Rednegne ✅

Peal 8

[이도]

"We'll come back to visit." "I hope you both find what you're looking for. I don't really know if it's true, so please be careful." I nodded then walked on ahead as Youngjo was still saying his goodbyes. "We were here for weeks yet it only felt like days." "Time flies when you're enjoying life." He linked his arm with mine as we set out to this fabled place.

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The road we took was empty and had a few homes lined on our right and a forest on our left. "Do you really think a city of nowols really exists?" "Knowing this world? Probably, but then it died out." I stopped in my tracks as something kept bugging me. "What is it?" "Something is here." I looked around but nothing seemed suspicious. "Keep your guard up, Jo." We pressed on, but the feeling wouldn't go away. What bothered me was that we didn't have any means other than our bare hands to fight back. Who knows who we'd be up against in a remote place like this.

"Nothing has appeared. Are you sure you aren't just anxious?" "Duck!" I tackled him to the ground as a dead tree was now up in flames. "What the-" "Don't lie there and gawk. Come on!" I firmly held his wrist as we ran. I didn't know who or what was after us, but dying wasn't on the agenda. "Who was that? Who would want us killed?" "I don't know. Maybe we pissed them off and now they want to kill us?" I could see the light leave his eyes. "They wouldn't..." "I wouldn't put it past them." I jerked him to the right and swiftly hid us in a random home out on the road. I peeked from the window to check if we were in the clear.

"Are they gone?" "Looks like it." I lied down on the decaying floor and looked up at the cracked ceiling. "Maybe we were better off staying with Clair." "Already giving up?" "No!" "That's what I want to hear." I sat up in alarm as the sound of creaking floorboards were heard. "Was that you?" "No. You?" "No." Humming soon joined in as they descended the stairs. "...a star child weeping...an aoi child weeping..." I looked at Youngjo who looked just as freaked as I did. We didn't bother to wait and see who or what it was as we dashed out the door.

We stopped to catch our breath as we looked back towards the distance of where the home was. "What song was that?" "It had to have been made up. I've never heard a tune like that." I regained some of my strength then leaned Youngjo against me so we could keep moving. "What basic does Clair's magic stem from?" "Water. It's not her who attacked us. It's not like people can be from more than one basic." "That's true." What it said still bothered me. Star child? Aoi child? Were those nicknames for someone? Who for?

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I exhaled as we decided to stop for the night. "We'll be okay out here, right?" "Hell if I know." "Maybe we should keep moving then." I wrapped my arms around my body as the wind had started to pick up. "It's so windy..." At this point it couldn't even be considered "just wind". "Staying here is dangerous. Take my hand." We held hands as we held on to the trees to stay grounded. "Did we run into a hurricane or something?" "I think we ran into someone." "No. You can't be serious!" The wind started to die down and I took the opportunity to get us as far away as possible. "Are they really out to kill us? Just because we cost them their diplomas?" "Probably. For now, just focus on getting to safety."

I frowned heavily as I didn't know where to go from here. "Do you remember the way, Jo?" "No, I was too busy thinking about surviving." "Shit..." I stepped forward and found myself falling forward. "Geon!" I felt as if I was staring death in the face as Youngjo pulled me up. "Be careful Geon..." "I swear that pit wasn't there before. And it seemed intent on making sure I wouldn't come out alive." "I don't get it. Why does it have to be us?" "Youngjo, we can worry about that later, right now-" "Geon!" I quickly grabbed his wrist before he fell in. "We need to move and quick." I pulled him up and we once more took off running.

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"Hey, there's a town." "Wait. We shouldn't go in." "What? Why?" I looked at him then back at the town. "You saw how we were attacked earlier. We shouldn't get them involved." "We should at least pick up things we need." He had a point. "Then we'll head in after the sun has risen. I think we'll be okay here." "Geonhak." "Yeah?" "It's nothing...Who's going to keep watch?" "I will. Get some rest." I looked up at the sky and started to count the stars. I rubbed my eyes as one star in particular had started to blink.

It grew brighter as if trying to draw my attention to it. "I wonder what that is..." I lifted my hand up and pretended to catch the star in my hand. As expected, there was nothing there. I looked back at the star but couldn't find it. "Guess it went back to normal." It was weird, but strangely calming to see.