From the Soul to the Song - Verse Three
AN: For this chapter you might want to be familar with what a Sai is. If you aren't sure here is a link to the information on wikipedia so you can check it out. I'm really unsure about how this scene came out. Please let me know. Enjoy!
From the Soul to the Song
Verse Three
Heechul felt the song of his Singers wrap around him as it had so many times before. He released a sigh and gathered in the power they were creating before weaving it and sending it back out. In mere moments Hankyung and Siwon were both armed with their weapons, the blades blunted so as not to hurt their friends. They didn’t wait for anything further; Heechul could always send them something else if they need it, before they began their charge towards the pair at the end of the field.
Hankyung, being slightly faster than Siwon, reached Yunho first. He brought his sword vertically across his body, aiming for the other man’s side. There was a clang of metal as his blade hit the slender shaft of one of Changmin’s sais, freshly materialized into the man’s hands, instead of where it was aimed. A small thrust of Changmin’s hand, sent Hankyung’s blade down the shaft of the sai where it was firmly caught by the prong that ran along that side. With a flick of his wrist, Changmin whirled Hankyung’s sword away from both his and Yunho’s body. When Siwon tried to come at them from the other side Changmin was ready and caught his blade much like he had Hankyung’s.
Behind Changmin, Yunho smirked. He gathered his weight on the balls of his feet, bent his knees and placed both hands on Changmin’s shoulders. Using all the power in his legs he jumped up and released the spell he just finished weaving. Beneath Yunho’s feet a small breath of flame burst forth giving his jump enough power that he could spring up and over Changmin and the men he was engaged with. The moment his feet touched the ground, he began running towards Heechul.
Siwon, in reaction to Yunho’s move, swung around as if to follow him. Before he could move more than half a step, Changmin’s leg shot out and caught him in the side. Siwon let the kick carry him back and spin him until he was facing Changmin again. Although the man was still fending off Hankyung, he managed swing at Siwon enough that he could not free himself to aid Heechul.
From experience Heechul knew that the other two would not be able to break free of Changmin to offer him any help. However that didn’t mean that he was defenseless. After tucking the last bit of power into the spell he was weaving, Heechul let it flow from within him and out through his finger tips. There the power materialized into a large scythe. Slender fingers closed around the sturdy wood as he took several running steps forward to meet Yunho in the middle of the clearing. Heechul, using both hands and twice as much effort, brought the scythe down in an arching swing towards Yunho.
Instead of dodging the swing, Yunho simply lifted his arm and caught the blade on the metal plated gauntlets he had created on his way across the field. The armor, created from Changmin’s song, had no trouble stopping the blade.
“You’re still using that thing?” Yunho grinned at Heechul. “I keep telling you it is too flashy for you.” Without waiting for a response, he swung his free hand towards the man aiming to backhand him. Heechul, expecting the move, spun in a way that freed his weapon and brought it around for another swing. This time, Yunho expertly ducked it and stepped back half a pace out of its reach. “You don’t have the upper body strength for that weapon Heechul.”
Yunho ducked in swinging his arm out again, but this time it was accompanied by flame. His arm missed but the flame danced close enough to Heechul’s skin that he was surprised he wasn’t burned. Heechul leapt back a few paces and darted his eyes to where his Singers were engaged with Changmin. Whether they were backing towards him or Changmin was driving them that way was unclear. Regardless, the men were moving closer, and Heechul preformed some quick calculations in his head. Suddenly Yunho swung at him again and he spun out of the way of the man’s arm.
Heechul used his moment to whip the scythe around his body. At the correct moment he let go of his weapon, sending it flying in a spinning arch directly toward the trio. ‘Hankyung!’ he called out with his mind. Halfway through its flight, the blade on Heechul’s weapon dissolved in a shower of red sparks leaving a simple sturdy wooden staff. Once that was complete, Heechul had no more time to watch what was happening, for Yunho was on him again in a flurry of limbs that Heechul hard pressed to keep up with.
