title, y o u  a g r e e d  a n d  n o w  i ' m  a  s p a r k l i n g  s t a r  d o t t i n g  y o u r  s k y  (a n d  i ' l l  l o v e  y o u  u n t i l  i  f l i c k e r  o u t)

>> vmin / angst\fluff / cap / 4.1k / tw: torture / a.n: so here's part two to my witch!au (chapter 72 i think) for sea that's so much longer than the first part lmao

Taehyung was right.

That's all Jimin could think as soon as four rough, heavily built men walked up to him with scowls painting their hard features. The vikings had found out. Jimin smiles sadly and doesn't put up a fight when two hands grasp his biceps too tightly, and doesn't struggle when they drag him away from the tent he just came out of (he had a feeling someone saw him snatch a few pieces of cheese and bread from the dinner table). Taehyung was right about the vikings finding out, Taehyung was right about Jimin getting into trouble. Taehyung was right about how Jimin shouldn't be doing what he does, but Jimin doesn't regret it.

No, Jimin doesn't regret it even when his shirt is roughly ripped off then knocked out onto his knees, two of the four men holding each of his arms. Jimin doesn't regret any of it even when there's a hard torture whip slamming into his back. It hurts; it hurts like a , but Jimin doesn't show his pain. Jimin bites his bottom lip and his body jerks forward with every swing. Jimin makes sure not to show any of pain because that only satisfies them. He notices how the swings become harder as who ever is beating him tries to force tears out of his eyes and screams out of his throat.

But he doesn't give them what they want. He should, not crying when his body desperately wants to only makes them angry and they're going to bump up the punishment, but crying and screaming will only show that he's weak and that he regrets his actions. He regrets being the only one with a heart, regrets giving these poor people food and comfort. But he doesn't regret it, so he doesn't show his pain.

Jimin doesn't regret any of it, so he closes his eyes when he hears the sharp cling of a chain and he presses down harder on his bottom lip until he tastes blood when he feels a sharp, cold sting on his back. Jimin hisses deep in his throat, eyebrows furrowing and he releases his lip only because he's scared he'll bite it off. He knows it is bleeding, he knows it is swollen, and it's probably some unnatural, but he doesn't care.

The chain doesn't rip his skin with each snap on his back like the whip did, but it hurts almost fifty times worse. It's almost three minutes later when there's so much pain, it's like he's numb. It is not difficult to hold back his tears and screams, because he feels almost nothing anymore. There is just a subtle sting covering his entire back and Jimin's eyes fall half lidded, panting lightly.

The sting softens when the chain is removed, but then it feels like thousands of tiny needles tapping against his skin when the chain is back. The beating lasts for five more minutes before the bruising grip of hands leave him and he hisses when they kick dirt into his wounds. He listens to their footsteps and only then, when they are gone and the night is silent, he lets a tear trickle down his cheek. Jimin whimpers when he pulls himself up to stand.

He is weak and his back and wrists hurt where it should be unbearable, he should be passing out, but he needs to see Taehyung. Jimin needs to make sure Taehyung is okay because he heard one of the guards shout at him a few moments before those guys showed up and took him away. Jimin only has strength because the thought of Taehyung being beaten, trembling and hugging himself waiting for him, and only crying more when he doesn't show up scares him. Jimin pictures Taehyung by himself, back bleeding and body trembling, and it's enough for him to lift each foot to start walking towards Taehyung's tent.

Jimin looks down at his wrists and they are both deep red with purple splotched in the middles. He dips his chin towards his chest to look at both of his biceps and they are both a light red. Jimin sighs, raising a hand to swipe his fingers lightly along his shoulder and he frowns at the crimson painting the pads. Thank God they only knew about this one night; who knows what they would have done if they found out he has been doing this for years.

"," he mutters when he almost trips. He only makes sure he has proper balance for a few seconds before walking again.

He ignores how much it hurts and how much he wants to break down and cry, and he thinks about Taehyung to distract himself. Taehyung's smile, Taehyung's laugh, Taehyung's gentle touches, Taehyung. Jimin paints every corner of his mind with Taehyung, and it's suddenly just a little easier to hold himself up and walk.

It's three minutes later when Jimin is in front of Taehyung's tent. Jimin doesn't hear any whimpering or crying and it makes his eyebrow knit together. He bites his lip, hissing and immediately letting go from the pain that covers his lower face. He raises a hand to smoothly pulls the flap open, quickly moving inside and dropping the flap.

