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“Memory was a curse, yes, he thought, but it was also the greatest gift.
Because if you lost memory you lost everything.”
― Anne Rice, Blood and Gold

Nari threw the match into the pile of dry wood and instantly, red flames began to the air and she backed away as the flames grew. She stood there for a second, her mind blank as her eyes watched the dancing embers. She turned away after a while and weaved through the thick bushes and overhanging branches.

Jungkook and Taehyung had taken their belongings and pulled them onto the branches of the highest trees in the forest. As for themselves, they were in the process of getting themselves up and over some of the shorter trees so that the leaves would hide them from view.

Nari came back to the small clearing to see Taehyung tying the rope around his waist. She walked over and took one of her gloves off with her teeth. He looked up when her shadow blocked his light and she took the rope from him to tie a more secure knot.

He stared down at her and he let out a small sigh. “I’m just worried they’ll harm you without thinking. They’re not in their right minds right now, Nari. Why not let Jungkook and I talk to them instead?”

Nari looked up at him after securing the rope and she shook her head. “I’m the one they forgot, not you. If seeing me will bring back memories, why wouldn’t I give it a go?”

“What if none of them remember you? You did say they would’ve received heavier doses of the Bliss and memory wipe after the two of us went missing,” Jungkook said. Nari thought about it for a second.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?”

“What if it really was the Forerunner who sent them to bring us back?” Taehyung asked, his unease growing heavier by the second. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “Knowing my brother, he wouldn’t have done that. What good would it be for him if he lost his entire crew of his top Selected?”

Still, Taehyung stared at her and she gave him a small smile before grabbing the helmet off the ground. She adjusted the helmet onto her head and then tightened the straps of the chest plate. She couldn’t quite reach the back and someone stepped up to help her tighten it.

She looked back to see Jungkook with a small grin on his face. He caught her looking at him from the side and he chuckled. “You always hated putting this on, didn’t you?”

“You be careful out there. They most likely will shoot on sight and although the suit is bulletproof, I don’t know what’ll happen,” Taehyung said. She turned back to face them and nodded.

“I’ll be careful. I’m going to try to get them alone.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Jungkook asked, watching Taehyung begin climbing up the tree. He turned back to her as she picked up her rifle from the ground.

“Smoke grenades. It’ll startle them enough that I can try pulling one of them out. Not to mention I know this forest better than they do.”

He raised an eyebrow at the idea but he nodded his head. He felt a tug on his rope and looked up to see that Taehyung was already sitting on a thick branch, ready to help him up.

“Remember not to move once you’re up there. They do have motion sensors,” she said. They nodded at her from above.

“If we don’t hear from you in an hour, we’re coming to get you,” Taehyung warned, raising his voice so she could hear him. She held a thumbs up in response.

She waited so that the two of them were both up high in the tree before cutting the excess rope and tossing it into the trees. She looked up and when she could no longer see them, she began walking out of the clearing.

Yoongi stepped his foot onto the brake pedal and they stared at the pickup truck parked in front of them. Namjoon raised an eyebrow and held up his hand, his eyes not leaving the vehicle. The others grabbed their guns and armed themselves, waiting for the next signal.

Namjoon was the first to open his door and he set foot onto the rocky path. He waved his hand for the others to follow and they quietly lined up behind him against the side of the vehicle.

They treaded carefully towards the vehicle and Hoseok was the first to travel to the other side, his eyes roaming across the paint and into the windows. He frowned when there was nothing inside except for a dirty towel. He looked up to see the same confused expressions the others wore.

“They must’ve knew we were coming,” Yoongi said, looking around. Jimin checked his device and he frowned when the pulsing dot of Jungkook’s location was up ahead of them.

“It’s pointing towards the water?” he said, unsure of what he was seeing. They walked towards it with Jimin leading the way and the others surrounding him at his sides. Jimin stopped by the edge of the wooden dock and he checked his device one more time.

“They got the tracker out and threw it in,” he said, pointing down. Jin let out a sigh and looked around. He squinted his eyes onto something in the distance and he raised his gun to point at it.

