From the Soul to the Song - Verse Thirteen
From the Soul to the Song
Verse Thirteen
“If I get bitten by a mosquito, I am burning this entire forest down!” Heechul declared.
“Really Heechul,” Leeteuk scolded. “I haven’t seen a single bug since we arrived.”
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t out there,” Heechul retorted.
“Now you sound like Donghae,” Kangin mumbled.
“And it’s so hot! Can’t somebody do something about that?” he continued.
“I would say that you are better off then everyone,” Kyuhyun retorted crossly. “You aren’t even walking.”
“Siwon’s body is generating so much heat though,” Heechul lamented.
“Then walk,” Hankyung told him. He glanced to the pair beside him. Siwon was walking carrying the complaining Heechul on his back. Shortly after they had left their dorm to follow Henry into the forest, the man had demanded to be carried. Siwon had immediately offered. Hankyung wanted to say something about Heechul becoming too spoiled but it gave Siwon something to do other than stare at the trio walking at the back of their group, as he had been doing. Heechul made a disgruntled noise and fell silent.
At the front of the group Henry picked his way up the trail chatting animatedly with Zhou mi. He had hesitantly asked the rest of the members if they would accompany him to his lesson today. His master had asked for them. They had all readily agreed and as soon as they were done with their breakfast had fallen into line behind him.
Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Kibum brought up the rear of their group. The three of them were holding hands as they walked down the trail. Heechul had been sorely tempted to make some sort of comment about them but he had refrained. It seemed as though Donghae might have solved his problem all on his own. As much as that made Heechul want to tease the man, he truly was happy for him. He knew what it felt like to feel emotion through a Song and not do anything about it.
Instead he had chosen to torment Siwon who clearly needed something else to put his mind on. Heechul was fairly certain he knew what Siwon had walked in on last night. He would do everything in his power to help settle Siwon’s mind and if that allowed him to be lazy, then all the better.
As they came over the last hill, they could all see an elderly man standing outside a round building. He smiled as he saw them and began gesturing for them to hurry. Henry laughed and eagerly ran up the hill, dragging Zhou mi with him. The old man wrapped him in a warm hug and then, much to the Chinese man’s surprise, did the same thing with Zhou mi.
“This is Sangita,” Henry told the group as they arrived at the edge of the building. There was a chorus of greeting and the old man smiled wider. It was as if his entire body was vibrating with excitement.
“Welcome, welcome! Come in! Come in!” He gestured and herded them into the building. They got just inside before the members stopped in awe at the instruments. Even Heechul was stunned and not much in this place could stun him any longer.
“Wow,” he muttered as he slid from Siwon’s back.
Sungmin grinned and exchanged a look with Ryeowook. There was so much potential for music in this one room alone. “Could we-“
“Yes, yes,” Sangita said, as if he had read Sungmin’s mind, “but later. First we must do what you have come to do. It is finally time.” He grabbed Henry’s hand and pulled him to the center of the room muttering, “Too long, it has been too long.” Once he reached the middle of the floor he released Henry and shuffled back to the group.
Leeteuk threw a questioning glance to Henry and he shrugged. He didn’t have any more idea what was going on then the members of his group did. Sangita moved to Kangin and grabbed the man’s wrist. Kangin obediently followed where he pulled, only his respect for elders keeping him from protesting. Sangita led him beyond Henry and said “Yes earth is here.” There he released Kangin and immediately went back for the next person.
He repeated the process four more times bringing Donghae, Kyuhyun, Heechul, and Yesung to positions forming a loose circle around Henry. At each location he would mutter their element and leave them in that place as if he could see some picture in his head that they could not. Strangely enough, Heechul realized he had selected the Weavers first and was now leading Singers to their positions. Hankyung was led to stand just behind his right shoulder and Siwon was put behind his left. Around the circle Super Junior looked largely confused while being led into place, but they were well used to taking and following orders and they did what they were told.
“There,” Sangita said as he led Zhou mi, the last member, to his place. He patted the man’s hand before releasing it and walking to Henry. “Now everything is ready. All you must do is play, but this time do not play the Song of those who are gone play the Song of the ones who live, the ones who are a part of your own Song. They will make you what you need.” He turned and shuffled from the ring of members to the back wall.
Henry’s eyes followed him confused. “I don’t-“
“Singers must sing,” Sangita interrupted. “Weavers must weave. The Spinner must spin. The Player must play. Only then can you succeed.”
“But I don’t-” Henry protested.
“Play Player,” Sangita urged.
Henry sighed and knelt. He placed the case he had been carrying on the ground and gently lifted the old violin from its padding. As he rose and set the instrument in its place, he found that for the first time he had no idea what to play.
“Sing,” Leeteuk mutter to himself. He slipped his hand into Kangin and shrugging, did just that. Around the circle the rest of the groups copied his example. No one said anything when Eunhyuk and Kibum began singing without reaching for Donghae’s hand.
“Play Player,” Sangita urged quietly.
Henry closed his eyes. For the last week he had been learning to feel the Songs that had disappeared. He had learned to feel them and play them, amplifying their power, however he had no idea how to play the Songs of ‘ones who lived’ as Sangita had told him to. Sangita hadn’t taught him that. He could play the other Songs because he could hear them and they came naturally to him. Nothing living did.
He took another deep breath, and as he exhaled he felt it. He could faintly hear what he knew to be the Song of Zhou mi. It was tightly wrapped with Ryeowook’s Song and both were being coiled more tightly together by Yesung’s Song. Now that he recognized it, its music called to him. Henry let it go for another beat before he lifted his bow and began to play what he could hear.
