Archive of Our Own

Ash stumbled forward, feeling his once pristine white tunic catch on branches and thorny undergrowth without slowing him down. He hadn’t stopped running since the instant he slipped free. It felt as if hours had passed, yet the distance between him and the Federation laboratory still didn’t feel nearly large enough. 

His bare feet weren’t used to uneven ground - stones dug into his soles, sharp twigs snapped beneath him, and countless scratches burned across his skin, where branches left their marks at his calves and arms or tangled themselves in his dark hair. More than once he nearly lost his balance, stumbling over roots hidden beneath leaves, but the thought of stopping felt far more frightening than the pain

The forest was nothing like the books had described. The trees were taller, stretching so high above him that he couldn’t see where they ended. Insects buzzed constantly around him, darting through the air and landing on his arm, before flying away again. The ground felt strange under his feet, soft in some places, rough in others - covered in roots and stones instead of the cold, perfectly smooth tiles he had spent his entire life walking on.

Never, not even in his most colorful fantasies, had Ash imagined he would make it out of the laboratory. Yet, somehow amidst the confusion, Cucurucho's attempt to separate him from the other kids had created the perfect opportunity for him to slip out. The only thing he managed to take with him was an old, white bear plushie, that was now stained with dirt and held tightly against his chest whenever panic threatened him.

The Federation’s Workers had always spoken about the wilderness as though it were something cruel and unforgiving - a place full of dangers waiting patiently beyond the Federation’s walls - and yet, so far, it didn’t feel frightening as much as it felt overwhelming. The colors seemed to be brighter than ever beneath the sunlight filtering through the canopy overhead, while unfamiliar scents drifted through the air with every passing breeze, carrying traces of damp earth, wildflowers, moss, and dozens of things he was unable to name. 

Ash found himself staring at things for no reason other than the fact that they existed: a patch of flowers, a butterfly, sunlight dancing across the surface of the river. 

His eyes stung unexpectedly and he rubbed at them with the back of his hand, continuing the walk. He had been following the river, hoping it would eventually lead him somewhere safe. So far, it pulled him deeper into the wilderness instead. 

Soon, a small clearing opened ahead and Ash slowed as he stepped into it. He looked toward the water to see fish beneath the surface, moving against the flow, weaving around rocks.

‘They could go wherever they wanted.’

Ash tightened his grip on the plushie.

“Where are you going?” A voice spoke from somewhere to his right, making Ash’s entire body lock up. For one, terrifying moment he couldn’t move at all, standing frozen at the riverbank, with his fingers crushing the plushie, while his mind jumped to the worst conclusions. 

‘They had found me.’

“You look lost. I can help, but no promises!” The voice sounded young, reminding him of the other children back in the laboratory. The realization allowed him to slowly turn towards the sound. 

A scrawny boy stood a short distance away, looking roughly Ash’s age despite being a little shorter. Bright red hair fell messily around his face, while rounded ears sat at the top of his head. The stranger seemed physically incapable of standing still - even while waving enthusiastically, he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot, bouncing lightly on his heels before rocking forward again. His entire body carried a restless energy that made it look as though he might suddenly sprint off in a completely random direction at any moment.

“Hi!” He called again, lifting his arm even higher when Ash didn’t answer. The movement drew Ash’s attention to what the stranger was wearing.

A long robe hung from his frame, reaching almost to his ankles, and brushing against the grass whenever he shifted his weight. At first Ash thought the fabric was simply dark, but as the boy stepped closer, and sunlight shone on it, he realized the robe was stained with blood.

His gaze dropped to stranger’s hands - fresh crimson coated his fingers, gathering at his fingertips before dripping lazily into the grass below. Dark smears stretched up his forearms and disappeared beneath loose sleeves, while the front on the robe was marked with splash and streaks that looked older, some already dried into rusty brown patches beneath layers of dirt and leaves stubbornly clinging to the fabric. 

The stranger appeared completely unbothered by the blood staining his hands and clothes, and despite how unsettling the sight should have been, Ash found himself unable to look away.

As the stranger slowly wandered closer, Ash wasn’t entirely sure whether he felt relieved or frightened. Part of him was desperate for another person, for proof that he was no longer alone in the endless forest. Another part wanted to turn around and run before the boy could come any closer.

Maybe he had escaped too. Maybe he understood. 

The stranger stopped a few steps away, looking completely at ease in the world Ash still found overwhelming. His ears twitched beneath the breeze that stirred his red hair.

“Oh, maybe you can’t talk?” The boy said suddenly. The thought seemed to occur to him and be accepted within the span of a second. “That’s okay, that’s okay. You don’t have to. Some people don’t like talking, or they’re shy. Or maybe you’re just thinking really hard.” He waved his hands dismissively, as though brushing the problem away, then planted them firmly on his hips, leaving red stains on the fabric. “I can do the talking for both of us.”

Ash had absolutely no doubt about that. In this short time, the stranger had somehow managed to carry an entire conversation by himself, and judging by the bright look on his face, he seemed perfectly capable of continuing for several hours.

The stranger’s attention drifted somewhere to the side, but then his eyes brightened and he raised a finger dramatically, as though he had just remembered something extremely important. 

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Ash blinked, but the boy continued before he could ask what that was supposed to mean.

“Well, you can be here right now, because you’re here already, obviously, but you’re not supposed to be here.” He pointed somewhere deeper into the forest, toward a section where the trees grew thicker. “My home is in that direction and it’s really nice, except it sometimes isn’t,” the stranger scrunched his nose. “Anyway, the others don’t really like visitors.”

“Do you?” Ash’s voice came out so quietly that he almost wasn’t sure he’d spoken at all.

The stranger’s eyes widened and he seemed caught off guard by the question.

“Do I like visitors?” His head tilted so far to one side that a curtain of bright red hair slid across his face. He stood for a moment, thinking about it. “I don’t know.” The answer seemed to delight him. “I’ve never had one before!” He burst into laughter and lifted a hand to shove his hair out of his eyes. The movement left a fresh smear of blood across his cheek. “You’re actually the first visitor I’ve ever had, which means I have absolutely nothing to compare you to, so technically you’re already the best visitor! Mhm!” He nodded enthusiastically to himself, satisfied with that confusion. “Anyway, who are you?”

