Waking up to Jungkook’s blood smeared face is not something Sk’jin wants to experience again. He has a nagging feeling that it might become a frequent reoccurrence though. His hearing is delayed, strange echoes forming as Jungkook says something. But his words are warped, underwater almost. But then Yoongi appears behind him, disheveled and stressed and shoves a small device under his nose.

A powerfully acrid and sharp odour hits Sk’jin and he jolts awake.

‘-what the -‘ Sk’jin hisses just as Hoseok too jolts awake, arms up over his face in a defensive stance at once.

‘How long have I been out?’ Hoseok demands at once, unbuckling himself and tapping across the dashboard of the cockpit. Sk’jin envies his immediate awareness and ability to pretty much get his together.

‘Jin?’ Jungkook is still hovering over him, eyes fearfully wide.

‘I’m okay- I’m okay whose blood is that?’ Sk’jin asks, not really wanting an answer. Why did Jungkook look like he singlehandedly depleted blood-bank?

‘Strange Beings,’ Jungkook whispers, helping Sk’jin to sit up as Yoongi and Hoseok move about, almost as though sharing the same mind without having to say anything. Must be an agent thing. ‘They took Jimin. And Namjoon.’

‘What-?’ Sk’jin balks, the Omhlophe ship flashing in his mind. ‘What the -‘

Wait- Yoongi had been with Jimin and Namjoon. What was he doing here?

‘Hey-‘

‘No time to explain- we need to get out,’ Yoongi says tersely as he briefly stands at the cockpit, the projectors activating with displays of their engine stats.

‘Lisai map an exit out asap,’ Hoseok calls, pushing past Yoongi to take up his seat. ‘We need to get going before the Omhlophe get to us.’

‘So it was them?’ Yoongi asks, pushing Sk’jin up and away from the cockpit (not unkindly) and taking Sk’jin’s seat instead. Jungkook helps Sk’jin, hands hovering around him as though ready to catch him.

‘Kookie, what happened?’ Sk’jin asks as he takes the youngling to the side, sitting at his usual station by the Communications Board. He notices blood splatters arching over the side of the Bridge doorway.

‘Woke up,’ Jungkook explains, crouching down, head close to Sk’jin’s knee. His eyes dart around on the floor nervously- he was feeling guilty. ‘You and Ho-Hoseok were not awake. Black uniforms came for Jimin. They came for Namjoon. They tried to come in here. But um, big door blocked them.’

Sk’jin encourages the youngling to speak, brushing his fingers through clumpy and blood-clogged hair strands. His fingers smear, rusty and sticky.

There’s a hollow and distant boom- almost like thunder. Sk’jin looks out of the windows, but only the continuous white dust and white expanse of the Grisial asteroid they were in stretches on.

‘But they used something bright- like fire, to come inside- I- I stopped them. Not all. Couldn’t stop all. Too many, too fast; but they were trying to leave.’ Jungkook explains, leaning against Sk’jin’s knee. ‘They took Jimin, and Namjoon outside. Into vehicle- one took Yoongi, tried to kill him.’

They took Jimin and Namjoon, but not Yoongi? They tried to kill Yoongi?

‘Yoongi woke up- he stopped one. And- and I want to go after Jimin. And Namjoon,’ he whispers quietly, glancing towards the cockpit. ‘But- but Yoongi said no.’

Sk’jin’s eyebrows go up.

‘He said. We need to get out first. Jimin is strong.’

Was Jungkook complaining about Yoongi to Sk’jin? Was this what it felt like to be a parent with two kids who constantly bickered?

‘You did very well,’ Sk’jin tells him gently, ‘You protected me and Hobi. Thank you.’

Jungkook ducks his head, shoulders curling.

‘Sk’jin!’ Hoseok calls, ‘Can you head to the core? The charges have misaligned.’

‘Got it!’ Sk’jin replies, gently patting Jungkook to move to the side. He grabs a screen that had a minor crack and skidding on some drying blood, exits the Bridge.

It’s a blood bath.

Blood is smeared across the walls and steps leading downward. There were bodies here, and someone had clearly dragged them out. Probably Jungkook, considering the amount of blood on him. There was even blood on the ceiling. The stench is the worst in the Lobby, where literal pools with actual chunks of what Sk’jin can only hope is fabric are spewed across the floor. Sk’jin ignores this and heads lower down. The bloody graffiti is less here, but in all honesty, any amount was troubling either way.

He’s distracted from the carnage when he hears- he feels a distinct tremor vibrate through the air again. Well, that couldn’t be good.

The engines room is massive with minimal space to walk around in- a change from the usual style of manual-based engine-rooms where there was more space to walk around in. Sk’jin darts about, grateful for the fact that it didn’t feel warmer in here. That was always a terrible sign.

Some paneling had fallen out, hinges wide open, locks knocked out of their magnetic systems. An entire ventilation system had popped out; but Sk’jin doesn’t have the time to look over that one in specific.

‘Which section?’ Sk’jin asks.

‘-T-UZ-05006’ Hoseok replies almost immediately, his voice crackling a little. Damn Grisial and the way it ed up communication channels.

The labels are clear and easy to read. Almost instantly, Sk’jin finds the correct charges. The main anodes had popped out of their sockets, wires dangling out, small sparks forming. Sk’jin frowns as the sparks pop on his skin but he’s quick to reattach the anodes back.

It would take a while, Sk’jin knows, for the realignment to recalibrate. So he props up the screen on one of the lips of the panels.

‘Lisai, pull up surveillance rolls,’ Sk’jin orders.

The screen instantly floods with rectangles of footage from all over ship. Sk’jin quickly rewinds the footage from the Bridge.

It’s definitely the GI. The black uniform was really telling. So there were more Yoongi GI agents. This was disturbing in more than one way. He watches as Jungkook activates and opens the emergency doors over the Bridge, catching the agent outside the door by surprise as he leaps onto him. Of course the blood was intense; Jungkook catches the agent by the neck, clawed hands pushing the helmeted head of the agent backwards, exposing the neck. They fight- more like grapple. Jungkook takes a few punches and jabs- but his strength is no joke, as he catches a fist and twists it in a way that clearly pops the whole hand out of the socket.

Just how much had Yoongi taught him? This wasn’t just raw instinctual fighting- there were calculated moves involved as Jungkook centers his weight on the chest of the next agent he launches himself at.

He’s also incredibly quiet. Sk’jin can barely hear any sounds other than that of bodies falling. The GI agents were quiet as they fought- no sounds of pain or exertion.

And Jungkook.

Jungkook was inherently a predator.

A predator cornered in his home.

Sk’jin has to fast-forward through the blood bath. Pausing only to watch as the GI agents take Jimin, Yoongi, and Namjoon outside of the ship. However one of them branches off the main unit headed for a parked Transporter, similar to the ones that had been firing at them earlier. That agent takes Yoongi to the side, placing his unconscious body down.

The others leave, clearly escaping Jungkook’s incoming carnage. One final one is installing a device inside the Hangar panels- Sk’jin pauses the footage, zooming in to check on it. Sk’jin tries a variety of angles, but he can’t make out what it is. Then the agent closes the panel and exits.

‘We’re gonna start the ship soon- Sk’jin maybe move out of the engines-room?’ Hoseok suggests.

‘Yeah okay-‘ Sk’jin frowns as he takes the screen and begins moving out. Not that the engine-room was a dangerous place to start off with.

He watches as Yoongi defeats the agent attempting to essentially assassinate him, but is caught exposed when the remaining agent raises their TeorSer at the Human.

Sk’jin hadn’t even noticed Jungkook who had crawled out from one of the other exits to the side, shifting under the thick Grisial crystal dust.

‘Something’s wrong-‘ Hoseok is saying. ‘The engines won’t start-‘

‘Is something else misaligned?’ Sk’jin asks, exiting the footage where (to Sk’jin’s immense satisfaction, Jungkook has Yoongi in a painful lock against the wall) back to the one in the Hangar.

‘I can’t tell what it is- there’s something blocking the charges-‘

Sk’jin hurries back out into the Lobby and straight to the Hangar.

‘I’m gonna try and override the block- Lisai could you-‘

The air crackles and sparks, Sk’jin’s hair stands on end and a bright light cracks through the Hangar doors- forks of powerful burst of electricity singes through the air.

Sk’jin immediately drops down, the screen cracks and sparks in his hand. There’s a burning sensation on his earlobe and he hastily swipes at it. The Comm Device cracks in the middle, tiny sparks erupting all around it.

Those ers. They planted some form of electrical-charge in the ship that would react to the engine-activation. The Užkulisai was now definitely out of order.

The lightning show abruptly ends, only a few sparks here and there. Even the emergency lights aren’t working.

‘For ’s sake-‘

‘Jin-?’ Jungkook’s soft whisper cuts through.

‘Yeah- I’m here Kookie- are you okay?’ Sk’jin asks, sitting up and leaning back on his haunches.

He feels a hand carefully touch at his shoulders. If Sk’jin wasn’t mistaken, the Pravasi M’hanun could see very well in the dark.

Looking up, it’s only just a little disturbing to see a pair of glowing orbs.

‘Hey, lets go to the Medical Bay?’ Sk’jin says as he stands up, grateful for Jungkook’s hand on his shoulder. It was helpful in this stifling darkness. ‘We can activate the lights in there- the Medical Bay should still be functional.’

‘Okay,’ Jungkook replies quietly.

In this quiet and dark, the thunderous and (was it Sk’jin or was that sound getting closer?) booming sounds are clearer.   

‘What is that?’ Jungkook asks as they make their way across the Lobby. Sk’jin is distinctly aware of stepping on something soft and wet and he internally grimaces.

‘I don’t know Kookie- has it been going on?’ he asks. His eyes were adjusting and he’s able to make out vague outlines. This used to be a piece of cake for him before. Not that he flat-out had night-vision, but he could still sense and make his way around. Even if it meant that the red light of the Bloodmoon was illuminating everything.

Sk’jin does not like this sudden disorienting darkness.

‘Yeah…’ Jungkook trails off, ‘Like the shaking of the ground.’

‘Planetary tremors? Yeah- but we’re in an asteroid,’ Sk’jin says quietly under his breath.

The Omhlophe ship had pushed them off, using their mass to basically crush and grind them through clusters of massive asteroid.

He had tried his best to steer them out- Hoseok had tried his best.

And Taeh’yung-

Taeh’yung’s hands come together in a clap, bright light erupting and the force of the Omhlophe ship lifts off. In horror, Sk’jin can only stare as Taeh’yung floats up in the air- the air pulsing in vibrant green.

A loud sonorous echo forms out of the Zhak’gri’s mouth as he speaks.

The Omhlophe’s ship charges at them again, pushing and pushing and with movements that were too slow, too graceful, Taeh’yung gently floats towards the windows. Sk’jin can’t see his face; can’t hear what was happening over the blaring alarms of the ship losing its as it crashes through massive chunks of asteroids and crystals.

