It was pitch black. I tried to call for help, but my voice would not come out no matter how hard I tried. My body radiated pain absolutely everywhere, and I was unable to move. My limbs were much too heavy for my tired and damaged muscles to bear. The only thing I could do was to simply lay there in the quiet, eternal darkness, and hope that I would be saved from this torturous existence.

    Moments passed, and as if by magic, a bright blue orb suddenly some luminously before my eyes. It beamed brilliantly as it drew closer to my face. I let out a small gap, it was all I was currently capable of. What was this thing?

    Upon opening my mouth from the grasping motion, the orb reached my lips, kissing them gently with a radiant and peaceful warmth. As if by instinct, my mouth opened wider and the spherical light slowly entered and began traveling down my throat. I felt the warm sensation of it trailing all the way down until it rested peacefully in my stomach. It is there that it stayed, unmoving, until the warmth expanded and spread itself throughout my whole being.

    My eyes grew heavy. I was much too tired to continue to stay awake. I drifted off into further darkness, my thoughts slowly fading away with my consciousness. I heard a deep, soothing voice.

    "I will save you, just as you have saved me."

What an interesting dream....

*Yoongi's POV*

    It was a relaxing night. Cicadas chirped their familiar song as I made my way through the forest that I had come to know all too well by this time in my existence.

    And why shouldn't I know it well? I have only roamed these dratted forests for a little over two centuries. I could really do for a drastic change in scenery, but that was currently not possible.

    You see, a little over two hundred years ago, a spiteful shaman put a cursed magical seal on one of the trees in this area to trap me here after he had lost all of his money to me in a game of Yut Nori. 

    I have been searching endlessly for the accursed tree ever since so that I could break the seal and free myself from this wretched place, but even after all of this time, I have sadly been quite unsuccessful in my quest thus far.

    I strolled through the fields and inspected the surrounding trees, kicking a rock or two that crossed my path out of sheer boredom. After a while, I began to hear the distant trickle of water. A shiver instantly ran through my being, making the hair on my tails stand on end. I hated water with a passion.

    It may sound strange coming from an immortal being, a Gumiho at that, but it is a very real fear. Not small amounts, but large amounts of water. The kind of water where your feet can't touch the bottom, and you are left thrashing and helpless. 

    When I was a much younger and inexperienced being, I was tricked by a Dokkaebi that wielded a golden mallet named Jungkook that he could give the powers to breathe underwater if I have him the rabbits that I caught for dinner.

    Needless to say, I fell for his trickery and attempted to utilize the new power by jumping into the deep part of a lake from a tree branch. I immediately realized my mistake, and my powers began to drain as I thrashed about the water, unable to swim. The purifying effects of the water took a large toll on me, and I nearly lost my divine powers that night. Never trust a Dokkaebi.

     I was luckily saved by a river nymph named Hoseok, and made a good friend out of him, but he was currently away for his yearly migration to cooler waters. Water nymphs tend to dislike the hot summer waters.

    I decided to visit his pond, which was the one that I had such a bad trauma with, but I missed his company and wanted to remember what it was like to have a friend around to talk to. I didn't have many individuals that I would consider a friend, which was a bit disheartening. Although, I do initially come off as a little abrasive to some, I can be a pretty cool companion if given the chance.

    I approached the edge of the water and skipped a couple of rocks off of it's surface, having flashbacks every now and again of the almost disaster that happened here those many years ago.

    Suddenly, in the darkness, I saw a faint red glint coming from the very tree branch that I had foolishly jumped from before.

    You have got to be kidding me...

    That old coot put the cursed seal on the very tree branch that he knew I was the least likely to check. The tree branch was centuries old, and hung over deepest part of the pond.

    I took in a deep breath, and fear screamed through my head as I began to painstakingly climb the old tree. I heard movement from the other side of the pond, but I brushed it off as an animal or something. Nothing was going to distract me from my goal. I must break the seal so I can finally be free!

    I finally reached the branch, and began to ever so slowly inch myself forward to the seal. All it would take is the simplest scratch of my claws to disfigure the carving and free myself. 

    I finally reached the little bastard, and allowed my human-like hand to produce a singular claw on my right index finger, which I used to then slash a long, straight claw mark all the way through it. I was finally free!

    However, as I began to slowly inch backwards from the branch to the safety of the trees trunk, the branch snapped, plunging into the dark abyssal waters below me, which in turn caused me to fall in as well.

    I was immediately filled with a sense of imminent doom as my powers began to drain. I did all I could to stay afloat, but the purification taking place was too strong, and my thrashing about was just draining my stamina even faster.

    After a few minutes, I began to sink. I was simply too drained. The water would not kill me, but I would be stuck down there in a catatonic state for eternity if I could not find a way out.

    I wish Hoseok were here... Hoseok would save me no matter what.

    My consciousness began to slip away more and more with each inch that I sank. I felt so weak... I could only scream for help in my head, a plea that I was sure that no one would be able to answer....

    I was startled as someone grabbed hold of me and pulled me to the surface. Was it Hoseok? It can't be! He is away for migration!

    I felt myself being pulled into the back of a small human frame. They were definitely human, I could tell just by the smell of them.

    They pulled me to shore after a bit of a struggle with the size difference, and a woman's voice rang through my ears like a bell.

    "Hello? Can you hear me? Wake up!" She spoke in a light, frantic voice as she lightly tapped me on the face.

     The only thing that I could manage to do is make a light grunting noise.

    A few moments later, the woman pulled me back onto her back and began running with me! 

    I really wish that I could tell her that there was nothing that she could do, and that I would be fine in a few minutes, but I could not yet produce a voice loud enough to alert her of that fact.

    You see, I have a mystical ball of energy within myself called a fox bead. It is why I was currently so weak, as the energy from it got drained. However, once I'm out of the water for a few minutes, the energy slowly returns until I am right as rain once again. It is the source of my immortality and my powers, and it is the thing in the universe that is most precious to me. More so than anything else.

    The girl continued to run, but after a while, I was strangely thrown from her back, and on to the ground in a flash. 

    I heard the snapping of branches, the sound descending lower and lower in mere seconds. The snapping of bone. The smell of blood... 

    Then only very faint, shallow breathing. 

    She fell. Because of me...

    I never had a good impression of humans. They are greedy creatures that only care for themselves...

Yet this woman... after saving me from the water, and running with my larger frame on her back... This woman just threw me off of herself so that I would not fall with her. She was willing to trade her short blink of a lifespan for someone she knew absolutely nothing about.

    I instantly made up my mind. The debt must be repayed.

    I lay on the ground for a few more minutes until I was able to move finally, since my powers returned fully.

    I lept from the cliff side without a second thought, landing with a barely audible thud. We Gumiho tend to be light on our feet.

    I approached the woman, looking down at her tiny, broken and bleeding frame. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing, and I could hear her heart beat faintly in her chest.

    I brought my mouth close to hers, and opened it. I summoned my fox bead from deep within myself, and allowed it to pass from my body to hers. It was the only way.

    "I will save you, just as you have saved me." I proclaimed with a small smile.
    
    My fox bead may be the source of my powers, but I can put it into a human for safe keeping. It will heal the human after so many days, but I must stay close to the person that it inhabits, otherwise the human could run away with it. That never ends well for either person involved.

    "I guess I'll be seeing a lot of you for a while."

    Now, we wait.