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Rumi squinted through the onslaught of rushing white, her cheeks burning as the snow cut through the air like a blade. The world blurred just a few meters away from her face, making the forest impossible to navigate. Zoey stood beside her, holding a gloved hand over the injury on her forehead.
I need to take a closer look at that soon.
Zoey was still in good spirits, but Rumi knew that concussions could have delayed symptoms. She needed to get her back to the penthouse as soon as possible.
Snow frosted both of their coats in white, and dusted across their faces beneath their hoods. They’d prepared for some amount of cold, but not for a blizzard in the mountains. Seoul and the surrounding region were not unfamiliar with snow but heavy snowfall was rare. Typically they didn’t get much more than 7 centimeters a year, and already half of that coated the ground.
However, this situation was anything but typical or natural.
Right now Bukhansan National Park was the epicenter of an impassable, unnatural whiteout, and Rumi and Zoey were lost somewhere within it.
Zoey leaned against her, pretending to whisper in her ear conspiratorily while actually having to whisper-yell over the wind. “Did you know it never snows in Burbank?”
“I thought you wanted snow.”
“I wanted a magical dusting and to be drinking hot cocoa, not to be trudging through a blizzard.” She grabbed Rumi’s hand, squeezing it. “Just think, this summer we could be sunning ourselves on a beach, drinking margaritas and getting sunburnt!”
Rumi laughed and squeezed her hand back. “Let’s plan a visit once we get home.” It was nice to think of something warm with the cold pushing into any gap in their winter clothes. “I’ll let you pick out my swimsuit.”
Zoey’s eyebrows shot up and she gave Rumi a look that made her blush. “An acceptable offering, jagiya. I’m holding you to that!”
They pushed forward, footprints quickly wiped away by the storm.
Rumi hoped it was a sign that their luck was taking a turn for the better when they managed to stumble across a niche created by some ancient crumbled structure. It wasn’t a large space, but big enough for the two of them to fit into and be protected from the wind and snow from three sides. This would give some protection from the elements, and a chance to try to warm up and rest. With any increasing luck, this demonic snowstorm would be over within a few more minutes and they would actually be able to get a cell phone signal, figure out where they were, and head home.
Rumi maneuvered into the little nook first, then pressed in against her to share as much warmth as possible through their thick winter coats. Rumi gave Zoey's shoulder a gentle squeeze and the maknae looked up, looking slightly dazed and red-faced. Rumi took her face with a gloved hand, and Zoey squawked at the cold touch. Rumi noted with relief that her pupils appeared normal. “Just want to make sure you didn't hit your head too hard, yeobo.”
Zoey blushed slightly and rubbed her cheek where Rumi’s gloves had left moisture. “Nah, my head is way too hard to be taken out by a branch.”
“Fair point, but you were definitely unconscious for a second there so I’m keeping an eye on you.”
She felt Zoey shiver as a particularly hard gust cut through their weak protection.
“Hey Zo?”
A muffled response came from within the coat hood pulled down over the maknae’s face. “Hmm?”
“Do you want to tell me all the fun stuff we will do in California?”
Excited brown eyes peeked out from under the fluffy rim of the hood. “Oh my god, yes! Okay, okay, so first of all, we immediately go to the Aquarium of the Pacific, because they have the coolest sea star exhibit. Sometimes people call them starfish, but that isn't really accurate because…”
Rumi let Zoey's excitement wash over her, a tiny flame against the chill.
From a distance but slowly moving closer, Rumi felt a tug on her soul bond, and her thoughts drifted to their partner. Mira.
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Earlier that day…
The plus side of Mira being in Busan for a modeling job was that Rumi and Zoey were completely on their own. They could load up on all the food she hated and binge the shows she refused to be around for because she didn't want to deal with the emotional fallout.
The down side of Mira being in Busan for a modeling job was that Rumi and Zoey were completely on their own. After one evening of eating American junk food and crying over K-dramas, they ended up looking for any distractions to take their minds off missing their partner.
It wasn’t that they didn’t appreciate time apart. They had separate interests and lives and often spent much of a day away from each other working on different projects around Seoul. It was easy enough to stay busy with work and training during the day. It was just that they’d spent every evening since the Idol Awards tangled up in one of their beds. While they could all still feel each other’s souls connected to their own, not having Mira nearby felt like missing a limb.
Early on in their training, they were never far apart from each other, always staying within the same city. The risk was too great that one of them would be singled out by demons; an inexperienced single Hunter would be a tempting prize for any demons looking to please Gwi-Ma. As they gained experience and skills they were more willing to travel separately for short periods but rarely did so, preferring to spend most of their time together.
And in their defense, they were literal soulmates, so they had a right to a little codependence now and then.
It had been months since everything had nearly literally gone to hell and back. The new Honmoon was stronger and more secure, but not impenetrable. This made it safer for them to separate for solo projects like this without risk, but they still had to be cautious. Demon encounters had been rarer, but the demons themselves were more desperate. This made most of them sloppier, but some others more dangerous.
All three women were even more tightly connected to this Honmoon, it being born out of their love for each other. Rumi especially could feel even the most minute vibrations in the protective netting.
That's what she felt right now, staring out the floor-to-ceiling window of the Huntr/x tower into the horizon. A tiny, distant reverberation in the Honmoon, like a single thread of silk in a web being gently plucked. Normally a demon breaching the barrier felt more like guitar strings tearing and bursting, discordant and sharp. This felt delicate, deliberate. Maybe a smaller incursion, just a lone demon? Her brows drew together.
