We are Stray Kids - A Stray Kids Fan-Fiction

Chapter 86: Little voice and instincts

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Seungmin felt weird in a way he couldn't explain. He had been standing near the edge of the small cliff that gave one a perfect view of the little hut in the small valley, which was the only part of the hunters' headquarter that was above ground, ever since the mission started.

Everything was entirely serene. There was no sign of the ambush that was taking part underground and Seungmin liked to call that unsettling. It reminded him too much of the silence before a storm.

Still, the redhead couldn't claim that the mission had in any way failed. A lot of different rescue parties, including the ones his friends were parts of, had come and went bringing injured prisoners  with them in the last hour or so. At this point, Seungmin was confident that there couldn't be much left, but something felt off.

At first it was a little, barely noticeable sting in his abdomen, then a tight feeling in his chest followed and now another little sting in his thigh. It was weird and Seungmin hoped dearly that it had nothing to do with his moral compass.

His hand wrapped around the polished red stone that was dangling from his neck. The stone glowed a bit when Seungmin's skin came into contact with its smooth surface. Warmth accompanied with a bit of dark yet powerful magic began to coat Seungmin's hand, but it only lasted for a second. The magic quickly retreated again and the glowing dimmed down until it had disappeared.

Seungmin let a sigh escape his lips, his breath visible in the cold air of the early morning. They still had plenty of time before the sun would chase away the stars and moon, yet the night had already  passed for the red-haired demon.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Seungmin looked over to his brother and best friend, who stood not far from him. Woosu on the other hand had a post out of his sight which was inconvenient to an extend, but he was too well aware of his brother's magical abilities to worry. Wonpil and Jisung were a different case. Even in the darkness and without an enhanced eye sight, Seungmin could tell how the two were feeling and neither looked too good.

Wonpil stood up straight, looking ahead and the only movement detectable for Seungmin was his hand playing with something around his neck. Some people may call his stance relaxed, but Seungmin knew his brother too well to not notice the anxiety hidden in his hand's movements. The older demon was playing with the necklace he wore around his neck ever since Christmas. It was the silver one Dowoon had gifted him. Wonpil had already managed to make a habit out of playing with the necklace whenever he was worried. Most of the time this worry was for Dowoon which made it even more fitting.

Jisung showed much more emotional turmoil in his posture than Wonpil; though, Seungmin had to admit that it had gotten better ever since the rest of Stray Kids had shown up to bring the Lee brothers' parents to safety. Before that had happened, Jisung had been clutching at his chest almost hunching over like someone was hurting him from inside of his rib cage.
When Seungmin had checked on him because of that, Jisung had said that Minho must be anxious and scared out of his mind. It had confused and alarmed Seungmin, because the implication was that something had happened to their friends. Luckily, the young demons fear had been soothed when he had felt Byungho's magic trying to connect with his own.

At the moment, Jisung was just hugging himself, looking down to the little hut in the middle of the vale like Seungmin had only minutes prior. He probably had a far away look in his sky blue eyes, but anyone who dared to think that the blue-haired warlock wasn't on guard was a fool. Seungmin had never seen his best friend more concentrated in his life than at this moment.

A movement in the corner of his eyes let Seungmin snap his head around almost automatically, only to see J.Seph quickly running over to the medical station. The redhead raised an eyebrow at the action, but a part of his brain was already screaming at him in alarm. If you saw a guardian running in a stressed manner towards the location of another guardian something had to be wrong. The fact that J.Seph was also the one responsible for the communication between the rescue parties made the whole thing only worse.