"I'm scared of falling, I'm scared of flying, I'm also scared of failing. But I'm more scared to be left here alone with my dangerous thoughts."
****
t h r e e; beautiful darkness
.
I wipe away a layer of sweat from my forehead, using the outer part of my sleeve. Despite the shining hot burning ball of light is up om its highest throne, Yoon insisted on making me and Yona wash the dirty clothes—now. Hak and the boys are out and about somewhere Jae-Ha mentioned as a 'trip for the gentlemen', even when Yoon refuse to come along in their trip of foolishness. I sigh, my vision disrupted when a ray of light hit my pupils, blobs of black filled my sight. Carrying this heavy burden of clothes on a hot, hot day is certainly not a good way to forget.
Curse this, I said it again. This way I'll never get my mind of what I saw last night, in a dream that is. Yona already gone back to the camp when I was still washing and stitching up torn clothes—legacy of Hak and Kija's little argument. If only their definition of 'little' isn't as twisted as Jae-Ha's definition of a place full of memories (which—according to him—is the red light district).
I mumble a relieved sigh and take the last sheet of dirty cloth left—thank the heavens that it's not a loincloth or something other I'd rather not touch or even come close to it. I believe that Yoon has already told (more like bossed) them to wash their own undergarments. And I can't even give Yoon enough appreciation for that.
The water in this little pond is clear, gives off this earthy smell, and cool—like how water should be. I wash my hands from the water inside of a bucket, before tucking strands of hair that interrupt my gaze. I can see a reflection of myself vividly on the transparent yet bluish water—a reflection of someone I'm not familiar with, silver hair, crystal blue eyes, and a pale but healthy complexion. I just knew how slanted my eyes are, it's sharp and could be menacing if I tried.
Just randomly, have you ever thought of being someone you never know?
'Have you?'
My eyes split open, I instantly drop the bucket I was going to carry back to the camp and fell into the ground so ungracefully. After blinking my eyes one or maybe three times, I wipe my face and rub my eyes—this all isn't real, I'm going out of my mind.
'But aren't we all, my dear?'
For the love of god, this is real. How?
The alluring voice let out a chuckle, the voice sounds like a woman's, thick and rich but also slightly hold a certain depth of wiseness and experience in it. I wonder, whom might she be? Having all every human being could want—wisdom, intelligence, and charm.
'My dear, I'm still here.'
'How is this even possible?'
'You owe me something, Kyouka.' Her tone dangerously low, sending impulses down my spine and to my toes. 'Something you've forgotten about.'
'Then!' I protest with every strength I have left in my body, calling out every courageous fiber to act out—right about now. 'It wasn't my fault if I paid it or not, no?'
I can feel a smug smirk playing on the creature's lips, despite her not taking a single form, her everything sounds and acts familiar—almost if I knew her. I shake off the thought away like it's a pebble amongst precious gold. 'Of course every debt must be paid, even when you remembered doing it or not, or it wouldn't be fair to me, hmm?'
A thought suddenly spark inside my freezed brain, creating millions of chain reaction and forming a mastermind plan—or at least, I tried. 'Then? How about, you make me remember first, then I'm going to pay off my so-called debt to you, lady.'
'Hmm,' her voice flows sweetly to my ears, like thick honey filling me until I was satisfied. But, it kept me wanting more, like how temptation was supposed to be. 'Alright, I'll be giving your memory back piece by piece—but, like a puzzle, how you pieced everything in the end is completely up to you.'
Taking a deep breath and clutching my hands together like how leaves leaves joined together and dance when the wind came—I nod quickly. 'Please,'
And with that exact words, the always-rotating celestial sphere stopped, the wind stopped singing their usual song and the clear pond water stopped reflecting the face I've seen before. My existence is on stake right now, but my head feels heavy, the lack of motion in the world is because they're now put inside my head. Drumming on my skull like heart against ribcage—loudly, quickly, and painfully. And how kind of the universe to grant my wish at last, it's to reunite with an old acquaintance of mine.
Something that preferred to be called darkness.
Oh, and how beautiful it suddenly engulfs all the light—like how complicated light and darkness are, my head is also filled with plethora of something I hate to say, which is, memories.
And those familiar static noises, also stopped.
.
'Wake up, deary. Your little companions would be worried if you're gone for too long.'
My eyes split open, feeling the hot burning sun ray no longer beating my face like a ceremonial drum. Instead of the heat, I can feel a numbing sensation of coldness seeping through my bones. And the glare that he sun used to gave me was gone, replaced by the soothing comfort of something colder and more serene. I should wake up now—no, five minutes more.
"Kyouka!—Rei!"
Multiple footsteps. Not a lot of people, under ten probably—but I don't need analyzing or to be warned at all when I hear the only nickname he would ever call me with. Forcing my eyes to open, I gasp in shock when I no longer see a pond near my sight, only ruins of some sort of building, trees, and human skeletons—a lot of them.
"Kyouka!"
I gasp in shock when Yona run to my side, instantly grabbing a hold of my stone-cold hand, her breath hitches up and down letting me know that she has been running to find me this deep inside the forest. I try to open my mouth, to utter an apology or maybe a 'thank you' would be more fitting for the occasion?
