Love In A Sinking Realm ⊰BTS⊱ Steampunk

CHAPTER 1 ➣ Autumn Sunset

⊰🎩⊱ Author's Note ⊰🎩⊱

Welcome, once again, my dear reader!

I never thought I would continue this story and end up preparing twice the chapter count than PART 1. So prepare for a longer darker journey 😁

Thank you for sticking with me
💜

◦◦◦─╌⊰ ⚜ ⊱⧐ ♛ ⧏⊰ ⚜ ⊱╌─◦◦◦

After a few days voyage from Balus Island.

The humid hand of autumn is sometimes worse than the sharp claws of winter.

And what is worse than autumn's humidity, is the leftover trail of war during a fully developed autumn. A bad premonition for the upcoming cruel winter which will kill less than the plague...

She wrote.

In a bleak sunset, after a brief pause from the rain that had been falling ceaselessly for the past few days, sitting on the roots of a pine tree, wrapped in a woolen scarf and long waterproof coat, Y/N was writing in her diary about the events of the past months.

Her hair, tied in a long braid, was dyed dark brown to hide the color that betrayed her true identity. An identity that mattered little to her of late, for she destroyed and buried all of her possessions as well. Survival was the mindset in which she lived.

She turned her head to look behind the trunk of the tree. Taehyung, black-haired and a few kilos less than his average weight, but still somehow handsome, despite his pale, dirty skin, dark circles under his eyes thanks to the numerous sleepless nights.

He lifted his gaze, steam escaping in rhythm with his breath. A tender grin formed on his face while stirring soup inside a small pot placed over the bonfire. Two horses were hitched on the neighboring tree, picking off some plants on the ground.

"I'll be there in a jiffy," he said, "The soup is almost ready."

"Come on, before it starts raining again," she called out to him.

He poured the soup in two large cups, folded a world map that was laying on the forest carpet of fallen leaves near their tent, and moved to sit next to Y/N. He gave her one of the cups and a kiss on the cheek before sitting with his arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and together watched as the sun lowered on the misty horizon.

"Is this what you, Jun, and Jihmm had in mind when you said you wanted to explore the world?" He asked playfully.

"Tae, don't say their real names! How many times have I told you?"

"Oh, oh, right! Sorry. I'm just not used to it."

"Just be careful, alright?"

"So?"

"So what?" She repeated.

"So, is this the idea of adventure and exploration according to you lads?"

"Well, if you remove the war, plagues, and tragedies from the equation, then yes," she replied with grim sarcasm, "Although I'm not sure what you're getting at."

He scoffed, "Your ideal adventure is to get wet and cold. Peeing and pooping by a bush and wiping your bu---"

"Alright, alright! You've made your point!" she cut him off before her brain could picture his words.

"-wash your face with paddle water and brush your teeth with a porcupine and mud-" he continued teasingly and pinched her on her stomach.

Y/N couldn't stop her giggles, "Taeh, stop it! That's not what I meant!"

"-communicate with animal sounds and climb the trees like monkeys-" he kept tickling her, earning her laughs and making her spill some of her soup.

"Hahaha! Stop it!" she tried to push his hands away from her ticklish body, "Oh, nooo! Taeh! My soup!"

"Oops!... Here you can have mine!" he offered his cup, still maintaining his taunting attitude.

"No, I don't want yours!"

"Here take it," he argued playfully.

"No, it's yours!"

"Here take it, take it!" he lifted the cup to her mouth, "Drink up, drink up!"

Y/N laughed even harder, "Stooooop! Hahaha....!!!"

Taehyung snickered and placed another kiss on her hair. She turned and kissed his lips instead.

The hot liquid of the soup had warmed his mouth even more still. They savored each other's lips, slowly and gently, as though for the first time. Not that they could ever get used to that churning sensation in their stomach every time they kissed.

After everything they had been through, all they had was each other.

The next morning they gathered up all their gear on their horses and backpacks to set off for the next city.

They stood ready under the shade of the trees and studied the map.

"The small city of Sinsu should be on the other side of that hill, less than a day ride," Y/N pointed while checking her compass, "We don't have many options. In his diary Namjuniel...I mean Namjoon...says that most cities in the Southeast of the Continent are reduced to rubble from the bombings."

"Yeah, we should start there, hopefully, resupply and then move on if we don't find what we're looking for," Taehyung completed, folded the map, and put it in his pocket.

They mounted their horses and began the journey.

A feathery drizzle kept falling as the night approached. After galloping for a few hours, through the thickness of the trees, lights from windows and smoke from chimneys emerged. Signs of life. And where there are people, there is the plague.

The plague. The one thing no sane human would ever want to face, yet they intentionally searched for it.

"It's awfully quiet," Taehyung commented.

"Who do you think has this place? Westerners or Easterners?" Y/N wondered.

"Everything belongs to the Easterners now. The Western army is in retreat, even the few factions, and guerrillas that attack every so now and then," Taehyung explained, steam blowing out of his mouth with every breath, "Or at least this is what the papers said."

"I would trust the plague more than anything else. Hopefully, it's scaring everyone away."

"I wouldn't doubt it. But if the information is not out of date, the Emperor has ordered bombings in every city where the Western army has passed from, and the Southeast seems to be targeted the most. Maybe because it's closer to the coast where they deploy the fleet."

"Great. So, essentially, anything can happen," Y/N concluded worriedly.

"Let's go then."

"No, wait," the girl halted him.

She delved in her backpack and withdrew what appeared to be some sort of breathing device.

"Put this on your mouth and temples."

Y/N demonstrated by placing the device on her face. She pressed on a button and a mask, with metallic and glass pieces, closed around her mouth, nose, and eyes. The glass parts uncovered her mouth as well as her eyes. Taehyung mimicked her.

"This is the mask we used in the alchemical lab back in the Capital when brewing dangerous potions. In here there are two tiny barrels on each side containing vials of oxygen. I know this might be uncomfortable to wear all day, but maybe this may protect us from the plague," she explained.

"No, this is perfect!" he said joyfully, "Just when I was worried about it! Good thought Sele...I mean Y/N."