Chapter Text
Jungkook felt his hind legs buckle as he slid across the smooth stones in the river but that didn’t stop him from running as fast as possible, he knew if he was caught he would never get a chance like this again. The loud cursing of the men chasing him continued to fade as he pushed forward, darting around trees and hopping over their roots. His malnourished body protested at all of the intense movement but the adrenaline rush blocked out any weariness and pain as he ran on. He felt like he’d been running for hours and hours before he finally came to a stop, body collapsing in complete exhaustion.
Carefully Jungkook lifted one ear and cocked it behind his head, listening for any signs of the angry men. When he couldn’t strain his ears any further he relaxed and went to grab onto the nearest tree to pull himself up, not even having the strength to stand on his own. Instantly, his head whirled as the world tilted for a moment so he closed his eyes to take a few deep breaths.
Jungkook had never thought escape could be a reality, sure he had hoped and imagined but that’s all that it was, hope. When the opportunity presented itself in the form of a careless employee Jungkook had gripped onto it like his life depended on it, and it did he supposed. What to do now though? Jungkook couldn’t remember much before captivity, just the faint memory of a lovely community of shacks built next to an open meadow and the now unrecognizable faces of his fellow deer. But now Jungkook was finally free, the options were limitless.
Jungkook pushed himself off of the tree and took a tired step forward only to feel the all too familiar sensation of a rope tightening around his ankle, the momentum sent him tumbling foreword, hooves clacking, straight into a web of wire.
Jungkook pushed against his restraints but let out a sob when he realized the rope and wire net covering his body had been attached to weights and were impossible to remove. The second thing he noticed was the sharp pain where the wire dug into his skin and the dull ache of the ankle that was still tied up.
“Of course”, Jungkook thought- feeling dizzy from both hunger and pain, “trapped again.”
—-
A brass bell tinkled softly as the final customer of the night walked out the door of a humble trade store. The pleasing thunk of the heavy wood lock sliding into place made Jin grin as he stretched his arms overhead.
“Can you believe that sprite traded an entire measure of fairy dust for one of Yoongi’s herb books?” Taehyungs excited voice echoed from within the small shop. The curly haired man grinned as he presented the silvery bag to Seokjin.
Jin shook his head in disbelief, “I’ll never understand your impeccable business tactics Taehyungie.”
Jimin rounded the corner, a pile of dried herbs to be put away in one hand, “Oh I know how he does it,” he grins and ruffles Taehyungs dark curls, “because he’s so darn cute, he’s got all the customers falling for his charms!”
“Hey!” Taehyung swats the shorter mans hand away with a petulant pout, “I may be attractive but it’s the strategy that gets them!”
“Nope.” Yoongi hums while taking the herbs from Jimin to store in his overnight item chest.
Seokjin winces as he anticipates the loud protesting of “Hyung!” From the youngest.
Taehyung pouts sadly and throws himself against Yoongi dramatically. Seokjin sees the small smirk on Yoongi’s lips that is present when the witch is in a teasing mood.
“Oh don’t cry baby,” Jin holds his arms out as he steps out from behind the counter.
“M’not gonna cry,” the human grumbles but accepts the hug anyway, burying his head into the soft fabric that always smells of eucalyptus and thyme.
Seokjin smiles as he helps Yoongi lock up before responding, “ I’m just teasing sweetheart, you and I can kick those two bullies out of our cuddle party tonight.” Taehyung laughs at Jimins offended frown and shouts of disagreement.
“Hey Jinnie!” A sweet voice calls and he turns to find Hoseok, the usually always smiling nymph sporting a frown.
“What is it love?” Jin’s eyebrows furrow in concern.
“I can’t find any birch-root for tonight, did Namjoon ever collect more?”
A groan sounded from the other side of the store and an apologetic Namjoon poked his head above the shelves that he was restocking, “I’m sorry Hobi I know how important that is, I totally forgot!”
Hoseok’s face softened into something akin to both affection and exasperation, “Ah that’s okay Joonie, we’ll just have to gather some before dark.”
Seokjin rolled his eyes at the tall mans
Forgetfulness but gave him a reassuring smile to show he wasn’t actually mad.
“I can go right now,” Namjoon offered sheepishly.
“Take Jimin-ah with you, we all know you’ll get confused between different roots.” Yoongi chimed in from the storage room.
Namjoon flushed but nodded in agreement. Jimin giggled, as the two grabbed their coats from the homemade hooks on the wall and put on their thick leather boots.
Jin gave both of the humans a quick kiss before they ventured out into the cold fall weather, “We’ll have dinner ready by the time you’re back. Love you both.”
