Journey To Hellspost (TXT X READER)

25

  Removing the bandages from her ears proved to be quite the task for the rogue. Athelas can only heal so much of her wound. The stitches remained in as her ear attempted to heal itself back together. There was an insatiable itch and the rogue rubbed at her ears through the gauze until they bled. She was going to spread another healing salve onto it, but her healing wound had fused some of the fibres of the gauze into the wound itself, leaving a very painful removal. Her eardrums thrummed as she pulled it off quickly, wishing for the pain to be over with, rather than prolonged.

  "Do you need some assistance?" Soobin asked, noticing her struggle across the light of the dim fire over which Beomgyu cooked dinner.

The rogue hesitated for a moment. She did not like having other people do things for her. She never had them to do things for her previously, so she was not used to their constant offers of aid. It was something she tried to get used to, but it was difficult. Rather than answering him with words, she simply nodded, handing him the jar of the salve.

"On the wounded parts?" He asked, kneeling down beside her. She responded with a nod once again, and Soobin went to work, dipping his fingers into the creamy salve and gently applying it to the wounded areas, his fingers hesitating each time she tensed.

When he was finished, he rubbed the remaining salve into his hands. It wasn't like a simple healing salve would do his callused hands any worse.

  Part of him wished to return to the mountain. He had always enjoyed the company of the dwarves, but these dwarves were so much more joyous and lovable. They were accepting and generous and kind. He simply wished he had gotten to purchase one of their handicrafts. He'd always thought it was the nicest thing, to see the wide smile on the dwarves face when he bought a handmade craft, their eyes lighting up as they instantly explain the tedious story behind making it. He adored the way they took such pride in their art.

  When Soobin had gone to the northwest mountains for the very first time, he was no more than a boy. One would've thought his parents should've been close behind. He had decided to leave his small shack constructed from sticks, to visit the dwarves he had heard about. When he got their, he observed the rings piercing their ears, the beautiful jewels that adorned them, and he decided he wanted some. He walked through the busy market, smiling at the atmosphere, and he found a stall where a nice dwarvish woman, plump as she was happy, was selling beautifully made earrings. The one that had immediately caught his eye was golden with pure white jewels. They were pointed like leaves, and the part that would go through his ear was a dusty blue hue. He purchased that earring without hesitation.

  The woman had explained that her husband made it in the forges. He had spent lots of time on each detail, and he had even mined the jewels himself. Soobin was amazed. The craftsmanship was beyond breathtaking. During her excited spiel, her eyes had drifted to Soobin's bare ears. When she asked why they weren't pierced, Soobin couldn't find an answer. She hummed about it for a minute before taking him behind her stall and piercing his ears herself, starting with the lobes, using two golden hoops she had gifted him. Then, she pierced his cartilage, using the bejewelled earring he had previously bought, and finally, she found a small, intricate golden cuff and wrapped it around his ear on the other side. She had given Soobin a small hand mirror to see his ears and he couldn't believe it. He looked to the jewels and he found a happiness he had never felt before. An excitement. He wanted everyone to look at his ears in awe and see the jewelry that adorned them.

  He had made sure to never allow the sacred jewelry to be dirtied. He adored it and would never trade it for anything.

  He only wished to experience the happiness and hospitality of the dwarves to the fullest extent, but it wasn't as he had hoped. He had gotten a souvenir from the mountain but he had hoped it would be a jewel of great beauty rather than a small piece of leather armour. The stitched leather hugged his left shoulder and protected his back and an intricate square pattern had been hand stitched into the leather. It was a bit rugged for his tastes. It didn't match or accentuate his jewels. It contradicted them.

  The others had been given similar armour. Beomgyu had a leather vest that buckled at his shoulders and wrist cuffs with straps that wrapped around his hand to his knuckles. Taehyun had a similar leather vest, but his buckled at his right shoulder. HueningKai had been given another similar vest that buckled down his front, as well as wrist cuffs and a belt. Yeonjun had been given some sort of thick leather belt, almost like a corset, save the tightness. Each of them had the same hand stitched square pattern. A unifying theme, he had thought. The leather tunic that (Y/N) wore was similar, though hers was multifunctional as both clothing and armour.

Soobin was grateful for the dwarves. They offered the hospitality that the company needed at that moment. He would always be grateful for the dwarves, for they were accepting when Soobin needed to be accepted.

"You haven't forgotten about it yet?" The rogue asked, shaking Soobin from his thoughts. It seemed that Beomgyu had asked her something.

"You ended when the company of the dwarven prince had crashed into a ledge of sharp rock! Not only that but you spoiled the story for us! You told us of the elven king!" Beomgyu complained with the tone of a child, not caring to lower his voice.

  "I had no intentions of spoiling," the rogue refuted, only to be met with noises of displeasure. She groaned, rolling her eyes. "Alright, alright. Gather round, lest you miss a single word of the story."

  After scrambling to sit around the fire, the five listened intently to the story of the dwarven company. All of their eyes were wide as the rogue told them about the separation of the halfling from the dwarves, and the goblin king's plans to kill the dwarven company. They held their breath as the rogue recounted the wizards entrance to save the dwarves, and they all watched in suspense while the halfling had a game of riddles in the dark with an unfamiliar creature.

  "All things, it devours. Birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws at iron, bites at steel, grinds hard stones to meal," the rogue recounted, doing her best impression of the unfamiliar creature as the five before her attempted to solve the riddle. They muttered and mumbled amongst themselves until the rogue spoke up again. " 'Times up,' the creature told the halfling, preparing for his first juicy meal in ages. That is when the halfling found the answer. It was time!"

  The answer was followed with fascinated hums and understanding nods. She continued the tale, speaking of the halfling asking an unfair question, stemming from his stealing of a beautiful golden ring that had fallen from the creatures possession. She recounted his escape after the creature found out he had stolen the ring. She told them about how the dwarven company escaped the mountain and how the halfling had found them once again, and then she had told them about how the orc pack had found the company as well. She spoke of their epic battle, the dwarven prince facing the orc that killed his father and grandfather, the halfling stepping in to save the dwarven prince when he was gravely injured by the pale orcs warg, and how the wizard called for the giant eagles to take them to the summit of a carrock.

  "I think that is where our story shall end today," the rogue smiled deviously.

  "But the prince!" HueningKai squeaked in despair.

  "Is he dead?" Yeonjun asked quietly.

"At least let us know if he survives or not," Taehyun attempted to bargain.

  "I think this is the perfect place to leave it," she replied.

  Beomgyu was never one to use his magic for selfish purposes, but this was a dire moment and he could not handle being left with such a huge unanswered question.

  "I think you should continue," he said.

  "You're right," she replied as if it were her idea in the first place. The other four looked to Beomgyu as if his words contained the strongest of spells, but he nodded back towards the rogue as she told the rest of them that the dwarven prince had survived and finally trusted the halfling, and finally, she told them about how the company saw their mountain for the first time on the summit of the carrock, and how they all believed it would get better from there.

  They were all happy to leave the story there. Of course, their happiness was only temporary because they knew the story would not have a happy ending.