(align:"<==")+(box:"=XX=")[''i dream of dragons'']
(align:"<==")+(box:"=XX=")[//chapters
0 prologue
1 forest child
2 dew and fog
3 spring rain//]
[[Begin|8 y.o.]]''ch. 0 | prologue''
“Stop daydreaming, Dan-bi. Here, take this and go feed the animals.” You blink, snapping out of your daze. A bucket clatters to the ground in front of you.
Eight years old.
[[...|10 y.o.]]“You’re spacing out again.” //Tsk//, a disapproving click of the tongue. “You’re old enough now, so focus. Today, Mother will teach you to hunt.” And a set of crude hunting knives are thrust into your uncalloused palms.
Ten years old.
[[...|12 y.o.]]“When you’re older, you’ll realize that dreams are meaningless.” A frail hand reaches out, tenderly tucking a strand of stray hair behind your ear. “Our world is not kind, Dan-bi. The Elders said it best: ‘All dreams disappear. Time and energy are finite, so spend it wisely.’ Spend it on practical things – on a full stomach, a warm bed, and good health. On survival. Look after yourself, my spring rain.”
Mother passed shortly after saying these words.
Twelve years old, and alone.
[[...|history]]The human population has dwindled – only seven small villages scattered at the foot of a mountain remain, with no other civilization in sight.
People called it a plague. Punishment from a higher being, the village Elders had said. Eighty years ago, it swept through the world, silent and merciless, turning life to dust and leaving few survivors.
A curse followed shortly after: the inability to dream.
[[Continue]]A cruel curse, where one could feel their dreams gradually dim – until they quieted altogether. Sleep became silent, a vacuum void of color and sound. It began gradually as one stepped into adolescence, and their dreams all but vanished by the time they turned fourteen. There was no cure nor any reason behind it, so it was accepted as fate.
You used to dream of dragons, underwater cities and forest spirits. Of music and flight and impossibility. Now, sleep is nothing but a muted state of being. All that is left are memories, flickering vestiges of color, but those will begin to fade too.
[[Anger.]]Anger came easily.
Fast and hot and helpless the day your dreams finally vanished. Fourteen years old, but still very much a child. The dreams that had kept you company in the lonely years after Mother’s passing no longer visited your sleep.
Gradually, you diverted your attention to more “practical” things, as Mother had said. Now twenty two years old, you spend your days hunting and looking after the village children. You never fully accepted the effects of the curse but there is little that can be done. So instead, you listen wistfully as the children chatter excitedly about the fantastic creatures they meet in their dreams, smiling softly. Maybe this is enough.
[[Three weeks ago...]]You woke with a start, blinking rapidly. It was still dark outside and the air was suffocatingly dusty, but that wasn’t the strange part. There was someone at your bedside.
Alarmed, you sat up to see a child’s face pressed into your sheets. They were kneeling. Shaking.
“Dan…bi…” A small, wobbly voice.
You recognized her as one of the village children. One of your favorites. “Bit-na? What–”
“Dan-bi…” She let out a shuddering breath. “They’re gone.”
[[Who?]]
“Who? Who’s gone?” She didn’t answer. “Hey, look at me.”
She lifted her head and you recoiled at her gaze. Empty, dull, helpless.
Familiar.
“My dreams,” she said. “They’re gone.”
Bit-na. “Shining”, her name meant. Like her eyes and smooth cheeks and her dreams. Like her tears.
[[A decision.]]You spent days consoling her, but the look of her dulled eyes haunted your dreamless nights. This curse was absurd, cruel, unfair. Anger clawed at your chest again, but there was no one to direct it to and no one to pin the blame on. You wanted answers.
You had sought out the village Elders the next morning, asking permission to seek an audience with the deity rumored to reside at the peak of the mountain. They were said to serve as a messenger between humankind and higher beings – the ones that had inflicted this curse on you and your people.
[[...|Elders respond]]
The village Elders had looked at you tiredly. “We will not try to stop you,” they had said. “But remember, many before you have tried the same thing. And none of them have ever returned.”
“I know,” you had answered, surprising yourself with the steadiness of your voice. You thought of Bit-na’s tear-stained cheeks and glassy eyes. Of the emptiness on your first silent, dreamless night as a child. “But I must.”
''end of ch. 0''
[[ch. 1]]''ch. 1 | forest child''
(Present day)
It is foggy when you wake. There is a dull ache where a tree root jutted into your back while you slept. Your head rests against your bulky travel bag filled with hunting weapons, a water jug, extra layers, and preserved meats. You have been journeying for two days now, slowly making your way around and up the mountain.