And in a sudden forceful tug, as though all the air in the Bridge was being out: Taeh’yung steps through the window. Ripples of green light emerge from him, forms unlike Taeh’yung’s outline shape and solidify.

There’s laughter in the air- ancient, cruel, and just.

The Omhlophe ship suddenly pulls away and Taeh’yung rockets after it, an explosion of green light echoes from him- and all the crystals and asteroid gleam in horrific neon green before Sk’jin succumbs to the pressure and force of their fall.

Sk’jin finds the Medical Bay’s independent power source, lighting up the room just in time to shed light on Yoongi who was standing by the doorway. Sk’jin has stopped jumping at the sight of Yoongi appearing out of nowhere, but Jungkook’s reaction is to hiss.

Yoongi doesn’t even spare Jungkook a glance and instead passes Sk’jin and starts opening the Bay’s mainframe.

‘We can channel the anti-matter back-up into the engines enough to get us out,’ Yoongi explains. ‘It will buy us time before we can start the ship back up but we have to move-‘

The thunderous boom is definitely closer this time. And Sk’jin’s gut tells him it’s headed for them.

They all stare at each other.

‘Well then hurry up,’ Sk’jin orders. Yoongi goes back to the mainframe and after a few tense seconds, the emergency lights come back on and so does Sk’jin’s screen.

There’s another thunderous sound. But they all ignore it as Yoongi continues to fiddle with the mainframe.

There’s the sound of footsteps and they all turn as Hoseok rushes towards them from the darkness outside the Lobby.

‘We need to go now-‘ he declares, NaviLet in hand (of course Namjoon did something to his personal NaviLet that piece of ) that was still somewhat functional. ‘Grab Jimin’s stuff – we’re taking the Spardyti and heading out. We can’t stay here-‘

‘We can’t leave the ship,’ Sk’jin counters immediately; watching in confusion as Yoongi pauses a moment before nodding and heading out, ‘What the do we do on the Spardyti? We’re defenseless and incapable of going anywhere without the Užkulisai!’

‘It’s going to take too long to fix her- and there’s no guarantee we can do anything about fixing it- not without Namjoon,’ Hoseok takes Jungkook by his arm, pulling him out into the Lobby.

‘Hoseok- how do we even get out of Grisial?’ Sk’jin demands, following him out towards the Hangars.

‘We just need to get out of here first,’ Hoseok replies, taking them towards the parked Spardyti. ‘It won’t take long starting her up.’ he pauses to give Sk’jin the NaviLet. ‘Delete all of the systems. Namjoon’s built in a purge.’

‘Wait-‘ Sk’jin splutters, taking the nearly useless NaviLet before it dropped to the floor. Yoongi reappears with a bag and he steps towards the panels where Sk’jin knows they’ve stored most of their hand-held weaponry.

Hoseok is already inside the Spardyti, while Jungkook crouches at the doorway, unsure as to what to do.

The thunderous sound is now just above them and the sound of what Sk’jin can only assume are crystal chips rain down on them.

‘Sk’jin, Jungkook, get in please,’ Hoseok says tersely, ‘And Sk’jin- if you could-‘

Sk’jin hesitantly looks down at the NaviLet.

This felt wrong. But Hoseok is right- he’s always made strikingly good points and his ideas have nearly always worked out for the best.

As Lisai wasn’t operational, and also intentionally not included in the purge-control Namjoon had designed, Sk’jin manually types in his commands into the NaviLet.

It’s then when he notices that there was a message waiting at the channel-line. Before setting the purge, Sk’jin downloads the call and activates the purge.

There’s another crackling sound, but it’s brief, and all the lights dim slowly just as the Spardyti headlights flood the Hangar.

‘We’re set- everyone in now!’ Hoseok orders as the engines hum, the vibrations of the Spardyti rumbling under Sk’jin’s feet. Yoongi moves away from the panel, bag stocked up with every possible device he could carry on him. Sk’jin steps inside, feeling a strange sensation as though he had forgotten something important.

Yoongi throws the bag in behind Sk’jin and goes to manually open the Hangar gates.

‘Safety straps on?’ Hoseok asks as they back out slowly, the sound of the Hangar opening behind them. Sk’jin checks over Jungkook behind him and secures himself.

‘Okay we’re going to have to follow out-‘

Thunder and chaos falls down all around them in an explosion of dust, sound, and light.

The whole ship is jerked violently, tipping over.

‘YOONGI!’ Hoseok yells over the din. Sk’jin can’t see past the dust and light.

The ship stops rolling, and before Sk’jin can tell if he was upside down or upright up, Hoseok is already driving them out in a burst of dust.

‘Yoongi-!’ Sk’jin gasps out, ‘What about Yoongi-‘

The walls of the asteroid they were deeply embedded in fold and crack as a large strange ship pierces through the thick crystal walls. Below the triangular face of the front of the ship are gigantic discs.

‘If that thing hits us-‘ Sk’jin pants out.

The large ship, the same white as the Omhlophe ship is oddly flexible- strange joints along its main body curving in a way no ship that size should be curving. It’s bigger than the Užkulisai. It easily dwarfs their ship. The dust masks the rest of the gigantic slithering ship, most of it still inside the walls of the crystal asteroid.

Something from the underbelly of the ship unhinges and Transporters the size of the Spardyti spill out. Understandably, Hoseok picks up speed, turning them away from the overwhelming curving Omhlophe ship.

Sk’jin doesn’t know what Hoseok was planning. If they were not careful, they could very well drive out of the asteroid straight into the unforgiving vacuum of space. And yes, while some of the biggest asteroid around Grisial could be considered moons in most Systems, Sk’jin is pretty sure they shouldn’t be careless in their navigation even though they want to escape.

‘Yoongi-!’ Jungkook yells, pointing out of the still open doorway.

Sk’jin looks around just in time to see the outline of the Human sprinting in another direction through the dust.

‘Did he not see us-?’ Sk’jin gapes but his question is answered as one of the Omhlophe Transporters drives straight in Yoongi’s direction.

Sk’jin’s skin is crawling.

They were all separated now.

Hoseok is cursing, ‘Sk’jin- Lisai had mapped out the asteroid- it’s in the NaviLet- get us to the nearest Deck.’

‘Why would we go to any of the Decks?’ Sk’jin demands over the sound of the Spardyti speeding through dusty caverns of crystal. ‘It’s manned by living Beings-!’

‘Just get us to a Deck!’ Hoseok yells, pulling up more speed as he makes a sharp turn upwards into a smaller tunnel.

Sk’jin grits his teeth, tapping along the NaviLet before pulling up Lisai’s inventory of information. The downloaded message is still there but Sk’jin doesn’t have the time to look through it.

The map is complicated and extensive and multilayered.

Sk’jin hurriedly keys their tracker into the map and its immediately followed by a small blinking orange dot deep in the 3D map.

‘How far?’

‘We’re really deep inside,’ Sk’jin grits out as he scans for the closest Deck. ‘I think we crashed through the side- we’ll need to make our way downwards.’ He pauses a moment as he studies the map, making an outline with this finger through the maze. ‘Take the second left tunnel after this turn.’

‘They’re not attacking,’ Jungkook says quietly from behind him.

Sk’jin looks around and yeah- the Omhlophe are following them but they’re not making any moves to fire at them.

Obviously the Omhlophe ship is outside, just waiting for them to flush out and then pick them up. It also dawns on Sk’jin that they’re not trying to kill them. Not quite. Jimin wasn’t with them- Sk’jin’s not sure if the Omhlophe can tell or not. But they’re not taking any initiative to fire at them.

‘Here?’ Hoseok asks.

Sk’jin double checks the map.

‘Here!’

Hoseok turns sharply, taking up down in an extraordinarily steep tunnel that expands out into a massive cavern.

It’s honestly terrifying.

‘Hoseok I ing swear I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Sk’jin hisses as they reach flat ground when he has a sudden idea.

The cavern is clearly used for storage. There are mechanical parts all over, from massive engine turbines to drilling heads the size of the Užkulisai. Great things to create as obstacles.

‘They’re gonna try and move around us-‘ Hoseok is saying but Sk’jin is already grabbing the bag Yoongi had thrown in, chalk full of weapons.

‘Take the central tunnel!’ he yells as he shifts through the many items.

And Sk’jin finds more than an armful of detonators and explosives. It’s disconcerting to see the amount of small but powerful weapons they really had in store. And also very reassuring. Sk’jin unlocks himself, first pausing to signal Jungkook not to move as he makes his way to the back.

Pocketing the explosives and picking up a simple launcher, Sk’jin pulls down at the rungs from the roof. Climbing up he pushes at the small hatch, unlocking and opening it up.

The wing whips past his head, dust trailing behind them. His eyes are not happy with the speed, the dust, and the wind. But Sk’jin simply attaches the launcher over to the lip of the hatch, ducking just in case the Omhlophe fire at him.

He attaches an explosive, twists the face of the launcher to the side and fires.

The dust inside the cavern ripples. Gravity wasn’t very strong in here, causing the very light dust particles to swim rather than simply fall to the ground.

The massive propeller Sk’jin had been aiming at flies through the air, one of the wings crashing right into one of the Transporters.

‘WOOO!’

Sk’jin jumps, not having felt Jungkook creep up behind him.

‘Jungkook get down-!’ Sk’jin hisses but Jungkook is working behind him, arms noodling through to add an explosive he picks out from Sk’jin’s pocket.

‘Oh Spaces-‘ Sk’jin grimaces as Jungkook fires, giggling next to his ear as the dust ripples again, massive arches of fire and smoke and shrapnel rain through the air behind them. Another Transporter is taken down.

‘You know what- fine, you take care of this. Don’t be too excessive-‘ Sk’jin orders as he climbs down, making space for Jungkook to take up the spot.

‘Middle tunnel?’ Hoseok asks, briefly turning his head around as Jungkook lets out another whoop of delight followed by a loud explosion.

‘Yes,’ Sk’jin deadpans, strapping himself in and grabbing the NaviLet.

‘We need to regroup,’ Hoseok is saying as the Spardyti speeds through a narrow gap and then shouting, ‘Jungkook! Left!’

‘JUNGKOOK LEFT!’ Sk’jin screeches.

‘LEFT!’ Jungkook yells back followed immediately by the sound of the launcher and 2 seconds later something exploding.

‘Thanks!’ Hoseok yells.

‘THANKS!’ Sk’jin screams.

‘WOOO!’ Jungkook hollers back.

‘Grisial won’t allow tracking- not through electronics at the very least-‘ Hoseok is saying as he climbs up towards the gigantic openings over at the top of a mound. A beautiful vein of pure crystal almost like water branches through overhead, shedding light down at them.

‘We don’t have a Jimin-antenna in the form of Yoongi so we can’t find Namjoon or Jimin,’ Sk’jin loudly grumbles back as they make it out of the mound. There’s a final explosive sound that followed by massive cracking sounds.

Sk’jin looks around through the tiny opening towards the back. Jungkook had fired at the top of the tunnel they had just burst into, causing the opening to collapse.

