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Minghao's body aching in pain, screaming at him to wake up from his slumber. Yet he felt paralyzed, unable to flutter open his eyes if he even wanted to. And he definitely wanted to. He wanted everything that had happened to be just some minuscule nightmare he was having. He wanted to wake up in the bed of the inn Seungcheol had been staying in. Hell, he wanted to wake up days before the divine prophecy even occurred, returning him to a powerless state of a leper.

His wishes were not granted though. When he finally opened his eyes, he was greeted by a cloudy sky and humid air. No sunshine was able to reach through the clouds and the atmosphere was grey and dull, signaling that a storm was either coming or going. He lifted himself off of the ground, taking note of the bloody bruises on his skin as he glanced around. Where was he? A very thick forest he could assume, but where exactly? Was he near the Terra District now or did he somehow ended up even closer to the Aero District than ever before?

Minghao turned around to spot Junhui on the ground, passed out and unaware of what was going on. "Jun..." He mumbled, standing up on his shaky weak legs and stumbling over to him. "Jun, wake up." Just when he got close enough he found himself tumbling to the ground right next to him, out of energy and willpower to do anything else. He softly nudged the boy's shoulder as he laid there with him, finding himself phasing in between consciousness and sleep.

Before he could truly drift off into sleep again, a dim light caught his eyes. He looked up to spot a phoenix on the ground, barely clinging onto its life as its flames burnt the forest floor around it. And yet what used to be a powerful bird of fire had been reduced to a simple candlelight, its flames getting weaker and weaker with each passing second. It's injuries leaked with dried blood while one pulsed with an irritatingly bright red in the shape of a stab wound. It was the phoenix the two boys had recklessly flew on yesterday.

He forced himself to his knees, wanting to inspect the wound to make sure it was okay. Basically, anything was allowed to happen to the boys, but the phoenixes? That was a different problem. If one of the phoenixes ended up dying while illegally out on them then that was there fault. It couldn't be covered up as a simple mistake by Joshua, they'd go to jail for stealing and potentially helping out in the manslaughter. Minghao was already considered a low ranking leper still, so that would make it easier to pin the blame on him as well.

He stopped all attempts of moving forward when he spotted another animal making its way to the phoenix. It was a scrawny red fox, it's tail twitching in anticipation as it creeped up on the phoenix. Clearly, the mythical being was a new creature to it as other animals would approach the phoenix with much less caution had they previously had an encounter. The fox's jittery movements helped it zip and zoom around the phoenix, inspecting it without even touching it.

It jumped when the phoenix suddenly attempted to stand up, wailing in pain every time it moved. The fox scurried away in a hurry, suddenly spooked by the phoenix's sudden movements. Minghao watched silently as the giant flaming bird made an attempt to flap its burning wings and fly away, only to crash into the ground and set it aflame as a result. Both Minghao and the fox grimaced it the phoenix's unfortunate landing, unsure of what to do.

He pushed himself up once more to his full height as he looking around for anything that could help him. "It was definitely struck by a manticore... that wound is practically draining its will to live. I'm surprised it's even still standing... there's gotta be something around to make it stop hurting right? Or at least slow the process of the poisoning..." Minghao mumbled, knowing that a manticore's poison was basically a slow killing death machine. If the hit from the tail didn't get you, then the poison definitely will.

Though his search came to a quick close when he heard something growl at him. He looked down to spot the fox hissing and growling at him, its ears pulled back and it's tail twitching constantly. Minghao frowned as he took one step closer to the phoenix, watching as the fox took threaten him with bared fangs. "Okay, okay... I get it," Minghao told it, stepping away and sitting on the ground. It seemed as though the fox was guarding the phoenix from harm, but if he didn't figure out what to do soon the phoenix would face its demise.

Though he heard something rustle behind him, attempting to creep upon him. Whatever forest animal it was now, it wasn't as sly and sneaking as the fox in front of him was. "I'm not here to hurt—" he spoke, cut off by a pure shock of what he saw. It was boy, probably a year or two younger than him, staring straight back at him. He was practically covered in dirt with twigs and leaves scattered in his hair or stuck to his clothing. Minghao narrowed his eyes at him before speaking again. "Who— Woah!"