Ash shifted his weight. The plushie remained pressed tightly against his chest, fingers curling into the worn fabric as he glanced briefly down, toward his feet.

“I’m Ash,” he whispered.

“Ash!” The stranger’s face lit up, his tail giving an excited sweep through the grass behind him. “We use ash in the temple, you know? Not all the time, but during some rituals. The priests say it’s supposed to symbolize penance, and purification, and a bunch of other things that sound important but are honestly a little boring.” Ewron then paused and swung his hand up to point a finger directly at Ash. “Are you my penance?”

Ash had absolutely no idea what that meant.

“Right! I forgot to tell you my name.” The stranger pointed a thumb proudly toward his own chest. “I'm Ewron!”

Ash hummed quietly in acknowledgment, but his attention had already begun drifting back toward the blood, because every time Ewron moved, the crimson caught his eye again. 

“Are you... hurt?” He asked and Ewron followed his gaze.

“Oh,” he lifted both hands in front of himself. For a moment he simply stared at them, turning one palm over and then the other. “Eh, kind of. But, you see, it was for a good deed, so it's fine.” Ewron inspected a cut running across his palm, squinting at it thoughtfully before turning his hand over to examine another one. “At least that’s what they told me.”

Ewron spoke about it with such casual certainty that he didn’t sound frightened or even particularly bothered by the injuries. If anything, he seemed mildly curious now that somebody had pointed them out.

Back at the Federation, injuries meant failed experiments, emergency procedures and workers rushing through hallways while alarms echoed through the facility. Here, Ewron stood beneath the sunlight, casually talking about cuts and blood.

Maybe being hurt wasn’t unusual outside the laboratory.

“You should clean it,” Ash said, scratching absentmindedly at his arm. “It can get infected.”

“Oh.” Ewron’s hands lowered slightly and his gaze followed them. “I can’t.” Ewron rubbed his thumb across one of the dried stains on his hand before letting it drop again. “Not yet, at least!”

The answer only left Ash more confused. Before Ash could ask what he meant, Ewron suddenly hopped closer and Ash instinctively stiffened, caught off guard.

Ewron’s attention remained fixed entirely on him, following every movement with an intensity that made something inside him recoil.

Ash wasn’t used to being looked at like that - not without a clipboard.

“You are different,” Ewron declared and Ash looked away. His shoulders curled inward, his gaze fixed stubbornly on the trees beyond the clearing.

He didn't want to be looked at, not studied and examined this closely. Not when he still wasn't entirely sure what the outside world thought of people like him.

“Hey.” Ewron stepped sideways, trying to catch sight of his face and Ash turned toward the river. “Hey!” The other boy shuffled in the same direction, but Ash turned away again.

Ewron abandoned that approach and darted around to the opposite side entirely, laughing as he moved. His tail swept through clusters of wildflowers, scattering petals.

“I just want to see you!”

“No!” Ash turned away again.

“Why not?” Ewron threw both hands into the air before folding his arms across his chest as though he had suffered some terrible injustice. A pout appeared on his face, though its effectiveness was somewhat undermined by the fact that he still looked entirely too cheerful.

Ash’s shoulders tightened as the familiar discomfort crawled beneath his skin, sinking deep into his chest.

“I’m ugly.”

“WHAT?” Ewron shouted, slapping a hand against his chest as though Ash had just personally insulted him. “Nu-uh!” he protested. “Who told you that?!”

Ash felt his stomach twist. He turned even further away, lowering his head as though that alone might somehow be enough to hide himself.

The reaction only seemed to make Ewron more determined. Somewhere along the way they had started circling one another in the middle of the clearing, flattening patches of grass beneath their feet. Every time Ewron tried to step into his line of sight, Ash turned away, and every time Ash turned, Ewron followed with stubborn persistence.

“Stop moving!”

“You stop moving!”

“I’m just trying to look at you!”

“Well, don’t!”

“Why?!”

“You’ll hate me!”

The words came out sharper than Ash intended and Ewron stopped. He simply stared at Ash, genuine confusion settling across his face.

“Why would I hate you?”

“Just…” Ash hesitated, fingers tightening around the plushie. “Look at me.”

“Well, I've been trying to!” Ash could practically hear the frown in Ewron’s voice. “Why do you think you're ugly?” Ewron continued, sounding every bit as confused as before.

Ash kept his eyes fixed stubbornly on the trees.

Every time the glitches spread across his skin, people looked at him differently.

The distortions never stayed in one place, shimmering in front of his face and neck, creating static-like fractures through reality, before disappearing again. Sometimes purple veins surfaced from beneath his brown skin for a few seconds, glowing faintly before fading, while one of his eyes had long since been almost entirely consumed by shifting that rippled through the air around it whenever the glitches grew stronger.

People always stared for too long or looked away too quickly. The workers usually stood alarmingly close, scribbling notes onto clipboards while commenting on everything they saw as though Ash weren;t standing right there listening to every word.

Ash lowered his head slightly.

“I just am.”

Ewron took several careful steps and leaned closer, with every bit of his attention fixed on Ash’s face and Ash looked away, unable to hold it for long. His gaze dropped toward the grass as he fought the growing urge to run. 

He hated this. Hated being looked at, studied, examined - especially when somebody’s attention settled on him with such strong focus.

A familiar prickling sensation crawled beneath his skin, and Ash tried to force the emotions back down before they could grow any stronger. The glitches always seemed to respond to feelings like that, surfacing whenever fear, frustration, panic, or embarrassment slipped beyond his control.

A faint shimmer flickered across his cheekbone, followed by a sharp violet distortion that spread through the air around him, before fading again.

And the longer Ewron watched, the stranger his expression became. There was no disgust on his face, nor any sign of fear. If anything, he seemed increasingly bewildered. 

Another flicker danced across Ash’s skin, reflecting briefly in Ewron’s pupils before vanishing. The other boy followed it, leaning forward as though afraid he might miss the next one.

