Chapter Text
“We are Hunters, voices strong,”
The voice was haunting and eerie as it echoed throughout the forest.
“Slaying demons with our song.”
The enchanting voice traveled across fields, plains, and forests, soothing those who were willing to listen—and warning those who chose to ignore it.
“Fix the world and make it right,”
A tree branch creaked and swayed as a heavy weight was forced upon it, causing it to droop and bow. Loose leaves scattered from the branch, and a nearby bird let out a chirp and fluttered its tiny little wings, taking off into the night sky.
“When darkness finally meets the light.”
When little Rumi had finished quietly singing the song to herself, so had she finished tying her braid, wrapping the elastic band around the end and letting go of her hair. It loosely rested on her shoulder, before falling away and swaying behind her back.
With a sigh, she rested her elbow on her knee and her cheek in the palm of her hand, picking at a dandelion with the other.
Fix the world.
Rumi pursed her lips, brows pulling together in thought as she plucked each fluffy piece of pollen from the dandelion.
With my voice.
She hesitated in her movements, her eyes subconsciously drifting towards her right arm. She momentarily paused in toying with the dandelion, her hand reaching up to lift her sleeve with a delicate tug.
Purple markings. Pulsing, purple marks. They curled and stretched and shimmered. They embedded themselves beneath her skin, wriggling down to her roots to ensure that she'd never be able to escape what she was.
But that was okay. After all, Celine had given her a solution already. Save the Honmoon, and then her patterns would disappear.
Save the world. She repeated in her head like a mantra. With my voice.
She took a breath to start her song once more, before the words caught in her throat at the sound of a branch above her dipping down from the weight of something atop of it.
Rumi didn't even have to look up to know who it was.
She looked up anyway.
There, dangling upside down from the tree branch, held up only by the back of her knees, was Somi. Her pale blue hair cascaded down behind her, tugged down by the ever insistent pull of gravity. Her brown eyes peered down at Rumi's hazel ones innocently, before shifting to trace the features of the other girl's face. She sported a big grin, slightly breathless from her journey to get to Rumi.
With an innocent smile and happy wave of her hand, Somi swung herself off of the branch, curling up to grab the wood before allowing her legs to fall from the branch as she landed on the floor with a near-perfect landing—save for a small stumble when she initially hit the ground.
Dusting off loose bark and dirt from her shirt (which was pretty much a useless task, considering how grimey it was from her adventures), Somi whirled around to face Rumi, the same smile still on her face.
“Found you!” She declared breathlessly, clearly proud of her feat. “It was pretty easy, since your voice is so strong.”
She stretched her arms above her head leisurely, giving Rumi a scrutinizing look with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows. Then, in one swift movement, she leaned towards the girl resting on the grass, fingers cradling her chin in an ‘L' shape as she peered down at Rumi.
Rumi leaned away with a mildly amused expression on her face, her hand letting go of her sleeve to let it fall loosely over her patterns once more.
“You've been singing that a lot lately…did Celine put you up to this? Ah,” Somi sighed with a wave of her hand, straightening and scratching the back of her neck. “She's always making you sing that song. You're gonna tire yourself out if you sing it over and over again.”
Rumi huffed softly and, with a slight roll of her eyes, moved to stand up. She accepted Somi's hand when offered.
“I'm fine, Somi. Celine isn't forcing me to do anything.”
Somi was skeptical.
“Right. So you're singing the same song over and over again for fun, huh?” There was a moment of silence as Rumi gave Somi a blank look. Somi's expression slowly melted into exasperation as she groaned and ran a hand through her hair, tousling it. “Rumi!”
Rumi raised her hands in defense, smiling sheepishly at Somi's concern.
“Sorry! But…I need to practice everyday. To train my voice. You know that.”
Somi released the grip she had on her own hair, tossing her hands in the air and turning on her heel to walk further into the forest. Almost instinctively, Rumi began following her trail without question.
“I'm sure you don't need to practice everyday. C'mon Rumi, you really think the Honmoon would just…give up if you took a break?”
Somi continued her trek for a few moments, before she realized that the only sound she could hear was that of her own footsteps. The leaves crunching beneath her feet were left uninterrupted by a reply from Rumi. With a slow turn of her head, Somi glanced back at Rumi, finding her staring at the ground between her feet with pursed lips.
Somi blinked. She knew that look. It had grown familiar to her the more time she spent with Rumi. It was a face she often pulled when what she wanted to say and what she should say in the moment didn't coincide, leaving her conflicted.
“Rumi.” Somi said her name as a statement. The prompt of a question didn't underline her words, but there was a sense of confusion left in the air to be answered, if Rumi so desired.
Rumi lifted her head, but she still didn't look Somi in the eyes. Instead, she opted to look past the trees and stare unseeingly into the forest, in the direction where Celine was.
Somi followed her gaze for a moment, before her eyes returned to Rumi. She didn't say a word, giving Rumi the space to gather her thoughts, which seemed to be a difficult task for the young girl as her brows pinched together and her mouth worked to say words that just couldn't seem to escape her lips. Caught in her throat until they choked her, leaving her to drown in her worries.
Somi looked away. She didn't like it when Rumi acted this troubled.
