feathers and scales | j.j.k

VI

Lyn tucked her hair into her shirt and put on a messenger boy cap she had found squished in the bottom of her bag.

As she walked into the Village, she could feel the piercing eyes of people around her watching her, but whenever she spun around to look at them, the delinquents were looking or doing something else. 

Lyn shivered as the ominous call of a crow filled her ears. The filthy, mangy birds (no hate to crows tho) were all over the place. Baem slithered under the cover of her jacket, his cold, shimmering golden eyes glaring at the warm, sharp golden eyes of the crows. Lyn didn't notice the peculiar feature of the birds as she walked into a small shop on the corner of the street.

The creak of the door combined with the musty smell of the place created a strange aura that surrounded the shop. Lyn flinched when the cuckoo bird clock twanged all of a sudden. Sitting at the front desk was an old woman who gazed hungrily at Lyn.

"Snake," she whispered. A black-feathered tattoo peeked out of the back of her greasy shirt.

Lyn looked at her. "What'd you say?"

The old woman waddled to the back room, ignoring Lyn and busying herself.

Lyn frowned and kept on looking at the strange relics in the room. Almost all of them depicted birds and snakes, the snakes usually being a victim of the birds.

Her fingers traced the curves of one of the carvings, one of the only ones that showed humans and not animals. There was a beautiful woman with bright red hair. There were chains wrapped around her and the bottom half of her body was that of a snake. There was no caption, but Lyn knew deep inside her that the woman was choosing confinement. Above her was a man, with stunning crystal blue hair, reaching towards her. Wings sprouted out of his back, their feathers different shades of blue. The look of sorrow on his face struck a chord inside of Lyn.

"That's the Crystal Blue Phoenix and his wife, the Ember Ruby Serpent," whispered a familiar voice in Lyn's ear.

She jumped and looked behind her. There was Jungkook, a cocky smirk on his face, inches away from her.

Panic overtook Lyn as she froze. Her brain was screaming at her to run, run, run away from the dangerous man, but her body was frozen. She couldn't move. Baem hissed, and suddenly, her limbs were back in her control. Lyn ran out of the shop, heading back the way she came. A strange notion came over her, that if she made it to the school, she was safe.

Lyn kept running and when she got to the metal fence, she climbed it like there was no tomorrow. As she reached the top, she felt a hand wrap around her ankle and pull her down.

Lyn landed on her foot, crying out in pain as a sharp crack resounded through her body. Jungkook leaned down, a gloved hand wrapped around her neck.

"Tell me, snake, what is your purpose in approaching me? Who sent me? And how did you, a snake, enter the Bird Formation?"

Lyn scratched his hands and pulled at his wrists. Baem slithered out of her sleeve and bit Jungkook's finger. Jungkook hissed in pain and pulled his hand back, shaking his hand.

"Puny snake. Did you think you could really use your venom to affect me? If you want to fight, at least show me your true form. I know you've cultivated long enough," said Jungkook as he sucked his finger and spit on the ground.

Lyn stared at him in confusion as she rubbed her throat. "Baem," she rasped, "come back. He might hurt you."

Baem slithered onto the ground, shooting Lyn one last apologetic look. She cocked her head and reached out to him. Baem never disobeyed her before.