Hankyung, who had tilted his head slightly in response to Heechul’s mental shout, shifted his grip on his sword to one hand and caught the staff neatly with the other. He knocked Changmin’s sai to the side with his blade before burying the sword deep in earth and taking up the staff in both hands. “Go,” he said shortly to Siwon. Siwon didn’t wait to be certain Hankyung would be alright, he simply obeyed. When Changmin tried to thwart his attempt to leave Hankyung blocked him using one end of the staff. Now that he had something that he could use either end of, he was more of a match for the other man.
Siwon moved as quietly and quickly as he could across the grass, yet when he brought his sword to bear Yunho was ready to block it with his wrist. Even with another person, it was all Siwon could do to block Yunho’s heavily armored arms, while Heechul tried to make a hit with his own fists and feet. At the same time both were trying their best to dodge the random bursts of flame.
By the time Heechul was beginning to tire, he had a bruise blooming on his left cheek and a burn that had singed through the fabric on his upper arm. Siwon sported several smaller burns over his arms, where he had not been able to pull away in time. Even though it had been little more than five minutes both men were nearly exhausted. So when Heechul felt cool metal against his throat he was almost relieved. Almost.
“Your Weaver is dead. You lose,” Changmin’s voice sounded from behind him. Siwon’s eyes widened as he realized what he had failed to deflect and he glanced for Hankyung. The Chinese man was standing a few paces away with a look of confusion on his face.
“I boosted his speed,” Yunho explained to their confused looks.
“You drew this out,” Heechul snarled.
“I was trying to teach you something,” Yunho said. He dropped from his defensive stance and allowed his gauntlets to disappear.
“You were playing with us,” Heechul’s eyes flashed with threat and anger.
“No he was trying to show you something,” Changmin said as if he was talking to a belligerent child. He pulled his sai away from the man’s neck. “You three have an advantage if you can remember to use it.
“There are three of you,” Yunho elaborated in response to Siwon’s confused expression. “Three of you means that you can better protect your weak point. If a Dark One takes out your Weaver the rest of you don’t matter. Without him you are just normal men, unable to even hurt the Dark Ones. Easy prey.”
“Then one of us should stay near Heechul,” Siwon said softly.
“Yes. I’ve told you this, but sometimes showing is better than telling,” Yunho then turned his gaze to Heechul. “And you need to work on multi-tasking. You should be able to weave and fight simultaneously.”
Heechul simply scowled at him. Although he was tempted to say a few choice words, he held his tongue.
“That was amazing!” Heechul recognized the voice as Donghae’s and sure enough, as he turned his head, most of the others were walking up to them with various expressions on their face. Siwon offered Donghae a friendly smile, obviously caught up in the others enthusiasm. At the moment Heechul couldn’t really bring himself to care.
The rest of Super Junior fell in around them asking questions rapid fire both at them and the other pair. Heechul stood stiffly in their midst. It wasn’t until he felt Hankyung’s arm settle around his waist that he felt himself relax a bit. He let his body lean into the other man’s, not really caring at the moment what it made him look like. Hankyung’s song seemed to fill him even more when they were touching and he sighed and let himself fall into its calming presence.
Voices sounded around him like a murmured drone as his fellow members tried to come to grips with the reality of what had happened. Heechul let them fall away, content to simply stand. Yet at the same time, something was slightly off. Heechul couldn’t pin point what it was, but something felt slightly strange, almost as if something was out of place. In the next breath the feeling of wrongness had surrounded and over whelmed him. With a single rush it felt as though his very being had been exposed, laid bare and violated.
His eyes snapped open and he let out a strangled cry. Immediately he knew where the feeling was coming from. Heechul whirled sideways and he saw Sungmin standing beside Hankyung’s sword where he had thrust it in the ground. The young man’s fingers had just reached out and brushed the hilt. “Don’t touch that!” Heechul’s voice came out so frantic and panicked that all of Super Junior stopped what they were doing. He took half a step forward and stumbled. Hankyung’s arms wrapped around him, keeping him from falling.
“Heechul?” he questioned with worry filling his voice.
