Gabi

Dokkaebi are colossal demihumans capable of lifting entire homes with ease. Their overwhelming might places them far above youkai, humans, and even beastkin in sheer strength.

Seeing themselves as superior, dokkaebi frequently raided human and beastkin villages, plundering their food and riches without remorse.

Their infamous leader, Duoxini, was the most violent of them all. He believed in the rule of strength, and he deemed that the dokkaebi ought to dominate Baek-Ah. Declaring it unjust for the weak humans or beastkin to control the land, he ignited a war to establish a dokkaebi kingdom and conquered Surah for a time.

Gabi's mother was a woman with a gentle heart and stunning beauty, her reputation extending far beyond her village.

But because of her beauty, she caught the eye of Duoxini, a dokkaebi who took whatever he desired, and she was forcibly made his wife.

At first, Gabi's mother accepted the marriage without protest, afraid that refusing Duoxini might lead to retaliation against her people. But as she lived among the dokkaebi, she came to see them as childlike creatures who lashed out only because they knew no other way. Thus, she resolved to change Duoxini's heart, and over time, she grew to love him.

That's when Gabi was born, a child with dokkaebi strength but in human form. Her mother raised her in the hope that Duoxini, through fatherhood, might learn to care for others as he had come to care for her.

But that hope was short lived. The Council of Empyrean Fangs, an organization of Divine Beasts watching over Baek-Ah from the heavens, learned that the dokkaebi sought to expand beyond Surah and subjugate all of Baek-Ah. In response, they launched a swift attack.

As a result, most of the dokkaebi in Surah were sealed within the Dokkaebi Shrine. Duoxini, charged with high treason, was sealed separately in a deep well.

Witnessing the fury humans directed toward the dokkaebi, Gabi's mother knew there would be no forgiveness for herself or for her child.

So, before humans could discover Gabi's existence, she placed her in a river, setting her adrift. Then, she entered the Dokkaebi Shrine herself to be sealed away alongside other dokkaebi.

Drifting deep into the Forest of Fireflies, Gabi was found by a group of young dokkaebi hiding from the Council of Empyrean Fangs's purge. She came to live with them in the woods.

Despite her distinct appearance, Gabi was accepted as a dokkaebi thanks to her strength and her dokkaebi club. As she demonstrated her innate power, she soon became the leader of these young dokkaebi.

Her memories of her origins never returned. Still, she was content to live peacefully in the forest with the other young dokkaebi as a dokkaebi in human form.

By then, the dokkaebi had already lost their place in the world.

The Council of Empyrean Fangs had sealed most of the mature dokkaebi in the Dokkaebi Shrine, leaving only the young and powerless behind. The youkai, who had long suffered under the dokkaebi's bullying and exploitation, targeted the dokkaebi children out of their deep resentment.

The situation was worse in human and beastkin settlements.

The people of Surah, still traumatized by dokkaebi rule, reacted to any dokkaebi, no matter how young, with terror, often fleeing at first sight. The soldiers arrested the helpless young dokkaebi, throwing them into prisons or banishing them to the edges of Baek-Ah.

Faced with this, Gabi chose to protect the innocent dokkaebi, brokered peace with the youkai, and did everything she could to secure a corner of the forest where dokkaebi could live without fear.

Because she was constantly standing up to humans to protect the young dokkaebi, Gabi naturally became their leader. Soon, humans came to know her by reputation.

Whispers ran wild throughout Surah of a red-handed girl with a scarred forehead who could tear trees from the ground and send tigers fleeing with a mere shout. The humans quickly decided this was someone they were better off avoiding.

Gabi didn't mind being feared.

Her only fight was to stay in the forest, living in peace with her friends.

One day, Gabi found a bleeding woman deep in the forest.

Just like other humans, the woman was frightened upon seeing Gabi's red hands, but Gabi couldn't bring herself to ignore someone on the brink of death. She treated the woman's wounds and assured her that she wasn't planning on eating her. Only then did the woman begin to lower her guard.

Once she was healed, the woman followed Gabi without a word. Only when the glow of the human village's lights appeared did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Gabi turned to leave before anyone could see and attack her, but the woman introduced herself as "Jiwon" and asked for her name.

Gabi answered bluntly and returned to the woods.

About a year later, word reached Gabi that a woman named Jiwon had arrived in the human village near the Forest of Fireflies, a place that had always been at odds with her group of dokkaebi. Gabi immediately remembered the woman she had helped, and under the cover of darkness, she made her way toward the village. At the same time, Jiwon had deliberately walked to the forest's edge, hoping to meet her savior once again.

Touched that the woman had not forgotten her and had come all the way to the forest, Gabi invited her into her home. She served her homemade liquor, and the two shared a long conversation under the moonlight.

The more they spoke, the more their hearts resonated. They made a promise to one day build a world where their kinds could live together in peace.