✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Lightmaker • hyunchanlix *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Eleven - HATS *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"They expect us to climb a fucking mountain?" Pandora swore, staring towards the mountain's peak that she couldn't even see from where she was standing.

Hinata set her hand on the fairy's shoulder, smirking down at her. "What, you scared?" She taunted, trying to rile Pandora up.

Pandora glared at her. The girl snarled and flipped Hinata off. Honestly, if Hinata didn't know any better, she'd think Pandora was a werewolf with the way she was growling and hissing.

"Honestly, I think it'll be fun," Archer said, shrugging as they observed the mountain.

"Hah, fun. Sure." Pandora proclaimed dryly, kicking at the stone in front of her. That just made rocks rain down on her. She yelped and jumped back, knocking into Hinata, who toppled over with a shout. Pandora followed, unable to keep her balance and the two landed on the ground in a pile of limbs. It was quiet for a moment and then Archer burst into laughter at them.

Pandora and Hinata were then pulled up by hands on their shirt collars, belonging to Archer's older brother, Changbin, as the siren chuckled and said, "Careful, little birdies. No one wants you getting hurt before we even start to climb."

"Guys!" Hyunjin shouted, "I found a path up!"

Hyunjin was standing in front of a smooth path in the rocks. It was slightly blocked by rubble, but it was clearly a path.

Chan walked over, joining him. "It's unlikely that it leads all the way up and over, but we can take it until it ends." The vampire said, observing the path.

"Good job, Jinnie." Felix complimented. Hyunjin beamed at the praise.

"We'll have to be careful, though." Changbin added. "A path like this means there's probably a human settlement at the end of it."

Chan nodded, agreeing with Changbin. "You're right, but it's a necessary risk. It would be too dangerous to just start climbing freely now, so we'll follow the path. And a human village would give us the chance to rest."

"What about the members who can't hide their features?" Felix asked worriedly, bringing a hand up to his wolf ears, his wings fluttering on his back.

Chan also looked up at Felix's ears and then at the elytrian's wings. "You guys will have to wear your cloaks the whole time, and stay inside until we leave."

"What about you? If you do the talking, then someone will see your fangs." Hyunjin pointed out.

Chan brought his hand up over his mouth, poking at one of his fangs as he thought. "I won't do the talking. I'll let Jisung represent us until we leave. It's the safest option for all of us."

It was the safest option, considering Jisung could change his appearance to look like anyone he wanted to, which meant he could disguise himself as a human. If he tried hard enough, he could look like any of the Sun Searchers. He'd done it once to Felix, and it had been jarring to see his own face looking back at him but hear one of his best friend's voices coming out of his own mouth.

"Either way, we won't stay for long. Just long enough to get rested and get some more supplies." Chan reasoned.

Archer nervously flew over the pile of fallen rocks blocking the path, sighing in relief when nothing happened. If Archer Caldwell was older, they'd be an elytrian and they wouldn't mind heights, but as it was, they were still an avian, still a fledgeling, and most birds their age didn't like heights. They'd already fallen out of their nest once and they'd prefer to stay on the ground till they had the wings to take to the sky.

"Is this the only route, though? Couldn't we go around the mountains? It would take longer, but wouldn't it be easier?" Jisung questioned.

Chan shook his head. "We can't go around. Our next clue is inside the mountain range, so we have to go over."