Distortion

Yin and Yang

i am so incredibly sorry for not staying true to my schedule. it was working until classes started xd anyway i will no longer be sticking to a schedule and will let my imagination flow whenever it wants to. it's better that i write when i can rather than being under pressure. cheers to lalisa though what a bop


 

Jisoo has to find Jennie tonight.

 

 

Like the past few days, Joohyun’s absence has extended into the late night. It no longer fazes Jisoo, her mind running laps about the Air instead. The Chief has ordered a strict curfew that cuts dinner short — much to everyone’s dismay — and adds another layer of uneasiness in the valley. Jisoo paces around the dark room, chewing on her nails and debating her odds.

 

 

The village should be asleep right now, but there are more scouts than usual. I’ll get caught for sure.

 

 

Suddenly, Jennie’s gummy smile flashes by, gone in the blink of an eye. Jisoo stops in her tracks, her heart rendered still.

 

 

But if I don’t find her, they will.

 

 

Rabbit, who had been watching Jisoo pace for the past hour, watches her approach his tank with his beady eyes. The way he tilts his head could either mean curiosity or amusement.

 

 

“What do I do, Rabbit?” she mumbles, forehead on the glass and leveled with the tortoise’s gaze. A tortoise as her only company in times like these, how ridiculous! Asking him advice at that! At least he’s the most honest living thing here, no matter how rude his honesty can be. The standards are at an all-time low.

 

 

She doesn’t expect an answer, but to her astonishment, Rabbit gives her one. He regards her with a look more complex than any he has ever mustered — the same poker face, but more. Is it possible for a tortoise to communicate such a response? Then again, Rabbit is the most intelligent tortoise in the village; that was proven in the Tortoise Olympics hosted every four years. Jisoo understands, nodding along to the mutual resolution

 

 

“You’re right. I’ll go get her.”

 

 

Leaving the tortoise in her wake, Jisoo dashes out the door into the impending doom that is her fate.

 

 

☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯

 

 

Chilling, the way the night is darker, more ominous, embodying less of the time-of-day Jisoo has grown to love and look forward to so much. Dark clouds shroud the moon, suffocating its luminosity and holding its fullness hostage. The village would’ve drowned in darkness if not for the torches of scouts marching through the paths, orange-red flames casting stretched shadows of their silhouettes along the huts. The torches make them easier to spot and avoid, but the light makes Jisoo a lot more visible. Shaking from apprehension, Jisoo takes a deep breath before following the habitual route to the forest.

 

 

With Jisoo’s clumsiness, sneaking proves itself much harder. The many close calls do only ill to her heart. Avoiding a scout by a hair, she flattens herself against the wall of the nearest hut and holds her breath. He peers around the corner opposite Jisoo’s direction before treading back to his patrol. It takes a handful of seconds for Jisoo to force herself to keep moving, to swallow the desire for the easy way out for the fear of the worst is much stronger.

 

 

Diving under the curve of a hollow log, she clamps shut with her hand as a scout’s feet drags across the gravel on the other side of the wood. It ceases into the distance, and when it’s no longer audible, she scrambles out from under, crawling closer to her destination.

 

 

The forest is right there. Jisoo darts to the stone well, hand on the cold rock to catch her breath. But how many of them are in there?

 

 

Once one log away from the woods, she briskly swivels to scan her surroundings. Although there are more scouts at the border, fortunately, there are none near her or looking in her direction. One sheep, two sheep — the courage builds by some miracle. Perhaps from the fear and urgency of the whole situation, or the fact that if she waits one second more then all hell will break loose.

 

 

Please don’t be here, Jennie.

 

 

Jisoo exhales, opens her eyes, and makes a blind dash into the foliage.

 

 

A faceful of forest floor warrants a grunt as her knees and elbows are scratched and bruised among the twigs, stiffened by the grit of her teeth and bite of her bottom lip that draws an iron taste. She stays flat on the floor, listening for any indication that suspicion roused. There is none; only silence and her light breaths. She pushes herself up and stumbles toward the cliffs.

 

 

Please don’t be here.

 

 

Her back crashes against the jagged bark of oak when an orange glow flickers through branches, twigs snapping from the scouts moving through. Three of them; anonymous, just the back of their black hairs to go by, just problems in the road, thorns on a rose to be ridden of. She groans internally but waits impatiently as they sweep the area before disappearing to their next destination.


