Chapter 2;

Forest of Silence

At the crack of dawn, Miran was awake and ready to start another day of training. Wednesdays were her favourite day of the week because they got to practice their skills. It wasn’t like every Monday, where she was forced to listen to lectures and read through books of incantations. Wednesdays did involve a short lecture on monster types, but Miran could overlook one lecture – even if it was straight in the morning.

Fridays came close to being her favourite because that was when she got to leave the village with Nari and join the other priests in gathering herbs and collecting water. It had been some weeks since her first trip to the river, but the excitement that came with leaving the village once a week didn’t dwindle.

2 days left until Friday, Miran thought to herself.

She sat down on the wooden floors and rested her arms on the low table in front of her. She had a pen and paper at her side, and was waiting for the priest to begin the lecture.

Priest Kim Joon was a middle-aged man, with white hair marbled against the black. He was a man of wisdom, and very knowledgeable. After all, he had lived through a time where villagers disappeared into thin air. According to the other priests, it was him and a team of others who had purified the village and prevented any more disappearances – by removing all mirrors.

“Today we’ll be talking about lantern demons,” Priest Joon started. “They are moderately strong demons with long, protruding tongues. Sometimes, they come in the form of actual paper lanterns, or beings carrying lanterns. Since their element is fire, they are weak against water.”

Priest Joon went on to further discuss the characteristics of lantern demons, but Miran found herself tuning him out. She started drawing tiny birds on the margins of her paper. Miran discovered that out of all the species of demons she had learned about, she took a particular interest in crow demons – tengu, sometimes they were called.

They were strong yokai with excellent swordsmanship skills, which they used to protect their kin. It almost made the species seem less demonic.

Miran supposed fox demons were also interesting in nature, but she didn’t really like their mischievous personalities. They masked their emotions, and contradicted their words. Kitsune also varied in strength, which confused her.

Kitsune could have from one up to nine tails, and the number of tails indicated their level of strength. All fox demons were born with one tail, which made sense because as infants they didn’t have much power. At different stages in their life, they were supposed to grow more tails. Kitsune usually stopped at 5 tails, but there were some that reached 9.

There was a lot of gray area when it came to fox demons, and the fact that they also had the potential to become one of the strongest demons in existence left her feeling unsettled.

When the clock struck 10:00 a.m., Miran ran to the open field behind the Temple for archery class. The girls gathered on the west side, and the boys on the east side. The bow and arrow was the main fighting weapon for a priestess, while the staff was used by priests. Each group was led by a specialist in the fighting style.

“Good morning,” Nari spoke. One of the reasons why Nari was such a respected priestess was because of her skill in the bow and arrow.

“Good morning, Priestess Nari,” the class chimed in response.

“I’ve noticed in the past few weeks that some of you are struggling with your posture, so I will do a demonstration. The remainder of the period will be allotted for individual practise,” she explained.

Nari stood at the front of the class, poised and graceful. She brought her bow and arrow into position, and pulled her arm back. She shot the arrow at one of the targets, and it slashed through the air to produce a whipping sound. The arrow hit the tiny red circle in the target with such tremendous force that Miran thought it would pierce through the wooden cylinder.

“Did you all make a note of that shot?” Nari asked.

“Yes!” the class exclaimed, though Miran felt her voice was louder than most.

The trainees got into formation and started shooting arrows. Miran positioned herself and envisioned how Nari had shot the arrow. She slowly pulled her arm back and when she released it, the arrow shot through the air with a similar sound to Nari’s. It just barely grazed the outer edge of the bullseye, and Miran let out a scowl.

“That was amazing!” Hyeri said in excitement. “You almost got it!”

“Yeah, almost,” Miran sighed.

From behind her, Miran heard another trainee mutter under her breath, “It’s because she receives special training from Priestess Nari.”

“The Priestess’s favour is wasted,” the other student whispered back.

Hyeri whipped her head around and barked at the girl, “Miran deserves to be trained under Priestess Nari!”

