Chapter Text
First Flight
Jimin could barely sleep the whole night as he thought about the five minutes he was going to get to spend with Yoongi in the morning. The things he’d say to him during their first real conversation he had been dreaming of since he was twelve and realized Yoongi was the most beautiful thing on this earth. Jimin had never even thought about romance before or anything like that since he had always just explored the village and played like a child should with his best friend out in the fields and in the woods, but as soon as he saw Yoongi protecting his village from a swarm of dragons, something in him latched onto the idea of Yoongi being the perfect one for him and he had stuck with it ever since.
And he wasn’t going to stop until Yoongi finally at least acknowledge him or told him to give up.
But hopefully that would never happen because Jimin was so so so in love with him.
As soon as Jimin first heard two of the blacksmiths in their village getting to work in the early hours of the morning when the sun still hadn’t risen yet, hammering metal against a wooden table and shouting joking taunts at each other about their rivaling businesses, Jimin snapped awake and sat up quickly, not even having to blink away his sleep since he was so overwhelmed with the excitement that came from knowing he was going to get to talk to Yoongi one on one within the next hour or two.
He hopped out of bed and quickly put on his clothes for the day, wearing his best outfit since he wanted Yoongi to focus on him and only him as they spoke. He slipped on some black cloth pants and a white shirt that he had cut to make more revealing - his father had gotten mad at him for ruining a perfectly good shirt but he couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry for doing what he felt would catch Yoongi’s eye the most - and he draped a black fur cloak around his shoulders before also stepping into some black boots that tied around his calves.
This was the outfit he definitely wanted to marry Yoongi in.
Not that he had thought about their wedding before, but he definitely wanted to marry him in this exact outfit as they held hands over the black rocks on the shore where people were normally united in marriage. The sky would be partially cloudy so the sun was out but the air was still chilly enough for him to wear his cloak, the waves would be drumming softly against the rocks around them, and not a single dragon would be in the sky or the sea to ruin the moment.
Ok, so he had totally thought about every second of the wedding, and he was sure it was going to be the best moment of his whole life, but the first step was his first conversation with Yoongi and how well that went, so he hurried downstairs and made sure to keep quiet so his father wouldn’t wake up and stop him from going out. There was no way Namjoon would actually keep him here to prevent him from seeing Yoongi, but just in case his father did try to sit him down and talk to him about their unfinished argument last night, Jimin snuck around as much as he could because he didn’t want to risk missing his time with Yoongi because of that conversation.
When he reached the door and opened it up to the dimly lit morning of his quaint village on the shore, he hurried out without looking back, excited that he managed to get up and ready in time to be there before Yoongi so he could get his full five minutes with him. He headed off into the morning air, his black boots trekking across dirt trails and wet moss where the only thing keeping him from slipping was rocks in the road along the way.
The two blacksmiths of the village were still hammering away at weapons they were creating for the warriors of the village. Maybe one of them was making a new sword for Yoongi that Jimin could bring up during their conversation, and he could only imagine how amazing it was going to look in the viking's strong hands as he killed dragons and protected the people of his village. Jimin almost wished he could go to battle with him just to see for himself what that looked like, but he knew if he were to do anything out in battle with Yoongi, he’d want to fight alongside him and be a team…
That would be a dream come true for Yoongi to notice him as someone that was strong enough on his own to fight alongside him like a real future viking chief did.
Jimin ran up to the doors of the dining hall where no one else seemed to be yet. He knocked on the big wooden doors, and Taehyung opened up them up from the inside for him, the sunlight barely peaking over the ocean by the time he made his way inside and sat down at a table he knew would be away from any groups of vikings that could disturb his first conversation with the village dragon slayer. He cheerfully looked around the empty dining hall and asked with the sound of his voice echoing off the stone walls as he spoke, “Has he tried to sneak in yet to eat?”
“Nope!” Tae replied happily, “No one has come in and out of here except for the cooks and you!”
Jimin grinned and folded his hands together, “The plan is set then. I have a list of things I’m going to talk about, and I'm going to try to use two flirtatious lines one of the elders taught me.”
“Ooh, practice on me!” Taehyung sat down on the table and excitedly leaned forward, a smile playing on his lips until he heard Jimin excitedly say his line he was planning to use on Yoongi, “I lost my leg in battle. Guess what I’m walking on?”
Taehyung’s eyes widened, “Oh, so you’re getting right into the dirty stuff first thing?”
“I knew that one sounded too crude,” Jimin huffed and tried again, “Are you the night? Because my day isn’t complete without you~”
“Now that’s…. better,” Taehyung tilted his head side to side before hopping up from the table since he knew he would have to get to work soon, “Maybe you should just try being your actual self around him. Like… talk to him like you’re talking to me! Just don’t show him the whole fire thing.”
Jimin sighed and nodded his head, “So no flirtatious lines yet?”
