the trail should be empty by now. the sun was setting and the glimpses of the evening zephyr was incoming, feeling the brisk breeze scathing gently by his temples. ebony strands tousled as digits would move to rake them back into position, having just guided an elderly couple back on track and onto the right pathway home. the silvery tones adorning the perimeter of creased cheeks and foreheads, smile lines that were evident of a life worth living - a good one, a fun one, one filled with happiness. what was that like? finding the corners of his lips perking up with subtlety. he couldn't help but feel a sense of warm reignite within him, withering away at his hostility.
the clothes hanging from his shoulders evidence enough of who he was, taking strides to ensure everyone was beginning to head off. whoever refused would be participating in a game of trophy hunting, whereby the rivers of hallasan would run red, ripe with disobedience. a sport he participated well in, hands dyed a bruised tint of sanguine that not even the shades of his bleached bones could rip them off from his scales of gold.
and he spots another hiker, a delayed nod in response to the other's greeting only to be met with a face filled with tears. he couldn't help the disgust that instinctively tugged across his features, mortified by the outcome of this meeting. a hand extends for a moment before withdrawing, deciding that perhaps it's singular pat on her shoulder would not help in the slightest and might even warrant as harassment.
"am i that ugly? well, shit..." a sigh leaving him, if this was the response that she was giving him as a grown adult, he now understood why every child would burst out in tears at the sight of him. he was hideous, inside and out. "uhh - do you... uhh, need help?" the disgust on his features subsiding to an awkward pull of his corners, "it's not that safe out here at this time." he adds, in attempts to make up for his prior expression, taking a glimpse of her features - a sense of familiarity rings within him but a name does not appear in his reverie.
he freezes for a moment, a slight crease imprints in between his brows and something flickers within him, the same flicker of ash within him ignites into a flame. it burns with familiarity and leaves a trail of longing - nostalgia was the feeling his soul yearned for but he blames it on the river flowing beside. he doesn't remember much other than having seen red, a deep deep shade of red - one that painted his skies so dark that not even the sun could penetrate through the walls of crimson. as if engulfed by a flame of hatred so agonising that all he could remember was screaming, screaming for her to run, to get away, to not let the hunters lay a finger on her. he would be the sacrifice to keep those within his river safe - and he remembers having his scales pried off one by one, restrained by chains.
then - he remembers black, he remembers being surrounded by sacks of organs, a deserved fate for attempting to test the godless serpent.
"you're okay." more of a reassurance that within his presence, she was going to be okay.