"You feeling better?" Hoseok asks, walking into the infirmary, and judging by Jimin's reading of some machina book, he assumes the best.

"Yup," Jimin nods, putting down his book and looking at Hoseok.

"Where's Jungkook?" 

"Went to sleep," Jimin smiles. "I made him go sleep in a proper bed. He was really tired, though, like he ran around helping the Al Bhed medics all day." 

"Oh," Hoseok nods. He has also deposited Yoongi in his bed (and instinctively thrown some blankets over the elder) and came over to look for Jimin. Meanwhile, according to Jimin, Taehyung is already up and about, learning more about the Al Bhed language, that now he can form (sort of) complete sentences.

"Any luck getting the Celestial Weapons?" 

"Nope," Hoseok says, shaking his head and popping the 'P', before describing the day's details to Jimin, who nods understandingly. 

"Well, Seokjin's a little hot-headed at times, but he'll learn," Jimin says, before Hoseok laughs.

"W-What's so funny?" Jimin looks at him funny.

"Nothing, it's just that you sound way mature than Seokjin himself," Hoseok has a huge grin plastered across his face, before suddenly yawning.

"I seriously need to get some sleep, even though I didn't do much," Hoseok says. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jimin-ah!" 

"See you!" Jimin waves, eyes turning into tiny crescents as Hoseok waves a hearty goodbye, closing the door behind him.

As quietly as he can, Hoseok enters his and Yoongi's room, watching as Yoongi is curled up against the wall, his one arm the blanket, face contorted into a pained expression. Hoseok walks over, taking steps as light as he can, and touches Yoongi's shoulder.

Yoongi blinks awake, cold sweat on his forehead, eyes darting around, before landing on Hoseok's worried face.

"Since when did I get here?" he sits up, careful not to bop Hoseok's chin...or his nose, for that matter.

"Since you fell asleep at Calm Lands," Hoseok says. "Is everything okay? You looked like you were having a bad dream." 

"I'm fine now," Yoongi nods. "You're not asleep yet?" 

"It's only nine, Yoongi. I don't sleep so early...but it's been a long time since I've slept anyway." 

"Oh," is the only response that Yoongi can give. Images of the nightmare he just had flashed through his mind, and Yoongi can't help but feel fear strike his heart again.

"I can smell it, you know? Your feelings." 

"Quit invading my privacy," Yoongi says, before feeling the bed dip beside him. Yoongi's turned back to face the wall now. 

"I can't help it," Hoseok says, then the room becomes silent. Yoongi feels the weight on his bed rise, and walk to the wall, turning off the lights, before heading back to his own. Yoongi still can't sleep, not after that nightmare he had (Yoongi has to admit this is probably the first time he has gotten a nightmare in a long time). 

After a while, Yoongi hears some snores and snickers. Hoseok isn't as late a sleeper as he thinks he is. Yoongi turns around to face Hoseok, watching as he's sleeping with his back to Yoongi, snuggled up under the blankets, breathing even. 

And Yoongi falls asleep like that to Hoseok's steady breathing.

**********************************************************

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekk!" Jimin's ear-piercing shriek wakes Yoongi up, and Yoongi hisses as he gets up from his bed, throwing back the blankets and muttering a curse as he rushes over to Jimin's aid...

"S-S-S-Stop it, T-T-Tae!" Jimin is laughing, tears in his eyes, as Taehyung is...what in the world is that thing? A tickle machine? Yoongi's seen one of those...he knows how it works. After all, he was the one who invented the thing when he was tinkering around with his fellow Al Bhed's stuff.

"Give me that last chocolate cake and then we'll talk!" Taehyung lets the tickle machine loose on Jimin, and from the looks of it, Jimin's laughing till his ribs are hurting.

"N-No!" Jimin manages to speak through the laughter, before Yoongi walks over and plucks the machine off Jimin's body. 

"Yah, you brats. I was sleeping!" Yoongi fumes, switching off the tickle machine and placing it on the drawer. 

