Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74 {Part 1}

~Chapter 75: The Box, the Fox, and the Paradox~

When the door had slammed, Leora pretended to be asleep. She was scared, in truth. Scared of what Duncan might do to her. She innocently believed that pretending to sleep may, in fact, protect her or confuse him. She heard Jiu call her, but wondered if that was perhaps just Duncan, pretending to be him. She stayed quiet. She listened extremely carefully as Jiu's footsteps vanished into the corridor; leaving her completely alone. She was scared. There was a scratching noise in her room, like a mouse clawing at a skirting board. Cautiously, she opened her eyes, glancing around. No mouse. No Duncan. Just a room with an ill girl. She found the source of the scratching noise to be a box on her desk. The one Edward had given her, which, to no avail; she still hadn't managed to open. Curiously, she reached over and picked it up from the desk. The scratching stopped. She set it on her lap, staring at it. Her and Jiu had tried to pry it open many times in the past, but had not even managed a dent in it. She ran her hand over the smooth wood, sighing softly at its sensations, and the fond memories she'd shared when alone with Jiu. It was a warm colour for wood. The designs were stunning too, leaves and acorns covering the sides.
"Autumnal..." Leora muttered to herself.
She paused. Autumn. That's the season they were in, weren't they? The last time she tried to open it, it had been summer time.

With bated breath, Leora went to tug the lid, wondering if perhaps it only worked during the right season. There was a clunk, and the lid slowly lifted. It worked. She peered inside the box, tentative, wondering if perhaps it was some cruel trick made by Duncan. Nothing happened. She reached her hand in, finding something soft. She pulled it out, gently, revealing a small plushie. A fox, to be precise. With button eyes, and smooth fur. Leora smiled fondly, pressing it to her chest as the memories came flooding back. Yes, Duncan had given her this plushie, hadn't he? She recalled those days where the boy sat with her, for hours on end, bouncing Mr. Fox across her lap; letting them go on adventures with him. Henry used to always sulkily watch them, refusing to join in, but envying their play; nonetheless. She remembered her and Duncan would often get scolded for going out into the garden, to play adventures with Mr. Fox. As it often resulted in them being covered in dirt. Her parents would laugh, yet her grandmother always got so angry at them. Leora clutched the plushie tighter, trembling slightly, as she remembered Mistress Mohan swatting poor Duncan across the face. Leora set the plushie down on an empty spot in her lap, searching the box, to see if there was anything else in there. A folded up piece of tattered paper.

Leora reached in, gently pulling it out, and opening it, delicate to not rip the aged pages. Her breath hitched. It was a drawing she'd made when she was very little. See spotted herself, a stickman girl; with brown scribbles for hair and a smiley face. She recognised Edward on the left, with a scribbled on dark hair, and an identical smile to her own. What silenced her was the character on her right. A stickman with long, dark hair, holding her hand with an identical smile. Except this smile had been clumsily drawn on by her in purple. It was absurd, but...this person...it was someone she knew. It was Kong Hun Jiu. Leora trembled, staring at it in shock; tears cascading down her face, blotching the scruffy sheet of paper. She'd known him since a child? But when? Surely she would have recognised him before now? Leora let out a sob, clutching the sheet of paper to her heart, letting tears drip down her face. That's right, she remembered now, she'd met him when--.