When Fates Intertwine And Create The Dawn - Shin-ah x (OC)

Chapter 8 - His Face and His Emotions

A/N - I GOT IT UP SEE.  I KEEP MY WORD WHEN I REALLY PUT MY MIND TO IT!! (A bit short though, but hey, I warned y'all)  I don't have much to say, as I already said it in the update last time, so I guess I'll let you get right to it!  

ENJOY~!!!

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TIME SKIP - A FEW MONTHS

It's been around 3 months since Alice had tagged along with Yona's group. In that time, she had become a staple. She was always wanted, needed somewhere and cherished. However, there were times where she would.. Change. She would separate herself from the group, seclude herself, hide away and keep her mouth shut. She would retreat in her mind and shut herself in it. Everyone noticed it, but no one wanted to ask her about it. They assumed it was some PTSD or trauma she gained from living in the village for so long with the abuse, and were afraid they may trigger something should they bring it up.

All the while they assumed all this information, they had no idea they were wrong. So very.. Very wrong. She didn't have some horrific memory that haunted her mind from her village, but it was something from before that time in the village. Something that could potentially end her happy dream should they ever discover her secret. A phase would occur, a phase that clouded her head, stopped her thought of common sense as she focused every ounce of concentration to stay sane. She had a voice in her head, a voice of a man who knew from a long time ago.

He was an image of hatred and fear. She didn't remember his features well, but if he stood in front of her, she would undoubtedly recognize him immediately. He knew her secret, and the fact that she was now moving from place to place, the chances of him running into her greatly increased. It frightened Alice. What would the others do if they found out? Would they run away? Leave her behind and let them take her back to her original home? Would they fear her? Loathe her? She was terrified to think those things.

Yona's group had stopped for the night and Alice had taken off to be by herself once again, this time sitting on a low branch of a lone tree sitting on top of a hilltop far from their camp site. Night had fallen and she let her legs hang below her as she used on hand to steady herself by the trunk and the other rested next to her on the branch that swayed ever so slightly in the nighttime wind. The moon was full up in the sky, small stars surrounding it in a scattered, yet perfect way. Alice stared up at the moon, her eyes filled with worry, her attention running to nowhere.

The sound of crunching leaves made her body jerk and her head snap around to look behind her to the ground not too far below. The wind blew her hair along her back as she smiled a bit sadly as she spoke towards the man below her.

"Shin-ah, did you see me all the way up here?" It was dark, but the moon reflected so much cool, soft light that seeing would only take a few minutes for a pair of eyes to adjust to it. She watched as she nodded. She had hoped that he couldn't find her, but thinking on it, he had always found her, no matter how she hid or how far she went.

Shin-ah looked up at the girl in the tree. He would always remember the time in the village when she fell out of the apple tree, that was the first time his heart skipped a beat in her presence. That was also the first time he had begin to feel something different towards Alice. He watched as her head blew and hid her smile that had no happiness in it. He could tell she was thinking about something as her eyes were lowered and lidded, filled with clouded light. He began to make his way to the tree as he began to pull himself up and get to the branch she sat on.

Pulling himself up, he sat beside her and watched as she blinked at him, confused and astonished that he had climbed the tree to her in the first place. He would've chuckled at her face, but he didn't. He began to think about the apple tree again. The first time his mask came off in front of her, and how she refused to look at his face because she somehow knew that he didn't want to be seen.