(Everglow) I'm actually updating these new chapters like at a days-length and even just a couple of days by the looks of it, and that's kinda exciting. Of course, that's totally not like my usual updates, right readers of My Eyes Tell All. I can't believe I even let it become another year before I updated. Damn you, Evil computer for crashing once again and taking my wonderful chapters with it. I'd kill it but it's already dead. I have a brand new computer that does not disappoint me. Woot! Anyway, here's the new chapter of the story beta-ed by my best friend and muse inthisdarcness.
Disclaimer: See Chapter One…lol. It's not changing.
And now, Chapter 3 Take 2! Enjoy!
Title: Reflection in the Moonlight
Chapter Three: The Warrior from Korea, Yunsung appears
The wary atmosphere that had befallen the small camp was enough to even keep evil bunnies away, except for the one that was roasting in the fire. The three teens all sat around the freshly made campfire, exchanging awkward glances in the fire's glow. Talim sat awkwardly in-between the two others, trying to keep to herself as she felt the glares shoot past her like daggers.
The newcomer to the group was indeed Yunsung, a warrior from Korea that had befriended Talim earlier on her journey. It seemed that the boy had heard that Talim was in the area searching for this 'Moon Reader' and he decided to locate his friend the Wind Priestess. However, he had not expected to have met under such embarrassing conditions.
"Talim, tell your little friend to stop glaring at me which those glaring eyes of hers!" Yunsung fumed from his seat, obviously still embarrassed from the events that had occurred. "I don't need that little brat getting on my case right now!"
"Who are you calling a brat, you jackass!" Taye snapped in response, causing the redheaded boy to jump up with anger. "You don't need to tell Talim to pass on your stupidity…if you want to say something, say it to my face!"
Yunsung's cheeks burned redder than his hair and he reached for his sword. Talim sprung up just in time to grip the boy's wrist, locking his eyes with her own as she frowned. Taye simply sat there unaffected by the event unfolding before her, and instead was poking at the rabbit that they were cooking with a stick.
"Yunsung, this is not a time to be fighting," Talim scolded the older boy, tightening her grip on his wrist. "Especially when the person you are fighting is an ally of yours."
"How's the girl my ally, Talim?" Yunsung retorted, glaring down at the determined girl that held him. "She's a freakin' brat…and I have no time to deal with brats!"
Talim stood her ground, refusing to break the hold she had on Yunsung. She had enough of the fighting and wished for peace between the two. They had only just met after all, even though their first meeting did involve pinning Yunsung to a tree with Taye's sai. Luckily Talim was able to climb up to where Yunsung had been pinned and muster up all her strength to pull out the blade. But still, these two needed to be friends, or at least act friendly to each other. Was that too much for one Wind Priestess to ask?
"Death to the evil rabbit," Taye smirked as she continued her poking. "Let's eat up, Talim…stop messing with the flame head and chow down with me!"
"Flame head!" Yunsung jerked his arm away from Talim, pointing his sword at the Moon Reader. "That's it, you little bitch…I'm going to slice your face off!"
Nope, it was certainly too much to ask for. The two teens showed no sign of getting along at all. Talim let out a heavy sigh before staring back up at Yunsung, who seemed awfully determined to scare the overconfident moon girl.
"You would have done it by now if you were really going to slice my face off," Taye mumbled as she halted her poking, instead pointing her stick at the redhead. "I'm going to poke you unless you put away your sword, shut up, and eat the evil rabbit with me and Talim."
Talim stared over at Taye, amazed in her sudden change of attitude. Sure, she was still far from being friendly towards the redhead, but she certainly wasn't being mean. Taye actually seemed like she was willing to work with the newcomer.
"Whatever," Yunsung huffed as he put away his blade, sitting back down beside the Wind Priestess. "Just hurry up with the food already."
"Hey, there's no need to rush poor Talim," Taye's smirk grew large as she chuckled. "You should treat your girlfriend with some respect, pal."
Both of the teens froze as Taye's comment rolled off her tongue, both of them turning red. Talim looked away quickly, trying to hide her sudden loss of composure. Yunsung shot a glare at Taye.
"What…after all that happened earlier, I'm surprised that you two are not together," Taye giggled at the thought of what had occurred.
(Flashback)
Talim stared up at the treetops, awaiting a reply from the spy that had been successfully pinned to the tree. Taye stood beside the Wind Priestess, interested in whom this 'Yunsung' character was that Talim was talking about.
