embedded into the soft skin of his throat, a black and orange colored blur collided with the wolf hovering above him and released Minho from the weight on his chest. For a second, Minho blinked disorientated before another wolf moved to retake the spot and he scrambled backwards in a hurry.

Jeongin seemed to fare way better now in his wolf form, almost as if his instincts were alerting him where exactly the shadow had materialized right now. Well, Minho supposes for them to deal damage to them, they had to be corporeal somehow.

A pained groan drew Minho’s attention to Yunho and the werewolf almost forgot how to breathe again. The pirate seemed to be struggling more and more, he was surprised he had lasted so long but maybe the wolf found some pleasure in taunting the tall boy and dragging it out. Absently, Minho sidestepped another attack of the two remaining wolves and hissed when he couldn’t pull back his side quickly enough. However, the pain did nothing to sharpen his senses and finally he let go of his inhibitions.

He swore he felt his inner wolf howling in ecstasy, elated to finally be listened to and Minho quickly came to regret it as he got nauseous from the sudden switch of his body and fell to his knees. Quickly shifting was never fun, his control slipped and Minho wasn’t truly aware what was happening as his instincts took over to try and minimize the harm.

He heard someone yowl in pain, and it took him a few seconds to connect it with the sharp pain in his own shoulder. Blindly, Minho snapped around him in hopes of making it stop.  Another yell and a sharp smell of blood filled the clearing. Minho growled. Too much human blood, something was wrong.

Suddenly, Jeongin stood in front of him, somehow having managed to come out of his own fight mostly unscathed and took on both of the wolves biting into Minho’s thick fur and taking advantage of his confusion as way too many scents and sensory impressions pelted into him.

Friend is hurt. Minho came to the sudden realization that Yunho had become scarily quiet, his paws moving before his brain processed. His inner wolf ready to take control and surprisingly Minho didn’t feel too mad about it this time because the scent of blood got more intense by the second.

Minho leaped, landing directly onto the back of the wolf that was biting at Yunho’s arm now, the gray color leaking out of it invoked a deep feeling of concern in Minho. Humans shouldn’t bleed so much, they were so fragile. Yunho looked Minho in the eyes, blinking slowly as the blood loss went to his head, but a glimmer of recognition shone in them.

Time froze before Minho felt his teeth embedding in the neck of the wolf and pulled him back with all of his might. The fur felled fuzzy on his tongue though a weird sense of coldness engulfed him. Yunho’s eyes fell shut and Minho got distracted by the wolf as he squirmed beneath him. For no reason, Minho quickly changed the angle of his bite, his paw suddenly passing through the previous spot but his teeth stayed interlocked as a low growl rumbled in his chest in warning.

With all the tossing and turning, the wolf managed to break free of Minho’s insistent hold and Minho barely realized he moved before he was on him again. His instincts surged, making him able to dodge most of the attacks while also being able to deal a few blows for himself.

For Minho it felt like hours had passed, before he suddenly saw his chance and gave into his wolf’s instincts to sink his teeth into the vulnerable throat of the wolf. Instead of the usual taste of blood, Minho felt the wolf’s body dematerializing between his teeth, not even leaving dust or any other sign behind that he’d been here before.

Confused, Minho inclined his head but quickly got over it as one of the wolves that Jeongin had been fighting more or less let out a quiet bark. Jeongin stumbled in his exhaustion as both of the wolves drew back and he tried to go after them. With disbelief, Minho watched as both of them disappeared into the forest as if they hadn’t just turned their world completely upside down.

Jeongin whined, probably all the pain was starting to set in and judging by the look of his fur, the younger had dealt a lot of blows in his fights. The bitter feeling of guilt seemed to overwhelm him, his wolf was on the verge of bolting to escape the feeling but Minho shook his head. He’d have to take a look at Yunho as the boy hadn’t moved since he pulled the wolf off of him and his breath were labored and loud in the resulting quiet after the fight.

Minho practically ran back to him, urging his body to shift back during it and almost falling on top of Yunho when he actually managed to change his appearance again. Honestly, he hadn’t expected to be successful but it wasn’t like that was the most pressing matter right now.

Though not completely feeling connected with his body, Minho started ripping the bloody fabric apart to get a look at Yunho’s stomach and arms. A sharp sigh left him as he realized how grave the situation was.

“Hyung?” Jeongin appeared next to him, limping but managing to stay upright. Minho hadn’t even noticed that he had changed back. “Is he okay?”

Minho couldn’t bring himself to lie to Jeongin nor deliver the painful truth, so he kept quiet as Jeongin took in Yunho’s state. Minho could relate to his sharp intake of breath. None of them were really sure if Yunho would be able to make it with the amount of blood that he was losing right now.

“Quickly, take off your shirt. We need to put pressure on his wounds”, Minho urged Jeongin as he put his own hands on Yunho’s stomach in the hopes of somehow stopping the blood flow. Not even a few seconds later, Jeongin threw his shirt down on Minho’s hands. Without hesitation, he had ripped it apart and used the other part of the fabric to make a makeshift bandage on Yunho’s arm.

“He’ll be fine, right hyung?” Minho’s heart ached at Jeongin’s desperation but he was never one to sugarcoat the truth. His friends appreciated him for his no-nonsense mentality. Still, he found himself wishing to just ensure Jeongin that everything would be fine and Yunho would get out of this situation unscathed.

“I hope so, we’ve gotta carry him back to the ship quickly. They probably got medical supplies there.” Minho kept fussing with the shirt to bind it around Yunho’s waist so it wouldn’t immediately get jostled when they’d move him. Yunho groaned in pain and Minho felt so bad as if he was personally responsible for the wound. Well, maybe he was. If he had been a bit faster and not hesitated as much, maybe Yunho wouldn’t have gotten hurt this badly.

Jeongin laid his hand on his shoulder, fiddling with Minho’s shirt and he immediately felt bad for making Jeongin take his off. Maybe the younger one was cold. As soon as he finished bandaging Yunho up as good as could, he attempted taking off his shirt to give it to the younger one, but Jeongin sent him a piercing look and shook his head.

“Stop it. I’m fine. Don’t make yourself uncomfortable.” Hesitating, Minho slowly dropped his hands as their eyes were locked, and he searched for any contradictory feeling in Jeongin’s eyes. “Truly, I’m fine. Let’s get Yunho back to the ship.” Jeongin’s voice had softened, and Minho felt the warmth spreading in his chest that took him by surprise every time. Even if it got more frequent the longer he stayed with his pack.

Minho crouched again to pull Yunho into his arms as carefully as he could, but Yunho still frowned and let out noises of pain as his wounds were jostled. While slowly letting out the breath he was holding, Minho tried to get onto his feet without losing his balance. Thankfully, Jeongin gently supported both of them.

“Okay”, Jeongin trailed off, both of the werewolves exchanging a glance as they didn’t necessarily know where the ship was located. Well, if there were any gods that cared for humans, maybe now would be the perfect opportunity to send them a sign or whatever it was that gods normally did.

A branch broke off in the distance. Jeongin shrugged at Minho’s questioning gaze. Why not start in that direction, hopefully they’d stumble across some of the others that could lead them back to the ship.

None of the others moved first. Seungmin got the awful feeling that he had to be the one to take the first step into the cave and once again he wondered how exactly he had ended up in that situation. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken up Chan’s offer to join the pack all those years ago, then he wouldn’t always end up in the weirdest situation. But on the other hand then he wouldn’t have found his pack and would’ve missed out on the best years of his life. Well, and he probably would’ve been dead by now. Seungmin shuddered when he considered the what-ifs of his life. It always invoked a dreadful feeling which was why Seungmin tended not to ponder on it too much.

To escape the uncomfortable crawling of his skin that always started when he thought of that particular time in his life, he pushed forward and entered the cave with almost no hesitation. His eyes only needed a few seconds to adjust to the sudden darkness, but he could hear San and Jongho following him even though they tried to be as quiet as possible. After all, none of them knew what exactly would await them.

As so often in the last hours, Seungmin asked himself if he had finally lost his sanity. He shouldn’t be as okay with it as he was with potentially risking his life and running heedlessly into great danger. Changbin might be in there though, or at least something that would lead them on the right trail because what were the chances that weird symbols which Felix was most likely able to recognize much better, had nothing to do with the other supernatural occurrences that seemed to happen on this island.

Slowly his vision adjusted, making him able to see quite well in the darkness. Perks of being a werewolf. San and Jongho appeared a bit lost, so Seungmin got closer to them again.

“Everyone okay?” San asked, his eyes uneasily trailing all over their surroundings even though Seungmin could tell that it didn’t help him. Both Seungmin and Jongho gave affirmative answers to at least help him with that concern.

“I suppose we just try to get further?” Jongho appeared hesitant as well and Seungmin couldn’t blame him. Even though he could see just fine, he wasn’t a big fan of getting further in the cave as well. But he would for Changbin. He’d almost do anything at this point. Not eat Changbin’s cooking though, that was still a step too far.

All of them trudged further, Seungmin made sure to keep in between San and Jongho so he’d be at their sides in a second if they stumbled. Sadly, he couldn’t really warn them of every inconvenience as it would give him away, but he tried his best to inconspicuously steer them away from holes in the ground or roots hanging into the corridor.

Suddenly San in front of him stopped, almost causing Seungmin to walk right into him as he had been paying attention to Jongho’s steps. He barely managed to stop but Jongho bumped into him and in turn he still fell into San’s back.

Thankfully, San was unbothered and just shifted to pull both of them up again while revealing his reason for stopping so abruptly at the same time. “Didn’t Yunho have us pack candles and matches for situations like this?”

Seungmin groaned, why hadn’t he thought of that. Behind him, Jongho fumbled with his belt and cursed quietly under his breath. “I lost my bag.” That was unfortunate, as far as Seungmin remembered Jongho had also had some knives in there if it was similar to his own.

Seungmin went through his own, pulling out one of the candles and the matches and passing it to San so he could light it up. Then he picked out the knives and handed them to Jongho. It took him a few seconds to realize what he had been passed before he protested loudly and tried to give them back.