[[Look at your surroundings]]You are not too far up from the foot of the mountain where the seven villages lie, but the air here is already crisper. The foliage is dense and unforgiving but green and vibrant, unlike the dirt and dust you grew up accustomed to. Your mother had named you Dan-bi, “long-awaited spring rain”, with hopes that you would bring good fortune to the harvests.
//Well, that never happened//, you scoff to yourself.
[[Rest some more]]
[[Get up]]Sunlight peeks through the canopy of trees above you. You take a deep breath. What the village Elders said were true: many before you have journeyed to the mountain peak before, and for reasons each their own – driven by anger or sadness, to give purpose to their lives, or perhaps for pride and glory.
But with Mother gone, there is little for you to lose in making this journey; perhaps the comfortable monotony of your village life and the idle chatter of the children. A chance to receive the answers you had been looking for was enough a reason to go.
You should get going and try to cover as much ground as you can while the sun is out.
[[Get up]] You dust off the loose fabric of your pants, stick a piece of dried meat between your teeth, and draw your travel bag across your shoulder. The journey shouldn’t be too long – around two week’s worth.
You do not know why people have not returned from this journey. It remains a mystery to all, since the terrain isn’t particularly difficult nor are there known to be dangerous dangerous animals lurking about. You figure that you’ll know why soon enough.
“Fear is for the weak,” you tell yourself.
[[Keep going]]As you walk, you try to grasp the remaining fragmented memories of your childhood dreams. There was one recurring thread that connected all of them – a dragon.
It would appear sometimes; other times, you would only hear it, or at the least, sense that it was nearby. You remember its deep, seafoam blue scales and soft white underbelly, its gentle voice and kind eyes.
[[The dragon]]“My name is Ho-su,” it finally spoke to you in a dream when you were six years old. Its mouth did not move, but its voice echoed warmly in your head.
“Ho…su…” you say, rolling the syllables over your tongue curiously. “That means ‘lake’!”
“Yes, Dan-bi,” the dragon chuckles at your innocent pride.
“You know my name…!”
[[...|The dragon 2]]“Of course. I know lots of things,” said Ho-su. It folds its body into a neat coil in front of you. “I know you drool in your sleep. And that the toy under your bed is one you stole from your friend, Bo-mi.”
“T-that’s not true!” You sputter. It stares at you, unblinking. Your shoulders slump. “Okay, I did steal it… but that’s only because I broke it by accident. And I was scared of Bo-mi getting mad at me for breaking it. So I just told her I lost it.”
“You like her.” Ho-su deadpans.
“Do not!” You huff, turning your back to the dragon. “I liked you better when you didn’t talk.”
[[...|The dragon 3]]The dragon chuckles again, lilting and musical.
You sigh, too curious to stay annoyed, and turn back around. “Why are you talking to me anyway? Who are you?”
“Hmm,” Ho-su hums thoughtfully, unfurling its wings. “Let’s just say I’m a guardian of your dreams.”
With a gust of wind and the smell of freshly fallen rain on a lake, the dragon disappears into the sky – a paint stroke of white and blue against the twilight canvas.
[[Back to present]]The foliage crunches beneath your feet.
“Ho-su…” you whisper to yourself. “I wonder where you are now.”
Suddenly, something grabs you by the sleeve and tugs you forcefully into a bush, jerking you out of your thoughts.
[[Draw your knife]]
[[Scream]]Pulse spiking with alarm, your instincts kick in and you fumble to draw the hunting knife strapped to your belt. Blindly, you press the side of your blade against soft flesh. Huh?
You swipe the twigs in front of your face out of the way, and you’re met with the wide eyes of a frightened… child.
Both of you freeze.
“Um,” the child says. It’s a small girl, with disheveled braids and jade green eyes.
[[Sheath your knife]]Pulse spiking with alarm, your first instinct is to yell for help.
“HEL–”
A hand smacks over your mouth.
Huh?
You swipe the twigs in front of your face out of the way, and you’re met with the wide eyes of a frightened… child.
Both of you freeze.
“Um, sorry,” the child says sheepishly. It’s a small girl, with disheveled braids and jade green eyes. “But I can’t have you revealing my spot!”
[[Confusion]]You sheath your knife immediately. “Sorry… I didn’t– I was just surprised. What are you doing here alone? What’s your name? Are you lost?”
