The Fallen (EXO Fanfiction)

~ Chapter Twenty-Seven: Dance With Wolves ~

Yes. This was it.

Freedom.

Twelve silhouettes raced through the darkness of the forest, chasing one another, as their blood pumped in exhilaration. Their eyes didn't need light to see. The darkness could not have been more clearer to them. They knew which hidden paths to run and they could do so without restraint.

Well, maybe a little restraint. Seeing as they were a day or two away from the full moon, it was rather dangerous to transform completely into wolf-form. This was the point when they were most vulnerable and changing completely could mean not changing back for a while, limitless and without control- dangerous. It was safer to wait until the moon had stabilized and then they could freely transform, whenever they wanted, at least until the next full moon came again. So, twelve young men ran as though they were possessed by the wildest spirits, moving like wolves when they sprinted.

Tao shook his head wildly, laughing loudly as he saw Kris soar by, floating just above the ground, making skating movements as though he were leisurely gliding on ice. His glowing red eyes were a good match for his deep red hair and dark undercut, his canine teeth sharper and longer than usual, were showing when he grinned at his little brother. Tao had long given up trying to race him, since his ability to fly made him faster than anyone. But don't think Kai wasn't aware of that.

On cue, his younger brother appeared and disappeared in clouds of black smoke, and Tao was only able to see glimpses of Kai's red eyes and his boyish smile, steadily catching up to Kris who seemed to have picked up his pace. Tao bore a wide grin on his own face when he saw that his two eldest brothers didn't want to miss out on a chance of winning a race for once either. Xiumin jumped high to gain momentum as his hands shot out steady streams of ice for him to glide on, his bronze red hair swaying in the wind. Luhan wasn't far behind, trying to create obstacles for Baozi-ge, as he easily moved boulders and tree stumps with his mind. Tao cooed in awe when Xiumin deftly avoided all of them, creating amazing paths of ice as he slid over them.

Having fun, Tao-di?

Tao smiled happily when he heard Luhan's voice in his mind, calling him his little brother. His dark brown hair had made way for a pale blonde coif, which Tao secretly admired. His own jet black hair had turned blonde as well, but his was more golden than pale. He heard Luhan laughing in his mind after nodding his head in excitement. He pondered a moment on whether he could cheat and just stop them in their motion while he ran forward to win the race, but laughed giddily again when Luhan's voice said,

Ah, don't even think about it, little brother!

He warned, quickening his pace. Tao watched them, avoiding the frozen trees and ground.

"Careful, Tao-Tao!" Lay's voice called to him as he jumped from the trees beside him, running easily next to him. His yellow hair had traces of pink in them, but Tao thought that anything looked good on Lay-ge. "Don't fall, okay?" he smiled his dimpled smile at him, his eyes gleaming red in playfulness while he moved his hands in an elegant way, negating Xiumin's freezing and healing whatever needed healing. He was faster than Tao, so soon, he fell behind him, but Tao didn't mind.

Chanyeol followed after that and Tao burst out in laughter again when he saw the concentrated look on the tall boy's face. He knew that he was holding back the fire but the heat that came off him was sizzling, almost like he was running next to an oven. It caused the remaining ice to thaw and Tao made sure to jump away when Chanyeol ran past him. Tao pushed his feet against the bark of a tree, flipping in mid-air before landing perfectly on the ground once more. He shrieked when he felt a splash of cold water hit him in the back of the neck and he attempted to catch Suho as the leader raced by, laughing loudly at the younger brother's reaction whilst ruffling his hair when he passed him. Suho's hair looked wild and shone with hints of red.