“Seungmin-ah, you can’t just give me your knives. You’ll be defenseless.” Shortly, Seungmin got sidetracked by the familiar address before he raised his eyebrows at the black-haired boy.

“I’m not defenseless just because I give you my knives.” The contrary really, but Seungmin couldn’t say that exactly. He’d only used knives to cook before on the rare occasion that Minho tolerated their chaos in his kitchen. But he definitely hadn’t used them to hurt someone else. Plus, he hated hurting people. Memories of blood threatened to pull him under. There had been a time, shortly after he was turned, when he had believed that he had to. But Chan had shown him that it wasn’t necessarily a werewolf’s destiny to be violent and brutal.

“I’m not defenseless either.” The silence that followed was heavy with meaning. It’s not the first time that Seungmin wondered what Jongho was alluding to. “At least take some of them back”, Jongho urged him to take two knifes back and hesitantly Seungmin took them.  A fight right now would be pointless and only waste time.

Behind them, San cursed and Seungmin whipped around to see what’s wrong. The oldest was still struggling to light up the candle. Seemingly, he had slightly burned his fingertips on his last try.

“Halazia, fire really isn’t my element”, San grumbled and sighing Seungmin took the candle and matches back into his own hands. Maybe he should’ve done that from the beginning. He could at least see the matchbox clearly.

A few moments later, Seungmin passed the lit candle back to San who murmured a quick thanks but kept glancing at it as if afraid it would blow out any second. The light it brought wasn’t much, but at least San and Jongho would be able to see where they set their feet now. They trudged on in silence.

Later, Seungmin wasn’t sure how long they had been walking, the passages got brighter. A few steps later, they cautiously entered a spacious room. There was no sunlight reaching it but it somehow still got illuminated, almost as if the plants that were growing on the wall were emitting light for them.

Seungmin could see the odd symbols on the wall again, some of them seemed to be glowing but it might also be a trick of his eyes. Standing here, Seungmin felt unusually alive as if he hadn’t been walking and running for hours.

“What is this?” Seungmin could hear the mistrust in Jongho’s voice as they stepped further into the room. San kept fiddling with his sword as if expecting to be jumped any second now. Luckily, Seungmin didn’t think anyone would be able to hide in this room.

“It’s the same symbols as before”, Seungmin stepped closer to the walls to inspect said symbol. The blue tone reminded Seungmin of the sea but other than that, he wasn’t completely sure what to make of it. The best he could describe it was a wobbly line wrapped by a rope. Seungmin frowned, he really didn’t have any artistic vision.

Still, it seemed to call to him somewhat. Before Seungmin could contemplate the pros and cons of his actions, he started reaching out to touch it. As soon as his fingers came in contact with it, he felt a surge of magic running to his body. Almost as if Yeonjun had given him a healing potion again.

Behind him, he could hear alarmed shouts from San and Jongho as they obviously felt something happening as well. But he was too focused on the glowing symbol in front of him to really pay attention to them. It seemed to get brighter and brighter by the second. The ground beneath his feet shook, almost making him lose his balance.

Suddenly there was a hand on him that ripped him away from the symbol. His breath left his body as he got pushed against the wall next to it and his head hit the wall painfully. The earlier energy left him as well, instead he felt slightly nauseous.

His sickness only intensified when he gazed into San’s furious eyes. “What did you do?” Seungmin blinked, not really understanding the question right away because really, what did he do.

San’s hand sneaked around his throat in anger and Seungmin gulped at the uncomfortableness. When had the other gotten so angry?

“What the fuck did you do?” San shook his body in an attempt to get him to answer. Seungmin winced when his head hit the wall again. San’s grip around his neck tightened the longer Seungmin didn’t answer. But really, he wasn’t sure what he did either.

“What did you do to Jongho? To us?” At this point Seungmin couldn’t tell anymore if San was just angry or desperate and filled with anger. Didn’t really matter anyway because as Seungmin tried to get a glimpse of Jongho, San’s hand tightened even further and slowly but surely it got harder to breathe.

“I’m sorry”, Seungmin tried to get out but to his ear it sounded more like a wheeze than a full sentence. San’s eyes narrowed at him. But Seungmin really was sorry. He still didn’t really know what had happened, but Jongho was crouched on the ground, cradling his own throat as if it hurt. “I didn’t- mean to-“

“You didn’t think”, Seungmin flinched at San’s sharp tone. “You put us all in danger with your careless actions.” Seungmin wished for him to stop, he weakly pawed at San’s fierce grip at his throat but didn’t dare to push the older away completely as to not anger him any further.

The lack of air supply slowly started getting to his head, making him dizzy and Seungmin just wanted to San to let go. Everything in him screamed at him to submit to the older, bare his throat in the hopes of soothing his anger. Or starting to beg to get him to understand as San’s whole presence seemed to be suffocating him right now.

“I’m sorry. Please.”, Seungmin weakly bit out. San’s eyes almost softened at his pitiful display but then Jongho coughed behind him, as if he was fighting for his breath as well and San’s whole demeanor hardened again. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”

San made a sound akin to a growl and Seungmin whined as response, his wolf long since urging him to follow his instincts and submit better because why is he still not satisfied. There had to be a way.

Seungmin’s eyes started burning and then he felt the tears trailing down his cheeks. San’s grip on his throat lessened a bit and Seungmin drew in a desperate breath.

“You did though”, San’s emotionless statement hurt more than his anger before and Seungmin felt something break inside him. A sob forced his way past his lips. But San scoffed at him, pushed him back in the wall again and then walked away to go check on Jongho.

Seungmin’s legs gave up and he inelegantly sank down the wall. Sobs were wrecking his body uncontrollably and even though San’s hands had long left his throat it still felt hard to breathe for him. Through blurry eyes he watched as San kneeled down next to Jongho and whispered comforting words as he stroked his hair. Selfishly he wished for a member of his pack. Seungmin let his head fall against his knees and ignored the pain that followed. He deserved it anyway.

Chapter Text

The compass needle had adjusted its direction again. At this point, Yeosang was almost convinced that Halazia was playing an elaborate trick on them. But Yeosang of course didn’t dare saying it aloud but it was obvious that both Hongjoong and him were getting fed up by the second if the looks they shared were anything to go by. Jisung walked behind them blissfully unaware but still seemingly annoyed at his recent discoveries.

To be honest, Yeosang had kind of forgotten how unusual their traditions and beliefs appeared to outsiders. After all, they didn’t stay long enough in one place to even try to make friendships with anyone outside of the crew. Even if they would, most of them weren’t keen of making friends with strangers anyway.

Hongjoong bit back a curse, Yeosang could see the frustration written in his face as the compass needle abruptly changed its direction again. On a normal day, they might have an easier time believing that Halazia had a reason. It wasn’t a normal day though and Yeosang just wanted to find his friends, pack them up and get away from this island as quickly as possible. The longer it took, the harder it was to believe that Halazia wasn’t just playing games because Jisung had doubted her or whatever petty reason was the cause this time.

Yeosang took a deep breath, reminding himself to calm down his thoughts. Just because he was the favorite of the goddess and had some leeway, didn’t mean she wouldn’t punish him if she felt like it. Halazia didn’t take kindly to being doubted after all, especially from her followers. And Yeosang had a lot to thank her for as well.

“Oh, for fuck-“ Hongjoong bit back his exclamation at the last second but his barely concealed anger was still visible in his tense posture. For a moment, Yeosang thought he’d just throw the compass to the ground out of frustration.

“What’s it now?” Jisung’s bored tone did nothing to ease his captain’s nerves and Yeosang sighed annoyed. Of course, they had to deal with interpersonal problems on top of it. As if magical creatures weren’t enough.

Hongjoong whipped around, his face scarily devoid of emotions and Yeosang would’ve taken a step back if he hadn’t known his captain for years. “It just keeps pointing back and forth since we entered this part of the woods”, Hongjoong pushed the compass in their direction so they could see it. It was weird, Yeosang hadn’t seen it acting like that but then, he wasn’t usually the one reading the compass. That was normally Hongjoong’s or Yunho’s job. “And there’s nothing here that it could be pointing to really.”

Jisung took a deep breath, probably also quite frustrated that they hadn’t found anything and lost their only lead. Yeosang could relate with the sentiment. Confusingly enough, his eyes lit up and he seemed suddenly way more energetic.

Hongjoong and Yeosang both frowned at the odd behavior and exchanged a look. To be honest, Yeosang had expected more sharp comments like the ones Jisung had been muttering the entire time before and not whatever that was.

“It’s okay”, Jisung took a look at their surroundings, almost as if he was searching for something. “Look, I think someone has been here before.” As he said it, Jisung pointed at the ground in the distance.

Narrowing his eyes and stepping closer, Yeosang thought how to gently let the other down as even if there were some traces, it probably would’ve been a deer or something similar. Surprisingly enough, the closer he got the better he could recognize human footsteps. How had Jisung been able to see that from that far? Or known what to look for? His eyes had to be really good for that, Yeosang was a bit jealous even though there was nothing wrong with his own eyesight.

Hongjoong appeared just as surprised as Yeosang and a bit of the tension bled out of him, relieved that they had a new clue. “Let’s follow their trail then. Sooner or later we should find someone.” And since Hongjoong deemed it safe, Yeosang relaxed again and they started walking again.

Jisung had apparently found a new source of energy since he practically bounced next to Yeosang. Admittedly, Yeosang had to look away a few times because he already imagined Jisung sprawled over the floor with his lack of carefulness due to his excitement but he somehow managed to catch himself every time.

At some point they stumbled over old runes, at least that was Hongjoong’s educated guess even though none of them had any clue what they could possibly be for. Yeosang decided that it didn’t really matter anyway as long as they followed them since the group before them seemingly had as well.

Occasionally, Hongjoong pulled out the compass again. Which ultimately only left Yeosang unsettled because it kept pointing in the other direction. It worried him a bit, they hadn’t refused Halazia’s requests so blazingly before. Jisung kept muttering under his breath, more and more excited the further they walked. Yeosang swore he heard him mentioning Seungmin’s name an awful lot which was oddly specific because they had no clue whose footsteps they were following. But Yeosang wasn’t one to judge and he honestly felt himself hoping that either Wooyoung or San would be in the group.