Taehyung is pacing back and forth, thumb between his teeth and almost trips a few times over the chains binding his ankles. Jimin smiles at the sight, but frowns at the scratch on Taehyung's left cheek. He takes a few steps closer and Taehyung's head lifts, eyes widening. All Taehyung can see is the red and purples circles wrapped around Jimin's biceps and wrists, Jimin's bloody and swollen bottom lip with teeth marks, and some blood on Jimin's shoulder.

"J-Jimin?" Taehyung whispers, looking down and eyes going even wider at the amount of blood dripping from Jimin's back. "Oh my God, Jimin, what happened?"

Jimin simply places a hand on Taehyung's injured cheek and Taehyung wants to slap him for the worried look on his face when he's the one bleeding and looking like he can hardly hold himself up. "Tae, are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

Tears fill Taehyung's eyes and his eyebrows shoot up, taking Jimin's hand from his cheek gently squeezing it with his own. "I-I'm fine, but you shouldn't be worried about me; you-you're bleeding!"

"I'm okay," Jimin smiles, but Taehyung doesn't believe him and tries to step around Jimin.

Jimin places his hands on Taehyung's shoulders and keeps him from seeing. "I'm okay."

"Let go, Jimin." Taehyung whispers and Jimin is surprised by the serious, deep tone Taehyung uses. Jimin's smile drops and he looks down, moving his hands from Taehyung's shoulders. Taehyung studies Jimin's expression before moving behind him and he gasps, hands moving to his mouth and tears falling. Jimin's back is red from pressure and blood, and there's almost fifteen thick rips in his skin from the whip, purple, green, red and slightly yellow bruises everywhere not red from the chain.

Taehyung releases a sob, walking up to Jimin and places his hands on his hips. He presses his forehead to the back of Jimin's neck and his body shakes from his silent cries. "Ji-Jimin, how d-did this happen? Wh-Why are you..?"

"Someone saw me sneak cheese and bread from the table, and when I came out from Minah's tent, four guys came up to me." Jimin answers in a quiet voice, like he didn't want Taehyung to know why he was tortured not even five minutes ago.

Taehyung whimpers, gently turning Jimin around and placing his hands on Jimin's cheeks. The blonde opens his mouth to speak, but a quiet sob is all that escapes him and he leans down to bury his face into Jimin's neck. Jimin doesn't like hearing Taehyung cry, especially over him, but he can't do anything about it, so he simply wraps his arms around Taehyung's waist. "Tae.. I'm fine."

"Don't," Taehyung breathes and lifts his head. "D-Don't ing lie to make me feel better, Jimin. I-I'm crying because.. I don't like seeing you in pain. I c-can't imagine how it felt. W-What did they use?"

"The torture whip they only use for bad cases, and a chain." Jimin mutters, looking away.

Taehyung's eyes widen and he wraps his arms around Jimin's shoulders, mindful of some of the bruises that crawl up to there. "Oh, baby. Baby, J-Jimin, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Jimin smiles and trails his fingers up and down Taehyung's spine.

Taehyung's lips press together and he stares at Jimin. Taehyung can't understand how Jimin is still able to smile, still able to say everything is okay even like this. Taehyung can't understand how Jimin can be so incredibally caring and selfless to still put Taehyung before himself even like this. Anger starts bubbling in Taehyung's stomach, and Jimin sees it. It's red and bright so Jimin presses his lips to Taehyung's for a few seconds. "Calm down, Tae, it's okay. Honestly. Baby, relax."

"It's not ing okay, Jimin." Taehyung snaps and Jimin jumps. Taehyung frowns, pulling Jimin into his chest and hugging him as gently as he can. "It's not okay, Jimin. You're injured really badly and in a lot of pain. It's not okay."

Jimin's lips drag down into a frown, but he doesn't try to fight Taehyung and stands in Taehyung's embrace. They stand for a few moments before Taehyung pulls away and stares down at Jimin. The brunette bites his bottom lip, jumping and releasing it. Taehyung frowns, raising a hand from Jimin's hips to run the backs of his fingers over Jimin's cheek. "I hate that I can't help you, Jimin."

"Tae, this isn't the first time I've been beaten." Jimin laughs in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Taehyung's expression is still hard and pain shoots through Jimin's chest, biting his tongue to keep him from cringing. He sighs. "It's fine, TaeTae."

Taehyung's frown manages to get deeper and he presses his forehead to Jimin's. "Stay with me tonight."