As he played he could feel more Songs becoming clear to him. Kangin and Leeteuk’s, strong and protective. Donghae’s, Kibum’s, and Eunhyuk’s, cool, clear, and crisp. Heechul’s, Hankyung’s, and Siwon’s, warm and comforting. Kyuhyun’s, Shindong’s, and Sungmin’s, light and playful. He took them all and twisted them into a Song of his own making.
They had heard him play but not like this. The music Henry was playing was unlike any they had ever heard before. It sounded like a compilation of noises that should not exist together, yet they flowed from one to the next to create the most beautiful music they had ever heard.
Yesung gasped and took a step forward. He could see the Song flowing from each Weaver into Henry and then back out to the Weaver with even more power added to it. In wonder he reached his fingers into the white glowing strands he could see in front of him. His fingers tingled with the gentle caress of the Song. It wasn’t the first time he had seen the Songs of his own team. He saw them all the time when he was spinning, yet this was somehow different.
The song Henry was playing shifted and Yesung’s eyes rose to follow the shift. In front of the man was a glowing ball of Song. Yesung could make out white, yellow, blue, red, and green strands twining and twisting around each other. He watched it curiously for a moment. No matter how the music changed the ball of light stayed the same writhing mass. He took four steps forward until he was standing directly in front of the ball and stretched out his hand. The white strands stilled as if waiting for his command and he smiled. He understood.
Ryeowook stared at Yesung in disbelief. He knew the man was strange and unpredictable at times but this was the worst he had ever seen Yesung. To him it looked as though he was holding his hand out to empty air. Although Ryeowook thought that the Song Henry was playing was pretty and occasionally familiar, he didn’t see anything that was different then when they had been placed in the circle.
“Yesung?” Kyuhyun asked hesitantly, in disbelief. “What are you doing?”
Yesung didn’t look up; instead he continued to stare at the place just in front of his out stretched hand. “You can’t see,” he said as if the idea had just dawned on him. “You have to see.” Yesung didn’t know where the assurance that he was right came from but he knew he was. He reached within himself and pulled some of his own Song that he then began spinning. When he was done he sent it first to Kyuhyun, then to Kangin, Heechul, and Donghae in turn.
There was a quiet gasp as each one could finally see what Yesung had been seeing. It only took a few moments before the other four had joined Yesung at the ball of Song. Ryeowook exchanged a look with Zhou mi. He had no idea if he should join the members or stay. A look across the circle told him that Leeteuk hadn’t moved so he didn’t either.
Heechul stared at the lines in front of him. He could clearly see red strands wiggling and writhing in the mass of color. Was this what his Weavings looked like all the time? If it was, he was glad he couldn’t see this. It would have been so distracting. He stretched out his hand to hover over the mass of Song and he knew. Passion. This Weaving needed passion. It needed emotion to drive it, and give it power. The red strings stopped moving wildly and began moving with a purpose.
Kyuhyun stretched out his hand. He could see what was forming. It was as if the blue prints had unfolded in his head and revealed exactly how the Weaving would need to be weaved to function. It had to be precise or it would not work. He twitched his fingers and the yellow strands stilled and then began to move again.
Donghae, murmured in disbelief. The Weaving needed music. It didn’t have the ability for music yet. He felt within him that if it didn’t get that it would be useless. To that end, he stretched out his hand and called the blue strands to do his bidding.
Kangin felt that there was yet something missing. He stretched out his hand and as he did, he realized what it was. Strength. The Weaving would need the strength to stand up to whatever challenged it. It would need the ability to withstand and then to, in turn, protect. He nodded to himself and began to move the green strings.
Hand outstretched, Yesung smiled as he saw each of the many colored strands begin to move in a more fluid pattern. Yet they were not moving together. Without moving together the Weaving would never be complete. He knew how to fix that and he began to twine his white strands around yellow, blue, red, and green, pulling them together and spinning them into one. Each strand followed the joining pull and completed its task within the confines.
The Weaving grew brighter and brighter until a single strand could not be seen. Instead it was a bright rainbow of color and substance. There was a final bright flash as Yesung tied the last knot and the light faded altogether.
Abruptly Henry stopped playing and his legs gave out from underneath him. Kangin, who was closest, caught him half of the way to the ground and lowered him down gently. With the sound of the music dying the connection between the five died as well. Once again every Weaver was only receiving the Song of their own Singers. As if finally unfrozen, the rest of the members rushed forward to see if he was alright. He smiled weakly at the concerned members that crowded around him. “I’m fine,” he said softly in answer to the many questions.
Yesung crouched in front of him and held out the item in his hands. “We made this for you.”
Henry caught his breath as his eyes fell on the most beautiful violin he had ever seen. Each of the four strings was a different color: red, blue, green, and yellow. The combination would have looked strange on anything else but to him it was pure beauty. The wood was finished with the smoothest shine he had ever seen on an instrument. Near the bottom, etched into the wood in silver was an intricate glowing design. Within it was every symbol he had seen in the orbs when they had first gotten their elemental assignments, all tied together.
He accepted it carefully, setting aside his borrowed violin, and then took the pure white bow from Yesung’s hand as well. He knew just by looking at the instrument that it would produce the best sounds he had heard yet. “Thank you,” he whispered stunned.
“You’re welcome,” Yesung told him, speaking for everyone. “You need it.” Henry nodded knowing that he was right.
“Well done,” Sangita told them softly as he stepped forward. “Well done indeed.”
“I still don’t understand,” Henry said softly.
