Broken Glass - Taekook

40

The next few days take on a similar pattern: we wake up, eat breakfast, and head for our respective areas. It's not easy, but none of us expected simplicity with this. None of us thought that it wouldn't take a while to gather all the info we need in order to defeat the king. After all, there's so much we still need to do. So much that needs to be clarified. And knowledge won't work on its own, sure, but it's a lot better than nothing. 

Eventually, however, we all agree to have a day to rest. A day to catch up, and figure out if we've learned anything new, though it's true that we won't find everything we need immediately. It's been about a week now, maybe slightly longer, and so it feels like the right time to take a moment to find out where we are, and what we need to focus on. 

That day, we wake up a little later than usual, and we all work together to make a more interesting breakfast than before. As Seokjin sets up the fire, Yoongi leaves to get some fresh water, and Taehyung and JImin find their way back to the forest they've been exploring for the last week or so to find something new to put in the meal, I find myself with not much to do. 

When our resident herbalists return, however, they call me over to help with preparing vegetables and sorting things into group based on taste and where it would fit best in a meal. Hoseok takes some of the heads of grain, and begins to push on them to create flour. Namjoon comes over soon after that, and begins to help him work on that, as Yoongi sets up a rack for the bread and a cauldron for the water he's found. 

Taehyung and I drop a few root vegetables and some herbs into the cauldron, and then get to work on some dried fruit snacks, something for us to eat as we talk throughout the day. Namjoon and Hoseok have split up the flour evenly, the mage working on simple salt crackers and the alchemist on proper bread. They lay out the dough on a rack on the table to let it rise, far enough away from the fire that it doesn't immediately start cooking. 

Eventually, all the pieces begin to come together again, as the fruit snacks are finished and placed to one side to dry. Seokjin reaches into the fire, his sleeve pulled back so the cloth doesn't burn, placing the bread and crackers on an empty space he's left for that very purpose, to cook. As the root vegetables begin to cook properly, and the water begins to boil, Jimin takes a smaller pot and some of Tae's dried herbs to make a calming tea, using the witch's instructions and his own understanding of different plants to figure out the exact contents. 

All together, it takes a good hour or so to prepare this complex breakfast, and none of us really have to talk about anything major, except to ask each other to move out of the way or grab something if it's easier to do that way. It sounds odd, but there's something almost cozy about it, the way we can just work together without needing verbal communication. It's somehow healing, with some sort of replenishing power that I wasn't expecting. 

Jimin pours the tea into seven cups, as Seokjin pulls perfectly cooked bread from the fire. Yoongi checks the stew, and then begins to ladle it into different bowls. Hoseok slices the bread, and hands one piece to each of us. And once everything is done, we all just sit there for a few minutes eating in silence, before our discussion of our discoveries begins. 

As it turns out, the week has been surprisingly productive. Seokjin and Hoseok open the conversation with an explanation of the techniques they've been shown, the ideas that they've come up with for equipment for different people. 

For Namjoon, they've planned to create some sort of new staff, one that should help him both on and off the battlefield. It's designed to be stronger than steel, though made of wood, through reinforcements added via energy from the golden river. It's also lighter, somehow, though I don't fully understand every part of the idea. It's beyond me.