"I can't," Jimin whispers, closing his eyes. "They'd kill me if they were to see me sleeping with a prisoner."

"They've already beaten you." Taehyung hardly lets Jimin's sentence fall from his swollen lips. "I won't let them touch you again."

"Tae," Jimin says, but possessiveness flashes in Taehyung's eyes so Jimin quiets and looks down. Taehyung sighs, kissing Jimin lightly and pulls away three seconds later. "They won't touch you again."

Jimin frowns and he doesn't know how Taehyung is going to protect him when his wrists and ankles are bound with magic-laced shackles, but nods anyway. Taehyung carefully leads Jimin over the thin sheet and flat pillow in the corner. "On your stomach," he whispers and Jimin complies.

Taehyung almost starts crying again as he stares at the wounds on Jimin's back, but the anger laying low lashes out again and he has to force himself not to punch every single viking here. He rips a small piece off of his sleeve, wishing he had something else because his shirt is dirty from being denied clean clothes and bathing more than once every month the seven years he's been here, but daps gently at the blood anyways.

Jimin gasps, body jerking and whimpering. Taehyung moves his free hand to Jimin's and gently squeezes. "Squeeze my hand if you need to, baby."

Jimin gives a weak nod, other arm underneath his head and pressing against his closed eyes. Taehyung watches Jimin silently for a few more seconds before continuing to remove any blood on Jimin's back. The brunette twitches and whimpers at almost every touch, and starts crying after a minute. The anger filling Taehyung rises at this and he accidentally squeezes Jimin's hand too tightly.

"T-Tae," Jimin whispers, fingers twitching. Taehyung immediately loosens his grip. ", sorry."

Jimin shakes his head slightly in response, body tensing when Taehyung continues cleaning his back. It's two minutes later when Taehyung is satisfied, tossing the bloodied cloth behind him. He releases Jimin's hand and grabs the tattered blanket Jimin had given him three years ago, folding it and gently presses it against Jimin's wounds to stop the little bit of bleeding still happening and to keep anything from going inside to raise the chance of infection higher than it already was.

Jimin hisses, but quiets down soon after. Taehyung lays down beside Jimin and raises a hand to push through Jimin's damp, brown hair. Jimin raises his head to looks over at Taehyung and the blonde frowns at the tears in his waterline. "Baby," he mumbles before kissing Jimin's cheek.

Jimin smiles weakly, moving his arm closest to Taehyung to wrap it around his waist. Taehyung moves closer to Jimin and presses his forehead to his temple. Jimin moves his head so his cheek is against the pillow, staring up at Taehyung. The blonde raises a hand to run the pad of his index finger along Jimin's cheek bone lightly. Jimin's smile widens slightly and he closes his eyes when Taehyung's fingers move into his hair like before. Taehyung leans a little closer to press his bottom lip to Jimin's top one lightly.

Jimin manages a weak giggle, opening his eyes again. Taehyung shakes his head, tilting his head down so their foreheads are pressed together. "Go to sleep, Jiminie."

Jimin opens his mouth to argue, but Taehyung's eyes quickly harden into a sharp stare. Jimin closes his mouth, pouting a bit, but closes his eyes. Taehyung smiles and continues playing with Jimin's damp, thick hair. "Love you," Jimin mumbles.

"Love you." Taehyung responds with a small smile that drops after a few seconds when he lets his anger raise.

Jimin is forced awake by rough hands grabbing at his hair and arms, yanking him up and back. Jimin yelps, hands flying up to claw at the hands gripping him violently, hissing when the blanket peels off his back. Tears fill his eyes from the sting, but he ignores it and he looks around the room for Taehyung as the vikings drag him out of the tent. His eyes connect with Taehyung's wide, terrified ones as two males hold him still. Jimin opens his mouth to call Taehyung's name, but a knee slams into his back, and how it quickly moves back it shows it was an accident, but Jimin still cries out in pain, head dropping.

Taehyung's eyes widen and he thrashes in their holds more because he needs to get to Jimin and now. Jimin leaves Taehyung's vision and Taehyung feels a panic attack clawing at him. And then Jimin cries out in pain again, but this time, his scream echoes in Taehyung's head. His scream wraps around Taehyung's senses and Taehyung pants, breath short and painful. Taehyung's vision whirls like everything is spinning and he's standing still.