Jungkook himself reappears, closing the hatch as an afterthought, his hair standing on end and covered in white-dust. He looks overly pleased, a bright twinkle in his eyes.

‘Good job kiddo,’ Hoseok nods from the front. ‘We’ll have some time to buy now.’

‘There’s no way of getting to the others,’ Sk’jin frowns, ‘Not unless we are all outside of Grisial’s perimeter and with some powerful scanners. That’s only if Jimin and Namjoon still have their Comm Devices even on.’

‘And Yoongi.’

‘And yes, Yoongi,’ Sk’jin repeats, rolling his eyes.

‘Yoongi said we can track,’ Jungkook says suddenly, still looking very thrilled and pleased.

‘What? Not all of us have his Jimin-radar-‘ Sk’jin begins but Hoseok groans from the front.

‘Oh for ’s sake did he poison us again!?’

*

It’s incomprehensibly unsettling to have the Omhlophe following them like this. No one says a word. Jimin seems to be lost in his own thoughts.

‘They’ve all come back to me.’ He had said.

Namjoon frowns at his words. He wants to press Jimin for an explanation. But he’s not sure how much of what Jimin had to say should be overheard by the GI agents.

‘Do you think you can ask them who sent them?’ Namjoon asks instead. They seemed to respond the best to Jimin, listening to his words, moving to protect him. The GI were entrusted to Lal Haenoon of all Beings- was he responsible for this? Was he somehow able to wake the GI from their vegetative states?

Jimin looks up from where he sat, blinking once, twice, before reacting.

‘There is no one who sent them.’ Jimin says quietly. ‘They came because they found me. They heard me.’

They found Jimin? Namjoon mulls over the words, carefully thinking out his question as he keeps an eye on the Omhlophe behind them.

‘Why do they want to find you?’

Jimin looks at the GI agents one by one before exhaling slowly.

‘Menigišiti is not an ordinary System,’ Jimin tells him, ‘We are…old, very old. We are considered one of the First Children.’

‘First Children?’ Namjoon frowns. He’s never heard that phrase or term before.

‘The First Children, born in the new darkness of space. Born and delivered from the gap between -…of Continuum- Life and Death,’ Jimin says slowly. ‘Taeh’yung is one of the First Children.’

Namjoon is definitely uncomfortable hearing that. Taeh’yung’s civilization predated history itself. The Zhak’gri predated the concepts of Yishengs- this was a remote and deep dark space, past the realms and understanding of the Known Universe. Is this what Jimin was referring to?

‘The First Children scattered, some were lost- Time expanded with their life, and continued in their death. It continued on; each star burst into life in their power and light. Rebirth – in a cycle of continuation until…-until they spread out, diminished.’ Jimin looks down at his hands. ‘But in Menigišiti, there was no spread. Just…just a single division. We are the Heart, and the Fate, of Menigišiti. We are reborn, anew, but the same- to continue to protect, to watch, to nurture.’

This is a lot to take. Namjoon glances at the GI agents but none of them seem remotely interested. But Namjoon knows he wouldn’t be able to tell either way.

‘In Menigišiti the Heart and Fate continued to stay. The Heart mothered life, and Fate bound them together- a cycle of creation, continuity, and peace.’ Jimin looks up again, his eyes no longer vacant or lost in thought. ‘How can you be lost, if you are bound to the fate of being found?’

Namjoon eyes the GI agents for a while, trying to add up his thoughts, the data he’s collected, Jimin’s words, what he’s seen.

He looks past the GI agents and at the Omhlophe.

‘And what about them?’

Jimin looks around, eyeing the Transporters following them.

‘I…I don’t know,’ he frowns. ‘But they are too close.’

Suddenly their Transporter swerves violently. Namjoon belatedly holds onto the straps attached to the walls of the interior.

Another Transporter has burst out after them.

‘What the-‘

Jimin is still turned in his seat, a frown on his brow as he watches the Omhlophe.

‘What is it-?’ Namjoon asks at once.

Jimin opens and closes his mouth a few times, blinking hard.

‘Namjoon I think-‘

A Transporter rams at them from another side, bursting out of nowhere.

Namjoon and Jimin strain painfully against their seats as another Transporter rams at them from another side.

‘-!’ Namjoon curses, holding onto the side of his chair as they spin momentarily before crashing against a rather thin crystal rock wall.

They don’t even have time to recover, they’re swarmed by the Omhlophe on every side. It’s absolutely nightmarish as the white-robed figures in identical masks move in unison, gathering and appearing out of the dusty air around them.

Namjoon hears one of the agents, Nineti, Jimin had called him, attempting to start up the Transporter. But it’s not working. The one called Yyna is headed for the doorway but Jimin is getting up, his hands reaching out to stop the tall agent.

‘No- let me,’ Jimin says as he releases himself from the seat to stand. His eyes seem to radiate light, the air around him lightening.

Jimin’s power was not showy or elaborate. There was a quiet strength- a gentle and warm touch.

Deceptive, Sk’jin’s voice provides unhelpfully in his head. Like I said, can’t be trusted.

Namjoon wants to ignore Sk’jin’s voice in his head but he had raised a very good question. One that they had all somehow chosen to ignore. Or were they enticed to ignore it?

Namjoon remembers how Jimin had gently urged the truth out of one of the Omhlophe’s third-party deliverers Khonen back in Ymir. How easily, without any show, without any display of power.

‘They are white, and they are young. They come from everywhere,’ Khonen replies simply, yawning again. ‘They are the Universe, and the Universe is them. When they told me this, I wanted to laugh. But they weren’t joking.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means they are from the Universe,’ Khonen replies with a small laugh. ‘And now they just want to live and create.’

‘Jimin wait-‘ Namjoon holds Jimin back. ‘I don’t think this is a good idea.’

Jimin only pauses a while before releasing his arm from Namjoon’s hand.

‘Just trust me,’ Jimin says softly, ‘Please.’

‘What do you mean-?’ Namjoon makes to stand but he’s surprised when Nineti holds him back down. Jimin gives him a small smile of thanks.

‘Jimin-?’ Namjoon is beyond confused.

‘I will make this right,’ Jimin says as he quietly walks towards the doorway. ‘I will fix this.’

Yyna opens the door, little curls of dust falling through, sparkling in a spectrum of colour as the light that radiates from Jimin grows stronger.

It reminds him of the first time they encountered Jimin in Pompa. The golden radiance of a soothing light, encouraging rapture, wonder, and tranquility. He sees the way the GI agents suddenly seem to lapse into a strange trance, their heads hanging.

‘Jimin what are you doing-‘ Namjoon gasps.

Jimin steps out, light moving with him and before he can even say a word, he disappears in a flurry of white robes.

Then as though all of them are snapped out of it, the GI agents look up, awakened from their strange trance.

Spaces, was Sk’jin right about Jimin? Namjoon thinks rather despondently to himself. He purposefully knocked out the GI agents.

But he didn’t do a thing to Namjoon.

The lights in the air seems to flicker. There’s a sudden explosion of sound as Yyna opens fire alongside Amic. But the Omhlophe don’t pay them the slightest bit of attention. The figures are moving in swarms within themselves, their motion centered around one focal point.

It was obviously Jimin somewhere in there. Namjoon struggles out of Nineti’s grip, cursing as he makes his way to the door, grabbing one of the TeorSers stacked inside the interior panel. He tries to find Jimin through the scope. But tracking the movements of one small individual amongst a sea of swarming Omhlophe is impossible. Namjoon can sense their movement, the direction they were headed.

There are minor eruptions of something- a few of the Omhlophe flung out of the tight crowd as it goes further away.

Jimin was leading the Omhlophe away on purpose.

Namjoon freezes mid-thought- staring out into the ocean of white robes.

‘They’ve all come back to me.’

Could it be?

They had all discussed it, theorized it; the GI were created by the Yishengs and the Omhlophe could be some for of creation by the Akramanese/Red Evil. But how did these two separate creations link to Jimin? And where did Yoongi fall into this category? How did he fit in?

And what did the Omhlophe want from Jimin?

Judging by how the GI were behaving, they had no intention of hurting Jimin. Or even himself. Yoongi was…well, Yoongi. So what about the Omhlophe?

Their apparent random appearance in Pompa may not have been random at all.

‘They’ve all come back to me.’

Maybe they were specifically looking for Jimin. And they found him. Looking for him with the same determination and strange devotion that bordered discomfort when Namjoon thinks too long about it. Where did the Omhlophe even stay? If the word of the Beings in contact with Sk’jin’s “friend” Zitao were to be trusted, they worked for the Akramanese/Red Evil. But the Akramanese were gone, destroyed alongside Earth. What were they doing now that their creators were gone? They had been the ones to take Jimin, as well as Yoongi’s whole team back in Menigišiti. Had they escaped the fate of their creators?

What did they want with Jimin? What did they want with him?

Something clicks in Namjoon’s mind as he eyes the white robes lessen in number, gliding past the Transporter.

Or maybe they were trying to take him back.

‘Oh for ’s sake,’ Namjoon shakes himself awake, cursing as he fires at the closest white-robed figures. ‘Nineti! Get this started we need to go after Jimin now!’

Namjoon, for the second time in a span of a few minutes, is pulled back before he can jump out.

‘We need to go after him!’ Namjoon is bewildered as he rounds up to stare up at Yyna.

Yyna says nothing while Amic closes the door. Nineti is rustling with something and the Transporter starts.

‘Okay good, we’re up and running again. Let’s go get Jimin come on,’ Namjoon yanks his functioning arm out of Yyna’s grip and sits down again. The swarms of Omhlophe are disappearing into the misty dust.

Nineti does indeed start up the Transporter, but instead turns them around.

‘Uh-‘ Namjoon is trying to work out what he’s missing here. ‘Jimin is that way?’

They just drive downwards continuously before turning right sharply.

‘Hey- what are you doing?’ Namjoon calls out to the front.

‘We were waiting in the light,’ Amic tells him from the back. ‘And in the light, we heard him.’

‘We will be found,’ Nineti says as they drive up rapidly. ‘We will be found again.’

‘Then let me out?’ Namjoon tries. ‘I don’t need help uh, being found.’

He’s suddenly apprehensive now that Jimin wasn’t here. Why were they taking him away? Weren’t they clearly here for Jimin?

Namjoon spies what can only be an exit, clear light that wasn’t a refraction is evident outside of this medium sized opening.

is this what Hoseok felt like when he was kidnapped.

It’s silent for a while before Yyna speaks.

‘Namjoon, child and survivor of Kutsoglerin, help us, children of nowhere, and teach us to survive.’

*

Yoongi is at a great disadvantage.

He’s on foot, in unknown territory, visibility was absolute , injured, and he was being pursued.

These were not GI agents. These were not GLA officers or even GIU officials. Yoongi has no experience against something like the Omhlophe.

But he has a head start, and he’s not entirely defenseless.

It doesn’t feel right. Even more so now than ever. The GI helmet he collided into after falling out of the Užkulisai was still splattered in blood and slightly too large for him.