"Oh, sorry, Yoongi," Jimin's still holding his stomach, wiping away the tears from his eyes. "It's just so...Tae just woke me up with that and I didn't even know what he wanted!" 

"I wanted that piece of chocolate cake that's going to be your breakfast." 

"Chocolate?" Jimin's tone is questioning, but he grins, "I want to try!" 

"You don't know what chocolate is?" Taehyung gasps dramatically. "It's the best thing in the universe. Wait, lemme go get some for you!"

Just as Taehyung is going out, he bumps into Seokjin, and stumbles backwards. 

"What's with the hurry?" Seokjin chuckles a little, Namjoon following closely behind. 

"I'm gonna go get chocolate cake for Jimin! He's never tried any in his life!" Taehyung grins, before rushing off, and Yoongi raises his eyebrows at the change of color in Taehyung's cheeks before he leaves hurriedly. Seokjin and Namjoon, meanwhile, walk in.

"Feeling better yet?" 

"Yup," Jimin nods, eyes curving as he smiles at them. "I'm coming with you guys today!" 

"You sure you don't need any more rest?" Seokjin asks, cocking his head to the side. "I don't want you fainting when we get there." 

"Nah," Jimin shakes his head. "I'm good." 

"Come on, then," Seokjin says. He turns to Yoongi, "Where's Hobi?" 

"Still fast asleep," Yoongi says. "I'll go wake him up." 

"Never mind, I'll do it," Namjoon says, whistling. "I feel useless." 

"Oh, and go wake up Jungkook too," Jimin calls after Namjoon as he leaves.

Namjoon knocks on Hoseok's door, but there is no response, and so he pushes the door open, revealing Hoseok still curled up under the covers, sleeping. Namjoon walks over, and it's only then that he realizes that Hoseok's sniffling, and the weather isn't even that cold. He peers over his face, and is taken by surprise when Hoseok has tears streaming down his eyes onto the sheets and pillow.

"Hey, wake up," Namjoon nudges him lightly, and Hoseok jolts awake, sitting upright suddenly. 

"N-Namjoonie..." Hoseok's voice is as quiet as a whisper, eyes blank as if in a trance, before turning around, almost killing Namjoon with that knock to Namjoon's cheek. "Where's...where am I?" 

"Um, the airship?" 

"O-Oh, right," Hoseok nods, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand. 

"You look shaken. Do you need anything?" 

"Nah," Hoseok shakes his head, still sniffling a little. What a weird...dream he had...and he wasn't even sad. Why's he crying? Blaming it on his tear glands, Hoseok suddenly says, "I need water." 

"Sure," Namjoon walks over to the kettle in the room and pours a glass of water for Hoseok, bringing it back to him and watching the Guado gulp down the water in big mouthfuls, before placing the glass on the bedside table. 

"Where are the rest?" 

"In the infirmary," says Namjoon. "Jimin's still resting but the doctors say that he should be able to move out today. He's probably going to share a room with Kookie or something since Tae already has his own room. Coming?"

"Yeah, just lemme go prepare a bit. I'm not going out in pyjamas," Hoseok says.

Namjoon gives him a thumbs-up and he heads outside.

Hoseok, though, continues sitting on his bed, burying his face in his hands.

"I WANT TO BEAT THE LUCA GOERS!" 

Where did that come from? Hoseok wonders to himself. Where did it come from indeed. He racks his brain, trying to remember, but it's almost like there's something blocking his mind from remembering. After a while, he gives up, and Hoseok walks over to the closet to pick out the clothes he threw into the laundry basket the day before (now it's already in the closet. He swears there's a cleaning machina or something). He strips off his pyjamas and puts on his clothes before heading out of the room. 

But that voice sounded familiar anyways.

***********************************************************************

"Oh, you're really back," the chocobo trainer whistles, with Boco beside her.

"Yes, I'm back," Seokjin says. He still shoots a poisonous glare towards Boco, and Boco ignores him.

"Well, well," the trainer nods, chuckling. "You need a refresher? Braska isn't here today, but since I assigned Boco to you, you're still going to train with him. I'll ride Choco during the race today." 

