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The Amethyst Moons ruled the blue world of ocean for nearly three generations. There was no one capable of bringing them down, but it didn’t mean they didn’t try.
For as long as the dark purple - black flags flew in the oceans, there were numerous little “rebels” or “nobles” who wanted to try their luck in ruining them. But under the commands of someone as mighty as the Moon Line, no one came close.
Until, one day a tiny little ship - almost mistaken for a boat - wrecked havoc in the dark blue oceans when they easily dissected and nearly brought The Amethyst Moons to ruins.
No one expected the harmless fishermen from the Gunsan harbour to be so brilliant in their planning and execution that, they dissected the ins and outs of the mighty pirates ship during the small month break the thieves had taken refugee in their island.
And so it happened. The first ever collapse of the mighty moons, in the hands of three brothers of the little Sunshine Line.
Soon after that, The Lapidarist Suns occupied most part of the Yellow Sea, as the mightiest pirates of the West, forcing The Amethyst Moons to move to their origin, the East Sea close to Pohang - where they first came from.
It is said that Kim Namjoon, the captain of the Amethysts made a deal with Jung Hoseok of the Lapidarists, that unless they cause disruption to each other’s bases, they wouldn’t raise a weapon against the other.
Although it was a truce which brought peace among the two mighty ships, it’s almost seen as a black mark of loss for the Moons, since they had to retreat and let go of what they thought was rightfully theirs - although ethically, neither of the pirates “own” anything considering they only stole it from others. Likewise, it is treated as a symbol of victory among the Suns, a little trophy of win against the mightiest force of the oceans.
And this cold war of waiting one of them to accidentally cross an invisible line went on for decades - from when Namjoon and Hoseok were the captains, to now - where Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung were succeeding their leaders for the throne.
Hoseok’s brother Taehyung was always deemed as his rightful successor ever since their reign started two decades ago, when Taehyung was merely eighteen. But Jungkook, seemingly a no one found in the abandoned islands of Busan, becoming the captain of the Moons was an unpredictable event.
“But Captain! Yoongi has served and worked for the Amethysts for as long as I’ve been on the ship! How can you cast him aside and give the reigns in hand of this near stranger?!” Quartermaster Seokjin had raised his voice against the captain for the first time in his entire life.
But Min Yoongi had just nodded with a knowing smile when Namjoon had no choice but to reveal that Jungkook was his long lost brother and that he would rather be thrown off the ship, than not let his brother succeed him.
Jungkook was absolutely terrified of having to take the power in his hands, to say the least. But with the help of his brother and the couple Min Yoongi and Kim Seokjin, he showed to be one of the best captains the Moons have ever had, in no more than half a decade.
With no doubt, Taehyung was leading his troop with utmost diligence on the other side of the land too, having been trained for this life for as long as he could remember.
As high and mighty as they both want to appear, they’re all a bunch of thieves after all. And it was put to test when one fated night, both the ships received a anonymous tip that a huge treasure worth centuries of fortune hidden safely in the secret depths of the Cheju island.
The mind numbing horns of sail were heard almost at the same time from both the directions, as the two mighty ships started their journey towards the forbidden land in the middle.
The forbidden land which had the desired fortune which both the crew swore was meant for them to find, capture and enjoy.
As always, while The Moons had the power of men and speed, The Suns compensated the lack of it with their elaborated scheming techniques and brain power.
So even though The Moons had reached the shores of Cheju a week before The Suns, they had made little to no progress in actually finding where the fortune lied. And then they waited in baited silence for the other to make a move, to let The Suns take their first step and overrule them with their manpower.
But as expected, the brain power of the caption of the Sun line was not something to be taken lightly. He sent a messenger to the other ship, harboured in the west end of the island.
“We’re here with an offer:
Let our Lapidary smoothen the brashness of you Amethyst. A gemstone doesn’t shape itself to perfection after all.”
And it had an outlined plan of how the two troops can merge forces to find and conquer the treasure. Using both of their strengths and thereby cancelling each of their weaknesses.
The response came almost immediately, albeit, it was unexpected how - in contrary to Taehyung’s comment about brashness - the letter held a sense of delicate wisdom.
“Is it an offer when it’s served more like a temptation?
Much like your predecessor, you seem to think very highly of yourself. But let’s not forget, your tools of lapidary is useless against the empty air. And it will remain so until you get a hold of the brash edges of the gemstone.”
And it had a few corrections and suggestions in the previously shown plans. Definitely working more in the favour of the moons, but it definitely didn’t seem like the captain was opposing the idea.
Taehyung was only then informed that Jungkook, the new captain spent most of his life on the land, being educated and polished. Well, as polished as he could be by the fishermen of the shore. But with no doubt, better than most of the sailors.