I don’t like it.

That makes two of us, Yoongi thinks as he slips it on. The white noise is filtered out immediately, his vision clears up with startling clarity as the visor cuts through the dust. He wipes at the blood splattered over the front, his feet never stopping. At least the thick layer of dust is great at absorbing sound. The strange shrieking sounds of metal on rock and crystal ring behind him.

Something is missing.

Yoongi darts through the dust, ducking low and scooping handfuls of the dust and throwing it over his clothes. He’d been dusted before, but he could definitely use some more camouflage-

Something is missing.

‘What’s missing?’ Yoongi hisses out.

His hand grips the device deep inside his jacket pocket. It’s weighs monumentally against his chest. If he could get to a location, or even back to the Spardyti, he could definitely set the device to activate it. Would it work on a screen? Would it work on any transporter with a basic shield system? This was a massive mining asteroid from what Yoongi can tell. Even though these tunnels were already excavated, that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be machinery or transporters of some sort around.

If this had been his own helmet, he would have been able to get a scan of his immediate vicinity at least. He sticks close to the walls of the large tunnel, ducking past and around large chunks of crystal rock strewn all around.

I can’t hear it anymore.

The sound of a Transporter behind him gets louder and louder, closer and closer until Yoongi is flat out running, zipping through the many fallen crystal rocks.

‘Hear what?!’

It’s a dead-end ahead; and Yoongi spies a tunnel curving away to the other side, past the Transporter.

Abruptly stopping and doing a complete 180, Yoongi sprints back, cutting past large crystal rocks, the dust in the air parting in ripples around his movement. He hears the Transporter closing in again and when he briefly glances back, notices that there were two individual silhouettes cutting through the dust behind him.

Taking a leaping run up, Yoongi vaults up over onto the fallen crystal rocks. His chasers leap up as well. Yoongi knows this is a risk- he was exposing himself over the rocks here, but he needed clear shots as well.

3 shots.

Yoongi picks up his speed, running over a particularly steep crystal and leaping off just as he turns to face behind him. Unsheathing the previously hidden slim short-range TeorSers in his pockets, Yoongi aims and fires thrice each.

One of his chasers, a grey silhouette in this white dusty mist falls back, arching in the air and falling back to the ground. The other dodges down and under the rocks.

Yoongi lands on all fours on the sandy floor before he takes off again, sprinting forward and maintaining a low height.

He’s expecting that jump from around the corner as he cuts across an open space, edging closer towards the tunnel opening. The lights from the Transporter chasing him illuminates air and illuminates his chaser.

The same dirty white robes- the same odd mask- and an unshakeable odour permeates its movement as it strikes at Yoongi. But Yoongi dodges, whatever weapon the Omhlophe was using is sharp, white, and creates sparks as it makes contact with the crystal rock. Yoongi pockets one of the TeorSers and in a ring of light ignites the Heliord he had quickly snatched up from the weapon’s depository.

Their blades clash, light erupting in waves through the heavy dust.

Fall back-

Yoongi barely just manages to duck as a secondary blade, thin and small like a scalpel hisses through the dust and air. Yoongi lowers himself, swinging his Heliord under himself as he switches it off before reigniting it mid- upwards.

He’s only able to catch the mask of the Omhlophe, the material cracking at the contact and chipping.

Yoongi’s side flares up at the strain but he shoulders on. He rolls over on the dust, the Omhlophe following him close. The thin sharp scalpel like knife slices at his visor and to Yoongi’s horror is actually able to land a deep cut over it.

Lunge

Yoongi lunges, catching the Omhlophe as it lunged towards him. But Yoongi doesn’t carry him backwards- only shoves it back immediately followed by swinging the Heliord forward.

The blade cuts through the air, dust rippling back as the blade sears through the white robes and cracks the mask and hood.

Hair unfurls, a pale textured skin appears and- the face behind the mask is startlingly normal.

Dark un-lidded eyes expressionless, as though it had no matter to them that Yoongi had now pushed through. Yoongi can’t place the species but this was no extraordinary Being.

This was raising questions in the back of Yoongi’s mind.

Not now. Run.

Yoongi bolts past the Omhlophe even before she can hit the ground.

The Transporter bursts over his head, skidding to block his path towards the tunnel that would be too small for it to enter through. But Yoongi takes a running leap and vaults over the Transporter, skidding over the rooftop and down into the tunnel.

The tunnel is steep and goes downwards. Angling his feet and praying the soles on his shoes can withstand the friction he was about to subject it to, Yoongi takes a running start because angling his feet and he slides down the tunnel at tremendous speed.

There are massive gaping cracks along the side- and Yoongi spots the Spardyti inside a massive cavern, zooming through massive machinery and tech.

The Spardyti is firing at the masses of Transporters chasing after them. But Yoongi can’t watch just yet- his tunnel was about to run out and looking back, he notices 3 figures following him down. Letting his speed carry him, Yoongi bounds through the tunnel he slides into. His legs were definitely starting to feel sore, but Yoongi cannot stop. If that cavern was some form of store- there had to be another place here- some form of control room or log-room.

He was definitely running blind. He has no idea what to do if he comes across a dead-end.

A shiver of terror runs down his spine when one of the Omhlophe turns the corner, speeding behind him with terrifyingly long and spindly limbs that cut through the dust and its robes. A bit of hysteria and panic edges Yoongi further on.

Can’t hear.

He couldn’t run forever. He needed to find a place where he could take his chasers out. He first needed to get rid of the long-legged Being chasing him.

He exits the tunnel into a decent sized caravan that stretched on either side of him in a slight slope downwards. Above him are stalagmites of low-quality crystals, glassing and sharp. Yoongi turns mid run, crouching down and letting his momentum drag him downwards. He fires even before the Omhlophe appears at the tunnel opening.

But his calculations are correct because just as it appeared as though the shot would uselessly fire against the crystal rocks, it lands squarely in the center of the Omhlophe’s chest.

It flies backwards, nailed further by Yoongi’s second and third shot.

But it’s not enough to bring it down as it pushes itself up, a silent and deadly speedy spider-like Being leaping down the slope at him. It almost makes Yoongi giggle hysterically as the long limbs flail before positioning itself like a projectile straight for Yoongi.

Yoongi lifts his TeorSer but it’s not to aim at the Omhlophe diving at him, but at the stalagmites above him.

Large shards chip off and plunge downwards, impaling the Omhlophe right before it gets to Yoongi.

Yoongi doesn’t pause to rest, quickly ducking out as his shot brings down more than just a few stalagmites. Large shards of glassy crystal chip and fall about, cutting through the air like serrated blades. Just as Yoongi ducks out of the cavern he sees the other two entering.

I think I can hear it-

But before he has the opportunity to sprint into the tunnel- the Omhlophe Transporter bursts through; the light is nearly blinding and would have definitely been fatal to Yoongi had his eyes not been shielded. He narrowly escapes being run over.

The stalagmites are still falling, now with the sudden emergence of this powerful Transporter setting off tremors in its wake. More dust flies through the air and chunks of glassy crystals rain down. One nearly hits him and Yoongi has to quickly fall back, making him lose his balance, falling straight onto the ground. He’s about to get up, shoot past the freshly fallen massive stalagmite when he’s nearly waylaid by an Omhlophe shorter than himself. Yoongi’s not sure if it’s just luck but it sprints past him where he stood along the side of a dark rocky crystal.

And it just stands there. Almost as though it was listening to something. Like something was calling it.

Still.

Yoongi breathes out, ears pricked and eyes darting.

The Omhlophe is just standing there.

Don’t move.

The order is so powerful. So strong. That even when the Transporter bursts through, headlamps passing over Yoongi where he was crouched against the crook of the massive chunk of crystal rock, he stays still.

Listen.

His body tenses, ready to take on whatever came after him as the doors open.

But instead the short Omhlophe just gets in, shortly followed by the other who walks past where Yoongi was crouched and into the Transporter.

LISTEN.

Yoongi knows they saw him. Yoongi knows they saw him. But they just ignore him and the Transporter drives off back the same way it had burst in.

Yoongi remains still for a solid 2 minutes before he shifts just a little, righting his muscles.

Quietly, and carefully, Yoongi sits back up properly, leaning back on the crystal rock that had nearly ended him.

Why had they suddenly stopped?     

The dust settles surprisingly quickly, further camouflaging him.

Listen.

‘To what?’ Yoongi asks out loud, coughing a bit as the pain on his side catches up. His legs were ready to cramp. He doesn’t think about how just at the edge of something- his consciousness maybe, a world of pain was ready to ignite his bones.

I will follow.

‘Lead, and I will follow,’ Yoongi whispers, eyes closing as he says it, gingerly feeling his side.

I can hear it again.

‘Hear what?’

The song. His song. Just listen to it.

‘What-‘ Yoongi takes a moment to breathe properly, leaning back to gather himself.

He can’t really hear anything other than the pounding in his ears and head and his harsh breaths. But there’s an odd settling feeling deep inside him. Was this just him feeling it, or was it-

‘You said something was missing,’ Yoongi breathes out. ‘What was it?’

His song.

‘And now it’s back?’

Yes.

Yoongi quietly and carefully stands up.

‘We need to get back. Need to reteam.’

Follow. Listen.

‘I’m trying- I really am.’ Yoongi takes a long exhale, rolling his shoulders a little. He was definitely going to bruise heavily. But it’s not as though he can really sense it. There was that continued numbness in him- a result of the fact that Yoongi himself, didn’t really have control over his own body.

I am used to it.

It’s unsettling, Yoongi knows, but necessary.

His body, his mind: they were functioning off of a strange and fragile symbiotic agreement.

It won’t last.

‘I know,’ Yoongi huffs out as he sprints out in the same direction the Transporter had left in. ‘We’re gonna have to pull it together. Just a little longer. We can do that right?’

For him.

Yoongi doesn’t run, but instead proceeds forward in a steady jog.

It’s easy enough following the tracks of the Transporter.

‘Is this the correct way?’

Yes

Yoongi still hunches low as he continues following the tracks. They lead upwards, in a rather steep slope of gently falling dust and rolling bits of crystal pebbles and shards. Yoongi takes leaping strides upwards, feeling himself slip down a little despite his lunging steps against the dusty smooth slope. He’s just at the top when he slips a little. To balance himself he grabs hold of the edge of the slope, his side colliding against the curved walls. The device in his pockets dig into his ribs, the handles of TeorSer thudding dulling against it.

It lets out a small beeping sound, startling Yoongi a little. He’s never heard the device make a sound before. Climbing out of the steep slope, Yoongi rights himself, leaning on the crystal rock wall for a moment, adjusting the items he was carrying.

His fingers brush against the device. Jimin’s System’s technology.

‘You know I’m right. Jimin knows something, or at least has the idea of something about all of this. But he won’t say it.’

‘Speculations and theories can be vague and sharing them can cause panic. Maybe Jimin-‘

‘Spare me. Your prince is hiding something we know. He’s hiding a lot of things, and honestly I’m not above getting to the bottom of it.’

