Area One

3

Luhan felt them approaching before he was able to hear them. Whatever kind of power it was that he had received from the Tree, it was undeniably useful.

A few days had passed since his father's disappearance, and he hadn't heard word of him ever since. Luhan had cried, screamed, but ultimately realized he behaved like a little child. Whining wouldn't bring him back.

He had always been able to rely on his father whenever he needed help. His father had been the only one who had treated him like a normal person. Now it was not only his parent he was missing, it was his only friend, the only person who had protected him from the others.

He had always considered himself lucky for not living right inside the village, but a few minutes further away. No one ever visited, the two of them were outsiders. On purpose.

His father had always told him to keep the Tree a secret. Luhan hadn't even understood why he should talk about a stupid tree. He had other problems, and, aside from this, even when they were in the village everyone ignored Luhan. If he was lucky. He had no one to tell anything to. People tended to see him as a bad omen. Everyone was surprised whenever they saw him, as if they hadn't expected him to survive another few weeks. It wasn't like he had some contagious disease.

He couldn't blame them, though. The way the Red Force Patrol had treated him had made him realize how worthless he was in this world. He hadn't been able to protect the Tree, he hadn't been able to save his own father. He had needed the help of the tree that had always seemed like nothing special. A plant had been more helpful in a fight than him.

He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts that kept coming back, taking over his mind until he wasn't able to think of anything else. There were people who were coming closer, maybe two or three. He couldn't explain how the experience with the Tree had changed his way of sensing things, it was just... He just felt some things around him. And sometimes, he felt as if he was able to move them just with his mind, but he didn't trust the Tree far enough to believe that. Maybe it just wanted to play with his mind. It wouldn't surprise him.

"Maybe we can stay here for the night!"

Sehun got all excited, until they both noticed a frail figure walking towards them.

Junmyeon's heart dropped. He was tired of being chased away.

When the person came closer, he noticed that it was a boy, approximately around their age, maybe a bit younger. He was not very tall and quite skinny, but even for that appearance his steps seemed strangely insecure. He was supporting himself with a walking stick. As Junmyeon was observing the boy, he noticed the faint murmur of a small stream that was flowing somewhere near them.

The boys waited for him to come close, not wanting to appear as a threat.

Upon seeing his face closely, it was not what Junmyeon had expected. He wore a grim and somewhat determined expression, but his eyes were swollen and red, as if he had been crying.

"Wherever you wanted to go, you've probably lost your way."

His voice didn't sound anything like the fragile boy Junmyeon had expected either. He had his arms crossed.

"We didn't lose it because we didn't have one in the first place," Junmyeon explained carefully. "We were just hoping to find a place to stay and maybe some food-"

"If you're running from the Red Force, staying here wouldn't be wise," the boy interrupted, a new tone in his voice... was it fear?

"We don't have anything to do with the Red Force," Junmyeon defended himself, raising the hand that wasn't holding onto Sehun rising to visualize they were no risk for the boy.