Watching
Author's Note: I know this chapter and the previous one is pretty short, but it will get longer over time^^. Oh, and I've heard there's been some confusion on the first chapter. Everything will make much more sense later on in the story, don't you worry. This is my first time typing a fanfic, and I will look forward to typing more (and get better at writing stories hopefully) ...got so many ideas right now! Heehee and thank you for taking your time to read!
Huff, huff, huff…
A girl of sixteen years ran, her bare feet avoiding the rock terrain as she panted, trying to escape from that thing. Whatever that thing was.
To her own surprise, she did not feel fear but rather excitement. Freedom. Her messy golden hair was flying behind her, cool and soft against the harshly blowing wind. She exhaled. She loved the woods; it's calm, peaceful presence filled with natural conception, so unlike her home.
At least, it would have been more enchanting if it were not for that thing hunting her. But nevertheless, the forest was still as breathtaking as ever; the way the birds' early songs hummed in her ears, the way the sunlight's warm rays stroke the horizon, lighting the sky with a fiery view, everything.
It was advancing on her, increasing speed as she continued to flee, blindly dashing around every tree, bush, or plant that came into view, leaving nothing more than the shaking leaves as a sign of her presence. For once, she dared. Dared to turn around to visualize where it was, or if it was even human for that matter. Then her mind processed, thinking.
She stopped.
Her feet stumbled slightly as she halted her tracks, her brain furiously working. If one were to have seen her then, they would have called her a fool for stopping; for giving up and allowing herself to die so easily. Not that she cared.
She slowly turned around, her unwavering face set sternly into the shrubbery in front of her.
Her heart raced, madly hammering in her chest. Pip…pip…pip…pip, pip, pip, pip, pip—
"Hey, Rin! What do you think you're doing out here?!"
Shit. Her azure eyes tilted up to meet with glimmering teal ones. Hatsune Miku, the lovely teal-colored hair girl, one of eighteen years, with symmetrical pigtails and a matching, faded peasant dress. Her best friend and one who wore an evidently annoyed expression which marred her pretty features. Miku was tapping her foot impatiently, her eyebrow raised, much like a teacher awaiting an answer from a student who had been caught stealing candy. Rin found this to be a perfect opportunity to tease the older female; after all, a furious Miku was a cute Miku.
"Aw, but Mommy, I just wanna explore some more. It's so boring. Isn't Mommy already worried too much about me? After all, Mommy still needs to find a big and tough boyfriend so she can love him watts and watts~! Hey, Mr. Big-and-Tough can also protect Miku-sama from the Big, Bad, Ugly Wolf too~" Rin sang, smirking at Miku's flustered expression.
"Shut up, Rin."
"Aw, is Mommy mad-d-d at me? I promise to be a good, good girl for Mommy from now on else!" Rin chortled, averting her voice pitch higher for the reward of Miku's aggravated reply, to which she gleefully applauded.
"Yet look how well that's going, Rinny."
"B-but, Mommy-y! Pleas-e?!" Rin whined teasingly, earning a glare from Miku.
"No, Rin. Everyone's seriously getting pissed about you running off to the woods, and since your Father expects me to bring you back home in one piece, I'm dragging you back whether or not he's happy about it!" Miku snapped, roughly grabbing Rin's wrist.
"Mommy…why, why do I have to go back?!" Rin wailed, pretending to sob as Miku pulled her protesting body back towards the village.
"Goodness, Rin. You're sixteen years old, due to be married soon, and yet you're being such a big baby about this. Come on, you know that kind of shit doesn't work with me anymore. So stop it; please stop being so naughty and pay attention to me here," the tealette groaned, releasing her grip on Rin, who was on the verge of humming a merry tune.
* "Because I naughty, naughty— Hey! I'm Mr. Simple!— Because I naughty, naughty—
Sesangi nae mamdaero an dwindago hwaman naemyeon andwae geureol pilyo eobtji (You can't just get angry 'cause the world is not going the way you want it to be; You don't need to)—"
"Ugh, Ri-n, not this song again! If your father hears that you are singing—"
"Keokjeongdo paljada jakeun ile neomu yeonyeonhaji malja mome johji anha (Mind your own business. Don't be too attached to trivial things, it's not good for your body)~" Rin sang as she danced, bringing Miku's hands to a clap.
"Rin, of course I have to mind your business! I'm your best friend and your father specifically—" Rin paused her singing to mock Miku's babbling, imitating the impression of a guppy, much to Miku's horror.
"Seongjeoki johatdaga nappatdaga keureon geoji mwo heung! (It's just that my personality goes good then bad, so what!)" Rin continued, her facial expression utterly careless much to the tealette's horror.
"Of course that's bad, you idiot! How do you expect to get married acting like that?!" Miku sighed, stubbornly protesting against Rin's urging grin.
"Shil jeogi ollat daga tteoreo jyeotda geureon ttaedo itji eojjeo myeon, gwaenchanha, shwieo ganeun geot do joha modeun geoshi ttae- ttae- ttae- ttae- ttaega itneun geonikka (There must be times when my performance goes up then down too; It's okay, it's also good to rest then keep going, because everything has its time)"
"Rin—"
"Geudae ga namja ramyeon chingul manna sulhan jane teoreo beorigo (Alright!) Alright, geudae ga yeoja ramyeon chingul manna suda tteoreo nallyeo beorigo (Alright!) Alright, Alright (If you're a man, go meet your friends and sweep it off with a drink (Alright!) Alright, If you're a woman, go meet your friends, have a chat and throw it away (Alright!) Alright, Alright)" Now Rin was finally forcing Miku to dance along with her, to which she was clearly not amused.