This was supposed to hide them. This was supposed to completely remove them from being tracked.

So how did the Omhlophe find them so quickly? Or as a matter of fact, even the GI?

How were they able to track them all the way here to Grisial?

And why were the GI here?

Yoongi knows. He knows what happened. Has seen their vegetative states, walked past their unconscious forms. He knows of the other agents who had survived, who were out of the Raksane Tayi at the time. How they had reported themselves for study and containment. They had been less than 20.

He remembers trying to Awaken them, the way he had been.

His body shivers.

We cannot forget.

Yoongi can see their faces in his mind. Vacant and dormant eyes; Beings of every species, from every corner of the Known Universe.

Quite suddenly, Yoongi turns and slides all the way back down the slope.

Why?

‘I’m trying to figure something out.’ Yoongi mutters, backtracking back to the cavern with stalagmites.

The crystal dust particles were quick to cover the previous scene of battle because it’s almost as though nothing had happened. But Yoongi isn’t deterred; he quickly sifts through the thick layer of dust around the area of one of the many fallen stalagmites and finds what he’s looking for.

The Being crushed under the stalagmite with the uncanny long limbs almost seemed preserved by the crystal dust.

Not this one.

Yoongi nods to that, eyeing the body one last time before heading through the tunnel he had skidded all the way through. It’s a steep climb, and with the lack of traction, takes more time than Yoongi can actually spare. But he needed to find out. Needed to make sure.     

Breathless, and the numbing gnawing ache under his bones attempt to surface into his consciousness.

Careful.

‘I know,’ Yoongi mutters as he carefully treads back into the atrium filled with massive crystal boulders. ‘Should be around here I hope.’

Clearly he’s not the only one looking for the bodies of the Omhlophe. Because of them stands there, clearly ready to take the body of the Omhlophe Yoongi had defeated some time ago.

What takes Yoongi by surprise is what they were doing.

Hand raised into the air, head bowed, the Omhlophe stands before the body of their fallen kind in a stunningly familiar goodbye.

This was the Yisheng farewell.

They lower their arm to their chest, hand forming a fist over where the heart should be anatomically.

‘And when you find yourself in times of trouble or woe, listen to the music from the stars- and let them guide you with their wisdom, Memory, and Time.’

Those were Amme’s last words to them before they departed for this mission.

The Omhlophe leaps into action- apparently aware of Yoongi’s quiet presence but not bothered enough to attack out right. Instead bent on performing the farewell ritual.

Yoongi ignites his Heliord and charges straight.

He’s panting by the end, kneeling on one knee over the bleeding corpse of the Omhlophe. It’s strange- it didn’t feel like a fight.

He hesitates a moment before he rolls the Omhlophe over onto their front.

‘, I’m sorry,’ Yoongi whispers as he unsheathes a short knife from the side of his boots and cuts open the thick white robes.

Whoever Yoongi had just defeated was a species he wasn’t entirely familiar with. Ridged scaled that were larger and flatter grew over the shoulders, decreasing in size down the back. A back that was dented down the center just like Yoongi’s.

Just like Jungkook’s.

Just like the other GI agents.

‘,’ Yoongi breathes out. He eyes the other corpse for a second before making up his mind. He carefully rolls the other Omhlophe over to their chest as well and does the same to their robes. Scarred from previous battles, but just like the other Omhlophe, their back is dented down.

Yoongi gets on his feet and before he knows it, he’s pushing up the visor of the helmet. Standing at the center point between the two corpses, Yoongi takes his hand and raises it up, then closes it over his chest.

He’s not sure why. But this felt right.

He lowers his hand from his chest. A sudden shiver runs down his neck.

Listen.

Yoongi stops, head turned slightly to look behind him.

Past the cavern, Yoongi knows is the Užkulisai. He knows the strange Omhlophe drilling-ship is there too. But something else was also there. Something-

‘Jimin.’

Keeping the walls to his right, Yoongi weaves his way through the crystal rocks and boulders. The dust has settled and any sign of previous disturbances is entirely covered. It takes longer than Yoongi estimates to get back to the main cavern. The distance was much further than he had expected.

‘God I hate running,’ Yoongi absentmindedly mumbles to himself.

There’s a vague sensation somewhere in him that Yoongi identifies as judgment.

‘Oh shut up,’ he hisses again just as he arrives at the vicinity of the main cavern.

It’s quiet.

The Užkulisai is there, now almost white with the thick layer of dust on it. The Omhlophe drilling-ship is there too. The powerful headlamps are switched off and an equally thick layer of dust covered the ship too.

Would he be able to get back into the Užkulisai? They had planned on purging the entire system inside, and Yoongi can assume that Hoseok would have seen to that asap. But he’d still be able to fly the ship regardless. He would just need to continue to power the engines and basic systems through the anti-matter fuel supply in the Medical Bay. Not to mention if he used the device in his jacket, he would be able to render the ship invisible.

Well, invisible to most.

Listen.

Yoongi quietly stalks through the heavy dusty air. The air was concentrated here- probably due to the way the Užkulisai had crashed through the asteroid they were in. He stays low, ears pricked, eyes darting around the entirety of the cavern for any sign of movement.   

The Užkulisai is right there-LISTEN-

Yoongi is tackled- a shape emerging as though camouflaged against the crystal rocks. White robes fluttering behind them like wings, Yoongi crashes down on the dusty floors. It’s not just one; Yoongi is picked up and thrown harshly back onto the floor by a second. It’s disorienting but Yoongi is able to count 4 of the Omhlophe.

The helmet protecting and encasing his head is ripped off and Yoongi accidently inhales the dusty air through his mouth.

There’s a strange realization as Yoongi feels himself being tossed again. These 4 Omhlophe had the chance to kill him just now. Or at least fatally injure him. They clearly outnumbered him. But they weren’t moving against him to kill him. There was something else-

Almost like some rag doll, Yoongi feels himself being hurled through the air, back colliding painfully against smaller embedded rocks on the floor.

But before he attempt to pick himself up, one of the Omhlophe is already doing that. And to Yoongi’s discomfort, he’s being held up so high his feet dangle. Definitely more than 2 feet above the dusty floors. He’s restrained- Yoongi dully realizes as he blinks dust out of his eyes. And sure enough the Omhlophe holding him has 4 arms. Twisting his body, Yoongi gets himself some space and brings his knee up and against the Omhlophe’s head. The grip on him is loosened a little, enough to yank out one arm and grab at the Heliord. He can’t ignite it without burning himself, so spinning the handle in his palm, Yoongi jams the handle straight through the strange mask over the face of the Omhlophe. Yoongi is dropped and his feet barely touch the ground when he’s tackled again. His head hits a few protruding rocks again, his vision sparking out in pain. He’s moving blindly but the Heliord makes contact as he ignites it before himself, slicing up at an angle. He shakes his head, clearing his vision in time to watch the 4-armed Omhlophe momentarily distracted as another Heliord, bright and powerful emerging through its chest.

There’s an unholy sound that fills the air as the Omhlophe scream- the pitch disturbing the dust in the air. And it’s not just the 4, now 3 Omhlophe in the cavern. At least 10 more emerge from the dust, all screaming as their 4-armed fellow Omhlophe collapses onto the ground.

Standing there in the center, the crystal dust swirling around him as though in time to some music Yoongi cannot hear but can feel, is Jimin.

A light radiates from him- subdued but powerful enough to make his clothes ripples as though moved by the wind. He’s holding two Heliords, the side of his clothes are smeared with blood.

He looks up, not at Yoongi but at the gathered Omhlophe, all screaming at him.

His eyes, that Yoongi knows are gentle, and filled with adoration, love, and laughter, burn ablaze.

Never look directly at an eclipse.

Jimin’s movements are fast, the dust around his feet arches into fan-like waves as he spins. The Heliords slice through the air in wide arches, digging through the dust almost pointlessly but in an eruption through the ground the Omhlophe scramble out. To Yoongi’s horror, almost like ants escaping the pits of their earthen tunnels, the Omhlophe emerge from the dusty floors and walls.

Jimin is overwhelmingly outnumbered but he doesn’t seem to notice or care. Instead goading the Omhlophe out until no more were left to emerge.

Yoongi gets up to his feet only to be restrained back, 3 of the Omhlophe holding him back.

They were using him as a hostage. They had planned this.

They could have killed Yoongi at any point. Right now too. But they were trying to draw Jimin back here.

This was- this wasn’t about anything else other than Jimin. The Omhlophe were after Jimin.

And they got him, by getting Yoongi here.

The Omhlophe surge forward in an attack at the same time, straight for Jimin.

Yoongi pushes against his restraints but their grip on him is relentless. He’s forced to watch. Forced to witness.

‘We won’t be found,’ one of the Omhlophe tells him, voice uncannily conversational as it had been when they had contacted them to discuss Hoseok when they had abducted him. ‘We will not be found.’

‘Is this what being found feels like?’

Jimin is an exemplary fighter. His movements are almost  unconventional. There’s a fluidity and strength in him, twisting and passing through throngs of the Omhlophe – his movements and steps are calculated, aware, lightning-fast. And with each second the light around him seems to pulse brighter.

The Omhlophe scream in unison in long bursts of extended howls. The cavern echoes it back, dust falling all the more like strange rainfall.

Sparks erupt as Jimin’s Heliords make contact with some of the Omhlophe.

They scream even louder, the sound piercing Yoongi’s ears till everything is muffled and all he can hear is his own pulse, his own scream as they leap through the air, falling over Jimin and collapsing over him.

In a soft glimmering eruption of liquid light, the mound of Omhlophe’s fly through the air. The crystal dust dissipates, almost as though evaporating as Jimin levitates through the air, a radiance of light erupting around him.

It reminds Yoongi starkly of what he had witnessed in Megibīya. Jimin had flown through the air just like this, his voice like distant thunder and song pushing back the terror that had been taking them one by one.

When Jimin lands back on the floor, the dust further dissipates, leaving the pure crystal rock floors exposed. The Omhlophe seem to struggle against Jimin although Yoongi feels nothing. Even the ones restraining him seem to struggle. He takes advantage of this and twisting his arm free, reaches for his TeorSer.

Knocking out one of the 3 with the blunt end of the TeorSer. Yoongi spins on his knees, firing at extreme short range right through one of their masks. The remaining one knocks the TeorSer out of his hands but they lose balance as another eruption of light ignites through the air. Yoongi is able to take advantage of this, removing his other TeorSer and firing twice in rapid succession.

Positioning himself, Yoongi aims at the masses of the Omhlophe who don’t seem to care much about him- all throwing themselves in screaming synchrony at Jimin as he takes them on in overwhelming rushes. Yoongi arms himself with both the TeorSers, firing in rapid succession at the Omhlophe.

They’re flung through the air- thrown back by the immense power Jimin exuded. Yoongi desperately wonders why they were not subdued- it had worked on the blood-thirsty crowd in Pompa. Why were they not subdued?