The sound of wheels against the hard floor echoed loudly through the otherwise quiet penthouse. Rumi heard a quiet chant increasing in volume as she grew closer, eventually recognizing the word “bored” being repeated over and over. Zoey rolled towards her, pushing herself backwards in her gaming chair with her feet. She’d spent most of the day running around Seoul for small charity appearances and had already told Rumi she planned to spend the evening playing Fortnite and relaxing. She slowed to a stop beside Rumi and joined her in staring out the window for a couple of seconds before leaning back in the chair and pushing herself into a slow spin.
“Still no snow in the city.” Zoey sighed. “Maybe when Mira gets back we can go to Gangwon-do and go skiing. See some REAL snow.”
Rumi huffed a quiet laugh. “You know Mira hates skiing.”
“Yeah, but she likes a good ski resort. She can drink and enjoy the sauna, and we can hit the slopes.” She pauses her spin and considers. “And then join her in the sauna. Nothing like a good hot sweat after getting out in the snow and-”
Another tiny pluck, and a shimmer ran through her patterns. “Do you feel that?”
Zoey straightened up in her chair at Rumi’s serious tone, and looked out into the distance.
The cityscape of Seoul moved below them, pulsing with activity as citizens headed home for dinner. The Honmoon shimmered over it, embracing and protective.
Zoey began to bounce one leg in her chair, tapping her fingers against her thigh.
Another tiny vibration trickled through the Honmoon and Zoey stood abruptly, sending her chair wheeling away from her. “Well shit, guess we’re putting off ordering food.” She reached her arms over her head in a full body stretch. “Guess this gives us some entertainment for the evening.”
Rumi wasn't sure killing demons was the ideal way to spend part of her evening, but she couldn't help but smile at the eagerness in Zoey's eyes as she limbered up. This would be a welcome distraction, and wasn’t likely to be overly dangerous based on the lack of distress from the Honmoon.
Zoey squinted back out the window, pressing her face against it. “Must be really far away though, I could barely feel that.”
“Bukhansan, I think?”
Zoey lit up and gasped dramatically. “The park? I think they actually got a little dusting of snow. It’ll be so pretty, let's go!” Rumi rolled her eyes and smiled as she followed Zoey in a brisk jog to the closet. Zoey briefly whined at Rumi's insistence on bringing gloves,
(‘But they get in the way of my shin-kals!’
‘Bring them anyway, you can take them off when we find the demons.’)
but it wasn’t long before they were out on the snow-dusted streets of Seoul and headed towards the faintly plucking thread in the distance.
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The storm continued as the sun began to set, time stretching as the world darkened. The setting sun was obscured by the storm, but had still provided some light. Now even that was disappearing. Snow blanketed the air and ground outside of the remains of the stone structure they hid in.
They had taken their coats off and wrapped them both around the two of them huddled together like a modified winter blanket, allowing them to share precious body heat as the temperature seemed to continue to drop. Zoey hadn’t been thrilled when Rumi maneuvered her against the back of the niche, placing her own body to block as much of the wind and snow as possible.
In this case, Rumi had been able to make a compelling argument about her ability to keep them both warm, and Zoey had relented.
After many sleepless and tear-filled nights and long overdue confessions between the three of them, Rumi had finally begun to explore her demonic heritage. The girls had been delighted to discover that her patterns glowed and changed color with her mood - Rumi had been less enthused about becoming a living mood ring, but had started to learn to control it to some degree. She could also teleport, albeit with questionable accuracy as to where she ended up. She hated the feeling of falling back into nothing and reappearing, so she had mostly tabled exploring that ability. She was getting very good at controlling the appearance of her claws and fangs. Once their relationship had become fully physical, Rumi had found that not only did the girls not mind the occasional appearance of her demonic traits, they found them sexy (which never failed to make her blush all the way to her roots).
Along with those abilities came the discovery that she was not only very resistant to higher temperatures, but she could raise her own body temperature.
She’d always naturally had a higher body temperature and Celine had told her it was likely due to her demonic heritage (and then reminded her that although this meant she enjoyed absolutely scalding showers, she still needed to save some hot water for everyone else). Once she’d discovered that she could put off extra body heat on request, Zoey had claimed her as a living heated blanket and would melt into her on movie nights.
Once she had overdone it slightly, and had to slip away once the girls had fallen asleep to take a cold shower and painkillers for the heat-induced headache. She was careful not to overheat after that to avoid the repercussions.
Now, Rumi was wrapped around Zoey, trying to warm her with that heat. It felt about as effective as a candle in the bitter temperatures. It will end soon, she thought, feeling Zoey shift and shudder in her arms.
Zoey had already gone over everything they would do during their California visit (there were a shocking amount of aquariums in the state), her words slowing and slurring as the cold and her injuries sapped her energy. Rumi felt a tinge of fear quivering in the maknae’s soul bond, and responded with a pulse of confidence and love (despite her own growing concern).
“Do you want me to tell some stories?”
Rumi had grown up learning traditional stories and folktales, along with the stories of Hunters before her. It had been important for her to understand the folklore about demons, but she had also loved the tales of talking animals, heroes, deities, and magical beings.