“Or maybe ever?” Taehyung offered with a smirk. He ran his fingers through Jimin’s hair and assured him, “You’re hot; you don’t need pick up lines. I say you talk to him like a friend and see how it goes, and just don’t make it seem like you’re trying too hard,” the door to the dining hall opened up and Yoongi and Hoseok were the first ones in. They were laughing and shoving each other until Yoongi scanned the room and saw Jimin, his smile immediately falling.
Well this was awkward. Yoongi obviously didn’t want to see him.
Jimin wanted to just leave and try to talk to him later when he was a better mood to see him, but he was afraid that would never happen if they didn’t talk now. If Yoongi didn’t see the normal friendly side of him that Tae was telling him to be, he would forever think Jimin was just some annoying kid with a crush on him. He had to stay calm, stay happy, and stay seated until Yoongi fulfilled his end of the promise and sat with him for five minutes. He had to prove that he was so much more than what Yoongi thought he was.
He lifted a hand up at Yoongi to give him a small wave in which Yoongi only nodded at before turning away and making his way over to get a bowl of food. Taehyung ran over to the big stirring pot to help Yoongi quickly get his meal and send him on his way quickly over to Jimin so he wouldn’t waste time walking over slowly to the table. He quickly poured breakfast into Yoongi’s bowl and whispered, “He’s not going to obey his father’s wishes to marry Jungkook, so be nice to him and give him a chance.”
“He may not obey those wishes, but I will,” Yoongi grumbled back, but turned towards the table to make his way over to Jimin anyway. Hoseok started to follow him, but Taehyung quickly held him back and muttered out, “No, no, this is their time alone.”
“But Yoongi told me to stay by hi-!” Hoseok started to explain, but Taehyung’s grip on him tightened, “For the next five minutes, they are going to talk alone. You can stay here and eat or help me serve food, ok?”
Hoseok pouted for a moment but knew not to disrupt them as Yoongi wanted him too. He was Jimin’s friend after all and knew how much this probably meant to him, so he complied easily and sat down with a bowl of breakfast to eat while waiting for Yoongi to be done talking with Jimin. And Taehyung also sat beside him to wait, counting up to five minutes in his head to make sure Yoongi didn’t leave early and cut Jimin’s time with him short. He knew his best friend's chances with the dragon slayer were slim, but by-Odin if Jimin didn't get at least a fair shot with him right now in this five minute conversation, Tae was going to raise Hell.
Yoongi could feel the eyes of Hoseok and Taehyung boring into him, and he knew he shouldn’t have trusted Hoseok to help him out since he was too soft for the smaller viking that wanted to talk to him. He should have known that Hoseok would stay behind and let Jimin have what he wanted despite it being meaningless since there was an impending marriage that would keep them from ever being anything anyway.
Still though, Yoongi decided to keep up his end of the deal that took him by surprise, and he sat down to eat breakfast with Jimin. He was going to remain silent for as long as possible, but that was kind of hard when Jimin immediately started talking to him and asking him questions he was obligated to answer, “Good morning, Yoongi! What do you have planned today?”
Yoongi took a bite of his breakfast to make sure he finished his meal quickly so this conversation would end as soon as possible - Taehyung gave him a bigger serving than usual on purpose for this reason but he wasn’t going to complain about it - and answered the young future chief, “I’m going to go fishing. Also maybe run the shore with Hoseok to keep in shape.”
“Oh wow, that’s really cool,” Jimin smiled, “I’m going to go to the woods.”
“You’re not allowed,” Yoongi immediately replied, taking another bigger bite of his meal. This conversation needed to end faster.
“Ok, but are you going to stop me?” Jimin leaned forward, “You and I both know those woods aren’t dangerous. I should show you around sometime. I actually found a house-!”
“Namjoon says especially not to go near there,” Yoongi interrupted. “Trolls-!”
Jimin laughed, “You believe in trolls? He told me trolls live in the woods too, but I have yet to see any.”
Yoongi finally set down his bowl and shook his head, “And that’s where you’re wrong,” he pointed his spoon at Jimin and spoke gravely, “I was hunting with your father one day in those woods, and when we stumbled upon that house, he was so scared he teared up.”
Jimin’s eyes widened, “You think it’s the trolls?”
“Oh, I know so,” Yoongi’s expression turned grave serious, “What else could make a chief cry like that?”
Jimin knew the answer to that… but he was more focused on the trolls and Yoongi actually talking to him than the past his father seemed to want to forget but always remembered every time he looked at Jimin. A conversation about a house cursed with trolls was a weird first conversation to have, but he was just glad they were speaking to one another. He smiled and shrugged, “You’re so right. It must be trolls,” he leaned closer though, “But I’m still going out there. They don’t mess with me.”
“Probably because you’re friends with the little hell demons that even they fear,” Yoongi rolled his eyes and took a sip of water from his cup.
“I’m not friends with dragons, I’m just nice to the neutrals when I see them,” Jimin pouted but saw Yoongi starting to eat quickly again so he hurried to change the topic before his time ran out, “But I don’t want to talk about dragons with you. Yoongi. Why won’t you give me a chance?…. M-My father made it so men can marry if they so please, and I know you like men, so-!”