“Woah…” The word escaped him in a quiet breath.

“See?” Ash swiftly turned away. “I told you.”

“No, wait!” He said quickly and instinctively leaned closer, only to catch himself at the last possible moment and rock back onto his heels instead. “No, no, that’s not what I meant.” His eyes were bright with wonder. “That’s so cool! It does the flickery thing!” Ewron began gesturing wildly in front of his own face, waving both hands so enthusiastically that he nearly smacked himself in the nose. “And the colors, and the way it moves, and how it keeps changing all the time! It’s like…" He paused only because he seemed to be searching for the right comparison. “Like sunlight on water! You know, when the sun hits a river and everything starts shining and moving, and it doesn’t stay in one place? It's like that!"

Ash opened his mouth, then closed it again, not entirely sure what he was supposed to say to that - because nobody had ever described the glitches like that before. He heard them being described as unstable, concerning, unpredictable.

Sunlight on water.

“You think so?” He whispered.

“Absolutely so,” Ewron answered with unwavering certainty. “I actually think you’re very pretty.”

Ash nearly dropped the plushie.

"You can’t just say that!"

“Really?” Ewron tilted his head. “Why not? I’m looking at you right now, and I think you’re pretty, so I said you’re pretty.” His ears twitched beneath the mess of red hair falling around his face as he continued studying Ash with the same baffled expression.

Ewron leaned forward slightly, squinting at him as though inspecting the evidence for himself.

“And your eyes are actually purple! Well, one definitely is. The shiny flickery bits cover most of the other one, but it’s still there because I can see it! And your hair is pretty too. It’s really long, and curly, and- oh!” His attention followed a distortion, forgetting whatever he had been about to say as he leaned forward. 

The shifting violet light danced beneath Ash’s skin before scattering across the air between them, and Ewron watched it with open fascination. “So cool.” By the time he said it again, their noses were nearly touching.

Only then did Ewron seem to remember that other people generally enjoyed having personal space. He rocked back onto his heels again, returning the distance he had stolen moments earlier.

Ash was grateful for it, because his face still felt far too warm and he wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to do with any of the things Ewron had just said. The compliments lingered stubbornly in his mind no matter how hard he tried to push them away, leaving him confused, embarrassed, and increasingly convinced that the other boy had to be seeing something completely different from everyone else.

Across from him, however, Ewron appeared entirely satisfied with himself.

“Oh!” The sound escaped him suddenly. “I almost forgot! Where are you going?”

Ash's gaze drifted away from Ewron and followed the river as it wound its way between the trees, disappearing into stretches of wilderness.

The truth was that he didn't know.

He had followed the river because it seemed better than standing still and because every instinct inside him had been screaming to put as much distance between himself and the laboratory as possible, even if he had no idea where that distance was supposed to take him.

Beyond that, there was no plan, and no place waiting for him at the end of the journey.

“I’m running away.”

“From where?” Ewron tilted his head and Ash hesitated.

“I... don’t think I can tell you.” He wasn’t trying to be rude and he found himself hoping Ewron wouldn't take it that way. The other boy had been kind to him, strange and overwhelming and covered in blood, but kind nonetheless.

To his surprise, Ewron appeared to accept the answer. The boy hummed quietly to himself and tapped a finger against his cheek, his gaze drifting somewhere off into the distance as though the question had already stopped mattering. The expression that settled across his face looked strangely intense, almost out of place on someone who had spent the last several minutes running in circles through a clearing and arguing about whether Ash was pretty.

“Do you have somewhere to go?” Ewron asked and this question pulled unexpectedly at something inside Ash's chest.

The truth was that he didn’t. He had spent so much time thinking about escape that he had never allowed himself to think about what happened afterward. Freedom had felt like a destination rather than the beginning of something, and now that he had finally reached it, he found himself standing in the middle of a forest with no plan beyond continuing to put distance between himself and the laboratory.

Slowly, he shook his head and Ewron’s attention snapped back to him. One finger continued tapping against his cheek, the expression on his face growing more concentrated by the second. He paced a few steps through the grass, muttering quietly to himself as though trying to solve a complicated problem. 

“Oh, I know!” Ewron grinned, delighted with himself. “The priest wouldn’t like it if I brought you to the temple,” he admitted, pacing another small circle around the clearing. “Actually, lots of people there probably wouldn’t like it, now that I think about it, but the priest definitely wouldn’t, but!” The grin only widened. “Who said they need to know?” Ewron spread his arms dramatically toward the forest behind him. “Come on. It can be your secret home.”

The ease with which Ewron said it was almost more surprising than the suggestion itself. Back at the Federation, rules had always been treated like something immovable, existing above everybody and questioning usually led to consequences. The idea of simply deciding not to tell somebody because it was inconvenient felt absurd.

The offer itself felt even stranger.

A home.

His grip on the plushie loosened slightly, and he lowered his head in a desperate attempt to hide the way his lip had started to tremble.

“You want to help me?”

“Of course,” he answered so quickly that it almost interrupted Ash. “You’re my friend! And friends help each other, right? That's, like, one of the main things friends do.”

“Are they going to punish you for helping me?” Ash asked, concerned. He didn’t want Ewron getting into trouble because of him.

“Only if they catch me lying,” Ewron winked playfully. “Which is actually very difficult, by the way, because I’m basically a professional.” His chest puffed out slightly with obvious pride and Ash scrunched his nose, unconvicted.

“A professional liar?”

“Yes, it’s a gift, can you believe it?” Ewron lowered his voice as though revealing an important secret. “Well, technically a gift. It counts as a blessing and a responsibility, but mostly it means I’m really good at lying.” 

“...Did you lie to me too?” Ash frowned, trying to hide the worry in his voice. Ewron jerked back so quickly that his ears flattened in shock.

“What? No!” His eyes widened and he shook his head so hard that bright red hair flew into his face. “I wouldn’t! You’re my friend, why would I lie to you? There’s no reason to lie to you.” Ewron simply reached forward and grabbed his hand. “You already know all the important things anyway,” he continued, giving Ash’s hand a small tug as though expecting him to instantly follow. “I live in a temple, I talk too much, I get hurt all the time, and I lie sometimes - but not you!”