When Celine had brought her girls to her, she’d relished sharing these stories. Mira was familiar with most of them, having grown up in Korea, but some were new to Zoey. She would stare wide eyed and enraptured as Rumi spoke. All three of them had spent more than one night under the stars around a fire, sharing ancient tales, childhood experiences, and dreams of the future.
Zoey nodded. “Yes p-please, unnie.”
Zoey shivered violently and Rumi gave her a firm hug. Zoey smiled up at her, lips pale. “G-good thing you made me b-bring the gloves, right?”
It will end soon. She had to risk the headache to keep Zoey’s hurt, exhausted body stable. Just a little warmer, just for a little while.
As she began weaving a tale about a tiger and persimmons, her patterns glowed a low orange, heat rising off the jagged lines.
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Earlier that day…
Zoey was right, the park really was pretty.
A light January snow had dusted through the forest and sparkled on the trees. Ancient temples and pagodas dotted the park, which was lined with trails. Visitors were warned to be cautious and stay on the marked trails. It was not the largest park in Korea, but the mountainous terrain and forests were still easy to get lost in if parkgoers were unwary. The frigid weather had kept tourists and many locals away, which meant they didn't have to worry too much about being seen by fans, or having a demon making a sneaky meal of someone before they found them.
But with no people, why are the demons out here? Rumi tried to push the thought to the side and focus on feeling for the subtle vibrations of the demons. It didn’t matter why the demons were here, all that mattered was that they were here.
The girls moved slowly through the dense mountain forest at first, then more quickly as they narrowed down on the disturbance. Sprinting through the trees, they pulled on the threads of the Honmoon to boost their speed. Rumi looked at Zoey sprinting beside her, moving effortlessly through the brush with a giant grin on her face. Zoey jumped into everything she did with such unbridled joy, and Rumi felt her chest tighten with a burst of love. Zoey clearly sensed it through their bond, winking and blowing her a kiss.
Honmoon, I love this woman.
They slowed as they neared the source of the disturbance, coming to the edge of a small clearing, keeping low to remain undetected.
A statue, so old and overgrown with plants as to be unrecognizable, lay toppled near the center of the clearing. Rumi counted 3 small Dokkaebi, tiny runts of demons barely half the size of an adult human. They stood restlessly several yards away from the shrine, glancing around nervously. She'd learned long ago not to dismiss the danger of any demon - even smaller ones like these could steal a soul just like their larger counterparts - but such a minor threat was still a breath of relief.
Something still nagged at the back of her head, even as she pulled her saingeom from the starlight barrier around her and felt the ripple of Zoey’s shin-kals being drawn out beside her. Why such a small group in the middle of nowhere?
The Honmoon shuddered, recoiling from something underneath the fallen statue. A demon rose from the shadows - a vaguely humanoid shape that seemed made of smoke, with multiple elongated limbs emerging from a bulbous torso. No eyes could be seen in the dark mass of the head, just a glowing red smile filled with teeth.
Hong’aek.
Suddenly it made sense why the plucking of the Honmoon had felt so small. Rather than a tiny tear, it had been a fat spider sitting on its web, strumming the lines to lure in prey, and the Hunters had walked right to it.
The monster now stood, scanning the forest around it, sensing the prey it had drawn in was nearby.
The Dokkaebi took a few steps further away from the stronger demon. It was unusual for other demons to work with a Hong’aek. They were a manifestation of bad luck, often just as dangerous to other demons working with them as they were to any humans around them. They were incredibly rare, and while physically weak, their effect on the luck of those around them made them deadly. The lesser demons around the Hong’aek must have been desperate to have banded together with the unpredictable monster.
Rumi had only ever seen a Hong’aek once before, when she was still a child training with Celine. She had been a formidable fighter even at 12, and Celine always seemed nearly invincible. That fight had ended up being one they almost hadn't walked away from. They'd spent the evening stitching each other's wounds and setting Rumi’s broken arm, before Celine had put Rumi to bed with shaking arms. The empty bottle of wine in the kitchen the next morning and the spilled glass had been quietly cleaned up by Rumi before her guardian woke. It had taken several days for the haunted look to disappear from Celine’s eyes when she looked at her.
Zoey leaned to whisper to Rumi, breath tickling her ear. “That's the bad luck boogeyman, right?”
“Yes. Keep your distance and be careful.”
Zoey smiled, but there was an edge of uncertainty to it. Rumi knew this was a demon she'd only read about in Hunter texts, never faced. “Good thing I wore my lucky underwear.”
Rumi slowly turned to look at her. “What?”
“Anyway, time to drop a beat!” Zoey grinned at her twirled her fingers through the Honmoon.
As a rule, they didn't use Huntr/x songs for demon fighting when one of the trio was absent. Their songs were not just three-part harmonies, but extensions of their soul bonds, and missing a voice made the songs much less effective at boosting them in a fight. Luckily they had all had plenty of training in fighting alone and in pairs, as Celine had wanted them to be prepared for any possibility. In these situations, Rumi usually called one of the traditional Hunter songs they learned during training. Mira was more likely to call on a current hit from one of their K-Pop peers. Zoey was a wildcard when she opted to pick a song, frequently picking American hip-hop or pop hits from her childhood.
Rumi couldn’t help but laugh as they strode into the clearing, demons bracing for a fight to the beat of Pitbull and Kesha as Zoey belted out the first lines of the song.
“It’s goin’ down, I’m yellin’ timber…”
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It wasn’t ending.