“Like I told you before. Through you all of their music has become one,” he reminded him gently. “Rest Player. You have done well. We will talk more of this tomorrow.”
There was a moment of silence before Heechul broke it. “Yesung could you please fix whatever you did to me? All the glowing and shiny things are starting to give me a headache.”
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
It took a half an hour for Leeteuk to round up everyone. He had to nearly physically throw Ryeowook and Sungmin out the door, with a promise that they could come back and play later. A few short phrases in his ‘official leader voice’ had gotten Henry to stop protesting and agree to being carried by Hankyung on the way back. Sangita had found a case for Henry’s new violin and had handed it to the man with the cryptic promise that he wouldn’t need the case for long.
By the time he had gotten them out the door and back to their dorm, most of the morning had passed. They settled into the dining room for a light lunch of sandwiches and fruit which was eaten mostly in an awed silence. The Weavers in the group were either too busy absorbing what they had seen, or too busy nursing a throbbing head in Heechul’s case, to make much conversation.
Lunch had nearly come to a close when Vidyagauri greeted them and stepped into the room. There was a collective groan from the members to which she only smiled.
“What do you want now?” Kangin asked grumpily.
“I have a story for you, about how I received my wings.” At her words nearly every member perked up.
“Really?” Henry asked. He had been more then curious about them since they had shared their brief conversation.
“Yes,” she told him with a smile. “Please meet me out on the lawn.” She turned and left the room leaving the men to their own devices.
Heechul groaned, eyes clenched shut. “I don’t want to listen to her voice on top of this headache,” he said rubbing at his temples. Hankyung rubbed his back soothingly.
“I might be able to do something about it,” Kangin offered.
Heechul cracked open one eye. “If you make my head explode this friendship is over,” he said but otherwise did not protest.
“As fun as that would be, I don’t want to clean up the mess and Teukie would certainly make me clean it up,” Kangin smirked as he reached out both hands to either side of Heechul’s head. Behind him, Leeteuk gently touched the back of his neck and sang a few short words, offering up his Song for Kangin to use.
The younger man spent a moment enjoying the feel of it, before he pulled the power and began to concentrate. He wasn’t sure exactly what to do, but the more he thought about it, the more he could feel that something wasn’t right with Heechul’s head. As he let power flow from his fingertips and into a Weaving of healing potential, Kangin wasn’t quite sure what he was weaving, only that he needed to fix what was wrong.
After a few moments, Heechul seemed to relax and he let out a sigh. Kangin kept weaving until he felt that things were right again. Then he let his hands fall and enjoyed the connection to Leeteuk for a moment more before he gently severed it.
“I don’t know what you did but it worked,” Heechul said in contentment.
“You’re welcome,” Kangin smirked. He was certainly not going to admit that he had no idea what he had done either.
“We need to get out there,” Leeteuk declared. He started to help the still tired Henry to his feet until Kangin batted him away and helped Henry himself. Leeteuk scowled but said nothing as he followed them out of the building and onto the lawn. The members of SS501 and DBSK were already gathered and waiting for them.
There were several curious glances at the tired Henry and the case he still cradled in his arms, but they had little opportunity to talk about it. The moment they had all settled onto the soft grass, Vidyagauri, who was seated in front of them, began to speak. “I am certain you noticed my wings the moment you arrived,” she spread the large white wings very slightly to hint at their true size. “It is time that you hear of how I received them. Few know the story that I am about to tell all of you.”
She cleared her throat and smoothed the fabric covering her lap before continuing. “I am sure by now you have figured out that I have been here a very long time. I arrived here 956 years ago Earth time. As you can imagine that is substantially longer in Sanctuary time. When I first came here I was in the very position you are in now. I arrived here lost and confused with my sister and one of my good friends at the time.”
“Like you, we were all very skeptical at first, however it didn’t take much to convince me that this was real. I had been hearing Songs all my life and simply hadn’t known it. A few days into our stay here, I was told that I was a Spinner of Spirit and both my sister and friend were Singers of Spirit. We began to train much like you have been, taught by our elders and occasionally by the Light Ones themselves.”
“It didn’t take long for me to discover that feelings were communicated acutely through the bond between me and my Singers. Not long after that my friend and I were married. He insisted we make it formal at home as well, which we did once we returned home. We were then able to experience firsthand what working as a mated pair was like.” There were a few snickers amongst the gathered men.
“Anyone who is a Weaver or Spinner can tell you that it is very easy to get lost in a person’s Song. I found that even when we were not working together I could hear his Song and I would spend hours listening to it. When our training here was complete, we returned to Earth where we spent four years fighting the Dark Ones with varying success. We returned to Sanctuary often, to rest and to practice new things that we had discovered.”
“One night, after we had returned to Earth, we were ambushed by Dark Ones. We were able to fight off most of them, but just as we thought we were free a new swarm began, led by even more powerful Dark Ones then we had ever faced. His name was Keiran, he told us, Prince of the Dark Ones. Casually he told us that our Songs would belong to him by the end of the night. Exhausted we didn’t know if we could stand up to his power.” She paused for a moment and saw that the gather men were hanging on her every word.
“We were not going to go down without a fight. Both my sister and my husband offered me everything they had, and in my need I took it. Chanita simply fell to the ground unconscious. My husband, however, had disappeared completely. There was a great flash of light and suddenly these wings were unfolding from my back. I could hear his voice echoing in my head, telling me that his power was mine now. I didn’t think. I simply used the new found power that I had and fought.”
“Then what happened,” Donghae asked eagerly, dissatisfied with the fact she had paused again.