Before long, they stopped before the entrance to a cave which made Yeosang unintentionally shudder. There was something unsettling about it when he stared into the awaiting darkness.

“Anyone has a light? Because I’m not going in there without seeing anything” Yeosang picked up an uneasiness in Jisung’s voice and the younger kept worrying his lip with his teeth.

“I think I might have a candle actually”, Yeosang remembered San pushing a fully packed bag into his arms with their usual explorer kit.

“It’s part of our bags”, Hongjoong explained at Jisung’s confused look while Yeosang searched for the candle and match box. “It’s not much but better than nothing. Carrying torches around has proven to be a bit awkward.” As Jisung nodded in understanding, Yeosang found what he was looking for and lit the flame without problems.

Somehow, Yeosang ended up in the front. Hongjoong had been worried that something would sneak up behind them so he brought up the rear with a slightly wild look in his eyes. Because Yeosang was carrying the light and maybe because Hongjoong deemed even him better in defending than Jisung (though no one of them would dare to allude that to the youngest), he was leading them through the dark tunnels right now.

The candlelight barely illuminated their surroundings but it was enough that Yeosang picked up most silhouettes which saved him from stumbling over some holes in the ground multiple times. Jisung had pushed him to the side when he almost walked into a root. So, it might be bright enough so they can navigate but it for sure still left a dark, scary ambiance. Way too clearly, Yeosang could feel his elevated heartbeat in his chest and he found himself wishing for their wandering to end.

Suddenly the walls around them started shaking, making Yeosang freeze in his step. Jisung whimpered behind him and Yeosang honestly couldn’t blame him because he felt his fear skyrocketing. Were the walls gonna come down? They’d be buried underground and no one would find them so they’d slowly suffocate to death.

Yeosang shuddered at the thought and quickly turned around. They had been walking a few minutes but maybe they’d be fast enough and got out of here before the tunnels collapsed. Hongjoong met his gaze and Yeosang saw his own fear reflected in them even though his captain tried to keep it together for them. Jisung cowered closer to the wall, almost as if he wished to become one with the wall.

“What are you doing? Keep on walking”, Hongjoong urged him. “We’re too far from the entrance, let’s hope there’s something on the way. The others have to be in front of us as well.”

And even if Hongjoong’s vague estimation of a safe space in that direction didn’t reassure him in the slightest, the mention of his friends encouraged him to turn around again and started walking. He felt Jisung sneak a hand on his shoulder, Yeosang didn’t know if he wanted to reassure himself or him but Yeosang was thankful for the touch as it reminded him that he wasn’t alone.

Thankfully, after a few steps the earthquake started to wane and the after shocks got rarer and rarer. Even though they weren’t in immediate danger, Yeosang wasn’t fond of spending any longer underground than he had to, so he kept his fast pace.

“I think we’re almost there”, Yeosang pointed out as the tunnels got slowly brighter and he almost didn’t need the candle to see anymore.

“Be careful. We don’t know what’s gonna be there”, Hongjoong sounded worried and Yeosang hummed in agreement.

“Should we switch places? I can go in front if you want”, Jisung offered surprisingly confident and Yeosang felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“It’s fine”, Yeosang said just as Hongjoong muttered that if they switched places it should be him at the front. “It’d be just chaos if we tried to switch now. Besides, I’ll be okay.” It truly would be chaotic to switch, the tunnels were barely wide enough so they could comfortably walk.

Before anyone could argue with his decision, Yeosang started walking again and soon enough, they stepped into a bright open room. Yeosang didn’t know what he had expected but Seungmin crying in a corner and San hovering over a devastated Jongho who clutched his throat definitely wasn’t it. The relief he had shortly felt when he had seen them turned into horror. What had happened? Jisung pushed past him with an agonized shout as soon as he caught sight of Seungmin. Yeosang shook his head in an attempt to gather his bearing to get to San and Jongho and figure out what was wrong. Hongjoong was directly on his heels.

“Why don’t we just turn him?” Jeongin surprised himself with the question that burst out of him. Since they started walking, Minho and Jeongin hadn’t exchanged words except for soft warnings. Yunho’s labored breath and soft groans when he got jostled were the only things disrupting the silence around them.

Minho sent him a look over his shoulders that conveyed a lot of emotions. The pity in it made Jeongin immediately bristle, uncomfortably aware that he probably had said something fucked up again by accident. He swore there was disgust and anger in there as well and Jeongin shuddered at the thought that it might be directed at him. Even if it was just partly.

After a few comfortable seconds in which Minho obviously debated what to answer, Jeongin continued, hoping to make the older understand. “I mean, that way he won’t die, right? Lixie-Hyung also got better after getting turned, right?”

Minho sighed deeply as if preparing for a long talk and Jeongin already felt chastised even though Minho hadn’t spoken. “You do know that there are multiple problem with that, right? We’d need Chan for that and even then, I am not sure that Yunho’s body would survive the transformation on top of his wounds. He has lost a lot of blood and it all comes down to if the enhanced healing could fix it quick enough.”

Disappointed, Jeongin sighed. Why were humans so fragile? It didn’t seem right that nature had build them like that. “And-“, Minho’s tone became sharp, and Jeongin groaned internally. Great, now the lecture he expected came. “He didn’t consent to it anyway. Remember, no turning people without explicitly asking them first.”

Jeongin sighed again, his hyungs always got like this about consent. To be honest, Jeongin didn’t get it most of the time. The days in his old pack were often a bit blurred in his memory but if he could remember one thing, then it was that there hadn’t been a lot of questions if anyone wanted to do something. If the pack alpha decided, someone had to be turned or punished, then that someone got turned or punished. No questions asked.

There were less problems this way if the strongest wolf decided. Sure, it had brought Jeongin pain und uneasiness, but everything was always so simple. He knew that Hyunjin sometimes struggled with truly understanding their friends preaches about choices and consent as well, but he was better at hiding it. Jeongin didn’t really understand the point of it, he was content with the way his alpha was leading his pack.

“But what if he dies? If we don’t turn him?” Jeongin was still confused and kept biting his lip. Most of the times he hadn’t any issues with asking questions like that now, but on some days, he feared his friends would get annoyed at him and decide they’d had enough. Minho shot him another of those looks over the shoulder and Jeongin considered just letting the topic go.

“Some people would rather die than end up being stuck a wolf, Jeongin. You can’t take that choice from them”, Minho’s voice was calm when he explained but Jeongin could hear the sadness that always came with the topic. His hyungs disliked the views of his old pack.

Stumped, Jeongin blinked and took a few seconds to think it over. Okay, maybe he could kind of understand this point of view. There were certainly some people that had expressed their dislike towards their alpha. Most of them had been older and hadn’t liked the way he had led the pack. Jeongin had been young when he had gotten turned, so had never really felt that way. Maybe Yunho would hate being a wolf as well. And his alpha was very considerate of other’s feelings after all. He could see how that would be a problem.

“Jeongin?” Torn from his thoughts, Jeongin looked up again and noticed he had stopped walking. “Maybe don’t rack your brains too much, you still seem to be in wolf-mode.”

Huh, that might be true, Jeongin’s thoughts were still a bit tumbled and it always was a bit harder to remember how much time had passed since he had left his old pack with Hyunjin for his wolf. His alpha had told him not to worry about it too much, something about his wolf coping with the trauma he experienced. Jeongin blinked slowly, he felt a headache slowly forming.

“Innie?” Jeongin turned his head to Minho. Right, they should keep walking and get Yunho back to the ship. He tried smiling to not worry Minho further, but he had the feeling it might end up as a grimace instead. Giving up on putting on a front, he sighed and instead started walking again.

“I’m fine, let’s get back to the ship.”

Chapter Text

The shadows got closer and closer to them, making Mingi’s heartbeat unnaturally fast. Seonghwa tensed beside him and Mingi could hear his breath hitch. Naturally, Mingi was a scaredy-cat and mostly relied on his hyungs to assure him that everything was fine and he shouldn’t worry. This time, as he took in the scared expressions of all of them around him, Mingi felt a fierce resolve running through his body. Even Felix who bracingly stepped in front of them and hadn’t budged as the shadows drew closer, seemed unnaturally frightened.

With that in mind, Mingi gently loosened Seonghwa’s hold on his arm to step forward next to Felix. The only sign that the younger had noticed his support was the irritated twitch of his eye. Determined, Mingi drew his dagger and looked in the eye of the shadow. Well, at least he looked at where he estimated the eyes would’ve been if the thing in front of them had been entirely human.

“What do you want from us?” The deep, sure cadence of his voice surprised even Mingi himself as it almost felt like someone else had spoken for him. But it fit the unexplained feeling of certainty that the shadows wouldn’t be able to hurt him that had spread through his entire being. It was almost as if a voice whispered to him that they were scared of him. Which would be absolutely nuts, because Mingi wasn’t normally the one that was feared. Sure, at first glance some people might be intimidated by his height but most of the time he embarrassed himself quickly enough so that they rather underestimated him or forgot about the protectiveness of his friends. Their loss. Especially San and Yunho were vicious when someone belittled Mingi after all.

There was no answer and for a second Mingi felt foolish. What had he expected? After all, why would the shadows be capable of talking to them? But then, their fluctuating silhouette drew tighter, drawing Mingi’s attention to their arms that became more pronounced. It appeared that they all started pointing in a direction.

Felix tensed next to him at their movement and Mingi worried he would jump them any second now. Even if he knew nothing about his ability to fight, Mingi wasn’t very confident in his own as Hongjoong hadn’t been able to stop them earlier and they had to protect at least two of their hurt friends.

Speaking of, Seonghwa had stubbornly stumbled closer to him even if he had to be close to passing out right now. The prolonged exposure to iron as well as his usage of power had tired him, Mingi would’ve asked him to take some of his own strength, but the shadows had turned up before he’d been able to make the offer. Chan was still cowered next to Changbin as the boy was barely conscious even if he appeared several shades healthier than before. Seonghwa had tried to convey something about them with his looks to Mingi, but Mingi had honestly been too preoccupied with not freaking out about Seonghwa’s state to care. Even if he had shortly regretted it after not really being able to follow the allusions the other three made but whatever. He’d ask Seonghwa after they got out of their predicament.

