Chapter Text
Do not weep, for life will always continue. Do not despair, for there will always be a second chance. A bell will not only chime once, and Koyang knows this. She knows all too well about it.
Not a single noise breaks its way out of her mouth as she nearly slips off of the large fallen tree trunk, using it as a mossy bridge towards a deeper part of the forest. She had suffered worse injuries, it wouldn’t have been an issue had she fallen. Once again, with her stoic demeanor, she makes her way deeper into Vayungan Forest.
Koyang knows the path in and out. She’s visited so many times, the white butterflies seem to flutter and circle around the girl when she arrives. They’re used to her appearance here, not like her life back at “home”.
Her black short bob flows in the air as she walks, the tall trees overshadowing her easily. Turning her head to the left, there are Chai’yun deer, prancing and playing in the mystic lake. A brief glance, no more than a few seconds as she continued her walk into the forest. She had one purpose to travel into the Vayungan Forest’s center, and that was to meet with Yangui—the forest’s guardian.
‘It’s Miss Koyang! Everyone, she’s here!’ Ginta exclaims, his short rabbit ears pointing upwards the moment he spots the short girl. He runs towards Koyang, with his fellow friends. Nearly the entire forest had known her by now.
‘Miss Koyang, are you going to meet with Master Yangui again?’
‘She’s so pretty!’
‘Right? Miss Koyang is the most beautiful person in the world!’
‘Miss Koyang! Are you going to be able to stay for longer this time?’
Many of the kids enjoyed badgering her, and Koyang didn’t mind. Crouching down, her white cloak dragged over the fallen leaves of a treant. The children’s questions were simply answered with a short nod or shake of her head. Yes, she was going to meet with Yangui again. No, she won’t be able to stay for very long. And when the children commented on her appearance… they were answered with a deafening silence, perhaps a narrowing of Koyang’s eyes or a lowering of her head.
Ginta could sense that the girl was less active today. Her nods and shakes of her head were slow, and she was constantly looking down unless asked a question. Hesitantly, he spoke up, calling out to his friends. ‘Everyone, Miss Koyang is busy. We have to leave! We’ll be late for lunch!’
Reluctantly, the rabbit boy and his friends scurried off, leaving Koyang alone once again, a white butterfly deciding to perch itself on her shoulder. She was partially glad she was never alone in this forest, in a good way.
Koyang’s black boots crunched against the leaves, dragging on and on for the entire path. She could feel the stare of treants gazing at her, not in a bad way. Perhaps they were simply fond of her after so long, how she was never noisy—not that she made any sound, or spoke, ever—and she was not like others who used to come here. Lumberjacks and hunters, thieves of all sorts going there to destroy and cause chaos towards the mystic forest.
‘Koyang,’ A voice calls out to her. ‘Studying with Master Yangui again?’ It asks, bushes rustling as a figure makes itself known to the girl. Aryani, one of the many birdfolk that settled down and decided to live in Vayungan Forest. Her light brown skin and large scars were blatantly visible on her face, across her nose bridge and on her jawline to her cheek.
The black-haired girl nodded briefly, gazing at Aryani with a curious expression in her near-empty eyes—if it weren’t for the small white fading arch on the low of her pitch-dark black iris—, wondering how she could have guessed so.
‘It’s obvious already. Pretty much the only reason you come here besides needing a break from the town, no?’ Aryani giggles, her long orange braid flowing behind her as she walks. She nearly knew everybody that entered the forest, and everybody who lived in it.
Koyang doesn’t answer, she just stands still. Her necklace’s prismatic blue jewel glows slightly, before the light fades once more. For a while, she doesn’t move an inch, like she was blanking out, until she nods once more, signaling that the birdfolk was once again correct in her assumptions.
The winged girl’s eyes narrow. Koyang was indeed a strange one, a… enigmatic sort of person, if you will. Not in a bad way, of course, but you could never read her expression. You never knew what she was thinking, and that made her so intriguing to Aryani. ‘You should get going. I’ll see you around; maybe if you stop by, I’ll have some sweet strawberries left to give to you.’ She explains, waving her messily-bandaged hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘Or else you’ll get the sour ones.’
