the gatherer || bts

02 - blood

*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*

Jimin encouraged you to rest before beginning your journey. Telling you that you'd need to pack some supplies. He assured you that he had money, though you didn't understand how, since he wasn't even from Earth. So the next day you dressed in comfortable clothes - leggings, a t-shirt and a hoodie. You made sure to grab your eye patch, even though Jimin gave you a weird look as you slung your backpack over your shoulder.

"Why do you even wear that?" You turned to face him, confused at why he'd even ask that.

"Have you not seen my eye? It's literally purple. That's not normal." Jimin sighed as you turned back around, locking the door to your small cottage.

"I think it's pretty." He whispered.

"Hm?" He waved his hand, dismissing his comment. "Okay, well according to the map, the vampire will be in Marka, which is like an hours walk from here." You sighed. "Better now than never." Jimin just stared at you, confused again. Who walks these days?

Humans are weird. He thought to himself, before flapping his wings and rising into the air. You almost screamed as you looked up to see him smiling at you, doing flips as you turned away. "You're going to make people suspicious!"

Jimin waved a hand. "People would die to see an angel in real life. I'm just giving the people what they want." You groaned, almost embarrassed. You hated people staring at you, already receiving it enough because of your eye. As you walked into town, people did stare. Smiling, gasping. It was exactly what Jimin said. As you walked past the bakery, you quickly looked away, your gut wrenching as you realised you'd never work there again. Jenna was the closest thing you had to a friend. You were alone again. "You're not alone."

You jumped as a voice came from behind you, his breath tickling your neck. You didn't realise you had stopped walking. "Stop reading my thoughts!"

Jimin chuckled. "I can't help it!" You rolled your eyes, cautiously walking through the swarms of people as they scrambled to get a glimpse of Jimin. Obviously the attack yesterday had left their minds. As you were trying to get through everyone, you failed to notice the glint of red eyes, watching the pair of you from afar. Hands in his pockets, he smirked as he noticed the piece of enchanted parchment in your hands.

"Jimin, is there a way to get these people out of our path? At this rate it'll take us two hours!" Jimin rolled his eyes.

"Don't you like the attention?" He turned to look at you, cowering back slightly at your glare. "Okay, sorry. I have an idea." He quickly lifted you up, cradling you and you let out a small scream as his strong wings flapped you both into the air.

"Put me down, Jimin!" You felt queasy as you looked down, seeing the town and people get smaller as Jimin flew you both over to the next town. The stone path turned into gravel as the town shifted into greenery, representing the divide between towns. You felt uneasy as Jimin slowly lowered to the ground and your feet touched the gravel. You had never ventured beyond the town of Almia, and Marka would be uncharted territory for you.

There were a lot of rumours surrounding Marka, that it was filled with dark magic and people that were always up to no good. You rubbed your sleeved arm as a cool breeze washed over you and Jimin, making the latter ruffle the wings on his feathers slightly. As he walked, you couldn't help but admire him. His hair still seemed to stay perfect even though there was a slight wind, his eyes were bright and such an unnatural colour that you wondered what'd happen if you stared for too long. It's like he could take your soul. His body was lean and you could tell he was fit. I wonder how he stays in shape.

"Dance." Jimin flashed you a smile and you quickly turned away, speeding up as your face flushed bright red.

"I told you to stop reading my thoughts." Jimin laughed, and your eyes widened as it sounded so harmonious, almost like a song.

"I can't help it when they're all about me and overpowering the silence." You crossed your arms and sped up once again, small houses coming into view. You sighed in relief as now you would have something to occupy your thoughts other than Jimin. You pulled out your map and frowned as the red dot on the map showed that the vampire was in Almia now. You gasped as the dot suddenly teleported right to Marka's town square. "What?" Jimin noticed that you had stopped walking and frowned when he remembered that he couldn't see what was on the parchment.

"The vampire was in Almia but literally just teleported to Marka. Did the map stuff up?" Jimin rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.

"The map can't stuff up, it's magic. It's always right." You raised an eyebrow.

"You sure? Doesn't magic have its limitations?" Jimin huffed and began walking into town. You giggled at his stubbornness. He didn't want to admit you were right. You were in amazement at this new town. It looked like it came straight out of the 17th century. The buildings were all stone, covered in moss. "Wow."

"You should see Empyrean. It's beautiful." Jimin whispered to you, causing you to jump slightly at his proximity. "The palace is marble and the gardens are always full of plants. Everyone is always happy and the weather still manages to be perfect, thunderstorms or not." He sighed and you gently pat his shoulder, unsure of how to express your sympathy. You could tell he was homesick.

"Jimin," you started, deciding to distract him. "How does the map know which person from each supernatural species to find? Aren't there many angels, vampires, dragons, etcetera?" Jimin nodded, taking in what you said.

"Well, each one on the map is special. It means we are part of royalty and only we bear what will allow peace on Earth." He dug around in his pocket until he pulled out a small necklace with a round pendant on the end. It had a silver chain and the pendant was gold. It reminded you of the bracelet you adorned on your wrist, you never knew where it came from, just that it was special. Jimin gently opened his pendant and pulled out a small piece of paper. "Each son of the royal family has been given a piece of this contract. It was what bound the law for us to co-exist before...well, before everything turned to shit." Jimin's eyes glassed over and he took in a deep breath.

"It has the signatures of our parents and the official rules each species decided on. Once you find everyone, we will arrange the pieces together and the warlock will be able to put the contract back together. Mine has my parents' signatures and the last rule. He showed you and you 'oh'd slightly at the neat cursive handwriting. "We have to be careful as they are all quite fragile."

"And what if one of the others has lost theirs or ruined it?" Jimin shrugged, putting the signature back in his necklace.

"I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." You nodded, not convinced. If you didn't find all the supernatural creatures, what would happen to you? Or worse, what if you ended up dead by one of them? "Are we close?" You jumped again as you realised you and Jimin were in the middle of town, where people were bustling around. It was full of life and you took in your surroundings, noticing that people mainly dressed in black.

You glanced down at your map and noticed the red dot placed at a nearby inn. You scanned the area before pointing at a small, run down building. "In there." Jimin scrunched his nose in distaste.

"Great." You began your walk, smiling politely at the townsfolk, not understanding the meanings behind their smiles. As you and Jimin entered the inn, you felt like something was off.

"Wait, Jimin!" But it was too late. You had entered and Jimin had screamed at the sight of the old woman, dead. Her neck dripping with blood.