The boy grinned as tree roots sprouted from the ground, grabbing Minghao by the ankle and pulling into the air. He winced at its tight grip on him and got lightheaded and being hung upside down. The pink pendant he was wearing just barely clinging onto his neck. The boy let out a childish laugh as he stood up, picking out one of the leaves in his hair. He walked up to the fox petting it with ease. "That was a great diversion! Man, maybe I really should keep you around."

The fox leaned into his touch but the boy took his hands away quickly. The small animal barked at him to get his attention, but he simply ignored it. He approached Minghao with curiosity eyes, inspecting him like he was some sort of crazy phenomenon. "Well, aren't you new..." The boy mumbled, grabbing the Aeroan's face with both hands and squishing his cheeks. "You're so... lanky... and long. You won't do at all." He frowned, playing around with Minghao's arms.

He didn't have the energy with some kid messing around him. "Put me down! I don't have time for this. That phoenix—" Minghao exclaimed, yet was muffled by the boy placing his hand over his mouth. The Aeroan huffed in response as he watched the boy's eyes gleam with interest and greed. Before he knew it, the boy had grabbed ahold of his pendant and snatched it off his neck. Minghao gasped as he tried to get it back from him. "Hey! What are you doing? Give that back!"

"This is rose quartz, right? Woah... I bet this will pay a lot when I go back to the city!" He grinned, gripping it tightly in his hands as he backed away from Minghao. The boy turned his attention to Junhui, who was still laid unconscious on the ground and quickly began to inspect him. "Oh! He had a matching gem too! I don't know what it is, but I'm sure it'll give me enough money to try participating in the UTT as well." He explained, blurting out his whole plan to Minghao.

Minghao frowned, trying to lift his head up so that he didn't end up passing out from the blood rushing to his head. "Give those back, they aren't yours!" He hissed, trying to pry the root off of his leg. Yet it had such a tight grip around him that he couldn't rip it off with pure strength alone. He needed something strong enough to do it for him... or his magic powers. He wasn't sure how they truly activated yet, but having them right now would be very useful. He rubbed his hands together to try and create friction hot enough to make his hands start glowing and pressed it up against the root. "Come on magic, I really need your help right now."

"Hey mister," the boy spoke, making Minghao lookup (or down in his situation) at him. The boy had both pendants dangled on the neck while an innocent and curious look was plaster on his face. "Why are you injured? Were you just dumb enough to walk through this forest without knowing the dangers or are you here by accident?" He narrowed his eyes at him, flashing him a glare that would have been sharp had he not been upside down.

"I was with a group of friends at first. We were traveling to the Terra District via phoenixes... but we were attacked by hunters and manticores after our phoenixes." Minghao glanced over towards the phoenix, a frown etched onto his face when his eyes locked onto its wound. How much more time did he have until the phoenix was completely drained of its energy? How much more time did he have until the manticore's poison truly kicked in and finished off the beast. "We got separated, I watched my friend plunge into the lake, and now I'm here with no clear way to save the phoenix."

The boy's eyes followed Minghao's, staring at the weakened mythical bird. "Let me guess, some men in animal masks came and attacked you? Did their leader have a serpent mask?" He asked, glancing towards the Aeroan for his answer. The boy nodded his head vigorously as the stranger began walking to the phoenix. "You can't press any charges with them. They are called the Ode, hired by the duchess of the Terra District. She has very exotic tastes and phoenixes seem to fit her current agenda for style."

The root wrapped around Minghao's ankle began to shift, slowly digging itself back into the ground. When he felt its grip began to loosen, he held his hands out towards the ground. He needed to catch himself when he fell, not wanting to land awkwardly on his limbs. Once he was finally on the ground he turned towards the boy, who was cautiously scooting towards the phoenix. The fox by his side copied its movements, not wanting to be a victim of its wrath if it started to attack. "What are you doing? Just... touch it."