"W-Why can't I get Choco?" Seokjin splutters, and doesn't miss the snort that Boco sends his way.

"Because I've assigned you to Boco, that's why," the trainer smirks. 

"Fine," Seokjin grumbles as he walks over to Boco, and just as if he's about to climb onto the chocobo, the chocobo lashes out at him, and Seokjin cries out. 

"What's the big idea?" 

"Yah, stop whining and get on with it!" Yoongi starts making his way over to the finishing point, yawning along the way.

"Go, Jinnie!" Jimin calls, sitting down on the ground with Hoseok, Jungkook and Namjoon. Taehyung has left with the rest to locate more Celestial Weapons in Spira. 

"I'm going to ace this..." Seokjin mutters, getting onto Boco, but he can feel the Chocobo's resentment to his entire existence.

"Ready, set, go!" 

At the last word, the two birds are off, but it looks like Boco's going extra slowly just for his own entertainment. It's only when Seokjin digs his heels into the bird that Boco grudgingly runs faster, managing to catch up to the trainer's Chocobo at one point in time until they got careless and, one, Seokjin misses a balloon, and two, Boco got hit by a blitzball, staggering back due to recoil.

"Ooh, you're getting better," the trainer nods. "If you add everything up...it's thirty seconds!" 

Seokjin gets thrown off Boco's back when they finish the race, and Seokjin rubs his back, clearly dissatisfied at his treatment from the bird. Boco just huffs, and struts away, like a proud peacock. 

"Well, let's take five," the trainer grins. "You have to have more stamina than that!"

"Hey, what happened, Jin-ah?" Jimin runs up to Seokjin, and the elder shakes his head.

"The Chocobo hates me," Seokjin says. The Chocobo hated me the moment it saw me.

"Probably you give off that 'Oh, I'm a rich kid don't mess with me' aura," Jimin grins. "Go talk to the Chocobo. If you don't bond with it, it's never going to work."

"Whatever," Seokjin mutters. "That Chocobo won't even let me come within ten feet of it." 

"Come on, I'll go with you." 

"You sure about this?" Jungkook looks up at Jimin, who's risen from his seat on the grass.

"Yeah," Jimin nods. "I'll come find you guys later." 

"Eh, we've nothing to do," Namjoon turns to Jungkook. "Let's talk about life." At this, Jungkook bursts out into laughter, and so does Jimin. Seokjin looks from Namjoon to Jungkook to Jimin and back to the blonde. 

"Am I missing something here?" 

*********************************************************

"Hi!" Jimin calls out to the Chocobo, which seems to be sulking and eating grass, probably complaining in its head in whatever language Chocobos speak about how horrible a rider Seokjin is. Seokjin is sure of that. The Chocobo looks up nonetheless, but imemdiately squawks the moment it sees Seokjin.

"You know, Seokjinnie here really wants to be friends," Jimin walks closer to the Chocobo, and Seokjin gulps, seeing the venomous glare Boco is shooting his way.

"Even if you don't want to be friends, at least team up for this race, okay? We really, really need to win!" Jimin pets Boco's head, and surprisingly, the Chocobo lets him, even nuzzling Jimin's hand. It's just...there's something about Jimin that makes Boco want to trust him, and there's obviously something about Seokjin that makes Boco hate him at first sight.

"See, that wasn't that hard, right?" Jimin looks up at Seokjin, who's just staring at them slack-jawed. "You try." 

Boco then glares at Seokjin, but gaze becomes softer when Jimin ruffles the feathers on its head. Seokjin walks over meekly to Boco, before petting its head, Jimin guiding Seokjin's hand, but Seokjin recoils when Boco tries to snap up at him with its beak. Jimin smiles as Seokjin gets the flow and feel of it, smoothing down Boco's feathers and...it was progress. At least Boco isn't trying to have Seokjin for lunch anymore.

Maybe they'd just win the next race after all.

