A certain longing for or affinity with the forest was something some of the Taigans shared. Even without no knowledge of Taiga or her past, the forest still appeals to Jinju. No matter how often she slipped away when neither Ander or Terran was looking, she still enjoyed herself dartling around the forest. Little did she know they always kept an eye on her, even if she thought they weren’t near.

Usually she kept to the forest, avoiding going near its borders, and instead only going deeper. Today, not so much. Something else calls to her too, luring her in like a moth to a flame. She can hear the river, the water finding its way to lower land, crossing stone and trunks. Jinju could look at it for a while, just watch the water flow by, but today it’s not the water that captures her attention.

Instead it’s the redwood forest that stood across of the forest. The river was like a boundary separating the forest and that was left of a once kingdom. Of course Jinju doesn’t know about that, but she cannot say the lands don’t appeal to her. She’s eager to explore them, to dart around the massive trees, to discover all its hidden treasures. Something holds her back from it, and it’s not the river that blocks her path.

She’s so lost in starting at it, that she doesn’t notice the golden stallion. Well, not right away that is. Letting her eyes wander over the forest’s border, she eventually finds herself eye to eye with him. ”Oh” she lets out startled, taking a few steps back as she glances up. Something tells her he is familiar, that she should know him, and for Jinju that’s enough. She doesn’t even think of questioning herself, nor is she upset that she cannot remember him. ”Hi!” she instead greets. There is curiosity in her ruby eyes, and a small smile on her lips. ”Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Jinju

“My sun is set to rise again.”

It was clear that she wasn’t the only one who hadn’t noticed the presence of another. The golden stallion seems just as surprised as she is and Jinju releases she is a lot closer to him than she had meant to. After all, he almost hit her with his head because she’d startled him. ”Oh, sorry.. I didn’t meant to startle you..” she apologizes, backing away from him right away. And she didn’t want to get hurt, on accident that is, because Jinju is sure that this stallion doesn’t form a threat to her.

Though she would have to admit that the look he gives her, kind of spooks her. Her ruby eyes study him, take in the expression on his face – or the lack of it, other than shock. Did he know her? Her head tilts to the side and she carefully takes another few steps back, ending up a few steps into the water.

The silence makes her uneasy, causing her to sidestep a little before glancing around. No, nobody else was here. Next was a quick glance in the water, to check her reflection, but other than a pair of familiar ruby eyes, there’s nothing strange to see. Then, before she can look up, he stutters her name.

This time it’s Jinju’s turn to look the stallion, a slight frown on her features. ”You.. know me?” she eventually asks after the silence stretches too long. She’s torn between curiosity and some natural hesitance. It was strange, right, that he knew her name? She surely didn’t know him, other than that she didn’t feel threatened by or uneasy in his presence.

More silence and then a step forward, curiosity is winning. ”Who are you?” she then asks, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. ”You know me, shouldn’t I know who you are too?” she teases, childishly enjoying her own little victory.

Jinju

“My sun is set to rise again.”

Though there isn’t anything threatening about the golden stallion – instinctively she knowns he is alright – he does scare her. He’s strangely silent and stares at her like he had seen a ghost. First, she had just brushed it off, but it doesn’t stop. Jinju takes a step back again, as a child she doesn’t know how to deal with the situation. ”Everything okay?”

Then he breaks free from his thoughts, as if he was coming back to the here and now. Whatever had worked on her nerves before, vanish as shadow for the sun the moment he smiles. Jinju relaxes a little again, his smile meeting one of her own. She’s just not able to notice that the smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

Not even when he lowers his head so he meets her eyelevel. Her ruby eyes twinkling in delight. The first part of his answer is enough for her to step closer, but what follows holds her frozen. Almost like she lost the control over her own body. Her father? She didn’t know who her father was, how come that he knew? And he had said he knew her too. ”My.. my father?” she repeats with a shaky voice, looking at Aten with shocked red orbs.

Soon she starts to tremble, shaking uncontrollable as she stumbles back. How could he knew who her father was? Jinju didn’t know her parents herself. All she knew was Terran and Ander, who were like a father and brother to her, but from which she knew they weren’t. Neither does she know what drives them, but they seemed to genuinely care for her. ”Who.. who is my father?” by the time she manages speaking, tears are welling up in her eyes.

Jinju doesn’t know if she’s pleading him to continue speaking, or for him to say that he had mistaken her for another. That there were more inky black and red eyed girls out there and he had simply thought she was another. His carefully spoken words turned her life upside down in a way Jinju didn’t even knew was possible.

Jinju

“My sun is set to rise again.”

An attempt to offer comfort through a hug or touch by a stranger wouldn’t be much comforting. Though she knows Aten is familiar in one way or another, he is still very much a stranger at the same time and his words kind of upset her. Confuse her too, as he seems to know so much  more than she does and Jinju is simply not able to wrap her mind around it.

The longer he stays silent, the more the urge to flee rises. She doesn’t know how to deal with the situation at hand and the silence isn’t helping much. Jinju wants to find Ander, or Terran, to press herself up at their sides. To have them comfort her, tell her it’s okay. Yet, at the same time, she does want to hear what Aten has to say.

So when he finally continues speaking, her attention is focussed on his words. The distance between them now larger than before, but she’s still standing close enough to hear. He speaks about a male, Ruan, of which she hadn’t heard before. Aten tells her this Ruan loves her very much, but he hadn’t seen him a long while. Then how could Jinju not remember him? She’d been a baby when Ander and Terran took her under their wings, she’d never seen or heard about this Ruan. It simply didn’t make any sense.

”Then.. Then why d-did he l-leave me..?” she manages to get out, the tears now rolling down her cheeks. Why would someone who loves you, leave you all alone? Not that she wasn’t content with Ander and Terran around, but deeply down she knows she’s missing something, someone.

No. This couldn’t be true. A true father wouldn’t leave, like Terran wouldn’t leave Ander. She’s sure of it. Oh, right, Aten had asked about her current caretaker. She numbly nods, confirming his words. ”They do..” she mumbles with her hoarse voice. Crying never did any good for one’s voice.

Jinju

“My sun is set to rise again.”