CF Prologue
by flowie“You, if you ever leave the land, you’ll meet a swift death.”
That was what the shaman said upon seeing her.
The grand ritual held in the village every year was like a festival. At six years old, she was too young to grasp the gravity of such cruel, absurd words.
While she stood there blinking in confusion, her parents beside her turned pale. It wasn’t their frail son, but their daughter who had been struck by this bolt of misfortune, their reaction was only natural.
It must have been that same day.
The child, glancing around, spotted a cat slipping into the shadows. Her parents were still deep in serious conversation with the shaman.
She caught fragments of their words, something about the need to change her name quickly, even if just as a temporary measure. She eyed her parents, then carefully began to move.
In the corner where she arrived, there was no cat, there was a person.
“Where are you from, oppa? Did you just move here?”
It wasn’t far from the village’s sacred guardian tree. A boy leaned against a wall, draped in moss.
He looked around the same age as her older brother, and that alone made her happy. Her brother had been weak since birth, always monopolizing their parents’ attention. Even if she wanted to play with him, he was too delicate to join her.
She’d never seen this boy before, and she approached on tiptoe and crouched beside him. When she spoke, the boy slowly opened his eyes and looked down at her.
Ah…
She’d thought he was her age, but half his face was hidden in shadow under the wall, his features were far more mature than she’d expected.
His long legs, carelessly sprawled, looked like they might trip someone. It was hard to tell if he was still a boy or already a young man.
Then the boy opened his eyes and met hers.
“…”
“…”
His ash-grey irises, indifferent and cold, stared directly at her. Neither of them spoke a word.
She had a feeling that this boy hadn’t moved to the village, or come to visit like she had.
She was caught in a strange atmosphere, blinking up at him, when suddenly:
“Ah…!”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“You’re hurt?”
She hadn’t seen it clearly in the shadows, but one of his knees was bleeding. Through a tear in his pants, the red wound was plainly visible, painful just to look at.
“That must hurt.”
She winced in sympathy.
So that’s why he was resting here. Before she could even think of him as a stranger, the fact that he was hurt came first, filling her with concern.
It was the same whenever her brother had worse days. No matter how many questions she asked, he would just lie there listlessly, not so much sad, as quietly miserable.
So she stayed crouched where she was, and gently leaned forward. She blew warm breath over his knee, hoping it would help it heal faster.
“…Go.”
The curt voice dropped over her head like a stone.
She looked up, meeting his frowning gaze.
Rummaging in her melon-shaped bag, she pulled something out.
“You can eat this.”
Wrapped in folded tissues were some rice cakes and snacks. When he didn’t take them, she simply placed them on his uninjured knee.
Now, what else was missing?
“Oh, and one last thing.”
She dug through her bag again.
“I’ll give you this.”
With pride, she pulled out something she’d carefully hidden and opened her palm wide.
A bright yellow adonis blossom, just like the round bag she carried.
She’d gotten permission to take it to show her sick brother in the hospital, but this oppa was hurt too, so it felt right to share.
The boy, who had been silently watching her, finally reached out.
She’d thought he would ignore her again, so it was unexpected.
When she smiled wide, dimples bloomed deep into her soft cheeks.
Just as she was about to speak again, her parents’ voices called her from the distance. Reluctantly, she waved to the boy and trotted off the way she came.
So clingy when she arrived, yet not even a glance back as she left.
“…”
The boy didn’t take his eyes off her until her small shadow disappeared.
Above them, the multicolored streamers tied to the sacred tree fluttered eerily in the wind.