Jimin picks up his Heliords again- the blades spinning around him as he charges through the Omhlophe in a whirlwind of light, beauty, and terror.

There is a final surge of light- the ground shakes, and the Omhlophe cave in on themselves, their screams choked and the white of their robes staining with their blood as an overwhelming pressure crushes them.

The last of the Omhlophe is taken down by both Yoongi’s shot, and Jimin’s Heliord.

Jimin momentarily struggles to stand but gone is the light around him- his eyes no longer ablaze but wide and fearful as he stares at Yoongi. He drops the Heliords, arms stretching up for Yoongi-

Yoongi nearly trips a few times over the crushed bodies of the Omhlophe as he surges forward, the pain in his body moving past the numbing ache he had been pushing down.

They crash into each other, both of their legs giving out and they crumple in a heap on their knees.

Jimin is shaking in Yoongi’s arms, his hands shakily touching him as though afraid of what he would feel. Yoongi’s not even sure if he was using the proper amount of strength- he’s not sure if he’s crushing Jimin but as though his body was going through some form of shock, he can’t help but shake against Jimin too.

‘Yoongi-‘ Jimin chokes out, face pressed into the crook of his neck. ‘Yoongi I’m-‘

‘I found you- I found you,’ Yoongi whispers, his shaking hand running through the short strands of Jimin’s hair. ‘I’m here-‘

Jimin pulls, eyes shining briefly before they close and his lips are on Yoongi’s.

Desperation. Fear. Longing. Guilt.

Yoongi kisses him back with the same desperation.

Their breaths are harsh against each other’s mouths. Chests pressed close, shaking hands and arms shifting and curling over each other.

‘I’m here,’ Yoongi repeats against Jimin’s mouth. His eyes are still closed, tears leaking past. ‘I’m here.’

Jimin’s hands shake as he raises them to gently hold his face.

‘Yoongi,’ he whispers.

Something was wrong.

‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ Yoongi asks, his voice still a whisper.

‘I see it now,’ Jimin tells him shakily. ‘Taeh’yung was right. I didn’t want to see it. But now I can’t pretend.’

‘Pretend what?’

Jimin’s thumbs gently rub his cheeks. He smiles shakily but it’s sad.

‘Will you be able to forgive me?’ he whispers.

‘What are you saying?’

‘I have- I haven’t explained everything truthfully to you. To anyone.’ Jimin says quietly, his hands slipping from around Yoongi’s face. ‘But I can’t hide it anymore. And I cannot pretend.’

‘What is it?’ Yoongi presses, taking Jimin’s hands in his.

Crystal dust falls around them again, in a haze of light and mist that seems to stretch time as Jimin whispers, ‘You are…you are bound to me.’

Yoongi doesn’t understand.

‘I am yours.’

‘I am yours,’ he whispers but Jimin shakes his head, looking up at him with purpose.

‘You are bound to me, the way the others like you are bound to me.’ Jimin whispers almost inaudibly. ‘You were created to be bound to the Fate of Menigišiti.’

‘What does that mean?’ Yoongi asks.

‘I’m sorry,’ Jimin says quietly before kissing him gently, hands raising up to place over his temples.

It’s a sudden and very strong reaction. Yoongi pushes Jimin away, hand slapping against his chest as he deflects his hands away from his head.

Jimin falls backwards, eyes wide.

‘Did- did you just try to knock me out?’ Yoongi asks breathlessly, standing up feeling shaken to his core. ‘Were- were you trying to leave?’

Jimin blinks rapidly a few times before he says in a broken tone, ‘They’re here because of me. They’re here because they’re bound to me. They will come for me, again and again- and it doesn’t matter who is there with me. I don’t need the protection or the ship-‘

‘-did you leave Namjoon?’ Yoongi demands, his voice softening as he takes a few steps forward.

‘They were- Yoongi, they were there,’ Jimin looks tiny, sitting on the clear floors. ‘Nineti, Yyna.’

Jimin looks up, ‘Amad’la, Amic.’

‘What?’

It’s shocking to hear their names again- but somehow, deep down, Yoongi’s isn’t too surprised.

‘They were there. They didn’t know me. But they were there- because they heard me. And I couldn’t- I couldn’t save them before; and Namjoon was there and I couldn’t- I couldn’t let that happen to him,’ Jimin looks down, ‘The way I couldn’t save you.’

Yoongi kneels in front of Jimin again, taking his hands in his. Jimin’s head remains bowed.

‘Sunshine, look at me,’ Yoongi whispers against Jimin’s knuckles. ‘Please?’

It takes a moment, but Jimin looks up.

‘I said I would take you home. Promised, that I would take you home.’ Yoongi says, ‘I made that promise when we first met. And now, this time around, I’m going to keep it.’

Jimin is starting to shake his head.

‘You’re so strong,’ Yoongi says gently, ‘You’re so strong, and kind, and gentle, and beautiful.’

Jimin’s eyes close, tears clinging to his lashes.

‘Don’t tell me to leave.’

Jimin’s breath escapes him in shudders.

‘Yoongi I-‘ Jimin whisper leaves him like a sob as he pulls his hands out of Yoongi’s, ‘-I can’t lose everyone again. I can’t lose you.’

There’s a sudden groaning sound, startling them both to their cores. Yoongi is quick to push Jimin down, covering him with his own body.

‘What-‘

‘It’s the driller,’ Yoongi whispers quietly. ‘It’s moving.’

‘There’s more-‘

The head of the drill-head ship splits open revealing a massive opening. Mechanical arms and rigs extend out, with cables and magnetized straps unfurling to wrap around the Užkulisai.

‘They’re taking the ship,’ Yoongi whispers. 

Like a dinosaur from Ancient Earth footage, Yoongi watches as the massive drill-head reassembles as though it hadn’t split open to swallow whole a massive expedition-class ship.

They wait a while and no sound is heard, no movement seen or felt. Yoongi pushes himself off just little, looking down at Jimin.

‘I can’t promise you that you won’t lose me,’ Yoongi says quietly. ‘You cannot promise me I won’t lose you either.’

Jimin doesn’t look at him. His eyes are fixed where the Užkulisai had previously crash landed.

‘We both know it doesn’t work that way,’ Yoongi gently turns Jimin’s head to face him.

‘And I know, that there are things you cannot say. Things that you will have to do. Things I will have to do. And neither of us can control any of those things,’ Yoongi smiles, leaning down to bump noses softly. ‘If I could, we wouldn’t be in here, in some ty situation where one of us is always injured or in pain- I mean, I could do with less of that.’

Jimin’s lips twitch as though fighting a smile.

‘We would be somewhere else, far away, just the two of us. A nice house, near some woods? Do you like lakes? Shore line?’

‘I like the ocean,’ Jimin answers after a few seconds.

‘Okay, near the ocean, a nice wooded area behind the house,’ Yoongi smiles, ‘It’s just the two of us there. A pretty place where you can watch the sunrise, and I can watch my sunshine.’

Jimin giggles, looking both embarrassed and amused before his face sort of twitches and the tears that were threatening to pour out finally do.

Yoongi carefully draws his fingers along the short strands of Jimin’s hair.

‘I know you want to protect me. Protect us, protect your planet, your people.’ Yoongi says clearly, ‘And you believe it is your duty. Just yours. But it’s not. If I am tied to you, or fated to you, or something like that, then let it be so- I don’t care.’

Jimin blinks rapidly, squeezing out his tears as though hoping to see better.

‘It doesn’t matter to me- if you are the Fate of Menigišiti for your people then,’ Yoongi shrugs with a grin, ‘I don’t think I qualify under that? I’m not a citizen from there.’

Jimin chuckles.

‘But I know that the way I am tied to you, the way I am yours is different,’ Yoongi whispers, wiping away the wet patches along Jimin’s face.

‘I am yours. I am not the Red Evil’s. I don’t belong to them. I am not the Omhlophe’s, I am not the GI’s- or the GLA, or the GIU. I don’t belong to the Fate of the Menigišiti. I belong to you.’

Jimin raises his hands, fingers gently tracing his features.

‘Yoongi.’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘I’m sorry too,’ Yoongi replies quietly.

Yoongi quietly gets up, pushing himself off of Jimin.

‘We need to get to the surface,’ Yoongi says as he helps Jimin up. ‘If the Omhlophe are gone- we have a better chance at regrouping.’

Jimin nods quietly.

‘I saw a cavern with mining Transporters on my way here- I think we can use one of those to get out of here,’ Yoongi continues. ‘We can use it to get out.’

Jimin nods again but this time he tugs a little at their entwined hands, stopping him.

‘Yoongi – I’m sorry I tried to-‘ Jimin breathes out in a choked way, ‘I should have- should have-‘

‘Shh,’ Yoongi presses his lips to Jimin’s forehead, ‘It’s too much.’

Jimin looks up at him, curious.

‘This is too much for you, and it’s okay to admit that,’ Yoongi says quietly. ‘You’ve just…woken up, here, out of your home, away from what you’ve known your whole life. This is…- this is too much, and it’s okay.’

Jimin sort of blinks in a dazed way, surprised to hear it said to him almost.

‘It’s okay to be overwhelmed- you’ve…you’ve learnt so much,’ Yoongi sort of chuckles, ‘Kinda like how I did too; it’s too much, and that’s okay.’

Jimin looks small, lost, and in a way that is almost physically palpable to Yoongi, incredibly homesick.

‘Let’s get out of here first okay?’ Yoongi kisses his forehead, ‘Let’s find the others.’

‘And then?’ Jimin looks up, desperation in his tone.

‘And then we go home.’

Jimin nods after a few seconds, his hand tightening around Yoongi’s.

‘We’ll need to move quickly. You’re still okay to move?’ Yoongi asks, taking small step back to look over Jimin.

‘I can,’ Jimin nods, clearing his throat and gives Yoongi a small smile.

‘Okay, let’s go.’

*

Sk’jin is still fuming under his breath.

Hoseok worriedly checks the windows and surveillance for any sign of the Omhlophe. But none appear again. This was unsettling. Why would they just abandon chase?

‘Grisial isn’t allowing me to broadcast a search,’ Sk’jin angrily spits out. ‘Not to mention, this NaviLet is still pretty bust and Grisial’s public channel is not pleased with having me snoop.’

‘We’ll get to a deck and it’ll be better-‘

‘Oh yes?’ Sk’jin snaps, ‘Get to deck and what? Get arrested? Or worse be swarmed by the fucking massive ship that literally ed us into this asteroid?’

Sk’jin waves the NaviLet around hazardously.

Hoseok grimaces.

‘This is the dumbest thing we’ve done. And that includes everything we’ve done- which I might remind you, is not the best track record in the Universe!’ Sk’jin hisses. ‘Not only have we lost Jimin. Yoongi could be dead for all we know, and Namjoon is on his way to be recycled somewhere. The icing over all of this is that we’ve lost Taeh’yung- who has many times proclaimed his desire to explode moons. What the  are we going to do? Oh yeah! Go to the ing deck-‘

‘Sk’jin please-‘ Hoseok grits out tersely. ‘What do you suggest we do? Go back inside and try to start up the Užkulisai while that drilling ship lurches overhead? Go look for everyone else completely blind and defenseless?’

