The Rose And The Falcon (3)

Those memories, that past, it was what shaped Rose. It was actually during the time when she was being transported to the South was it that she met her saviour, Deryam.

She remembered thinking of praying, despite it never having worked. She prayed when her family died, she prayed when the children in her group died. She prayed for years, but nobody seemed to hear her. And so, anger bloomed in her heart, which easily turned to hate. She would kill those people, she swore. Kill them in the most painful way possible.

She never cared much for people, never once in her life. The only humans that she could say to have ever liked were her small group. But with them gone, so did her last bits of humanity. This was why, to this day, whenever she saw people that needed help, she could care less. Those who annoyed her were slain. Those who plotted against her were tortured by her blades. Because how could she? The people who couldn't care if children died. The people who turned their back on her. The people who starved and beat her. Who could ever blame her for turning her own back to them.

Rose could still clearly remember that day, when she was saved. She remembered crouching in the small cage. So small in fact, that it would barely fit a dog. She was the only slave in the camp. The traders would sometimes hit the bars of the cage to startle or scare her, which barely worked. She would look at them back, staring right into their eyes, a challenge. That often resulted in injuries and scars. But strangely, Rose never felt it. She was strange that way, unable to feel paint. Maybe this was the true reason why others feared her. Even in that village, whenever Rose cut herself, she would simply stare at the blood leaking out. Once, she remembered, there was even bone visible when she cut her arm with a tool. To other's horror, not only didn't Rose at least bothered to cover the injury, but she even stuck her fingers inside to touch the bone.

It was a sunny day, just like any other. The wind was cold and biting at Rose, but she was unable to feel it. Whenever she moved, she could hear a pop from her bones, and weakness in her limbs.

Then, suddenly, the traders screamed. Some of the begun to run away, while others grabbed their weapons. When Rose tried to peak at what was happening, it was then that she saw him. A man, who looked much younger than her captors. He didn't look to be older than 20, but the way he fought, spoke of many years of experience. So many in fact, that it was clear that he was older than he appeared. His long blonde hair, despite being tied neatly was fluttering around. Every step he made seemed elegant, as if he danced around with his opponents.

Rose felt her heart jump when she saw chains being thrown around the man, capturing him. But her fear turned out to be pointless. With a jump, the man got in the air and magnificent wings unfurled from his back, easily snapping the chains.

This caused her captors to panic. "A Thrae", one of them scream and all of them started to run away. Some, the man managed to catch and slay, while others managed to escape.

"How boring", the man said with a sight, "What a bunch of cowards", he then scoffed.

Rose tried to raise a bit, to get a better look, which made the bars of her cage to rattle, drawing the man's attention.

"There was someone here?" he asked surprised, looking at the young girl stuck in that small cage.

He approached it and then crouched down on the ground.

"Don't worry", he said in a gently tone, "I will get you out of there", he said and grasped the bars pulling them apart with ease.

Then, he scooped Rose into his arms and cradled her frail body. It was the first time in her life that someone held her with such kindness.

"It's all right now", he whispered and it was a voice that she would never forget.

After that meeting, the two of them travelled together for some time. She found out his name Deryam and that he was not a human.

"How sad", Rose thought to herself, the only person in her life to show her such kindness was not even human.

When he asked for her name, Rose did not say anything, making Deryam believe that she could not remember. It was fine by her, she truly wished to not remember anyway.

It was not long after the two of them started travelling was it that Rose saw some red flowers that she wanted to touch. But the moment her fingers came in contact with it, blood bloomed across her fingers.

"You should be careful" Deryam told her, "Roses are beautiful, but quite thorny", he explained to her, "A bit like you", he then laughed.

And that was how she gained her new name. ■■■■■ was cast aside and Rose was born.

Deryam became her most dear person, someone she would throw away her life for. The only creature in this world that could make her cold heart beat faster. He was the one who introduced her to Ye Shin, her only and best friend. As long as there was breath in her lungs, no harm would befall on those two.

With this in mind, her speed increased and she flew through the forest. Some branches caught her and snapped at her face. Annoyed, Rose released her weapons again and cut down all the branches that were in her way.