“I just don’t like you,” Yoongi decided he wasn't going to make it through the whole meal like this and quickly stood up, “I mean, I just don’t like you in that way. I’m glad that we could have this talk today so I can tell you that straight forward, but I need you to stop pursuing me. Jungkook wouldn’t want this, your father doesn’t want this, and neither do I.”
Jimin’s eyes widened, “What?…” he started to get up with him, “N-No, I’m going to get that fixed! I’m not going to marry him. I want to marry-!”
“Stop,” Yoongi demanded, staring Jimin down now with a warning glare. “You’re father is chief. Respect his decisions.”
Jimin fell quiet, knowing that he looked like that little kid with a crush right now that he strived so hard not to be. He looked down and stepped away from Yoongi, “If…” wow, this wasn’t going how he planned at all. In fact, he honestly thought they’d walk away from this talk holding hands and marching to his father to demand to be married, but instead…. instead Jimin was going to say something he’d regret since he knew it would make Yoongi mad and not want to be with him even more, but it had to be said, “If you don’t like me just say so, but don’t make me feel bad for not wanting to marry someone I don’t love.”
“You’ll learn to love him,” Yoongi sighed and turned around, signaling Hoseok to follow him out, “Come on, Hobi. Five minutes are up.”
“No they aren-!” Hoseok tried to say, but Yoongi cut him off, “You guys count too slowly. I had been counting in my head the whole conversation.”
Jimin glanced at Taehyung with a sad expression and Taehyung hurried over to his best friend to be with them as the two vikings walked out, Yoongi hurrying to leave the dining hall as Hoseok tried to keep up behind him, awkwardly trying and failing to talk him into stay a little longer. Yoongi was gone, and Jimin was so sure now that the viking would never see him the way he wanted to be seen….
And why did he feel so sick about this? It felt… It felt like he had chosen Yoongi as the one and only person he wanted to be with and now his only option was completely gone. But he had other options right? He could learn to love someone else as Yoongi suggested. Maybe he could go along with his father’s plans though that would definitely hurt Tae, or maybe he could find someone else on the island. Hell even Hoseok seemed like a better shot at this point. Yoongi just didn’t even seem the least bit interested in him now; not even as a friend.
Taehyung wrapped his arms around Jimin and patted him on the back when they were left alone in the dining hall, reassuring him, “Maybe this talk was just good confirmation that he’s not worth swooning over all the time. He’s kind of an ass in my opinion, don’t you think?”
Jimin nodded his head and sighed, “And yet for some reason I still want him.”
“It’s his eyes,” Taehyung frowned, “Good looks bring poor judgement, and his eyes are definitely the root of all evil. That’s probably why he never fails in battle. His enemies take one look into those things and have already lost.”
“Just thinking about his eyes make me love him again,” Jimin leaned on Tae, but Tae was not going to have this. His best friend was not going to continue to love an ass, so he needed to help him take his mind off of it all. “Hey, stop thinking about Yoongi. He doesn’t deserve to be in your head right now, but you know what you should do instead?”
“Wallow in my own self pity?” Jimin asked, his eyes widening in hope that Taehyung would just follow him back to the house and cuddle with him in bed as he whined about how Yoongi never even gave him the time of day despite his best efforts, but his best friend has something different in mind.
Taehyung grinned and shook his head, “Oh no… Something much better.”
Jimin grinned and leaned against Taehyung’s shoulder as they sat on their secret cliff that overlooked their village and the ocean, and he poked the stem of a pink flower into part of his crown he made a few minutes ago. He hummed a tune of an old song that had been stuck in his head from before he could remember and continued to decorate the crown that he and Taehyung were going to wear as they pretended to be princes of the forest later on that day to help distract Jimin from everything that happened this morning.
Taehyung tried to hum along to the tune Jimin was singing but kept missing notes and rolling his eyes about how Jimin’s tune changed every time he hummed that song on loop. It got so bad that Tae finally had to elbow him and complain, “Do you need someone to sing that song to you to jog your memory? You’re always changing up the tune, and it’s annoying when I try to harmonize with you.”
“Wait, do you know it?” Jimin turned to Taehyung with wide eyes, “I think my mother always sang it to me, but the memory is so foggy, I only remember barely a few notes.”
Taehyung's expression softened when Jimin mentioned his mother and how he only just barely remembered her singing to him so long ago. He thought about if he had ever heard a tune like it, maybe from his own parents, but he couldn’t remember a single thing about them so he shook his head and replied, “You’re the only one I’ve ever heard sing it. Maybe ask Chief Joon. I’m sure he remembers your mother singing it to you.”
“He doesn’t like talking about her,” Jimin bit his lip and looked down, finally straightening up to say with a huff, “I asked him a few months ago if he knew the song. I hummed it to him and told him the words had something to do with fire and war and dragons, but he claimed he didn’t know it which makes me so sure my mother was the one who always sang it to me. Or maybe she still sings it to me, and that’s why it’s always stuck in my head, you know?” he grinned and got up on his knees, “Like, every time she sings, her tune gets stuck in my head!” he fell back into the grass again and laughed under his breath, “She must be singing right now then.”