Hoseok can feel Sk’jin’s glare.

‘We need to get Kookie to safety,’ Hoseok bites out, only half-truthful in his reasoning. ‘The Omhlophe were in Ynqaba for a reason. From what we know of what Jungkook has said, and what we can surmise, they’re looking for the eggs and Jungkook could be one of those.’

There’s no response from Sk’jin. And maybe it’s a cheap shot- but it was effective. Sk’jin was clearly very protective over Jungkook. And well, Hoseok has been trained to use whatever he can in order to survive and succeed.

Because yes. Sk’jin was right. This was incredibly dumb. He was making an extremely risky move with a very small percentage for success. But if it worked out. Well, that was another worry to stress over later.

‘Left tunnel after this turn,’ Sk’jin announces.

He was still irritated, but mainly anxious. Hoseok mulls over the events carefully.

The GI agents found them. The Omhlophe agents found them.

Despite the fact that they were practically invisible, these two separate bodies of Beings found them. Hoseok did not doubt Jimin’s technology- he checked it many times over himself. Did the GI and Omhlophe have technology that could counter Jimin’s? Or were they able to track them using another method?

‘There’s a recorded message. Or at least an attempt at a call through the Comm that didn’t fully make it through but I downloaded it before I purged Lisai,’ Sk’jin comments, breaking the temporary silence.

Without preamble, Sk’jin plays it out.

The quality is , but Hoseok instantly recognizes Namjoon’s voice.

‘Jimin- hey listen…-hey listen to me- you’ll be all right, you just -…- wake up okay? Just open y-…- look at me.’

Namjoon was clearly awake and uninjured. Maybe the same could not be said for Jimin.

‘See? It’s me- it’s just me…-we’re fine-…-reathe with me okay? Just breathe with me.’ Namjoon’s voice is distant for a while, the lines dying only to be replaced by white noise. ‘-…mewhere?...-ou’re safe, okay?’

Jimin was disoriented. Injured? Hoseok’s mind whirls.

‘You’re just in a Transporter, -..ith some agents around, we’re safe-…ave medical supply. See? They’ve bandaged you up alr-...-re important aren’t you? Little prince right?’

The line cuts abruptly at that.

‘Little prince,’ Sk’jin repeats quietly.

Namjoon was trying to say something. This message was clearly sent, knowing that they would pick it up.

‘They’re both okay at least,’ Sk’jin frowns. ‘The GI didn’t hurt them. Treated them in fact.’

Yoongi sometimes liked to call Jimin your majesty. Referring him to a sort of royalty since the beginning.

‘Something’s up about the GI,’ Sk’jin says quietly. ‘Maybe…maybe not all of them are…are what they seem.’

‘What do you mean?’ Hoseok asks.

‘When…when I was there. In that place,’ Sk’jin’s tone is distant. ‘It was just Memory. There is something- something strange about what they discovered in that Akramanese ship- or Red Evil ship- whatever the you want to call it. There’s something different about them- and something different with the GI- and something very very different with Yoongi.’

‘Okay,’ Hoseok says slowly. ‘What are you theories-?’

‘-right turn and straight up,’ Sk’jin cuts across before saying, ‘Taeh’yung was telling me- that we need to contact Zitao again. But now that I really think about it, I’m not sure how much they can help.’

‘Why do you think that?’

‘I-…I lived with him. With them. For a while.’ Sk’jin says slowly, like he was carefully putting his words together. ‘And I think that they are as lost as we are. But…’

‘But?’

‘But I think they found each other. And they…they don’t want to lose that again.’ Sk’jin says, his tone delicate.

‘You’re saying we shouldn’t approach them?’ Hoseok frowns. The amount of information they were able to receive by one interaction had helped them in light-years of progress.

‘I’m saying that I don’t think we should pull them back into this, after what happened.’ Sk’jin says with a sort of finality in his tone.

‘Okay.’

‘Okay?’ Sk’jin sounds stunned. And rightfully so. ‘You know you’re being a little suspicious.’

‘Isn’t that the basis of our relationship.’

‘What relationship.’

‘Ouch.’ Hoseok snorts.

‘We’re almost there. I hope you know what you’re doing because you clearly don’t want to tell me.’ Sk’jin says, his tone edging on nervous.

Hoseok doesn’t reply, his skin prickling with anxiety.

‘Did you hear that-?’ Jungkook suddenly asks.

The tunnel behind them explodes in a burst of crystal shards, white dust, and force.

Sk’jin yelps out a strangled shriek, clearly very involuntary by how rapidly he shuts himself up.

‘- -‘ he curses.

It’s similar to the massive drill-headed ship that had burst over the Užkulisai in the caverns below. Hoseok curses alongside Sk’jin, desperately speeding up as the massive drilling head skewers the entire massive tunnel haphazardly like some injured beast.

‘Jungkook! Sit down!’ Sk’jin orders, ‘Those won’t scratch that thing!’

Hoseok can see ahead, their opening.

‘-‘ they narrowly dodge a massive crystal rock that lands just feet behind them as they rapidly shoot up the dusty slope.

‘Fuck Hoseok get us out faster-!’ Sk’jin yells.

‘I’M DOING THAT-‘ Hoseok yells back, having to zigzag through the falling rocks as the drill-head collides heavily against the walls, disappearing for a short moment before bursting overhead too close for comfort.

‘ - I ing hate this so much-‘ Sk’jin is chanting under his breath. Hoseok’s not sure but he thinks he hears Jungkook exclaim out excitedly. Hoseok is vaguely worried for Jungkook’s idea of fun.

The drill-head dives down, right behind them, making them lurch forward in a surprising twist of events.

They burst over the edge of the tunnel opening and out of the dusty whirlwind they were trapped in, bursting out into massive clearing strewn with random mining gear and machinery. Hastily abandoned Transporters and Ships were strewn about. And looming over them against a chaotic mess of emergency lights, fragmented ships like shrapnel flung across the previously untainted beauty of Grisial, is a massive Yisheng ship.

‘Hoseok what the did you do-‘ Sk’jin roars from the back. But Hoseok is a little too busy to answer as he sharply turns the Spardyti away from the dangerous spinning drill-head of the Omhlophe ship.

Two other drill-headed ship erupt out, all headed for them.

‘-s this Hoseok of the Užkulisai-02?’

Hoseok can feel Sk’jin’s accusatory glare against the back of his head.

‘No- this is Sk’jin, Hoseok is a little busy right now making up lies,’ Sk’jin hisses, ‘Pray, may I ask who this is?’

Hoseok grits his teeth, backing them and turning the Spardyti away from the drill-heads upwards past the tunnel they just exploded out of.

‘This is Amme, Sk’jin. It’s nice to hear from you again.’

‘You’re such a little -!’ Sk’jin hisses before saying, ‘Yes, the same to you Yisheng Amme. I hope you are doing well.  I hate you so much you ing shifter! Enough of the pleasantries Yisheng- if you might, you know, help us out? I hope this was your ing plan you ing -‘

‘If you would kindly lead them to me.’

‘What-?’

Hoseok cannot believe his eyes.

Standing towards the top of the massive crystal rock slope, the bright light of Grisial’s asteroids clustered all around her stood Amme.

Even from this distance her presence is overwhelming.

‘ing Spaces-‘ Sk’jin curses.

Hoseok steers them straight for the Yisheng.

All 3 drill-headed ships burst out, diving forward.

It’s the eeriest image Sk’jin has witnessed for a while.

Leaving behind her wake a surprised and slow fan of crystal dust, Amme darts forward, her many arms folded behind her.

‘She’s fucking firing herself at us-!’ Sk’jin screeches.

The lengths of the abilities and skills Yishengs had with their ability to channel or use surrounding life-force varied amongst themselves. The older you were as a Yisheng, the more powerful you became. And from what Hoseok knows, Amme has been around for a long long time.

Just at the last second, Hoseok sharply steers them to the left just as Amme shoots past. The force of her speed shaking the Spardyti, and to Hoseok’s absolute terror, thin but deadly sharp sheets of crystals peel off of the surface of this massive asteroid in her wake.

The Spardyti swivels, coming to lurching stop just in time for them to witness the crystal sheets expand in size and speed, bearing down on the drill-head ships. Amme comes to an unnaturally abrupt halt and not a second later, the massive drill-head ships collapse in heaps all around her.

There’s a clawing hand around Hoseok’s shoulder, Sk’jin’s fingers digging into Hoseok’s collarbones.

‘So, wanna tell me why you ing called Amme, the Yisheng to our location?’ Sk’jin snarls in his ear and it’s actually terrifying. ‘I always suspected that one of us might be in with the Special Jury- you played us really good Ngfy’widan.’

Hoseok really wouldn’t put Sk’jin past literally murdering him right now.

‘According to the timeline we were able to collect, we are missing information that only one Being could possibly have,’ Hoseok says calmly as Amme starts to walk towards them. The Yisheng ship slowly pulls up above her. ‘Amme was there with Yoongi. She clearly investigated Yoongi’s statement, his report. She was also involved with the Panel sent to treaty with Jimin’s System even if she wasn’t part of it. She was part of the delegation. I know this is risky Sk’jin- but trust me-‘

‘Why the should I trust you?’ Sk’jin sounds so appalled at the very idea.

Hoseok turns his head slightly to look the Khol’isa straight in the eyes.

‘You can kill me later if this doesn’t work.’ Hoseok tells him steadily. ‘But for now, please…please believe me.’

Sk’jin doesn’t waver, doesn’t look away- doesn’t even blink.

A pair of hands gently pull Sk’jin back. Jungkook’s eyes are wide as he watches them.

Sk’jin doesn’t say anything when he follows Hoseok out of the Spardyti.

‘Also, I’m not in league with any members of the Special Jury,’ Hoseok adds.

Sk’jin doesn’t even look at him. Instead he stands in front of Jungkook, as though hoping to hide him from view.

Amme is terrifying tall in all honesty. Hoseok can’t quite shake off the strange primal fear in him whenever he looks at her.

The Khhemsa were such a unique species- more predatory than anyone was comfortable acknowledging. Hoseok hasn’t had any experience outside of meeting with Amme when it came to her species. And he’s more than happy at that.

Jungkook steps out from behind Sk’jin to stare up at Amme, eyes wide as she approaches.

Three pairs of silvery eyes blink down at Hoseok.

He can’t help but shudder.

‘I received your message. I have come alone. Or-‘ one her arms gestures above her. ‘-with my personnel. You were difficult to find out here. A wondrous thing, being untraceable.’

What? Amme couldn’t track them?

‘I don’t trust you,’ Sk’jin spits out, eyes narrowed.

‘I am aware,’ Amme bows her bald head as though in apology. ‘We have not done much to gain the trust of the Khol’isa, let alone you Sk’jin of the Bloodmoon.’