“I could not defeat Keiran; instead he was badly wounded and forced to retreat. My sister I found to be fine, simply very weak. My husband I could not sense at all. His Song was twined with mine and no matter how I tried I could not free it.” She stopped as if she couldn’t bring herself to speak anymore.
“You still haven’t, have you? That is why you have your wings,” Kyuhyun said softly.
“Yes. I still have not found a way to separate his Song from my own. I fear that he and I have become one for the rest of eternity,” she took a deep breath as if fighting back tears before she continued. “I tell you all this now because this is the first time since the event occurred that we have had mated teams. The process that my husband and I went through, a fusion of sorts, does bring great power but at a greater consequence. I do not know if it is possible to undo what was done. Perhaps it is, if you can only hold onto who you are. I want to caution you against this. Do not even think about performing something like this unless there is great need. Perhaps because you are all a full team you will be able to manage but I do not know. You must be careful.” There were collective nods around the circle.
“Why didn’t you tell us this when we were learning?” Jungmin asked.
“None of you were mated pairs and I did not want to encourage anyone to become so or to try this. It is not something done lightly,” she cautioned.
“You hear that Heechul. No sucking Hankyung inside yourself. Bosses orders,” Kangin jeered at him. Heechul declined answering and instead offered him a rude gesture. Leeteuk stifled a laugh while trying to look disapprovingly at Kangin.
“So,” Yunho said casually. “Anyone want to play a game?”
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
The men had spent the rest of the day relaxing or generally doing whatever they pleased. Some had chosen to partake of a game of soccer while the rest had elected to go off to do their own thing. “If I get too much more free time, I’m going to go insane,” Leeteuk had muttered before wandering off to find something to do with himself.
Ryeowook had retreated to his room shortly after the story was finished. Yesung had moved his keyboard and computer into his room the night after he had discovered their presence here. It was a bit confusing to him how his keyboard didn’t seem to need to be plugged in and his computer never ran out of battery power, but he really didn’t want to question it for fear that it wouldn’t work right anymore.
For the last few days he had been working on a musical score for lyrics that Sungmin had written. Although the excess free time was somewhat nerve racking, he had decided that he would take full advantage of it and use it to do what he loved to do, compose. He had worked through the afternoon and well into the evening, only pausing when Zhou mi brought him some dinner and teased him about his dedication. He had learned long ago to take advantage of every moment he had, and he told Zhou mi just that. The Chinese man had laughed and left him to it.
Late into the night he shut off his keyboard and computer and put the system to rest for the night. With a yawn he shed his clothing, turned off the light, and climbed into bed. Some sleep would certainly be required for the morning since there was no telling what he would need to be able to do tomorrow.
Ryeowook had just drifted to sleep with he jerked into wakefulness once more. He sat up in the bed and glanced around his room. Everything seemed normal, the same as he had left it when he had crawled into bed that night, yet he knew something was defiantly wrong. Ryeowook couldn’t explain how he knew, he just knew.
Quietly he slipped from his bed and pulled on a clean t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. He padded to his door and out into the hall. Once there, he felt like he was a bit closer to what was wrong. With a sigh he turned left and began opening doors.
It was late, so his silent intrusions largely went unnoticed by the sleeping occupants of the rooms. Kangin, Leeteuk, and Sungmin were all fast asleep in their beds. Heechul was curled around Hankyung and both men were snoring when he looked. Likewise Siwon, Kyuhyun, and Shindong were all asleep in their own rooms. When he got to Yesung’s room he didn’t know what to expect. He could never be certain of where the man was at any given point during the night.
As quietly as he could, he opened the door and peeked inside. From his tank Ddang Ko Ma blinked back at him. Clearly the turtle had no more idea where his master was then Ryeowook did. He shut the door and reasoned that Yesung might just be somewhere else. Kibum and Eunhyuk’s rooms, when checked, were completely empty. Donghae’s room housed all three men tangled together on his bed. Ryeowook was fairly certain that that explained Siwon’s funny looks towards the trio all day.
A further search of the remaining rooms, failed to produce Yesung. Ryeowook had no idea why he needed to find the man; he simply felt that it was necessary. He took a deep breath reminding himself to remain calm. How much trouble could Yesung really get into in this place? It only took him half a second to decide that Yesung could very likely get into trouble anywhere and if he was feeling something was wrong with the man, it very likely was. His instincts had never served him wrongly yet.
Just to be certain, he peeked into the common room and the dining room before slipping from the dorm altogether. Outside the night air was still pleasant even with the light breeze. Most of the area was bathed in darkness, besides the bit of light glowing from some of the buildings. He sighed. Yesung was somewhere out here, he could feel it.
As he stood pondering which way he should go look, Ryeowook felt the need to find Yesung intensifying. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, trying his hardest to figure out where he would be. When that failed to produce any helpful results, he decided to try within himself. By his reasoning they were a team and therefore they should be able to locate one another whenever necessary, otherwise they would make a worthless team. He figured Singers had to have some sort of locating device, for lack of a better term, built into them.
He counted two of his own heartbeats until the knowledge suddenly filled his head. Something was very wrong with Yesung, but more importantly he knew where the man was. Without waiting a moment longer Ryeowook turned to where his Song was telling him, and began to run.
Refrain Three
Masterlist
AN: There finally some Henry stuff for all of you Henry lovers. This should hint at just how important he is! Now for spasage: ricecakestar drew Chanita!! I'm so excited and it looks like I had imagined her. You have to check it out here and let her know what you think!! Hope you enjoyed this update. ^_^
Verse Thirteen
“If I get bitten by a mosquito, I am burning this entire forest down!” Heechul declared.