The shadows got restless and Mingi guessed that they were trying to tell them something with their gesturing. His eyes narrowed in thought and Felix next to him started to emit a low threatening sound that let the hair of his neck stand up and everything in him told him to get away from the other. Great, so Felix definitely wasn’t defenseless.

“I think they want us to follow them”, Seonghwa’s quiet rough voice pulled Mingi back into the present. Felix didn’t seem fond of the idea as the sound intensified. Mingi ignored the shudder that ran down his back and turned his head to look at Seonghwa. The older looked just as tired and strained as he remembered but a new curiosity had entered his eyes.

“Should we though? I think we should try to leave and get back to the ship.” Chan stood up, gently pulling Changbin up next to him, who managed to stand on his own two feet. Well, at least he heavily leaned against Chan who didn’t seem bothered by the additional weight in the slightest. “They did kidnap you and who knows where they want to lead us.”

Mingi nodded in agreement and even Seonghwa didn’t seem keen on arguing about that point. The elf only shrugged and looked back at the shadows. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think they’ll let us leave without a fight.”

All of them were tense at the thought, they weren’t in a position to fight and all of them knew it. Changbin and Seonghwa were barely holding on and they needed to get back to the ship as soon as possible to treat their wounds. Especially Changbin, and Mingi doubted that overcoming the fever and intoxication without medications was that simple.

“Well, following doesn’t seem like a good idea either. Changbin should rest.” Still, Chan pushed forward, seemingly determined to take care of his friend.

“I’m fine, alpha”, Mingi almost missed Changbin’s muttering and found himself frowning at the weird honorific. Maybe it was a regional thing as he had never heard of it before. “Don’t lie, hyung”, Felix voice was sharp from all the worry and Changbin immediately quieted down again.

“Fighting won’t be easy either. I fear neither me nor Changbin will be a big help”, Seonghwa looked apologetic, and Chan seemed defeated because all of them had known it as well before Seonghwa had put it into words.

Apparently, the shadows got impatient as they edged closer and made all of them jump in return at the sudden coldness that creeped over their skin. Mingi clutched his dagger tighter and tried making himself taller. Felix next to him had restarted the low grumbling again.

“It’s okay”, Chan’s voice still had a calming effect on Mingi even if the tension translated into his tone. “We’ll look where they’ll lead us for now. Changbin can lean on me, or I’ll carry him. I’m sure Mingi and Felix will help you, Seonghwa-ssi.”

Following the shadows proved even harder than Mingi expected. For one, Seonghwa kept stumbling even if he insisted, he was fine. When Mingi had finally snapped and told him to just take some of his own strength, Seonghwa had still hesitated as he didn’t want to let him run around drained either. Chan had supported Mingi’s arguments that they had better chances if both of them were at least at half of their strength. Even though Mingi wasn’t sure why they acted like it was common knowledge that Seonghwa was an elf, he appreciated the support in convincing his self-sacrificing hyung that Mingi was indeed sure. After that, Mingi’s own steps were a bit messy at times but in summary both of them coordinated well enough for no major incidents. To be fair, even on his best days, Mingi was clumsy at default, so it wasn’t like he was majorly affected by lending Seonghwa strength.

Secondly, Changbin’s state was apparently way worse than Mingi had previously guessed because he kept stumbling and Chan and Felix in turn kept trying to convince him that they could carry him and it wouldn’t be a problem. Selfishly, Mingi avoided jumping in to help them since he didn’t want to be a subject to Changbin’s murderous glare. Neither Felix nor Chan were bothered by it. Probably purely out of spite, Changbin seemed more and more conscious the longer they walked and slowly his steps got surer again even though he still heavily leaned on Chan or Felix.

Thirdly, the shadows weren’t used to the human limits of space and time. Which inherently proved to be a problem again as they simply glided through the steep hill that extended in front of them. Felix cursed eloquently next to him again. The first time it happened, Mingi had almost jumped out of surprise as he couldn’t imagine someone that looked so innocently to have such graphic vocabulary. Since Changbin and Chan hadn’t reacted at all, he figured it was a rather common occurrence. Seonghwa had looked vaguely surprised as well but more importantly his eyes had sparkled with amusement at Mingi’s reaction. In return, a light blush rose on Mingi’s cheeks.

However, they still had to figure out how to make out their way over the hindrances just for the shadows to wait impatiently on the other side. Mingi bit back a scream because they could just search for a better path for them if they were in a hurry. Which Mingi wouldn’t know because on top of everything, he still didn’t know where they were leading them.

After what felt like hours, they reached an entrance to a mystic cave. The entrance was barely visible, hidden beneath vines and leaves in a dark vibrant green. Even though the colors might be welcoming, Mingi immediately wasn’t a fan when he realized the shadows wanted them to get into the darkness behind the plants.

“If this doesn’t feel like a trap, then I sure as hell don’t know what else does”, Felix muttered darkly behind him, his voice several pitches deeper and it honestly bordered on a growl. And Mingi had to agree with the younger, it felt careless simply walking in there and hoping everything would be fine. Especially since two have them had already been captured and severely injured.

All of them sent each other looks, as if trying to convey their doubts. Maybe now was the time to try to fight them after all. Seonghwa and Changbin at least seemed a bit steadier on their feet and Changbin was mostly able to stand by himself again. As if all of them came to one conclusion at the same time, they turned around in synch and abruptly stopped when they came to face with even more shadows that were menacingly close.

“Great”, Mingi was a bit embarrassed by the startled yell that escaped his lips since he guessed you could technically describe it as a squeak. At least the others didn’t necessarily fare any better as they all flinched backwards in surprise.

“I guess that way isn’t an option anymore”, Chan sighed dejectedly and Mingi could almost watch in real time as his hair got grayer with the added stress. “Really, I should’ve thought about that earlier.”

“We should’ve thought about that earlier”, Seonghwa put in vehemently causing Chan to hum in confusion. “We should’ve thought about that earlier, it’s not your fault or only your responsibility.” Mingi was a bit confused at the sudden softness of Seonghwa’s voice and why he was so desperate to convey his point. But Mingi thought it was nice of him either way.

“Right”, Chan trailed off awkwardly but didn’t dare to say anything else as his own friends nodded vehemently.

“Good! You should keep telling him that, Seonghwa-ssi, he’s too polite to argue with you like he would with us”, Felix chirped happily, giving his leader’s insecurities away like it wasn’t something big and Chan spluttered indignantly.

The shadows pressed closer, making Mingi shudder uncomfortably. “Guess there’s nothing we could do about this except for going in this cave”, Mingi muttered annoyed and even though he hadn’t been that loud everyone nodded or sighed at his statement.

At a second glance, Mingi could see old letters pressed into the washed-out sandstone that were partly covered by the green. Seonghwa’s voice was rough and grave when he tried to sound out the words.

“What do they mean?” Seonghwa looked weirdly at Mingi, as if that question in itself was stupid before his eyes softened fondly.

“Mingi-ah, we shouldn’t try to learn the language of the gods.” Ah right, that made sense. The letters seemed similar to the ones on Hongjoong’s compass after all.

Behind them, the shadows pressed even closer and Mingi and the rest stumbled into the entrance of the cave before the cold could envelop them completely.

Generally speaking, Wooyoung was an open-minded guy. Most of the time he even had fun speaking with a lot of different people. After all, that was the reason why he even was stuck with his newfound family now. He had grown up in a very secluded community. The merfolk hadn’t been keen on interacting with the human world, especially not after all the wars they had fought with each other. His parents had always wanted to keep him as far away from trouble as possible. Wooyoung wasn’t sure how they had thought that that was even a possibility. As far as he was aware, he had always a special quirk of attracting trouble.

However, Wooyoung still thanked Halazia and all the other gods above that might have played a part in this that he had ended up with Hyunjin on their little excurse over the island. At least he was one of the reasonable ones of the strays. And unbelievably pretty. And Wooyoung totally wasn’t jealous of his long brown hair. Not at all. However, he was unreasonably giddy about the fact that Hyunjin had let him braid his hair as a sign of trust. Especially since they weren’t really meant to get along with all the little fights their friends had started with each other.

Which did not mean that Wooyoung was perfectly fine with the situation. Not at all. He’d rather have someone from his crew by his side. At least they would’ve told him to shut up. Wooyoung was nervous. And when Wooyoung got nervous he got even more talkative than normal. Which in itself usually wasn’t a problem but normally he wasn’t trying to keep his entire magical race a secret and his brain somehow hadn’t gotten that memo yet that Hyunjin shouldn’t get to know that particular information about him.

Thankfully, Hyunjin didn’t even twitch at any of his weird comments that might allude to anything supernatural. Either the other was genuinely that oblivious, ignoring them out of politeness or not at all fazed by the revelation. If Wooyoung was honest, it was probably a mixture out of all the things since Hyunjin had been behaving quite weirdly as well while trying to track their friends. They definitely weren’t following any obvious trails and in the back of Wooyoung’s mind, a memory was insistently nudging as if he was supposed to know something about Hyunjin by now.

But really, after his own blunder with that whole element talk that Hyunjin had just glossed over as if he hadn’t outed himself, Wooyoung supposed he owed him to not pay too much attention to the other’s eccentrics. Suddenly, Hyunjin tensed next to him and Wooyoung found himself responding in kind.

“What? What’s wrong?” Wooyoung looked closer at his surroundings and tried to feel within his own magic if something supernatural was going on. But he came up with nothing. Which wasn’t really surprising because as he had correctly pointed out before, the forest really wasn’t his element and there wasn’t an awful lot he could do right now.

Hyunjin’s eyes flitted across the trees frantically as if searching for something. His gaze reminded Wooyoung of a feral, cornered predator and weirdly, for the first time he wanted to take a step back to get some distance in between them. The moment passed when Hyunjin blinked again, instead looking worried.

“There’s so much blood.” Wooyoung felt a cold shudder run down his spine at the desperate statement. “They’re close but there’s so much blood.” Wooyoung took a deep breath to not explode at Hyunjin because that didn’t clear up that much. But the other boy probably didn’t know much more either. Even if he was some kind of supernatural being with enhanced senses. Probably.

