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sah-crescentmoon · 7 days ago

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Short story under cut. The short story ended up being 1,800+ words long. And this story is a bit dark (it’s not the worst thing at all. It’s just sad really).

Understanding:

Iseul was becoming increasingly worried about one hedgehog, Dalnim. She had seen a lot of the new recruits improve a lot in recent times, but Dalnim was falling behind a lot. She knows that there can be any factors into why, but it still irked her. Iseul wanted to know what was going on. She tried asking the other hedgehogs who perhaps came from the same village as him. But no one had much information on him. And those who did know were reluctant to talk about him. Iseul wondered what her sister would do if she was in this position.

“Iseul, you want to talk about it?” Danbi asked. Iseul wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Come on, please? It’ll make you feel better.” Iseul gave her older sister a side eye, but Danbi was not fazed by it. Iseul later spoke to her sister on how she felt that the other kids were being mean to her. Danbi listened to her little sister. “You should try talking to them. You can’t assume things about others without trying to find out anything,” Danbi whispered and hugged her. Iseul nodded.

That’s it! If no one will talk to her about him, then maybe she can just talk to him! One problem though, Dalnim was too quiet. Even quieter than her. He often did anything to avoid talking to others even during teamwork activities. Would he even be open to talking to her about what is bothering him? Iseul knew that she would never know until she tried it. With some newfound determination, she left the room to look for that hedgehog.

“Dalnim.” Dalnim jumped and turned to look at her. He held his hands around his chest. Iseul immediately took note of his eyebags. Another thing to add to the list of her concerns about him. Dalnim blinked. Iseul cleared her throat. That’s right, he’s waiting for her to talk. “I need to speak to you about your performance. You and I know that it isn’t the best. I wonder if the issue is more psychological than physical.” Dalnim remained quiet. But even with his tired eyes, Iseul could tell he was a bit shocked. So, it was more psychological. She grabbed him and walked. They needed fresh air.

Iseul and Dalnim now were at a meadow away from base. The wind lightly blew, and the sun shined strongly. Iseul hated clear skies, but she knew she had something more important to deal with. She turned to look at him. Dalnim seemed to be refreshed with the new environment.

“Dalnim, can you tell me why you are not sleeping? Your eyebags are pretty noticeable,” Iseul asked. She wanted to get right to the core of the problem. However, she felt off about it. She never actually spoke to Danbi until they got to know one another. So, she knew she can’t be too direct.

“I-I’m just having trouble sleeping,” Dalnim whispered. He placed his hand around his chest. Is this a nervous response of his? Iseul blinked. She wasn’t expecting him to actually respond. And she did not believe what he said. He was very skittish. She narrowed her eyes. Dalnim seemed to be even more nervous. Before Iseul could call him out, he spoke. “Nightmares.”

“Huh? Nightmares? What kind?” Iseul asked. Dalnim looked at her but looked away. Iseul took the hint. “H-Have you tried to talk to someone about it? How about your sister?” Iseul asked. She had learned earlier on that Dalnim had an elder sister like her. Dalnim shook his head intensely. Why was he overreacting?

“I can’t talk to her. We… are not on speaking terms,” Dalnim responded. Iseul was a bit annoyed. How are you not on speaking terms? Doesn’t Dalnim understand how precious family is? Iseul would do anything to be able to hear her sister speaking nonstop about plants again. Dalnim seemed to have noticed this. But he did not say anything as if he was waiting for her to speak.

“Why? Having a family is a blessing. I should know,” Iseul said. There was no need to get into her past with him. Dalnim looked troubled and looked her in the eyes.

“Not all families are good. Not all siblings are good.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you know how many families wish to have their relatives back? Wouldn’t your parents be ashamed of this?” Iseul snapped. Deep inside, she knew that Dalnim was right. She just didn’t want to believe it. Dalnim smiled, but it was somewhat unsettling. It was pissing her off. However, that smile dropped.

“My parents are dead. My father died in battle. And I am the reason my mother is dead,” Dalnim said. He sighed. “My sister made sure to let me know that I killed my mother.” Iseul was getting more confused. What was he going on about? How was he responsible for his mother’s death?

“Can you please tell me everything?” Dalnim nodded.

“As long as you don’t tell anyone about this.”

The wind howled; the leaves rustled along with it. The pouring rain drenched at the siblings who stood in front of each other, staring in silence. With the crack of a lightning, it sparked the ever-growing tension into an argument.

Noeul stomped closer to Dalnim, who could only step backwards away from his older sister. His action seemed to anger his sister even more as she grabbed his shirt.

"You coward. How can you be afraid of your own sister!" She shouted. Dalnim could only stare at her. His eyes watering, to which he thanked the ran for hiding this fact. "You've always been like this. A pathetic coward who's pretending to be this so-called pacifist. You're nothing, but a naive brat who is too stubborn to look at the truth straight on!"