Koyang nods briefly. She doesn’t have any reaction, barely unfazed. Usually, Ginta and the other rabbit children would always race each other to go to Aryani for her renowned strawberries, seeing that her lineage was one of revered and skilled farmers amongst the birdfolk. So it was surprising that she would not have any reaction towards an offer like that, especially from Aryani.
The winged girl flies away, leaving Koyang alone. Absent-mindedly, she gently kicks a small pebble in her path, making it jump a few steps every kick. Koyang didn’t realize what she was doing until the gray pebble splashed into a small river path, where she would normally have to take a bridge to pass through.
She sees her reflection in the water. Then there’s something in the water. Some fish, perhaps? It’s her. Just her, nobody else. But it feels wrong. Like there’s something different, that it might not be just her. But that’s impossible, besides some treants and butterflies, it’s just Koyang, and Koyang alone.
The butterfly leaves her shoulder. The way its wings fluttered was in a sort of panicked, rushed-like state. As if it was flying away from a predator. Koyang wasn’t evil. She was just her, and she wasn’t a monster, so why was the winged creature fluttering away from her?
It’s me. Just me again. I see myself in the reflection, and it cannot be anybody else other than me. Because nobody else is here. The white butterfly has left. Just me and the forest, and this river. The river water should be transparent. It’s foggy now. It’s being ruined by my reflection. My reflection is a bad omen. I am a bad person. There is nobody else to blame. No second chances. Look at my face. Why don’t I speak? Come now, just speak. Even a single word. Speak, you monster. Speak.
Koyang shakes her head, closing her eyes. When she reopened them, The water was clear again. It was best if she kept moving; Yangui was waiting for her, after all, and the day was soon breaking into evening. Yet she couldn’t forget about the person she saw in the river’s reflection. That wasn’t her. That was a monster.
Making a few more turns throughout the forest terrain, the black-haired girl turned her head left and right, looking out for Yangui, the forest’s guardian. He should be here, it would be unfortunate if Koyang had missed her daily lesson of the forest spirit arts with him. She nearly had the urge to call out for him, but she hasn’t used her voice in years, and it would be inappropriate.
Finding that staying here would have caused even more issue, Koyang resulted in sitting down on the grassy ground and waiting with her knees up to her chest, her arms hugging said knees. She could not help but think about other things, losing herself in her thoughts.
Koyang didn’t know how long it’d been. She didn’t count, she never did. But the next thing she knew, when she came back from her zoning out, thick tears were dripping out of her eyes. How strange, she hadn’t been thinking about anything that might have caused her to cry. She hadn’t cried in months. Or perhaps, that was just what she remembered.
‘Koyang,’ A deep voice, just like Yangui—Father? Someone was calling out to her. She could not differentiate the voice between her father and… somebody else. Someone she didn’t remember. Something that she… forgot about. ‘Stand up, my girl.’ It asks. It wasn’t a demanding tone, not like an orderly tone, either.
The girl stands up. She gazes around, and for a moment, her gaze unfocuses. She doesn’t know where to look, maybe she got up too fast. It was normal for her to be dizzy sometimes, feeling like her inner self tore itself out of her flesh, yet this was different. Refocusing back her vision, there was nothing to greet her. Absolutely nothing.
Koyang blinks. Once. Twice. She rubs one of her eyes, just to make sure. Reality wasn’t like this. The real world… and this, her imagination. It’s just in her head. Why else would she be in this black void? Nothing to entertain her senses. Not a single thing to see, smell, or hear—
‘It’s you again.’ A quiet giggle, and it’s a voice. A higher one, one she recognizes. Then there’s quiet footsteps, light and airy, yet hearable enough to sound human. She’s familiar with all of these traits, she knows, because they belong to her.
The owner of the voice, a young girl. A cute girl, with short little black pigtails and square bangs. She had the same blue pendant that Koyang had, yet the jewel was lighter. Comparing the young girl’s and her own, it was a stark difference.