 

When the coast is clear and silence meets the woods once again, Jisoo makes a break to the cliffs. The pace quickens into a sprint — no longer caring if the whole forest had been alerted — as her pounding heart acts as an engine, the dread fuel.


 

Please don’t be here. Please. Please. Please.

 

 

Breaking into the clearing, the thick, salty ocean breeze greets her like many nights before. Her eyes wildly search for their spot — the edge of the cliff — only to find it empty.


 

She’s not here.

 

 

A sigh of relief, all the dread escaping with the one breath.

 

 

Jennie isn’t here. She must be home, safe.

 

 

Safe.

 

 

Jennie is safe.

 

 

The corners of Jisoo’s lips tug from ear to ear, and she tilts her head up to the night sky. The stars calm her aching heart, dazzling and splendid as all things should be. In her daze, she giggles to herself and falls on her knees, the overexertion of energy catching up to the rest of her body. Fatigued, but ironically, she has an urge to sing at the top of her lungs.

 

 

Jennie isn’t here. She’s safe.

 

 

Her grin is short-lived, wiped off when the blaring of horns shatters the silence. Far off in the distance, yet the long cries shake the leaves equal to the force of wind and send goosebumps up her arms. She has never heard them in use before, but Joohyun told her what their purpose is: to alert the village of battle — or trouble.


 

Trouble.


 

She runs.


 

☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯⚏☯

 

 

Wave after wave like the ocean, the horns thunder through the woods in slow succession, yet every groan is drawn out. The closer Jisoo comes, the more physically impossible it is to fight through each soundwave as if it’s a tangible wall pushing her back. Nevertheless, Jisoo sprints as fast as she can, her shadow weaving in and out of the web of shadows on the ground.

 

 

It can’t be. It can’t be!

 

 

Her foot gets caught in a protruding root. She tumbles into the dirt but picks herself back up just as quickly as she fell. There’s a sharp pain in her ankle. Despite the bruises and scratches, the roar in her head overwhelms and numbs all other senses.

 

 

Please don’t let it be her.

 

 

Bursting into the valley, there is a large crowd gathered by the edge of the forest some distance away from Jisoo. She bounds toward them, shoving people out of the way to the center.

 

 

“Hey!”

 

 

“Watch where you’re going.”

 

 

“What’s wrong with her?”

 

 

Their complaints and annoyed glares are the least of Jisoo’s worries, serving only as a bothersome buzz in her ears. She squeezes through two grown men and reaches the inner circle. Her heart drops at the sight of who she dreaded to see the most.

 

 

Jennie.

 

 

Battered, rope bound her wrists and ankles, on her knees in defeat.


 

Jennie. Here. In the middle of the Earth tribe. Surrounded by people who hate her kind the most.

 

 

“Jennie!” Jisoo screams, rushing forward. Jennie’s eyes flick up when Jisoo snaps back by a force around her waist, lifting her off the ground.

 

 

“Hold her back!” a man bellows.

 

 

“Please, no!” Jisoo wails, flailing and punching the brawny arms in a futile attempt to be released. “Not her. Not her.”

 

 

Muttering breaks in the crowd.

 

 

“What is that kid doing?”

 

 

“Isn’t that the Kim?”

 

 

“That Air is dangerous.”

 

 

They don’t know a thing about her. Jennie isn’t dangerous.

 

 

Jennie’s eyes never leave Jisoo’s, so hooded that Jisoo can’t read her expression, as Seunghyun lugs her on her feet by the collar of her tattered shirt.

 

 

“Won’t speak, Air?” he growls, detest and disgust all over his demeanor. “Are you a spy? What are you doing here? Answer me!”

 

 

Jennie doesn’t falter, chin high. Instead, she shoots a vindictive glare and spits on him. The crowd gasps as Seunghyun curses in rage. He raises a mighty fist and strikes down on Jennie’s face. She crumples against the punch.

 

 

“Stop!” Jisoo shrieks. “Stop hurting her!”

 

 

“Someone take that girl away,” Seunghyun barks, pointing aimlessly around at his scouts. “Children aren’t supposed to be here.”

 

 

Jisoo is hauled back into the crowd, pulled further and further away from Jennie and deeper and deeper into the sea of alien faces. She thrashes to no avail, her legs flinging wildly and barely kicking the few villagers that jump to part away.

 

 

“You’re only making this harder for yourself,” Junmyeon hisses into her ear.

 

 

“Don’t let them hurt Jennie,” Jisoo wails. “She’s innocent.”