Miran really didn’t believe so. Priestess Nari was one in a million – she was a prodigy, and hardworking on top of that. She was disciplined, strong, intelligent and her soul was just as beautiful as her appearance. Miran didn’t know why Nari chose her as a pupil, especially when the priestess had such a busy schedule. Still, Nari made sure to allocate at least an hour a day to spending time with Miran – be it for archery, creating talismans, calligraphy, or simply having tea.

One of the girls sneered at Hyeri, then glared at Miran. “Priestess Nari just pities you because of your parents and the Silent Death.”

Her words stung like a needle, and Miran tried her best to keep the memories of her parents at bay. The Silent Death was an illness that had appeared out of nowhere, and took the lives of its victims just as quickly. Some said it was the result of influenza, but majority of the population believed it to be because of spirits.

“Their souls were spirited away, so Priestess Nari is just protecting you because it might happen to you too,” the other girl said snidely.

“What’s going on here?”

The girls turned to face Nari, who wore an unimpressed expression upon her delicate face. The priestess looked at the two girls, and began to lecture them. “It is a pity that those who lack strength try to deplete others of it too. You two should be ashamed of yourselves.”

The two girls bit their lip and bowed deeply in front of Nari. “We’re very sorry, Priestess Nari.”

“You are forgiven.” Nari turned to Miran, and her expression softened. “Excellent shot, Miran. You may save practising for later. Come with me; I have matters to discuss with you.”

Hyeri’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ shape, and with wide eyes she watched Miran walk away from her. The two girls maintained their bow to Nari, but the scowl was evident on their faces. Miran gulped as she walked away from the group of trainees to the priestess’s side.

Nari led her away from the class to a spot underneath a willow tree. As soon as they were out of ear’s reach, Nari let out a sigh of relief and turned to Miran. “Did they say anything else to you?”

“No,” Miran shook her head.

“Good,” Nari breathed. “Miran, know that I do not pity you. You are my pupil because you have the potential to be great, and I believe in you.”

“Thank you,” Miran dipped her head slightly to show respect.

“About the important matter; last night, one of the water jugs we had filled up spilled over. We need more water, but I’m unable to go out today because I have to lead a purification ritual. I wanted to ask you if you could run to the river and fill it up for me.”

“Me?” she asked, baffled.

“Yes. I would have asked another priest, but we’re all preparing for the ritual right now. And with the current drought, water is scarce as it is.”

“B-but-“ Miran started, but was cut off.

“I know you’ve only travelled to the river 3 or 4 times, but we’re in need of the water. Besides, you only need to learn something twice before you get the hang of it, Miran,” Nari smiled coyly at her.

“What about the remainder of archery class or the afternoon prayers, or-“

“We will cover it together, later,” Nari reassured her. “You must believe in yourself, Miran.”

“Alright,” Miran finally agreed. “I understand. I’ll make a trip to the river now.”

“Thank you,” Nari smiled at her. The warm wind blew past them, and the willow leaves seemed to dance around them. One long string of leaves fell on top of Miran’s head, but before she could dust it off Nari reached her hand out.

Nari brushed the string of leaves off, and with another smile she told Miran, “You remembered to tie your hair up today.”

.::.        .::.        .::.

Miran carried the empty water jug with her as she trekked out of the village. She had had to roll up the sleeves of her blue robes to make the feat easier to accomplish. The wooden container, although empty, felt like it weighed a tonne and she wondered how Nari and the other priests had been able to carry a full container from the river back to the village.

She stepped over twigs and felt the grass tickle her exposed ankles. The river was just on the outskirts of the village, past a forest with a single trail. It was supposed to have been an easy path to follow. But Miran didn’t recognize the flowers that were sprinkled against the green grass.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and was sure her panting was as loud as an animal’s. Without having realized it, she started jogging with the empty water jug hoisted up and against her chest.

If she were to get lost, would Nari search for her? How would Nari find her?

The trail ended, and much to her relief, Miran found herself in front of the river. She dropped to the ground, and clutched a hand over her chest.

Being alone was scary, she realized.