The heat pouring off her patterns had sweat running down her spine, but Rumi couldn't afford to let up. The forced fever was barely keeping Zoey warm enough as the wind howled outside, and she’d already gone well above any temperature she’d ever gone before.
If Zoey knew what she was doing, she’d be furious. It was to her benefit that Zoey’s exhaustion and injury had her mostly unconscious, as the side effects were getting hard to hide. Nausea roiled through her gut, and Rumi swallowed a mouthful of bile, extremely glad that they’d missed dinner.
Rumi knew she had a tendency to want to throw herself at any problem without enough consideration for self preservation. Even before everything happened at Namsan, Mira and Zoey had cornered her with discussions about her tendency to self-sacrifice in combat and daily life. She would be up all night doing paperwork so her girls could rest, take hits meant for them and brush it off even as she bled, heap the blame of any mistake from the trio onto herself. When they found out what she'd tried to do when she went to Celine after the Idol Awards several weeks later, it had turned into an all night conversation.
They loved her, but they couldn't watch her self-destruct in front of them.
In the wake of everything, she’d promised them she would do better. To seek out alternatives before putting herself in the line of fire, to consider the concept of self care, to communicate with them, to remember that she deserves comfort and safety. She couldn't just let herself hurt.
And here I am, hurting myself again.
She was pushing more heat through her body than was healthy. She could feel the headache rolling in, the dryness in her throat. Zoey had finally fallen into a fitful sleep against her. They'd discussed a few ideas before Rumi had pressed her to rest, but there were few options. Through the haze of the growing headache, she tried to recall them.
They could try moving again to find shelter. We are likely to just get more lost, and Zoey needs to rest. We are in a safe place right now, it’s best to stay put and wait.
She could teleport out. Last time I tried, I ended up in the ductwork of the mall, I can’t control it well enough. I also don’t know how to bring Zoey with me, and I won’t leave her.
She could let her body temperature return to normal. The storm isn’t stopping. It's too cold, and Zoey is injured. She needs to be kept warm and I have no other way to warm her.
Guilt ate at her, but she didn’t know what else she could possibly do in this situation. She wasn’t trying to be reckless, but she was running out of options that didn't hurt either her or Zoey.
Every bitter gust of wind stole what little heat Rumi was able to create. She felt Zoey shivering against her and noted the blueish tinge to her lips. She was getting weaker, struggling to keep warm with what Rumi was providing and her depleting energy. She needed rest and warmth, desperately.
Zoey stirred, voice breaking the darkness.
“Rumi?”
Rumi hummed in response, the reverberation rattling her skull.
“Is t-this h-hurting you?” Her voice was so quiet. Rumi could see her half-lidded eyes in the glow of her demon markings.
Don’t lie. “The snow will s-stop. Mira is c-coming.” She said, throat burning. “How a-about another s-story?” At least she could attribute the unsteadiness in her voice to the temperature around them, and hopefully Zoey would still be out of it enough to not notice the abrupt topic change.
Rumi remembered the night Celine had told her this story the first time. She had looked up at the moon, colored a strange, shadowed red, and asked Celine about it. A lunar eclipse, she’d told her first, explaining how the shadow of the Earth was cast over the moon. Celine had then told her the story of how the king of Gamangnara had coveted the beautiful light of the sun and moon. A greedy being, he sent one of his fiery dogs, the Bulgae, to fetch the sun. The Bulgae had run across the bright sky and latched onto the star. However, the heat had been too much, and the dog was unable to withstand the flames. He was forced to release the sun back into the sky. Again, a Bulgae was sent out, this time to capture the moon. Again, the dog was unable to keep hold, the icy chill of the moon forcing it to release its jaws. The king of Gamangnara refused to give up however, and continued to send his Bulgae out, causing solar and lunar eclipses each time the dogs’ great mouths engulfed and released the celestial discs.
As her story trailed off, she pulled Zoey fully into her lap, holding her to her chest. My little sun.
Zoey was awake but silent, which scared Rumi more than anything. She slipped the younger woman’s gloves off, and pushed her hands under her shirt to press them against her belly. They were so cold they burned.
I’m not doing enough.
She could feel Mira's soul, bright with worry, racing towards them but still hours away. Too far.
She might be risking everything if she did this. Even if they all survived, she might not have a relationship to come back to. Would they be able to understand that she didn’t want to hurt, didn’t want to die anymore, that she had run out of options? Would they hate her if all she left them with was a grave next to her mothers?
Did it matter if they hated her, as long as they were both alive to do so?
Please forgive me.
She reached within, and started to burn.
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Earlier that day…
One of the Dokkaebi fell almost immediately, a victim to the miasma of bad luck emanating from the monster near it. It grunted and sprinted at Rumi, brandishing a small blade in one clawed hand. She had been prepared to dodge when the demon tripped and fell forward onto Rumi’s blade, exploding in a fine pink mist. Rumi wasn’t sure which of them was more surprised.
“Face down, booty up, that’s the way we like the what…”
Rumi swung at the Hong’aek, but a loose patch of rocks shifted under her foot and threw her off balance. The spectral demon ducked and skittered away on unnaturally long legs, head always twisting to keep that leering grin facing her.
“I’m slicker than an oil spill, she says she won’t but I bet she will…”
One demon fell to Zoey's shin-kals, another avoided a shot that inexplicably went wide with a strong gust of wind. Zoey cursed, parkouring off the trees to send a wave of knives from different angles at the Hong’aek as the demon dodged and screeched.
