For a moment, everything was soundless.
The river's roar faded.
The trees blurred.
Even the silver mist seemed to freeze in mid-air.
Ash's vision sharpened unnaturally—colors turning vivid, edges glowing faintly like reality had been outlined by invisible hands.
Then—
A tug.
Not physical.
Not mental.
Something deeper.
A cord he hadn't known existed snapped into place.
Palo inhaled sharply, his hand clutching Ash's arm.
"Ash… what is this?"
Ash didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His chest ached with a strange heat—not pain, not discomfort… something frighteningly close to being aware of someone else's heartbeat. Someone else's breath. Someone else's fear.
Not everyone's.
Just Palo's.
Silva's voice trembled.
"Oh no… it activated the emotional link."
The copy looked between them slowly.
"That means—"
"Yes," Silva whispered, staring in disbelief.
"Palo is now connected to him."
Palo blinked, stunned.
"Connected—how?"
The Founder waded closer through the water.
"This lock doesn't bond Ash to someone randomly. It latches to the strongest stabilizing presence in his environment. The one his core identifies as a balancing force."
Palo's eyes widened.
"And it… chose me?"
Ash swallowed, still shaking.
"It didn't ask me," he whispered, voice thin.
"It just—attached."
Palo's grip on him softened, but he didn't let go.
"Hey. Look at me."
Ash forced himself to raise his head.
Palo's expression was unreadable—shocked, yes, but something gentle burned underneath.
"If this means I can help you… then it's okay."
A jolt pulsed through Ash, like his core reacted to those words—warm, steady, anchoring.
Silva sighed, half in awe, half in panic.
"This is… complicated."
The copy rubbed his temples.
"And dangerous."
The Founder finally reached them, his boots sinking in the riverbed.
"Ash, listen to me carefully. This link will amplify your emotions. If your fear spikes, Palo will feel it. If you lose balance internally, he could collapse. If you panic—both of you could."
Palo stiffened.
Ash's breath caught.
Silva pointed back at the forest.
"And if the Hunters sense that surge from before? They're already coming. Fast."
As if her words triggered the world back into motion, distant branches cracked sharply from the woods behind them.
Ash felt Palo tense—
and felt it inside himself as well, like a mirrored echo.
The link.
It made Palo's fear hit him like a breath he didn't take himself.
He stumbled.
Palo grabbed his shoulders instantly.
"Woah—hey, breathe. You're okay."
Ash gasped, shaking.
"No—you breathe. I can feel you—your heartbeat is too fast—"
Silva stepped into the river beside them, urgency rising.
"We have to get out before the link destabilizes."
The Founder nodded.
"Exactly. If you stay in the water, the amplification gets worse."
Ash's pulse spiked—and Palo flinched at the same moment.
The copy muttered under his breath.
"This is going to be a nightmare."
Silva shot him a glare.
"Not helping!"
Behind them—
another sound.
This time closer.
Sharp.
Precise.
A Hunter's footfall.
Palo turned Ash toward the far riverbank.
"Come on. One step at a time. Don't think about them."
Ash nodded, though fear rattled in his chest—
And Palo inhaled sharply, reacting to the echo of it.
He steadied Ash with both hands.
"It's okay. I'm not going anywhere."
Another pulse ran between them—uncontrollable, heavy, real.
Ash's voice shook.
"Palo… I don't want you to feel everything I feel."
"Too late," Palo said softly.
"But we'll handle it."
Silva stopped at the very edge of the river and froze.
"Everyone—MOVE!"
A flash of metal glinted between the trees behind them.
A Hunter stepped out of the shadows.
Ash didn't see the face.
He didn't need to.
He felt the shift in Palo's fear—sharp, heavy, electric.
And through the link—
It hit him like a wave.
Ash gasped, knees buckling—
Palo caught him instantly, pulling him close, shielding him from the line of sight.
Silva yelled, "Don't let him fall! If he collapses, the link will overload!"
The Founder raised his arm—
A barrier igniting around them in a faint shimmer.
But he whispered urgently:
"It won't hold long."
The Hunter lifted a device.
Palo's grip tightened on Ash.
"Ash—focus. You're not alone."
Ash breathed shakily, pressing a hand over his heart as the link throbbed between them.
The Hunter's device lit up—
A beam forming.
The Founder's barrier cracked.
Silva swore under her breath.
"MOVE!"
Ash's core pulsed once—
twice—
heavy and bright—
And the second lock responded.
The water surged upward around them like a shield of liquid light.
The Hunter's shot fired—
And everything shattered into blinding white-silver.