The tug on his hand was unexpected, but the grip wasn't forceful. Ash could feel dried blood against his skin as Ewron’s fingers tightened around his own, along with the roughness of old cuts and calluses scattered across his palms. The hand should have felt unpleasant, but it was warm instead. He found himself easily following the other boy.

“Come on, let’s go home!” Ewron exclaimed, the words sending a strange twisting feeling through Ash’s chest. 

The clearing slowly disappeared behind them as they stepped beneath thicker branches, Ewron navigated the woods effortlessly, still holding onto Ash's hand as though he had already decided it belonged there.

“You called it a gift,” Ash said after a while, carefully stepping over a fallen branch. “The lying thing. Why?”

Ewron glanced back at him and laughed.

“It’s complicated!”

That did not answer the question at all. Ash frowned and Ewron laughed again, clearly finding it amusing.

“It’s kind of like a reward for good behavior. Well, not exactly. It’s more like... okay.” Ewron took a deep breath. “Sometimes you get gifts, except not immediately because that would make things way too easy, and then nobody would learn anything, which is apparently important.” Ewron ducked beneath a low branch, still holding Ash's hand. “When the priests explain it, I usually stop listening halfway through, so I don't actually know all the details,” he admitted without a hint of embarrassment. “But it was a gift I got, and now my job is to use it, so that everyone is happy.”

The forest gradually began to change the deeper they walked. The trees no longer stood completely wild and untouched, and small signs of people started appearing. Ash spotted narrow paths worn into the earth by countless footsteps, old lanterns hanging from branches, and occasional wooden markers carved with symbols he didn't recognize. 

The further they went, the less the forest felt empty.

Ewron, meanwhile, continued talking the entire time.

The red-haired boy seemed completely incapable of holding onto a single topic for more than a few minutes. One moment he was explaining which berries were safe to eat and which ones would make somebody spend an unfortunate amount of time regretting their choices, the next he was complaining about chores, only to somehow transition into a detailed account of six separate occasions he had managed to sneak out of the temple without being caught.

“Well, technically I got caught that time,” Ewron clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “But only because there was a procession I forgot about, and apparently disappearing in the middle of a religious ceremony is suspicious.”

Ash looked at him.

“This is my first time escaping,” he admitted.

Ewron turned toward him, eyes lighting up.

“Your first escape? That’s so cool!” The excitement in his voice somehow doubled. “How do you feel? I bet it’s exciting. It always is for me.”

Ash glanced down at the forest path winding beneath their feet.

“I don't want to go back.” The words left him quietly, yet saying them out loud felt strangely good. For so long the thought had existed only inside his own head, and now it was real. 

Beside him, Ewron gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“You did good for your first time,” he said proudly, as though Ash had just accomplished something worthy of celebration. To his surprise, Ash felt some of the weight in his chest ease.

At some point, the forest began to thin around them.

Ash was still only half-listening to whatever story Ewron had currently wandered into when the trees finally opened, and the sight waiting on the other side made his steps slow.

Nestled between the forest and the foothills beyond sat a small village, with buildings scattered across a clearing. Thin trails of smoke drifted lazily from chimneys into the afternoon sky. A few people moved between the buildings in the distance, some carrying baskets, others leading animals along the paths.

It was the first real settlement he had ever seen.

The building that stood out the most was the temple closest to the forest. Compared to some of the enormous structures he vaguely remembered from books, it seemed surprisingly small. Dark stone walls rose between the trees, half-covered by creeping vines and leaves, while colorful stained-glass windows stretched upward toward the sky.

A chill crawled across the back of Ash’s neck. The temple looked nothing like the laboratory, and yet the feeling it gave him was strangely familiar. Something about it made the hairs on his arms stand on end. He tightened his grip on Ewron’s hand and the plushie clutched against his chest.

The red-haired boy glanced up at him before following his gaze toward the temple.

“Don’t worry,” his voice dropped into a whisper. “They won't see you, I promise.” Ewron suddenly let go of Ash's hand and before Ash could ask why, the red-haired boy had already darted toward a stack of firewood sitting near the edge of the village. He crouched behind it and motioned for Ash to do the same, his ears barely visible above the logs. “But we have to be sneaky.”

Ash wasn't entirely sure who they were, but he found himself crouching beside Ewron. 

“See that?” The other boy pointed toward the temple - more specifically, toward the stone foundation beneath it. Ash followed the direction of his finger and he noticed a small window partially hidden behind shrubs growing along the base of the building.

“My room is down there.” The pride in Ewron’s voice made it sound like the greatest secret in the world. “It gets cold sometimes, and water drips through the window when it rains, but it’s mine, you know?”

Ash lowered his eyes.

It's mine.

He had never had anything that belonged only to him. Everything he had always belonged to the Federation first. Even the old plushie pressed against his chest had never truly been his to begin with.

Before the thought could settle any deeper, Ewron grabbed his sleeve and tugged him forward again and Ash stumbled after him.

A moment later they were crouched beneath the window, hidden between the temple wall and a cluster of shrubs growing along the foundation.

“See?” Ewron whispered proudly. “Easy.”

The opening looked impossibly small up close, barely wide enough for a child to squeeze through, and as Ash stared into the darkness beyond it, he found himself wondering whether getting stuck halfway through would somehow be less embarrassing than being discovered by whatever terrifying people lived inside the temple.

“Come on,” Ewron urged, already pushing the window inward. “It’ll work.”

Reluctantly, Ash tossed the plushie through the opening first and watched it disappear into the darkness below. After a moment's hesitation, he climbed after it.

The window frame dug uncomfortably into his sides as he squeezed through, lowering himself as carefully as he could while trying not to think about how far he might fall if he slipped. His heart hammered the entire time. For one awful second he became convinced he was stuck, only to slide the rest of the way through.

But there was still no ground beneath his feet. A startled yelp escaped him as he dropped into the room below, landing heavily on uncertain legs before stumbling forward and catching himself against a cold stone wall.

Ash took a look around.

