Broken Glass - Taekook

75

Over the next few weeks, a pattern slowly emerges from the confusion of the first day in the Suojaka Caverns. Every morning, we wake up to Aphelia's light slowly brightening. Taehyung and Yoongi immediately head off to try and find something to eat for breakfast, whilst Jimin tends to the horse and makes sure she's safe and happy. Namjoon and Seokjin focus on building a fire and checking our equipment, whilst Hoseok takes me through a series of stretches designed to help strengthen my body and improve flexibility.

Once the fire is lit, the horse is taken care of, my body is sufficiently stretched, and the food is gathered, the seven of us sit around the fire and eat whatever Taehyung and Yoongi have found for the morning's meal. As the fire slowly dims into embers, we discuss the progress of the previous day, and make plans for the current day. We bring up the confusions and inconsistencies we noticed the day before, and try to make them connect to what we already know and understand.

Once that conversation reaches a natural end, or once the fire finally dies out, we all separate to complete whatever tasks we've set for ourselves that day. Jimin and Taehyung usually branch off, exploring the tunnels and small caverns outside of the space we've settled in, trying to find plants or creatures they've not encountered before. Hoseok sits down with a weapon and works to enhance and even sometimes enchant it. Seokjin stays with him, ensuring that the fire is at the correct temperature and position for whatever blacksmithing efforts Hoseok's attempting that day.

Yoongi slowly works through everyone's damaged bags, bedrolls and other equipment, fixing and remaking it so that it will survive the next few months. He borrows one of Namjoon's many notebooks, and begins the dizzying task of keeping stock of everything we have at our disposal, noting down everything he makes or stores so that he knows how much of anything we have.

Namjoon helps me improve my connection with the golden river. He coaches me through various forms of connections, has me test out my abilities in a safe space whilst we have the opportunity to do so. And once we've spent an hour or so doing that, I go through Hoseok's stretches and exercises whilst he continues to calculate and strategise.

Every couple of days, an itch begins to burn in my mind, telling me that we need to move on, and that we've exhausted the resources in the local area. Whenever that happens, we pack up everything we've got, and follow the instinct that's driving me forward, searching for the next large chamber to settle in. This endless shift between different parts of the Suojaka Caverns means that we can never get used to a specific space. Despite the fact that we never leave the boundaries of this maze-like sanctuary, it feels like we never stop moving. No matter how hard we try to cling to some sort of pattern or routine, time seems to fly by at an ever-increasing pace.

I don't mind the endless travelling from one place to another as much as my friends do. They've got homes to return to, families they remember and are worried about. But I have nothing like that, or if I do, I don't remember any of it. My friends, and Aphelia as well by this point, are the only family I've got. And almost since day one, I've been travelling in some shape or form. This is all I know.

Maybe I did have another life, before I arrived in Hazelpoint half-drowned, confused and bereft of memory or connection to Eithyr. Maybe I had a family somewhere, who'd probably assume that I'm dead. Maybe I was a totally different person with different attachments and dreams and beliefs. But none of that seems to matter right now.

Today, my purpose is to save Eithyr. The golden river has given me that task, and I genuinely do want to succeed in it. For most people, their past is a source of direction and motivation, because it gives them their relationships and their memories. But I don't need that. The kingdom itself has drawn out a path for me, and now all I need to do is follow it.