“Does Namjoon ever describe her?” Taehyung asked, having heard the description so many times though he knew this was a good distraction for Jimin right now.
He smiled and laid down in the tall grass beside his best friend and listened to him speak in a happy tone of voice that he always used when he tried to remember the other half of himself that had disappeared so long ago, “He describes her differently every time, and I always feel like he’s telling me lies about what she looked like. Like he’s hiding something important from me… But there was this one time when he was drunk from a victory feast and described her with tears in his eyes, and that was the one time I felt like he was actually telling the truth.”
Taehyung smile widened, “And? What did he say?”
“She had short hair and big eyes, pale skin and a burning gaze that intimidated him the first time they met. Her name was Jin which must be short for something more feminine, but that was the one time he had even given me her name and I have a feeling that won’t happen again,” he smiled to himself and continued, “Jin one time saved me from a dragon attack when I was only a year old, Jin made the worst jokes ever and had the loudest laugh that always made my father fear for predators being attracted to the noise and attacking us, and Jin never let me out of her sight… She loved me…. She still loves me,” he placed his hand to his dragon necklace that had been around his neck for as long as he could remember and frowned, “But I have a feeling I’ll never get to meet her.”
“Well if she’s alive then maybe she’s trying to make her way back to you right now,” Taehyung assured him. “If she’s singing then she must-!” Taehyung was cut short when he felt two strong hands grip onto his shoulders from behind and shove him down to the ground, causing him to gasp and shout out in fear before he looked up and saw who had pushed him down.
His eyes widened, “Jungkook, what are you doing here!?”
He struggled to get out of his death grip as the younger viking from a different clan laughed and continued to pin him down, “What if I was a dragon? I didn’t even try to sneak up on you two, but I could have totally eaten you if I wanted to!” he finally let Taehyung go and flopped down beside him in the mossy grass that was still damp from the last storm.
“You mean you don’t want to eat Tae?” Jimin asked with a smirk which caused Taehyung to smack him on his shoulder and Jungkook to cough awkwardly and ask as if it wasn’t obvious that he had just as big of a crush on Taehyung as he had on him, “So, future husband, how are you today?”
“Oh, are you Yoongi?” Jimin asked, “Because he’s my future husband.”
Jungkook’s eyes widened and he perked up a bit, “Wait did you get your father to agree to call this whole idea off? Because no offense, but I’d rather our clans fall into war than marry you.”
“Oh no offense taken because same here,” Jimin nodded his head eagerly, “I’d much rather marry a dragon killing hunk than a village idiot.”
“Actually I’m the future chief of the neighboring tribe who is the best hunter on this island and has twice as many muscles as Yoongi,” Jungkook coughed and looked away as if he wasn’t the one to compliment himself.
Taehyung laughed awkwardly, not knowing what to say in this conversation since he was just that one person watching his two best friends who were both future chiefs being forced to marry each other talk about how much they’d prefer to be with someone else. Jimin obviously wanted to be with Yoongi, but who did Jungkook want to be with? It must be someone from his own clan since Taehyung couldn’t think of anyone from this clan that interacted with Jungkook enough for him to be in love with them… Taehyung didn’t even know who his competition was, but he already he knew he was jealous of them more than anything.
He coughed and spoke up nervously, not sure if saying this would make his crush obvious for Jungkook, but he took a chance anyway and said, “I think Jungkook is definitely more charming than Yoongi, Jimin. I bet he also treats the person he loves with respect and kindness which is something Yoongi doesn’t do,” he gasped and turned to Jungkook, “Kook, you’ll have no idea what happened this morning! Ohh, you're going to kill Yoongi.”
“Weren’t we trying to forget it?” Jimin whined, but Jungkook's expression brightened in interest so Taehyung had no choice but to continue to spill about what happened earlier that day, “Yoongi and Jimin sat down to talk at breakfast for five minutes because Jimin won a bet and earned it yesterday, and Yoongi just flat out tells him it’s never going to happen and that he should respect his father’s decisions and not his heart!”
Jungkook gasped and turned to Jimin, “He did not! How are you still smiling? The love of your life is a douchebag!”
“Or just extremely loyal to my father which I can respect-!” Jimin started to excuse his crush’s harsh reactions but Jungkook quickly interrupted him while wrapping an arm around Taehyung and saying, “No, we will not allow you to keep liking him when he treats you like this! As your best friends,” Taehyung’s face was a deep red right now as Jungkook pulled him closer and continued, “we have to help you move on. I have people in my clan that you might like? We should all go on a field trip to meet my hotter and nicer friends, so that Jimin can find a new love interest and-!”
“Make Yoongi jealous!” Jimin’s eyes widened with realization, “Oh my gosh, Kook, you’re a genius!”
“Uh no, I was going to say you could fall in love with someone from my clan because I’m in love with someone from your clan and-!”
“You’re in love with someone from our clan?” Taehyung’s eyes widened. He pulled away from Jungkook and opened his mouth to ask him who it was and why he hadn’t mentioned it before, but before he could, the smell of smoke filled the air and the sky became darker as the sound of roars and screams suddenly reached them from their little village on the shore.