“Really Heechul,” Leeteuk scolded. “I haven’t seen a single bug since we arrived.”
“That doesn’t mean they aren’t out there,” Heechul retorted.
“Now you sound like Donghae,” Kangin mumbled.
“And it’s so hot! Can’t somebody do something about that?” he continued.
“I would say that you are better off then everyone,” Kyuhyun retorted crossly. “You aren’t even walking.”
“Siwon’s body is generating so much heat though,” Heechul lamented.
“Then walk,” Hankyung told him. He glanced to the pair beside him. Siwon was walking carrying the complaining Heechul on his back. Shortly after they had left their dorm to follow Henry into the forest, the man had demanded to be carried. Siwon had immediately offered. Hankyung wanted to say something about Heechul becoming too spoiled but it gave Siwon something to do other than stare at the trio walking at the back of their group, as he had been doing. Heechul made a disgruntled noise and fell silent.
At the front of the group Henry picked his way up the trail chatting animatedly with Zhou mi. He had hesitantly asked the rest of the members if they would accompany him to his lesson today. His master had asked for them. They had all readily agreed and as soon as they were done with their breakfast had fallen into line behind him.
Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Kibum brought up the rear of their group. The three of them were holding hands as they walked down the trail. Heechul had been sorely tempted to make some sort of comment about them but he had refrained. It seemed as though Donghae might have solved his problem all on his own. As much as that made Heechul want to tease the man, he truly was happy for him. He knew what it felt like to feel emotion through a Song and not do anything about it.
Instead he had chosen to torment Siwon who clearly needed something else to put his mind on. Heechul was fairly certain he knew what Siwon had walked in on last night. He would do everything in his power to help settle Siwon’s mind and if that allowed him to be lazy, then all the better.
As they came over the last hill, they could all see an elderly man standing outside a round building. He smiled as he saw them and began gesturing for them to hurry. Henry laughed and eagerly ran up the hill, dragging Zhou mi with him. The old man wrapped him in a warm hug and then, much to the Chinese man’s surprise, did the same thing with Zhou mi.
“This is Sangita,” Henry told the group as they arrived at the edge of the building. There was a chorus of greeting and the old man smiled wider. It was as if his entire body was vibrating with excitement.
“Welcome, welcome! Come in! Come in!” He gestured and herded them into the building. They got just inside before the members stopped in awe at the instruments. Even Heechul was stunned and not much in this place could stun him any longer.
“Wow,” he muttered as he slid from Siwon’s back.
Sungmin grinned and exchanged a look with Ryeowook. There was so much potential for music in this one room alone. “Could we-“
“Yes, yes,” Sangita said, as if he had read Sungmin’s mind, “but later. First we must do what you have come to do. It is finally time.” He grabbed Henry’s hand and pulled him to the center of the room muttering, “Too long, it has been too long.” Once he reached the middle of the floor he released Henry and shuffled back to the group.
Leeteuk threw a questioning glance to Henry and he shrugged. He didn’t have any more idea what was going on then the members of his group did. Sangita moved to Kangin and grabbed the man’s wrist. Kangin obediently followed where he pulled, only his respect for elders keeping him from protesting. Sangita led him beyond Henry and said “Yes earth is here.” There he released Kangin and immediately went back for the next person.
He repeated the process four more times bringing Donghae, Kyuhyun, Heechul, and Yesung to positions forming a loose circle around Henry. At each location he would mutter their element and leave them in that place as if he could see some picture in his head that they could not. Strangely enough, Heechul realized he had selected the Weavers first and was now leading Singers to their positions. Hankyung was led to stand just behind his right shoulder and Siwon was put behind his left. Around the circle Super Junior looked largely confused while being led into place, but they were well used to taking and following orders and they did what they were told.
“There,” Sangita said as he led Zhou mi, the last member, to his place. He patted the man’s hand before releasing it and walking to Henry. “Now everything is ready. All you must do is play, but this time do not play the Song of those who are gone play the Song of the ones who live, the ones who are a part of your own Song. They will make you what you need.” He turned and shuffled from the ring of members to the back wall.
Henry’s eyes followed him confused. “I don’t-“
“Singers must sing,” Sangita interrupted. “Weavers must weave. The Spinner must spin. The Player must play. Only then can you succeed.”
“But I don’t-” Henry protested.
“Play Player,” Sangita urged.
Henry sighed and knelt. He placed the case he had been carrying on the ground and gently lifted the old violin from its padding. As he rose and set the instrument in its place, he found that for the first time he had no idea what to play.
“Sing,” Leeteuk mutter to himself. He slipped his hand into Kangin and shrugging, did just that. Around the circle the rest of the groups copied his example. No one said anything when Eunhyuk and Kibum began singing without reaching for Donghae’s hand.
“Play Player,” Sangita urged quietly.
Henry closed his eyes. For the last week he had been learning to feel the Songs that had disappeared. He had learned to feel them and play them, amplifying their power, however he had no idea how to play the Songs of ‘ones who lived’ as Sangita had told him to. Sangita hadn’t taught him that. He could play the other Songs because he could hear them and they came naturally to him. Nothing living did.
He took another deep breath, and as he exhaled he felt it. He could faintly hear what he knew to be the Song of Zhou mi. It was tightly wrapped with Ryeowook’s Song and both were being coiled more tightly together by Yesung’s Song. Now that he recognized it, its music called to him. Henry let it go for another beat before he lifted his bow and began to play what he could hear.
