Emerald Hearts

Chapter Four

Hae Ri

I couldn't feel a thing. Not the scrapes, bruises, or my beating heart. I aimlessly traveled the forest not knowing where I would end up. All I knew was that I could not go back home. My feet sloshed in the fallen rain. A little alcove I found served as a shelter. I sat there holding my knees to my chest. It was then that my emotions resurfaced, and the tears came streaming down my face again. I so badly wanted to be held by someone.

Just then, I heard a soft ringing nearby. The beautiful melody I longed to hear had returned. It was the boy, he was close. I looked around for his glowing eyes. He suddenly popped out from above the alcove, hanging upside down. This caused me to stagger back. He jumped down with a magical green aura swirling around him. His face was pleading this time, not playful or taunting.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

He waved me over. When I tried to get close, he took off running on all fours.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

The boy did not make it easy for me, but I managed to follow closely behind. I wasn't going to let him get away from me again. He led me to the same rock cliff and climbed it like he did before. So many thoughts ran through my head at that moment.

He's a complete stranger. What if this is a trap? Its too high, I could fall.

He took notice of my caution and shook his head at me before disappearing over the cliff.

With nothing to stop me and nothing to lose, I took hold of a vine and braced my legs against the rocks. One hand over the other, I scaled the cliff. It was difficult, but I made it to the top. Before I could celebrate I was thrust onto a steep slope. I screamed the whole way down. My body eventually slid into a curtain of leaves before making an ungraceful fall onto the ground.

A boy about the same age as the one I followed stood over me with a torch in hand. He wore a dark green headband that kept his shoulder length brunette hair out of his face. Like the other boy, he wore a tunic, only his was brown. The trousers were of the same color and stopped mid calf. "This is not good. You're going to get into so much trouble," he said looking concerned.

The person he was talking to stood in front of me. When I looked up, I found a pair of emerald eyes looking at me with delight.

"Hi Ribbon Girl ."

~

"Ribbon Girl?" I asked.

The boy with the emerald eyes took out one of the silk blue ribbons I had used to mark my trail.

"I guess that would be me." I stood, my body aching from the fall. "Why have you been following me?"

He threw the question back at me. "Why'd you follow me?"

I didn't want to get into the details of what happened earlier, so I stayed silent.

The boy holding the torch stepped forward. "Areum, just because your the chief's daughter doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."

To my surprise, the boy with the green eyes was actually a girl.

"Yes it does," she said and stuck her tongue out at him. She then turned to me. "My name is Areum and that stick in the mud is Min Woo."

He rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm Han Hae Ri," I replied unsure of how I managed to remember my name.

"So pretty. I knew you'd have a name like that," she said. "Follow us."

"Hold on, you didn't answer my question," I said.