“Then c’mon. Lead the way.” Thankfully, Wooyoung’s words spurred the other in action and he pulled Wooyoung along, his grip on Wooyoung’s arm almost bruising but he decided he couldn’t blame him for it. The tension in Hyunjin’s shoulder cued him in enough how serious the situation was.

Even though they were practically sprinting through the forest, neither Hyunjin or himself lost their footing and soon enough they almost ran into Minho and Jeongin who had taken a defensive stance since they hadn’t cared to move soundlessly.

Jeongin had positioned himself directly in front of his older friend and for a moment Wooyoung swore he saw him baring his teeth. When they realized it was Hyunjin, they relaxed immediately and Jeongin shuffled next to Minho. Seemingly, torn between running towards Hyunjin and staying at Minho’s side.

But before Wooyoung could ponder about that thought any longer, he heard Hyunjin taking a sharp inhale of breath. Wooyoung’s brain caught up a second later. As Minho regarded him with a worried look, he realized that the lumped figure in the older’s arms was Yunho. Who was decidedly not okay, his skin way too pale and even through the makeshift bandages Wooyoung could see too much blood.

He felt his brain shutting down while trying to make sense of what exactly he was seeing and what must have happened. Shortly, he almost lost control of his magic as it swirled just as desperately in him as he felt. He closed his eyes to regain his control and when he opened them again, he saw that Hyunjin had moved closer to his own friends and Wooyoung almost felt as if they were standing on other sides of a fight.

His resolve hardened and his voice came out biting when he spoke next. “What the fuck did you do to him?”

In his mind there was no doubt that whatever happened was Minho’s or Jeongin’s doing. For once, Minho had obviously disliked Yunho and Wooyoung had seen enough signs to realize that something was going on with the boys that had hijacked their ship. And Minho looked so obviously guilty, never really looking Wooyoung in his eyes.

All of them tensed at the aggression in Wooyoung’s voice, Wooyoung felt the water around him getting drawn to him even if there wasn’t much around. It really wouldn’t be an evenly matched fight if push came to shove but Wooyoung was pissed and absolutely nothing would stop him to get to Yunho.

“I’m sure-“ Hyunjin started but Wooyoung couldn’t care less. He was sure his eyes were glowing a bright blue at this point, probably what made Hyunjin trail off in irritation. A flicker of something passed over the others’ faces.

“I understand that you’re upset, but we really have to bring-“ Wooyoung’s rage tripled when Minho dared opening his mouth. A little waterspout started dancing in between them and he saw all three of them taking a hesitant step back. Wooyoung brightened with glee. Good, they should see that he wasn’t incapable.

“Get away from him”, Wooyoung hissed, his waterspout moving threateningly closer to underline his words.

“Wooyoung”, Minho’s grip on Yunho tightened subconsciously and Wooyoung’s eyes narrowed when he heard his friend groaning lowly in pain. “Please, we need-“

“Put him down and get away”, Wooyoung’s eyes flashed in anger at being ignored. His anger came in waves, rising with every single one. If Wooyoung were to stand near an actual body of water, his mood would surely be reflected in it for the outside world to see. Doubtfully, Minho lowered Yunho gently to the ground and Wooyoung’s eyes twitched in irritation. Of course, now he pretends to care for him. Wooyoung wasn’t easy to fool though.

When Minho’s arms were empty again, he raised his hands defensively. Wooyoung felt his magic flare up in irritation, the waterspout almost enveloping Jeongin entirely in response. Minho’s eyes hardened at the threat and even Hyunjin’s eyes who had seemed the most neutral one until now, glinted dangerously.

Jeongin’s nose turned up in dismay at the prospect of getting drenched with water, probably not even realizing the possible danger he was in. If Wooyoung cared, he would notice how out of it the younger seemed. As it was, he only truly saw (surely) Yunho’s blood sticking on Jeongin’s bare chest because he couldn’t see any open injuries.

“Don’t you dare”, Hyunjin’s voice was low enough to be called a growl and Wooyoung clenched his teeth. They still didn’t create the impression that they would move away soon from Yunho’s slumped body.

“Then get away from him!” Distantly Wooyoung found himself wishing that anyone else from his crew was drawn by his loud yell. He was aware that his chances against those three were slim, especially because he knew that there was something not human about them.

Wooyoung wasn’t sure what exactly changed in that moment but somehow all of them reacted at the same time. Finally, Wooyoung let his magic truly push onto Jeongin who seemed genuinely shook by the cold water wrapping around him for a second before a heavy weight collapsed into Wooyoung’s body and broke his concentration.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Hyunjin comforting Jeongin. Wooyoung’s magic had faltered after the sudden impact. The world slowed down when he felt himself falling to the ground. Confused, he blinked up at Minho as the other broke his fall at the last possible moment even though rage filled the other’s eyes.

“Snap out of it, Wooyoung”, Wooyoung flinched back at the barely suppressed anger in Minho’s voice. He started flailing and trying to get Minho off him, but the man’s grip was unyielding. “If you don’t get your shit together right now, Yunho will bleed out. I don’t think you want to be responsible for that. We just want to help you!”

Wooyoung stilled, a deep-rooted fear fell over him and shortly rendered him unable to breathe properly. As if to prove Minho’s point, Yunho let out a soft groan and Wooyoung felt helplessness rising as he took in his pale, clammy skin.

Jeongin and Hyunjin were startled into action, both of them crouching next to his friend’s still form. “Wooyoung, please, we have to bring him back to the ship as fast as possible.”

Wooyoung almost bristled at Hyunjin’s comment. Of course, he didn’t want Yunho to die because of him. He liked to think that he had been trying to protect him after all. Wooyoung still wasn’t too sure about Minho’s intentions and how Yunho had ended up like that. But right now, Wooyoung decided that it didn’t matter. They were right after all, they had to bring Yunho back as quickly as possible.

Apparently, Minho could see the switch in his face as he quickly stood up again and awkwardly held his hand in the air to help Wooyoung up. Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Wooyoung took the offered hand hesitantly.

While both of them patted down their clothes to free them from the dirt and Wooyoung tried to get over his embarrassment now that his anger had left him, he swore he heard a relieved intake of breath from Hyunjin. Jeongin had already gathered Yunho into his arms to carry him. Absently, Wooyoung wondered how strong all of them were to carry his friend that effortlessly.

“We’re okay now?” Minho looked at him with a calculating gaze and Wooyoung found himself nodding before he even processed the question. It didn’t matter anyway as he rushed over to Jeongin’s side and take a closer look at Yunho’s face. Gently, he brushed a strand of hair behind Yunho’s ear as it was sticking to his sweaty forehead.

“You said you could lead us back to the ship?” Hyunjin prompted him into nodding again. Right, he could do that. He had to; Yunho had to be fine. Taking a deep breath to hopefully keep the rising panic at bay, Wooyoung concentrated to reach out to the sea and The Outlaw. If he sent out a quick prayer to Halazia to help him on their way, no one had to know. Well, it wasn’t like Halazia listened to their prayers all too often. Still, Wooyoung found himself hoping that everything would turn out okay.

Chapter Text

Felix couldn’t believe his eyes when the small corridor they had been walking through for the last few minutes opened up into a gigantic cave. Surprisingly, he thought that probably not even the ballroom of the palace was as big. Not like Felix had ever been there but in Changbin’s retellings it had been unbelievable big. At least Changbin’s eyes visibly widened when he took in the room next to him.

The room was sparsely lit, Felix couldn’t pinpoint from where the light was even coming from, but it was enough for him to take in the high walls in front of which the shadows were bustling. A crevice ran right through the room, making it look even bigger. Green plants hung from the ceiling and the soft splashing of water caught Felix's attention.

If it weren’t for the stone pedestal located at the back of the space, Felix would’ve thought it would be a nice, relaxing place. But the black-haired man kneeling on it made Felix frown in concern.

When they stepped closer, he could see that he was actually chained to the wall. His limbs were pulled apart so that there wouldn’t be a chance that he’d be able to free himself even if the thick metal chains made every chance of escaping impossible in the first place. His skin seemed unnaturally pale, leaving Felix wondering how long he’d been under the ground for. His heart clenched at the thought, it’d be a nightmare to be locked up underground with no way to escape. Possibly never seeing the sunlight again.

The five of them exchanged looks. Relieved, Felix noticed that both Seonghwa and Changbin did seem livelier again. Adrenaline could do wonders to the body. Oh, and Changbin’s supernatural healing of course.

The man’s eyes were closed even when they came to a stop in front of the stone pillar. Now that they were closer, Felix was struck with his youngish, boyish features and it left him guessing how old the man was. Or boy? Felix really couldn’t tell. When he quickly glanced at the other, he saw that they had become just as worried as him. What was the meaning of all this? It hadn’t looked like the isle had been regularly frequented in a long time.

Chan awkwardly cleared his throat in the hopes of drawing the boy’s attention without startling him too much. Instead of flinching, the boy slowly opened his eyes and sent them a smile that was slightly off to Felix.

“Can we help you? Are you okay?” Felix assumed that Chan did feel as unsettled as him as he gazed in the unnatural electric blue eyes. Still, their alpha was nice enough to offer someone in need help.

The boy blinked and his smile sharpened. In response, a shiver ran down Felix’s spine. For a second, he swore that his eyes became a bottomless pit which promised to suck Felix and all his secrets in. When Felix blinked again, everything was normal again. Irritated, Felix shook his head. Maybe he was more tired than he thought if he started seeing shit.

“It’s nice of you to finally join me.” Felix’s hackle rose as the boy spoke. His voice was nothing like Felix had expected. The voice was entrancing to listen to, leaving Felix with the want to do anything so that the other kept talking. A lower cadence resonated through the room; it struck Felix in the bones and almost left him breathless. An aura of power leaked from being in front of him. Felix felt overwhelmed and froze in his place. Changbin stumbled a step backwards and Chan seemed awfully unbalanced as well.

“Who are you?” Seonghwa’s voice was self-assured, and Felix honestly wondered how he kept his cool. The deity trailed his eyes on Seonghwa, raising his eyebrows as if surprised that someone dared to speak up. Then his eyes lit up with delight.

