Broken Glass - Taekook

52

The kelpies disappear below the surface soon after that statement, leaving us all standing in silence, staring down at the water, as if we're expecting something else to happen. For a few seconds, none of us really know what to do, or what to say. Then Taehyung looks around at all of us and clears his throat awkwardly. 

"Guys, we need to get a campsite set up. We need to find a place with grass, so the horse can eat, and so that we can rest on it. I don't want us to have no form of shelter when it gets dark. We're still not really familiar with the forest, and we are in the king's territory now. We have the kelpies to watch over us, but it's best not to be stupid."

Namjoon nods in agreement, his brother's words snapping him out of his reverie enough for him to focus on the task at hand. "That's a good point, Tae." He glances around at the rest of us. "Some of us should start to explore the area, and find the possible danger spots and the best places to rest, and the others can stay here to collect supplies and get some more water in our waterskins?" he suggests, raising an eyebrow. 

Yoongi steps forward a little awkwardly, lifting his hand in the air. "I'll deal with the water," he offers, and Namjoon smiles at him, warmly.
"You are the expert, so that makes perfect sense."
"I'll get some firewood," Seokjin adds on, hefting his axe over his shoulder, and Namjoon's wide beam just grows a little, as he looks at both of his partners. 
"Thanks, love. You're pretty good at that."

"He's pretty in general," Yoongi pipes up, a small smirk crossing over his face for a moment, and Seokjin blushes a little, rolling his eyes at the two of them. 
"You're pretty too, Yoongs," he mumbles, a little shyly. The two brush shoulders as they move to their individual tasks, and there's a moment of electricity between the elementals before they carry on, driven only by the need to get everything sorted before the sun fully sets. 

Jimin approaches the horse, balling up some dry reeds and starting to brush down her coat, trying to remove some of the sweat and the grime of the day. "I'll get started on letting the horse settle down for the night," he states calmly, slowly unbuckling the harness and massaging the skin where the device was resting, just in case any blisters are present. 

After a few seconds, though, he glances over at Taehyung. "Might need some salve, if you've got any, Tae. There's a small area of sores that might become an issue if we let it stay as it is." Taehyung nods a little, slinging his bag from his shoulder and beginning to go through his medicine supplies, trying to find the soothing salve he made for situations just like these.

 Seokjin disappears a few feet into the forest we've just come from, in search of firewood. I can still hear the gentle tread of his feet, crunching the leaf litter underfoot, as he makes his way through the trees, his axe in hand. Hoseok and Namjoon start to move along the river's edge, inspecting it to search for dangerous areas or places to rest. 

Taehyung, after some searching, pulls out the salve from his bag, handing it to Jimin. The pixie sends him a grateful smile, starting to apply it to the sores. Taehyung starts to dig through his bag for dried herbs and vegetables, anything he can apply to a night's meal. I kneel down, sifting through the earth for smooth stones that will act as suitable edges for Seokjin's fire. He's shown me exactly what he needs in the past, which makes it easier. 

In the process of that, by some miracle, I manage to dig up the burrow of a family of small rodents. Some run away, but I catch two of them in the back of the head with the stones I've already collected. They fall limp, and I lay the corpses out on one of the flatter stones, starting to skin and gut it, ready for cooking. It's not much, but it's certainly better than nothing. 

Jimin, halfway through looking after the horse, turns to check on Taehyung and I, and winces at the gory mess spread out on the stone. I mumble an apology under my breath as he quickly turns back around, and continues brushing through the horse's mane. He's quickly back to work, smoothing out any of the tangles that have emerged as a result of a day of walking through a thick forest, pulling out any tiny sticks and leaves that may have been caught in the hair.