“I’m Ja-yu.” The girl grins toothily, eerily nonchalant considering you had held a knife to her throat seconds before. “And I’m not lost, I’m playing hide-n-seek! Mother and Father said I could play with her as long as I came home before sunset.”
[[She's not making sense...]] You blink. Confused. “Sorry… I didn’t– I was just surprised. What are you doing here alone? What’s your name? Are you lost?”
“I’m Ja-yu.” The girl grins toothily, eerily nonchalant in front of a visibly armed stranger. “And I’m not lost, I’m playing hide-n-seek! Mother and Father said I could play with her as long as I came home before sunset.”
[[She's not making sense...]]She was definitely lost. Her parents are probably worried sick, considering she is a few day’s journey from the villages. But for someone who’s been out here for a few days, she looks mysteriously well-fed and clean, despite not having any belongings or weapons on her.
You lift yourself from where you’ve been lying on your back, and gently move to pull her out of the bush too. “Come on, let’s find your pare–”
“Don’t move!” She hisses, pulling away. “She’ll see me.”
“What?” You ask, looking around. “Who?”
She huffs, and points in front of you. “Her.”
[[There's no one there?]]You squint, following the path of her finger. “Um, that’s… a tree.”
“No, the girl right there!” She whispers. “The one with the green hair who’s singing. Can’t you see her?”
Perplexed and still lying on your back, you shake your head and a twig falls out of your hair. You peek out of the bush. “There’s no one here?”
Ja-yu looks at you quizzically. “You’re not kidding.” And then her eyes widen in realization. “Father told me about people like you.”
[[People like me...]]“What do you mean, ‘people like me’?” You ask, glancing again at the tree to make sure you weren’t going insane. Indeed, there was no one there, much less a singing girl with green hair.
“You’re from the villages below right?”
You nod.
“Mother and Father are from there too. But we live here now. In the mountains!” Then, quieter, “They call you village people, //Ko-in//. The Departed.”
[[The Departed?]]
[[Your parents are from the villages?]]“The Departed.” You say slowly. “What does that mean?”
She looks at you. Her eyes are a little sad. “I don’t really know. And even if I did, I’m not supposed to tell.”
Your eyebrows furrow. “Why not?”
She sighs. Shakes her head. “The only thing I can say is that you should keep going. You’re going to the top right?”
You nod.
“Okay.” She says, more to herself than to you, and falls quiet.
[[Your parents...]]“Your parents are from the villages below?” You ask.
“Mmhm,” she says, glancing out of the bush and then ducking her head quickly. “They’re from //Na-teh//.”
//Na-teh// is your neighboring village. Intrigued, you lean forward. “Why did they leave?”
[[She looks at you]]This is all so confusing, but you don’t press more on the topic.
You clear your throat awkwardly. “You… you said your parents are from the villages below?”
“Mmhm,” she says, glancing out of the bush and then ducking her head quickly. “They’re from //Na-teh//.”
//Na-teh// is your neighboring village. Intrigued, you lean forward. “Why did they leave?”
[[She looks at you.]]She looks at you. //Really// looks at you this time. Jade green eyes bore into your own. “I don’t know, but probably for the same reason you did.”
“What does that mea–”
“Oh, she saw me!” She whispers, alarmed. “I have to go!”
“Wait–”
She pauses mid-scramble. Smiles. “I hope you find your answers, Dan-bi.”
And then, throwing one last glance over her shoulder at something behind you, she whoops and scurries away.
[[Stare after her]] She looks at you. //Really// looks at you this time. Jade green eyes bore into your own. “I don’t know, but probably for the same reason you did.”
“How do you know that?”
She shrugs, and falls quiet.
[[The Departed...]]This is all so confusing, but you don’t press more on the topic.
You clear your throat awkwardly. “You… you mentioned The Departed. What does that mean?”
She looks at you. Her eyes are a little sad. “I don’t really know. And even if I did, I’m not supposed to tell.”
Your eyebrows furrow. “Why not?”
She sighs. Shakes her head. “The only thing I can say is that you should keep going. You’re going to the top right?”
You nod.
“Okay,” she says, more to herself than to you. She jerks up suddenly, “Oh she saw me! I have to go.”
“Wait–”
She pauses mid-scramble. Smiles. “I hope you find your answers, Dan-bi.”
And then, throwing one last glance over her shoulder at something behind you, she whoops and scurries away.