 

 

Innocent?” he seethes in disbelief, dropping her on her feet once they are behind the crowd and grabs her small shoulders. She winces from the iron grip of the fuming scout. “Are you hearing yourself? That girl is an Air. There is nothing innocent about her.”

 

 

Jisoo wants to retort — she really does — but is too dry and she has no idea what to say. What does she say in face of a person who’d never believe otherwise? Her lips part to say something, anything, but screams explode and drown out any attempt to do so as the once dense crowd disperses into a flock of panicking villagers scurrying their way. Junmyeon lets go of Jisoo and whips around to the cause of the chaos.


 

He gulps.

 

 

Jennie hovers high above the Earth tribe, bonds broken and hanging from her wrists and ankles. Disheveled fringe hoods her complexion, fury dancing in her eyes that crackle and transforms her pure face into one of absolute terror. The wind turns violent, a fierce frenzy making the flames of torches dance wildly and the hairs of everyone fly. At the tips of her fingers are blades of air, and she throws them at the scouts.

 

 

Junmyeon knocks Jisoo away with his palm, his brute strength barreling her onto the ground and stealing breath. She lays there for a moment, dazed from the plunge, as Junmyeon sprints to the scene that is Jennie fighting off an army of Earth members.


 

The Chief commands, his booming voice barely audible over the tempest, “Thicken the forest! Close the canopy! Block all access to the wind!”

 

 

No. Jisoo scrambles onto her feet and rushes toward the madness, barging past villagers running the other way. One hits her shoulder and she falls down again, her left knee momentarily numb from absorbing all the shock. But she gets up. She gets up. I need to help her.

 

 

Without a second to waste, Jisoo stomps and palms the sprung chunk of earth at the nearest scout’s head. He falls with a gurgled scream, catching the attention of his unit.

 

 

“Didn’t I tell someone to get that kid out of here?” the Chief bellows.

 

 

Jisoo reaches out to the forest, embracing the vines and plants snaking around her forearm and filling her veins with energy unmatched. She lashes the whip at another scout, the sharp fiber snapping around his neck with a crack, and tosses him aside.

 

 

The unit is in clear disorder, buffeted from the front and behind. Jennie soars gracefully above, dodging every rock launched her way and returning them with full strength. Jisoo holds her stance below, taking out scouts with the strikes of her whip. She crushes rocks with the flick of her wrist.


 

But the wind weakens. Still rampant enough to decrease the accuracy of the hailing nature thrown at Jennie to some extent, but as the canopy overhead covers every inch of the night sky with thick foliage, the wind weakens along with Jennie's attacks. Sometimes she stumbles, near misses becoming one too many.


 

They are running out of time.


 

I need to get Jennie out of here.


 

The whip sinks its teeth into another scout’s throat. A young boy from the looks of his form, but his face is not discernible. Blurry, even. Blurry and red. There is no longer anything boyish about him. When Jisoo pulls back, his poor neck cannot bear the force and snaps into a weird angle as he is thrown aside like a sack of potatoes.

 

 

“Jisoo, what on earth are you doing?”

 

The voice of her sister shatters the red, the shards floating out of existence as the original color of the world returns. Jisoo freezes in her place and turns to the voice. Joohyun’s appalled face is discernible, unlike the distortion of the many that fell victim to her whip. Shadows dance from the flashing flames.

 

 

At that moment, someone tackles her down.

 

 

The back of Jisoo’s head slams onto a rock, knocking the breath out of her lungs. Her skull must’ve split open, the pain instantaneous. Junmyeon’s face over her is blurry, almost red, and he is yelling at her. His bangs shake from his outburst, but the ringing in her ears tune out all of his words.

 

 

With the last drop of self-restraint, Jisoo looks over Junmyeon’s shoulder to Jennie. Their eyes find each other, and Jennie falters from her maneuver for a split second — a split second too long.

 

 

No —

 

 

That split second is enough for a hunk of rock to smash into the girl’s shoulder, the crack loud and piercing, and send her in an uncontrollable, downward spiral into the dirt.

 

 

The uproar pauses.


 

There is only Jisoo’s breath.


 

In, out.


 

In, out.


 

In.


 

Out.

 

 

Junmyeon still hovers over her. His moving lips are annoying. Why is he still here? Jisoo smacks him across the face. It isn’t enough. She knees his groin with all her might and he crumples just enough for her to shove him off. She pushes herself up with ragged breaths, hands digging into the pool of blood where her head had been, and staggers toward Jennie surrounded by the remaining scouts.

