Tell Her the Truth

Lily walks up towards the easel and hops onto the stool to get a better look. "Hoo! Not bad at all!" Lily says.

What Lily saw was an extremely in depth scene of a tiger charging through a forest. The painting was extremely detailed, from the veins of the leaves of the trees, to the way the fur of the tiger shined from the light.

The tiger in the middle of the painting gave off a ferocious aura, even though it was just a painting. One could feel the power behind it, and the fear that it instilled into the people who saw it. The tiger had three eyes, one sideways on its forehead, and two red eyes from anger. His paws shook the ground, leaving dents behind him, his figure strong and solid. Lin Ke even included the bleeding wound from the eagle, as well as slight droplets of blood that were left behind him.

"So? Does this meet your standards?" Lin Ke asks while glancing back.

"Hmmm." Lily says. "I suppose that it's satisfactory. You still have a long way to go though." She taps the painting and the easel, causing it to disappear. Then, she just layed down on the stool to take a nap.

At the same time, Lia was slowly waking up. Sounding a little faraway, Lia heard a female voice talking. "I'm going to take a nap. Don't bother me unless you're dying." The female voice said.

'Huh?' Lia thought to herself.'Who is this girl? Where am I? What… what happened?' Then, the events of the day rushed back at her, the man named Gedeon, the uncle, the fight, and… Lia gaspes and sits up. "Grandpa!" She cries.

Lin Ke, surprised at Lia's sudden outburst, looks back at her. "Lia! You're awak-..." He awkwardly cuts off and turns away. His face turns red out of embarrassment. "Lia… Your… He points at her revealed breasts. Lia's eyes followed Lin Ke's fingers which were pointing straight at her chest.

Slowly, Lia's face suddenly turned beet red. Grabbing the shirt that was covering her earlier, she quickly clutches it close to her chest. "L-L-l-l-lin Ke!" She stuttered. "I- I-i-i'm sorry! D-d-do… I mean, can can I borrow this shirt? I don't have any extra pieces of clothing on me…"

"Uh… Yeah, sure, I mean, of course!" Lin Ke said.

Lin Ke turns his back to face Lia so she could change, crushing down his urge to peek. Trying to hide hard to make out a coherent sentence, he replies. "I don't know either. We're in a forest somewhere right now. Well, we're in a cave right now, but there's a forest outside. So I guess we're in a cave. But-" He cuts himself off and shuts his mouth.

After she put on the shirt, she stood up from the mattress, pulling the shirt lower to try and hide her underwear. The shirt was slightly large on her, but not an extreme amount. "Lin Ke… Where's my grandpa." She asked. She was still holding on to the silver of hope in her heart… That maybe, if they survived, her grandpa might-

"I'm sorry Lia, but he's dead…" Lin Ke said, turning around. Forcing himself to be serious and ignore the extremely cute looking Lia, he continues. "I was able to bring his dead body here, and I buried it on top of this mountain… I don't think you should see his body... But I can bring you to his gravesite. Lin Ke examines Lia's face closely.

Lia has a sad look on her face, but she forces out a smile. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Please bring me to my grandpa's gravesite…"

Lin Ke nods. "Alright then. Follow me."

With Lia following closely behind him, Lin Ke began to ascend the mountain. Before he could get very far, Lin Ke heard a disgruntled voice inside his head. "Why did you have to wake me? I'm so tired."

It was Lily, and she was back in Lin Ke's head. Confused, Lin Ke asks, "What do you mean? I didn't disturb you? Me and Lia left the cave to go up the mountain. We're visiting Master Sal's grave."

"That's exactly why! Because you went too far away, I was dragged back into you. Do you know how unpleasant of a feeling that is? I get yanked at breakneck speed right back into your stuffy empty head!" Lily yells.

"Uhm…" Lia suddenly starts, interrupting their mental conversation. Lin Ke turns back, looking at Lia.

"What is it?" Lin Ke asks.

"Uhm… Who was the girl you were talking to earlier? I don't think there was anyone else in the cave though…"

Lin Ke pauses and feels a cold chill go down his spine. Mentally, he screams at Lily. "LILY! THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T TALK OUTSIDE MY HEAD! WHAT DO I DO NOW? AHHHH!"

Lily replies, "Just tell her the truth."

"Are you fucking kidding? She's going to think I'm hiding something from her! There's no way she'll believe that!" Lin Ke shot back.

"Well? What are you going to do? Lie? Plus, all you need to do is tell her I'm a talking cat. You don't need to tell her the whole truth." Lily nonchalantly says.

"Ah!" Lin Ke feels a lightbulb light up in his head. "That's right! Good idea."

In the rapid conversation between Lily and Lin Ke, Lia stood there looking nervously at Lin Ke. She was thinking: 'Am I being too nosy? Is there someone he doesn't want me to know about? Does he secretly have a girlfriend? Is he going to tell me to mind my own business?' Countless different thoughts fly through her head.

She gets interrupted in her train of thought by a pair of hands on her shoulders. Surprised, Lia looks up, which turned out to be a big mistake. Her eyes met with Lin Ke, causing Lia's thoughts to immediately get jumbled up.Quickly, she shifts her eyes away.

Lin Ke releases Lia, realizing that he might have been a little too close. "Lia. Listen. There's something I need to tell you, but before I do…. I need to ask… Do you trust me?"

Lia pauses for a moment, thinking about all the things that have already happened. Then she thinks about her choices, and who she still has left that she can rely on. Her family was all dead now. Her last surviving family member, her grandfather, the one who raised her, the one who was with her, the one who gave her all his love and affection, was dead. Just thinking about it brought down her mood by a huge margin. Lia then thinks about Lin Ke. Although earlier, she was distracted by… certain events… she had still realized that all her injuries were gone, and besides her was a bunch of used bandages and stuff. He was also willing to involve himself with them even after hearing about what he was up against. Not to mention, Lia thought, he had also seen me naked… At that thought itself, Lia immediately turns red again. Sheepishly, she manages to nod.

Lin Ke was getting a little nervous waiting for a response. Every second longer that Lia was delaying her response was another half-million thoughts flying through his head at a speed faster than the rock that sent him to another world. Finally, upon seeing her nod, Lin Ke breathed out a sigh of relief. "Okay. Lia listen closely…"

Taking a deep breath, Lin Ke says seriously. "Lily can talk."