The room around him was dim, lit only by weak afternoon light filtering through the tiny window he had just climbed through. A narrow bed stood against one stone wall, beside a small wooden table. There were shelves lined with old books, some candles and collections of things Ash couldn't identify filled much of the remaining space. 

There were dried flowers hanging from hooks near the ceiling, pieces of string tied around chair legs for reasons that made absolutely no sense, and enough loose papers scattered across various surfaces to suggest that organization was not something Ewron considered particularly important.

Ash had never seen anything quite like it.

His attention was drawn away a moment later when the sounds outside the window suddenly stopped. He looked up to see one of Ewron’s legs hanging through the opening, frozen in place.

“O kurwa.” Ewron’s muffled voice drifted through the window.

Ash had absolutely no idea what that meant, but judging by the tone, it definitely wasn’t good.

Ewron straightened and jumped away from the opening just as heavy footsteps neared.

“Child!” A sharp male voice was loud enough that Ash instinctively took a step backward. “You're not supposed to be back yet!”

“Yes, but I-”

Ewron barely managed to get the words out before another figure stepped into Ash’s limited view through the small window. Ash only caught a glimpse of dark robes before a sharp crack split the air and Ewron’s head jerked sideways. The sound made Ash’s stomach drop. He took another step backward, his heart suddenly racing as he watched Ewron lift a hand to his cheek and rub at the spot where he had been struck.

Outside, the man seized the front of Ewron’s robe and hauled him closer.

“The blood is dried, boy,” he snapped. “We need to begin again. Move.”

“I’m coming,” Ewron muttered. The man released him, and for a moment Ewron rubbed at his cheek again before some of the brightness returned to his face. “I guess I can’t wait to be back in my room in a few hours!” he announced loudly enough for the words to carry through the open window.

The message was so obvious that Ash understood it immediately.

“What are you talking about?” The priest sneered.

“My dreams and wishes,” Ewron nodded. The priest sighed heavily and shoved Ewron forward.

“Move.”

The two disappeared from view a moment later, while Ash remained exactly where he was. The room suddenly felt much quieter than before.

He stared at the open window while the echo of that slap continued to ring inside his own head. He had known Ewron for less than an hour, yet the sight refused to leave him alone.

Ash picked up the plushie from the floor and hugged it against his chest before forcing himself to look around the room again, searching for something else to focus on.

The bed looked old, the wooden furniture mismatched, and one corner of the ceiling had clearly suffered through years of leaks. An old rug covered some part of the stone floor, its colors faded and worn with age, and yet carefully positioned beneath the bed as though somebody had wanted to hide as much of the cold stone as possible. A thick blanket had been folded across the mattress, looking soft despite its age.

Ash found himself moving closer.

His fingers brushed across the blanket, and after a moment's hesitation, he picked it up and draped it over his shoulders. Warm, comforting weight settled around him, and although it did nothing to quiet the unease still twisting inside his chest, it made being alone in the unfamiliar room feel a little less frightening.

Nearby stood a narrow cupboard covered in scratches and dents. Small trinkets crowded the top of it alongside several candles melted down to uneven stubs, a collection of oddly shaped stones, and what appeared to be a bird feather carefully tucked between two books.

Ash stared, because there was just so much stuff.

The laboratory had always been neat. Every object had a place, every room arranged with the same sterile precision, yet everywhere he looked in Ewron's room there seemed to be another collection, another forgotten object, another strange little treasure that appeared to exist for no reason other than the fact that somebody had wanted to keep it.

Occasionally a floorboard creaked somewhere overhead, because people lived here. People who were not researchers.

Ash hugged the blanket a little closer around his shoulders, and eventually his gaze drifted back toward the bed.

Moving slowly, as though worried somebody might suddenly appear and tell him he wasn’t allowed to be here, he walked over and placed the plushie on top of the mattress. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he climbed onto the bed himself.

The mattress dipped beneath his weight and he slowly lowered his head onto the pillow. 

The fabric smelled faintly of old paper, damp stone, and something else he couldn't quite identify. Ash buried his face deeper into it and allowed his eyes to close.

His muscles gradually loosened against the mattress as exhaustion settled into his limbs. He could still feel the ache in his feet from hours of walking through the forest, the scratches burning faintly across his skin, and the lingering tension that had followed him ever since his escape.

He was tired. So unbelievably tired.

…

Yet sleep refused to come. 

Every time he felt himself beginning to drift, another thought, another doubt pulled him back, refusing to fade no matter how hard he tried to focus on something else.

Eventually he rolled onto his side.

From the bed, he could still see the small window set into the wall, a thin beam of afternoon light cutting across the room and illuminating countless specks of dust drifting lazily through the air. Ash found himself watching them for a while, following their slow movements as they turned and spun within the sunlight.

His eyes followed the beam of sunlight cutting through the room, and that was when he noticed the book that sat open atop the cupboard near the wall - as though someone had only stepped away from it a few minutes earlier.

Ash stared at it for several seconds, then curiosity won.

Carefully, he climbed off the bed, and crossed the room.

The book looked much older than most of the ones he remembered seeing in the Federation. Its corners had been worn smooth by years of handling, the cover softened by use, while notes had been scribbled throughout the margins in messy handwriting that Ash suspected belonged to Ewron. Some words had been crossed out and replaced. Others were circled repeatedly, accompanied by arrows pointing toward drawings scattered between the lines.

The page itself was filled with illustrations, unfamiliar symbols, and fragments of text. Ash stood there studying it, trying to make sense of the strange mixture of careful diagrams and chaotic notes all over the page.

Words like deity, offering, devotion, and gift appeared repeatedly throughout the passage, accompanied by diagrams he didn’t fully understand. 

A small part of him felt guilty, because this wasn’t his book. 

The Federation had taught him many things. Among them was the importance of gathering information whenever it became available.

His fingers hovered above the page, and slowly, Ash glanced toward the door, then toward the tiny window, and finally back toward the book.

Carefully, he pulled it closer and lowered himself onto the floor beside the cupboard. The worn pages rustled softly beneath his fingers as he turned them, curiosity gradually overpowering the lingering guilt while he began to read.