As he played he could feel more Songs becoming clear to him. Kangin and Leeteuk’s, strong and protective. Donghae’s, Kibum’s, and Eunhyuk’s, cool, clear, and crisp. Heechul’s, Hankyung’s, and Siwon’s, warm and comforting. Kyuhyun’s, Shindong’s, and Sungmin’s, light and playful. He took them all and twisted them into a Song of his own making.
They had heard him play but not like this. The music Henry was playing was unlike any they had ever heard before. It sounded like a compilation of noises that should not exist together, yet they flowed from one to the next to create the most beautiful music they had ever heard.
Yesung gasped and took a step forward. He could see the Song flowing from each Weaver into Henry and then back out to the Weaver with even more power added to it. In wonder he reached his fingers into the white glowing strands he could see in front of him. His fingers tingled with the gentle caress of the Song. It wasn’t the first time he had seen the Songs of his own team. He saw them all the time when he was spinning, yet this was somehow different.
The song Henry was playing shifted and Yesung’s eyes rose to follow the shift. In front of the man was a glowing ball of Song. Yesung could make out white, yellow, blue, red, and green strands twining and twisting around each other. He watched it curiously for a moment. No matter how the music changed the ball of light stayed the same writhing mass. He took four steps forward until he was standing directly in front of the ball and stretched out his hand. The white strands stilled as if waiting for his command and he smiled. He understood.
Ryeowook stared at Yesung in disbelief. He knew the man was strange and unpredictable at times but this was the worst he had ever seen Yesung. To him it looked as though he was holding his hand out to empty air. Although Ryeowook thought that the Song Henry was playing was pretty and occasionally familiar, he didn’t see anything that was different then when they had been placed in the circle.
“Yesung?” Kyuhyun asked hesitantly, in disbelief. “What are you doing?”
Yesung didn’t look up; instead he continued to stare at the place just in front of his out stretched hand. “You can’t see,” he said as if the idea had just dawned on him. “You have to see.” Yesung didn’t know where the assurance that he was right came from but he knew he was. He reached within himself and pulled some of his own Song that he then began spinning. When he was done he sent it first to Kyuhyun, then to Kangin, Heechul, and Donghae in turn.
There was a quiet gasp as each one could finally see what Yesung had been seeing. It only took a few moments before the other four had joined Yesung at the ball of Song. Ryeowook exchanged a look with Zhou mi. He had no idea if he should join the members or stay. A look across the circle told him that Leeteuk hadn’t moved so he didn’t either.
Heechul stared at the lines in front of him. He could clearly see red strands wiggling and writhing in the mass of color. Was this what his Weavings looked like all the time? If it was, he was glad he couldn’t see this. It would have been so distracting. He stretched out his hand to hover over the mass of Song and he knew. Passion. This Weaving needed passion. It needed emotion to drive it, and give it power. The red strings stopped moving wildly and began moving with a purpose.
Kyuhyun stretched out his hand. He could see what was forming. It was as if the blue prints had unfolded in his head and revealed exactly how the Weaving would need to be weaved to function. It had to be precise or it would not work. He twitched his fingers and the yellow strands stilled and then began to move again.
Donghae, murmured in disbelief. The Weaving needed music. It didn’t have the ability for music yet. He felt within him that if it didn’t get that it would be useless. To that end, he stretched out his hand and called the blue strands to do his bidding.
Kangin felt that there was yet something missing. He stretched out his hand and as he did, he realized what it was. Strength. The Weaving would need the strength to stand up to whatever challenged it. It would need the ability to withstand and then to, in turn, protect. He nodded to himself and began to move the green strings.
Hand outstretched, Yesung smiled as he saw each of the many colored strands begin to move in a more fluid pattern. Yet they were not moving together. Without moving together the Weaving would never be complete. He knew how to fix that and he began to twine his white strands around yellow, blue, red, and green, pulling them together and spinning them into one. Each strand followed the joining pull and completed its task within the confines.
The Weaving grew brighter and brighter until a single strand could not be seen. Instead it was a bright rainbow of color and substance. There was a final bright flash as Yesung tied the last knot and the light faded altogether.
Abruptly Henry stopped playing and his legs gave out from underneath him. Kangin, who was closest, caught him half of the way to the ground and lowered him down gently. With the sound of the music dying the connection between the five died as well. Once again every Weaver was only receiving the Song of their own Singers. As if finally unfrozen, the rest of the members rushed forward to see if he was alright. He smiled weakly at the concerned members that crowded around him. “I’m fine,” he said softly in answer to the many questions.
Yesung crouched in front of him and held out the item in his hands. “We made this for you.”
Henry caught his breath as his eyes fell on the most beautiful violin he had ever seen. Each of the four strings was a different color: red, blue, green, and yellow. The combination would have looked strange on anything else but to him it was pure beauty. The wood was finished with the smoothest shine he had ever seen on an instrument. Near the bottom, etched into the wood in silver was an intricate glowing design. Within it was every symbol he had seen in the orbs when they had first gotten their elemental assignments, all tied together.
He accepted it carefully, setting aside his borrowed violin, and then took the pure white bow from Yesung’s hand as well. He knew just by looking at the instrument that it would produce the best sounds he had heard yet. “Thank you,” he whispered stunned.
“You’re welcome,” Yesung told him, speaking for everyone. “You need it.” Henry nodded knowing that he was right.
“Well done,” Sangita told them softly as he stepped forward. “Well done indeed.”
“I still don’t understand,” Henry said softly.
