── THE WORLD IS TOO CRUEL, FOR YOU TOO BE SO PURE. ──

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Rain fell so heavily that it became a thick, grey mist which covered the vast skyline and forest as light steps were heard ascending the twisting mountain path and the tapping of the water against a folding umbrella.

"More rain, hm..." An annoyed sigh commented with a thin, delicate hand reaching out from under the umbrella to feel the droplets on her hand.

The figure was dressed in all white, as if she were in perpetual mourning, from her layered robes to her white jade earrings that chimed pleasantly as she moved. What was even more odd about her appearance was a white ribbon that covered her eyes and was tied at the back of her head.

Though covering her eyes lead people to believe her to be blind, she was actually nothing of the sort and could see quite fine through the light ribbon's fabric. 

The mountain path was completely silent aside from the sound of rain hitting the grassy ground and the faint chimes from the girl as she headed up the dirt road, causing a rather peaceful scene which she enjoyed briefly before noticing something.

"Hm?"

The girl stopped from heading up the path as she noticed a small child in tattered clothing standing uncovered in the rain, completely drenched and shivering, though he stayed his place.

"Hello there, boy." She spoke pleasantly enough, her voice soft and in perfect match with her earrings' chimes. "Are you waiting for someone?"

Though the girl was normally a cold person, not willing to bother wasting her time on people of no concern to her, she had a soft spot for children that turned her sharp attitude gentle.

A deep frown came upon the child's features before he turned his head away from her. "I don't know you," he spat. "Why should I tell you?"

This made the girl laugh amusedly, covering her mouth with the white sleeve of her arm, not bothered in the least by his sharp tongue, that was honestly cute in comparison to her own.

"I was only worried." She explained. "The country has become a very chaotic place these days, so it's hardly safe to be out on your own."

"Aren't you alone?" The boy countered.

"Hm? Am I?" She returned in question before covering and bringing him under her wide umbrella by standing next to him. "Perhaps you should go home for now?"

"I...I can't go back!" The boy's eyes filled with desperation, making quite the pitiable picture in his soaked appearance and eyes starting to overflow with tears.

Creasing her brows at that, the girl looked down at the child sternly. "Haven't you heard the saying? Those who don't return home to their loved ones─ will die."

The sound of rain increased in its heaviness as the two stood under the protection that the umbrella provided, water sliding off the edges and making little falling rivers.

"What if I don't have anyone who loves me?" Came an incredibly quiet reply. "Even though he said I could stay by his side forever..."

────

"Bai Zhen." The Head Maid instructed severely. "You must serve our young lord well and without mistake, alright?"

She ushered the small boy into a large, well-lit room where a boy similar in age to him, though wearing rich clothes while he wore a servant's attire, sat on a window ledge, reading a thick bound book.

At the sound of the doors opening, the Noble boy turned to look at the newcomer, smiling kindly at the shy boy, while extending a hand in greeting.

"It seems we are close in age," He laughed happily. "My name is Guo Ye. I hope we can be friends."

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"That's why I'm here alone!" The boy explained, tears falling unashamedly. "So what's wrong with that!"

The girl took note of the sadness in his face before turning and looking outwards into the tree-lined scenery of the mountain. "Nonetheless, you should return. What if you were misunderstanding something?"

"Why would I go back to someone who abandoned me?"

Turning back to him and looking him straight in the eyes, the girl frowned once more. "If you really believed he had abandoned you, then you wouldn't still be waiting here so stubbornly."

As she turned to continue her journey, she felt a small tug on her white robes, making her turn to see the boy's swimming wide eyes. "Please take me back," He begged.

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"What are you reading, Ye?" The small boy asked, poking his head up to see the scrolls laid out on his young Lord's desk, who seemed to be studying them intently. "It looks complicated."

"This is the work of Sima Qian." The noble boy explained cheerfully as he slid it slightly over so that the other could see it. "He writes about people who have already died. It can be a bit stuffy to read but his light-hearted personality shows through occasionally."

