"So you're telling me that bloodsucker here..."

"Please don't call me that."

"So you're telling me that Mr. Human Leech over here is related to the people that captured Jungkook?" asked Taehyung who didn't seem to miss a beat.

"Yes," said Henley as she watched Yoongi massage his forehead.

The rain drumming against the outer deck could be heard even louder than before as the sliding glass door was opened and Jin and Hobi came in soaked to the bone. They looked like two drowned rats as they walked towards the others in the kitchen,.

"We can't find Jungkook anywhere," said Hobi as Jin moved to grab up a clean dish rag, using it to mop up the rivers of water on his face before handing a clean one to Hobi so he could do the same.

"We can't just leave him out in the storm," said Jimin.

"Well what are we supposed to do? If he ran into the forest in this storm, it'll be nearly impossible to find him," said Jin.

"He's right. I hate to admit it, but it's true. We'll have to wait until the storm is over. It'll kill us," said Hobi.

"I'll go look for him," said Yoongi suddenly. "I'm dead anyway, so this storm can't effect me like it can the rest of you."

"You sure that is wise leech?"

Yoongi shot Taehyung a look, nodding his head.

"It's my fault he's out there," said Yoongi. "So let me be the one to bring him home."

"Let me go with you at least," volunteered Henley as Jin immediately shook his head.

"No. Stay here with Hobi, Taehyung and Jimin," said Jin to Henley. "I'll go with Yoongi."

"No," said Yoongi. "Neither of you are coming. This is a solo mission that I will deal with."

"No offense, but how can we fully trust you after that revelation you just dropped on us as gracefully as a nuclear bomb?" asked Taehyung.

"Listen, fish lips," said Yoongi, getting irritated by Taehyung trying to be all clever. "You're just going to have to trust me. I'll bring Jungkook back or...or I just won't come back."

Yoongi looked at Jin, trying to erase all traces of fear from himself. He had to be brave and do this.

"Can you please provide me with a few things if you have them laying about though?" asked Yoongi to Jin.

"Of course. What do you need?" asked Jin.

- - -

Hobi and Jin weren't kidding about the storm, but then again Yoongi knew they hadn't been. He had barely made it to the tree line and it already felt like he had walked through a hurricane. Yoongi turned to look behind him to see that the storm was already shrouding the house from view completely in a mess of rain and stormy gray.

"Okay Yoongi. You can do this," he said out loud as he hoisted the burlap colored backpack higher onto his shoulder before throwing his hood up, venturing into the darkness of the woods beyond.

The howling of the wind encompassed him as his feet made slow progress through the murky and muddy forest floor. The wind almost sounded like ghosts haunting him along his way; the whistling and moaning around him punctuated once in a while by the cracking of a tree as it threatened to fall.

Even with the dense covering from the tree limbs, Yoongi still felt the icy droplets of rain stinging his skin. He shifted a hand backwards into the backpack to feel for the flashlight that he had asked for, flicking it on to help aid his way through the darkness of the forest. The further he got away from the house, the darker it seemed to get.

Yoongi tracked the beam of the flashlight downward, looking in vain for some sign of Jungkook in the mud. Yoongi had never been a hunter. He had been told how to track, but he had never cared enough about the trade or believed in it enough to pay that much attention.

"Come on. You're smart," said Yoongi as he coached himself. "Jungkook isn't a ghost. He had to leave a trace somewhere."

He cast the flashlight beam towards low hanging branches as he heard thunder rumble like mocking laughter somewhere in the sky above him. He walked on for what felt like forever, alternating between keeping the beam pointed downward and keeping it pointed at the low hanging limbs. At one point - as the forest terrain seemed to slope slightly downward - Yoongi lost his footing in the mud that just kept getting more and more muckier in the downpouring.

He landed flat on his back; his face staring up at the skeletal branches that did nothing to shield him from the storm. The flashlight tumbled free from his grip as he fell. Grimacing a bit in pain as he sat up, he reached out a hand to scramble for the flashlight. As the beam swept up as he stood slowly, he noticed a small torn piece of cloth caught on a branch flipping about in the breeze like a flag of surrenderence.

Yoongi made his way over to the piece of cloth, ignoring the pain in his lower back as he snatched it up between two muddy digits. That was the same color of the shirt Jungkook had been wearing when he stormed out of the house.

"Jungkook!" Yoongi shouted over the storm in vain. The storm drowned his voice out immediately.

Yoongi started to push through the underbrush where he had found the snatch of cloth, looking for any other sign of Jungkook. He jumped as he heard a thunderous crack beside him as a tree fell down somewhere off to his left.

