Black Magic

Fly West

Chapter 30: Fly West

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EXO had been traveling for almost two weeks now, and Kai couldn't help but notice that everything had fallen into a sort of routine.

Fly all night, land at dawn, allow for a short time to rest and recharge, occasionally send one member to stock up on supplies at some small village, and then head out again. The sheer monotony of it exhausted Kai, but it was a steady routine, strategic, one that kept them on track with the goal of the mission.

But being together for so long, especially in dragon form, was beginning to wear on all of them. Privacy was nonexistent, sleep was hard to come by, the food was bland and unsatisfying... It had only been two weeks, and everyone in EXO seemed to be pissed off about something or someone.

And with the tension building and building, it didn't take much to spark a disagreement.

Kai was unsurprised when the first signs of dissent came courtesy of Luhan and Sehun. The problem between the two started when it became apparent that the route was going to have to detour from their original plan, and the two Air Dragons could not seem to come to an agreement about which direction was the best to take. It was when the wind had begun to lash around Sehun's body and Luhan's lips had begun to pull back from his teeth that Kai had taken it upon himself step in and do something. That particular skirmish had eventually ended with Kyungsoo taking the lead, Luhan following behind the Earth Dragon, and Sehun bringing up the rear.

Disagreement number two had started off between Minseok and Yixing, and somehow ended with Chanyeol thrown into the mix. Honestly, Kai had been on Watch Duty and had missed the entire thing, but Kyungsoo had later told him that apparently Minseok had been very insistent in offering Yixing the last of his food rations, even after the Healer had firmly declined. It'd gotten to the point where Chanyeol had eventually snarled and inserted himself into the heated exchange, which Minseok hadn't taken to kindly, at all.

"What about Luhan?" Kai had asked.

"Huh? What about Luhan?"

"He didn't do anything?"

"...No. Why?"

"Because Luhan and Minseok are like, a thing. And Yixing is Minseok's ex?"

"Wait, what? I thought Luhan was into Sehun...Minseok and Yixing used to be in a relationship?"

By the start of the second week, half of the members wouldn't even look at each other, and poor Joonmyun, like always, was the one stuck trying to keep the peace. But Kai could tell that even the mild-tempered Water Dragon was at his wit's end. One night, as they were settling in for a rest stop, hungry, tired, and discouraged, it became apparent that nobody was going to leave for Watch Duty, and Joonmyun snapped.

"So who's turn is it?" the Water Dragon had asked crossly, addressing the entire group. It had taken a moment of backtracking and posturing between members before it was finally determined that it was, in fact, Kris's turn. Joonmyun's lips had thinned into a straight line, his cheeks more red than Kai had ever seen them. Chen had had to walk the Water Dragon away from the camp at that point, and they hadn't returned until well after Kris had left the vicinity.

Usually, Kai found himself the instigator in most cases of disagreement, but he had been surprisingly withdrawn from all of the internal drama. Yet even he could sense that the discord within the group was starting to become dangerous. They would be fucked if the Darks decided to attack, because right now, it was every dragon for himself.