“Love you!” They both called out to him as the back door swung shut.
“They’ll be fine.” Hoseok gave Jin a little peck after noticing the healer staring after them with a pinched expression.
Jin flushed and muttered a small “I know” before turning to grab his own boots and Hoseoks extended hand.
“Yoongi and Tae are already upstairs, better get up there before Tae convinces Yoongi to let him help with dinner.” Hoseok laughs.
Suddenly Jin’s worry is turned elsewhere and he rushes up the stairs leading to their home as the nymphs laughter follows closely behind him.
—-
Jimin smiles to himself as Namjoons big hand envelops his smaller one, not even needing to ask for the extra warmth.
“You didn’t wear gloves.” The taller mumbles without meeting his eyes as they search the ground.
Jimin smiles again as his heart skips in his chest, “c’mon there’s a good group of birch trees up ahead.” The younger hums as he tugs Namjoon towards a small clearing.
Jimin grins as he spots the grouping of trees and let’s go of the elders hand to crouch down and dig around the off white root. Namjoon squats beside him and tugs a knife free from his boot, blushing as he gently hands it over to Jimin. They all discovered long ago it was much safer to have Namjoon handle knives as little as possible.
Right as Jimin finished making a few expert cuts and tugging the root free a loud rustle followed by a whimper sounded to their right. Jimin looked up at Namjoon with wide eyes to find the elder just as concerned. Standing quickly, the two turned to face a tall bush and watched it in silence.
After a few tense seconds the unmistakable sound of a wounded animal broke through the quiet, the bush shook again and both men ran around to the other side quickly, Jimin making sure to securely stuff the root into a leather pouch.
Namjoon gasped at the sight that met his eyes, a small deer hybrid had fallen into what looked like a hunters trap, the poor things fur was matted with blood and one of his front legs seemed to be broken. The creature whined as he strained against the rope and Namjoon called out in panic.
“Hey hey! Don’t move too much yeah? We’ll get you out of there.”
The hybrid finally seemed to notice their presence and his eyes immediately filled with fear and he began to struggle harder, probably mistaking the two for trappers.
“Joon.” Jimin whispered harshly, “Put your knife away.” Namjoon looked down to the knife in his hand as if just registering it was still there.
“Hey sweetie,” Jimin spoke softly, turning his attention back to the trapped hybrid and proceeding to carefully kneel beside it, “Hey we aren’t going to hurt you, do you want help getting out of there?”
The hybrid slowed his movements and peered with wide eyes at Jimin as he calmed down, “H-help?” A small scratchy voice asked.
“Yes.” Jimin offered a relieved smile, “We can help you out, okay?”
Slowly the hybrid nodded as he seemed to register that they weren’t a threat. Jimin motioned to Namjoon and the elder stumbled forward to kneel next to him.
“I’m going to have to use a knife okay, I’m just going to cut the weights off.” Jimin explained slowly.
The hybrid quickly glanced up at the word knife but seemed to relax at the explanation, after a minute he gave a stiff nod of understanding then watched as Jimin carefully took out Namjoons knife again.
“Don’t worry.” Jimin mumbled softly as he grabbed the wire above the first weight and sliced through where the net connected. He continued to slowly and carefully slice off the weights as to not scare the already traumatized looking hybrid that was watching him with anxious eyes.
When the last weight was cut Namjoon immediately lifted the wire net off of the creature and tossed it to the side, hissing at the small cuts that the sharp metal left on his palms.
The hybrid tried to jump up quickly but cried out in pain and collapsed back onto the ground.
“Whoa hey,” Jimin reached forward, “I think your leg is broken sweetie, you can’t stand on that.”
The hybrid looked down at his leg sadly and started shaking with sobs as he curled in in himself.
“Oh no don’t cry! It’s okay we’re going to get you some help okay.” Namjoon tried to assure the injured creature.
The hybrid looked up at Jimin and Namjoon as if weighing his options before whispering out a small “please.”
Jimin gave him a sad smile, “Can I touch you? I’m going to have to to get you back to our cabin.”
The hybrid nodded defeatedly.
“Alright.” Namjoon removed his coat and threw it over the deers shoulders, he looked up in surprise at the kind gesture and seemed significantly less anxious as he let himself be lifted into Namjoons arms. The taller man tried to hide his grimace at the concerning little amount of effort it took to do so.
“I’m Jimin by the way,” Jimin greeted as they walked back towards home, “This guy carrying you is Namjoon.”
The hybrid nodded in understanding,
“Jungkook.” He whispered while pointing
to himself.
“Don’t worry Jungkook, we’ll get you better.” Jimin smiled softly at him.