(Y/n) burrowed herself further into the warmth of sheets. She rubbed the remnants of sleep from her eyes and gazed through the window at the horizon; the sun's vivid light extended across a rosy sky. She supposed this was something the majority of people would consider beautiful, but she found it strange. It was hard to find something so meaningful in something so every day. It's not like the sun wouldn't rise; it has been reliably happening since the beginning of time. So what was so special about it?
She found more beauty in the moon; it changed. Sometimes it would appear red, other times a pure white. Something was comforting in the irregularity.
(y/n) sat up more; she never remembered falling asleep or walking back to her room. Yet here she was, tangled in sheets of silks and linens, on her bed and not on the mud floor. It didn't confuse her as much as you would expect it to. It had happened countless times before. Almost every night, she would fall at the graveyard. She would wake with no recollection of leaving. She shrugged it off. It was probably a guard on patrol who kept finding her asleep and bringing her back.
She left her room dressed in beige and cream and headed through the halls down to the meeting rooms. Alabaster statues lined the corridors until she reached her destination. On the other side, several people of importance sat ready to finalise the plans for tomorrow.
She sat in a chair the furthest away from her father. He tried his best to pay it no mind.
Everyone else in the meeting room spoke in hushed tones. It was the last day the council had to plan tomorrow's ceremony.
Oh, what a ceremony it was. It was the only time (y/n) felt any connection with her mother, and it was the only time the people in Mrryka saw her. The parade was a celebration of her mother's life held every year. The meaning behind the festival had mostly been forgotten by the public. It was more used as an excuse to let go for a day, but it still held a reason to those who knew the Chief's late wife. That reason was enough for the Chief to keep it going.
"As we all know, my daughter (y/n) leads the parade." The Chief announced. The council gave a slight nod to this fact, it was nothing new it had been the case for nine years. "Well, this year, I think we need a change." He directed his attention to his only daughter. "(y/n) I don't think you should do it this year."
Her lungs caved, pushing all the oxygen out; no matter how many gulps of air she took, something stopped her from breathing. Tears started to prick at her eyes, threatening to spill. Finally getting a gasp of air, she calmed herself, praying that she had just heard wrong. "What do mean" (y/n) crocked out.
"It's nothing personal, but this parade has turned into one for the people, and you don't seem to connect with them. I doubt they would really know who you are, you keep yourself hidden away too much." He paused, checking to see the damage done, but all he could see was the emotionless face of his child.
"So I believe it's better to have a familiar face at the front. That's why Hoseok will lead the parade this year." He finished with an empty smile. He didn't want to do this, he knew how much (y/n) adored her mother.
His people loved this day but didn't love (y/n). They didn't know her enough to love her. His council suggested he switch her out, which broke his heart, but his people came first. If it made his people happy, he would do it.
(Y/n) felt nothing like she had been emptied out and replaced with a void of nothingness. Every inch of her screamed out to fight for her mother, but something was stopping her. Wrapping its finger around her neck - gripping at her throat, tearing any words away before they could make a noise. Pursuing her lips (y/n) nodded. Stood and left without a word she knew that she would be scolded for leaving later on, but (y/n) didn't care she needed to go. The cold air welcomed her as she ran, ran until she couldn't run any more. She ran out the gates of her home and through the city. Passed the market and the house, she couldn't stop till she was gone.
Her legs were weak and shaky as they carried her far away until she reached the edge of the forest that skirted the clan grounds.
This wasn't fair.
Her head hurt from running and crying all at once.
Black started to crawl its way into her vision. Her hand rubbed it away only for the hazy fog in her eyes to grow; it swirled and spun, mixing the daytime and greens and browns from the forest into a blurry mess.
Why? Why was it always like this? Everything she had felt like it had been ripped from her. Of course, not many people would recognise her face when they only focused on him. Of course, she hid away; she felt like a stranger in her own home. She was a failure to her mother and a failure to herself. She had lost one of the only things left of her mother - but it wasn't even about her anymore. It was her pride being stomped and crushed under her father's shoe.
The dark had chased away all but a pinhole of light. (y/n) caved into the welcoming darkness and let it swallow her up.
~~~
Hoseok didn't know what was happening in the meeting, his mind wandering to random things while the chief was talking. He half-listened in, the words as they danced in and out of his mind.
The time crawled. A minute had passed since Hoseok last checked an hour ago, or so it seemed. Sitting there with nothing to stare at but the faces of old men painted excruciatingly dull, there was no telling when he would be needed. It was so pointless too. The same meeting every year, word for word. These assemblies were never really something he enjoyed, he preferred to be on the field training.