“Oh, you’re one of Halazias’. I can see why you’d be so foolish then. She always had a lax hand.” Felix frowned in confusion. It didn’t exactly help when Mingi snorted quietly at the statement as if he had understood anything. Seonghwa rammed his elbow in the side of Mingi as if he wanted to shut him up. Mingi groaned in pain.

“Interesting”, Felix shuddered and was forever grateful that he wasn’t in Mingi’s place when the boy looked over him with a calculating gaze. “You can call me Zala”, Felix entire body did something as Zala mentioned his name. It wasn’t a feeling he had ever experienced or had any words for. The closest thing would be maybe a mixture of awe, longing and hesitancy as well. Felix felt stuck between the need to fall on his knees and backing away as quickly as possible. Needless to say, it wasn’t a feeling Felix was keen on experiencing again.

Changbin’s hand sneaked into his own and Felix could feel the other one physically shaking. Or maybe it was Felix. At this point he couldn’t tell anymore.

“Now that that’s settled, you can finally free me. I’ve been waiting for centuries after all.” Felix blinked, stunned at the audacity. On the other hand, it was a god. What did he expect. The whole world operated on their whims.

“No.” Felix flinched at Chan’s biting voice. The older sounded like he had barely summoned the power to speak the denial and Felix felt as if had rejected the god himself. In a way he had, Chan had at least spoken on behalf of their pack as he let the authority only a pack leader had bled into his voice.

“Excuse me?” Zala seemed genuinely puzzled, as if he had never heard that word before.

“Why should we?” Seonghwa pushed forward when Chan was obviously struggling with speaking up again, seemingly way less bothered about it. Maybe almost used to it. To be honest, Felix wasn’t sure he’d be able to choke any words out by now, a fear had gripped him by his neck and his inner instincts were howling at him to listen to Zala.

“Why?” The god trailed off, probably he was still trying to make sense of it. His eyes lit up again and Felix was a bit scared about what solution he had come up with. “Right, mortals are greedy and foolish. That hasn’t changed in the decades that I have been robbed.”

Felix flinched at the raw anger he could see in Zala’s eyes; it was almost as if an electric fire burned in them.

“Why are you locked up?” Chan’s expression was unusual stern. A short flash of annoyance traveled over Zala’s face.

“Because they feared me. Us. They were scared of what we would do. That we wouldn’t let them walk over us any longer.” Felix didn’t know why he felt oddly connected to the god. Something in him preened at his words and urged him to take a few steps closer because finally he felt complete.

“Us?” Apparently, Seonghwa didn’t feel the same level of connectedness. Felix frowned, his mating bond with his two pack members hummed in recognition. It clued him in that they all must feel very similar right now.

“Not you. The wolves obviously.” Zala seemed genuinely confused at the irritation. “You’re not of my blood. Why would the gods fear you?”

A cold shiver ran down Felix’s spine as his processed what exactly the god alluded to and for a second the time slowed down for them. He exchanged unsure glances with his packmates and without having to exchange any words all of them took a hesitant step back.  Mingi gave away a confused noise while Zala’s eyes narrowed when he noticed their distance.

“Don’t be like that. I’ve created your kind after all, you’re part of me as much as I’m part of you.” At his piercing gaze, Felix froze, and breathing got considerably harder. His inner wolf begged him to do something, to join Zala even if it meant going against his pack alpha’s orders (which it also whined about at the same time). Felix felt a headache creeping up at his inner turmoil. Mingi’s head whipped around to them, his eyes were wide and he looked as if he had finally solved a particularly hard puzzle.

If the situation wasn’t so serious, Felix would’ve probably teased him a bit for the way his jaw had dropped open. Even though he wasn’t completely sure what revelation had come to the taller boy right now.

“Wolves as in Werewolves?”, Mingi’s voice was low, probably only meant for Seonghwa beside him but since no one in the room (except for Mingi) was, well, normal, Felix winced at his disbelieving and almost disgusted tone.

“Ah right. You have been keeping secrets from one another.” If Felix wasn’t already completely preoccupied with being afraid right now, he would’ve probably bristled at the carelessness with which Zala addressed them. It was almost as if everything about them was a big game for him and he was entertained by their emotions and life.

Changbin growled lowly next to him, the other boy tended to rather focus on his anger than fear after all. He claimed it made him more productive at least. Zala sent him a reprimanding look and Changbin tensed up immediately even though he still emitted a low rumble.

“None of that. I believe it is time you start unlocking my chains.” 

“What would happen if we freed you?”, Chan looked almost as if he was in pain. The pull that compelled him to just shut up and follow Zala’s words had been getting stronger for Felix and the only thing holding him back from acting on it was Changbin’s intertwined hand and Chan’s body as the older had protectively stepped in front of Felix and Changbin at one point. Well, and Felix’s stubbornness. He wasn’t a big fan of being forced into doing something.

Zala looked at them like they were stupid again, Felix could visibly see how his patience started to run out. “I’d make them see the truth. I’d make the humans regret ever laying a hand on my children. The gods would see their misdoings. Aren’t you tired of always being incarnated evil? I’d make it stop. You wouldn’t have to live in fear anymore.”

Felix flinched back at the maniac glint in Zala’s blue eyes but he couldn’t deny the hope that spread through him when he heard those words. Seongwha awkwardly cleared his throat and like a spell was lifted, all three werewolves shook their heads and looked at the elf. Seonghwa and Mingi were sporting a concerned expression, both of their hands were clasping little daggers and Felix was surprised he hadn’t noticed that they had pulled them out.

Chan’s and Seonghwa’s eyes met and since Felix couldn’t see much more than Chan’s tousled back of the head, he didn’t know to what conclusion they had come until Seonghwa spoke again.

“We won’t help you.”

Zala let out a long-suffering sigh as if he had expected it but still was disappointed in them for it. Felix didn’t like that he felt as if he had disappointed his mother and was six years old again.

“I did give you the choice to join me willingly”, Felix felt apprehension rolling over him as Zala’s words echoed through the wide chamber. He seemed more powerful than before, more like a god than a young boy. “I hate to do this, really. Your friends are suffering. I’d hate for them to turn on each other, or worse, die but you’re not leaving me with another choice right now.”

As Zala spoke, unusually soft and silken, the air around him warped and started shimmering. Felix’s fear skyrocketed because what did he mean by the threats that accompanied his words. A few seconds later, he could make out sceneries in low qualities.

A whimper escaped him when he saw Jisung trudging through a small corridor between Hongjoong and Yeosang. All three of them seemed exhausted. Felix could clearly make out the tension in Jisung’s body, he moved as if he had just had an argument and was still carrying around the rage, guilt and anxiousness that so frequently tried to swallow him. Distantly he heard a soft gasp next to him, Seonghwa and Mingi were probably just as shocked as they were at what they were seeing.

Before any of them could say anything further, maybe beg the god to tell them what was going on or scream at him for keeping them here, the scene morphed. Shortly, Felix was confused as the background got grayer and he thought he was seeing the stone walls around them again even though the air was still shimmering. But then he could see Seungmin pressed against the wall, obviously in distress as tears ran down his cheeks and his entire posture begged the other person to let go of his throat. A growl ripped out of Felix unprompted as he realized that San was crowding his younger friend against the wall with blazing anger in his eyes. Felix moved forwards almost on instinct and let go of Changbin’s hand, but Chan’s broad shoulders held him back before he could get any closer to the god. Felix’s growl intensified but this time directed at Chan because how could he just keep standing there when Seungmin was so obviously suffering.

“Calm down, Lixie. I’m sorry. We can’t do anything right now.” When their eyes looked, Felix calmed down again at the sorrow and despair in his alpha’s eyes. All of them were itching to do something. Seongwha and Mingi had let out choked noises at this scene and had turned around to them in worry. None of them knew what was going on and Felix started to consider that maybe not knowing the context was making him feel worse than Zala’s ominous words before.

Forcing himself to look at the scene again, he saw Seungmin now slumped against the wall and San was cradling Jongho against his chest in a desperate try to comfort his maknae as Jongho seemed to be in despair about something and clutching his throat. A queasy feeling filled Felix’s chest, he desperately wanted to know what was going on. In no world would he believe that Seungmin might’ve done something to hurt the other two on purpose, he would rather think that San had somehow lost it but truly he just felt confused at what he was seeing.

The scenery changed again, and Felix found himself praying that it wouldn’t be something so drastic again. The gray of the stone walls got replaced by the soft dark green of the forest, mixed with warm shades of brown. He blinked and suddenly the clearing was filled with more of his friends. He needed a few seconds to process the chaos that was so clearly unfolding in front of him. Mingi’s outcry and Seonghwa’s gutted sound were the last clues missing so that he realized that his eyes weren’t playing a trick on him.

Yunho was slumped on the ground and looked deathly pale. His chest and stomach were wrapped by makeshift bloody bandages that seemed like it had been a shirt before. Suddenly, Yunho’s body got carefully lifted in Jeongin’s arm. Jeongin wasn’t wearing a shirt, making Felix able to see the blood on his chest and stomach and he frowned in worry because he couldn’t tell if it was the younger wolf’s own blood or Yunho’s. Both wouldn’t be good, and Felix couldn’t decide what he’d prefer.

Hyunjin was orbiting worriedly around the younger boy, obviously not knowing how to help or what to do. Completely unreasonably Felix noted that the older had braided his hair. To get himself back on track again, he shook his head determinedly and glanced over to Mingi and Seonghwa. Both of them had turned pale, Seongwha seemed speechless, his lips moving without a word coming out. Felix heart clenched uncomfortably. It didn’t get better when his eyes trailed to Mingi. The tall pirate had tears in his eyes, his entire body seemed to be shivering, and Felix felt his eyes growing wet in sympathy. All of them were emitting a devastating mix of fear, disbelief, anger and sadness right now. Though the sadness lay bitter on Felix’s tongue.