Or at least he tried to.

The illustrations were chaotic. Strange symbols crowded the margins alongside sketches of figures crowned with antlers, eyes, wings, and shapes Ash couldn’t fully identify. Some pages depicted elaborate ceremonies, while others showed symbols painted over stone, carved into skin, or woven into patterns that seemed to repeat throughout the book.

The text itself, however, quickly became far more difficult to follow. Individually, most of the words were familiar, but together, they somehow stopped making sense.

"Devotion feeds the vessel through willing sacrifice."

"The nature of the sacrifice is insinuated individually."

"The Gift reflects the nature of the soul observed."

Ash frowned and reread the same paragraph, feeling even more confused than before.

The book seemed determined to explain every concept using ten others he didn’t understand yet - each one leading him toward another chapter, another passage, and another set of unfamiliar terms. Every answer appeared to depend on information he didn’t have, while every explanation somehow raised even more questions than it resolved.

Eventually, with a quiet sigh, he let the page fall open where it was.

Whatever Ewron and the people in this temple believed, it clearly wasn't something he was going to understand in a single afternoon.

The realization left him strangely frustrated, because he had stumbled across something that might explain the world outside the Federation, only to discover he lacked the knowledge to make sense of any of it.

Ash slowly climbed back onto the bed, pulling his legs against his chest while the plushie rested beside him, its worn white fur peeking from the folds of the blanket. After a moment, he tugged the blanket higher around his shoulders and buried himself deeper beneath it, cocooning himself inside the warmth.

This was the moment - for the first time since escaping - he had truly been left alone with his thoughts. The silence stretched around him, and with it came a realization so simple that it almost didn't feel real.

He had actually escaped.

The Federation was no longer around him.

There were no white walls enclosing every part of his world, no bright lights hanging overhead, no researchers standing nearby with clipboards tucked beneath their arms while discussing him as though he wasn’t there. Nobody was waiting to lead him into another examination room. Nobody was preparing another experiment or another test that would leave his blood feeling like it was boiling beneath his skin while strangers observed the results. There were no locked doors separating him from the outside world and no voices reminding him where he was allowed to go and where he wasn’t.

For as long as he could remember, every part of his life had belonged to somebody else. Now, it belonged to him. He could finally live however he wanted.

Too many emotions crowded inside his chest at once, tangling together until he couldn't separate one from another: relief, fear, excitement, anger, hope - all of them seemed to arrive at the same time, colliding with years of frustration and hurt until the feeling became almost unbearable.

Ash punched the pillow, and it’s he softness swallowed the impact completely.

A frustrated noise escaped him.

He hit it again, collapsing forward, burying his face deep in the fabric. The scream that followed was muffed by the pillow, leaving only the ache in his throat behind.

He breathed hard against the mattress while his fingers twisted tightly into the blanket beneath him.

He wasn't even sure why he wanted to scream - was it a happy scream? Maybe he was angry. Or maybe he was terrified, because after spending his entire life trapped behind Federation walls, he suddenly had the freedom to feel all of those things at once.

He had dreamed about leaving for so long. He remembered the other children whispering about it when adults weren’t around, sharing impossible stories about the world outside the laboratory walls. They spoke about forests and animals and freedom as though they were describing some distant fairy tale, and every story had made Ash believe that one day he would see it for himself.

And now he was here, outside. Where the forest was real, where the sky stretched endlessly above him instead of a ceiling.

And he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do next, because who was he supposed to be now?

The question lingered in his mind, before another thought followed.

‘Are they looking for me?’

The possibility brought a rush of anxiety that twisted painfully through his stomach. Yet before he could think about it for long, another thought arrived right behind it, quieter and somehow far crueler.

‘What if they aren’t? What if they had simply decided I’m useless?’

The idea made his stomach twist.

‘A failed experiment.’

The words appeared in his head uninvited, and he squeezed his eyes shut as though that alone might make them disappear.

He didn't understand this place. He didn't understand why people covered themselves in blood and spoke about gifts. He didn't understand why Ewron lived in a damp basement beneath a temple. Every answer he found only seemed to raise more questions, and for the first time since escaping, the weight of just how unfamiliar everything was settled heavily over him.

The Federation had been cruel, and it had hurt him.

Yet he had understood it. He knew where he was supposed to be, what was expected of him, which doors he was allowed to open and which ones he wasn't. 

Ash buried his face deeper into the pillow as tears finally slipped free, soaking into the fabric beneath his cheek. He hated himself for thinking it. Hated himself for missing a place that had hurt him over and over again. Hated himself for wanting to go back, even if only for a moment, simply because he knew how to exist there.

Soon, a familiar numbness slowly settled over everything, wrapping itself around his thoughts until the room felt strangely distant and unreal. His own heartbeat sounded wrong, each frantic thud rattling against his ribs loud enough that he was certain anyone outside the room should have been able to hear it.

When the door suddenly creaked open, the sound tore straight through the silence and Ash jerked upright so violently that the mattress bounced beneath him, his heart launching with panic before his mind had even caught up with what was happening.

‘No, no, no. They found me.’

The thought send him scrambling backward, tangling himself in the blanket as purple glitches burst violently beneath his skin and spread across his arms and neck in flickering waves. His breath was caught somewhere in his throat as he pressed himself against the headboard, staring at the dark figure stepping through the doorway and moving closer.

“I’m back!” The cheerful whisper cut straight through the panic.

The figure paused for only a second before hurrying forward, and as the darkness shifted around him Ash finally made out bright red hair, rounded ears twitching atop his head, and a striped tail swaying behind him. Ewron crouched beside the bed, his eyes widening the moment he got a proper look at Ash’s face.

“Oh no,” The sound escaped him quietly, and he climbed onto the mattress shuffling closer. Soon, both of his hands were on Ash's face, squishing his cheeks slightly as he leaned in, peering at him with obvious concern. “Shh, shh, shh,” he whispered quickly, his voice dropping lower while his thumbs awkwardly brushed beneath Ash’s eyes, smearing away tears. “What happened? Did somebody find you? Because nobody was supposed to find you. Did somebody come in here while I was gone? Did they say something? Because if somebody came in here and made you cry, I can bite them. I’ve bitten people before.”