“Don’t touch. The sword,” Heechul whimpered, curling in on himself.
Siwon’s eyes widened. “Sungmin,” he called. He didn’t have to say anything else before the young man pulled back his hand as if he had been burned. The moment he did, the feeling of wrongness vanished and all Heechul could feel was the song of Hankyung and Siwon, wrapping around him and comforting him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Sungmin apologized; worried that he might have caused something serious to happen to Heechul.
“It is alright young one,” Vidyagauri told him. “Something created by a Weaver, feels as though it is a part of the Weavers very being. When you touched it, to Heechul, it felt as though you were touching the very inmost of his being.”
“He’s fine when we touch them,” Siwon said in confusion. He was kneeling beside Hankyung who had Heechul cradled in his lap.
“Heechul crafted them for you from your song. You are connected in that way. Your touch will never feel like a violation to him. This fact is generally understood here. I am sorry for not making sure that all knew,” Vidyagauri explained.
“Well that explains why we were taught to banish our weapons right away,” Heechul said weakly. As if driven by his words both swords and the staff vanished.
“Are you ok?” Hankyung asked softly.
“Yeah,” Heechul said weakly but he made no move to shift from the man’s arms.
“Perhaps we should retire for the night. It has been a long day for all of you,” Vidyagauri said softly.
“More like a long hour,” Kyuhyun mumbled, reminding them all just how long they had really been in the strange world.
“Do you have a place for us to stay?” Leeteuk asked, taking up his role as leader once more.
“Yes. Siwon can show you to your dorm,” she told them. “I will see you in the morning.”
Leeteuk nodded and looked to Siwon who climbed to his feet. “It’s this way,” he pointed at the large blue building in the distance and began walking towards it. Leeteuk waited until Hankyung had stood with Heechul in his arms, before he began to herd the rest of the members towards the building.
During the walk they were silent except for the small exchange in which Yunho told them that their building was next door and that they would see them all in the morning. The groups went their separate ways, Super Junior into their dorm and SS501 and DBSK into the one beside it. As they walked through the building Siwon pointed out the different rooms such as the kitchen and common room. Normally they would have been curious to see what was in their new location, but the current mood of the group was a somber one. When Siwon showed them the hallway of bedrooms, with more than enough for everyone to have their own, Leeteuk sternly ordered them all to bed. Most took their own room, Leeteuk waited until everyone had found their places before taking one of his own.
Hankyung carried Heechul into the room that they had shared the last time they had stayed in Sanctuary. Carefully he made his way over to the bed where he set the man on the edge before kneeling to remove both of their shoes. “Siwon?” Heechul asked softly.
“I’m here,” Siwon told him as he slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. He set his shoes to the side and moved to sit on the bed while Hankyung worked on unlacing his own boots.
It was silent for a moment before there was a soft knock at the door. “Come in,” Heechul called tiredly.
The door opened slowly to reveal Sungmin. “Hyung, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I didn’t… I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
Heechul thought he looked altogether pathetic. “Stop looking like I just killed your best friend or something. It’s fine,” he said, trying his hardest to sound like himself.
Sungmin’s face brightened a bit showing he had succeed somewhat. “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“You bet. I wanna see all of your faces when you try the food here,” Heechul even managed to smirk at him.
Sungmin laughed before opening the door. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” Heechul agreed. The younger man slipped out the door shutting it softly behind him. At his departure the smile fell from Heechul’s face.
“Hyung?” Siwon asked softly.
“I’m fine. Just tired,” Heechul reassured him. Hankyung rose, having completed the removal of his boots and scooped Heechul into his arms again. The man gave a disgruntled noise mostly on principle but allowed himself to be held while Siwon pulled back the blankets. Hankyung placed him on the center of the bed before crawling on after him. He had no more than laid down facing Heechul before the man was curled into his front. Chuckling slightly he slid his arms around him and held the smaller body to his own.
Siwon crawled into the other side of the bed and pressed against Heechul’s back. Once the blankets were pulled over them and both men had Heechul firmly held between them, Heechul let out a contented little sigh. He closed his eyes and let himself drift to sleep wrapped safely in both their arms and their song.
