The morning after, the rain had stopped, but the clouds remained. Damp soil stuck to their boots, and steam rose from the grass as the sun tried to break through. Mai walked ahead, her eyes sharp. Behind her followed Duncan and Tiffany, quieter than usual.
They reached a small valley — one that hadn't appeared on any map. A place Duncan seemed to recognize.
"This place... It's real," he whispered. Mai turned.
"What is this?"
Duncan didn't answer at first. Then he stepped forward, boots sinking into the wet moss. "I ran through here once," he said. "A long time ago."
Tiffany raised an eyebrow. "You gonna keep being cryptic, or are we getting a story today?"
Duncan hesitated.
Mai stopped walking. "Tell us. Now."
Duncan inhaled. The weight of years pressed into his shoulders. "I used to be a soldier for the Western Village Corps. Cold, angry, obedient. I followed orders. Until one day, I was ordered to raid a neutral camp—civilians, refugees. I refused. They labeled me a deserter. I ran. And they hunted me."
He looked at Mai. "I was bleeding when I reached the cliff. I should've died. But I saw it — the violet flower. It shimmered under the moonlight. Like it was waiting."
He paused. "When I touched it... Everything inside me changed. The anger faded. I didn't want to destroy anymore. I wanted to protect. To feel."
Tiffany looked away.
Mai stepped closer. "So you just vanished? Left everything behind?"
"I didn't think I deserved to go back."
Without warning, Mai slapped him across the face. The sound echoed in the valley.
"You should've come back," she hissed. "We thought you were dead."
Duncan didn't react. He accepted it.
Tiffany placed a hand on Mai's shoulder, gently pulling her back.
They set up camp in the same valley. Duncan cooked. Tiffany sat apart, toying with grthe ass. Mai sat facing the forest, red eyes dim.
That night, around the fire, Duncan spoke again.
"I found something in the last village. A journal. Belonged to someone named Leo."
Tiffany froze.
"He wrote about someone called 'Sunshine'. Said she still had light left."
Tiffany stood up fast. Her fists clenched.
"That's enough."
"Tiff—"
"Shut up."
She walked into the woods, vanishing into the trees.
Mai stared at Duncan. "That was her brother."
Duncan's face fell. He whispered, "I didn't know."
Mai stood up and followed Tiffany.
In the forest, she found her punching a tree, blood dripping from her knuckles.
"He doesn't know what happened," Mai said.
"No one does!"
Mai didn't speak. She just sat beside her.
Tiffany eventually collapsed next to her, breathing hard. "He died saving people. I couldn't save him. I don't get to cry."
"Then don't cry," Mai said. "But you're allowed to feel."
They stayed there. In silence. Together.
The next morning, the group moved on. But something had shifted.
Not just in the path ahead.
But in them.
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