yoongi took off after the raven, hardly being able to feel his feet moving along the ground. his eyes were following the sky and listening to the rustling of leaves being torn from their branches, determined to catch up to this bird and discover who it really was. he knew he was right to be suspicious; what kind of wild bird follows a travelling group for three days? by the time the bird was beginning to finally slow, yoongi was panting heavily and his feet were beginning to burn. it seemed that eventually the bird gave in with fleeing, as it perched itself quite happily on a branch that was just too high for yoongi to reach, even if he was to push himself up onto his toes and jump.

"who..." yoongi panted, hands resting on his knees and shoulders buckling slightly. "are you?"

the bird squawked in reply, ruffling it's feathers and pattering from side to side again, watching yoongi with wide, black eyes.

"would you just...shift back, please?" yoongi had now dropped onto the floor, hands resting on his knees and sucking deep breaths into his lungs. the bird seemed to take this into consideration, stopping its movements and looking up at the leaves covering the taller trees. finally, finally, the bird flew to the ground and shifted back.

"jung hoseok, you absolute idiot." yoongi whispered and took off towards his boyfriend, cupping his face and crashing their lips together desperately, his eyes beginning to water.

hoseok's arms had laced around his waist and held him in place, acting almost desperately as he kissed yoongi with all the strength he could muster, slightly dizzy from his fresh transformation, but pushing that aside for now.

after leaning yoongi against a tree rather roughly and finally pulling away, he pressed their foreheads together and breathed desperately, trying his hardest to catch his breath. kissing yoongi always gave him a thrill; it may be because they hadn't done it very much, but hoseok liked to believe it was because yoongi was breathtaking.

"hoseok, you shouldn't be out here. why did you follow us?" yoongi decided that they had to have this conversation, they couldn't kiss away all of their problems. it just wasn't possible.

"i...i thought i could help. i kept watch during the night, to make sure nobody hurt any of you while you slept. i flew ahead of you in case of any further dangers. i lured animals to you so you could kill them and eat them..." hoseok muttered, his hair falling in front of his eyes due to a lack of haircuts. when you're a raven, you don't exactly have the need for a haircut.

"you should have stayed in the castle, i need you to be safe, i don't want you in danger." yoongi pushed himself away from the tree and stood up straight, lacing a hand with hoseok's. the crunching in the leaves signalled that their company was coming, but it didn't halt their conversation.

"i'm not a damsel in distress, i'm a solider. i'm fine." hoseok was obviously upset by the treatment, a frown etched onto his face.

"i know, but i came to the castle because of a death aura. i don't want if to come back, i'm just...really scared. i'd rather you were safe and away from me than in danger and with me." yoongi swung their connected hands and looked at their feet, refusing to look his boyfriend in the eyes. he was too embarrassed; he shouldn't have been so protective, but he didn't want the prince in danger. he was beginning to feel like a bodyguard, an overprotective one at that.

"i understand, it's ok. i feel the same way with you, sometimes." hoseok put a finger under yoongi's chin and lifted his head, forcing him to look into his eyes, and yoongi almost sobbed out in relief that he wasn't mad at him. "but if i'm with you, it's unlikely i'll be in too much danger."

"even in the face of danger, you're still a flirt." yoongi's laugh came out half sob-like, the tears brimming in his eyes finally leaking out to fall over his cheek. "you're amazing, jung hoseok."

hoseok's thumb moved to catch the tears, swiping them across his cheek. "are you going to let me stay?"

"i don't think i have a choice. you wouldn't leave, would you?" yoongi chuckled when hoseok's face lit up red. "i'm right."

"yeah, i know you are." hoseok wrapped his arms around yoongi's shoulders, pulling him to curl against his body. at this point their company had caught up to them, and taehyung almost screeched when he as hoseok.

"hyung!" he shouted too loud, jumping up and down on the spot. yoongi could spy that jimin's eyes were soft watching the taller male, and a little smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. jimin glared.

"hi, taehyungie." hoseok greeted, and his eyes settled on jeongguk. "hi, jeongguk-ah, i'm guessing?"

"why do you have your arm around my cousin?" jeongguk asked, arms crossed over his chest and his foot out to take a step towards the two, but yoongi stopped him and stuck him in place by reaching up to the hand around his shoulder, interlacing their fingers.

"cause we're dating, guk. did i forget to mention?" yoongi smiled up at hoseok's smirking face, watching as jeongguk's eyes widened at the revelation.

"you're...dating the prince?"

"well, we're soulmates, we may as well, right?" hoseok had to cover his mouth to not laugh at the surprise on jeongguk's face, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

"you'll catch flies." seokjin threatened, pushing jeongguk's mouth closed.

"so...what do we do now." jimin's words were more like a statement than a question, looking around and almost jumping out of his skin to find the five elves sitting on tree branches, now only realising their eyes were yellow.

"so...the prince, huh?"