Verse Four
Masterlist
From the Soul to the Song
Verse Three
Heechul felt the song of his Singers wrap around him as it had so many times before. He released a sigh and gathered in the power they were creating before weaving it and sending it back out. In mere moments Hankyung and Siwon were both armed with their weapons, the blades blunted so as not to hurt their friends. They didn’t wait for anything further; Heechul could always send them something else if they need it, before they began their charge towards the pair at the end of the field.
Hankyung, being slightly faster than Siwon, reached Yunho first. He brought his sword vertically across his body, aiming for the other man’s side. There was a clang of metal as his blade hit the slender shaft of one of Changmin’s sais, freshly materialized into the man’s hands, instead of where it was aimed. A small thrust of Changmin’s hand, sent Hankyung’s blade down the shaft of the sai where it was firmly caught by the prong that ran along that side. With a flick of his wrist, Changmin whirled Hankyung’s sword away from both his and Yunho’s body. When Siwon tried to come at them from the other side Changmin was ready and caught his blade much like he had Hankyung’s.
Behind Changmin, Yunho smirked. He gathered his weight on the balls of his feet, bent his knees and placed both hands on Changmin’s shoulders. Using all the power in his legs he jumped up and released the spell he just finished weaving. Beneath Yunho’s feet a small breath of flame burst forth giving his jump enough power that he could spring up and over Changmin and the men he was engaged with. The moment his feet touched the ground, he began running towards Heechul.
Siwon, in reaction to Yunho’s move, swung around as if to follow him. Before he could move more than half a step, Changmin’s leg shot out and caught him in the side. Siwon let the kick carry him back and spin him until he was facing Changmin again. Although the man was still fending off Hankyung, he managed swing at Siwon enough that he could not free himself to aid Heechul.
From experience Heechul knew that the other two would not be able to break free of Changmin to offer him any help. However that didn’t mean that he was defenseless. After tucking the last bit of power into the spell he was weaving, Heechul let it flow from within him and out through his finger tips. There the power materialized into a large scythe. Slender fingers closed around the sturdy wood as he took several running steps forward to meet Yunho in the middle of the clearing. Heechul, using both hands and twice as much effort, brought the scythe down in an arching swing towards Yunho.
Instead of dodging the swing, Yunho simply lifted his arm and caught the blade on the metal plated gauntlets he had created on his way across the field. The armor, created from Changmin’s song, had no trouble stopping the blade.
“You’re still using that thing?” Yunho grinned at Heechul. “I keep telling you it is too flashy for you.” Without waiting for a response, he swung his free hand towards the man aiming to backhand him. Heechul, expecting the move, spun in a way that freed his weapon and brought it around for another swing. This time, Yunho expertly ducked it and stepped back half a pace out of its reach. “You don’t have the upper body strength for that weapon Heechul.”
Yunho ducked in swinging his arm out again, but this time it was accompanied by flame. His arm missed but the flame danced close enough to Heechul’s skin that he was surprised he wasn’t burned. Heechul leapt back a few paces and darted his eyes to where his Singers were engaged with Changmin. Whether they were backing towards him or Changmin was driving them that way was unclear. Regardless, the men were moving closer, and Heechul preformed some quick calculations in his head. Suddenly Yunho swung at him again and he spun out of the way of the man’s arm.
Heechul used his moment to whip the scythe around his body. At the correct moment he let go of his weapon, sending it flying in a spinning arch directly toward the trio. ‘Hankyung!’ he called out with his mind. Halfway through its flight, the blade on Heechul’s weapon dissolved in a shower of red sparks leaving a simple sturdy wooden staff. Once that was complete, Heechul had no more time to watch what was happening, for Yunho was on him again in a flurry of limbs that Heechul hard pressed to keep up with.
