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Chapter 4: 1722?

Jimin’s fingers eventually slid down her arm to embrace her hand.  Just as the moon slipped behind the veil of a puffy cloud.  He tugged her forward, but thankfully no more arrows whizzed by them.  She could hear the tromping of other feet behind her.  The men’s footfalls crunching fallen leaves beneath them. 

Nani could imagine those leaves in the burnished colors of the rainbow’s first trinity.  A deep burgundy, a burnt orange, and a dark gold.  As they were crushed beneath feet that she was used to seeing dance, those broken leaves released the scent of autumn’s decay.  Winter was not yet on its way, but this musty harbinger announced its eventual coming.

She caught the toe of her shoe against a fallen branch disguised by darkness and began to pitch forward.  Jimin felt her lurch and heard her soft exclamation, and his hand instantly assisted her, yanking her upward before she could hit the ground.  She squeezed that hand.  Tightly.  A silent thank you as well as a desperate clinging to safety.  His presence in the surrounding darkness – fraught with hidden danger – brought her a measure of comfort.

It seemed to Nani that they crept for an hour through that thick family of trees.  The forest was so crowded now that not even the light of the full moon could break through its tangled branches.  Nani wondered how Jimin could find his way through such dense darkness.  But his aim seemed unerring.  Eventually, she recalled Namjoon’s wound and wondered how much blood he’d lost over the past hour.  None of them had stopped moving.  Their steady progress seemed unimpeded by injury.  Neither by their leader’s nor by that of Jungkook’s precious chocolate cake.

Despite the somber mood of the hour, Nani felt the corners of her lips twitching as she recalled the Golden Maknae’s dismay over the shattered cake.  Jungkook sure did love his food.  Even here.

She was distracted from such frivolous thoughts by Jimin’s sudden stillness.  Someone bumped into the back of her, and she instantly knew who it was.  The scent of chocolate filled her nostrils, and again she smiled as she glanced back at the boy closest in age to her.  He reached out to grab her shoulders so he wouldn’t knock her over.  But the man behind him also crashed into him.  And once more, Nani felt herself being propelled forward.  And again, Jimin came to her rescue. 

Then he admitted in a soft tone, “I think I’m lost.”

This came as no surprise to any of them, for they had been picking their way through a forest in the dark for many long minutes.  Another voice responded with an odd ring of authority, “Let me lead.  I know the way.”

Startled, Nani glanced up at Jin.  Following the sound of his voice.  Was Jin their leader in this strange parallel universe?

“Gladly,” Jimin muttered.

And Nani spoke up then.  “What year is it?”

A silent pause followed her query as everyone seemed either stumped or shocked by her question.  Then Tae replied, “1722.”

Nani gasped as her head swiveled to face the sound of his deep voice.  “1722?”

“What year did you think it was?” queried Hobi.

“2021.”

It was their turn to gasp.  “2021?!”

“She must have hit her head pretty hard before she passed out,” muttered Yoongi.

“I didn’t hit my head.  I fell asleep in my bed.”

“And awoke to find yourself in a forest in 1722 with seven men?” Namjoon scoffed.  He winced as he continued to squeeze his arm.

Nani detected the tremor in his voice.  “Are you still bleeding?” she whispered.

He grunted.

Then she heard the rending of a garment.  “Joon, hold still.”  Jungkook was speaking again. 

They all waited quietly while the youngest of the men bound Namjoon’s arm.  Then Jungkook quizzed his hyung’s shoulder softly.  “Have you been bleeding this entire time?”  Fear was lacing his sharp tone.

“I’m fine,” insisted his elder. 

“Let’s go,” Jin urged everyone a moment later.  “I think we’re not far from a cabin.”

As it turned out, the eldest among them was correct.  Less than fifteen minutes later, they stumbled across a little house in the woods. 

“I think we should keep going,” Tae murmured, glancing behind him.  “If we stay here, and they find us, we’ll be surrounded.”

“Have you no weapons?” Nani whispered, echoing her earlier question.

“I have a dagger,” Jungkook admitted.

“Not much help against an arrow in the dark,” murmured Tae.  “We all have daggers.  But they have bows.”

He was, of course, stating the obvious.

“How many of them are there?” Nani inquired as that horrifying dread began to creep over her again.

Jimin shrugged as he tugged on her fingers again.  “No telling.”

“There’s a whole army back there,” muttered Tae.  Darkly.

“What?” gasped Nani as pure terror spiraled through her.

“Don’t scare the girl,” Jimin admonished his best friend.

Though Nani had to wonder if – in this universe – they were still that close.

“What?” Tae responded heatedly.  “Would you have me lie to the girl?  So she’s unprepared for what’s coming?”

Jimin glared at Tae.  But, of course, no one could see his eyes shooting daggers at the taller man.  “You’re going to petrify her, and then where will we be?”

“Enough,” Jin spoke again.  And once again, that odd authority was resounding in his tone.  “We’ll regroup at the cabin.  And take a look at Joon’s arm.”

They trudged onward, and Jin urged them all to hang back as he made sure the cottage was unoccupied.  It was, so he welcomed them all into the tiny cabin a moment later.  The men made sure the windows were covered before Hobi lit his lantern.  As light sprang up, illuminating the entire room as well as their faces, Jungkook unbound Namjoon’s arm to investigate his wound.  He sighed with relief a moment later. 

“It’s not that deep.  Despite the blood.”

Nani watched as Jungkook tore another long strip of cloth from his shirt and wound up the first bandage to use as a pad before he tied it on with the clean section of fabric. 

“You’ll do,” Jungkook smiled as he patted his friend’s shoulder.

Namjoon’s lips tugged upwards into a rueful grin.  “Thanks, Jungkookie,” he responded affectionately, causing Nani to revise her earlier opinion.  Perhaps the boys were as close in this universe as they’d been in hers.

She glanced down at Jungkook’s shirt.  It was plastered in chocolate cake now.  His shirt front resembled that of her baby sister’s when her mother had put a cake before the one-year-old and let her eat it with her fingers.  Nani felt a twinge of sadness as she thought of her little sister.  Would she ever see her again?  How could she possibly have traveled all the way back to 1722?  Nearly three hundred years!?

“Now that we know Joon’s going to be all right, we should head out,” Tae mumbled.

Yoongi yawned.  “I think we should stay put.  Try to sleep some.  Two of us can stay awake.  We’ll take shifts.”

“And I suppose you’ll get the last one,” muttered Namjoon dryly.

Yoongi glanced languidly at him.  And shrugged.  “You won’t get one at all.  You need to rest.  That wound must be draining your energy.”

“I told you,” Namjoon snapped, “I’m fine.”

“Clearly,” Yoongi murmured.  But a sweet smile was lighting up his eyes.

“What are we going to do if they surround us here?” Tae demanded anxiously.

“If they’re going to surround us, they’ll be here soon,” Jimin pointed out reasonably.

“They don’t know these woods as well as I do,” Jin declared confidently.

“Still,” Jimin voiced his suggestion, “let’s wait in the woods and keep an eye on the cabin for a while.  If they arrive and approach it, they’ll find it empty, and we’ll be safe.”

They all agreed this was a reasonable idea, and they opened the door to venture out into the woods once more.  Namjoon found a tree to hide behind and sat down to rest his back against its trunk.  Yoongi sat down next to him.  Jungkook and Jimin surrounded Nani, leading her to another tree.  She sat down while the two of them remained standing, flanking her protectively.  Tae came to stand in front of her, blocking her in.  She was utterly surrounded by the maknae line.  Jin and Hobi stood further out.  Scanning the trees for any incoming threat.