“Like I told you before. Through you all of their music has become one,” he reminded him gently. “Rest Player. You have done well. We will talk more of this tomorrow.”
There was a moment of silence before Heechul broke it. “Yesung could you please fix whatever you did to me? All the glowing and shiny things are starting to give me a headache.”
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
It took a half an hour for Leeteuk to round up everyone. He had to nearly physically throw Ryeowook and Sungmin out the door, with a promise that they could come back and play later. A few short phrases in his ‘official leader voice’ had gotten Henry to stop protesting and agree to being carried by Hankyung on the way back. Sangita had found a case for Henry’s new violin and had handed it to the man with the cryptic promise that he wouldn’t need the case for long.
By the time he had gotten them out the door and back to their dorm, most of the morning had passed. They settled into the dining room for a light lunch of sandwiches and fruit which was eaten mostly in an awed silence. The Weavers in the group were either too busy absorbing what they had seen, or too busy nursing a throbbing head in Heechul’s case, to make much conversation.
Lunch had nearly come to a close when Vidyagauri greeted them and stepped into the room. There was a collective groan from the members to which she only smiled.
“What do you want now?” Kangin asked grumpily.
“I have a story for you, about how I received my wings.” At her words nearly every member perked up.
“Really?” Henry asked. He had been more then curious about them since they had shared their brief conversation.
“Yes,” she told him with a smile. “Please meet me out on the lawn.” She turned and left the room leaving the men to their own devices.
Heechul groaned, eyes clenched shut. “I don’t want to listen to her voice on top of this headache,” he said rubbing at his temples. Hankyung rubbed his back soothingly.
“I might be able to do something about it,” Kangin offered.
Heechul cracked open one eye. “If you make my head explode this friendship is over,” he said but otherwise did not protest.
“As fun as that would be, I don’t want to clean up the mess and Teukie would certainly make me clean it up,” Kangin smirked as he reached out both hands to either side of Heechul’s head. Behind him, Leeteuk gently touched the back of his neck and sang a few short words, offering up his Song for Kangin to use.
The younger man spent a moment enjoying the feel of it, before he pulled the power and began to concentrate. He wasn’t sure exactly what to do, but the more he thought about it, the more he could feel that something wasn’t right with Heechul’s head. As he let power flow from his fingertips and into a Weaving of healing potential, Kangin wasn’t quite sure what he was weaving, only that he needed to fix what was wrong.
After a few moments, Heechul seemed to relax and he let out a sigh. Kangin kept weaving until he felt that things were right again. Then he let his hands fall and enjoyed the connection to Leeteuk for a moment more before he gently severed it.
“I don’t know what you did but it worked,” Heechul said in contentment.
“You’re welcome,” Kangin smirked. He was certainly not going to admit that he had no idea what he had done either.
“We need to get out there,” Leeteuk declared. He started to help the still tired Henry to his feet until Kangin batted him away and helped Henry himself. Leeteuk scowled but said nothing as he followed them out of the building and onto the lawn. The members of SS501 and DBSK were already gathered and waiting for them.
There were several curious glances at the tired Henry and the case he still cradled in his arms, but they had little opportunity to talk about it. The moment they had all settled onto the soft grass, Vidyagauri, who was seated in front of them, began to speak. “I am certain you noticed my wings the moment you arrived,” she spread the large white wings very slightly to hint at their true size. “It is time that you hear of how I received them. Few know the story that I am about to tell all of you.”
She cleared her throat and smoothed the fabric covering her lap before continuing. “I am sure by now you have figured out that I have been here a very long time. I arrived here 956 years ago Earth time. As you can imagine that is substantially longer in Sanctuary time. When I first came here I was in the very position you are in now. I arrived here lost and confused with my sister and one of my good friends at the time.”
“Like you, we were all very skeptical at first, however it didn’t take much to convince me that this was real. I had been hearing Songs all my life and simply hadn’t known it. A few days into our stay here, I was told that I was a Spinner of Spirit and both my sister and friend were Singers of Spirit. We began to train much like you have been, taught by our elders and occasionally by the Light Ones themselves.”
“It didn’t take long for me to discover that feelings were communicated acutely through the bond between me and my Singers. Not long after that my friend and I were married. He insisted we make it formal at home as well, which we did once we returned home. We were then able to experience firsthand what working as a mated pair was like.” There were a few snickers amongst the gathered men.
“Anyone who is a Weaver or Spinner can tell you that it is very easy to get lost in a person’s Song. I found that even when we were not working together I could hear his Song and I would spend hours listening to it. When our training here was complete, we returned to Earth where we spent four years fighting the Dark Ones with varying success. We returned to Sanctuary often, to rest and to practice new things that we had discovered.”
“One night, after we had returned to Earth, we were ambushed by Dark Ones. We were able to fight off most of them, but just as we thought we were free a new swarm began, led by even more powerful Dark Ones then we had ever faced. His name was Keiran, he told us, Prince of the Dark Ones. Casually he told us that our Songs would belong to him by the end of the night. Exhausted we didn’t know if we could stand up to his power.” She paused for a moment and saw that the gather men were hanging on her every word.
“We were not going to go down without a fight. Both my sister and my husband offered me everything they had, and in my need I took it. Chanita simply fell to the ground unconscious. My husband, however, had disappeared completely. There was a great flash of light and suddenly these wings were unfolding from my back. I could hear his voice echoing in my head, telling me that his power was mine now. I didn’t think. I simply used the new found power that I had and fought.”
“Then what happened,” Donghae asked eagerly, dissatisfied with the fact she had paused again.