"What in the world were you doing here?"
"She's not even conscious Yona, let her be." A deeper voice speaks to my ear, I can feel my body being lift up by powerful arms. "Let's take her back to Yoon."
"What is this horrid place?" Yona gasps and look around, "Let's get out of here, this can't get more creepy that it already is."
And just like that, we began to set foot of the mysterious ancient ruins.
.
"This girl, honestly." Yoon complains while tending my bruised forehead and the pounding sensation on my head that's stubborn enough to not go away. "How often do you get yourself in trouble, god, is this an omen?"
I laugh joyously at his humorous remark, he does look like a mother tending her hurt child. Even though he denies the title so much, he can't help to act like one. "You're exaggerating, I just slipped and fell, nothing major. Just a few bruises and a headache—you've tend Hak and Kija before after their fight, isn't it a lot harder?"
"At the least they don't form serious wounds in a matter of a month!" He shakes his head disapprovingly. "I've checked for more wounds and there seems to be none—I guess you're a lucky one aren't you?"
After taking a huge intake of oxygen, I smile in relief as Yoon smiles back, putting another layer of cloth against my head to support it. Then, before he turns to head out, he suddenly remembers something as if it was something important.
"Oh, I almost forgot," He starts—as if he said it on purpose, he without a fail masked his knowing tone, but somehow I can still figure it out. "Where did you get that tattoo on your neck? It looks so complicated and detailed."
"What—"
But before I could finish, he exits and never turn back. I raise an eyebrow, lowering the collar part of my dress before holding up a mirror Yoon left here for Yona and I. From the mirror, I can see a tattoo like what Yoon mentioned, a huge blooming rose on my neck and its thorns trailing down until the upper part of my neck and it also continues to the back of my neck—and it finishes with a spider web and a butterfly. I gasp in surprise and pure confusion, what is this? I've seen my body before when I bathe and never once I saw this strange marks.
"Huh, weird." I touch the big blooming rose on my neck, suddenly a giggle escapes my lips , surprising even myself. "But also kind of pretty.
Is this what that person meant about piecing the puzzle piece by piece, did I just get my first piece?
.
The air become silent as yet another night fell upon them. Yoon sits down near the fire, his eyes travelling up and down the old wrinkly pages of the book he is reading. The tangy smell of paper fills the air and almost inaudible chirping of night insects and other wild animals lurking on the other side of them—the forest. And yet, he didn't seem to mind the little thrill.
"Life is a series of repeated moments and phases and yet we can't seem to have enough of it—some would like to live longer and some gave up and chose to end it. What do you think if you can become immortal?"
Hak coughs on his water, looking at Yoon with wide pupils as if he had gone bonkers. But Yoon kept his expression still, eyes glued to the book but tone demanding and serious. "What the hell? Did you bite your tongue?"
"I was serious, dammit." Yoon curses, biting his thumbnail in frustration, "After today's—peculiar, event. What happened to Kyouka reminded me of something I read a long time ago and also, that strange mark on her neck."
"You're going insane," Hak shrugs the topic off, slouching and yawning despite how Yoon seems to be so serious about it. "It's probably just nothing."
Then, a powerful gush of wond envelops them into an embrace, almost putting the large fire out. Yoon hisses, hugging the ancient book tightly before the pages could fly like thousands origami cranes. Hak only sips on his water calmly, because he already knew the cause of this, and he would rather lick his feet than to state that he's rather amazed.
"Jae-Ha!"
The man chuckles, brushing back his lustrous locks of green and his Kai-style clothing to put them back in place like how they used to be before his magnificent entrance. "Well, you can't expect me to come here without in a dull way right? My name screams phenomenal after all."
"Pssh, the only thing your name is screaming is 'pervert, droopy-eyed, pedophile." Hak snickers, "Right, mother?"
"Shut your mouth," Yoon orders, "I was being serious, for heaven's sake, we need something more than this chain of mysterious events!"
"You're in luck, mother." Jae-Ha grins his infamous loop-sided grin. "I—with my gorgeous dragon leg—happen to see something before Yona and Shin-Ah found Rei-dear."
His eyes turn serious, his gaze half-lidded as the air became tenser. "I saw a shadow looming over her before the air cleared out, it came from somewhere amongst the ruins. I tried to land but something stopped me and knocked me out."
"Ahh, that's why you were gone." Hak replies.
"And do you know what's more interesting than that?" Yoon interrupts, his eyes sparkle in something suspicious—even a chill made its way up Hak's and Jae-Ha's spine.
"Educate us, mother."
Yoon smiles smugly.
"It was where the mythical Ginnoyuki clan used to reside."
.
▪word count: 2063 words▪
Ahh, I've finally updated.
This one took me about a week to finish because I've been busy (I'm sure you don't want hear a plethora of excuses, cries). I made sure that everything is correct; grammar, spelling, characters and whatnot.
I would love if you guys could drop me a few words on what you think about this chapter, I would love you to the moon and back.
Thank you for reading 'Wingless Dragons' chapter three! ❤❤❤
seira💕