{M}ℝ𝕦𝕟 𝔸𝕨𝕒𝕪 | ✨𝕐𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕪𝕦 & 𝕊𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕒𝕚✨

Chapter 44

The sun settled down behind the vast ocean as more and more warriors come from the inside of their dens. The moon's brother now tired from sitting on throne, made way for his dear brother to rise and take his place as the nightly king.

It's up to you, father whenever you're ready. Jungkook watched as his father finally rose into the sky with his beautiful white cloak shinning along with his and Hoseok's subjects. As the moon rose up to the sky, moonlight shone all over the hollow, bathing every bit of darkness and every shadow with its blessed light.

Three apprentices who had just become warriors were kneeling down at the foot of a rock where Jungkook stood, their heads bowed with deep respect towards their leader and the moon.

They had been waiting for the moon to accept them as his son's warriors until the moonlight finally showered them with light, showing the new adults his approval.

And with that, Jungkook lifted up a long stick with a small flower-decorated vine wrapped around its tough bark.

It was a staff that Earth Tribe's former leader used to carry as a symbol for his connection to the moon. After Namjoon had retired, the staff was passed down to Jungkook so he would remember from where he had come from after losing his place between the stars and galaxies.

"With the power of the moon and its light, I, Jungkook; leader of Earth welcome you into my tribe as new warriors."

A cold gust of wind traveled down to Felix, Seungmin, Jisung and Chaeryeong, embracing them and welcoming them as new additions to their collection of strong, good-willed warriors.

And with that, the hollow erupted into cheers and gleeful clapping. White and red flower petals were thrown into the air as everyone called out the 18-year olds' names.

Yeonjun smiled at the four newly announced warriors before looking to the side and noticing Taehyun staring longingly at his friends before looking back down at his bare feet with a small sigh.

Yeonjun sensed the sadness in that sigh, so he went ahead and patted his younger friend's back. "Don't be disappointed, it'll be your turn in six moths~"

Taehyun snorted with laughter, he gazed up at Yeonjun and rolled his green eyes at him. "Yeah, six months of getting bossed around by my friends."

"Hey, if I survived, you will too, trust me."

This time the only thing that Taehyun did was to stay quiet. He just let out another sigh and leaned against Yeonjun when the older put an arm around him to demonstrate his sympathy.

Taehyun began to scan the hollow once more, trying to make out where a certain someone was between the crowd of congratulating warriors. Chaeryeong finally met his green gaze and the two gave each other a long silent look that spoke more than enough words for them to understand each other. Chaeryeong slightly beckoned him with her head while moving away from the crowd in a discreet motion.

Once Taehyun saw her going for the hollow's exit, he cleared his throat. "Anyways, Hyung. Don't you have a meeting to attend? I mean it's getting kind of late."

At the vague reference to his and Beomgyu's automatically scheduled meeting, Yeonjun immediately departed from Taehyun before leaving in a hurry. "Ah, right. I almost forgot!"

Taehyun could only chuckle as he saw Yeonjun disappearing between the undergrowth. Once his main target was gone, he looked around to make sure that no one was looking at him when he pulled out a small pearly ring made by Jisung's Suitor for this occasion.