“I could not defeat Keiran; instead he was badly wounded and forced to retreat. My sister I found to be fine, simply very weak. My husband I could not sense at all. His Song was twined with mine and no matter how I tried I could not free it.” She stopped as if she couldn’t bring herself to speak anymore.
“You still haven’t, have you? That is why you have your wings,” Kyuhyun said softly.
“Yes. I still have not found a way to separate his Song from my own. I fear that he and I have become one for the rest of eternity,” she took a deep breath as if fighting back tears before she continued. “I tell you all this now because this is the first time since the event occurred that we have had mated teams. The process that my husband and I went through, a fusion of sorts, does bring great power but at a greater consequence. I do not know if it is possible to undo what was done. Perhaps it is, if you can only hold onto who you are. I want to caution you against this. Do not even think about performing something like this unless there is great need. Perhaps because you are all a full team you will be able to manage but I do not know. You must be careful.” There were collective nods around the circle.
“Why didn’t you tell us this when we were learning?” Jungmin asked.
“None of you were mated pairs and I did not want to encourage anyone to become so or to try this. It is not something done lightly,” she cautioned.
“You hear that Heechul. No sucking Hankyung inside yourself. Bosses orders,” Kangin jeered at him. Heechul declined answering and instead offered him a rude gesture. Leeteuk stifled a laugh while trying to look disapprovingly at Kangin.
“So,” Yunho said casually. “Anyone want to play a game?”
~♪~♪♫♪~♪~
The men had spent the rest of the day relaxing or generally doing whatever they pleased. Some had chosen to partake of a game of soccer while the rest had elected to go off to do their own thing. “If I get too much more free time, I’m going to go insane,” Leeteuk had muttered before wandering off to find something to do with himself.
Ryeowook had retreated to his room shortly after the story was finished. Yesung had moved his keyboard and computer into his room the night after he had discovered their presence here. It was a bit confusing to him how his keyboard didn’t seem to need to be plugged in and his computer never ran out of battery power, but he really didn’t want to question it for fear that it wouldn’t work right anymore.
For the last few days he had been working on a musical score for lyrics that Sungmin had written. Although the excess free time was somewhat nerve racking, he had decided that he would take full advantage of it and use it to do what he loved to do, compose. He had worked through the afternoon and well into the evening, only pausing when Zhou mi brought him some dinner and teased him about his dedication. He had learned long ago to take advantage of every moment he had, and he told Zhou mi just that. The Chinese man had laughed and left him to it.
Late into the night he shut off his keyboard and computer and put the system to rest for the night. With a yawn he shed his clothing, turned off the light, and climbed into bed. Some sleep would certainly be required for the morning since there was no telling what he would need to be able to do tomorrow.
Ryeowook had just drifted to sleep with he jerked into wakefulness once more. He sat up in the bed and glanced around his room. Everything seemed normal, the same as he had left it when he had crawled into bed that night, yet he knew something was defiantly wrong. Ryeowook couldn’t explain how he knew, he just knew.
Quietly he slipped from his bed and pulled on a clean t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants. He padded to his door and out into the hall. Once there, he felt like he was a bit closer to what was wrong. With a sigh he turned left and began opening doors.
It was late, so his silent intrusions largely went unnoticed by the sleeping occupants of the rooms. Kangin, Leeteuk, and Sungmin were all fast asleep in their beds. Heechul was curled around Hankyung and both men were snoring when he looked. Likewise Siwon, Kyuhyun, and Shindong were all asleep in their own rooms. When he got to Yesung’s room he didn’t know what to expect. He could never be certain of where the man was at any given point during the night.
As quietly as he could, he opened the door and peeked inside. From his tank Ddang Ko Ma blinked back at him. Clearly the turtle had no more idea where his master was then Ryeowook did. He shut the door and reasoned that Yesung might just be somewhere else. Kibum and Eunhyuk’s rooms, when checked, were completely empty. Donghae’s room housed all three men tangled together on his bed. Ryeowook was fairly certain that that explained Siwon’s funny looks towards the trio all day.
A further search of the remaining rooms, failed to produce Yesung. Ryeowook had no idea why he needed to find the man; he simply felt that it was necessary. He took a deep breath reminding himself to remain calm. How much trouble could Yesung really get into in this place? It only took him half a second to decide that Yesung could very likely get into trouble anywhere and if he was feeling something was wrong with the man, it very likely was. His instincts had never served him wrongly yet.
Just to be certain, he peeked into the common room and the dining room before slipping from the dorm altogether. Outside the night air was still pleasant even with the light breeze. Most of the area was bathed in darkness, besides the bit of light glowing from some of the buildings. He sighed. Yesung was somewhere out here, he could feel it.
As he stood pondering which way he should go look, Ryeowook felt the need to find Yesung intensifying. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, trying his hardest to figure out where he would be. When that failed to produce any helpful results, he decided to try within himself. By his reasoning they were a team and therefore they should be able to locate one another whenever necessary, otherwise they would make a worthless team. He figured Singers had to have some sort of locating device, for lack of a better term, built into them.
He counted two of his own heartbeats until the knowledge suddenly filled his head. Something was very wrong with Yesung, but more importantly he knew where the man was. Without waiting a moment longer Ryeowook turned to where his Song was telling him, and began to run.
Refrain Three
Masterlist
AN: There finally some Henry stuff for all of you Henry lovers. This should hint at just how important he is! Now for spasage: ricecakestar drew Chanita!! I'm so excited and it looks like I had imagined her. You have to check it out here and let her know what you think!! Hope you enjoyed this update. ^_^