“Smoke,” he said. The others followed the direction he was pointing in. Namjoon tilted his head. “We’ll stick together going into the forest. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times.”

They began moving.

“We don’t really know what we’re up against, do we?” Jin whispered. Jimin, who happened to be beside him, shook his head. “All we know is that they both used to be soldiers of the Cover.”

As they got deeper and deeper into the forest, the tall leaves of the trees hung over their heads. They realized soon enough that they had lost the path to the smoke they saw earlier.

“This may just all be an elaborate trap,” Yoongi pointed out. They stopped near a big tree to rethink their plan.

“We can split up and scout the area. If the fire is still burning, there’s a chance they didn’t get too far. Not to mention, their truck is still parked out there,” Hoseok explained. Jin nodded. “But what if something happens while we’re apart?”

“We would still outnumber them unless they have more people that we don’t know about. Either way, our goal here is to find Jungkook and Taehyung,” Yoongi reminded, “not to fight them.”

Yoongi nodded his head to the left of him. “I’ll go with Jimin and we’ll check deeper into the forest over there.”

Namjoon nodded, casting a quick glance for Hoseok and Jin to follow him before they split ways.

Jimin looked around, the barrel of his gun tucked under his chin. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the familiar smoke appear behind the branches of the trees. He turned around and signalled for Yoongi to follow him.

They reached a small clearing and from here, they saw the dying flames of what used to be the fire. Jimin bent down to see if he could gauge out when it was lit but just as he got closer, something dropped from above him and Yoongi pulled him back when the fire rose.

They looked up from where the match came from but there was no movement in the leaves.

“Someone’s here,” Yoongi said. He stood against Jimin’s back and they surveyed the area with their eyes sharp and their ears listening closely for any sounds.

“Who’s out there?” Jimin called out, his eyes darting around.

When there came no reply, he took a step back so he was in closer proximity to Yoongi. They briefly cast each other a glance over their shoulders and then turned their heads back around.

Yoongi narrowed his eyes and called out, “Who are you?”

This time, there came a reply.

“Who do you want me to be?”

They stilled when a voice cut through the air. They were not expecting an answer. Nonetheless an answer that asked a question in return. They stopped all movement and stood there, their feet planted to the ground.

“We just want to know whether our crew members are safe or not,” Jimin said.

“Would you believe me if I told you they were safe?”

Yoongi turned to the side and Jimin did the same. They shared a quick glance before Yoongi turned back around with his brow raised.

“You’re not giving us much of a reason to trust you,” he said.

Laughter rang through their ears and they turned their heads around to see where it was coming from. It was bewildering to them that it felt as though the sound was coming at them from all angles.

“Then why bother asking?”

Jimin tilted his head. “What business do you have with us? Why have you taken two of our members?”

“I wanted them to see the truth.”

Yoongi frowned. “Are you an enemy of the Cover? Are you from another place on the Surface?”

“Funny how you guys finally know there’s actually life here on the Surface.”

“You didn’t answer my first question,” Yoongi pointed out.

“You could say I’m a non-believer, that’s all.”

Jimin and Yoongi frowned at her words. “That makes you an enemy.”

“I’m no enemy towards the seven of you.”

Yoongi and Jimin raised their guns when they heard the leaves rustling to their right but when nothing came out even when the rustling stopped, their hold dropped.

“Do we know you?” Jimin asked.

“You do and you don’t. You don’t even remember my name.”

Yoongi poked the insides of his cheeks, growing more impatient by the second with the nonstop questions and idle answers.

“I’m sick of asking questions and getting mediocre answers in return. Come out and face us.”

“Are you sure you’d want that? You’re at a disadvantage.”

Yoongi let out a low snarl at the comment. “I’m sure we could take a coward like you on. You haven’t shown your face once. Are you scared?”

“I’m not the one scared. If anything, you guys are the ones who are afraid.” They jerked their heads around at the sudden footsteps behind them but all they saw was the branches and leaves shuffling against each other.

The laughter came again.

“Alright. Let’s begin.”

Their eyes widened when multiple items dropped from the trees above them and when the cases of the grenades hit the forest floor, it exploded and smoke came whirling out.