“One more shot, another round, end of the night it’s goin’ down…”
As the last Dokkaebi exploded into glitter in front of Rumi, sniped from behind by one of Zoey’s knives, the Hong’aek escaped into the forest.
They raced after it, barely able to keep it in sight as they flew through the trees and undergrowth. She felt Zoey pull on the threads of the Honmoon, boosting herself up into the tree branches to run along the canopy. Shin-kals shot through the air from above, cutting off and slowing the demon as it moved. Rumi kept up on the ground, sailing over branches and ducking under half-fallen trees.
The demon was losing energy, stumbling against trees as it ran. It would have to stop soon.
Rumi gripped her saingeom, ready to strike. The demon dug its claws into a tree as it swept by, leaving a smear of inky black that rippled upward.
“I’ll be the one you won’t fo-”
A crack from behind her, and a cut off scream.
Zoey!
The Hong’aek grinned back at her as she skidded to a stop, a smiling red pit of teeth in a cloud of black.
Rumi turned and sprinted back towards the sound, the Honmoon vibrating with worry.
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Rumi burned in the night, thoughts drifting in and away like ashes.
Her throat was coated in fire. Had the Bulgae felt like this? Had the sun in their mouths burned and sent streams of flame dripping down the back of their throats? Had bile bubbled at the back of their gullets?
The Honmoon was begging her to stop, sending bolts of panic through her body.
She ignored it.
Her vision sparked, dimming along the edges. The shimmers looked like stars. Her heart pounded against her ribs. Was she sprinting through the night sky, sun in her mouth?
Rumi stared at her sun Zoey leaning against her, her exhausted face highlighted in the flicking red-orange of Rumi’s patterns. She had managed to fall into a real, healing sleep, rather than the fitful unconsciousness of before. With her body kept warm, her enhanced Hunter healing might be able to help her. Rumi counted every puff of breath against her cheek, thankful for all of them.
Zoey rested, and Rumi burned.
I can't stop.
Her jaws closed tighter.
The long sleeved shirt she’d picked out this morning was plastered to her skin with sweat.
It was getting so hard to think.
Stopping meant death. Even though the storm had diminished, darkness and exhaustion left them stranded and lost.
Her moon Mira was racing to them as fast as she could, closer every second. Her fear for them pulsed through the soul bond. Rumi tried to soothe it, but everything she meant to convey through the bond felt discordant and wrong and only seemed to increase Mira’s concern.
The storm had diminished but the icy teeth of the wind still bit through their coat barrier.
She feared Mira wouldn't make it in time. Her sun, falling from her drooling jaws, gone forever.
A constant ringing filled her ears, making it difficult to hear anything else. Difficult to try to think, when her thoughts already kept floating in and out like sparks of light.
Heat billowed out of her core. She just had to make sure Mira came back to one of them.
Hot tears streamed down her face. I'm so sorry.
Rumi burned.
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Earlier that day…
Rumi stood lightly on her feet, keeping Zoey protected behind her against the tree she'd fallen from. A branch had broken as Zoey had jumped on it and she’d fallen, hitting her head on the way down. She’d been unconscious when Rumi had first spotted her, but had groaned back into awareness as Rumi touched her. Zoey had insisted she was fine, hand gripping the side of her head in pain as blood dripped between her fingers. The approaching sound of the Hong’aek through the undergrowth meant Rumi had to focus on fighting over first aid for now.
She saw a flash of darkness moving through the brush and held steady.
Movement to her right. Rumi pivoted, then corrected as a dark form shot out at her left. Her sword glanced against the demon, enough to injure but not kill, and it shrieked in pain.
The shadowed being paused at a distance and faced her, red mist leaking from its arm, then the bright red grin twisted and a deafening screech pierced the evening air.
Rumi winced at the sound, then felt the atmosphere seem to drop. For a moment, the world seemed to go silent.
And then, the world went a deafening white.
Brutal wind and snow bore down on them, blinding her. Rumi squinted through the onslaught, twisting around to watch her sides and back as best she could.
Zoey stumbled to her feet, bracing against the tree as she pulled a couple of shin-kal from the air. “What the fuck is this?!”, she yelled over the onslaught of wind.
“Really bad luck!”
The demon seemed to flit in and out of the whiteout, a mocking red grin dancing in and out of her range. Rumi swung her sword in an arc towards it, missing. Another swing caught nothing but snow. The wind howled around them like laughter.
They needed to end this now, they weren't prepared for weather like this.
Rumi saw a trace of sparkling demon dust drifting on a gust of wind, and lunged forward with her saingeom to strike in front of the trail.
The stunned face of the demon appeared through the snow for just a moment, sword through its chest, before blowing away in a cloud of glittering ash in the wind.
Rumi stood, panting, before turning to Zoey and dismissing her sword. She pulled her lover into a tight hug before grabbing her face between her hands to check her injury.
“I'm fine, I promise!” Zoey had to nearly shout to be heard over the demon-summoned storm. She was smiling, but Rumi could see pain in the set of her jaw. Rumi needed to get her back to the penthouse as soon as possible to monitor her head injury and patch her up.
Rumi pulled Zoey in to lean against her and looked around. Everything was… white. The ground already had a layer of show that obscured any familiarity they might have had with the mountainous area.
She had no idea where they were, and no idea how to get back.