Dalnim took a deep breath in. "I'm naive? M-Maybe I am, but at least I am brave enough to have different opinions! Do you not realize how much harder it is to think differently? Why do I have to give myself up just to please others?" Dalnim cried. His sister narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth, but Dalnim continued. "You're so mean! You pretend to be this nice and understanding woman, but you never tried to understand me!" Dalnim could now feel the warmth of his tears falling. His sister scoffed.

"Understand what? There's nothing to understand! You are so stupid. You complain on how this war is useless and how it can be resolved peacefully? Tell me then! What the fuck are you doing to try to end this war?! Nothing! You can't end a war that the other side wants! So, stop spewing out your delusional fantasies!" Noeul hissed. Dalnim looked away. He couldn't look her in the eyes anymore. He felt heart pounding. Noeul then pushed Dalnim away. "Did you forget that we were only able to live a decent life because of the villagers here? They could have turned their backs on us when we became orphans, but they didn't!"

Dalnim knew where she was going with that. He knew exactly what he was going to say. And she isn't wrong. "I-I get what you are saying but-"

"But what?! Argh, you piss me off so much! You always try to pretend to be this neutral person when you aren't! You can never be! Is it so hard to just serve in the army as a form of thanking everyone?! As a way to protect your home?!" Dalnim lowered his head. He knew that this was her way of thanking the villagers. And while he felt the same, he just felt he could do so without compromising his beliefs. Plus, there was one thing that held him back more than anything.

"You never tried to listen to one thing. I just don't like to think about dying in a battlefield when I-"

"Shut up. Just shut up! Not this shit again! Dalnim, we are all going to die one day! We don't get to choose when! Dad died protecting our home and I know he would die on that battlefield again and again! And mom... she died because of you!" Nouel shouted as she slapped him.

"Excuse me?! It's not like I wanted her to die when giving birth to me! It wasn't like I was thinking "oh, I hope you die haha"! How fucking dare, you!" Dalnim shouted and swore for the first time in this argument. What he didn't expect was him slapping his older sister. His heart was pounding so much that he could no longer hear the thunder. Noeul looked at him with shock then fury. She gritted her teeth.

"If you hadn't been born then she would still be here! I feel so sorry for Mom that she died thinking she was doing what was best for her child, not knowing you weren't worth it. She died for nothing and even gave you her most precious possession! Which makes it even worse. You can never amount to anything and it's a shame she's dead instead of you," Noeul hissed. Dalnim slapped his sister again. This time, his sister hit him back. Before they knew it, they were physically fighting each other while hurling insults at one another. And the next, they were being pulled apart by soldiers and taken to separate locations.

Dalnim finished telling Iseul about the past. Iseul sighed. How cruel to tell your own brother that he didn’t deserve to be born. Now, instead of feeling frustrated with Dalnim, she felt anger towards Noeul. Iseul could only hope that she regretted every word she had said.

“If… If I hadn’t been born- “

“Don’t say that. You’re disrespecting your mom by saying that.” Dalnim had tears falling from his eyes. He turned to look at her. Iseul's heart broke and she knew if her sister was here the she would have started crying.

“It’s true! My mom really did die for nothing! Look at me! I’m just a shameful son who can’t do shit! I’m weak and a coward! I can never make my parents proud! I wasted their lives! Everyone would have been happier without me! I should have never been born!” Dalnim cried. Finally, it seemed all the pent-up emotions had broken through the walls that Dalnim tried to build. Iseul sighed. Who knew words could really cut that deep.

“I’m sure your mother still loves you. She gave her life up for you, so it's an insult to say such stuff.” Iseul’s words were lost as Dalnim slumped over. He passed out. It was at this moment that Iseul noticed a ring around his neck. Now she knew why he held his chest so much. It was this ring. His mother must have left it for him. She really did care about him. Iseul hoped that one day Dalnim would notice that. “Have a nice nap. As soon as you wake up, I’m making you train. So, sleep as long as possible.” Dalnim only snored in response.

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Note: Originally this was two seperate stories. But, I merged it all in one here. And Noeul isn't a bad person, but she isn't good either. This will be the last dark story for a while. I want to write more fun stories about Dalnim and Iseul. Also because I made someone cry with how sad the story was. My boyfriend also said that it was a sad story. I also do need to introduce a new OC.

#Of the Flowing Petals #squirrel and hedgehog #squirrel and hedgehog oc #It is about time I posted this short story #I have had this short story completed for a while now #I am not a fan of my first drawing #but it's fine since I wanted to post this short story #the second one is decently made except idk perspective lol #I hope this story is not bad since I am actually proud of it

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