When he looked back to the shimmering air, he saw that Wooyoung and Minho had stepped into frame, closer to the trio and Felix almost let out a sighed of relief. Minho would know what to do, Minho always knew what to do. Wooyoung looked ruffled, as if he had just gotten into a fight. Felix supposed that was probably what had happened, Yunho had to have gotten hurt somehow and even if Wooyoung hadn’t been there, he watched his friend losing a worrying amount of blood.

“Why are you doing this to us? Are you showing us this just to torture us?” Changbin’s angry voice right next to Felix startled him. He had been so invested in the scene in front of him that he had almost forgotten about Zala. The god was still gazing down at him as if he was looking at his prey. In a way they were his prey.

“Oh no, I’m not that cruel. You’re just asking the wrong questions and I want you to keep in mind what you could lose.”  Felix’s anger rose at the nonchalant way that Zala was speaking about their friends suffering. Next to him, Seonghwa took a deep breath as if bracing himself for something.

“What do you want from us? What do we have to do to save our friends? So you will let us go?” The smile that spread on Zala’s lips invoked in Felix the desire to run. But his feet were rooted to the spot and he couldn’t leave the others behind, so he stayed anyway.

“See, that’s the spirit.” Zala’s eyes trailed over them again. Felix shuddered and Changbin interlocked their hands again. “It’s really a small price. I need you, elf.” His gaze snapped from Mingi and Seonghwa over to them. “And you, wolf.”

Felix felt himself automatically stepping up next to Chan and tugged Changbin right up next to them. Chan sent them a dirty look, obviously having thought that they’d just let him sacrifice himself to the god or whatever Zala wanted of them. Zala laughed in delight at their little non-verbal argument.

“Very sweet. But I need your alpha, little one.” Felix growled in warning at the belittling tone, but Zala seemed to only grow more amused and continued as if he hadn’t heard his protests.

“Lend me your powers. Just for a moment to complete the ritual and free me from my chains. Then I’ll let you free and you can go to your friends.”

All of them froze at the proposition, not particularly keen to find out what that ritual entailed but they all knew they didn’t have a choice if they wanted Yunho to live. Or if they wanted to see their friends again. The shadows from the walls were circling closer again, Felix felt goosebumps erupting on his body at their sudden closeness.

Seonghwa and Chan exchanged a glance and both stepped forward in unity. Zala beckoned them forward with a devious smile while ensuring that there wouldn’t be any harm to them. Felix wasn’t sure how much trust he could put into his words but they didn’t have a choice.

Zala coaxed Chan and Seonghwa to place their hands on his chains, his voice never losing the patronizing tone and Felix was caught between not taking his eyes off them in support of Chan and hiding in Changbin’s arms because he didn’t want to see Chan facing dangers head-on like this.

“And now just keep pushing your energy towards me, I’ll do the rest.”

Chan looked back at them for a second, a determined glint in his eyes and Felix saw him mouthing everything will be fine, don’t worry before he turned around again and took a deep breath.

Even though werewolves weren’t inclined to feel magic normally, Felix could feel it crackling sharply in the room by the sheer amount that was emitting from the trio in front of them right now. Mingi stepped closer to Felix and Changbin, probably searching for comfort in their presence because no one really wanted to imagine what would happen after the chains fell. Zala didn’t even promise an oath to let them go and not hurt them. Not that there were many binding gods as far as Felix was aware.

The air around them grew heavy, it almost felt as if his energy was draining but Felix couldn’t tell if it was his own or Chan’s from the pack bond. Changbin went ridged with worry next to him and Mingi also only got tenser.

After what felt like hours in which Felix watched concerned as Chan’s hands began trembling and sweat trailed down Seonghwa’s neck in exhaustion, the chains shattered with a loud noise.

Darkness exploded in the cave as the shadows started moving frantically in excitement that their master had been freed. Chan and Seonghwa stumbled backwards and all three of them lunged forwards to keep them from cracking up their skulls against the ground. Zala stood up and stretched as if he had just woken up from a long dream.

 He lifted his hands, wiggling his fingers and Felix watched as shadows danced over Zala’s skin. His eyes sparkled at the sight and Felix found himself pulling the group back a few steps.

“I’ve missed this.” Zala’s voice sounded oddly giddy but if Felix had been locked up for centuries, he also probably would be excited to move around again. Then his expression turned dark as he looked at them again and a sinister smile lay on his lips.

“You have no idea what you have done.”

Felix eyes widened in shock but before any of them could react more, Zala waved his hand and disappeared into the shadows. When Felix looked around, ready to be attacked any second now, he noticed that he had taken all the shadow creatures with them. Now they could leave the cave again but gods, what had they done?

Chapter Text

When Jisung stepped into the cave and it reeked of anger and devastation, he considered turning around and running in the other direction. It felt like a punch in the gut and left him reeling for air. Actually, he wasn’t sure how he was still standing because he felt his entire body locking down on him and throwing him back in time. And suddenly he was only thirteen years old again and standing in the living room of his old home, the air filled with the bitter stench of alcohol, sadness and anger.

Still, maybe because it’s been years since Jisung had been confronted with those memories and he had made an effort to grow since then or maybe because his brain realized that the desperation rolled off of Seungmin of all people, Jisung pushed past Yeosang instead of freezing up uselessly. Seungmin was hurting. And he didn’t know why. The only thing that he knew was that he hadn’t seen Seungmin in such a state ever. Not even when they had first found him because Chan and Changbin had been careful to shield the rest of them from it and had only allowed them to meet when the situation had settled.

Seungmin didn’t move at his hectic approach, didn’t even raise his head or twitch in acknowledgement and Jisung’s worry grew tenfold. It was a fact that Kim Seungmin was always aware of his surroundings. Usually, he was very perceptive which made it harder to play tricks on him. Jisung ignored the sharp sting of pain in his knees when he let himself fall to the ground next to Seungmin.

“Minnie, Seungminnie”, Jisung’s hands hovered in the air between them, unsure if it would be smart to touch Seungmin to comfort him or if it would worsen the whole situation. Seungmin twitched at the mention of his name, trying to make himself even smaller. Up close Jisung could see the way his entire body was shaking right now. Jisung almost stumbled backwards at the sudden fear that rushed over him. Of course, after years he was aware that he felt strongly but it didn’t prepare him to deal with it. Most of the time he had the others to rely on in challenging situations.

“Hey, Minnie, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here now”, Jisung registered that he was rambling, that his mouth kept spewing quiet reassurances in the hopes of Seungmin finally noticing him and coming out of whatever headspace he was currently in. Jisung was so not equipped to deal with this. His heart hurt at the thought of not being able to comfort him.

“Can I hug you, please?” Jisung winced at the way his own question trailed off in a whine. Really, he needed to calm down and not freak out, but his wolf had grown just as anxious as himself. It took him a lot of willpower to take a slow, calming breath to keep the rising panic at bay. It was fine, there was no imminent danger right now and he’d be able to help Seungmin.

“Minnie?” Seungmin slowly lifted his head, maybe all the begging had finally gotten through to him and Jisung hated the way his bloodshed eyes were still leaking a steady stream of tears. He felt his eyes growing wet in response almost immediately and bit his tongue in reprimand. This wasn’t about him after all. Not that Seungmin had raised his head, he could see that the skin of his neck was unusually red. Jisung frowned in distaste.

For a second, Jisung wasn’t sure if Seungmin truly recognized him since it seemed like he looked straight through him. Then Jisung almost toppled backwards because Seungmin threw himself into his arms and automatically his arms wrapped the younger into a tight embrace. While whispering reassuring words and gently stroking his back, Jisung leaned closer and gave himself the leeway to subtly bring his cheek to Seungmin’s neck to start scenting him.

Before he could truly find comfort in the familiar action, he froze. Seungmin smelled a lot like anger. Not his own obviously, his distressing pheromones were still clouding Jisung’s head, and his inner wolf howled in sympathy the entire time in response. But San’s anger was very prominent on Seungmin. Jisung’s eyes narrowed in thought and only because Seungmin whined pitifully, he forced himself to take a deep breath and continue his soft petting.

“It’s okay, I’m here. I’ll watch over you. You’re safe now”, Jisung didn’t know how long they sat huddled together until Seungmin’s tremors and quiet whining ceased. His heart ached when Seungmin’s body stiffened in his arms, almost as if he had gathered enough consciousness about his environment again to be ashamed of the comfort he had searched for. Jisung hugged him tighter and nuzzled his face against Seungmin’s neck to get him to relax again.

“I didn’t mean to hurt them, I swear”, Seungmin’s voice was scratchy from all the crying and whining. Jisung shushed him gently as he started to grow more frantic again, but it was no use. “I didn’t mean to, I just didn’t think. Sungie, I hurt them.”

Jisung frowned slightly at the younger, he hadn’t smelled any blood when they had entered the cave. And San definitely hadn’t looked hurt. Jongho crossed his mind and Jisung winced.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure this out”, Jisung kept his voice low, suddenly more uncomfortable about the fact that he had his back turned to the pirates and couldn’t see them. He strained his ears to listen in to the whispered conversation that had erupted a while ago. Well, Yeosang and Hongjoong were whispering. Now that he was focusing on it, San was talking quite animatedly. At a particular loud exclamation, Seungmin flinched in his arms and Jisung bristled in response.

“Can you tell me what happened, Minnie?” Jisung hoped that Seungmin hadn’t lost control of his wolf. That hadn’t happened ever since he had joined their pack and Jisung wasn’t the most knowledgeable on the topic. Regardless, it wouldn’t blow over well with the pirates if a werewolf had attacked their crew either.

“I don’t know”, Seungmin whined distressed and Jisung resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t get anything useful out of the younger. Subtly he nudged Seungmin’s limp body around so he could at least see the crew out of the corner of his eye. All of them were hunched over Jongho, making frantic gestures at each other. San sent both of them dirty looks and Jisung found himself glaring right back at him. Seungmin weakly slapped his chest to stop him from glaring and Jisung softened at his try of normalcy.

“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know”, Jisung got scared as he saw tears welling up in Seungmin’s eyes again and a bit panicked, he shushed the younger boy again and assured him that it was fine, that they didn’t have to talk about it right now.

“Didn’t do it on purpose. Just had to touch it and I don’t even know why.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain. I believe you, I know you”, Jisung pulled Seungmin even closer at his insistent begging so that Jisung would understand and not think the worst of him. As if he ever could.

