Broken Glass - Taekook

63

Taehyung and I eventually catch up to the others, who have begun the complex process of clearing away our camp and preparing for an exit. It's already midday by this point, so we're unlikely to be able to set off today. But over the short time we've been here, we've had an opportunity to put down some roots for a while, and rest. 

After all, we didn't know when the next opportunity would come for such a thing. 

Taehyung disappears into the forest a few minutes after returning to camp, claiming he needs to find more plant-based supplies before we set off tomorrow. I offer to join him, but he brushes me off, promising that he'll be safe enough on his own. Despite everything that just happened, he seems determined that he'll know the moment something goes wrong. Based on the look in his eyes, I don't have the mental strength or knowledge to argue the matter, and when I look back at Namjoon for help the mage just shrugs and shakes his head. 

Part of me wonders how we could all be so foolish as to split up so soon after everything happened, but I also know that we don't really have much other choice. If we want to keep moving, get out of the danger zone as quickly as possible, protect this part of the Imbaka Forest, we have to get everything organised in time. 

I end up staring out into the forest, just watching and listening, waiting anxiously for something, I don't even know what. It's hard to know what to look for anymore, but every flash of movement catches my eye and sets my heart racing. And then I'll relax a moment later, noticing that it's just a squirrel jumping from one branch to another, or a gust of wind moving some leaves, or even just Yoongi standing up a little too quickly. 

The horse, still tied up where we left her, is surprisingly calm about the whole situation, despite the fact that it would be perfectly understandable if she'd run away by now. But then I see JImin quietly talking to her again, running a brush over her coat, and making sure she's okay, and it clicks. Without him, maybe we would be in a much more dire situation when it comes to our horse. But he seems to have a commanding, comforting presence that helps to calm her and keep her safe whenever we get into danger. I don't really understand how it works, but I'm not about to argue against it. 

Hoseok spends the whole day working on Seokjin's axe, leaning over it with a whetstone, his eyes glowing a deep bronze. Every so often, Jimin brings him a waterskin, and he downs the entire thing in one go, handing it back to the pixie without a word. There's a worried expression on Jimin's face, one that tells me that Hoseok has tried to do all of this in one day before, and regretted it. But time has become our enemy in some ways, and I know he has no other choice. 

This might be his last chance to get it done before we get into territory where it's just not safe to call upon this much of the golden river's energy. And anyway, we might be more exhausted because we'll be spending days just travelling, passing through the kingdom of Eithyr as quickly as we can so we can get to the Suojaka Caverns as soon as possible. 

The rest of the day spans out for what feels like years, and slowly I watch as the clear sky begins to cloud over once more. Namjoon keeps writing until it becomes too dark for him to see the page in front of him, until heavy drops of rain begin to fall on the pages of his notebook, and the ink begins to smudge as it comes from his quill. He closes it quickly, wrapping it in treated leather and then stashing it carefully in a hidden pocket in his coat. 

Unable to continue his calculations, he turns his attention to setting up the fire in his partner's absence, trying to get a spark going as the weather worsens. But the rain seems to have gotten into the firewood, because nothing will start, even when Yoongi comes over to try and help out. They eventually give up, and Namjoon reaches into the pouch where Aphelia remains most of the time, taking her out and carefully releasing her into the air, watching as she begins to float in the general vicinity of the piled-up firewood.