Desert • Flower | TaeJin || BOOK 3#

VII. Finding a flower about to wilt

"Should we make a wall here? Or maybe a ditch. Walls are destroyed, but ditches are hard to fill." proposes Taehyung to his dragon walking beside him.

Taehyung has the feeling that he needs to put precautions in place to help him protect himself, in case there is an invasion of his territory. He is getting bigger and more vulnerable because of it. Taehyung has managed to buy more land so he has more room to help refugees, while at the same time growing his crops and business. He also has some new employees and in general, growing the large inheritance his parents left him. Taehyung knows he must take care of it in more tangible ways besides a title, money and the possibility that fate will favor him by not sending Japanese soldiers here.

Taehyung has thought of making a giant wall, but that brings him complications on the level that it might scare people away. His other option is to make a huge ditch. No galloping horses will be able to get through, clearly people might notice the distance, but with the practice he has in manipulating the earth, he can make it sink deeper and whoever tries to get through will inevitably fall to their death. It is giving a kind of automatic control to the ground, where it understands that if there is too much movement it must sink. It is possible to say that it is a sensitivity.

Allow it greater capacity, the life it has, but finds itself unable to exhibit.

It prefers the idea rather than the wall. With the sinking of the ground can let few people who have already warned come here. The idea is not to isolate himself, it is to protect himself and avoid damage. Just as he did on the coast. While Taehyung wanders in his thoughts, his dragon detects something strange: movement very very far away. It must be fifteen minutes away. It is a very slow pace, as if a horse is in agony while walking tired and starving. At the same time it sounds very heavy.

Taehyung feels a terrible tug, Seok's fault for having shot off in that direction where he detects the sound. To Taehyung it's nothing more than some bird or some dying animal that doesn't need so much importance.

Apparently Seok sees - or senses - something else. The dragon hurries to arrive when he hears a knock and that there is a very big weight in that space where he detected the footsteps and there is no more movement. Taehyung tries to keep up, which is difficult when your dragon floats and you can only run after it. Taehyung is thankful that he didn't see or pass anyone nearby, it would be a huge embarrassment to see him running, sweating like a herding animal and leaving part of his clothes behind so as not to faint from the heat.

Because of the plants themselves there is not much coolness. Hot as a real desert. Seok visualizes his target from a distance, a big lump that barely moves for breathing. Seok hurry to get there pulling his Taehyung even more.

The poor guy arrives and the first thing Taehyung sees is that there is a horse being pulled, next to it a pile of cloths on top of it. Some bags with food lying around, not much. Taehyung approaches to feel it, the animal is very thin and very weak, but it has salvation. Behind it there is another bigger lump, it has no movement and is covered by a sheet. The cloth is very luxury, it must be someone of certain economic power.

After pulling it aside, the lord opens his eyes wide. What you get is an unconscious person with a very pale and thin complexion due to starvation itself, drenched in sweat. What strikes you most is his pink, straight, long, damp hair. This person manages between opening his eyes, without being conscious, giving a nod trying to move, ignoring that Taehyung is there. A useless instinct to run away.

"Seok, pick up the horse and take him home" Taehyung orders his dragon without thinking, he holds his hair again with haste and some panic inside him, he doesn't know what to think of this. "Let's go through a tunnel, the house is too far away and it's going to burn more."

Seok gurgles before sinking into the ground making a long path that starts moving without the need for Taehyung to walk. The lord carries the unconscious man in his arms, pooping as best he can and avoiding tugging at his hair. His body trembles at the mere implication of that hair, so unheard of that he dares not say anything, his common sense tells him that he has to take him to a safe place, give him water and keep him from further exposure to the sun; beyond that he has only one thing.

This person possesses a flowering dragon!

Taehyung is finally going to meet someone capable of making flowers bloom! As redundant as it sounds.

~ * * * ~

"He's dehydrated and I'd say he's very malnourished, but I'm not sure, I can't check much more," announces the doctor Taehyung has working in the house. The pink-haired man remains unconscious, lying on the futon with a damp cloth on his forehead, reddened skin and lips half-open to let in air. "From what I could see, this is a kisaeng, he has the mark on his back. I wondered where he came from, all the kisaeng houses in this region are far away."

"Wherever it came from, maybe it was attacked and that's why it was so bad" proposes Taehyung thoughtfully, it's the only alternative he can think of. Many have appeared like this in the village: they flee with the first thing they reach to take and go to a safe place to avoid being attacked again. "And does he have a dragon?" Question uneasily. Taehyung hasn't seen it out and that's strange, they are supposed to be there to protect their users, he doubts that they get along badly with each other.

It's unusual to have a dragon against his partner.

"Oh" Taehyung reddens at the look and smile the older man gives him. "You can tell you hasn't changed a little since you were a kid, my lord" he remarks with leave bonhomie, puts the unconscious man's hand under the sheet and gives a couple of pats on the abdomen. "Always thinking about flowers and wanting to meet someone who could grow them. I can already imagine this was literally dropped out of the sky."

"I'd say it was a bad coincidence to come across a flower about to wilt." opined Taehyung still embarrassed. The doctor gave a fond chuckle again as he stands up.

"Who knows Have you never thought about it? You are an earth dragon and plants need soil to grow. Perhaps it was in destiny that you would meet my former and deceased lords, just as it was destined that you would meet someone searching for living in the vast field what you are capable of creating."

Taehyung opens and closes his mouth, impressed by the conclusion. He gives a slight bow and the man withdraws. Taehyung is not exactly someone who is a believer in fate despite the fact that many in this house stress it endlessly, it seems a law of life. He dares to stroke the soft pink hair, they didn't bathe or undress him at all so as not to be too invasive, wiping him on the exposed areas and a little on the chest next to the back. Taehyung is hopeful that he will wake up soon. At least this week. He feels like a kid with a new toy or a new friend. She doesn't know him at all, so they can't be friends yet.

Taehyung sees Seok who discreetly sniffs the unconscious one, his dragon is equally excited. Taehyung wastes no time in hugging him, smiles wide and square as he roughly cuddles him so he's able to feel it. The dragon gurgles complacently as it squirms slightly.

Who knew that by a mere chance, it would find what its user wanted so badly. It gives the feeling that what the doctor said is true: fate sent a flower, one that would be withered if it hadn't found it. All that remains is to prevent that from happening. Taehyung is a fertile field, it is made to help him survive. He hopes that the comparative ways of speaking and common thoughts will be in his favor in the whole situation.