Chapter 71 - 70: The first time we met[GTG]
The sun beat down mercilessly on the sandy shore, a stark contrast to the playful chill harbored by the ocean breeze.
Whoosh
Puuu
Whoosh
The wind whispered secrets through the leaves and branches of the trees leaning precariously over the water’s edge.
The waves, a rhythmic symphony of turquoise and white, crashed tirelessly upon the beach, leaving behind a frothy tapestry dotted with glistening seashells.
A young boy, no older than five, grinned triumphantly as he clutched a peculiar pink seashell in his grubby hand.
His face, a canvas splashed with sunlight filtering through the leaves, was framed by a mess of ink-black hair.
His eyes, the color of vibrant rubies, shone with an intensity that spoke of a life far more weathered than his tender years. His clothes, tattered and stained, bore silent witness to countless scrapes and scavenging expeditions.
"Another great find," he muttered to himself, his voice barely audible over the ocean’s roar. But this seashell... this one was different. It had a strange, curling top that piqued his curiosity. "Sigh, this one looks weird," he tossed it aside with a dismissive flick of his wrist, his attention already snagged by another sight.
Perched precariously on a low-hanging branch, not of a tree but of the sand itself, sat a young girl. Her obsidian hair, the color of a moonless night, cascaded down her back, and her eyes held an unsettling depth. The pupils, like swirling galaxies, seemed to hold the secrets of the universe within them.