“San-hyung was so angry”, Seungmin whispered as if he wanted to tell him a secret and Jisung’s eyebrows raised at the thought of finally figuring out why Seungmin was sitting in a corner crying. “I tried to tell him, but he was so angry. Couldn’t breathe.”

A wave of anger rolled over Jisung, making him lose his breath for a second when he finally realized the implication why Seungmin’s neck was tinted red and smelled of the elder’s anger. Seungmin whined at the sudden tension that came over Jisung’s body and Jisung hurried to assure him that he wasn’t mad at him and that everything’s fine.

Even through the reassurances, Jisung found himself glaring at San as he couldn’t keep his anger in check completely. Whatever Seungmin had accidently done, Jisung didn’t think San had to choke his friend. Surely, that could’ve been handled differently. Especially because it had left Seungmin panicking and crying and everything in Jisung screamed at him to make San regret hurting him. San’s and his eyes met and Jisung felt his anger boiling over.

“What did you do to him?” His voice was eerily cold, and he felt Seungmin stiffening at the anger that resonated with it. Yeosang and Hongjoong snapped around and Jisung bristled at the way the three of them were looming over them together.

San’s expression closed off again, a cold anger running over his features. Jisung was sure his own eyes were on fire, his pack always said his own anger was very noticeable, like magma that was slowly rising and warning everyone that the volcano was about to explode.

“What did I do?” San almost seemed offended. “Seungmin fucked around with magic he didn’t understand.” San’s voice was awfully cold and Jisung heard Seungmin’s heartbeat quickened in response.

“He might’ve made a mistake. Doesn’t give you the right to choke him”, his words were just as cutting. Jisung didn’t care, he aimed for them to hurt after all. Satisfied, he saw Hongjoong’s eyebrow twitching in irritation and Yeosang’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Apparently, San hadn’t been all too forward either in their earlier conversations.

San scowled at him. “Just a mistake? Jongho lost his voice because of his little mistake.”  Jisung felt Seungmin flinching next to him and Jongho didn’t fare any better. Yeosang ripped his gaze from San and turned to comfort the younger immediately. Jisung took a deep breath to not follow his instincts and protect his pack from the obvious threat in the room and do something he might regret later.

“Enough”, Hongjoong’s calm voice drew both of their attention. The captain looked tired and exasperated. For a few moments, only their agitated breaths and pounding hearts were ringing in Jisung’s ears. “Could both of you tell me what exactly happened from their point of view? I’m tired of only getting parts of the story.”

Jisung considered laying into Hongjoong because obviously Seungmin wasn’t in a headspace to speak after whatever San had said and done to him. But before he could make a scathing remark, Seungmin’s shaky but determined voice caught him by surprise.

“I touched the symbol over there. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to hurt Jongho, I promise.” Jisung’s heart broke at Seungmin’s submissive tone, obviously begging for forgiveness.

“See? It was an accident”, Jisung narrowed his eyes at the others, promising consequences if any of them dared saying anything hurtful in return. He knew that it would shatter Seungmin even further.

San’s fists clenched in anger and for a second Jisung was convinced that he wouldn’t hold his opinion back. Jisung felt his own body tense in return, ready to defend. But Hongjoong cut in before the situation could escalate further.

“We don’t have time to search for who to blame right now. We have to find a way to help Jongho. And we still need to find the others quickly.”

Yeosang nodded in agreement behind Hongjoong and leaned closer to Jongho. “We’ll find a way to fix it. It’s gonna be okay. We’ll figure it out.” Jisung frowned in sympathy, burying his face in Seungmin’s hair to take a deep calming breath. To reassure himself that it was okay to let the topic drop for now.

Because Hongjoong was right, they didn’t have time for pettiness right now. They had to focus on finding the others. It didn’t legitimate San’s behavior, didn’t make Seungmin feel less guilty, didn’t make Jongho less hurt but it sadly was the reality they had to deal with. Besides, Jisung would make sure they’d talk about it later. If he told Chan, he was convinced that the situation wouldn’t be glossed over. (If he told Minho, well, he wasn’t keen on sneaking around Chan while helping to bury bodies. Besides, they needed the pirates to steer the ship.)

Seungmin took a deep, shuddering breath in his arms and pulled himself together again. If Seungmin could do it, Jisung had to as well. He looked up again, gazing directly in Hongjoong’s concerned expression.

“Then let’s follow your broken compass again”, Jisung offered up as olive branch. Hongjoong narrowed his eyes at him and Yeosang sighed quietly. A stone broke out of the wall, thankfully not hitting him and Jisung yelped in surprise.

“I told you to keep your opinions about the compass to yourself”, Hongjoong sighed as if it wasn’t a total coincidence and the compass petty enough to influence the environment around them just so it could spite Jisung. Bullshit.

The air around them was tense, no one had spoken a word since they had started walking. Hyunjin felt like vomiting, the uncertainty and hostility stewing in the air cut into his stomach like a knife. No matter how fucked up it might be, he felt thankful that Jeongin’s mind had already pulled back a bit and let him rely heavily on his wolf instincts. This way the other didn’t feel much, or it didn’t seem as grave to him.

There was a ringing in his ears, the wildlife was suspiciously quiet around them and Hyunjin forced himself not to listen to Yunho’s steadily weakening heartbeat. He felt like a coward; after all it wasn’t him dying in Jeongin’s arm. He wasn’t even that close with Yunho to begin with. But still, there was a restless feeling in his chest, and he was scared to break down if he dwelled any longer on it.

Hyunjin found himself orbiting around Jeongin instead, making sure the other wouldn’t trip and drop Yunho’s vulnerable body even though Jeongin’s steps were far surer than his own even with the additional weight. Wooyoung kept glancing back every other second, only narrowly missing walking into trees and bushes multiple times. Minho was hovering around Wooyoung and Hyunjin wasn’t sure if it was because he was wary that Wooyoung would snap again or because he was actually worried about the younger man. At this point, Hyunjin was too tired to really think about the inner workings of Minho. That man was exhausting to read on a better day and downright impossible at times like this.

“We’re almost at the shore”, Wooyoung suddenly pointed out, his throat clogged up, possibly from all the emotions that neither of them were permitting themselves to feel. Hyunjin let out a relieved sigh. That meant they would be at the ship soon. That they would be able to tend to Yunho’s wounds soon.

Hyunjin wasn’t well-versed in human bodies. Of course he wasn’t a stranger to being hurt. He’d had his fair share of experience of different wounds both while being a human and while being a werewolf. He knew exactly how much his body could take before it would give out. Needless to say, he hadn’t particularly asked for that knowledge, but he was glad to know his limits anyway. But it had been a long time since he’d been human, he wasn’t confident in knowing what a human could take anymore. It scared him that he couldn’t be sure if Yunho would survive this whole ordeal.

Jeongin huffed next to him, sending him a worried glance even though his nose wrinkled up in disgust. Hyunjin sent him an apologetic and hopefully reassuring look back while trying to get a handle on his fear. Panicking wouldn’t help them right now and only time would tell. You’re too soft for your own good. Hyunjin shook his head, hating the way his mind conjured up those reprimanding memories way too easily.

The trees thinned out and the sea came into Hyunjin’s sight. The Outlaw rested on the shore. Rocking gently with the waves, she sat enthroned on the beach as if nothing had happened since they had left her. A gust of wind ruffled Jeongin’s hair and took a bit of Hyunjin’s unease with it.

They hurried across the last few meters; a new motivation drove them to quicken their pace now they had their sight set on the goal. Yunho grew a bit restless in Jeongin’s arm again, almost as if his subconsciousness had gotten the message that something had changed. Hyunjin simply pushed Wooyoung forward when he hesitated a bit long at that. He did feel like an asshole, but they had to get on deck quickly to help Yunho.

“We need to bring him to the med bay”, Wooyoung shook his head to get back on track and Hyunjin felt relieved that he took the lead. Without hesitation, they followed him down the deck and through the corridor to a room none of them had ever been to before.

It seemed well stocked. All kind of medicine, bandages and salves were fulling up the shelves to the brim. Hyunjin’s attention were drawn to the herbs on the table, and he distantly wondered how they even grew down here without the light. In the meantime, Jeongin had gently lowered Yunho on the bed in one corner of the room and Wooyoung was tearing through a chest like a maniac, stuffing objects into Minho’s hand to lay them on the table next to Yunho.

“Halazia, I haven’t done this in so long”, Hyunjin heard him mutter a bit panicked. Thankfully, he seemed a bit more self-assured a few seconds later when he stepped up next to Yunho, pulling on gloves and his eyes were sparkling determinately.

“We have to get him stable, maybe suture the wound until Seonghwa shows up.” As he spoke, Wooyoung had already started cutting the makeshift bandages apart. His hands were shaking a bit, but Hyunjin couldn’t blame him.

Hyunjin felt morbidly entranced as he watched Wooyoung cleaning out the wound roughly. It only bled sluggishly now but he wasn’t sure if that was a good sign. Yunho’s body only occasionally jerked in pain when Wooyoung touched a particularly nasty spot and Hyunjin could see the brown-haired man tensing in response every time.

“Don’t you have anything for his pain?” Hyunjin didn’t realize he had spoken at first until Wooyoung’s dark fearful eyes met his.

“I don’t have the time. Neither do I know how to set up an IV. I don’t like seeing him in pain either but it’s not like he’s feeling much right now,” Hyunjin winced at the curt words, but Wooyoung had already turned to Minho to instruct him how to help him suture the wound.

Hyunjin felt queasy when he saw Wooyoung readying the needle and turned to look around for Jeongin instead. The younger one was busying himself with reading the labels of the bottles on the shelf, his shoulders unusually tense. Worried, Hyunjin stepped up beside him, thankful for the task at hand.

“Innie?” His heart hurt at Jeongin’s wide pupils, the younger obviously overrun by a lot of thoughts now that he didn’t have anything to do anymore. Gently, Hyunjin put a hand around him and pulled him closer. “We’ll be okay.”

Jeongin laid his head against his, both of them seeking comfort in the other and hoping that Hyunjin’s words would come true.