And then the vikings that were holding him are on the ground, bones pressing disgustingly against their skin like the joints just.. dislocated. Taehyung pants heavily, looking down at their bodies and stares. He stares for a few seconds, unblinking and chest heaving, before his wide eyes move to his chains. He hears Jimin cry out again and he immediately jerks his wrists moving all three chains rust and fall off.

"Jimin," Taehyung whispers in panic, running out of his tent and looking around, following the sound of Jimin's cries. He runs as fast as he can, world tilting to the left then tilting to the right and he desperately tries to control his breathing. All he can think about is Jimin and Jimin being beaten even though he's the sweetest person Taehyung has ever met. It doesn't take long for Taehyung to arrive, a small path between two large tents, and he feels all his muscles tighten and his heart skip a few beats in horror at the scene he's faced with.

Jimin's arms are being held like before, but it's his chest being whipped with a torture whip. Jimin's back is bleeding again from the rough treatment, there's blood clumping some of Jimin's hair, and Taehyung can see tears running down Jimin's face, one cheek bright red as if he had been slapped.

And Taehyung immediately snaps, vision blurring into a dull mess and head going light. Next thing he knows, he's hovering over Jimin and all the vikings are on the ground, bones popping disgustingly in angles they shouldn't and blood coming from their eyes, mouths, ears, and noses. Jimin stares up at Taehyung, body shaking and Taehyung's doesn't miss the faint glimpse of fear that only lasts for a second. Jimin looks Taehyung over slowly. Taehyung kneels down in front of Jimin and all he wants is to wrap his arms around him, but he can't risk hurting him so he simply presses their foreheads together carefully. "Jimin, we're getting out of here."

"T-Tae," Jimin whimpers, but Taehyung kisses him. He pulls back a few seconds later.

"We're leaving."

"N-No, Tae," Jimin whispers, leaning away from Taehyung when he tries to kiss him again. "Taehyung! Yo-You're eye.. it.. it's blue."

Taehyung blinks in surprise, neck straightening in confusion and he raises a hand to his left eye, running his fingers along his lower lid. It's true; Taehyung's left eye is a bright, electric blue and slightly glowing. Taehyung bites his bottom lip before smiling at Jimin and gently lifting the older into his arms bridal style. Jimin gasps, clinging desperately to Taehyung's ripped shirt. Taehyung presses a kiss to the top of Jimin's head. "I'm going to heal you as soon as I get the right materials for the spell, okay?"

"O-Okay." Jimin mumbles, watching their path carefully and whimpering occasionally when the bounce of his body in Taehyung's arms from Taehyung jogging around the maze of tents becomes too much. Taehyung is forced to stop when their path is blocked and Taehyung frowns, looking down at Jimin. He presses a kiss to Jimin's forehead. "Close your eyes."

Jimin swallows, but nods and squeezes his eyes shut, pressing his face against Taehyung's neck. Taehyung smiles slightly before looking up at the vikings. He slides his arm holding Jimin's knees out to point his hand at the small group. He slowly folds his fingers inwards into a fist and, just like the others, all of their bones pop out of place and blood rivers out of their ears, eyes, mouths, and noses. Taehyung quickly readjusts Jimin carefully and runs as fast as he can out of the camp. He doesn't stop running until there's a tiniest bit of confidence they are deep enough in the forest.

"Okay, baby," Taehyung gently settles Jimin down by a tree, but not making him lean against it from his re-opened wounds on his back. "I'll be right back, okay? I'm just going to gather some items for a healing spell and I'll be right back."

Jimin whimpers quietly and nods. Taehyung wraps a hand around Jimin's neck and kisses him deeply, but the kiss only lasts three seconds. Taehyung dives in for another short kiss, and another, then kisses Jimin's forehead. "I'll be right back," he whispers before standing up and rushing away to find the items he needs as quickly as possible.

Jimin tries to curl up as he waits, but he yelps in pain and straightens. He breathes in shakily, tears falling down his cheeks ridiculously fast. Jimin grips his pants tightly and his body trembles with the amount of pain he's feeling; but he doesn't pass out. If he passes out, Taehyung will worry and Jimin doesn't want him to worry. Taehyung has his own problems, he doesn't need to stress himself worrying over Jimin. The brunette looks down at his lap and bites the inside of his cheek.

He's being so much trouble for Taehyung. He's made Taehyung worry his entire time here. Jimin whimpers quietly, gripping his pants tighter. He hears rustling and he jumps, tears moving faster and fear gripping his bones. He looks in the direction of the noise and can only watch in utter fear, but Taehyung emerges with various things tucked against his chest. Jimin sighs, relaxing. Taehyung moves forward, kneeling down beside Jimin and kissing him again. "I'm sorry I took so long."