The three friends turned to the direction of the village and froze in fear when they saw where all the smoke was coming from. Fire. Lots of it. And they couldn't see well from where they were, but they were sure they knew what was going on. The worst but most possible scenario that every village feared.
Dragons were attacking.
Jimin cried out softly from behind Taehyung and Jungkook and stepped towards the edge of the cliff where he would be able to see the shore better, muttering to himself as fear swept over him like a wave of nausea, “Appa…”
“Jimin, let’s go to my village that is deeper in the mountain where it’s safer,” Jungkook started to say, but Jimin shook his head and started to slowly step towards the trail that led down to the village when he saw a large dragon towering over their village with what looked like twenty other dragons behind it, either circling the village in the air or crawling up from the sea and onto the shore line where people were already fighting. Jimin couldn’t see who exactly was on the front line right now, but he knew Namjoon and Yoongi were always the first to be out there protecting the village.
He held his hand to his heart and watched as the bigger alpha dragon that led the group set fire to part of the forest on the other side of the village before roaring at the other dragons to proceed to attack. Jimin couldn’t just leave for safety. Everyone thought he was weak because his father protected him but he knew he had something that none of the members of his clan had. He had the power of fire.
It wasn’t that powerful since he could only produce a spark and sometimes a small flame, but it was definitely something more than what the others had.
And no future chief should ever leave their clan to save himself when they were dying off and struggling.
Without a second thought, he darted way from the cliff and into the woods that led to his village while shouting out to Jungkook, “Go take Tae to your clan for safety! I’ll be right there, but I need to make sure my father is safe first!”
“Jimin you’re going to get yourself killed!” Taehyung shouted at him, starting to run after him until Jungkook suddenly grabbed him and held him close to keep him from also risking his life in the battle that had sprung up on their village so suddenly.
Jimin was already running down the mountain with no chance of being stopped by his two best friends. Jungkook was scared he was going to lose a friend today, and even though Taehyung knew the power Jimin held, he couldn’t help but fear that as well.
Jimin could care less though that he was running face first into danger with only his puny fire powers and a small dagger attached to his hip. He was watching dragons of all sizes and shapes attacking his village and all he could think about was how he needed to save his father and Yoongi. He needed to fight alongside them and help them win, because he’d rather die with them than live and be without his clan. Namjoon could get mad at him all he wanted, but he wasn’t going to stand on the sidelines or hide anymore. He was going to fight with his people because he was one of them too.
He didn’t stop running until the air was dark with black smoke and the sky looked like it was night even though it was barely lunch time. He could hear the growls and snarls of dragons all around him the closer he got to his village, and he could feel the heat of their fire itching through his clothing and wrapping around his skin. The dragons were capable of killing him. They were capable of eating him or tearing him to shreds just for the sake of it, but he wasn’t going to turn back around.
When he spotted Hoseok emerging from his house on the outskirts of the village with an axe in hand and a shield in the other, he ran up to him and quickly asked, “Have you seen my father? I need to help you guys!”
“Woah, no, Jimin, you need to go somewhere else,” Hoseok hurried to grab Jimin before he could run off, “The dragons decided to take the battle to us this time, so you need to head to Jungkook’s clan. You’ve been there, so you know the way, right?”
“I-I’m not going to run and hide like al-!”
“Look, I don’t have time to argue, just go get somewhere safe!” Hoseok pushed him in the direction of the woods again and ran out towards the shoreline to quickly kill a dragon that had spotted the both of them and was running at them.
Jimin watched with wide eyes as the dragon with red scales and sharp white eyes screamed at Hoseok in a high pitched tone and open it’s mouth to shoot fire at him, but Hoseok cut its head off before it could do anything. Jimin gasped and stepped back, feeling like he was going to throw up from witnessing the creature’s death even though it was trying to kill his friend and his clan. He shouldn’t feel bad for the poor thing, so why did he feel absolutely devastated about the lost life? Why did he feel like it didn’t deserve to die so suddenly like that?
No, he couldn't let himself dwell on stuff like this. A good viking never dwelled on anything at all, and he knew he was going to see much worse stuff going into the village, so he had to stay strong and be prepared for that.
He moved on and headed deeper into the village before Hoseok could stop him, walking through the smoke and the fire towards the shoreline to try to find his father and crush.
“Appa!” he called out, cupping his hands around his mouth to let his voice carry out more, “Appa! Yoongi! Where are you!?”
A dragon scurried past him on all fours but didn’t attack since it was too occupied with raiding the houses for vegetables and dead animals rather than feasting on the flesh of vikings. It was probably a neut dragon anyway that came out from the forest to take advantage of the stronger dragons attacking the village and distracting the humans. Jimin was angry the dragon was coming out of nowhere to steal from them, but it really was the least of his worries at the moment.
He had to focus on one thing at a time right now.