[[Stare after her]]You stare after her for a long time, chewing your lip and deep in thought. This mysterious child in the forest, bright-eyed and saying strange things, with ties to your home village.
Your skin prickles, like you’re being watched. You glance up – uneasy. There is nothing but the calm sway of trees in the wind. The sensation disappears as quickly as it came.
Sighing, you push yourself off the ground and dust the dirt off your pants. You sling your bag over your shoulder and draw your hunting knife. You begin walking again, noting that you should hunt before night falls.
[[Thinking]]//“But we live here now. In the mountains!”//
//“I can’t be sure, but probably for the same reasons you did.”//
//Ja-yu. “Freedom”. Ko-in. “The Departed”.//
None of this makes any sense.
“I hope you find your answers, Dan-bi.”
It takes you a day to realize you never told her your name.
''end of ch. 1''
[[ch. 2]]''ch. 2 | dew and mist''
It’s been ten days since you left your village, //Kyo-man//. You haven’t run into another person since Ja-yu. The only sounds of life are the scuff of your own feet against the dead leaves, distant running water, and the pitter-patter of small animals around you.
Sleep has been fitful. The ground isn’t comfortable and you often wake to the tickle of cobwebs against your skin as unbothered insects go about their lives, disregarding your sleeping body.
Occasionally, you get that strange feeling that you are being watched – but as always, it leaves as soon as it comes.
[[Get up|Get up 2]]You dust yourself off as usual. Your robes are no longer crisp; they are wrinkled from morning humidity, streaked with dirt, with the sharp twang of sweat. Despite being this high up in the mountain, the air is sweltering today. You take a swig of your water jug, which is running low, and stick another piece of dried meat in your mouth to curb your hunger.
[[Examine your surroundings]]You can see the peak from here. You’re close, but your place will slow since the air is considerably tighter up here. The trees are shorter and animals are scarce.
//Just a few more days//, you tell yourself.
[[Thinking | Thinking 2]]You’re not sure why you find yourself thinking of Ho-su much more than before. At night, half in the clutches of sleep, your fingers reach out on their own accord, trying to remember the feeling of its thick mane beneath your palms, the distinct calming timbre of its voice.
When the curse began to take hold, Ho-su kept repeating one phrase to you. //Why am I just remembering it again now?//
There was a distinct dream you had when you were thirteen. On the night the curse first touched your dreams.
[[Remember.]]
You’re on Ho-su’s back, shoulder blades tickled by its mane, legs crossed and face tilted to the sun. You’re floating, there is nothing but water stretching as far as you can see, but you are not afraid.
You can’t quite remember what you were talking about. It was likely about your unrequited crush on Bo-mi, or how one of the farm goats keeps trying to kick the village children, but the dragon never complained about hearing about the same thing – endlessly patient, always present.
[[Then...]]//CRACK!//
The sky above you splits violently, a flashing black fissure splits the pristine blue. The warm weight of Ho-su disappears beneath you and you are falling
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falling
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falling
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//I can’t breathe.//
Your stomach lurches to your throat at the realization.
//I CAN’T BREATHE.//
[[...|Panic]]You claw at the water around you. To your horror, it begins to turn ink black, slowly enveloping your arms and legs.
You open your mouth. You feel the scream as it claws through your throat and draws blood, but you cannot hear it. Ink black water thick as oil floods into your eyes, nose, mouth.
You’re thrashing, crying – a helpless heap of muscle and bone.
“...bi! Dan…bi…! DAN-BI!” You hear Ho-su’s panicked voice as a muted echo through the sea of ink.
You gasp and your lungs heave, body wracked with sharp coughs.
Then, the sky above is clear again and there is sand, warm against your back. Water laps rhythmically against your ankles. You’re on shore.
[[...|Shore]]“Ho-su,” you croak. “What just happened…?”
The dragon makes a pained noise low in its throat. You realize its body is curled protectively around you. Ho-su lifts its head to nudge its snout against your hip and doesn’t meet your gaze.
“So it is finally your turn, too.” The dragon says quietly.
“My turn? My turn for what?”
Ho-su rumbles, vibrating the sand against your palms. Receiving no answer, you sit up slowly and meet the dragon’s gaze.
[[...|Ask again]]“Ho-su. My turn… for what?”
The dragon lets out a deep sigh. “It is not for me to say.”
But you know already, blood running cold. “It’s the curse, isn’t it?”
