“It sure does feel good, though” He stands grinning under the levitating stake that he tied a particular douchebag to. It had probably been quite a while now as the bastard had stopped screaming. Too bad. Qiu liked hearing him beg.

“Don’t you think?” He asked the other mutant.

Qiu could only sigh. “I pity me too, honestly.” He even managed to smirk at him before going back to staring fondly at his latest prey that hung above the ground, engulfed in fire from head to toe. “But I pity this guy more” He chuckled darkly.

He looked at him with an expression that said “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Let’s see: sharp claws, sharp teeth and eyes that scream murder? Yes man! Of course they look like monsters to me!”

     [ ☆ ]---haejin remained calm despite the other’s outburst, merely quirking a brow in disbelief as he peeked from behind a large tree to survey the area. “that’s relative. it could’ve just been scared--everything could look like a monster, especially with your little outburst.” 

his tone hinted condescension, and he was unfazed when he heard a snarl barely a few feet away from where he stood. probably a mountain wolf, he thought, lost and afraid and unsure without his pack. a shivering paw by the bush confirmed his theory, and haejin slowly crept towards it, his mind suggesting calmness to the creature as he gave its paw a light stroke.

“hey there.” he spoke, voice soft and inviting, the rather huge wolf finally coming into full view with his ministrations. its claws were indeed sharp, its teeth sharper, but its eyes now gleamed with a gentle trust towards the beautiful boy. “did that giant over there scare you with his screaming?” one could hear the obvious teasing in his tone. “of course he did.”

Mei Ling pursed her lips and forced half sincere smile. 

His concern, if genuine, was reserved for her as the one who secured his memories and not for her as an actual person. She knew that.

Believing anything else... Anything more would mean that she got soft. Getting soft meant she got sloppy. Nothing said sloppy like taking fire into one’s hands and expected it not to burn you. She couldn’t forget that fire can feel warm to be around until it consumes you and eats you alive. 

She reached over and patted his shoulder. “Yes, Qiu. Understood, Qiu. Thank you, Qiu.” Her words had the usual same snippy edge to them but she trusted he knew better by now than to take offense. 

Though she stopped expecting him to believe much of what she fed him but she hoped he’d believe her next statement.

「 mwxqiu 」 

The bundle of branches and broke scraps of logs scratched against Mei Ling’s arms uncomfortably. The sun barely poked its head over the horizon but it provided enough light for her to see and navigate around. Every edge of morning started out with her gathering fire wood. Qiu insisted he felt safer with a fire around. Seeing how he became her protector, she consequently felt safer if he felt safe. 

24 hours... The words echoed around in her mind. She never told Qiu what she did behind his back but this didn’t affect him. This was her business and affected her chances of survival around here. He proved himself to be trustworthy enough within the past week or so, but she still couldn’t tell what his reaction would be once he knew she was trying to strengthen her power. She doubted he’d be as thrilled to hear about it. 

The closer she got to their camping site, the more she noticed a difference in the atmosphere since she first walked through. Between the edge of night and day things were typically eerily still, but something strange hung in the air. From her right, something launched out of the bush straight at her. Its claws got her across the arm as it knocked her down. Wolf, she identified her attacker. All the fire wood dropped from her arms except one. It wasn’t much but it was enough to jam far into its mouth when it opened its jaws wide enough to catch her throat. 

She got up and took off as fast as she could while it was still struggling to recover. Only the sound of her own footsteps and her own panting were heard as she ran back to camp for the first few moments. Just when she thought she was home free, a long howl from the site of altercation filled up the air. Distant barks followed after the howl as she set foot onto their camp site. The barks not only sounded as if they were coming closer but were also multiplying.

〈 mwxqiu 〉

For Mei Ling, today was scavenging day. She could’ve been wrong though. She could’ve mixed the days up for all she cared. Nobody she came across had a calendar on them for her to steal so she made the most of what she had. Either way she had to discipline herself in familiarizing herself with the island while searching for supplies. Navigating the blocks of areas she knew best with came easy enough. 

Traveling outside of familiar territory always made her heart plummet to her stomach. To compensate, her steps became lighter and her eyes became sharper for trip lasers or wires, or --god forbid-- other people. The need to constantly look over her shoulders was always present regardless of where she was but something about today made her feel even on edge more than usual. She began ducking behind walls and moving in serpentine paths as she moved around, ignoring the annoying feeling inside her telling her to return to her hideout. 

A breeze blew past her and she turned her head towards the direction it came from. The scent that the breeze carried with it caused the hair on the back of her neck to raise up. It smelled like... Like something was burning. She lit enough campfires at night to easily recognize that smell, but the question that kept gnawing at her was, “Where’s the fire?” She looked to the sky, but found no traces of smoke anywhere. “How can there be fire but no smoke?”