He began to drift into a daydream. It helped to pass the time.
Until he saw the girl's face, her eyes were red and on the brink of crying. Her face was stone, showing nothing, giving nothing away. But, her eyes said it all. He watched as she got up and left, and the Cheif started talking to him. Hoseok realised that he was now leading the parade. A pang of guilt overcame him. His stomach twisted itself into some absurd position. That was not what he wanted to do.
After the meeting ended, he knew he should perhaps apologise to (y/n). He knew this meant a lot to her, and he had stolen it away.
He walked out to the grave, it was the first place she would go. But when he reached the stone hill, he only found day-old flowers. They lay limply sweltering in the humid air; burnt-out candles littered the ground, leaving drops of wax in a protective ring around itself; the grass wasn't there, just mud.
Next, Hoseok found himself outside her room, he knocked on the door the dull thuds echoed in his head. After waiting for a while, he gave up and just opened the door. The light spilt in, stretching across the room, but no one was there. Hoseok closed the door, the hinges creaking loud like they always did.
He walked through the house and checked every room behind every door. This was worrisome. (y/n) hardly ever left the grounds she would normally just stay in her room or the study with her tutors. Four times a week, she would have a private class on self-defence in the main courtyard. He knew her schedule like the back of his hand. He learnt it when he was little, so they could play together, and it had never changed.
A lot of other things had changed. The main thing is their relationship; It made him sad thinking about it. He hated how they grew apart and how she would now look at him.
He started to look amongst the city. Hoseok would bump into people murmuring the odd sorry. He had to find her. The more he worried, the more his mind spiralled. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing it was his fault. Hoseok legs carried him through the busy streets.
He kept walking and walking, looking throughout the day. Out of breath and tired, his legs were ready to give up on him like a thousand bugs and insects had bitten and drained every last bit of energy within him. Sweat was forming on his brow.
He collapsed by a tree. The cold ground cradled his body. His back, sticky and aching - rested on the rough bark. He had run and searched for what felt like days; the sun was starting to set over the clan, and he watched from the surrounding tree line.
Mothers were calling in their children for bed, they retaliated by whining and complaining. The richer women walked calmly down the streets taking in the night air before they entered the privet houses for a pre-parade party. He thought it was stupid how most had forgotten the meaning of this parade. It was just another excuse to celebrate. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, he had never known the wife of the chief when she was alive. Men were packing away their stalls taking home their earnings to give to their families.
A group of soldiers were trotting down and messing around with gleeful smiles. Their armour shone in the descending light. He chuckled lightly to himself. They had just graduated and were now new members of the Orochi forces. He remembered graduating himself, he was the youngest ever to do so. He lived for it. He spent every day in some form of training or teaching the new recruits drills. He took pride in his work and was proud of his achievements. Knowing nothing would happen if he sat reminiscing about the past, he stood up. Slowly he made his way back. Despite his legs aching, he walked the long way, following the forest edge. His gaze set on the silver moon as it hid and peeped out over the wispy clouds, spying on the people.
Hoseok eyes wandered down to a hep on the ground. It didn't take a second glance to release it was the girl he had spent all day looking for.
(y/n)s cream dress merged into the shadowy ground. Panic surged; thinking the worse, he dove down next to the body.
(H/c) hair had fallen across her face; he gently brushed it out the way, reviling her soft features. Her red puffy eyes were tightly shut. Tear stains streaked across her rosy cheeks. He drew his face closer to feel her warm breath fan across his cheek.
A sigh escaped his lips, she was alive. He carefully dug his hand under her frame and lifted her up. Her skin glowed in the silver light. Hoseok knew she was beautiful, but despite all the crying and pained expression, she had never seemed as beautiful as now. To him, she looked perfect. He forgot how much she hated him for a moment, and it didn't hurt. Deeply inhaling the musty smell of the woods, Hoseok made his way back home with the girl held tightly in his arms.
He finally got home and put (y/n) to bed. He took her shoes off and pulled the sheets up to her chin.
Lying down on his own bed, he buried himself in the silk covers, the feel of the fabric on his skin; it was a moment of bliss. After running around all day, it felt good to finally stop and breathe. To take in everything and let his mind unwind.
Tomorrow was a big day for the clan, he needed sleep. Hoseok snuggled down under the coverings. As his body settled, his mind started to race again, images of the night sky and the girl repeating in his head. He shouldn't care about her, not as he used to when he was a boy. He didn't want to, not when he got pushed away by her so many times. Yet, he couldn't help but be drawn in by her.
Finally, he drifted off to sleep.
(Thank you for reading xx)