Chapter Text
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.
“Captain, Captain Solar!” Jungkook ran down the hallway, having seen the captain exit the mess hall, alone. She stopped, raising an eyebrow as the young guide stuttered to a halt in front of her.
“Yes, what is it?” Captain sounded impatient. Jungkook gasped in a breath, winded.
“I just wanted to know, what’s my role here?” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Your role?”
“Yes captain, what… what am I supposed to be doing here?” She sighed, walking towards the command deck. The guide followed her, waiting for her answer.
“Well, you’re a stray we picked up. You haven’t proven yourself yet.”
“How do I do that?” She shrugged.
“Do the dirty work. Clean the dishes, get someone to teach you how to shoot a blaster. Maybe Moonbyul can teach you some tricks. Understood?”
“Yes, captain.”
☆
“Being a guide means more than just connecting with sentinels, Jungkook.” Moonbyul explained, hands clasped in between her crossed legs. “Being able to see auras and connect is only one facet of our power, and if properly trained, you can hone other abilities.” She opened her eyes, staring deep into Jungkook.
“We, as guides, can sense the energy in the universe. It’s easiest to do with living things, because they are constantly generating energy to power themselves, which creates excess energy that we can see through auras. It’s also why we can connect to sentinels and help guide them. But, we can also do the same with the inorganic.” She lifted her hand, holding it over a candle she had lit in between her and Jungkook. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the light flickered, and grew several centimeters, almost licking the skin of the older guide’s hand. Jungkook’s jaw dropped, and she pulled her hand away, the light retreating back to a normal size. “With enough practice, and enough time, you can learn to sense the energy of even individual atoms, and manipulate it.”
“Why don’t the imperial academies teach us this, if we could be so powerful?” Moonbyul’s expression darkened.
“The empire views guides as nothing but a commodity, a thing to trade,” she spat. “The empire doesn’t teach us these skills because they value sentinels so much more than us. You’ll have to learn them from me, or on your own.”
“I can’t really see auras anymore, though.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re powerless.”
☆
“Put your finger on the trigger there, then aim, and shoot. ” Hwasa whispered the instructions into Jungkook’s ear, watching him closely as he shot the blaster at the target for the first time.
He took a breath, closing one eye to aim. A zing, and a splotchy burn mark hit left of the target dot. Jungkook slumped.
“I missed,” he muttered, frustrated at himself. Hwasa just smiled, her teeth sharp as a shark’s.
“Well, you just have to keep practicing.”
Jungkook lifted the rifle again.
☆
“ How do you pilot the ship through deep space? You can’t really see the stars.” Wheein didn’t look up from the navigation board. Silence stretched, dripping through the air as Jungkook stood waiting. He turned to leave, feeling awkward at having asked the question.
“We have instruments, able to detect the position of the stars even in the middle of nowhere.” Wheein typed in something on her board, finally looking up and making eye contact with Jungkook’s surprised head turn. She gestured at him to come over. The guide hesitated, unsure. “Did you want to learn about this or no?” Jungkook shook his head. The navigator rolled her eyes. “Well, what are you waiting for, come here.” He scurried over, still mildly afraid of Wheein’s bad mood.
“See that screen? We use that to generate coordinates. It’s what calculates our trajectory.” Jungkook stood stock still next to Wheein, taking in the board. She points to a button. “That’s what we press when we’re ready to utilize the reactor— you know, if we’re really going intergalactic. Never press it before you have double-checked the coordinates…” she continued on, the guide raptured as she explained how to navigate a deep-space ship.
“You said you had some piloting experience?” Jungkook nodded.
“Yes, yes I do.”
“Well, show me what you know.” It felt like the navigator was staring through him. “We can put that to use here.”
☆
“Concentrate, Jungkook. Breathe in, and out. Focus on your power, your energy.” It felt like Moonbyul was breathing on his neck behind him, close as she was. They were sitting across from each other in Jungkook’s room, their normal meeting spot.
