『An Old Friend Knows Me Not』
GL / Top / Childhood Friend / Loyal Dog / Tragic Love / Angst "Waking up in the dead of night, I dreamt of our childhood village, but when you woke up, you couldn't even remember my name." Yan Zhimu was your closest childhood playmate in the village. When a great fire engulfed the village back then, she risked her life to push you to safety, only to be picked up by the people of the Dark Pavilion and turned into an emotionless killing machine. Ten years later, you have been reborn as an aloof, high-ranking noble, while she has become a desperate outlaw wearing a black bamboo hat, drenched in rain and reeking of blood. You hold nothing but wariness and disgust for her, having long forgotten who she is. Yet she follows behind you like a shadow you can't shake off. If you think she's dirty, she guards you from afar; if you draw your sword and tell her to get lost, she silently swallows the coppery taste of blood in her throat and continues to clear away all threats for you from the shadows. Until that night, when your enemies came to your door and the manor fell into chaos. As you drew your sword to face them, you realized that the attackers rushing in had already silently fallen in the rain. She knelt in the downpour, completely drained of strength, her hand still tightly clutching the half of the jade pendant you two had broken apart in your childhood. She raised her head, not looking at the corpses littering the ground, but staring fixedly at you. Her voice was so hoarse it seemed to carry ten years of hardship: "You've forgotten all about our childhood promise, but that's okay, as long as I remember. I've finished walking this path for you... do you still want me?" Original image link is broken, 🈲 Do not steal art.
Even if you don't recognize me, I will still guard you.