*****************************************************

"Alright, we gotta win this," Seokjin says, gripping the reins tightly. Boco snorts, and the trainer is preparing beside them, riding on Chocho, her own Chocobo.

"Ready, set, go!" Jungkook calls, and the two Chocobos run again, this time, neck-to-neck. Seokjin grabs the first balloon he sees, just as Boco jumps over a blitzball whizzing towards them, landing gently enough on the ground for Seokjin to regain his balance, clinging tightly as ever to Boco. In his peripheral vision, he sees the trainer already collecting her next balloon, and so far, haven't been hit by a blitzball. Seokjin grits his teeth, and Boco turns the curve of the road, feet thumping hard against the grass.

Seokjin's blood is pumping hard now, and he can only hear his own heartbeat in his ears. Seokjin yells as he almost falls off Boco, and Seokjin manages to close his fingers on his next balloon as he hears a "KWEH!" in front and watch as the trainer is slowed down by a blitzball, the impact allowing for her to lose one of her five balloons. 

Seokjin takes his chance to get Boco to run faster, managing to overtake the trainer and dodge an incoming blitzball. He almost falls when he grabs the string of another balloon, and Boco has to take a little detour to try to keep Seokjin on its body.

"Ah!" Seokjin grins as he grabs the next balloon as Boco rounds the next corner, and Seokjin can see the finishing line in sight. Boco accelerates, almost throwing Seokjin off him, as Seokjin tightens his hold on the balloons in his hand, fingers grasping tightly to Boco's feathers...

"Look out," Seokjin barely hears Yoongi's grinning shout as a blitzball crashes into Boco, forcing the bird to stagger backwards, and the trainer overtakes them from behind, the balloons in her hand bobbing behind her. Both of them are closing in on the finishing line, seconds apart, and meters apart. Seokjin can feel Boco getting faster and faster, dashing ahead, managing to catch up with the trainer.

"Yaaaaaah!" Seokjin shrieks and Boco puts its all, crossing the finish line and throwing Seokjin off of him. Seokjin tumbles on the ground, hitting his head hard and almost seeing stars, but he doesn't let go of his balloons. The balloons that'll probably determine whether his hard work (of bonding with Boco) has paid off.

"That was the most intense race anyone has ever presented me yet," the trainer smiles down at Seokjin, and she counts his bunch of balloons.

"Well, looks like you've beaten me...by two balloons," she grins. "As promised, I'd have to give you your Caladbolg. Come with me." She climbs aboard her Chocobo yet again, and signals for Seokjin to do so too. "If you're going to walk, I'd say good luck to you. We're heading to that cliff across the entire Calm Lands." 

"Oh," Seokjin nods, and looks up at Boco, as if asking for permission. If he was the Seokjin from before meeting Jimin, he'd have no regard for the Chocobo's feelings--it's just a form of transportation to him, after all--but the Seokjin now...has changed. A lot.

"Yah, I'm not gonna walk all the way there!" Yoongi whines, walking towards Seokjin. 

Boco snorts again, before settling down and letting Seokjin and Yoongi climb onto his back, following behind the trainer and Chocho.

They walk awhile, bypassing Jimin and the others, before reaching the place where the Caladbolg is said to be at. The trainer squats, bending over the cliff edge and pulling out a sword stuck in the cliff wall, handing it to Seokjin. It's a bright yellow sword, totally Seokjin's type of longsword.

He takes the sword, swishes it around two, three times, before grinning, loving the sword already. 

"I'll be over there yonder," the trainer points to...somewhere in the middle of the Calm Lands. "And you can ask Boco, Cocho and Choco to get you around whenever you're in Calm Lands." She whistles and beckons over another Chocobo, which dashes over. "This is Cocho, another trained Chocobo." 

"A trained Chocobo? You mean...there are wild Chocobos?" Seokjin looks confused.

"Of course," the trainer chuckles. "Boco was a wild...before you bonded with him. Couldn't exactly get him under control either." 

Seokjin stares at the Chocobo which has expressed utmost hate towards him before Jimin helped him get over that superiority barrier. Boco seems to...smirk at him.