Ho-su looks away. Nods.
“Does that mean I eventually won’t be able to see you?”
“...”
“Tell me… please,” you beg, voice breaking. “I’m afraid.”
[[Ho-su's words]]“Dan-bi, there are many things I ache to tell you. But I cannot say much more than this: ''A guardian can only protect if its keeper desires to be protected.''”
There are more questions on your tongue, but your body is already being pulled awake by the rising sun. //Wait//, you want to cry out, //I don’t understand…//
[[Back to present|End flashback]]“A guardian can only protect if its keeper desires to be protected,” you murmur.
Ho-su never said anything more on the topic save for that phrase. You remember being afraid to sleep back then, fearing the inevitable, suffocating silence that intruded your dreams until it eventually encompassed them entirely.
The sound of running water breaking through the silence jars you from your thoughts. You spot a clearing further ahead.
[[Go towards the clearing]]The brush is thick around the river bank but the water is clear. Cupping your palms and dipping them in, you're met with the water’s refreshing chill.
[[Bathe]]
[[Time is of the essense – forego the bath]]You strip off your robes and sit on a rock, pleasantly warm from the sun. The water is too cold to fully submerge your body, so you wade until you’re knee-deep and splash at the rest of your body, rubbing away the accumulated dirt.
You wait for the sun to dry you off before getting dressed.
[[Fill your water jug]]A bath is tempting, but not essential. You don’t smell //that// bad, right? There’s no one here to impress anyway.
You can almost hear Mother scolding you. “Sorry, Mother,” you chuckle under your breath. “But I must get going.”
[[Fill your water jug]] You refill your water jug, take a long swig, and exhale loudly. //Mmm.//
You reorganize your belongings and are about to head off again, when you hear a noise that sounds distinctly like laughter. //Strange, there shouldn’t be anyone living in this vicinity.// But the sound is unmistakably human and coming nearer.
[[Hide and watch]]Curious and slightly alarmed, you swing your bag over your shoulder and take cover in (yet another) bush, ignoring the way it scratches at you through your robes.
Soon, a figure walks into the clearing. It’s a young man dressed in a loose tunic and billowing pants, shouldering a pole with large wooden buckets at each end. He looks to be around your age or slightly younger, a soft boyishness still stubbornly clinging to his cheeks at certain angles. Lithe and golden-skinned, he sets the buckets to one side, dips his cupped palms into the river, and drinks greedily.
He looks harmless, so you think about calling out to him. But before you can decide, his voice rings through the clearing.
“Ahh! It’s so hot today, An-ghe.” He flops back against a large rock. “I think I’m going to melt.”
You look around. There is no one but you and him in this clearing.
[[...|Continue watching]]You watch, growing increasingly perplexed, as he raises a bent arm as one usually would to form a perch for a landing bird.
“Come down here and take a dip with me won’t you? I think we deserve a little break,” he calls to something above him. After holding his arm in that awkward, bent position for a few silent moments, he sighs and lowers his arm. “Well, suit yourself.”
Then–
//SPLASH!// The young man jumps fully clothed into the river.
[[Keep watching]]You watch as he surfaces and shakes his wet hair from his eyes.
“The water sure feels //great//! I’m //so// glad I jumped in~” He drawls, directing a pointed look now to the rock next to the riverbank. He splashes around dramatically, spraying water everywhere.
He falls silent for a moment, then huffs. “Quit nagging, An-ghe. That’s all you do nowadays.” He raises his voice a pitch. “It’s always ‘Yi-sul, don’t do that’, ‘Yi-sul, do this’, ‘Yi-sul, don’t jump into the river in your clothes’ when I’ve done it a hundred times already, ‘Yi-sul, fetch the water quickly and hurry back to Father’ when we both know he’s sound asleep and won’t wake for another hour.”
The young man, called Yi-sul you presume, pauses as if listening. He leans back and floats face-up in the water. “I know, I know. But forget the formalities for a second, will you? You’ve been nothing else but a friend to me. An equal.”
[[He's gone mad, you think to yourself.]]“Alright fine, I’ll fetch the water and we can head back if you’re so worried about Father. On one condition though,” he raises a finger and it pokes out comedically from the water. “Show me that dream of Mother tonight. The one I loved as a child.”
He pauses, nods. “Thank you.”
Then in a softer voice, “I miss her a little more than usual today.”
With a small smile, he lifts himself out of the water and back onto the riverbank. You watch silently as he draws water into the buckets and hoists them around his shoulders in a practiced motion.