After a few more seconds of heavy, tense silence, Somi let out a small breath and stretched an arm across her chest, hugging her elbow with the other arm as she glanced towards the sky.
“The sun is setting,” she commented, and Rumi's demeanor shifted as she was pulled out of the grasp of her worries. “Wanna go see it with me?”
Rumi's expression shifted, briefly showing a flash of gratefulness before her usual calm smile settled onto her face once more. Somi thought that the smile was much better suited for Rumi's face, but she was definitely biased in that regard.
Rumi nodded after a moment of hesitation, and Somi grinned, grabbing her wrist and beginning to lead her through the foliage to her favorite star-gazing spot.
“가자, 가자!” Somi whispered with breathless excitement, helping Rumi up a steep dirt ledge before waving her over to a clearing just beyond the trees.
Somi's excitement was infectious as Rumi's expression slowly cleared of any anxiety she may have been feeling, and the lines between her brows faded as she followed Somi into the clearing.
They had arrived just at the perfect time. The setting sun cast a fiery orange glow across the edge of the landscape, kissing the greenery with its golden light. The morning dew that hadn't quite been able to escape a few stray leaves shimmered as they refracted the sun's light, and a light breeze provided the cinematic cherry on top for nature's greatest spectacle.
Somi was quick to flop down backwards onto the grass, arms crossed behind her head as she settled, eyes searching the sky.
Rumi, comparatively calmer than her friend, settled down onto the grass beside her. Her legs crossed neatly, and she folded her hands in her lap as she peered up at the sky as well. She admired the way the colors blended together and streaked across the sky, as though someone had taken a paintbrush and smeared a line all across the clouds. Her gaze wandered as she began tracing the shapes of the clouds. Streaked randomly across the sky, they drifted lazily past the sunset without worry of rushing. Rumi was able to catch the shape of a bunny, a fish, a man playing catch and…
Rumi's mouth twitched, and her hand instinctively went to brush against the sleeve of her shirt, where her patterns were hidden.
Her patterns…she saw the shape of them in the clouds. No matter where she was, she just couldn't escape them.
Her hand pressed firmer against her arm as her gaze was cast downwards and she chewed the inside of her cheek.
Somi sat up when she caught Rumi's expression, head tilted in concern. Her lips parted to speak, but she was unsure if any words would be appreciated. And so her breath was left wasted, hanging in the air before being quietly snatched away by the breeze.
Thankfully for Somi, she wouldn't have to muster up the words. Because Rumi began to speak in a hushed, uncertain whisper as her hand tensed around her patterns.
“Somi?”
And, oh, Somi’s heart squeezed so hard she thought it'd burst at the sound of the vulnerability in Rumi's voice.
“You're…not scared of me, right? Of my patterns?”
Somi was next to Rumi before either of them could blink. She was quick to gently pull Rum's hands into her lap and soothe the girl's knuckles with the gentle, circular motion of her thumb. She didn't miss the way her hands trembled within Somi's own, and she certainly didn't miss the tears that were slowly tracking down Rumi's cheeks as she bowed her head, struggling to keep the crystallized memories of her pain at bay.
“Rumi, Rumi, Rumi.” Somi murmured her name, chastising. “Why would I be scared of your patterns?”
Rumi simply shook her head, eyes glistening with her unshed tears.
Somi observed her expression for a moment before exhaling.
“Okay, let me rephrase. Why should I be afraid of your patterns?”
Rumi's words came out choked and broken. “Be…because they're proof of what I really am. I'm…I'm not a Hunter…! How can I fix the Honmoon if…if I'm—”
“If you're what, Rumi?” Somi interrupted her with her sharp words. “Half-demon?” Rumi flinched as though she had been slapped, and Somi let out a soft breath. “For the record, I don't care if you're half-demon. Because those patterns don't change who you are to me.”
Rumi's eyes searched the grass for a moment, before they flickered over to Somi's. “...who am I to you?”
Somi smiled, and it was a sure smile. A certain one. “A friend. My friend.” Then, her expression melted into something more melancholic, the smile fading. “And…if someone as great as you is willing to be friends with someone like…me...then, well,” She shrugged. “I suppose I'll just half to put up with you in the meantime. Demon side and all.”
Rumi's lips twitched as the corners of her mouth pulled upwards slightly. It was a motion so subtle that Somi wouldn't have caught it had she not been tracing each feature of Rumi's face at that moment.
They sat in the comfortable silence for a moment, before Somi perked up as she noticed something out of the corner of her vision. She smiled, delighted.
“Look! It's the first firefly of the night!”
Sure enough, the small, flickering and golden glow of a firefly had made its presence known as it drifted lazily across the blades of grass.
Somi let go of Rumi's hands, tongue stuck out in concentration.
Then, with a quick swipe of her hand, she caught the insect mid-flight, clasping her hands around the small little thing so that it wouldn't be able to escape her grasp.
With an air of excitement, she shuffled back over to Rumi and slowly peeled her hands away, allowing the firefly to slowly float in the air between them. Its glow illuminated both of their faces. And together, they shared that quiet moment beneath the night sky.
Just the two of them and the world.