“Smoke grenades?” Yoongi said to himself, backing away. He was glad he had his helmet on but for some reason he began to feel suffocated and he could barely see around him. He reached his arm back, blindly reaching to see if Jimin was still there.

“Jimin?” he called out. He stepped back another few steps and was finally able to reach Jimin. He turned around and let out a sigh of relief to see Jimin’s helmet amidst the swirling smoke.

“We need to get out of here,” he said, grabbing onto Jimin’s shoulder.

He began to move but he realized Jimin hadn’t budged from his spot at all and he turned around in confusion.

That’s when the smoke around the helmet thinned out and he could finally see the face staring back at him through the clear visor.

“You,” he whispered, “who are you?” He stepped back in alarm and raised his gun. He pointed it at the girl in front of him and opened fire.

Just as the bullet shot through the smoke, clearing the area with its course, she had disappeared again. He let out a grunt of frustration and turned around to see where she went.

“Min Yoongi. ID number MY-930309. Second commander of BTS and specializes in automotives.”

He whipped his head around and his eyes widened when his information was read out to him.

“Who the are you?” he shouted, his head spinning from left to right, trying to catch a glimpse of her.

“Why do you think I know so much about you?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You looked through our files. All I know is that you’re a traitor of the Cover.”

“Information like that is only accessible by the Forerunner,” she said. He waited when she left her sentence hanging and he in a breath when he turned around and came face to face with a pair of eyes staring back at him.

“And from fellow team members.”

He felt the gun pulled from his hands and he was about to reach for his holstered pistol but she was quick to grab onto his arms and she sent a solid kick to the back of his knees. He fell down and she pinned his arms behind him.

“Think hard, Yoongi. Who am I?” she said, keeping a tight grip on his arms as he thrashed beneath her.

Her eyes widened when she felt a surge of pain in her side and she looked down to see that he had stabbed her with a knife that he managed to reach for. He kicked her back with the heel of his boot and was fast to retrieve his gun, aiming the nozzle at her helmet.

“I don’t know who you are and why you have Taehyung’s suit. All I want is for you to tell me where they are.”

She propped herself up with her elbow while she used her other hand to cover the blood spilling out from her body.

“You know me, Yoongi,” she whispered. He raised his gun when she reached up and he frowned in confusion when her bloodied glove created red mark against the visor. He stepped back when she took the helmet off and put it down beside her.

His eyes rounded when he saw the pink hair spill out over her shoulders and her sharp eyes stared up at him. An unexplainable feeling of familiarity ran through him now that he saw her face without the helmet obstructing his view.

His words got caught in his throat and he stood there, frozen.

“Nari. My name is Nari.”

He stood there for a second as the name registered into his memory and his fingers loosened around the gun, letting it hit the floor. He continued to step back as images flashed through his eyes and his mind swam, trying to understand what he was seeing.

He didn’t even notice that she had gotten up and was walking towards him.

“Nari, Nari, Nari,” he repeated to himself. He saw the image of her that day when Namjoon took off her hat in the house. He remembered her frightened look so well. He remembered when they used to sit across each other in the cafeteria or when he was given the task of teaching her how to drive a car. Then he remembered the face of utter betrayal when he had backed away that day when the Erratics closed in on her.

His chest tightened at the horrid memory and his throat ran dry.

His eyes fell onto her, who was now standing in front of him and he didn’t even notice the tears rolling down his cheeks.

Her saw her lips curl up into a gentle smile as she reached up to unclick his helmet from the rest of his suit. He stood still when she leaned in to whisper something into his ear.

“And for now, I need you to sleep.”

Then, he felt his body go slack.

a u t h o r ' s     n o t e

Sorry for the long wait! I started my job as a summer school teacher (yes, a teacher at the mere age of 18- you can imagine the shocked faces of all the other teachers when I walked into the meeting room lolol) and I work five days a week so I've been drained. Not to mention, little kids are so talkative? I didn't know they could talk so much. As much as I love them, at the end of the day, I can't wait to go home and take a long nap.

  Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! It's about 2.6k words, whoops.