Then he pauses, glancing at his shoulder. “Oh now you decide to perch on me when I have heavy things to lift? How infuriating.”
He chuckles lightly, a fond little noise. “Well then, off we go, my little guardian.”
[[Hold on...]]You sit back on your heels, mind racing.
//“...my little guardian.”//
//Yi-sul. “Dew.” An-ghe. “Mist.” //
Yi-sul could still dream.
''end of ch. 2''
[[ch. 3]]''ch. 3 | departed, found''
You think you must be going mad. You want to blame it on the too-thin air, but you know better: You have barely been able to sleep the past few days, the back of your eyelids flashing with visions from your journey.
Ja-yu’s sad eyes as she called you a //Ko-in//, “The Departed”.
Ja-yu running off, chased by an invisible girl with green hair.
Yi-sul floating with just his face poking out of the water, speaking to someone only he could see.
Yi-sul, the man who still dreams.
[[Last night]]Last night, you jerked awake to the distinctly familiar smell of a freshwater lake after rain, hand outstretched and grasping at air with a certain blue dragon’s name lodged in your throat. You lay there, shaking and sweating.
Maybe this is the reason why no one returned to the village: they were all driven mad.
But you’ve come this far. Fourteen days since you left the village, and the stone stairs leading to the peak are finally in front of you. You cannot give up now.
[[Rest some more|Rest some more.]]
[[Climb the stairs]]You sit on a nearby rock, its jaggedness as it digs into your leg is sobering. You take a swig from your water jug and take a deep breath.
"Come on," you tell yourself. "Keep moving."
[[Climb the stairs]]There are at least eight hundred stairs to the peak.
By the sixth hundred, your legs are burning. No amount of training as one of your village’s hunters could have prepared your muscles for this.
By the seventh hundred, every drawn breath scrapes brutally through your lungs. Sensation below your hips has gone numb. You’re //so// close.
[[Keep pushing]]“Five… left…” you wheeze to yourself, doubling over.
//Four.
Three.
Two.
One.//
You collapse after the last stair, knees buckling. You cushion your forehead against your arms, pressed against the cool stone.
[[Catch your breath]]
[[Lift your head]]You stay there for a long moment until the black spots disappear from your vision.
[[Lift your head]] “I’m here,” you murmur weakly into the ground. “I’m here to find answers.”
Your heart knocks against your ribcage like a restless bird. Shaking with trepidation and an imminent sense of finality, you lift your head to see…
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Nothing.
[[Nothing?]]
There is nothing at the peak. Nothing but an endless sea of cool gray stone.
There is no one here and no sound, save for your own shallow breathing.
It is utterly silent. Windless.
Panic, anger, betrayal, hysteria – your gut bubbles with a torrent of emotions, roiling violently. Suddenly nauseous, you turn your head and wretch. Your stomach clenches, painful and sharp, and the acrid aftertaste stings on your tongue.
“How… why…” you gasp, not realizing there are tears until they fall, darkening the stone beneath.
“After everything…”
After everything, to be met with that same, familiar helplessness.
[[...|Lay there]]You don’t know how long you lay curled there before you sense that someone has been watching you for a while now, but you no longer care.
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“Stand up, child.”
A voice says from behind you. Soft, but steady.
[[Answer.]]You don’t lift your head. “I am not… a child,” you spit.
“No, you are not,” the voice agrees calmly. “But you yearn to be, sometimes.”
“You do not know… what I want.” You drag your legs in and stand shakily, turning to face the voice.
It’s an elderly woman. She stands slightly hunched, hands clasped behind her back. Her hair is pure white and pinned into a bun. Her light gray eyes hugged by laugh wrinkles. Gentle.
She looks at you kindly. “You must be confused.”
[[Respond, angry.]]
[[Respond, tired.]]Again, anger licks at you. Fast and burning and all-consuming. And again, no one to direct it to.
“Why?!” You try to yell, but it comes out like a croak. “Maybe wanting to dream again is too much to ask for.” You think of Bit-na’s empty eyes. Your mouth fills with acid again, but you angrily wipe it with your sleeve.
“But at the least!–” You draw a shaking breath, start again. “At the least… I wanted someone to answer me. Some–” you wave your hands “semblance of an explanation. A reason behind something so cruel.”
[[...|The old lady looks at you]]You’re tired. Too tired for anger to come. There is nothing but deep-seated fatigue weighing heavily on your body.
