Home; I Found With You // Ryeji FF

burdens.

In the quiet of the next night, Ryujin lay on her bed, eyes fixed on the crack of the ceiling above. Having learnt from Ellie that Trent had left earlier in the day, she finally allowed herself a moment to rest.

Living in this unforgiving world, she couldn't recall the last time she had put herself on a bed without any concern manipulating her mind. The demands of the damned reality she was pushed in summoned a cycle of vigilance, scavenging, and confrontation with the undead. Leisure had become a luxury rarely affordable, the pressure of the daily struggles bore heavily on the living.

Ryujin's gaze fell upon her arms, both entirely buried under various patterns of ink she had painstakingly drawn on herself. Each intricate flower indicated a meaning beyond aesthetics. They concealed the haunting scars of the bite marks, constantly reminding her of the encounters with the infected. She traced the lines, fingers drifting along the rough surface of the wounded skin. The close calls, the long-gone battles, the strange immunity she'd never understand, the blessed curse that had been pushing her to tirelessly endure through the fiery rings of hell, granting her no mercy.

Piercing the silence of the homestead, the enchanting melancholic notes of Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 C# minor gracefully echoed throughout the dark hallway. Ryujin recognised the piece instantly, having learnt to play it as the accompanist back in her high school orchestra.

Chopin's Nocturne was a masterpiece that she had loved (obviously lying to herself) since pre-outbreak. She loved how the piece had the power to evoke a myriad of emotions, from longing and nostalgia to introspection and sorrow. It was a piece of art that transcended the time, and hearing it played so beautifully within the world of chaos was surreal.

Ryujin reached for her guitar. She knew the melody well and had played it countless times before, finding solace in its haunting beauty. With her fingers running over the strings, she began to play along with the violin, creating a harmonious duet between the two instruments.

The guitar's warm and resonant tones blended seamlessly with the humming of the violin. It was as if the melodies possessed the power to unlock the hidden door to her memories, revealing the forgotten moments she had yearned for so long.

The dark-haired woman saw herself sitting on a sun-weathered porch, surrounded by her childhood friends and their light-hearted waves of laughter. She was strumming her guitar without a care in the world. The sun was warm on her skin, not a trace of worries within her sight. They played their favourite old tunes, original songs they had written together, each chord and note intertwined with the taste of being young and carefree.

Ryujin could still hear them laughing together with the breeze of the spring tousling her poorly-dyed pink hair, and the setting sun over the evergreen trees. It was a time when all the burdens of the world felt distant.

And in the corner of the room, there laid a pair of feline eyes pinned onto the dark hallway unfolding before them. Their hands firmly gripped the wooden door, slightly giving access for them to be buried under those melodies vibrating together with the metal strings inside the compartment.

Yeji stood there, just within the vicinity of the younger girl's living space but hidden enough for her to walk away without getting caught if Ryujin were to turn her head to a certain degree. The guitarist didn't seem to be aware of the violinist's presence, swaying her body delightfully among the rhythms, allowing reality to drown behind the mask of memories. Yeji, too, was one of the preys to be lured into the trap by the hauntingly graceful melodies dancing between the guitarist's once delicate fingers, now covered in bruises and cuts.

It was a time when all the burdens of the world felt distant.

Unknowingly to Yeji, it was a person she could get away with, ignoring all the burdens of the world, far from hell.