Miran crawled to a nearby tree and sat against its firm trunk. She stared up at the cloudless sky, and felt the warmth of the sun against her skin. Her breathing returned to normal after a few minutes. Tiny black birds flew in the sky, and they resembled the rough sketches she had drawn in her notebook. She expected to hear a pleasant song from their beaks, but instead the noise came out as a screeching “Caw!”

Crows. The black birds were thought to symbolize death, but Miran thought it ironic that the crows only seemed to fly above her side of the river. There were no birds above the Forest of Silence, which rumours said harboured death.

Miran stood on her feet and picked up the empty jug which she had thrown on the side. She lugged the jug to the foot of the river, and knelt on the ground just as Nari had done before. But she wasn’t able to mimic the priestess’s actions perfectly.

Miran felt the urge to inch her face forward and catch a glimpse of her reflection. She was curious about what she looked like. The brief glimpses in puddles and tiny frames provided by her soup bowl weren’t able to give her a clear image of her own face.

Her fingers lifted off the wooden jug and moved onto the ground at her knees. She peered over the edge, slowly, until she could just make out the top of her black head. Then, a pair of round brown eyes appeared, followed by a nose, and finally a pair of thin lips. Her black hair was pulled back neatly into a ponytail, and she studied her face with diligence.

Miran wasn’t sure when she’d be able to see her own reflection again, so she tried to etch the image into her head. It wasn’t a distorted image, like the ones she’d seen in puddles, nor was it a mixture of brown and gold from the soups at the Temple. It was clear as day, and she could see everything from the blackness of her hair to the pinkness of her lips.

She felt her lips tug into a shy smile, but the image in the water didn’t reflect the grin. The blood red lips remained still and expressionless, and it was then that Miran realized that her own lips weren’t red. She could feel her hair bunched into a ponytail against her back, but the image in the water had black hair flying around.

The image seemed to get larger the longer she stared at it, and she suddenly heard a splash. The face that wasn’t her own was now merely inches away from her, and she felt several strong pairs of arms wrap themselves around her neck and back.

And then she felt cold all over. She closed her eyes as soon as the water hit her face, and she tried to let out a scream. The arms – how many were there? 6? 10? – enveloped her entire body from head to toe, and she could feel rope-like hair graze against her exposed skin.

“A human,” a sinister voice whispered into her ear. Miran heard what sounded like a cackle, but she couldn’t hear it over the sound of the rushing water and her own heartbeat.

Miran forced her eyes to open, and through blurred vision she could make out a human-like face. Her red lips were twisted into a smile, revealing her fangs. Miran wanted to scream, but part of the woman’s black hair wrapped itself around and prevented her from doing so.

Even if she were to cry, the tears would only blend into the river. Miran was sure she was already crying, but she couldn’t tell if the stinging in her eyes was from her tears or from the river water.

“I haven’t had a human in over 30 years,” the demon whispered in her ear. Miran felt a sharp pain in her left ear, followed by a thin trickle of blood that faded into the water. The demon laughed, “You smell absolutely delicious.”

She felt faint, terrified, and nauseous all at the same time. She stared into the black eyes of the demoness that was holding her, and felt so helpless. Images of Nari, Hyeri, her parents, and everyone else in the Temple flashed by her mind, and she suddenly longed for their warmth.

Just earlier, she had questioned herself that if she were to get lost, how would Nari be able to find her?

Now that she was face-to-face with a demon, Miran realized she would be lost forever. And Nari wouldn’t ever be able to find her, because they were falling deeper and deeper into the river. She was sure the demon was dragging her past the bottom of the river, and into the spirit realm.

Everything around her started to blacken, and the water felt even colder. Miran was starting to have difficulty distinguishing the demoness’s black locks from her surroundings.

Amidst all the darkness, she could make out a tiny spot in the distance. It was white, and it was swimming towards her. As it got closer, Miran saw streaks of red tied in with the white, and it reminded her of Nari’s exquisite robes.

But the white vanished along with her consciousness.

A/N: Who could that figure in white be? (i.e BBH shows up next chapter)

Well school's a with everything being due on a Wednesday.

Idk what to put here tbh usually in Pick Your Poison I put puns. It feels so empty here.

\\ xoxo