Hankyung, who had tilted his head slightly in response to Heechul’s mental shout, shifted his grip on his sword to one hand and caught the staff neatly with the other. He knocked Changmin’s sai to the side with his blade before burying the sword deep in earth and taking up the staff in both hands. “Go,” he said shortly to Siwon. Siwon didn’t wait to be certain Hankyung would be alright, he simply obeyed. When Changmin tried to thwart his attempt to leave Hankyung blocked him using one end of the staff. Now that he had something that he could use either end of, he was more of a match for the other man.
Siwon moved as quietly and quickly as he could across the grass, yet when he brought his sword to bear Yunho was ready to block it with his wrist. Even with another person, it was all Siwon could do to block Yunho’s heavily armored arms, while Heechul tried to make a hit with his own fists and feet. At the same time both were trying their best to dodge the random bursts of flame.
By the time Heechul was beginning to tire, he had a bruise blooming on his left cheek and a burn that had singed through the fabric on his upper arm. Siwon sported several smaller burns over his arms, where he had not been able to pull away in time. Even though it had been little more than five minutes both men were nearly exhausted. So when Heechul felt cool metal against his throat he was almost relieved. Almost.
“Your Weaver is dead. You lose,” Changmin’s voice sounded from behind him. Siwon’s eyes widened as he realized what he had failed to deflect and he glanced for Hankyung. The Chinese man was standing a few paces away with a look of confusion on his face.
“I boosted his speed,” Yunho explained to their confused looks.
“You drew this out,” Heechul snarled.
“I was trying to teach you something,” Yunho said. He dropped from his defensive stance and allowed his gauntlets to disappear.
“You were playing with us,” Heechul’s eyes flashed with threat and anger.
“No he was trying to show you something,” Changmin said as if he was talking to a belligerent child. He pulled his sai away from the man’s neck. “You three have an advantage if you can remember to use it.
“There are three of you,” Yunho elaborated in response to Siwon’s confused expression. “Three of you means that you can better protect your weak point. If a Dark One takes out your Weaver the rest of you don’t matter. Without him you are just normal men, unable to even hurt the Dark Ones. Easy prey.”
“Then one of us should stay near Heechul,” Siwon said softly.
“Yes. I’ve told you this, but sometimes showing is better than telling,” Yunho then turned his gaze to Heechul. “And you need to work on multi-tasking. You should be able to weave and fight simultaneously.”
Heechul simply scowled at him. Although he was tempted to say a few choice words, he held his tongue.
“That was amazing!” Heechul recognized the voice as Donghae’s and sure enough, as he turned his head, most of the others were walking up to them with various expressions on their face. Siwon offered Donghae a friendly smile, obviously caught up in the others enthusiasm. At the moment Heechul couldn’t really bring himself to care.
The rest of Super Junior fell in around them asking questions rapid fire both at them and the other pair. Heechul stood stiffly in their midst. It wasn’t until he felt Hankyung’s arm settle around his waist that he felt himself relax a bit. He let his body lean into the other man’s, not really caring at the moment what it made him look like. Hankyung’s song seemed to fill him even more when they were touching and he sighed and let himself fall into its calming presence.
Voices sounded around him like a murmured drone as his fellow members tried to come to grips with the reality of what had happened. Heechul let them fall away, content to simply stand. Yet at the same time, something was slightly off. Heechul couldn’t pin point what it was, but something felt slightly strange, almost as if something was out of place. In the next breath the feeling of wrongness had surrounded and over whelmed him. With a single rush it felt as though his very being had been exposed, laid bare and violated.
His eyes snapped open and he let out a strangled cry. Immediately he knew where the feeling was coming from. Heechul whirled sideways and he saw Sungmin standing beside Hankyung’s sword where he had thrust it in the ground. The young man’s fingers had just reached out and brushed the hilt. “Don’t touch that!” Heechul’s voice came out so frantic and panicked that all of Super Junior stopped what they were doing. He took half a step forward and stumbled. Hankyung’s arms wrapped around him, keeping him from falling.
“Heechul?” he questioned with worry filling his voice.
“Don’t touch. The sword,” Heechul whimpered, curling in on himself.
