trouble - evnne

23

Tiot had chosen to walk to the island, Junhyun took the liberty to form an icy pathway all the way to the island, the most tangible thing they've seen so far, compared to the abstract, endlessness of the other areas of the dungeon they had been at.

"This is nice," Minseoung made the mistake of lightly remarking, as he took in the sights and sounds of the peaceful island, "Makes you forget the horrors we went through."

To his credit, the island was suspiciously pleasant. The sandy shores were perfectly clean and white, the evenly scattered trees sparse with leaves. Idyllic, great for Minseoung to get a breather after their near-drowning incident.

As they settled down into the burning sand to catch a break, Junhyun interrupted their rest with an unwelcome reminder, "Keonhee, now would be nice to let us know what to expect. Bears? Fire? Probably not that. Death? Now, that would be a solid one-"

"Maybe he's scared of a good time," Woojin joked, dodging and failing as Keonhee flung a handful of fine sand towards the youngest. "Yucks," Minseoung wrinkled his nose, helping to brush sand out Woojin's hair.

"We should try to find a metal plaque like the others," Junhyun, brimming with energy, hopped up to his feet, looking around and experimentally punching trees in an effort to figure out what goodies were in store for them.

Keonhee, though, was actually mulling over it. "Damn, do you have that many fears?" Minseoung lightly teased.

Brows furrowed, Keonhee replied, "If I could guess based off the setting-"

Their attention was brought upwards by a shrill, distinct cry that pierced the air. "What are those?" Woojin asked, squinting up into the blindingly bright sky in an attempt to identify the strange birds.

"Seagulls," Minseoung mused, hand shielding his eyes from the glaring sun, before he dropped his gaze to Keonhee, "That's interesting."

"Seagulls? You're afraid of seagulls?" Junhyun asked, baffled.

"Wow, so you're all for supporting your friends' fears until it's seagulls, huh?" Keonhee, squeaked out, uncharacteristically meek.

"Well, to be fair to Keonhee, the seagulls are ten times the usual size."

"Thank you, Woojin!"

"Focus, guys. This is probably the nicest part of this dungeon!" Minseoung was probably ignoring how Keonhee was currently the colour of a sheet of paper, but the younger hunter swallowed any frightened retort and concentrated on the gigantic birds circling above.

"Probably the easiest, too," Woojin mused, face bright with excitement and energy, "These are just beasts."

Keonhee did not share the same sentiment. His shoulders were hunched up to his ears, an interesting sight to see the tall man cower in an attempt to make himself smaller.

"You scared they're gonna eat your ears or something?" Woojin asked, genuinely trying to detect the root of his fear.

"We won't let them get that close," Junhyun promised, shedding his clown facade at once to take this seriously.

Keonhee's hands were now cupped at the back of his head, protective, but he still nodded.

"They're waiting for us," Minseoung mused as he studied the birds moving in a quick, hypnotising manner in circles, as though they were indeed waiting for Tiot to make their first move.

"Then we shouldn't keep them waiting," Junhyun suggested, and in a flash, a javelin of ice appeared in his grasp, which was flung up in the air at once, spearing one of the large birds, which faltered but amazingly, didn't drop down.

"You are so dramatic," Minseoung complained, unfazed by the lack of damage done on the bird, but he fell silent as he worked to make the ice spread over the bird's wings, rendering it flightless and causing it to plummet into the sea.

And right after one had been taken down, the entire swarm dove down towards them.

"Nice, you were right," Woojin chirped in amazement as the birds neared them. Keonhee did not share his fascination, but still steeled himself.

"Doesn't this remind you of the raid in that cave dungeon?" Junhyun laughed as the first bird flew past them swiftly, the hunter dodging it easily.

"The one that made Jiwoong retire?" Minseoung teasingly said.

"That is not why he retired."

"That's what he says."

"Those birds were smaller, though," Junhyun sighed, opting to use two spikes of ice gripped in his hands to slash at the birds that were now closing in on them like a mini tornado of birds and feathers.

"The feathers are a little sharp," Woojin noted with a light edge when one had come precariously close and left him with a tiny slit on his cheek.

"Fun," Minseoung remarked as he plunged a spike into a bird, and in a minute, the bird was pierced with dozens of ice fractals from within.

"With that logic, that raid was what made Taerae and Yujin retire too."

"There is no way you are actually debating about that. If you think about it, Yujin participated in hundreds of raids after that-"

"The parents are arguing," Woojin sighed to no one in particular, seeing how Keonhee was a little too distracted with the birds.

Soon, they were surrounded by many dead birds, some had fell into the sea but nonetheless, they were nearing the end.

"Well, this dungeon has been a nightmare," Minseoung sighed as a dead bird landed heavily, a cloud of feathers dusting into the air.

"Last one," Junhyun hummed, eyes still fixed on the flying bird that had retreated higher into the air, he added, "All yours, Keonhee."

And the last seagull came splattered down in a disgusting mess, reminiscent of a porcupine with all the ice poking from it. But instead of remaining a bloody carcass, the seagull's body continued to open up, where blood and organs should have been, was a bright, shimmering blue space.

"That looks familiar," Minseoung grumbled, having been reminded of how they had first entered the dungeon.

"Well?" Junhyun urged, "It's our only way forward. Hopefully, it's the way out. Keonhee, in celebration, you shall go first."