to the moon

she's always loved the moon in quieter ways. not like this — too loud, too bright, shared between too many voices at once. it's as if everyone suddenly is in tune with the moon tonight, as if it hasn't been around every night before this one.

perhaps it's childish of her, the way she feels as if the other students are imposing on something that's hers. though as she's gazing up at the moon, face drowning in the unfamiliar red glow, she can't help but feel like this is wrong. the moon hangs too heavy in the sky — bleeding light instead of casting it. nayoung has spent years beneath the familiar, comforting glow, and yet tonight, it feels like something else entirely.

she doesn't remember when she stopped hearing the voices around her. somewhere between the laughter of the bonfire and the chanting of the ritual, nayoung's attention drifted elsewhere — towards the trees, towards something quieter.

it's not until the light of the bonfire has disappeared far behind her, the many voices of the other students barely audible through the trees, that nayoung realizes she left. it hadn't been a conscious decision — on the contrary, it's almost as if... could it be the moon calling her? is that the reason behind this pull she feels, taking her deeper into the woods, away from everyone else? nayoung's lips tug into a smile at the thought that the moon would want a private audience with her, rather than the celebration put on by everyone else.

the forest is familiar. nayoung has spent enough time here to know it like the back of her hand — she knows exactly where to step without thinking. so she closes her eyes, allowing the pull of the moon to guide her along the path.

she doesn't know how long she's been walking, eyes firmly shut, following the pull, when she comes to an abrupt stop. her eyelids remain closed as she stands there, brows furrowing in concentration as she attempts to focus on what's ahead of her — what caused her to stop. it's almost certainly what had pulled her in.

it could be the redretch. for a moment, nayoung feels stupid — for having wandered off this far alone, without even as much as a discordant bell on her. but something doesn't line up. whatever is ahead of her doesn't feel violent or dangerous, not in the slightest. it feels... known. almost as if she's being called home.

once she opens her eyes, she's not surprised to find herself on the path from her dreams. and in front of her is not the redretch, but the all-too-familiar shape of the rabbit she's known through her dreams most of her life. it's looking at her the way it always has — as if it's been waiting.

and something in her chest settles, as if her heart has finally found what it's been reaching for.

it feels quieter than she expected it to be, considering it's early in the afternoon. she's still not entirely sure just how many students the school even has — there's limits to how much she's been able to explore in the mere eighteen or so hours she's been here. still, part of her had been expecting the surrounding woods to be... livelier? not that she's complaining — on the contrary, she's happy to have the woods seemingly for herself, as she gets reacquainted with the place she's seen so many times in her dreams.

she's walking down the all-too-familiar pathway, not quite sure how long she's been wandering around, when something catches her attention. it's brief — nayoung only catches it in the corner of her eye — but it's there: a flash of white. whatever it is, it disappears behind some bushes, gone as quickly as it appeared.

nayoung's steps still, breath catching in her throat, as she stares in the direction of the movement. she's seen this before. she knows that flash of white — she'd recognize it anywhere. could it really be...?

taking a deep breath, she wills her feet into moving forward, taking careful but deliberate steps towards the bush, where some leaves are still rustling. she pauses once she gets close enough, taking a moment before breaking the silence.

"hello...?" she feels somewhat stupid, talking to what may just be some random forest animal in a bush. but, at least there's no one else around to hear her. "is there... anyone there?"

i. BACKSTORY.

born into a witch coven focused on nature-based magic in jeju island. has two moms (her bio mom being a witch who married her familiar while still pregnant with nayoung), and doesn't know who her dad is but also has no desire to ever find out tbh

grew up mostly sheltered from the rest of the world, very rarely went outside of the where the coven resided in a rural area of jeju island. homeschooled by both her mothers — her witch mom teaching her about everything magic, while her familiar mom (who was raised among humans) taught her other subjects like math, korean literature, science, history etc etc (most of which nayoung found boring as hell i will not lie)

was always fascinated by symbolism, omens, dreams and stuff from a young age. especially has always been focused on this one recurring dream she's had for as long as she can remember. it started out with vague memories of dreaming of moonlight shining through tree branches, though she became more aware of the dream, and it became more frequent, as she grew older until the point where she learned to control her own movements and be fully aware in the dream. it was around this time that she started seeing a white rabbit appear in the dream. only occasionally at first, but then it starts showing up every single time, and it's at this point that she becomes certain that the rabbit is her familiar

as much as she loves her coven and her family, nayoung felt no pull towards her familiar in jeju. she was sure that she has to leave in order to find her familiar. she was 19 by the time she left, headed to seoul to stay with her adoptive mom's younger brother while figuring out where she's headed in life.

nayoung quickly found out that she does not enjoy the big city life. she hated not being able to see the stars due to the pollution, and hated the constant noise and people around her. though the dreams of the white rabbit became even more frequent after moving there, which made her reluctant to immediately return home, as she felt she was somehow on the right path.

since she hated the actual city so much, nayoung started hiking and exploring wooden areas outside of seoul, sometimes staying several days at a time. she preferred wandering around at night under the light of the moon, allowing the moonlight to guide her.

after a few months, she came upon a section of the woods that looks exactly like the one she's been seeing in her dream her whole life. at this point, she knew she was in the right place, though the rabbit was nowhere to be seen. she kept walking further in, hoping the white rabbit would be waiting for her. but, instead of the rabbit, what she found was the school.

she's been at the school for about a year and a half now, and nayoung is sure she's exactly where she's meant to be, and that one day, she will cross paths with the rabbit she's been searching for her whole life.

ii. PERSONALITY.

first of all she's a pisces... it explains so much about her i promise

very imaginative, curious and intuitive, comes across as someone who's got her head in the clouds (lowkey she does)

tends to say things that can be a bit odd or off-putting like idk she just be saying things that don't always fit the situation but she's cute while doing it so ppl mostly just let it slide <3

very very reliant on visions, symbolism, fortune telling and other forms of divination. fully believes anything that is foretold

kind of restless and all over the place.. does not sit still for long. tends to be doing like 5 different things at once

the few times she does sit still she's either reading, crocheting or embroidering something

iii. PLOTS/CONNECTIONS.

this is gonna be so half-assed i apologize in advance

another witch who's still looking for their familiar. they bond over the yearning?? nayoung would probably offer to do a tarot reading to find out more about their familiar

speaking of tarot readings, she loves doing them in general so she's always willing to do readings for anyone who wants her to!! and she tends to be very spot on, especially if done under the moonlight

very much a nightowl and she loves wandering the woods, any fellow late-night wanderers??

someone please help her with potions i fear she might fail the subject cuz she's so bad at it... help her!!

i want her to have beef with someone i don't have anything specific in mind but like maybe someone finds her off-putting idk. i just want her to have an enemy because i personally would love it

any casual romance-y plots... nayoung is bi and down to clown tho i don't think she'd be very committed to anyone she gets involved with.. keep in mind she's 21 (22 next week!!! pisces queen!!!) so i'd only want anyone who's below 25 for this plot

fellow crafters... or anyone who commissions something from her maybeee she makes a lot of her own clothes so maybe she'd be willing to make something for other ppl as well!!