She had to hope they either managed to stumble into one of the buildings dotting the mountain, or hope the storm ended quickly. Wandering around a mountain forest blindly in the snow felt like a bad idea. They didn’t have the winter gear on to deal with something like this.
“This probably won't last long with the demon gone, right?” Zoey looked at her hopefully as she struggled to put her gloves back on.
She’s probably right. With the demon dead, surely the storm would clear any moment. They just needed to buy a little time, stay warm for a few minutes, and then they could make their way back to the park entrance.
“Let’s at least find a spot to wait it out,” Rumi offered. “Then we can get home.”
“Kimchi-jjigae for dinner?” Zoey smiled hopefully.
“Absolutely.” Rumi placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, and they walked into the snowscape surrounding them.
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She was an inferno, a blazing constellation surrounded by the numbing dark.
The sun burned in her mouth, wreaths of flame wrapped around her muzzle, but her hold never wavered. The cold no longer meant anything to her or the precious form curled against her.
The moon, cool and loving, was racing towards them.
She couldn’t remember why she was afraid before, the fire licking underneath her skin was loving and gentle even if her body screamed.
Her sun was so beautiful and so, so afraid. Why is she afraid? She would never drop her, she was no weak dog groveling for some dark master.
Smoke billowed out of her lungs as she panted. She wished she could speak, to comfort the sun, but her throat was made of coal and embers. Ash choked her and she gasped around it.
The moon's soul pulsed against her own, achingly close. Searching.
She whined at the throbbing pulsing through her head, and blood poured from her nose. It spattered in dark spots over her pelt, her sun, the sky.
Still she held, still she burned and howled against the cold night. This sun was hers.
Protectprotectprotect.
She would not fail, she would burn and burn and burn.
Searching, focused, closer.
Something was shaking her and she struggled to focus, the world twisting and spinning her. The sun’s mouth was moving, but all she could hear was the crackling of fire. She smiled and tried to say something reassuring.
Protecthercomfortherholdher.
She isn’t sure what she said. Words are hard to hold in a muzzle full of flames and blood, her mind drifting before each word escapes.
Her sun looked even more terrified, so she smiled reassuringly at her; there was nothing to be afraid of. Why is my sun crying?
Were her eyes melting? Was that why her cheeks were wet and her vision boiled?
Her heart was racing toofasttoofasttoofast. A hand clutched against her chest, clinging and shaking her. She thinks she heard begging.
The moon was returning to her like the tide.
The sun, her soul, pulled away from her and her clawed hands grasped for her. Don't leave me, I have to save you!
She tried to rise, but her body refused to listen and lurched forward into the ice, her face smearing blood across it.
Her heart howled. SAVEHERSAVEHERSAVEHER. Something all around her screamed the same, rippling around her like a stone dropped in water.
Moonlight spilled over the horizon, blinding her. She clenched her eyes against the brilliance. Hands lifted her, her eyes shot open to the faces above her.
Her moon and sun.
She was here. They were safe. She'd held on.
Her nerves snapped like lightning, back arching into the pain. She tried to gasp through her spasming throat. The terrified faces above her disappeared as darkness in the edge of her vision crept in. Hands grabbed and pulled. Vomit mixed with saliva and blood, running down her chin as she let the sun fall from her jaws.
She flared again, a dying star going supernova.
Then nothing.
Fragments drifted in, brushing against her consciousness, then fell away.
Her head held to the side as vomit poured from her mouth. Her eyes rolling back as she choked anyway.
A comforting pressure in front of and behind her. Beneath her, the movement of enormous muscles under dense fur.
“Please… don’t… hurry… get… ”
Her clothes being pulled, and an old fear seizing her chest. Her body too sluggish to fight them off. Tears pouring down her cheeks and another face pressed to hers, whispering and weeping. The hands didn't stop.
A machine screeching, footsteps, her body out of her control. Her soul, flickering in the wind, and going out.
“Don’t fucking do this to us, Rumi!”
Pain radiating through her chest, her soul reigniting.
“Rumirumirumirumi…”
Something cool running up her arm, spreading through her body. Something else resting below her nose, puffing chilled air.
“We love you so much, you idiot.”
Trying to fight the tide of darkness only to be pulled down again.
“Your girls need you.”
A cool, wet cloth cleaning her face. A voice calling her daughter, ttal.
“Love you…”
She floated, cradled by the same glowing strands that had welcomed her into the world, an ancient lullaby humming through her bones.
The world came back in pieces at first.
The smell of antiseptics.
Her tongue, tacky and thick in her mouth.
The humming and beeping of medical equipment.
Then the world seemed to coalesce, coming into focus as she opened her eyes, blinking against the dryness.
The inside of the Huntr/x infirmary was a familiar sight, although she had never spent time in one of the beds. She’d helped patch the girls up many times before, then slipped away to her own room to do the best she could with her own injuries. Hiding her patterns had taken priority over her health at that time.
Rumi couldn’t remember what had happened to her, but she was starting to think she’d been hit by a bus based on how she felt. She wasn't sure there was any part of her that didn't ache. Her eyes shifted and saw an IV line snaking up her arm, hooked to a steadily dripping bag of clear fluid. Another sound registered in her fuzzy mind - the even breathing of someone sleeping.
Exhaustion still pulled at her as her gaze drifted to the mess of pink hair draped over her blanket covered legs.
