In the end, after a much-needed pee break and sunrise watch on a nearby mountain range, the team decided that they were going to have to wait and patrol the surrounding area should anyone be following them. Junmyeon had made the final decision, saying that it would be best to confuse whatever was possibly following them instead of leading it straight to Baekhyun's village. This time, they picked an abandoned dragon nesting site after both Chanyeol and Yifan deemed it safe to enter.
"It's been abandoned for years, probably got too cold up here during the winter season." Yifan reasoned upon settling down in dragon form. There were remnants of a hay covered nest and several broken rocks littering the floor. It was definitely colder even though it was just early nightfall, but after flying all day it was definitely better than sleeping on a tree branch.
"Anyone have water to spare? My pouch is empty." Sehun shook his metal container unhappily, and immediately Luhan forked over his own water pouch. Upon seeing everyone's questioning gaze, Luhan glared defensively.
"Sirens need to stay hydrated or else they dry out. Don't stare at him." Luhan growled, and everyone backed off respectfully. Baekhyun settled towards the front of the cave with Chanyeol still in dragon form. They decided that the dragons would remain in the front and use their forms to shield the smaller mortals and mythical creatures from the wind.
"Roll over Chanyeol." Baekhyun worked from Chanyeol's talons up until his wings, kneading the touch scale and hide beneath his hands as if he had done it many times before. Being together for this long allowed Baekhyun to understand all of the spots that Chanyeol struggled with after a long flight. If he didn't stretch out he could tear something, and that made Baekhyun worried.
"Why don't you ever do that to me?" Yifan groaned as he collapsed next to Junmyeon and making the cave shake a bit.
"What do you mean? You never wanted to be touched like that, something about me ruining your precious dragon scales." Junmyeon shot back defensively.
"You massage like you're trying to rip them out. You always go the wrong way." Yifan huffed, a puff of smoke rising from his huge snout.
"Oh yeah? Well, why don't you ask Baekhyun to loosen you up instead?" Junmyeon squeaked back as the smoke swirled lazily around his body. But Yifan knew there was no real bite to his words because the smaller man was quite fond of him. Yifan knew when his companion was worried, sad, lonely, or happy. Junmyeon was in a teasing mood, so Yifan indulged him accordingly. There wasn't much the smaller man could hide from his dragon eyes. Yifan might be vain and slightly temperamental at times, but he really looked out for his companion.
Chanyeol groaned in relief when Baekhyun massaged a particularly tough knot out of his wing joints, and Baekhyun laughed as the smaller dragon fully collapsed in a tired heap.
"You did well Yeollie. I'm so proud of you." Baekhyun patted Chanyeol's head, and Chanyeol snorted smoke in happiness.
The night fell faster than expected, and Yifan and Chanyeol became first to watch. Yifan began his rounds first, circling high and low through the mountain range, his eyes attuned to see any sources of dark magic radiating. Chanyeol took his turn a few hours after, picking up where Yifan left off, his much smaller build making the patrol a bit slower than he'd like it to be.
Chanyeol had also seen nothing, which prompted him to trade off with a very sleepy Jongin as the night transitioned into the morning. The sky was still dark when Jongin began his flight, and he was nervous about leaving Kyungsoo alone for too long. But he knew the dangers that fog could bring to his team, so he tried his best to spot anything. His Griffin tunnel vision allowed him to spy even the smallest of rodents scurrying about the mountain; but still no fog.
His search was also futile, so by the time he returned to the cave, he had nothing to report. Thankfully, everyone began to stir at the change in temperature as the sun began to show itself, so there were more people aware.
Kyungsoo welcomed Jongin back with a small hug, soothing down Jongin's ruffled feathers. Jongin himself hadn't even noticed he was all untidy looking in griffin-harpy form until Sehun lent him a hand mirror.
"I'll get food started. We're running low on provisions. I suggest we stop to restock at the next village we pass or we might definitely starve by tonight." Kyungsoo informed the ground, and Yifan went along with him towards the cave entrance to help the fire.
There wasn't much left in Jongin's pack except for dried fish bits and some stray herbs, but Kyungsoo could make do. He emptied the rest of his water into the cooking container Jongin had brought along and began to mix all the food together. It would be bland, but it was food so no one would complain. Yifan remained around the area to make sure the fire behaved itself, and Chanyeol flew off with Minseok riding his back in human form this time to look for water. Minseok's senses were attuned to find water, as were Sehun's but Minseok was more designed for the climate they were in.
Baekhyun remained behind with Jongdae, both worried about their respective companions. Initially, they were trying to help Kyungsoo but there wasn't much to do except line up the cups for soup distribution when the man was done.
"Do you think that we're in over our heads?" Baekhyun asked Jongdae.
"In my point of view, I think I was always in over my head," Jongdae responded with a smile.
"That's not helping," Baekhyun reprimanded the younger, but Jongdae kept his smile.
"We were already in over our head the second we joined the Universe Academy hyung. Whatever gets thrown at us from here on out, it's over our head. But our job is to protect this planet no matter what, so if we can get at least some people to make a difference, it matters. Progress for one of us is progress for all of us." Jongdae explained, and Baekhyun felt a bit more relaxed.
"That's a strange way to put it, but I understand your drift." Baekhyun patted Jongdae on the back, and the two shared a smile.