And it was evident that the youngest moon was interested - albeit slightly - in the plan, and Taehyung sent his last message.
“Like The Cerulean Treatise says, what is temptation but an opportunity to explore outside your comfort and thrive? The best way to get rid of temptation is to succumb, after all.”
It had a map of shoreline of Cheju - a neat sketch of an amethyst being struck by a tool drawn at the location exactly in the middle of both of their harbours - an invitation to talk face to face.
Needless to say, Namjoon and Hoseok accompanied their successors to the place of meet, “I need to make sure your young age recklessness won’t result in our doom” Hoseok had reasoned, to which Taehyung replied nonchalantly, “Oh but didn’t your “young age recklessness” bring us our first ever victory against The Moons?”
Namjoon didn’t even take a chance at being snarky, for he knew his younger brother knew all about his young self’s shameful rendezvous which brought down their troop for the first time. Seokjin had casually made Jungkook privy of that little information, “He must know the insides of this cabin before he sets out to explore the depths of the ocean” he had said.
When Jungkook and Taehyung laid eyes on each other for the first time, Hoseok was sure of one thing. The history was going to repeat itself.
But unlike the last time, it’s going to be The Suns who will lose, if the starry eyed boy decides to play his smitten brother like he did with Namjoon. Only time would tell.
After the captains managed to somehow send their brothers aside for a few moments, it was almost natural, the way the conversation flowed and plans started getting formulated.
For every strategy Taehyung had, Jungkook provided with a wing of his crew who could help them with it. For every man Jungkook had, Taehyung provided with work that could help them in the long run.
And naturally, for every sparkle in the younger’s eyes, Taehyung took a sharp inhale of shaky breath. And for every movement of the elder’s hands, Jungkook lost himself in an endless bliss of infatuation.
By the time they parted ways, it was visible to anyone with eyes just how smitten the two captains were for each other. But no one spoke of it, as no one wanted a repeat of what happened two decades ago.
Although one had lost and the other had won - and no one could attest to the pain of one Jung Hoseok as he berated himself over and over again for his act of greedy betrayal - the pain was still too fresh for both the parties involved.
“This is your one last chance to step back Jeon, after this, we can’t stop even if we want to.” Taehyung warned his now co-captain as they stood together with their crew at the entrance of the untouched island.
“I’ve already succumbed to the temptation Kim, there’s no point in being cowardly now.”
And just like that, they had invaded the unsuspecting island, carefully making their way through the webs of confusing paths and returning from unexpected dead ends. Of course, there were a number of failures and setbacks. There were times when bringing peace among the rival crew was almost impossible and that day’s journey had to be cut short because of too many fights and nuisance.
But one thing that kept them all afloat was the trust and respect the two captains had among each other. The way they synchronised so well with one another, as if they were connected with each other in a way which was more than physical. Of course, the physical chemistry they had going on helped too, but that was a secret. Or so they liked to pretend.
Within the course of one month they spent in the abandoned island, the animosity gradually toned down, and a refreshing friendship blossomed among the sailors from both ends. They helped each other with the most trivial things to the most crucial paths of the journey. And just like that, they reached their destiny, a week before their estimated time, almost hand in hand.
Although the found treasure had to be shared, it almost felt like the prize just doubled because of the now resolved anger and unnecessary angst among the people.
It first became evident when Jungkook first reached the treasure but waited till Taehyung climbed the last rock to open the chest. And when Taehyung used all his might to open the chest only to let Jungkook hold the sparkling crown in his hands, as he satisfied himself with fascinatedly watch the sparkles in the younger’s eyes.
They both carefully brought the chest to a level ground, and first picked the most valuable items as a treasury and watched with a contented smile as the rest of their crew happily shared the fortune among each other. Gone were the talks of the pact or contract in the beginning of the journey, now replaced with just immense joy that they held fortune which would allow them to rest for a long while without having to work too hard anytime too soon. Add the happiness of getting to share it with the new friends they made in each other’s troops and their smiles knew no bounds.
The two troops stayed in the island for nearly an year, the West siders going back to their deeply burrowed roots of fishing and the East siders using their strength to build a new ship, similar in size with the already existing two ships.
It was for a troop to stay in the centre, like a bridge between the two existing ships. It was going to be called The Rising Stars, lead by Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook as The Amethyst Moons were given to the control of Min Yoongi and The Lapidarist Suns to Park Jimin
And then there were few others who buried themselves in the joy of making preparations for the two huge weddings. The new lovers Taehyung and Jungkook were to be married during the early days of spring while the ex - lovers Namjoon and Hoseok were waiting to get married in the chilly winter days of the year end.
The Lapidarists had finally found their Amethysts, growing sharper and finer as they carved and polished their beautiful gemstones to shine brighter than the brightest stars.