“Appa!” he called out again, sweat dripping from his forehead from how hot the village was now. He caught a glimpse of his father down by the shore fighting off three dragons at once, but before he could even think about running to go help him, he heard a larger dragon land behind him, causing the ground to shake slightly underneath him before he heard a growl escape from under the dragon’s breath.
His eyes widened and he slowly turned behind him to see that a dragon had landed in the middle of the village where he was, its eyes yellow and scales an odd shade of pink though that did not make it look any less horrifying. Jimin’s eyes widened and he grabbed his dagger, stepping back slowly and speaking in a calm voice so the dragon wouldn’t freak out and burn him to a crisp right where he was standing with one blow of fire, “L-Look, I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m afraid you might want to kill me so that will leave me with no choice but to fight back!”
He lifted his dagger up, knowing that it was nothing compared to a mighty dragon like this one, but he knew he had no choice but to try, “If you come at me, I will not hesitate to s-slit your throat!”
The dragon snarled at this and leaned closer, causing Jimin’s whole body to shake as the dragon’s mouth grew so close he thought he was going to be eaten whole in a matter of seconds. He bit his lip to keep himself from crying and he stood his ground, “If you don’t hurt me, I won’t hurt you. You can trust me….”
The dragon leaned even closer and…and sniffed him. He stiffened up and froze when he felt the dragon press the snout of his nose up to him and breathe in, and he wasn’t sure if this was like a pre-meal ritual for dragons or the dragon was really placing its trust in him. He glanced down at the dragon’s intimidating yellow as and asked warily, “So is this a truce? You’re not going to kill me?”
He watched as the dragon tilted its head and huffed out under its breath. Jimin bit his lip and slowly lowered his hand holding the dagger - he felt like he wouldn’t need it anymore with this dragon - as he asked, “You trust me? I won’t hurt you…I actually-!”
Before he could finish speaking to the dragon, he heard someone call out his name in a low shrill of terror, causing the dragon to put up a cautious stance again and knock him over with their wings as they roared out at the person who was running over to them.
Yoongi.
Yoongi had his sword in hand and was already raising it in the air as he shouted again, “Jimin run towards the woods with the rest of the children before you get yourself hurt!”
He swung his sword at the dragon, causing the dragon to fly back in panic and roar at him in retaliation. Jimin’s eyes widened when he looked up at the dragon that was frightened and on guard again. Just a moment ago it was completely calm, but now it was ready to kill the both of them, he was sure.
“It wasn’t going to hurt me!” Jimin still shouted though, hoping that the dragon would calm down once more if Yoongi also proved that he wouldn’t hurt it. Jimin shoved his dagger back into his belt and lifted his hand up to the dragon, “Look, see? It’s not going to-!”
“You idiot!” Yoongi screamed at him and rushed to push him back and away from the dragon. “Stop making things harder for everyone else by trying to make friends with these monsters! They are evil and you are weak and nothing will change, so stop almost getting yourself killed over trying to prove anything otherwise!” Yoongi’s words felt like daggers that shot through Jimin’s heart as he heard them. Yoongi was definitely stressed beyond compare with his whole body covered in blood and sweat and maybe even tears though Yoongi would never admit it, but Jimin knew that was he was saying was true….
He was weak… And this dragon Yoongi was about to kill?… Was just a monster attacking their village.
He sniffled and looked down, “Fine. I’ll get out of everyone’s way if you want me to so badly,” he shoved his way past Yoongi and towards the shore where his father was, only one dragon next to him now because he had managed to kill the other two since Jimin had last seen him. He stormed off in his direction as Yoongi shouted out after him, “Jimin, wait! Go to the forest, not the shore!”
When Jimin kept walking, Yoongi sighed and muttered out to himself as he turned to face the pink dragon again to kill it, “That fucking dumbass….”
He raised his sword to slit its throat in one go, but before he could, the dragon snarled at him in a low growl and knocked him off to the side before bounding after Jimin. Jimin wasn’t even half way to the beach when the dragon caught up to him and scooped him up in its mouth by the collar of his shirt, taking him off the ground and away from his village that had now become a battle field.
Jimin’s eyes widened when he felt the sharp teeth against his back and the pull of his shirt as he was lifted off the ground. Things only grew more terrifying when he watched the ground underneath his boots slowly start to move farther and farther away from him as the dragon used its mighty wings to lift him up. He struggled and tried to get out of the dragon’s grip before it lifted him up too high, but by the time he was twenty feet in the air, he knew he didn’t have a chance against the beast. He was going to be taken to wherever the dragon was probably planning on eating him and this was his last moments in his village.
In one last moment of panic, he shouted out his father’s name, “Appa!” Namjoon was still in battle, but when he heard his son call his name, he immediately slit the dragon he was fighting with’s neck and turned to the sound of Jimin’s voice, his eyes widening when he saw a dragon had gotten a hold of him.
“No..” he whispered out and stepped towards where the dragon was starting to head. The forest. Why was he taking him there? What was he going to do to him? He started taking his steps faster, tears burning his eyes as he started gaining more and more speed until he was running in a full on sprint, shouting out his son’s name, “Jimin hold on, I’ll make it to you! Just fight, ok! I know you’re strong enough, so fight!”