Mira was slumped forward on her bed, sound asleep in a position that she would no doubt be regretting later. Heavy bags darkened the skin under her eyes, and even in sleep there was a wrinkle of worry between her brows.
Rumi's hand shook with the monumental effort of lifting her arm as she reached out to smooth out the divot on her lover's forehead, then cupped her face. Mira pressed into her palm as she roused, before blinking and jolting upright with wide eyes.
“Rumi.” She whispered, like a prayer.
Rumi tried to respond but found the only sound she could make was a dry croak. Her throat felt like she'd been gargling broken glass and sand.
“Shh, hey, let me get you some water, jagiya.”
Mira moved across the room, grabbing a water bottle from the mini-fridge along with a straw. At the same time, she pulled out her phone and quickly tapped something in before placing the straw near Rumi’s lips.
“Slowly. Good girl.”
The phrase almost never failed to make Rumi blush, even when used in a chaste way, and she felt some heat rise in her cheeks.
The relief of cool water running down her throat was heavenly. Mira smiled softly at her as she sipped, and a quiet peace seeped into the room. Memories of what happened began to tease the edge of her mind.
(A demon, stark black against the snow.)
The infirmary door slammed against the wall hard enough to rattle the walls, and Rumi sprayed a mouthful of water into Mira’s face.
“RUMI?!”, sobbed Zoey as she threw herself over her before the singer could react. She thought she managed to hide the flinch, but felt the maknae pull back slightly, babbling apologies through the tears. Rumi rubbed her back, still uncertain what exactly had happened but knowing it must have been bad.
In the doorway stood Bobby and Celine, relief evident through the concern.
Bobby smiled and gave a little finger wave. “Heya tough girl, just wanted to check in since you're finally awake.”
Celine stared at Rumi as she stepped into the room, the ghost of some emotion flitting across her face too fast for Rumi’s foggy mind to grasp.
Bobby followed behind her, grabbing a towel from one of the cabinets along the walls and handing it to Mira as she removed her dripping glasses.
Rumi licked her dry lips before attempting to speak, her voice hoarse and weak. “Hey.” Zoey lifted her face, red-rimmed eyes joining the others. She wasn't sure what to say as everyone stared at her, and decided to aim for levity. “You should see the other guy.”
Zoey wailed and Mira frowned, gaze darkening.
Wrong move, apparently.
“You managed to do more damage to yourself than the ‘other guy’ did this time.” Mira’s tone was clipped.
“I don't remem-”
Zoey wrapped her arms tightly around her, and the pressure and warmth sent a stream of images and delirious memories cascading through her.
(A demon in the snow. A scream and the smell of blood. Bodies pressing close for warmth. Her body a torch. The Honmoon screaming. The sun and the moon tearing through the sky as she chased them. Burning and burning and burning.)
She stiffened in realization as fragmented memories pieced together.
“Oh.”
Mira's eyes narrowed, jaw so tense Rumi worried she would crack a tooth. “Yeah, oh. I take it you remember.”
It wasn't a question - the truth of it showed in the anxious purple swirls of her patterns. She remembered enough bits and pieces to know why Mira and Zoey were undoubtedly furious.
(Zoey, injured and freezing and terrified.)
Rumi tried and failed to lift herself onto her elbows. “Zoey, are you oka-” Her voice cracked into a dry cough.
Mira placed a hand on her chest, preventing her from attempting to rise again. “Drink.” The dancer tipped the straw back to Rumi's mouth. “Zoey is doing fine now physically, and I think we are all feeling a bit fucked mentally.”
Tension filled the space as Zoey hiccuped wetly into Rumi’s chest.
Bobby, long an expert on when to give his girls space, clapped his hands together and smiled awkwardly. “I'm gonna go update the socials then! Don't worry, we told the fans you're recovering from a cold, and they send their best wishes.” He edged backwards out the door, waving as he went. “Love you, girls!” A quiet chorus of “Love you too, Bobby.” followed him out.
Celine, so unflappable and stoic before the events at Namsan had cracked their relationship wide open, shifted uncomfortably her feet, still standing like a shadow in the room.
Rumi noted with some alarm that she had a black eye, just started to heal. Rumi reached toward her own eye. “Celine, what…”
“Not now.” The older woman stated, eye twitching.
Rumi fell silent, too tired to push.
After defeating Gwi-Ma and remaking the Honmoon, they had managed to return to the tower after sneaking away from the confused crowds. Celine had been waiting in their penthouse, looking nearly feral. She'd pulled Rumi into a crushing embrace and keened. Once they had both calmed down enough to separate, she'd left, begging Rumi to come talk to her when she was ready. It had taken a couple of weeks before Rumi had been able to face her - to not only confront Celine about the burdens she'd placed on her as a child, but to come to terms with the love and shame that had led to her asking her only living mother figure to end her life. They'd talked through a lot of things, Celine apologizing and begging for forgiveness. Old wounds had begun to heal, but they were still tender and prone to reopening.
“Rumi, I… I'm glad you're okay. I'll be here if you need anything.” A pause. “I love you.”
Rumi smiled, eyes bright. “I love you too.”
Celine nodded, her eyes still locked on Rumi as if she expected her to disappear, before turning and shutting the door behind her.
Exhaustion pulled at Rumi, but she couldn't rest. Not yet, not with Mira and Zoey staring at her, waiting for her to explain. Old anxieties bubbled up, spilling over.