"Come on...keep going..." he whispered. "He has to be here somewhere..."

Yoongi pressed his right arm forward, using it as a shield of sorts to bend the branches aside. As he did, he found himself stepping into a small clearing where he found just what he was looking for.

Jungkook was lying on his back in the mud, looking as if he were being swallowed up in it like some sort of quicksand. Sandwiched on his hips was a tree that had fallen down during the storm that was effectively pinning him to the ground. By the way the mud was spreading out around his limbs, he had been trying to scramble free for a good while now. Yoongi stepped more into the clearing when Jungkook's eyes landed on him. Yoongi immediately held both of his hands up to indicate he came in peace when Jungkook's look hardened into a glare.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to find you and bring you back," said Yoongi as he walked over to him.

"It's just you. They just sent you!"

"I insisted," said Yoongi, "And I swear I'm not going to hurt you."

Not caring about the mud, Yoongi dropped down onto his knees beside Jungkook who kept glaring at him.

"How can I trust you?"

"You're just going to have to trust me just like I'm going to have to trust that you won't rip me apart once I get you free," said Yoongi.

Jungkook let out a soft grunt as he moved his hands to try to start shoving at the log again, groaning when the log barely budged.

"Stop that," said Yoongi. "You might be making any injuries you have worse. We need to come up with a better plan than trying to roll it downward."

"What do you suggest then, genius?"

Yoongi smirked as he cast his eyes about them. He didn't know what exactly he was looking for, but he knew that he would know it when he saw it.

"Alright," said Yoongi as he moved to stand up, going over to a thick looking branch with a forked end. He carried it back over, half dragging it through the mud as he did due to the weight. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to put one end of this log under the one on you, and you're going to try to worm your body out as it lifts up. Understood?"

"You're not strong enough..."

"Is that understood?" asked Yoongi with a harder edge to his voice, shutting Jungkook up immediately as the other just nodded his head.

Yoongi nodded too, moving over to the log that trapped Jungkook and shoving the forked end under the log to try and push it up. It took a moment for anything to happen since Yoongi had to dig deep for any strength he possessed. He barely possessed any as it was, but he had to find the strength in him somewhere to save Jungkook. He had to do something right for once after feeling like he failed this man. He dug his heels into the mud, shoving until the log managed to make it up off Jungkook an inch or two. He held it there as Jungkook dug his hands into the mud, hissing a bit as he dragged his body up and out from under the log before Yoongi let it crash back down.

"See? It worked!"

"Yeah..." grunted Jungkook as he tried to sit up. That was all he could do as Yoongi walked back over to him.

"We need to find somewhere to shelter from the storm," said Yoongi, "And then I can take a look at your injuries. I brought a med kit from the house."

Jungkook didn't say anything, studying Yoongi closely as he moved to stand. This was a different man than the one that he had saved from the cage or even held while Henley force fed him blood while he was passed out. This was the type of man that he could see becoming a hunter.

"You need to try to stand," said Yoongi. "You can use me like a crutch though."

Yoongi slipped an arm about Jungkook as the other tried to push up off the ground with a groan. Jungkook sagged heavily against the frail Yoongi, causing Yoongi to half stumble until he found his footing again. Yoongi grit his teeth to keep Jungkook upright as he began to make his way further through the clearing.

"There has to be somewhere we can hide..." said Yoongi as he stumbled along; Jungkook letting out soft curses once in a while.

After walking for a minute or two, Yoongi spotted a cave carved out of a rocky hillside. It wasn't very deep, but it was deep enough to shield the two of them from the storm for the time being. He helped Jungkook inside, settling him gently on the ground before slipping the pack off his back, handing it to Jungkook.

"I'll be back. I have to see if I can find some dry sticks," he said. "Keep the supplies safe while I'm gone."

Before Jungkook could say anything, he watched as Yoongi raced back out into the storm to try to find some dry sticks. Jungkook knew it was more than likely a fool's errand, but he also knew why the other was doing it. While he waited for Yoongi to return, he unzipped the backpack and began to rummage around inside. There was protein bars and water shoved deep within the pack that he knew was for him along with the med kit Yoongi had mentioned earlier. Bundled in the bottom of the backpack was a red blanket and a dry change of clothes.

Was it possible that there was a man - born a hunter - that didn't actually believe in those ways? Was it possible that even though Yoongi was from the family that captured him that he really didn't know anything about it? Jungkook grabbed out the blanket, noticing that a box of matches was wrapped within the layers to prevent it from getting wet. He smiled softly as he dug them out and set them aside. He supposed only time would tell, and he supposed he'd have to give Yoongi a chance in order to find that out.

- - -