The sky was too smokey for him to have a clear image of the dragon, but it was big and definitely a stronger class of dragon. It was too large to be a neutral in this war and had wings too powerful looking for it to be harmless. It was probably after Jimin to hurt him, and so Namjoon was going to have to do everything in his power to save Jimin and bring him back. The village was his last priority now and Jimin was his first.
He just hoped Jimin would hold on until he got to him.
He didn’t know what he was going to do if he lost him…
~(***)~
“Let me go!” Jimin shouted out, struggling in the dragon’s grip and looking down as the dragon flew farther away from the village and towards a clearing in the woods where a small pond and the house the village had been banned to go near was. Jimin didn’t know the area well or if it was safe to even try to land there, but he knew landing from this height into a body of water that wasn’t the ocean was better than landing on a tree and being stabbed by a branch or killed by the impact.
He didn’t want to be taken back to this dragon’s nest and fed to dragon babies or whatever this dragon was planning, so he did the only thing he could think of at this moment and pull his dagger out of his belt, waiting until the dragon was about to fly over the pond and then turning quickly to stab it in the shoulder in hopes of making it let him go.
Just as he expected, the dragon roared out in pain when he stabbed the blade of the small dagger into his skin, and when he opened his mouth to cry out, he let Jimin go in the process, causing Jimin to fall before he could think about his next steps. Jimin’s eyes widened when he realized he was falling before he could even think about landing right, and by the time he looked down to try to find the pond, he was half way to the ground and realizing a bit too late that he was nowhere near it anymore. When he stabbed the dragon, it must have swerved away from the pond, because now he was looking face down at a patch of trees and three large boulders around them.
He shouted out in fear and shut his eyes, not knowing what else to do since he knew he couldn’t fly or try to fight his way through the air to land somewhere else. This was it... This was the moment he died. This was the last moment he was ever going to-!
The wind was knocked out of Jimin when he was yanked back so hard and so fast by a force from up above him that swooped down to scoop him up in his mouth again. Jimin looked up to see the dragon once again biting down on the collar of his cloak this time with a determined look in its yellow eyes. Jimin cried out in both fear and relief for the dragon saving him, but he wasn’t sure which one he preferred more - dying now by landing on boulders down below or being torn to shreds by a family of dragons later?
Wind blew through his hair and smoke that had already travelled all the way here from the village burned his eyes as the dragon quickly flew him away from the boulders and towards the pond again, finally letting him go when they were only a few feet above the middle of the pond and then dropping him right there before it flew to the edge and landed there in the grass.
Jimin flailed around in the water for a second, having been put through a whirlwind of actions until he was finally just dropped into the deep part of a pond he was told trolls had a curse over. Plus, a pond this far out in the woods was bound to have a few smaller water dragons in it, so he justly freaked out and swam for his life until he reached the edge of the pond opposite from the dragon who was now sitting down and staring at him with an amused look on its face. Its pink tail was relaxed behind him and dipping into the pond every time it slowly swayed back and forth. It ruffled its wings into a comfortable position and licked at the cut Jimin’s dagger left in him all while keeping eye contact with Jimin the whole time.
Jimin’s hair was wet and dripping over his face, so he quickly slicked it back and stared at the dragon to make sure it stayed on its side of the pond. He slowly picked himself up and out of the water, his clothes feeling so heavy from being soaked in the mucky pond water, but he managed to work up enough strength to drag his upper body out with just his arms as he shouted to the dragon, “Just keep your space, ok? I’m sorry I had to stab you, but I was scared! You can’t just pick people up like that!”
The dragon huffed and suddenly stood up, causing Jimin to shriek and hurry out of the water the rest of the way in a desperate attempt to escape. He only miscalculated how heavy he would be from his water soaked clothes when he got up and ended up falling over as soon as he tried to stand which earned a laugh-like huff from the dragon who was slowly stalking over to him again like a predator lurking by in tall grass and watching its prey.
Jimin knew he was the prey, and he also knew that like all little creatures being stalked by a great beast with sharp claws and piercing eyes boring into him, he had no chance.
Jimin cried out and stayed on his knees where he was, sitting and staring at the dragon as he spoke under his breath, “I know you’re a dragon and you can’t understand me, but p-please let me live…”
The dragon kept creeping closer, not showing any sign of remorse for Jimin despite having saved him from a dangerous fall earlier.
“My father…” Jimin continued, wiping his eyes and trying to be the brave viking he always thought he was, “I can’t disappear on him too. He has lived every day fearing that I would meet the same fate of my mother, and I need to at least tell him I’m going to die, so he doesn’t just spend the rest of his life wondering what happened to-!”
The curious look in the dragon’s eyes disappeared completely when he mentioned his mother and the dragon growled again, stalking closer until he finally just pushed Jimin onto his back in the grass and pressed his weight down on his chest, the sound of his growls drumming faster than the sound of Jimin’s heart beating against his chest.
