Sweat poured down every inch of your body by the time you reached the camp. Your feet were on fire, your head pounding, your throat parched.
"Hoseok!" you yelled through your dry throat. "Master! Where are you!"
You felt yourself falling, but you didn't hit the ground. Two hands grabbed you before you could.
"Y/N!" Jimin's face blurred in front of you. "Y/N! What happened?"
"Twelve to two," you said automatically. "Twelve two. Hoseok..."
Jimin yelled for Hoseok, and your vision blurred even more.
"Stay with me, Y/N," Jimin said. "Stay with me."
You felt Hoseok's arms around your body before you heard his voice.
"Y/N!" he shouted. "Good God, what happened to you? Did you run here?"
"Twelve to two," you repeated. "Taehyung... twelve to two."
"Shit," Hoseok replied, pulling you up into his arms. You felt yourself being carried, but you couldn't even bring yourself to object. Everything in you ached, your body, your heart, your mind. It was all crashing together, turning you to lead.
In moments, you were in the medical tent, water being poured down your throat. It felt like life even though it tasted like dirt.
Hoseok's face came into view. Did you have your eyes shut this entire time? You couldn't remember.
"Are you injured?" he asked.
His hands wandered your body, checking your bones and skin. The touch comforted you, bringing you back to your senses.
"There were fifty men... ambush... the others..."
Hoseok's hand came to your forehead. "It's alright. You're alright. I'm with you."
You shuttered underneath his touch, but somehow, it settled your nerves. You tried to breath deeper.
Hoseok barked some orders to the others while he started to pull apart your clothes. You didn't understand what he was doing, but you also were too tired to fight against him.
"You're overheating," he said, as if reading your mind. "Let's get you cooled. Where did --"
He stopped, pulling the small dagger from your belt. You blinked, suddenly realizing how much blood was on the blade. In your head, you heard the scream. You turned away from Hoseok to vomit from the memory.
Hoseok's hand came to your back, rubbing it. He didn't say anything condescending, nothing teasing, nothing funny.
You were grateful.
"What's the commotion?" a new voice rang out.
You fell back against the mat, looking up.
Yoongi stepped forward, motioning for someone to clean up your mess. He did it casually, as if he had done it a thousand times before.
"Twelve to two," Hoseok said.
"Shit," Yoongi replied.
"What does it mean?" you asked weakly.
Hoseok's hand came back to your forehead. "It means that there are too many to fight, so the men have scattered from a group of twelve to pairs in order to survive. It... it doesn't..."
Hoseok's hand shook against you.
Yoongi cleared his throat. "Hoseok, attend to your men. They need you now. Take the medics."
"But what about the men here that need treatment?"
"I'll take care of them," Yoongi replied. He pulled up his sleeves as he walked across the room, dropping to his knees beside the table of herbs next to you.
Hoseok paused, watching Yoongi for a moment.
"Stop hesitating," Yoongi said, not looking up.
Hoseok turned to you, asking you about the location of the men. You gave him all the information you could remember, including where to find his horse. He nodded, a small smile on his lips.
"Be a good pet," he whispered. "Wait for your master to come home."
He leaned down, kissing the top of your forehead. He squeezed your hand, then stood and bolted out of the tent.
Your fingers retracted, digging into your palm.
Please don't go...
You looked over to the side of the room, where Taehyung had been every time you were in this tent. His ghost was there, but he wasn't.
What if he...
"Easy," Yoongi said, bringing a wet cloth to your forehead. "Breathe this."
He put a sachet of herbs under your nose as you inhaled.
Dried lavender.
A swarm of emotions hit you, but it reminded you so much of your home - your real one. Your muscles relaxed, but your heart ached.
Yoongi's hand came to your forehead. It was softer than Hoseok's, his fingertips cooler and more delicate.
"You'll be fine," he assured you.
You swallowed. "I'm not worried about me."
"It will be alright," he added. "You did good."
You turned your head towards him, unsure that the compliment you heard was real. He didn't respond. He didn't even look at you.
He made multiple mixes of herbs and teas, cooly telling Jimin how to distribute it to the other men in the tent with you. Jimin had a cheerful bedside manner, but you couldn't say the same about Yoongi. His face was calm and collected, no emotion leaking from any corner. But something about him there was soothing, not intimidating like usual.
You watched him, trying to get some sort of glimpse of who he really was.
This was the second time Yoongi had offered to look after you. You never saw him look after the other men in such a way, but he obviously knew what he was doing.
"How long will you stare at me like that?" Yoongi asked, not looking up.
You averted your eyes. "I'm sorry. You know a lot about medicine. I didn't realize."
He shrugged. "This was my primary job before I became leader."
"How old were you when you became leader?"
"Nineteen."
You nodded to yourself. So Yoongi had lost both his parents by nineteen. Your father left when you were thirteen. Your mother died three years ago. Both you and Yoongi became parentless at the same age.
With that in mind, Yoongi suddenly didn't look intimidating to you anymore. He looked strong.
"Get some rest," he said softly. "Worrying about them won't keep them alive. Restore your strength."
Your body ached but your mind was wide awake. Part of the Rebellion had been captured and imprisoned. Another part had been ambushed.
And you... you were resting peacefully with nothing but sore muscles.
Your first chance to use your training, and you had ran away.
"I don't think I can sleep," you said, the guilt overtaking you.
Yoongi looked over at you, his eyes softening.
"Stop worrying," he said. "The men are in Hoseok's care now. And you... you're in mine."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUNDTRACK: FZZN 2.0 by Teflon Sega (feat OZZIE)
Chapters 18 and 19 were supposed to be one chapter, but it turned out to be pretty long! So I split them. Enjoy.