"Ye, what is...death?" The boy asked earnestly.

"It's when you leave this world and go to see Qin-Guang-Wang, the King of Death."

"Does everyone die? Will you too?"

The noble boy laughed at that, not bothered in the least. "Yep! Everyone has to someday. So if something happens to me, you'll have to look after yourself, okay?"

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"And after that?" The girl asked seriously as she carried on her walk with the boy beside her, still holding onto one of her sleeves tightly, the rain continuing to fall around them.

"From what you've told me, your Master Ye seems to be a very kind-hearted person."

"Mmm...but one time he was really mean, though."

"Hoh?" The girl gave him a teasing side look. "Is the reason you won't go home because he was mean to you that one time?"

"No, that's not it!" The boy protesting quickly in defence. "It's because he never came to find me, even though we're friends."

A thought seemed to come to him which made the boy stop walking and the girl pause as well, waiting for him to carry on.

"What if Ye forgot all about me? Have I been abandoned? What should I do then?" This seemed to shake him greatly as his complexion turned an unhealthy pale.

The girl watched him for a moment before taking his hand herself and pulling him gently up to the top of the mountain, which was the original destination she was heading towards when she had begun her walk that rainy day.

The area was clear, which was a break from the dense forests coming up the path, and a single sole stone marker was standing upright on the clear patch of land. On the stone was an engraving with the characters written on it:

Guo Ye.

The girl took three sticks of incense out of her sleeve and knelt before the tablet, burning the ends and placing them before the tombstone.

The small boy blinked once at the grave marker before walking up beside her, running his small hand on the name before collapsing onto his knees, sobs wracking his small body.

"I was waiting for him..." He managed to get out between sobs. "I thought he'd come for me, but...in the end, he really did abandon me."

The girl dressed in white's hands were clasped as she made a prayer for the deceased boy, taking a moment in silence before speaking once more.

"Were you really afraid of him abandoning you? Or were you afraid of him dying?"

Tears flowed freely from the child as he cried both from her words and his own realization. "I...wanted to think Ye abandoned me because I was of no use to him, so he never came back to get me. What I was afraid of the most in the world was that Ye was already dead."

"I see," The girl nodded, setting down her umbrella with a snap to close it as the rain lessened somewhat but still continued to fall gently. Removing the ribbon which covered her eyes as well, glowing blood-red eyes were revealed, rain droplets clinging to her lashes.

"In that case, would you like me to take you to see him?"

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"My Lady!" A voice called frantically. "Lady Xiá?"

Noticing the girl mentioned kneeling on the wet grass before a tombstone, the other female sighed in relief as she ran over to the younger girl, noting with a frown that her crimson eyes were uncovered and her white ribbon was resting beside her.

"Lady Xiá, please cover your eyes. Were you not the one who said it yourself that they would get us into trouble should people see them and realise who we are?" She fretted, her hands waving in the air nervously.

At her words, the girl stood up and picking up the ribbon, tied it around her eyes, covering the strange, frightening colour. Turning towards the woman, she had a single tear fall down her face silently, though her expression was otherwise undisturbed.

This made the woman's eyes widen as she realized what her usually cold and uncaring Lady had done.

"Was that reason you went up to the mountain today to perform the returning ritual for that lost spirit child? Even though the child had already died and was only clinging to this world because he had lingering regrets, there was no need for you to get involved if he wasn't harming anyone."

Smiling wryly, the girl looked back at the tombstone and unthinkingly brushed the tear off her cheek before it fell. "Well, I always was weak for children who were left all alone in this cruel world."

As the two walked off, the girl heard a distant voice from behind her that she didn't turn around for knowingly.

"Thank you..."

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This chapter was something of a foreward to the story, since it doesn't start the plot but sets the mood for the setting and characters.

ᵀᴴᴱᴹᴱ // I'D LOVE — auður // WHITE FLAG — bishop briggs // MIND GAMES — sidekick // THE WOLF AND THE SHEEP — alec benjamin //