His eyes were dry again from the hot dragon breath beating into his face, and he stared up at the dragon with wide eyes and a loss of breath, feeling its claws digging into his skin on his chest as it leaned in close and…. and froze.
It’s eyes were now focused on something else behind Jimin that he couldn’t see, but it seemed shocked… maybe even scared though Jimin couldn’t read the wide stare very well on the beast.
What was behind him? Another scarier dragon? A hunter? Yoongi to his rescue again?
Jimin pressed his head against the dirt and looked in the same direction as much as he could to try to catch a glimpse of what was causing the dragon to freeze up, but all that was there was the abandoned wooden house that Namjoon had strictly told no one in the village to go to.
Why was the dragon afraid of the troll house?…Was it really that cursed? Yoongi said even Namjoon cried when he stumbled upon it, so of course even dragons would be afraid too…
Jimin stared back at the dragon, feeling its weight shift off of its chest thankfully since he felt like he was about to be crushed underneath him. He let out a deep breath of relief and relaxed for a second, just wanting to let air flow through his body again before he desperately tried to escape once more. He closed his eyes and heard the dragon shifting above him though he could still tell it was hovering over him for reasons he was too tired to care about now. He knew he had to escape back to his father soon though to assure him he was ok, so he started to open his eyes to get up, but before he could, he felt a pressure on his chest again. A smaller pressure though, something lighter yet still strong enough to let him know that something new was on top of him.
Jimin thought it was the dragon. Maybe it was only resting its hand lightly on his chest now that it was too scared to attack him, but when he felt a hand against his face, his eyes shot open and he looked up to see a man that was now hovering over him, black short hair and big round eyes that Jimin felt like he had seen in dreams though he knew he was probably just going crazy for thinking that right now due to how much he had been through in the past ten minutes.
The dragon must have transformed into this man, but why? Why was he now caressing his face too?
Jimin bit his lip and stayed quiet, thinking about how the dragon was much less scarier in this form than the other though his gaze was still intimidating. He didn’t move a muscle and just let the man stroke his cheek gently with the wet palm of his hand before saying so softly under his breath, “So he let you grow up thinking you were human…”
“H-Huh?” Jimin breathed out, tilting his head in confusion as he stared up at him still since he didn't want to look away from his face in fear of the man turning back into a dragon while he wasn’t looking and also because he was completely naked everywhere else. Jimin gulped and brought his hand up to his cheek to slowly try to peel the man’s hand off of his face as he asked softly, “Do I know you?”
The dragon smiled sadly and shook his head, tears finally falling from his glossy eyes, “I left so long ago, I wouldn’t expect you to... I doubt your father ever mentioned me either.”
“You know my father?” Jimin’s eyes widened, his voice still coming out weak from panting since he was still so scared about talking to a dragon while also being trapped underneath him.
The dragon’s sad smile fell completely when Jimin asked about him knowing his father, and he looked down, quickly lifting a hand up to his eyes to wipe his tears away, “I…” he cried out and looked around himself, suddenly breathing heavily and nodding his head to himself, “I’m finally home aren’t I?” he turned to Jimin again and sniffled, “Jimin…” he laughed a little but only ended up sobbing out again before he leaned forward and wrapped up Jimin in his arms, bringing him close to his chest and holding him tight, “I’m so sorry for leaving you… I’m s-so sorry. From the day I left you and your father and every moment after that I spent missing you and wishing I was here to raise you a-! Ah!” the dragon cried out when he felt Jimin press his hand to his back and burn him before quickly pushing himself away from his hold, his eyes wide with shock and his breath heavy and fast paced as he freaked out about how a dragon just locked him in an air tight hug and started crying over him.
“You must have me confused with someone else!” Jimin quickly reached his hand up to the button of his cloak to take it off since he knew with how wet it was, it would only drag him down when he moved to sprint back to the village and away from this delusional dragon. He created a fire in the palm of his hands and held it in front of himself as a warning to the dragon that was in his human form and now thankfully just as weak to fire as he was, “Please…” he glanced at an opening in the forest he knew would lead him back to the village and with the smoke in the air, he was glad he knew just how to get back without even having to look at the path in front of him.
He leaned his body in the direction of the path and spoke to the dragon who was finally over the pain and now was just staring at him with a sorrowful expression, saying in as stern of a voice as he could manage, “Don’t follow after me or else I will not hesitate to use this on you!”
The dragon’s expression made his heart hurt for some odd reason. He felt like he was doing something wrong. Like he was betraying his past self or someone important in his life by running away from this crying man or threatening to hurt him if he followed after him. But what else could he do? This island was not this dragon’s home, and he was certainly not close in anyway to a dragon. Especially not his father.
It wasn’t his fault this dragon confused him for someone else!
So without another thought, Jimin shut his eyes to ignore the teary eyed look on the man’s face and turned on his heel to sprint off in the other direction with no plans to look back even when he heard the dragon cry out his name after him. He had to get home to his father. Dragon attack in the village or not, he knew he’d much rather be in his appa’s arms to assure him he was safe than some random dragon’s arms that he didn’t trust.