From the Shadows

Description

An ex-guerilla soldier running from the horrors of war, Yifan tries to deny his humanity, convinced he is nothing more than a monster as he flees into the forest, seeking the solitude and safety the shadows therein can give him.

Lost, deprived and alone, he nearly forgets who he is until he stumbles across the innocent and practically oblivious Yixing near his home village located in the same forest Yifan has taken refuge in. Fearing contact with other humans but yearning for it at the same time, Yifan grapples with his inner demons as he watches over Yixing and his closest friends from afar, appointing himself their unofficial guardian.

He is determined not to mar their quaint paradise with his stained and soiled presence until something happens that leaves him with only two choices:

Remain the monster hidden in the shadows,

or...

Embrace the monster within once again.

- When you have nothing left to live for, you have nothing left to lose -

Foreword

Reviewed by Rhapsodos at the Love Reading Review Shop - 47/50 'Recommend? YES YES. EXO stans should read it. Hell if you like cute stories, read it. If you like violence... read it. If you like badass Kris and derpy Lay READ IT :D'

Reviewed by Aiyana from The Queens Classroom Graphics and Review - 87/100 'DAMN RIGHT IT WAS ENJOYABLE.'

Reviewed by eunhyuksgal from Forbidden Dreamers Poster Shop. - 97/100 'I love it and everyone should read it; it's short and interesting; a comfortable read.'

Reviewed by SouthWest from *☆*The New Library*☆* REVIEW SHOP. - 94/100 'I really liked this story and I thought you did a really good job with it.' I definitely recommend checking them out if you're looking for a solid, in-depth review! ^_^

Poster done by Asphyxy at Beauty Lies Within Graphics. They are definitely worth checking out if you need a poster!

Poster done by s3xyangel at Exotic Dreamers Poster Shop.

Original poster:

Endless solitude was far better than the madness and treachery of the fields of slaughter where he had stained his hands permanently red with the blood of countless enemies. Maybe some allies too… The lines of sight became blurry in the fading rays of light; when all you had left was the desire to draw one more breath and you couldn’t recognize the visage of the man before you...

~~~~~~

Drawn by the melodic quality of a soft tone moving in the easy cadence of one humming to himself, the bedraggled ex-soldier crept towards the sound that emanated from near the stream he frequented for water and food...

~~~~~~

But now, even when he had another nightmare of mutilated corpses, the innocent visage of the happy young man pierced through the awful memories and gave him a strange sense of peace...

~~~~~~

He couldn't let this happen. Not in the paradise he had found a measure of happiness in. But... he was only one man. What could a single ex-soldier do now? Very little. And yet, Yifan wasn't just an ex-soldier. He was a monster drenched in the blood of the fallen. His eyes narrowed dangerously, glinting with a predatory hunger as he bared his teeth in a feral grimace. Maybe... just maybe... it would be enough.

I get inspiration from the strangest things (I heard a character in a movie I was watching mention something about shadows and this came to mind). Originally intended as a oneshot, it has quickly developed into a four part arc with epilogue. The words kept coming and they needed a little bit more development in the middle. haha

On a side note, the first updates will be pretty tame but there will be a fair bit of violence in the fourth part and some macabre imagery in the fifth. Potential trigger warning as is mentioned later but not shown as well. Just a head's up and all. Happy reading! ^_^

Submitted to The New Library of recommendation fics.

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Comments

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LadyFrancesca #1 Jan 13, 2016 02:48:28

Chapter 5: I read this years ago and it haunted me until I found it again. This is still one of the most riveting stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading, period. It was such a delight to read this for a second time, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again in another few years' time. I'll be sure to bookmark it for safe keeping though.

Thank you so much

cheekyone94 #2 Jul 25, 2015 23:44:23

Chapter 5: This was a really good story and I think I be coming back to read this one again. Now I just need to pick what next, look like I'm having to search your story list again.

I like the fight and trying to save Yixing in the last chapter. Cause as a reader I could see the struggle that he was going through to try save him, and the fear from the villagers before he did.
For this chapter, it great when you can find music to match the scene it helps bring it to life a bit more I think. After listen to yours choice, I had music by Jeremy Soule playing it match the Yifan fighting to live. Not just live but to not be afraid or wanting to run away, it help him to over come that fear. If it wasn't for Yixing, Yifan might of given up in limbo.
The saddest part was reading the confirmation that Minseok was dead even through it was obvious it was still sad :(

cheekyone94 #3 Jul 24, 2015 22:20:55

Chapter 1: Finally had time to read this :) had to force myself not to click next chapter just to write a comment.

I like the first chapter and there a lot I liked about it but can't put it into words. Honestly, I was thinking that Yifan was going to get caught in this chapter considering when remember his name he almost outed himself and then continuously going to just close enough. But that wouldn't of been fun if he was caught straight away. You sure do know how to draw readers in with just half the first chapter that by the end of the chapter they won't want to move on until it finished.

fefedove #4 Apr 8, 2015 19:53:37

Wait, was this posted on another fanfic site? I remember reading it before somewhere else and it's so good!

wollen #5 Dec 14, 2014 07:56:10

Chapter 5: WOW for the tarzan Yifan, the combat attack and the romance..
this is truly beautiful!!! :-*

eunhyuksgal #6 Feb 9, 2014 21:43:05

Chapter 5: oooh i really like this! (and its a lot shorter den ur norm; yes as usual working on ur review hehe hope u find them helpful? nice? haha) cheers

sCeNeBLUETattoo #7 Oct 21, 2013 18:41:15

Chapter 5: I just found this and read it from start to finish. I wanted to stop and comment at the end of a couple of chapters but I just couldn't stop reading long enough to comment until I reached the end. I am humbled to have read such a lovely melancholy story with characters that lived and breathed in the story. This was a breath-stealing, heart-wrenching look at the life of one who had been strong for too long and one who wasn't capable of having a heart filled with anything but peace & love. This was an amazingly beautiful story and I'm glad I invested the time it took to read it. I WILL be recommending this to a few of my friends.

MetuSa #8 Sep 23, 2013 16:29:08

Chapter 5: So...I had this story queued for quite a while before I finally read it. And though it was kind of hard to get through emotionally, it was a fantastic story!