"Stop it, Rin! I'm getting embarrassed here—"
"Bwara Mr. Simple, Simple geudaeneun geudaeneun geudaero meotjyeo, Bwara Mrs. Simple, Simple geudaeneun geudaero yeppeo (S J Call!), Bwara Mr. Simple, Simple geudaeneun geudaeneun geudaero meotjyeo, Bwara Mrs. Simple, Simple geudaeneun geudaero yeppeo (S J Call!) (Look Mr. Simple, Simple You are you are cool just like that, Look Miss Simple, Simple You are pretty just like that (S J Call!), Look Mr. Simple, Simple You are you are cool just like that, Look Miss Simple, Simple You are pretty just like that (S J Call!)" Miku threw a flustered sigh and gave up, cheerfully dancing with the younger female, who was now chuckling from ear to ear, proud of her efforts. They danced away, each humming and singing proudly into the early dawn's rays. That is, until Miku happily sighed into the grassy terrain, her eager footsteps halting into the quiet atmosphere.
Rin, noticing her friend's exhausted expression, decided to sing again. "Gaja gaja eoseo gaja, mak hyeosseul ttaen dora gaja, golchi apa jukget damyeon, oneul haruman nolgo boja. (Let's go, let's go, let's turn around if there's a dead end, If you're too stressed, let's take a break and just chill all day)"
"That's enough, Rin! I'm serious, I'm not playing around with you anymore!"
"Hmph, and I was so sure you were gonna give into this again. You're so serious, Miku. Honestly, you were much more fun to be with before you turned into an adult," Rin pouted, finally giving up.
"And I would be right now, but this is serious Rin. You know your father expects you to be married in a month."
"Yeah, to a total stranger who I don't even like! I don't understand why I have to go through this. I mean, you're eighteen and you don't even have to be married so soon! And just who the fuck am I gonna be betrothed to?!" Rin yelled, furiously yanking a daisy from a nearby shrubbery as she trotted along.
"Watch your language, Rin! You are very lucky your father has not decided to venture out into the forest to find you or else you'd be in even bigger trouble!" Miku scolded, sending a disappointed glance towards Rin.
"Sure, it's always the same…blah, blah, blah, I can't go out into the woods because it's far too dangerous-ooh, I'm sooo frightened!" Rin mocked, picking off at the flower's petals, twirling it elegantly between her fingers before releasing it to the eerie wind. Miku rolled her eyes at her reply and after several moments of silence, Rin's whisper broke through. "Who is it?"
"Hmm?"
"Who am I being betrothed to, Miku? If I am going to get married, then surely, I do have a right to know."
"I'm sorry, but I do not know a thing about this marriage, Rin."
"Yes, you do! Father tells you just about everything! C'mon, Miku, if I'm getting married, at least I deserve the right to—" Rin trailed off, her persistent voice fading.
"Rin, is something wrong?"
"…No, it's nothing."
"Rin, surely there is something—"
"It's nothing. Forget about it. Let's leave," Rin replied quickly, earning a suspicious look from Miku, who, however, decided not to ask any questions.
Rin slowed her tracks as she walked, trailing off several feet before Miku's silhouette, thinking furiously. She had felt a presence behind her not long ago, as her senses had proved her correct. There was something out there. As Miku continued walking, oblivious of the younger female's straying mind, Rin halted her footsteps and turned around, this time inspecting the scenery carefully, wary and suspicious of her surroundings.
Sss! There was sound emitting from the bushes. Slowly and carefully, she sauntered up to the shrubbery and watched, her senses tingling with excitement and inquisitiveness. She waited. To her surprise, Rin didn't have to wait long before she saw it.
Glistening, ruby red eyes met hers through the thick leaves of the bushes. Curious, she leaned in closer and closer towards those beautiful, dangerous eyes—
"RIN!"
She backed away from the undergrowth, stumbling slightly, her eyes finally leaving the mysterious creature's red eyes to meet Miku's teal ones. Angry teal ones.
"Rin, c'mon, let's go! We've wasted too much time and energy walking back and forth and now your Father is gonna be mad like hell when he finds out where the heck you've gone! Come on, Rin!" Rin did wonder, was Miku ever tired of all that yelling?
"But, wait—"
"Wait, what?!" The second her eyes left the bushes, the bewildering bloody eyes was gone. Gone as if it never even was. And Miku was huffing in annoyance as Rin crouched and searched, her eyes swiftly darting around, trying to catch the presence of the being that was hiding not seconds ago.
"…Never mind, I thought I heard some rabid beast earlier," Rin replied, her eyes and ears still attentive for any sign of life around her that clearly was not human as she hesitantly stood up.
"Yeah, well, thanks to your assumption, we're even more late and I'll happily skin you off when we get home! Now come on!" Miku hissed, gripping onto Rin's hand like steel, this time vowing to herself not to allow Rin to become distracted by the surrounding environment again. But Rin, however, was already distracted. She glanced around as Miku pulled her away towards the familiar scent and sounds of home, which filled her senses more and more with each step. No sooner did Miku step into the boundaries of the village, did Rin turn around for the final time and saw it again.
A pair of glistening bloody eyes. And worse of all, it was eyeing her; watching her and seemingly claiming her as if she was prey.
*Credits: Song is: Mr. Simple by Super Junior from SMEntertainment. I would normally provide the links to the websites and cite it, but unfortunately, it cannot be shown on the document (I have no idea why), so you will need to look it up if you wish to know the full lyrics/translation.
Thank you for reading my stories! Though, on a side note, I do have an announcement: I WILL NOT BE UPLOADING OFTEN ON A NORMAL BASIS. I apologize to those of you enjoying my stories, but I will not uploading very often due to school. It may take me up to 2-3 weeks or more before I may upload a new chapter. Plus, with so many ideas for so many stories, I can only write so many at such a pace.