It felt like someone was watching them. Felix didn't like it, not at all. He kept throwing a glance over his shoulder but he could never really see anything. He could tell that the others had noticed it too, as they kept glancing around nervously.
The fire was crackling and Minho was chatting with Woojin, asking him about his work in the blacksmithing business as they ate. Jeongin was silent, listening intently to their surroundings. They all knew they were being followed, they had been since they reached the peak. Chan was also on high alert, eyes shifting around the mountain range. The weather was colder than it had been in the south, and Felix suspected that it would be even colder as they continued north but since it was still summer, it wasn't unbearable.
Felix jumped in surprise when a twig snapped behind them. Chan immediately stood up, low posture and muscles tense as he moved to stand in front of the others. Felix slowly stood up, his heart speeding up in his chest.
Just as he was about so say something, a voice spoke up from the darkness. It was in draconic, low and guttural as they spoke. Felix saw Chan tilt his head before replying in draconic. Felix had only heard him curse in his own language before, but hearing him speak full sentences was completely different.
"It's... okay," Chan spoke slowly, glancing over his shoulder as he straightened his back. "You can come out."
The person that stepped out from the shadows and into the warm, orange light of the campfire looked nothing like Felix had expected. When he had heard draconic, he had expected a dragon like Chan. Human to appearance save for the eyes, which Felix had expected to be the telltale of the draconic heritage. But the figure, stepping out of the shadow was so different.
He had an oval face with chubby jowls, brown hair almost covering his slim eyes and he looked around the camp, worry apparent. In the orange glow, Felix could clearly see the golden scales that covered a majority of his face, leaving only the right cheek and eye with human skin. His right eye was dark, probably brown, while the left one was a bright silver.
"Hi," he said carefully, his voice much softer than when he had spoken draconic. "I-I... uhm, can I eat with you?"
"Of course," Woojin said, being the first one to recover from the shock that seemed to have struck them all. Woojin moved over a little, patting the space beside him. "Come sit down."
"You're a human," the stranger said, eyes flickering around the camp as he took in the appearance of the group. "Traveling with a group that are... clearly not human."
"I am," Woojin said, nodding his head a little. "I'm Woojin."
The stranger hesitated before approaching, sitting down beside Woojin. He was wearing a worn set of traveling clothes, a dark grey cloak pulled over it. As he reached for his food in his bag, Felix could see that one of his hands were covered in scales, claws instead of nails while the other was clearly a human hand.
"I'm Seungmin," he whispered, looking down on his hands. "I'm sorry I've been... following you," he added, still not looking up.
"I'm Felix," Felix said and Seungmin looked up. Felix moved to sit down, gently grabbing a hold of Chan's arm to pull him along.
"Chan," Chan said shortly, eyeing Seungmin closely. Seungmin nodded, shifting his eyes over to Jeongin.
"Jeongin," he said shortly. He looked beyond confused, and Felix couldn't blame him. Felix, Minho and Chan were all sort of used to the who non-human business and Woojin was just a very calm and collected person. Jeongin hadn't had the time to get to know the world he now was a part of.
"I'm Minho," Minho said, his golden eyes fixed on Seungmin. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to be blunt," he began and Felix looked between Minho and Seungmin. Seungmin pressed his lips together but nodded slowly. "What are you?"