He breathed. In, out, in again. He felt the wisps of energy caress his open palms, but it was frustrating. He couldn’t see them. Jungkook knew that beforehand that he had been able to… not see per say, but identify and visualize the different bonds of energy between different people.
That sense was gone, removed via the chip, as Moonbyul explained, but the ability to connect was still there. It was just like walking through a room blindfolded. He could feel Moonbyul behind him, her energy gently brushing against his consciousness, and he reached out with his own in greeting.
Refocusing, Jungkook pulled away from the older guide, and tentatively reached forward with his mind, towards a lit candle in the center of the room. He had been relatively successful with his training so far, but
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still, nothing.
"How long do I have to concentrate,” he grumbled, wincing when the older guide pinched his ear.
“Longer than that, brat.” Jungkook felt his lips quirk up at the corners. He settled down, reaching out again, sinking into the delicate rivers of energy around him, willing his own to alter the lit candle in front of him.
The flame flickered.
☆
Yoongi stared at the ceiling, leaned back in his chair, bored out of his mind. His sentinels were off ship on business, and while normally he would be with them, it was going to be a bit more… unsavory this time.
He sighed, closing his eyes and just feeling his sentinels’ bonds. Namjoon, and his stern painted gold. Hoseok’s vibrant, dancing red. Seokjin’s striking pinks, hard as diamond and soft as silk at the same time. Jimin’s cool silver, a shimmering line in the darkness. Taehyung’s deep green, warm and comforting. They wrapped around him, gentle, warm, stable.
What color would the guide have? Yoongi shook his head, ridding himself of the thought. He leaned forward, pulling up a file he had stored in his computer.
Officially, the case surrounding the mystery guide had been dropped. There simply wasn’t enough evidence to continue to justify funding the case. But… clues had popped up. They didn’t have much to go off of, but there had been some potential in finding him. Yoongi peered through the case, going over the files again. Grainy photographic sightings, potential leads, and theories as to how he had escaped. Maps, showcasing the movements of illegal trafficking Bangtan had been tracking.
The guide squinted, focusing on a newly added pixelated shot of the mystery boy, taken by one of their ground crews and sent to Bangtan for review. He looked like he had aged, with cutting his hair and holding a nasty looking blaster in his hands. Yoongi clicked, showcasing the metadata behind the shot. “Taken near the Ron Ban planetary system, likely a Yellow Flower crewmate.” The guide switched his screen back to the map, sliding his finger down as he looked for the system in question.
They had a mission there soon. It was still a long shot, but Yoongi felt himself smiling nevertheless.
Gotcha.
He noted down the travel plan on his personal tablet, stiffening as he realized that one of his sentinels was back. Quickly, he shut down the file as his hearing picked up footsteps, pulling up another random file they were currently working on instead.
Arms wrapped around him, and the back of his chair, pinning him to the material. The sentinel putting his chin on the guide’s shoulder as he scrolled. Yoongi relaxed, breathing out a sigh. “Jin-hyung, you’re back.”
☆
“ We need to get out of here!” Solar shouted, hands white with how tight she gripped the railing. “Wheein, get us moving.” The navigator grunted in response, frantically reaching over to flip switches and periodically glancing at the computer in front her. Glancing over, she caught sight of Jungkook, who was standing in the corner, watching the scene unfold. Wheein snarled at him.
“JUNGKOOK, GET YOUR SORRY ASS OVER HERE.” The guide darted over, trying to get close enough to the desk, but not hover. “Alright kid, you wanted to prove yourself? Help me.” Jungkook jumped into action, trying to note what Wheein had already done and predict what she hadn’t. The two jumped back and forth in front of the navigation board, calculating out the proper route and gearing up for a run out of the system.
“HIT THE GO, NOW.” Jungkook slammed his hand on the lever, the Yellow Flower jumping away into deep space. Wheein sighed, dropping down into the navigator’s chair next to her. The guide looked forward, jumping when he realized the captain appeared right at his side.
Solar pat Jungkook on the back. “Good job, kid. You’re getting the hang of this.“
“Not bad for a stray.”