 

 

The scouts glance at each other, puzzled as they stumble, arms out for balance.

 

 

“Why is the ground shaking?” one asks.

 

 

Jisoo doesn’t know, nor does she care. Somehow she is perfectly on her feet as the scouts are thrown off theirs, the earth clearing a path to the vanquished heap of the girl. Jisoo collapses on her knees, a trembling hand reaching for Jennie. Sprawled out on the dirt, Jennie’s hair mats her drenched face as she heaves gasps of air in agony.


 

Jisoo’s hand stops right above Jennie’s bleeding cheek. It curls into a fist.

 

 

Turning around to confront the scouts, Jisoo spreads her arms to shield the vulnerability of Jennie from their sight.

 

 

“She’s innocent,” Jisoo says, voice hoarse and chest racking up frail sobs. “She’s innocent.”

 

 

The Chief stands tall and rigid in front of the dozens of wary scouts. Jaw clenched, his stern eyes don’t waver.

 

 

“Please. She’s innocent.”

 

 

The only sounds that fill the void between them are the crackling of flames and Jisoo’s sniffles as the men stand silent before her. Faint fingers kissed the dimples of her lower back.

 

 

“Jisoo,” Jennie whimpers through jagged breaths, eyes struggling to stay open. “Don’t…”

 

 

“She’s innocent!” Jisoo screams. Insanity seizes her mind, crazed with the yearning for everyone to understand, to see, to believe. Why can’t they see that Jennie is innocent?

 

 

Why?

 

 

Why?

 

 

Why?

 

 

Someone steps out from behind the Chief. They cautiously walk forward, hands up in passiveness.

 

 

“Jisoo,” Joohyun coos. “Please calm down.”

 

 

“Joohyun,” Jisoo wheezes, the grief alleviated just a bit from seeing her sister’s pretty face. She has always been so pretty. So kind and pretty. “You always told me to see the good in people. Why is Jennie any different?”

 

 

The ground trembles with another heaving sob, prompting Joohyun to pause before resuming her approach once it stabilized.

 

 

“Yes. I’ve taught you that,” Joohyun smiles softly. “You’re a good person for knowing that.”

 

 

"Jennie is good. I saw the good in her. She’s —” she hiccups, “she’s innocent.”

 

 

When the older girl reaches Jisoo, she slowly sinks to her knees to level with her. Cupping Jisoo’s tear-stained face with warm palms, Joohyun brushes aside the remaining tears with her thumbs. Through the red mist, Jisoo can discern the weariness and the disconcertment under Joohyun’s eyes. Through the red mist, she doesn’t discern the bodies strewn all over the ground. Through the red mist, she doesn’t realize the river of crimson soaking the green grass from the slaughter.

 

 

“You’re a good person,” Joohyun repeats.

 

 

“Really?”

 

 

“Yes. Now let the adults handle it, okay?”

 


The lingering ember of Jennie’s touch is snuffed out when a rock bashes against Jisoo’s temple and brings the cold black.

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Comments

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munchkiks #1
I love this story. Hoping you can continue with the other books soon!
Craazy_hippo
#2
couldn't sleep so came here to re-read this whole thing
unknown_kx #3
Chapter 15: I love the fact that Jisoo is so powerful but what she did is sickening, she really have no mercy and enjoyed doing it. I don’t think she will be welcomed back ever again in an Earth tribe if there’s any… kinda scared that she will end up being killed later on in the series ><

Also, I hope that Jennie somehow can make Jisoo able to control the “monster” in her.
Craazy_hippo
#4
DUDE that was SO good...but Jennie please bring Jisoo(you know, the real her, without the shadows) baaaack *sob
Craazy_hippo
#5
Chapter 13: authornim you made me seriously depressed after this chapter...oh fck noooo Jisoo what the ahdajskfhjs
Craazy_hippo
#6
Chapter 12: OH MY FU-wait I can't swear, but HELL authornim, is torturing us your favorite pastime?
Craazy_hippo
#7
Chapter 11: I mean...I would be lying if I said I don't anticipate the next chapter but take your time authornim, REALLY looking forward to see what happens next
Craazy_hippo
#8
Chapter 11: wow omg sooyaa what did you just do...I mean the adults should have told her about her power sooner probably or else none of this would have happened...but anyway, this was EPIC
jisooskai
#9
Chapter 10: I love this story so much!
Craazy_hippo
#10
Chapter 10: wow this cliffhanger.....