Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 14

This is sort of a filler chapter, so don't expect much of it :) The true action begins next chapter!

XIV: Jungkook 

"So this is the armory?"

As soon as Jimin snapped his fingers, opening up two giant iron doubleset doors, I walked into the large training room. Hundreds of weapons gleamed on the walls, their blades sending dappled shadows across the polished cypress floor. I saw scimitars, longswords, falchions, claymores, and countless others lined up neatly on the shelves. There were four shooting targets at the far end of the room, with a collection of bows and arrows ready nearby. All these blades and weapons could supply the whole army of India and still have some left over. The place seemed spotless, so I was confused as to why we needed to clean it.

"It can never be too clean," Baekhyun said, seeing my questioning gaze. "And besides, a sword with even the slightest bit of dust coating it would never be able to swing as true as a clean one. It's vital that we clean and oil our weapons as often as we can."

"Oh." I eyed a mass of daggers hanging on the eastern wall. Suddenly, this task seemed harder than I first expected. "And Taehyung expects us to clean every single one of these?"

"Not all of them. Some are just ceremonial, so those are our least priority. I'm guessing that he just wants us to oil the ones that are most frequently used in war. Throwing knives, scimitars, and whatnot." Jimin said, looking around the room.

"And... how many of these are ceremonial?" I asked, kind of dreading the answer.

"Oh, I would say about ten." Jimin said nonchalantly, scanning the literal thousands of weapons on the wall. Baekhyun and I stared at him in disbelief. "That isn't helpful at all!" Baekhyun groaned.

"Well, I never said it was going to be helpful, did I? Here, Baekie, catch!" Jimin threw a sharp looking katana to Baekhyun, who caught the leather grip easily in his large hand. Taking it out of its sheath, he inspected the blade, holding it up to the ceiling light. "A bit of dried blood," he muttered, walking off towards a small door half hidden by the array of weapons in front of it. "I'm getting some rags and cleaning equipment. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay," Jimin yelled back, walking down the rows of weapons as if searching for one in particular. He finally decided on a short scimitar in an intricately gilded scabbard. Walking back to me, he handed me the weapon. "Here. This is yours to clean. I think that Taehyung also wouldn't mind if you kept it. It's exactly the right length for you."

I turned the weapon over in my hands, staring at the sign of the golden dragon curling on the scim. "Thank you," I murmured, brushing the black sheath. "It's beautiful."

Jimin grinned. "I'll show you how to properly hold it later. Right now, let's start cleaning!" I wished that I could be as excited about our task as Jimin was. At least now, I had a new sword at my disposal. Maybe the armory wasn't so bad after all.

Taehyung POV

A vase went crashing against the far wall of the meeting room as I threw it in anger. It shattered into small glittering shards which littered the floor like small diamonds, catching what little light the windows had to offer. I stared at it, the churning feeling inside me yet to be satisfied. Grandfather had broken a vase just like this at the entryway. That's the only way you'll ever be able to beat Lucius. If you let yourself truly go. His scathing voice still echoed in my head. I hated him. Hated his old-fashioned ways. Hated his words. But mostly, I hated that some of his words were true.

"Rough day?" A voice asked from behind. I turned around to see Yoongi leaning on the large desk in the middle of the room, eyeing the shattered pieces of glass on the carpeted floor.