Ash’s breathing remained uneven, his hands still trembling from the panic, yet despite himself he found his gaze lingering on Ewron's face, on the freckles scattered across his nose. Ash lurched forward and buried his face directly in Ewron's hair.

“Oof!” Ewron’s ears shot upright.

After a second of initial surprise, he began readjusting himself, shifting awkwardly across the mattress while trying to free himself from the blanket tangled around his legs. After a brief struggle, he finally managed to sit properly and wrapped both arms around Ash in a tight hug.

“Hugs are the best, you know,” he whispered, sounding absurdly pleased with himself despite clearly having no idea what he was doing. His tail curled more securely around Ash before he suddenly let out a soft gasp. “Oh! I also stole bread. I brought some for you.” The announcement carried an astonishing amount of pride.

Ewron dug through one of his pockets and triumphantly produced a slightly squashed piece before offering it to Ash.

With pale moonlight filtering through the tiny basement window, Ash saw Ewron, who - somehow - looked even worse than before. Fresh blood stained his sleeves and hands, while older stains had already darkened against the fabric of his robe. There was some on his neck too, disappearing beneath his collar, and another smear stretched across one cheek that he had probably forgotten existed.

Ash accepted the bread cautiously, turning it over in his hands, checking both sides to make sure there wasn't any blood on it.

Finding none, he bit into it.

The bread he knew had always arrived in perfectly even slices, each looking identical to the last, tasting of nothing. It simply existed somewhere between food and rubber, produced in endless quantities.

This was nothing like that. The crust crackled beneath his teeth, scattering crumbs across the blanket, while the inside remained soft enough to practically melt in his mouth. It was still warm, carrying the faint scent of whatever oven it had come from not long ago, and for a moment Ash found himself wondering if all bread was supposed to taste like this.

By the time he realized how quickly he was eating, nearly half the bread had already disappeared.

“See?” Ewron looked absurdly pleased with himself. “I always say stolen food is better. I don't know why exactly, but it is a fact.”

As Ash swallowed the last bite, his attention drifted back toward the blood covering Ewron's hands. It had been bothering him from the moment they met.

“Why are you covered in blood?” he asked with curiosity. 

“I forgot I am!” He glanced at one sleeve, then his hand. “Actually, I should probably wash myself before I touch anything important. Do you want a bath too?”

Ash glanced downward and realized his muddy feet were still resting on Ewron’s blanket.

“Sorry.” He pulled them back at once, letting his feet drop over the side of the bed before looking at the dirt left behind. “Sorry. Please.”

“No problem.” Ewron waved the concern away quickly. “I’ve got you.” He pushed himself upright and stretched, a loud yawn escaping halfway through the motion. “First bath, then we sleep.” He yawned again. “Liege wie, as they say somewhere.”

“Where do they say that?” Ash frowned at the unfamiliar words.

“I don’t know, but I know they do.” Ewron let out an easy chuckle and turned toward the small wardrobe tucked against the wall. He pulled one of the doors open and began rummaging through its contents. “Give me a second. I’m going to find you some clothes.”

Ash watched as shirts, trousers, and pieces of fabric were tossed over Ewron’s shoulder.

It didn't escape him how quickly Ewron had changed the subject. The unanswered question still sat heavily in his stomach, because he wanted to know and to understand.

He looked toward Ewron’s hands - toward the stains covering his sleeves and fingers, and the way he carried them as though they were something usual.

The blood fascinated him because it wasn’t something he saw often. 

Other children occasionally returned from experiments with cuts and injuries, and Ash had learned that the appearance of blood usually meant researchers would start hovering nearby with medical equipment, treating blood loss as something serious. 

… Maybe Ewron would tell him more if he shared something first.

Ash lowered his gaze toward the blanket gathered in his lap. His fingers twisted nervously into the fabric while he stared at it, suddenly finding it much easier to focus on the loose threads than on Ewron.

“I can tell you a secret,” the words felt strange the moment they left his mouth.

“A secret?” Ewron echoed, his hands still buried somewhere inside the wardrobe.

For a moment, Ash considered taking it back. The Federation had never treated it like a secret, but they had never treated it like something normal either.

“Yes, but you have to promise not to tell anyone,” Ash said instead.

Ewron nodded immediately.

“What if you tell me your secret, and then I’ll tell you some of mine?”

The offer made Ash feel a small spark of triumph, because his plan had worked. He watched as Ewron stopped rummaging through the wardrobe and turned toward him.

“I...” Ash swallowed. The words felt strangely precious as he let them go. “I don’t bleed.”

“Really?” Ewron’s eyes lit up with interest. “Like, no blood at all?”

Ewron glanced toward the small candle sitting on the table, hurried over, and struck a match against the box beside it.A second later a small flame bloomed to life, casting warm golden light across the stone walls and pushing the shadows back into the corners of the room.

The soft glow made the basement seem cozier somehow, and Ash found himself relaxing slightly.

“Really?” Ewron’s eyes lit up with interest. “Like, no blood at all?”

Ewron glanced toward the small candle sitting on the table, hurried over, and struck a match against the box beside it. A second later a small flame bloomed to life, casting warm golden light across the stone walls and pushing the shadows back into the corners of the room.

The soft glow made the basement seem cozier somehow, and Ash found himself relaxing slightly.

Meanwhile, Ewron looked delighted.

“I bleed a lot, see?” He spread both arms dramatically before performing a small spin in the middle of the room, causing the oversized robe to flare around his legs.

“I can see that,” Ash’s gaze drifted toward the dark red stains covering the robe. “Is it all your blood?”

“Yes, it must be mine, you know?” Ewron said proudly. “And now it’s my turn for a secret. Listen, listen to me, Ash.” The excitement in his voice made it clear that whatever came next was extremely important.

“The blood,” Ewron waved both hands around, making the stained sleeves swing dramatically, “is for the deity tests. You have to do all these trials and offerings and ceremonies and other things that are probably important. Some of them are prayers, and some of them are lessons, and some of them are really annoying, and sometimes you have to carry things around for hours, and often there’s blood involved - which is where all this comes from.”

