The days passed, and Lin couldn’t shake the feeling that something was coming. Every time she tried to push it out of her mind, she’d remember the stranger’s eyes, the way he looked at her like he knew her. The way he said her name.
It had been a week since that strange encounter, and life went on as usual. Her uncle kept her training hard, just like always, though his mood seemed... different. He was quieter. More distant.
Lin hated that feeling, like something was off but no one was telling her what it was.
On a warm afternoon, after a particularly brutal training session, Lin found herself sitting on a stone bench outside the dojo, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She was still catching her breath when a soft voice called her name.
“Lin.”
She looked up, expecting to see one of the other students from the monastery. Instead, it was him.
The man. The stranger.
He was standing at the edge of the garden, still dressed in dark clothes, his hands folded behind his back like he had all the time in the world. His long hair swayed slightly in the breeze, and for a moment, Lin couldn’t breathe.
“What do you want now?” she asked, standing up quickly and putting her hand on the hilt of her sword.
He didn’t flinch. “I told you I’d be seeing you again.”
Lin’s heart pounded in her chest. Her uncle’s words echoed in her mind: "Not yet. You're not ready."
“Why are you here?” she demanded, trying to keep her voice steady, but there was a hint of fear underneath it. She hated that. She hated feeling vulnerable.
The man didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stepped closer, his gaze locked on hers. “I came to make sure you’re safe. There are things coming, Lin. Things you won’t be able to stop. Things you need to be prepared for.”
Lin narrowed her eyes. She didn’t trust him, but something about his words made her blood run cold.
“Prepared for what?” she asked, taking a step back, still gripping her sword tightly. “Who are you?”
The man’s lips quirked into a small smile. “You’ll find out soon enough. But for now, let’s just say... I’m someone who will be very important in your life. Whether you want me to be or not.”
Lin froze, her breath catching in her throat. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” the man said, his voice low and calm, “the time will come when you won’t have a choice. We will be bound by something more powerful than either of us. And when that day comes, you’ll understand.”
Lin’s heart raced. “Bound? What does that mean?”
But the man just shook his head, his eyes softening just a little. “You’ll know when the time is right.”
Before Lin could ask anything more, he turned and walked away, disappearing into the trees once again.
Lin stood there, frozen, her mind racing. What did he mean by “bound”? What was coming? And why was he so sure that she and he were connected?
Her heart was still pounding in her chest as she made her way back to the cabin. She tried to make sense of everything the stranger, her uncle’s warnings, the unease that never seemed to leave her. It was all too much to take in. Too much to understand.
When she got to the cabin, she found her uncle sitting outside, as usual, his eyes closed in meditation. He didn’t move when she approached, but he didn’t need to. She knew he could feel her presence.
“You saw him again,” he said quietly, not opening his eyes.
Lin nodded, but she couldn’t find the words to explain what had just happened. She couldn’t even process it fully.
“What did he say?” her uncle asked.
“He said... that we’re bound by something. That I’ll understand when the time comes,” Lin whispered, unsure of what to make of it.
Her uncle’s face remained calm, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes concern, maybe. Or was it something else?
“I told you,” he said softly. “There’s so much you don’t know yet. But you will. Eventually. The path you’re on will lead you to him. And when it does, you will need to decide who you are, and what you want.”
Lin felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn’t like where this was going. She didn’t like how her uncle’s words made her feel like she was trapped in something she didn’t understand.
“What if I don’t want to be bound to him?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her uncle didn’t answer right away. When he finally did, it was with a deep sigh. “It’s not about what you want, Lin. Sometimes, we have to accept our fate.”
Lin’s hands clenched into fists. Fate. That was the last thing she wanted. But she couldn’t ignore the pull she felt. There was something about the stranger that drew her in, something she couldn’t explain.
For now, she had no choice but to wait. To train. To prepare. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that no matter how much she trained, no matter how ready she thought she was her life was already set on a course she couldn’t escape.
And one day, soon, she would have to face the consequences of that.128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQDmpfuonQ
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