SPELLBOUND | BTS AF

APPORTATION

LOCATION: SOUTHERN ICE GLACIER, EISMITTE
TIME: 18:23

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THERE IS A low hum travelling through the frigid air. it suddenly wraps around them with a growing fog that impedes their vision.

"w-what the fuck is that?" jeongguk stutters out in a quiet voice. "we've got company." kamaria answers, eyes darting around. "i suddenly miss the bears." hoseok remarks with a slight shiver.

"the hairs on the back of my neck are rising." taehyung states. "i'm getting such a bad vibe." he mutters with discomfort. "and what kind of thick ass fog is this? i can't even see my own hands in front of me." jeongguk complains in clear annoyance.

"it's making me nervous." jasmin agrees with a nod which is pointless because no one can see. she can hear heavy breathing close to her and she turns trying to find the source. it sounds like a shaky hum of a vaguely familiar tune.

"hemi?" she calls softly. "yeah?" the reply comes out on a choked breath. "you okay?" she asks worriedly. "yeah, just not a big fan of the dark." nohemi let's out an awkward laugh. jasmin reaches out a hand in the direction of her voice, clasping at what she hopes is the older girl's hand. "better?"

"yeah, thanks." nohemi's breathing slows a little bit. jasmin squeezes her hand reassuringly and she smiles into the fog.

"what are they trying to do with this fog? attack us while we're blind?" hoseok queries. no one says anything for a minute. "i can't sense them." kamaria suddenly says. "who? the bad guys?" taehyung asks.

"no," nohemi is the one to answer. "the others." she finishes. everyone is suddenly quiet. "only six of us have spoken since the fog suddenly appeared." jasmin notes with a gasp.

"you're right." taehyung takes in a sharp breath at the realisation. "thanda? you here?" he calls gently. "seokjin? yoongi?"

"aaliyah was right next to me when it happened. and now she's not." nohemi bites her bottom lip. "how the hell did they disappear?" taehyung queries.

"you sure this isn't a prank? let me try something." jeongguk says. "seolhyun, did you sneeze? because the air from your cold soul is fogging up the place." he calls out only to be met with cold silence. "holy shit, they're definitely not here."

"what the fuck happened?" hoseok's voice is breathless. "they split us up." kamaria answers. "they only used the fog as a cover. one of them must have some sort of apportation magic."

"the divide and conquer tactic, huh?" taehyung's tone shows interest. "looks like it." nohemi mumbles. "speaking of looking, i can't look at anything except this goddamn fog. how long till this shit clears out?" jeongguk scowls at the unnatural darkness.

"it's magic so it probably won't unless they want it to. maybe that's how they plan to attack us?" jasmin says with uncertainty.

"i can do something about that." nohemi breathes, realising she's been unnaturally slow. "sorry, my mind's just all over the place." she apologises. "wait," taehyung calls before she can move, "why now? they could've done this hours before like when we were caught off guard by the bears or when jimin fainted or—"

"we're close to the gem." kamaria concludes. "exactly. it's the only logical reason they'd be doing this." taehyung nods. "but they could have just taken it and left. it doesn't make any sense." hoseok's brows draw together in confusion.

"maybe they didn't have enough time? we might have gotten here earlier than they thought." jeongguk offers. "maybe, but this is a weird tactic. why divide us?" taehyung asks.

jasmin lets go of nohemi's hand and drops to the ground, placing her bare hands on the ice. she takes in a deep breath and closes her eyes. "jas?" nohemi calls softly, scared that something has happened to the youngest girl.

"i'm fine. i'm just confirming that the gem's really around here." she assures the girl. the ice stings her skin but she pays no attention to it as she tries to get some information. images flash in her mind at the speed of sound before she sees what she's looking for. eyes snapping open, she allows herself a sharp intake of breath. "it-it's here." she stutters. "it's not very far." carefully, she tries to get back on her feet.

"i thought the glacier's hem meant the edge of the ice. it didn't look like the end of the glacier was in sight when this happened." hoseok observes with a frown. "yeah, it still looked like we had miles to go." taehyung agrees, remembering the last thing he'd seen before the fog appeared.

"okay, i'm clearing this fog." nohemi announces and exhales. eyes closing briefly to find focus, she opens them and stares at the fog floating in front of her. slowly it begins to dissipate and her vision clears. though the sky is already darkening quickly, it is much better than when they had been blinded by the fog.

"oh thank you, father and nohemi." jeongguk lets out dramatically when he can see again, eyes taking in the group in front of him. everyone takes deep breaths of relief, especially since they find that there are no enemies surrounding them.

"where did they take the others though?" jeongguk asks. everyone turns to him at the sound of his voice. there is a sudden pause, their eyes widening when they finally take in the view behind him.

"i don't think they were the ones apported." jasmin blinks, scratching behind her ear nervously. "dude, just move toward us slowly." hoseok tells him. "why? what's wrong?" jeongguk asks, feeling nervous as he tries to glance back.

"don't!" nohemi yells, stopping him. "just walk to us." she urges him, her eyes shifting between him and whatever is behind him. "is it another bear? or is there some sort of magical creature behind me?" he asks in a shaky voice as he takes tentative steps towards the rest of the group. no one answers, seeming to hold their breaths while watching him.

when he finally stops close to taehyung, he whirls around curiously to see what got everyone else on edge. "holy fucking shit!" he yelps, nearly slipping in shock at the sight before him. he grabs on to taehyung for support, gaze never leaving the sight of the expanse of freakishly dark blue water in front of them.

he'd been standing right at the edge.

☬☬☬

cue jeongguk's 'it's been a while, baby'. um, i kind of abandoned this for a while due to certain circumstances. but i don't think it'll be a stretch to say we're back in business. i'll try to update as much as i can when i can. (ya girl's still busy and might become even more so in the future). anyway, since i'll only be working on this and the runaways this month, i should be able to concentrate more and get more content out. thanks for being patient!