Another crack
The Shadow of the LightNormally, people with looks attractive enough to overshadow their pasts were charming. Disarmingly so. Confident too.
Jungeun was almost shy. Her words were never said hesitantly or quietly, but the look in her eyes wasn’t at all boisterous or b with charm.
“How are things with the emotional fae?” Jinsoul’s mother asked. “I doubt they’ve forgotten about Tresteu.”
That had been the attack launched by a rogue group of fairies. Tresteu was a fairy whose core emotion had been anger. He’d wanted to exact revenge on some of the Astra, but also bring a true battle to the lunar elves.
He’d lost, but not without overwhelming a fair amount of their numbers.
Jinsoul watched for Jungeun’s reaction. How she felt about a battle she hadn’t been a part of —it might be able to say something on her attitude as a whole.
Had her mother asked this to test that specifically?
“I don’t think they'll ever forget,” Jungeun said. There was an edge to her voice. Even the light in her eyes seemed to have dimmed. “But the Astra meet with them now. Some had had wounds that only the fae could heal.”
“I’ve often heard them talk of light and spirits as though they held emotion,” Jessica said. She had donned the stiff bearing of an elder. Usually, she was quite the free spirit, especially during celebrations. “Can you say if that’s a ramble to ignore or to consider?”
Red eyes flicked to the elder, holding her gaze. Jinsoul could see her mind working for the response.
“We know they can exercise no control over the light, or actually calm any spirit,” Jungeun replied. “And what more the fairies said, I can’t repeat.” The hint of a smile appeared. “I fell asleep.”
It got her a few smiles and chuckles. Everyone had, at one point or another, gotten their ear chewed off during the ramblings of a fairy. Their culture prided in knowing everything about their individual magics. Most followed that custom.
Jinsoul had sometimes been accused of being too much like a fairy. All because she was interested in how the mortal world worked, as well as all that lay within and across the sea.
Clearly, Jungeun wasn’t like that.
Unless she was lying to keep the rest of them from knowing too much about moonlight. The Astra were very secretive, almost as much as the emotional fae.
“So what will Jinsoul be doing when she gets there?” Her mother asked.
Jinsoul wasn’t sure if she wanted that question answered today. What if she was immediately assigned to a role she didn’t want?
“They’ll see what you’re best suited for,” Jungeun replied. Her eyes met Jinsoul’s once before looking away, almost as if she didn’t want to hold her gaze.
Someone chuckled. “I suppose that wasn’t so difficult when it came to you.”
Surprisingly, Jungeun winced at that. Jinsoul watched how she covered it with her own light laugh.
“You’re right,” she said. “I lit the fires of the camp for a few years.”
Someone sputtered, nearly choking on their drink. Others laughed.
Jungeun had managed to distract from that remark, as well as her slip-up. Jinsoul wondered if she could even count that as a slip-up.
_____
They’d left the camp quickly enough. They were actually walking. Why Jungeun wanted a longer journey, Jinsoul still didn’t know. She didn’t know if she was supposed to be concerned or annoyed at the fact.
And now they’d been walking in relative silence. Jungeun had started to look more tired as they walked, though her step had never slowed.
Eventually, Jinsoul had to break the silence. There were a lot of questions, but there was one she needed to ask.
“What do you actually do for them?”
Jungeun’s reply was immediate. “Other than stepping in for physical disputes, I’m on patrol.”
“You guard them?” Jinsoul wasn’t sure if she should laugh or curse.
Her brow rose at that. “If necessary, yes.”
“Isn’t that as bad as lighting their fires?” And apart from that, Jungeun only fought for them.
She didn’t expect Jungeun to look slightly offended at that.
“You’d be surprised at how much you end up doing there.”
Jinsoul frowned. “I’m not going to become their guard dog.”
“I never said you were,” Jungeun replied. “And patrol isn’t guarding the Astra. If there’s a threat to the camp, we take care of it, but the focus is on mortals.”
“You help humans?”
“We have to if they come across the wrong spirit,” she said. “You and the Astra can recover from those wounds, but they’d die easily. Or go mad.”
It sounded so simple. Jinsoul had tried to heal the injuries of elves who’d fought with Astra. It’d never worked. She’d had to put them all in the darkest of places and wait it out. She’d barely been able to treat their wounds without having to take a break. The moonlight had burned her. It probably wouldn’t anymore.
“So that’s all you do?”
Jungeun gave her an odd look. “It comes up more than you’d think. We also go after vampires or wolves if they’re near. We can find them pretty easily.” Without waiting for a response, she continued, “the wolves are a little more obvious, with the way the moon’s tied to them. We don’t kill them. As for vampires,” she trailed off. Then she sighed. “It depends on how we find them and what they’ve done.”
“And then you burn them to ash?” Jinsoul nearly took the words back.
But the red-eyed girl didn’t flinch. She also didn’t look offended this time. “If I have to.”
She didn’t know how to reply to that. She wasn’t sure if Jungeun was expecting a response.
Jungeun smiled slightly then, but it wasn’t condescending or happy. "When we get there,” Jungeun continued. “I’ll tell Haseul that you’ll be along with her.”
There was an implication to that. Jinsoul wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not.
Jungeun didn't elaborate either. They just kept walking.
_____
Author's Note
So their dynamic is currently quite strained. Do you think it's for a good reason or is Jinsoul being unfair?
As for the other things I occasionally mention like fairies, I don't want anyone to be confused by them. I've got three stories set in this world, all in different times, so my mind has been working with making sure they all work well together. That's not important for those reading and is more or less a bonus if you've read the other stories (which you don't need to!)
But if you've got any questions, feel free to ask them! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. It may be a bit of a slow start, but I can guarantee we're building up to something.
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