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.
One week to present
Jungkook’s eyes narrowed, locked in on the shattered plates on the floor. Negotiations had gone badly, it seemed, and the cutlery had suffered for it. With a sigh, he picked up some of the bigger pieces, resolving to go and get a broom for the rest as he threw away the bigger stuff.
He slammed the door to the servant quarters closed, wincing at the sharp sound and hoping the higher-up crewmates didn’t hear it. It had been a long enough day already, and he didn’t need a lecture on disrespect. He may be a valuable crewmate, but that doesn’t exempt him from someone’s bad mood.
Fucking pirates. This is one of the times where Jungkook missed his highborn background. As much as they had been generous in offering the guide a place to hide for these years, it would still be good if they could show some manners. Smashing plates on the ground if negotiations weren’t going was just crude, even if he had learned it was a normal part of trading with other pirates.
The guide sighed, placing the tray of empty plates he had already cleared on the counter, grabbing the broom to go and clean up the mess his bosses and their guests had made before going to examine a shipment the Yellow Flower was picking up. Nearly two years, and no improvement on their manners. Tsk tsk.
Jungkook glanced down at his watch, frowning when he realized the captain and her first mates had already been gone for much longer than he expected. They would be behind schedule for another shipment drop off if they didn’t get back soon. He grabbed the broom anyway, intent on cleaning up the smaller bits of broken china still in the meeting room.
The guide’s earpiece crackled as he got started, the heavy metal walls of the ship making the transmission staticky. “ Kook, get down to the navigation panel. We need to get out of here quickly. Starry Night.”
He stiffened, damn near sprinting to the navigational panel as he began the start up process. Code Starry Night, it wasn’t an emergency, but they did have to get out of there quickly. Starry night was a very specific code, referencing only one situation.
They had another guide, either through stumbling on them, or more likely, buying from another trafficker. The code itself referenced how guides were able to see auras, as though they were different galaxies painting the darkness. Regardless, getting out of there was a high priority, you never knew who might be on the trails of this guide.
Jungkook finished his calculations, pushing the go. Sitting back, he supervised their travel, waiting for one of the leaders to arrive and debrief him. Time dripped past at a glacial pace, the young crew member anxiously waiting for some sort of news. It hadn’t been too long since he was the guide in question, after all.
Despite that, he still zoned out, jumping when Moonbyul tapped his shoulder, gaze hard. She jerked her head, and the younger guide followed her through the ship’s hallways, both anxious and numb. The interrogation room window came into sight as they approached, and Jungkook peered in, stomach clenching in pity at the guide’s hunched over position, unmoving.
Moonbyul was talking.“...thankfully we managed to get him out of their system, and unharmed too. Still, he’s had a rough couple of days, I imagine. We try to buy them out when we can, you know that” Moonbyul sighed, looking defeated. “but we can only get so many out that way. Guides are expensive , it takes so much to remove them from the empire’s records.” She turned back to the window, where the handcuffed guide was slumped in his chair, unconscious still.
“When this one wakes up, we’ll let him know where he’s at, or if he wants to go anywhere. Once he knows that we’re not going to hurt him, we’ll get him untied and such. Finding yourself on a pirate ship can be quite the shock,” she chuckled humorlessly. “Not quite sure if we’re going to do that with this one though, he’s pretty high ranking.”
Jungkook’s blood froze, noticing the purple patching on his shoulder.
He knew that patch.
Images flashed in his brain, the village, the sentinel he had guided back on the ship, crushing pain, salty tears, a blurry image of a despairing face. Panic bubbled in his chest, but Jungkook crushed it down, trying to continue to pay attention to Moonbyul. He was stronger than he was then, better prepared.
“一regardless, Jungkook-ah, you have to go get the room ready for that next pickup, remember?” Jungkook nodded in understanding, pulling his eyes away from the slumped guide.
It would be fine. It had to be.
Jungkook wasn’t going to let anyone take him again.
In the interrogation room, cat-like eyes flickered open.