Broken Glass - Taekook

45

By the time I get back to the lodgings I share with my friends, the calmness of Mavathyr at night has given way to the relative activity of the city in the early morning. A few creatures pass me as I head through the streets, but I'm not overly hindered in my efforts to get back as soon as possible. Now that I'm here, I can almost sense the worry that my friends must be feeling, and the last thing I want is for them to think I've abandoned what I set out to do originally. 

That concern makes me pause right before the front door, and raise a hand to knock, instead of push it open as I usually would. But just as my fist hits the wood, the door swings open, and I find myself wrapped in a tight hug, and dragged into the building. 

My eyes widen, but I don't resist, returning the embrace after a brief moment of surprise, carefully stepping in and trying not to trip over the tiny figure of Jimin, who's using the power of the hug to pull me into our shared kitchen-fire area. The moment I'm over the threshold, I hear the door slam shut behind me, and spot Yoongi leaning against it in the corner of my vision, one eyebrow raised. Jimin pulls away for a moment, to stare directly into my eyes. 

"What the fuck, Jeon Jungkook?" he questions, sounding genuinely furious. "Where the fuck did you go? What were you thinking? Didn't you consider how much we would worry about you? You can't just disappear into the wilderness like that on your own! What kind of hare-brained, idiotic-" 

"For what it's worth, I don't think I had much of a choice in the matter," I interrupt quietly, just loud enough to hear. There's a moment of silence, and Jimin's voice slowly trails off as he pauses, processes my words, and then steps back to give me some space. 
"What happened?" Taehyung asks, and I glance over at him, a little apologetically. 

Like Jimin, his expression is conflicted between relief and frustration, as well as some understanding. "Did you have another dream, Kook?" I nod. 
"It's gonna take a while to explain what I saw, and what happened after that. I know it's hard to believe, but I really didn't mean to scare you. It took everything in my power to repress the urge to just run into the night without leaving any indication of the fact that I was going. I did leave a note, but I don't know if any of you spotted it. I can't even remember where I put it." 

Seokjin just smiles, and raises a hand, in which I see a familiar piece of paper. "We found it. Thank you for that. It genuinely did help us realise that it probably wasn't anything too awful." He looks over towards the seats we usually sit in, and the direction of his gaze seems to indicate where to go for the rest of us. I gravitate towards my usual seat, perching there uncertainly for a moment before allowing myself to settle there, as the others slowly find their way to their own chairs. 

Once there, I take a moment to breathe, and then lower my head a little, beginning to quietly explain the details of my dream. The moment in the library, the battlefield that froze in place for a moment so I could take in the true horror of the situation. The calm cave that came afterwards, the gentle sound of the water and the bright glowing light of the glow-worms. 

And then I close my eyes, so I can't see my friends' faces, and begin to slowly recount what I remember from last night. The restless feeling I got when I woke up. The warmth that draped around me like a blanket as I stared down at the mirror, searching for answers. The energy that slowly built up within my being, the way it seemed to take over logic and make me pack up a knife, a sword, the mirror, and head out of the safety of our shared lodgings. When I look back up, all I see is understanding, and that encourages me to continue. 

"And I knew I had to get out, but I didn't know where I was heading. It was like I was being controlled, and I had to check myself sometimes. I knew it was crazy, that it didn't make any sense, but there wasn't much I could do. It was like something was driving me forward, something I had no control over."