"I've never actually seen a phoenix in person, they don't live in the Terra District after all. Even if they did they'd be a very rare find since they're hunted." The boy confessed placing his hand on the wound. The phoenix let out a screech of pain at the slightest touch, attempting to wriggle itself away from him. Yet with a majority of its energy lost, it didn't seem half as threatening as it should be. "I didn't know if it was going to attack me or not so I needed to make sure before I started healing it."

"Healing it?" Minghao repeated, confusion written all over his face. "Wait... did you say the Terra District? We're in the Terra District right now? That means healing people are like... apart of your powers then?" He questioned, sounding just like a child getting candy. He couldn't help it, he had never been in another district before. Minghao could tell you all about the air magic that Aeroan possess, but was completely clueless on the powers of the other districts.

"Hush!" The boy screeched, placing a finger over his lips. "I need to concentrate. Healing others require the upmost of focus... and I'm one of those people who can't focus unless I want to win. This is not a game that I can win, meaning I need focus!" Minghao nodded in response, an annoyed expression appearing on his face for a split second. All he needed to do was tell him he needed concentration to heal people. He got all that information from his first sentence... everything else was unnecessary.

He sat back on the ground, watching the boy intensity to see what he would do. This was Minghao's first look at an actual Terraean use their powers. Seungcheol didn't count despite being from the district, as he was apart of the divine. However, now was his chance to finally get his first cool at powers outside of an Aeroan's expertise. He would be lying if he said he knew how he was holding all off hold his energy in.

"Ow..." a voice spoke, pulling Minghao attention away from the boy. He glanced to the side to see Junhui finally stirring, gripping his arm in pain as he tried to figure out where he was. He seemed quite calm about the situation until he noticed that something was missing from his person. "Where'd it go? It was just hanging on my neck earlier... it couldn't have come off in flight, could it?"

"Don't worry," Minghao spoke, scooting over towards Junhui quickly. "That kid has the pendant. He took it off when you were unconscious and took mine while I was dangling in the air from a tree root." He shrugged it off, though not as worried about it as he was earlier. Junhui was awake now, and that's all that matters. He was probably in pain just as much as Minghao was, but he didn't seem to care. That or he was just taking it like a real champ.

He nodded in response, narrowing his eyes at the boy. There seemed to be something conjuring up in his hands and Minghao quickly spilled out any words that came to mind. "Don't worry! He's practically harmless though. I mean he hasn't run off with the pendants yet... and he's healing the phoenix! I think he's just a good guy overall right now! Like what bad guy would heal our getaway phoenix?"

Junhui snorted at the boy, unable to contact his laughter at the sudden flood of words that came out his friend's mouth. "Okay, okay I get it. He's harmless." He replied, ceasing the shadows that formed in his palms. Minghao sighed in relief, glancing back over towards the stranger. He seemed to have finished his "healing", a grand smile on his face as he finally got to pet the phoenix without worry. "Is that a normal thing that Terraeans do though? I didn't know they heal others?"

Minghao shrugged as the boy skipped over to them, sitting beside the two. "I see you're awake," He began, glancing towards Junhui. "You were knocked out for quite a while... I thought you were just dead at one point!" He grinned hitting his shoulder playfully. However, his friend winced, grabbing his arm in pain at the sudden contact. He probably had an injury from their crash there, and the stranger just didn't know. He seemed alarmed by the reaction he got and gave them an apologetic smile. "Oh... sorry about that. I can heal you both if you want! I, uh, guess I'll give these back to you as well."

The boy pulled the pendants off his neck, holding them in his hands. Junhui and Minghao shared a confused glance with each other as they didn't do anything to get them back. They didn't threaten him or trade anything for their pendants back. Yet here he was, holding the pendants out to them reluctantly. "Oh... thanks? It's nice of you to just give them back like that...?" Minghao trailed off, not knowing the name of the boy's name.

"Lee Chan," He answered, dropping the pendants in his hands. "I feel bad for trying to steal from you after the Ode attacked you. I don't want to be that kind of person you know? Plus... the Ode has done much more than just poach phoenixes. And they're getting on the forest and my nerves."

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