"No, no, it's okay." Jimin smiles.

Taehyung frowns, but doesn't say anything and kisses Jimin's forehead before sitting beside him. He holds up a large mushroon cap, flipping it upside down and using a sharpened branch to dig into it until it somewhat resembles a bowl. Jimin blinks, watching Taehyung silently. The blonde looks up and grins. "I needed a bowl, and this was there, so.."

"How do you know it's not poisonous..?" Jimin asks quietly, eyebrows pushing together as he watches Taehyung drop random things (blades of grass, flower petals, a dead beetle).

"Research." Is all Taehyung says and Jimin doesn't press on.

He simply watches Taehyung use the same sharpened branch to mix everything together the best he can and then freezes, looking up at Jimin with a sad smile. "I.. I need some.. of your blood."

Jimin blinks one, twice, then smiles. He straightens and Taehyung leans closer, upset that all he has is a dirty branch, and, as gently as possible, smears some of Jimin's leaking blood onto it. Jimin twitches, eyes closing and inhaling deeply.

"Sorry," Taehyung mumbles, head ducking and mixes the blood on the branch into the gross mixture. Jimin nibbles the inside of his bottom lip, eying the mixture closely. Oh, he hopes Taehyung doesn't need to put that on him.

Taehyung lifts his head and smiles sweetly at Jimin and the brunette stares into Taehyung's blue eye. Taehyung notices, but he doesn't mind. The blonde pats Jimin's thigh gently before closing his eyes, his hands hovering over the mixture. The pads of his middle fingers circle the rim of the carved mushroom cap a few times and Jimin's body starts to feel tingly. He shivers immediately at the feeling and Taehyung seems to notice even with his eyes shut, gently nudging Jimin's thigh with his knee.

"I'm fine," Jimin whispers with a small smile, even though Taehyung couldn't see him.

Taehyung starts humming quietly and Jimin can tell it's another language he doesn't know. Taehyung hums in this language for another moment or two before Jimin's skin starts to crawl, like bubbles are under his skin and pushing towards the openings; his wounds. Jimin shivers and his body jerks at the severely odd feeling. He looks down and he watches as more and more of the bubbles (that could probably just be nothing, but the spell's side effect) build around the rips in his skin, blinking in surprise when everything slowly closes and goes back to its natural tan colour. Jimin thought it would hurt like a , but apparently not.

It doesn't take very long for Jimin to be completely healed. Taehyung bites his bottom lip before shooting forward, arms going around Jimin's neck. Jimin blinks in surprise, gasping quietly, but quickly hugs him back and presses a kiss to his neck. "It's okay, TaeTae. It's okay. I'm okay, you're okay. We're okay."

Taehyung presses closer to Jimin, slowly lifting his head and kissing him. Jimin smiles, one of his hands moving up to gently Taehyung's hair. "God," Taehyung breathes against Jimin's lips. "You don't know how happy I am to see you healthy again. Beautiful again."

Jimin blushes, looking down and nibbling hesitantly at his bottom lip. "Was.. I not beautiful before?"

Taehyung's eyes wide and he squeaks silently. "O-Of course you were, Min! I promise! I just... didn't like those injuries.."

"I'm just kidding." Jimin smiles, kissing Taehyung lightly. "But, Tae? How strong are you?"

Taehyung blinks a few times at the question before smiling. "You'll find out soon enough, baby."

"Tae," Jimin frowns, pressing his forehead to Taehyung's, but doesn't fight him. Not after the hell they just escaped. Jimin stares at Taehyung's bright blue eye. "It's beautiful, Tae. You're beautiful."

Taehyung grins shyly, burying his face into Jimin's neck. They stay like that, hugging in the middle of the forest with Jimin still shirtless, for quite some time, but when the sun starts to dip behind the horizon, Taehyung lifts his head with a smile. "Hey, Jiminie?"

"Yeah?"

"How about we go where ever you want to now?"

And Jimin smiles because maybe the thought of spending the rest of his life with Taehyung is a thought he enjoys. Maybe the thought of going where ever he wants—they want—with Taehyung is one he enjoys. Maybe he nods a little too happily in response. And maybe he'd follow Taehyung to the end of the world and beyond, because, maybe, he loves Taehyung with everything he is.