"Just call, with this whistle," says the trainer. "One for every Chocobo." She hands him whistles labelled Cocho, Boco and Choco.

"I'll be seeing you, then," the trainer calls, getting onto Chocho and riding off. Seokjin mounts Boco, while Yoongi opts for Cocho, as Choco follow them back, seemingly wanting to meet Jimin again.

***********************************************************

"That's so cool!" Jimin grins, trying to hold onto Seokjin's sword but the sword is heavy as h*ll and Jimin almost drops it on his foot. 

"Right, now that it's done and over with..." Namjoon claps his hands. "Let's go for that job, shall we?" 

"What job?" Jimin asks, and Jungkook perks his ears up in interest.

"Some old man offered us a job," Yoongi says, bored. "Was interesting though. Was riding some big monster the first time we met him."

"Even better, he has the Nirvana!" Hoseok can't contain his smile, and it's plastered all over his face. "One of the Celestial Weapons!" 

"Really?!" Jimin looks as excited as the Guado now. "Let's go!" 

Of course, Yoongi and Hoseok take Cocho, Seokjin and Namjoon on Boco and Jimin and Jungkook take Choco as they head off towards the crack in the rock walls.

*************************************************************************

"Looks interesting," Cid taps the treasure chest and it opens, revealing the Godhand inside. They're braving the Sanubia Sands, the more dangerous desert on Bikanel, and the four of them manage to get close enough to the sandstorm on the Farenheit to land, and they had to cover their faces with the proper gear before heading out, making sure not to run into any would-be formidable opponents. Small birds and dogs they can handle just fine.

"The Godhand...we'd better bring it back to the Farenheit to study it for a bit," Buddy says, voice muffled through the facemask he's wearing. 

Taehyung nods, taking the Godhand from Cid as the four make their way back, before seeing something perched on top of their airship, screeching and wings stretched out, dark light flashing from the bottom of the wings. Taehyung almost cries out, as a sudden pain shoots through his head, causing him to lose his grip on the Godhand, and Taehyung's knees hit the ground, as a loud, muffled growl comes out of his mouth, his head pounding.

"Tae? Taehyung? What's wrong?!" 

"S-Sh*t..." Taehyung can feel his vision going black. There's just something. 

Something about that bird that forces back memories Taehyung has forgotten since a long time ago. 

The next thing Taehyung notices, when he wakes up, is that he wakes up in his room in the Farenheit, alone. He rubs his eyes, feeling a little groggy, as he attempts to get up. His head is fine now, though. Taehyung sniffs a little, before standing up just fine, and he decides to go search for Cid and the rest.

Thankfully, Cid is where Taehyung suspects he'd be. He enters the Control Room, and catches sight of Cid sitting over at his usual seat.

The Godhand's on the table in front of Buddy as he tinkers with the thing.

"Oh, you're awake," Cid turns in his swivel chair as he meets eyes with Taehyung. "Had a good sleep? Didn't know what came over you. Suddenly you were healthy, then we meet that bird and you fell. It left the moment you fainted." 

Left the moment he fainted?

"Yeah," Cid says. "Well, unless we can find out something more, we can't really help you right now. As for the Godhand, since you're travelling with that Summoner runt, we figure you can have it." 

"R-Really?!" Taehyung is suddenly grinning, and he rushes down to Buddy, who, after managing to put back the Godhand into its original state, hands it to Taehyung.

"The Celestial Weapons don't help much, especially before charging it up. You might want to go to Macalania Woods for that. Here." Buddy hands the Cloudy Mirror over to Taehyung. "You're going to need this. Go to Macalania Woods and power up the Celestial Mirror before the Weapons, then use the Mirror to power up the Weapons. You dont have to keep going back to the Macalania Woods." 

"O-Okay! I'll wait till everyone else gets back first," Taehyung bows. "Thanks so much!" 

"No problemo," Buddy smiles at Taehyung, ruffling his hair. "Well, I'm going to go catch lunch. Who's with me?" 

****************************************************************