Sk’jin’s eyes flare.

There’s a sudden cracking sound- sharp like thunder and somehow ancient sounding. But it’s not coming from below their feet like Hoseok was used to. Rather it seemed to echo out from all around them.

There’s a sudden violent flare of neon green- all of Grisial’s light turns bright green as a hollow voice rings out, shapes forming the voice.

‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE-‘

Hoseok feels himself being dragged aside roughly just as Taeh’yung suddenly appears before them like a bolt of lightning, standing right in front of Amme.

‘What are you doing here little one?’ Taeh’yung asks, head tilted curiously.

‘I could ask you the same, the Fifth of the First,’ Amme replies, nonplussed by how the air is green.

As though in delayed reaction, the ground cracks seconds later, chips flying up around the two. The reflections on the shards show more than just Taeh’yung and Amme as the green light intensifies.

‘You’ve made Jinnie upset,’ Taeh’yung sing-songs.

Hoseok is alarmed at how the ground begins to vibrate and tremble. Sk’jin is pushing Hoseok and Jungkook behind himself.

‘Tae-‘ Sk’jin tries desperately, real fear pushing into his voice as he addresses the Zhak’gri. ‘Taeh’yung I’m fine-‘

‘Tsk tsk,’ Taeh’yung’s voice echoes, ‘I thoughhhttt wwweeee tttaaaauuuuuuuggggghhhhhttttt yyyyoooooooouuuuu bbbbbeeeeettttteeeeeerrrrrr-‘

Taeh’yung’s voice echoes slow the same way his hands move slowly, veined copper and shining bright with shapes in vibrant green crossing all over. To Hoseok’s absolute alarm, Taeh’yung has actually stretched up to Amme’s height, his features lengthening.

A Heliord blade handle flies through and smacks Taeh’yung right against the side of his face.

The Zhak’gri’s head turns- his expression is wild- a grin unnaturally wide stretches over his face.

But almost just as suddenly, Taeh’yung returns to normal just as strangely as he had appeared before them.

Hoseok’s ears are ringing from the pressure, stumbling backwards from the strange seized restraint over his body.

‘JIMINIIIIEEEE!!’ Taeh’yung squeals, running away and over towards the back.

Amme coughs, blood splattering through her slightly exposed glass-like teeth. Sk’jin is panting for air and Jungkook pushes past them, hurrying past them.

‘Where did you find him?’ Amme asks, eyes blinking out blood.

‘…here and there,’ Sk’jin pants out.

Finally gaining control over his body, Hoseok turns to find Jimin and Yoongi. Behind them a mining Transporter of sorts. They both look terrible, visibly coloured in blood and crystal dust. Taeh’yung has just dropped Jimin to hug Yoongi who doesn’t even try to fight it, eyes focused on Amme.

Jungkook reaches Jimin, hugging him tight, his face pushed to his neck. Jimin looks completely disheveled, even from this distance Hoseok can immediately tell his profound confusion at what he was witnessing.

‘You have recovered many odd ones.’

Recovered?

‘One of them was hand-picked by your lot so you can’t say much,’ Sk’jin snaps before adding, ‘Where the is Namjoon?’

Amidst everything else, Hoseok had entirely forgotten about Namjoon.

As Jimin and Yoongi approach, with a lot of apprehension and confusion, it’s the first question Jimin asks.

‘Where is Namjoon?’

‘Oh Spaces how could we have lost that tall idiot?’ Sk’jin sighs as he slaps the NaviLet aggressively against his palm before angrily chucking it down on the ground.

‘I do not sense Namjoon here,’ Amme voices out quietly, adding to Jimin's increasing look of worry.

‘What? Pa?’ Taeh’yung looks so distraught and childish, and so entirely normal that Hoseok wonders if he had just hallucinated what he saw. But the cracks on the ground and the continued bleeding from Amme’s nostrils as well as bloodied tears were there to remind Hoseok of what just happened 2 minutes ago.

‘We can track him-‘

‘-did you ing poison us again you squat bastard-‘

‘-we-…we should go-‘ Jimin says hesitantly. ‘It’s not…-it’s not safe. Not here I-‘

‘Hey, listen you tiny punk-‘

‘Jimin believes with good reason that the Omhlophe are able to sense and track him,’ Yoongi says tersely, not looking at Amme. ‘We believe it’s how they got to us here.’

‘Oh for ’s sake why am I here-‘

‘It would be for the best if we leave aboard my ship,’ Amme cuts across, dabbing at her many bleeding points with the ends of her Yisheng robes. ‘I can take you where you need for the next step of your journey.’

'What about Namjoon?' Sk'jin demands. 'Where the is he? Weren't you with him? How are you here?' he pointedly asks Jimin. Yoongi's about to answer but Sk'jin cuts him off with a hand, 'No- I'm asking Little Prince here. Where's Namjoon?'

'The- the Omhlophe over-number us. Me, Namjoon- and...and-the GI,' Jimin stops, opening his mouth and then closing, before continuing on, 'In short- short explanation, the Omhlophe only want me. Not Namjoon, not GI- not anyone. Just me-'

'Oh Spaces, why is everyone so noble,' Sk'jin hisses, slapping his own face, 'You ing took off, hoping to draw those white-s away from Namjoon right?'

Jimin's head is bowed but he nods.

Sk'jin grimaces.

'So Namjoon is with the GI? And they didn't hurt him?' Hoseok questions, 'But they tried to kill Yoongi?'

Sk'jin lowly mutters, 'I'd try to kill Yoongi too.' but it's ignored.

'I believe it's better to have this discussion inside- I do not believe your presence can be explained nor can mine,' Amme interrupts in. 'We are also inviting speculation and observation by standing out here in the open. Namjoon may be quite safe, if what Jimin has said and sensed is right. We may be able to reconnect with him soon, he is after all, the best the GLA had to offer.'

Everyone just stands still, eyeing Amme with apprehension.

This is when you needed Namjoon.

Hoseok grimaces and nods, taking a step forward.

Amme bows her head towards them again before turning around. Her tail drags behind her, leaving faint marks alongside clawed prints. Again, this was very unsettling.

Hoseok walks after Amme, stopping only because the others hadn’t moved yet.

Grisial somehow looks less beautiful- tarnished almost, as though the effects of those who came here tainted it somehow. It makes Hoseok’s palm burn.

He’s about to open his mouth to say something, when Sk’jin begins to walk towards him.

He’s quickly followed by Jungkook, then Taeh’yung, Jimin, and then Yoongi.

‘Can’t we ask Amme to get the Užkulisai? I’m sure we could run repairs while we’re waiting inside that,’ Sk’jin says as he nods towards the massive ship above them. A smaller Transporter was waiting for them.

‘The Užkulisai was taken by the Omhlophe,’ Yoongi reports quietly from behind them.

‘The drillers they sent after us must have been a distraction,’ Sk’jin says quietly as they all huddle together and walk. ‘They took the ship and then left while the Yisheng was preoccupied.’

‘What about others?’ Jungkook asks quietly and nervously. ‘What about Namjoon?’

‘How are two Beings from the same group getting themselves kidnapped?’ Sk’jin complains under his breath.

‘He’ll be okay,’ Taeh’yung says with so much confidence Hoseok almost believes him. ‘I got too distracted. I wanted to play, and I didn’t notice those filths and their smaller ships.’

‘Filths?’ Jimin repeats, eyebrows raised up.

‘Hm!’ Taeh’yung swings his arms. ‘Disgusting stench. Blew them apart far away.’

Jimin blanches, his feet stopping.

Yoongi pauses too, hand reaching out as though to catch Jimin.

‘You what?’ Jimin breathes out, blinking rapidly, pulling his hand out of Yoongi’s, taking a step ahead.

‘Blew them apart,’ Taeh’yung grins, a hint of madness in his eyes.

‘That ship- that ship was carrying them.’ Jimin whispers, eyes wide as he stares at Taeh’yung in shock, anger, and horror. ‘Taeh’yung that ship was-‘

‘Do you finally see it now, little one,’ Taeh’yung asks, voice low. ‘Do you see what comes from losing yourself?’

‘I gave myself to the duty I was born into!’ Jimin snaps, eyes ablaze as he takes another step closer, ‘Do not speak to me of the responsibilities that I have shouldered from the reddened darkness that stole my children through the endlessness of their Memories!’

Taeh’yung is unmoving, his gaze unwavering and gleaming.

‘I did not lose because I chose to give it away, Zhak’gri, nor did I run away,’ Jimin hisses the words straight at Taeh’yung, ‘It was taken from me.’

The silence is thick with tension, a strange sparking anger simmered in the air and Hoseok is not sure how much he was going to be able to withstand if both Jimin and Taeh’yung lost it.

‘It was taken from me, and then it found me,’ Jimin takes a step back, the air lifting, ‘And I will take it back.’

All of the anger then strips away from Jimin.

‘I do see it now,’ Jimin adds. ‘Will you help me?’

All eyes are on Taeh’yung.

‘I made a promise to help,’ Taeh’yung grins as though Jimin hadn’t just pretty much lectured him. ‘He would want me to stick with you.’

Jimin accepts this odd answer and nods, giving the Zhak’gri a small smile before they both walk towards Amme’s Transporter.

‘What in Spaces-‘ Sk’jin begins as Jungkook nervously shifts next to them.

‘Jimin said something to me,’ Yoongi says quietly out of nowhere, watching Jimin’s retreating figure.

‘He said I was bound to the Fate of the Menigišiti.’

‘Isn’t he that?’ Sk’jin asks as they walk towards the Transporter as well.

Yoongi nods.

‘What does it mean?’

‘I don’t know.’

Sk’jin exhales exasperatedly before walking forward as well. Jungkook follows him, not before shooting Hoseok a wide-eyed look.

‘It’s good to see you,’ Yoongi says out of nowhere.

‘Oh- you too,’ Hoseok replies out of reflex, a little too taken aback to say anything more.

‘I was going to call Amme myself. You did it before I could.’

‘What?’ Hoseok suddenly feels relieved. He had sent an emergency message to Amme through the NaviLet right before the Omhlophe ship had descended down on him. It was all he could think of.

‘I was thinking about it ever since-…ever since I uh, woke up,’ Yoongi says quietly. ‘I think she’ll be able to tell us what’s happened during the time I was, well not awake.’

‘I really hope we’re right.’

Author’s Notes

SO

It feels weird to have time to write

Like

What is this

Idk

And thank you to all the people who commented for the previous chapter ^_^

The upcoming chapter is gonna be, mildly put, eye opening and lots of ‘OH I SEE’

Things from AMULGOE will also be answered and explained!

But I am sorry to all my readers who are/might be confused. As a writer I always try to make my writing clear with the plot and story, and while I do want to maintain a sense of mystery and confusion relevant to the story and how the characters are feeling I don’t want to completely leave any of you in the blind either. I will do my best in writing even more now, and hope that it can be more understandable and still thrilling and entertaining.

Also welcome back Amme, my favorite character design ever.

I hope you all enjoy!!