haven - zb1

29

Left to their own devices and with the unreliable oldest being Taerae, the House of air and earth heirs were close to wrecking havoc. Gunwook and Taerae were seated opposite each other, cross legged and focused, but weren't exactly making the best use of their time.

The earth rumbled beneath them, as if they were doing a tug of war for the material. Taerae's brows were furrowed and Gunwook was stifling a laugh. Instead of perhaps hurling rocks at each other or manipulating plants, the duo seemed to be playing tic tac toe with the earth.

Soon, Taerae's eyes widened with a triumphant expression on his face. "I win again," He declared, and childishly summoned a wave of earth towards Gunwook that cleared their game. The younger scowled as he blocked it, demanding, "Another round. You're just lucky because you started first-"

"Uh huh," Taerae interrupted, "The deal was that the winner gets to pick what to do. And in the spirit of our lovely Jiwoong, I suggest we train."

"There's no one to spar with-" the words died in Gunwook's mouth when he realised when Taerae was saying. He sighed and Taerae only cheerfully beamed. They were to train the technique of their house.

He disliked the technique of his House, to be cool headed and calm at all times. It wasn't like they were from the House of water or air.

Still, the duo stayed where they were, Taerae's breathing slowed and Gunwook tried to match his own breaths and calm his racing heart. With his eyes closed, he could see the vague outlines of the surroundings inscribed in his eyelids. The lines were shaky and blurry, Taerae was always better at this, but Gunwook focused. He could count the number of trees around him, feel the life force of all the plants pulsating in his own veins.

Beads of sweat formed on his temple but he pressed on, even as the forms quivered. He sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to see further, to see deeper into the forest, to reach behind and take in the structure of the shelter, then pushed even harder to glimpse the steps of the Solar Hall.

Then, something budged and his eyes flew open, Taerae stood before him, arrow nocked in his bow and five rocks hovering mere centimetres away from Gunwook's face. "Were you spacing out?" Taerae frowned, "You're not usually this distracted."

Gunwook grimaced, and swatted the stones before him. "How would I know you would sneak up on me like that?"

"Huh, you went pretty far. That's good, you're improving."

As Gunwook stood to receive a flask of water Taerae offered, Yujin suddenly piped up, "What were you two doing, meditating?"

"I wish," Taerae chortled, "We were practising our House's technique. It's tough so we're always trying to improve." Gunwook made a face, "I really don't see how-"

Taerae shot him a look, so Gunwook only swallowed his words. Twisting to face the House of air heirs, Taerae asked curiously, "What's the House of Air's technique? We know a little of the House of Fire's and the House of water's one is a well-known legend. But yours..." He trailed off, as Gyuvin carefully considered his reply.

Gyuvin finally said, "You know how the famed techniques are always known to be the strongest skill a user could have, the maximum potential of their power?"

Taerae nodded slightly. "Well, we do have an incredible technique. But it is also cruel and inhumane to use, so most of us never master it," Gyuvin explained, "That's likely why me and Yujin rank low among us all. When the lethal factor of our powers is not utilised, we are nothing special. We're nothing dangerous."

Gyuvin looked so sombre that Taerae decided not to pry. To break the silence, Yujin leapt up and said, "Well, should we go look for the water boys and see if they're doing okay?"

-

The water boys were not doing okay. After a taxing session, Zhang Hao looked drained and exhausted, but assured an anxious Quanrui that good progress had been made. Hanbin had been next, he too was looking pale and spotted a bloody nose, which he cheerfully announced was a side effect of using his powers.

Jiwoong was completely knocked out, clothes drenched with water and sweat glistening on his skin. Quanrui offered to change his clothes so Jiwoong wouldn't catch a cold, something the fire heirs were susceptible to, so the rest vacated the room to give them privacy.

"Is it gonna rain?" Gyuvin asked with his nose scrunched as he gazed up at the grey cloudy sky. Zhang Hao, while looking worse for wear, winced and said, "That happens...when we get emotional."

"We don't have a ton of energy right now though," Hanbin remarked, "So it'll probably clear pretty quickly."

A bout of silence, then Taerae asked meekly, "Is Jiwoong really gonna be okay?" Zhang Hao released a sigh, ruffling his hair slightly, "He will. We'll make sure of it even if we lose sleep."

"And I bleed out," Hanbin joked, which did lighten the mood, until another trickle of blood came running down and there was a mad rush to offer handkerchiefs and water.