Siwon’s eyes widened. “Sungmin,” he called. He didn’t have to say anything else before the young man pulled back his hand as if he had been burned. The moment he did, the feeling of wrongness vanished and all Heechul could feel was the song of Hankyung and Siwon, wrapping around him and comforting him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Sungmin apologized; worried that he might have caused something serious to happen to Heechul.
“It is alright young one,” Vidyagauri told him. “Something created by a Weaver, feels as though it is a part of the Weavers very being. When you touched it, to Heechul, it felt as though you were touching the very inmost of his being.”
“He’s fine when we touch them,” Siwon said in confusion. He was kneeling beside Hankyung who had Heechul cradled in his lap.
“Heechul crafted them for you from your song. You are connected in that way. Your touch will never feel like a violation to him. This fact is generally understood here. I am sorry for not making sure that all knew,” Vidyagauri explained.
“Well that explains why we were taught to banish our weapons right away,” Heechul said weakly. As if driven by his words both swords and the staff vanished.
“Are you ok?” Hankyung asked softly.
“Yeah,” Heechul said weakly but he made no move to shift from the man’s arms.
“Perhaps we should retire for the night. It has been a long day for all of you,” Vidyagauri said softly.
“More like a long hour,” Kyuhyun mumbled, reminding them all just how long they had really been in the strange world.
“Do you have a place for us to stay?” Leeteuk asked, taking up his role as leader once more.
“Yes. Siwon can show you to your dorm,” she told them. “I will see you in the morning.”
Leeteuk nodded and looked to Siwon who climbed to his feet. “It’s this way,” he pointed at the large blue building in the distance and began walking towards it. Leeteuk waited until Hankyung had stood with Heechul in his arms, before he began to herd the rest of the members towards the building.
During the walk they were silent except for the small exchange in which Yunho told them that their building was next door and that they would see them all in the morning. The groups went their separate ways, Super Junior into their dorm and SS501 and DBSK into the one beside it. As they walked through the building Siwon pointed out the different rooms such as the kitchen and common room. Normally they would have been curious to see what was in their new location, but the current mood of the group was a somber one. When Siwon showed them the hallway of bedrooms, with more than enough for everyone to have their own, Leeteuk sternly ordered them all to bed. Most took their own room, Leeteuk waited until everyone had found their places before taking one of his own.
Hankyung carried Heechul into the room that they had shared the last time they had stayed in Sanctuary. Carefully he made his way over to the bed where he set the man on the edge before kneeling to remove both of their shoes. “Siwon?” Heechul asked softly.
“I’m here,” Siwon told him as he slipped into the room and closed the door behind him. He set his shoes to the side and moved to sit on the bed while Hankyung worked on unlacing his own boots.
It was silent for a moment before there was a soft knock at the door. “Come in,” Heechul called tiredly.
The door opened slowly to reveal Sungmin. “Hyung, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I didn’t… I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
Heechul thought he looked altogether pathetic. “Stop looking like I just killed your best friend or something. It’s fine,” he said, trying his hardest to sound like himself.
Sungmin’s face brightened a bit showing he had succeed somewhat. “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“You bet. I wanna see all of your faces when you try the food here,” Heechul even managed to smirk at him.
Sungmin laughed before opening the door. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” Heechul agreed. The younger man slipped out the door shutting it softly behind him. At his departure the smile fell from Heechul’s face.
“Hyung?” Siwon asked softly.
“I’m fine. Just tired,” Heechul reassured him. Hankyung rose, having completed the removal of his boots and scooped Heechul into his arms again. The man gave a disgruntled noise mostly on principle but allowed himself to be held while Siwon pulled back the blankets. Hankyung placed him on the center of the bed before crawling on after him. He had no more than laid down facing Heechul before the man was curled into his front. Chuckling slightly he slid his arms around him and held the smaller body to his own.
Siwon crawled into the other side of the bed and pressed against Heechul’s back. Once the blankets were pulled over them and both men had Heechul firmly held between them, Heechul let out a contented little sigh. He closed his eyes and let himself drift to sleep wrapped safely in both their arms and their song.
Verse Four
Masterlist