SEMI-HIATUS|BTS x Reader Wonderland AU: The World of Wonderland

13. Training with Trees

Yes, I'm back for another chapter.  I'm so proud of my boys, they just dropped IDOL and it is a bop.  Enjoy the chapter!

You were not particularly fond of the Everlasting Forest, you found out.  Even though you had unlocked your earth power due to its help, it seemed to slow everyone down, and being trapped underneath the trees added to your claustrophobia.

To keep your mind off of the forest, RM continued to coach you after lunch while you walked through the forest.  First, he would have you concentrate on summoning the energy.  After doing that for five hundred times or so, you just about lost your mind until RM let you move onto the next thing.  Once you were able to summon the green light with ease, he made you practice on plucking off leaves and branches from trees, growing small sprouts from the ground, and using your energy to differentiate between poisonous plants and mushrooms.

Sweat beaded on your forehead, your arms lifted as if in praise, while trying to coax a plant out of the ground.  Watching as it grew before your eyes, you managed to sustain it until it reached the sapling stage of its life.  At that point, you threw down your hands and stopped giving the plant life force.

"This is so much harder than I thought," you told RM.  "If I'm to strangle my enemies with full-grown trees, then I might faint before then."

"That's why we need to build up your endurance," he countered.  "Now, do that again and try to make it grow to a quarter of the height of the trees around us."

Stifling a groan, you once again let the green energy flow through you until it came out of your fingers.  Letting it climb up to your elbows, you then waved your hands around to sense where seeds would be.  The power still being developed, it took you a while before you found a pinprick of a source.  Focusing on the life you would give, you took a deep breath and splayed your fingers out.  Already knowing that the energy was heading towards the ground from your hands, you kept your eyes closed and concentrated even further.  After hearing the soft hiss of the tree growing, you opened your eyes.  It grew before your eyes, taller and taller, as you threw all of your effort into it.  You shook tremendously with the exertion you were putting yourself through, yet you still pushed past the pain.

As the tree kept growing, past a quarter height that Namjoon had told you to reach, you felt an arm on your shoulder.

"That's enough, Y/N," he said, letting you relax at the statement.

Almost toppling over after the mini-exercise you had done, Namjoon had to steady you while you were walking.

"I think that's enough for now," RM mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully.  "How about we test your knowledge and instinct for poison?"

Too tired to do anything but nod your head, you slumped against his side as he kept walking.  With an arm around your shoulder, you could practically imagine that the two of you were boyfriend and girlfriend, walking side by side.  Yet after thinking this, you shook your head, admonishing yourself for thinking about better days at a time like this.

RM propped you up against a tree while he went off into the woods to find some plants for you.  Returning soon, he carried in each hand two mysterious flora.  Supporting you once again, you resumed your walking together, except this time he held out the plants to you.

Taking them, you examined them closely.  The first plant resembled a cross between a fern and aloe vera.  The second was a red mushroom with pink spots.  The third was yellow with blue flowers on it.  And the last one was tall and skinny, a bee-hive shaped cluster of little red flowers that were shaped like blue-bells at the top on a thin stem.

You hovered a hand over each plant, seeing if there would be any warnings triggered.  Alas there were none, and so you relented.  Letting out your energy again, you placed a hand over the first plant.  It felt like a normal plant, with no sensation that made it stand out.  The second one gave you a tingly feeling as soon as your hand with the mist got close to it, confirming your suspicions that it was not good for your health.  When you went to the third one, you almost jumped in the air as the jolt that was sent up your arm and into your spine startled you.  Instantly, you knew that this plant was bad, and should be avoided at all costs.  The fourth one gave you an uncomfortable feeling, just like the first one.