"Talim, so it is you!" The voice called out in response, anger and frustration more than evident in his tone. "What the hell are you doing throwing these damn blades around!"
"That was my friend Taye who pinned you up there!" Talim replied, replacing her weapons at her side. "I'm sorry Yunsung, we didn't know it was you…I'll help get you down!"
Taye watched Talim as she rushed to the tree where Yunsung was pinned. The Wind Priestess grabbed onto the branch closest to her small height and began to pull herself up towards the next branch. Within seconds, Taye was gawking up the tree with Talim barely still in her sights. The girl moved like a monkey up the tree until she finally caught the sight of the tall redhead pinned to the bark.
"Yunsung, it really is you!" Talim could not help her grin as she finally reached the branch that Yunsung was standing on; he was obviously frustrated with the fact that such a simple blade caught him. "It's been so long since I've seen you…I'm so glad that you're all right!"
"Of course I'm all right…at least I was," Yunsung gave a chuckle as he tried to hide his embarrassed face from the girl. "It's really good to see you again, Talim…although the circumstances could be better."
"I'm so sorry that this had happened but we had no way of knowing that it was you." Talim noticed the sai that was holding the redhead's arm to the bark of the tree, with a little blood staining the blade. "Oh no, you were cut!"
"Huh…oh, that's no big deal," Yunsung mumbled to himself, his eyes still averted away from the girl. "I'd die of embarrassment long before I'd die of something like this…now if you could please help me get this damn thing out of the tree so I can get down?"
"But…can't you just pull off your shirt…since it hasn't technically pierced your skin?" Talim questioned, somewhat confused.
"Yeah, I kind of don't want to rip off my shirt," Yunsung mumbled as pouted before the girl. "It's my only one that I have…and a simple hole is easy to fix…plus, I don't want to go around half-naked here."
Talim nodded, even though she was still obviously confused. What reason was there really for not going around without a shirt on? Talim repeated that question in her mind, trying to come to terms with what she was saying. When it finally hit the Wind Priestess, a picture of Yunsung standing half-naked in the rain popped into her head. The girl let out a squeal as she covered her blushed cheeks, hoping that the boy would not catch onto her childish daydreams.
"Is everything ok with you, Talim?" Yunsung asked, causing Talim to peek over at him through her spread fingers. The redhead was staring at the girl, confusion evident in his puzzled stare.
"Oh, everything is fine Yunsung," Talim gave a hesitant laugh as she moved her hands away from her face, hoping that her blush was no longer visible.
"Well, if you say so," Yunsung rolled his eyes as he awaited the Wind Priestess's assistance with the sai. "Can we please hurry up with this thing?"
Talim nodded again as she took hold of the sai, pulling back with a huff. Unfortunately, it was not coming out of the tree. It was really stuck.
"No wonder you couldn't get this out yourself," Taye whispered silently as she pulled hard on the sai again, using all of her might to do so. "This blade really isn't coming out."
"Just keep trying…come on, I've taken you on before so I'm sure you've got more power than that!" Yunsung growled as he tried to pull the weapon out himself. "Just keep…!"
Talim gasped as she was finally able to pull Yunsung free, but in turn, lost her footing on the branch. The girl screamed, as she no longer had the safety of something solid under her feet.
"Talim!" Yunsung sprung to help the girl, falling off the branch himself as he grabbed onto Talim's hand. "Aw, shit!"
Taye's eyes grew wide at the sound of Talim's scream, followed by the sound of this Yunsung's cursing. The Moon Reader let out a yelp of her own as debris began to fall around her from the treetops, an obvious sign that something was going wrong from above.
"Talim, what's wrong!" Taye screamed as she searched for any sign of the Wind Priestess, or whoever that Yunsung boy was. "Damn it all for being so dark out here…Talim, please answer me!"
Talim was unfortunately unable to answer at the moment for her head had decided to go to battle with a rather thick branch and lose; she was unconscious. Yunsung managed to grab onto a branch in time before they both could impact with the ground, but he could already tell that there was no way it was going to hold them both for long.
"Of all times to get knocked out…Talim, wake up!" Yunsung bereted the limp girl as he listened to the branch crack under their combined weights. "Ah jeez…this is freakin' insane!"
Yunsung gasped as the branch finally gave way, letting the two teens fall towards the approaching ground. Yunsung tucked himself around Talim and twisted midair under her, protecting Talim in his arms. He hit with a grunt, but the branch hadn't been too far from the ground, though it was high enough to knock the wind out of the warrior.