“Why…” you whisper. “Maybe wanting to dream again is too much to ask for.” You think of Bit-na’s empty eyes. Your mouth fills with acid again, but you swipe at it with your sleeve, uncaring.
“At the least–” you draw a shaking breath, start again. “At the least… I wanted someone to answer me. Some semblance of an explanation.” Your breath clatters against your lungs on the exhale. “A reason behind something so cruel.”
[[...|The old lady looks at you]]The old lady looks at you. Patient.
She extends her hand. “Come with me.”
[[Take her hand.]]
[[Refuse.]]You ignore her outstretched hand. “I was told I could seek audience with the deity here. There is no one here but you and I.”
She smiles. “That is where you are wrong.”
You narrow your eyes. “What do you mean?”
[[Listen to her answer]] Still confused, hurt, and doubtful – but you reach for her. Her hand is warm and wrinkled, yet solid in your grasp.
“I was told I could seek audience with the deity here,” you say. She guides you toward the center of the peak. “There is no one here but you and I.”
She turns slightly to smile at you. “That is where you are wrong.”
“...What do you mean by that?”
[[Listen to her answer]]“You met Ja-yu and Yi-sul, yes? You may have thought they were strange. Slightly mad, even. They are //San-ai//, ‘Children of the Mountain’. They grew up outside the confines of the villages you are used to. Born and raised in the mountains, by their parents who had the courage to make the same journey you did. And so they can still dream, as you’ve seen.”
//By their parents who had the courage to make the same journey you did.// Your eyes widen.
[[She continues.]]“And the past few days, towards the end of your journey, you began to question what is real and what is not. Perhaps you thought you were going mad, too. Remembering dreams that used to be yours. Feeling watched.”
She pauses, taking pity at your expression. “You have questions.”
“Too many,” you breathe.
[[Ask about the parents of San-ai]]“The parents of //San-ai//… they were from the villages and they made the same journey, just like me. And they //chose// not to return?”
“Indeed,” she nods. “Why do you think that is so?”
You shake your head. “I don’t know… It must have been because it was better not to return. But I don’t understand why.”
“Ask another question, perhaps that will help.”
[[Ask about what is happening to you]]“Then… What has been happening to me?” You whisper, almost pleading. “I remember some dreams, more vividly than ever. Last night I swore Ho-su – I mean, the dragon that I used to dream of – was //here//. The scent of a freshwater lake after rainfall… though fleeting, it was unmistakable.”
“Perhaps you were not imagining it,” she says quietly.
[[That's not possible.]]“But… but I must have been! It’s impossible,” you sputter. “We are cursed–”
“Who told you that you were cursed?”
“Huh? What kind of question–” You sigh, indulging her. “The village people. The Elders, Mother, everyone. We all knew it growing up.”
“And what about the children that didn’t know it growing up?”
“That’s silly. Everyone knew–”
//Everyone knew about the curse, except for the children who grew up outside of the villages.//
“No…” you step back from her in horror. “What you’re implying is absurd–”
[[She shakes her head.]]“Your Mother was right in saying that the world was cruel. But not in the ways she may have thought.”
You fall to your knees, feeling the need to wretch again. “So it was all my doing.”
She smiles sadly. “Not all, child. Your people’s doing, too. Your Mother’s, your friends’, your Elders’. It is both a beautiful and terrible thing, the malleability of the mind. Especially a child’s.”
[[She pauses, then continues gently.]]“Your Mother, telling you to stop spacing out. The Elders, advising you to focus on less foolish things. Your friends, vulnerable adolescents, bitter with insecurity, and wanting to grow up too fast, only to regret it. And you, teetering between childhood and adolescence, thinking you need to depart from one to begin the other. You became //Ko-in//.”
“//A guardian can only protect if its keeper desires to be protected//,” you whisper.
[[She nods.]]“Every keeper is bound to a guardian at birth. And that is the sole rule all guardians must obey.”
“...Can the bond be mended?”
“Yes. But with time. Though guardians are spirits, they build trust and feel pain just as humans do.”
Your chest aches. //My dragon...//
“Do not worry,” she says. “The dragon already knows.”
“How do you know that? Who even are you?”
[[She smiles softly.]]“I have many names, and I know many things.” The corner of her lip twitches. “I know that you still drool in your sleep. And that after all these years, you still like Bo-mi.”
The tears sting, falling like spring rain, long-awaited.
''end.''