You've ruined it, fix it fix it fix it fix it fi-
A deep breath. Hold. Release. A breathing exercise Zoey had taught her after a panic attack.
Zoey had managed to slow her crying to just errant sniffles, and watched Rumi with watery eyes. Mira stared intently at a spot on the wall next to Rumi before meeting her gaze, her expression flat.
Rumi tried not to flinch. “I’m sor-”
“Don’t say it, just… don’t. I just… ” Mira scrubbed at her eyes, then ran a hand through her hair. Zoey sat up on the bed, sitting cross-legged at the end.
Rumi waited, heart in her throat as she braced. This is it. I deserve whatever comes.
“I was so fucking angry with you. I still am angry. Of course I am, you are such a self sacrificing idiot sometimes and like,”
Mira set down the glass of water with a thud and gestured wildly.
“Did you even think, hey, maybe Mira can feel you killing yourself and maybe that feels awful?”
She put a finger up to Rumi's lips as she opened her mouth to try to apologize again.
“Nope, Mira talking time first.”
She leaned forward, staring Rumi hard in the eyes. “I could feel the Honmoon screaming at me to save you, I could feel you dying, and I'm stuck on the train trying to get back and can't do anything.”
While Mira talked, Zoey took one of her hands, looking apprehensive. She rested the other over Rumi’s foot, a comforting weight.
“So yeah, I'm angry. I guess that's not new for me. I was so ready to absolutely tear you a new asshole once we knew you were going to be okay.” Pain flickered across her face. “Part of me just wanted to…”
Rumi’s heart dropped. I failed them, they’ll leave me, I’m a mistake, a-
Mira sighed. “But I had a talk with Celine.”
Rumi felt her eyes widen. Mira and Zoey had been icy towards their former mentor after learning about her role in hiding Rumi’s secret. She didn't think they'd exchanged more than a handful of words since it happened, all of them Huntr/x business related.
Mira saw her surprise and chuckled, her face softening. “Yeah, well turns out that she might actually have some decent ideas when she takes her head out of her ass.” Zoey snorted and a smiled turned the corner of Rumi’s lips. Some of the heaviness lifted from the room.
“She pointed a few things out to me, and I realized that even when I hate when you do this stuff, some of it is just who you are.” A pause. “She also let me spar with her, and punching her in the face a couple of times really helped my mood.”
Rumi gasped and Zoey suddenly found a spot on the ceiling to be extremely interesting. “Mira!”
“But anyway,”
Rumi was absolutely going to be having a discussion with both of them about that later.
Once she didn't feel like she was a few minutes away from being non-optionally unconscious again.
“I need to know, Rumi…” Mira looked away. “Do you regret hiding your patterns?”
This was… not the question Rumi had expected. “Yes,” she answered, slowly but honestly.
Mira met her eyes again, intense. “Do you regret what you did at Bukhansan?”
“No.” Immediate, certain.
Mira stared for a moment, then nodded, her expression easing by just a fraction. Rumi wasn't sure what the test was, but she seemed to have passed.
“I know you did everything you could think of to not hurt us, or yourself.” Mira clutched at her chest, tears forming. “It still hurt, a lot. But even if it hurts sometimes, I'm still going to pick that over not having you.” Tears began to spill from the corners of all of their eyes. Mira placed her shaking hand over Rumi’s. “Just promise me you'll always do everything you can to come back to us, to not hurt.”
“Oh my god, I just managed to stop crying, Mira!” Zoey grumbled.
Rumi held both of their gazes even through the tears. “I promise, I swear, I didn't mean to… I didn’t want…”
Mira fell first as they collapsed into each other, clinging to each other with whispered love and promises between the sobs. The Honmoon rippled in a prism of colors as the three souls swirled together.
She knew this wasn't the end of the conversation. Things were never that simple, never just wrapped up with a neat twenty minute conversation and tears. They would have more to discuss later, but this was another step forward, another part of building their relationship into something even stronger. Faults and fears out on the table, and better because of it.
For a while they just existed like this, feeling each other's warmth and life until the tears slowed and dried. But all too soon, Rumi felt her arms grow leaden and darkness pulled at her edges.
Her soulmates gently eased her back onto her pillows, pulling away reluctantly. Zoey took a plush turtle that had been sitting on top of a piece of medical equipment and moved it to rest in the crook of Rumi’s arm. “Alright pretty girl, time for a nap.” Her lovers fussed with her bedding and the IV attached to her.
She patted the bed on either side of her, eyelids fighting to stay open. “Stay?”
Mira arched her brow and smiled, “Starlight, there is no way we are cramming three grown people in that tiny ass bed.”
Rumi let out a tiny whimper, and Zoey gasped at the sound, whipping her head to give Mira her full force Puppy Eyes.
Mira had absolutely no chance.
A heavy sigh fell from the pink-haired woman. “Fine. But we go right to sleep, you need it.”
“You need it too,” noted Rumi.
Mira didn't argue, she just dimmed the lights as Zoey crawled into bed, facing her. Mira joined them on her other side carefully wrapping her arms around her shoulders and avoiding the IV lines. “Alright, bed time. Sleep now.”
Rumi’s eyes drifted shut, even as she still fought against it. She just wanted to spend a little more time with them.
Another moment from the fight with the demons surfaced. “Zo?” She asked, voice thick with sleep.
“Yeah Ruru?”
“Do you really have lucky underwear?"