"Oh my god!" Taye cried out, causing Yunsung to look up at the unfamiliar girl in pain. "Talim, are you all right…and, who the hell are you pal!"
"I could say the same to you," Yunsung got out in between coughs as he tried to catch his breath, his aching muscles paralyzing him to the ground. "This is insane…"
"Oh…so you're Yunsung," Taye giggled suddenly as she turned a bright red color. "Well, I see what kind of relationship you and Talim have."
"Huh…what are you…?" Yunsung's eyes grew wide as he realized that his strong hand that pulled Talim protectively into his arms now rested on her butt. "Oh, shit!"
(End Flashback)
"What happened earlier?" Talim asked suddenly, confused by Taye's words.
"Nothing Talim…she's just joking around with you," Yunsung grumbled, continuing to glare at the Moon Reader. "Ain't that right, brat?"
"I'm not a brat," Taye's smirk vanished as she took a piece of the cooked rabbit meat that Talim had handed her. "Yeah, I'm just messing with you, Talim…don't think anything of it."
With that, the three teens all sat together by the warm campfire, eating the meal that the Wind Priestess had prepared for them. There was no talking or conversing at all between them. They just sat there in silence, staring into the flames that warmed them.
"I must say that it is nice to see you alive and well, Talim," Yunsung broke the silence, keeping his eyes on the crackling flames before him. "I was a little worried when you went off on your own after you fought that Lizardman back at the windmill village."
"What do you mean by 'alive'?" Talim questioned, glancing at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "You thought I couldn't handle myself on my own?"
"It's not that…well, maybe just a little…being as you're going after Soul Edge," Yunsung smirked as he looked over at the girl beside him. "It is a dangerous journey you're on and all…and you could get hurt like you almost were when you were helping me in the tree."
"You act as though I'm nothing but some green fighter," Talim frowned as shot a glare at Yunsung. "Honestly, I was sure that I had proven myself to you when I clobbered you in our fight."
"That was a fluke of course…" Yunsung shrugged as he gulped down more of the rabbit meat. "I mean, being as you're so kind and you listen to those voices in your head all the time…you'd be…"
Taye smirked at the couple sitting together as Talim punched Yunsung's in the arm in anger. The boy simply chuckled at Talim's reaction and rustled her hair with a strong hand. They were cute, in Taye's opinion, and surely would be a couple in the future if they weren't already.
"Don't treat me like a child, Yunsung!" Talim fumed in her place, continuing to hit Yunsung's arm in anger. "You're the one who is trying to find Soul Edge to use for your own purposes!"
Taye's eyes suddenly widened at Talim's words. So she and the Wind Priestess weren't the only ones in search for the evil blade?
"So, you want to use the evil sword instead of destroying it?" Taye whispered as she glanced over at the redhead, who had discontinued his messing with the Wind Priestess. "Why would you do something so stupid…?"
"It's not stupid, and mind your own business!" Yunsung snapped as he shot up from his seat once again, glaring down at Taye. "You have no right to criticize me…I'm going after Soul Edge because it will aid me in saving my people!"
"But…the sword is evil," Taye retorted, rising in order to stand before Yunsung. "That sword will be of no help to you at all…it will probably consume your soul if anything else!"
"Just mind your own business, brat!" Yunsung hissed as he ignored Talim's hand on his wrist to calm him. "You don't even know anything about the sword, I bet…you're just repeating the words that your friends or family have told you!"
"Friends?" Taye repeated suddenly dizzy. The girl knew that she was still weak after her last reading of the moon, but she had no idea that her anger could cause such a reaction.
"Taye?" Talim moved beside the girl, trying to steady her as she began to sway. "Taye, are you all right?"
"Tal…Talim…I…" Taye felt herself slip into darkness as she began to fall backwards.
"Oh no, Taye!" Talim shrieked as Yunsung moved to the girl's side, catching her before she could fall on the ground. "Taye, can you hear me…Taye!"
(AN) Well, here's another rewrite to all my readers. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. To everyone who is actually a reader from the original, don't worry. The old chapter 3 will continue on in the new chapter 4. I just decided to make this chapter all about Yunsung appearing and getting to know the new girl Taye.
Thanks again to all my readers and my beta inthisdarcness. I hope you keep reading my stories. Thanks!
A note from inthisdarcness: Sorry this is so late; it is primarily all my fault. It's spring break and I've been lazy, so don't blame Everglow. Later!