Ash nodded, concentrating hard as he tried to keep up with the explanation.

“If you pass the tests, there’s a high chance you’ll get a gift.” Ewron lowered his voice and leaned forward as though preparing to reveal the greatest secret in existence. “I call them superpowers.” 

Ewron abandoned the wardrobe completely and wandered back toward the bed, excitement clearly getting the better of him.

“They don’t tell me much, so I stole a book from the library.” Ewron pointed proudly toward the book Ash had tried reading earlier. “They didn’t want to explain anything properly,” he continued as he climbed onto the bed and settled cross-legged on top of the blanket. “Because, apparently, it’s all very important and secret and sacred.” The last three words were delivered in an impressively deep voice that sounded nothing like his own, but he quickly dropped the act. “But if it’s so important, why won’t they tell me?”

“Not knowing what’s going on is scary,” Ash agreed. “Does that mean you get powers by doing tasks for your god?”

“Kind of!” Ewron nodded enthusiastically. “The book also says gifts are supposed to match who you are.” His ears twitched. “I already have one superpower, which is, as the priest calls it, the Gift of Deception, but now they’re making me try for another one, which is a little scary because if it’s supposed to match me, what if it’s something boring?” Uncertainty flickered across his face and Ash tilted his head.

“But you’re the least boring person I know.” He said, honestly. 

“Thank you!” The grin returned in full force, making Ewron look pleased with himself. “That’s what I thought too, but it’s nice hearing you say it.”

Ash frowned, but before he could linger on that thought, Ewron had already moved on.

“So anyway, why can’t you bleed?” he asked, scooting closer across the mattress. “Is it because of the...” He lifted a hand and waved it vaguely through the space in front of Ash’s face. “...the flickery thing?” 

The movement sent distortions rippling through the air. Purple glitches scattered around Ewron’s fingers, fragments of static breaking apart and reforming wherever he passed through them. Reality briefly seemed to bend around his hand before settling back into place a moment later.

The familiar discomfort crept into Ash's chest, bringing with it the instinctive urge to look away, and yet Ewron looked fascinated. His eyes widened as his hand disappeared for a brief second inside one of the distortions before emerging again.

“Woah.” The breath escaped him quietly as another flicker crossed Ash’s cheek and Ewron leaned even closer. “That’s really cool.”

The whisper carried none of the concern Ash had grown used to hearing from adults, which somehow made speaking a little easier.

“Yes.” Ash watched another distortion drift across his vision. “I guess.” He shook his head slightly, the movement sending a ripple through the glitches that made Ewron gasp loudly. “I think I could bleed once,” Ash admitted after a moment. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t remember.” The confession slipped out quietly. “I don’t remember a lot of things.” His fingers tightened around the blanket.

“That must be scary.” Ewron's ears lowered slightly. “Sometimes I forget what I was doing a moment before, and then I spend half an hour trying to remember it and end up even more confused.” His gaze drifted toward the wardrobe. “Right. Clothes. Yes, yes.” Ewron was already halfway across the room before the thought had fully left his mouth, diving back into the wardrobe and resuming his search while humming quietly to himself.

Eventually Ewron emerged victorious, holding up a long grey shirt decorated with intricate patterns woven along the sleeves and sides, alongside a pair of similarly coloured trousers.

“Here.”

Ash accepted the clothes carefully. As he examined the strange patterns stitched into the material, running his fingers over the woven designs, Ewron suddenly pointed dramatically toward one of the stone walls.

“Did you look around the room?”

Ash glanced up.

“A little.”

“Good.” Ewron grinned. “Did you find the secret door?”

“The what?”

“The secret door.”

Ewron marched across the room with confidence, before stopping in front of a section of stone Ash had previously assumed was simply part of the wall and pressed both hands against it. A quiet scrape echoed through the room, and to Ash's astonishment, the stone shifted. The hidden panel swung inward just enough to reveal a narrow opening leading into another room beyond.

Ewron grabbed another candle, lighting it from the one already burning, and carried it through the opening. The warm glow pushed back the shadows just enough for Ash to see inside.

A small wooden bathtub occupied most of the space, its sides worn smooth by years of use. The wood had darkened with age, and several metal bands wrapped around it to keep everything together. A narrow shelf sat against one wall holding soap, folded cloths, and various bottles whose contents Ash couldn’t identify.

In the Federation, bathing meant standing beneath perfectly controlled streams of water pouring from spotless metal fixtures. Everything had been measured, regulated, and identical every single time. This looked nothing like that.

“I'm going to get water,” Ewron announced and before Ash could ask how, the red-haired boy had already disappeared, running back through the bedroom and out into the hallway, leaving Ash alone in the candlelit bathroom.

A few moments later came the sound of heavy breathing and rapidly approaching footsteps. Ewron burst back into the room carrying a bucket nearly half his size, water sloshing dangerously over the edges as he stumbled through the doorway. A trail of water followed him across the floor.

“Here!” Ewron groaned as the bucket hit the floor with a splash, sending water sloshing across the stone. “Don’t take too long!”

The moment Ewron disappeared back into the main room, pulling the hidden door mostly shut behind him, Ash was left alone with the small wooden tub and the candlelight flickering softly across the walls.

Ash cautiously leaned toward the bucket Ewron had brought and dipped his fingers into the water- and he pulled them back as a shiver raced through him.

The showers in the Federation had always come with controlled temperatures. The water was warm every time, arriving through metal pipes hidden inside spotless white walls, and nobody ever had to think about where it came from or how it got there.

Ash sighed and slowly began pulling off the old tunic. Once he was done, he found himself staring at the bucket and the bathtub with growing uncertainty.

He wasn’t entirely sure how this was supposed to work.

After a moment of consideration, Ash grabbed the bucket with a muffled groan and lifted it into the tub, carefully placing it inside before climbing in himself a moment later.

He dipped his hands into the bucket, sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth, and got to work, scrubbing dirt from his hands, arms, and feet as quickly as possible. Every handful of water poured over his shoulders sent another shudder racing through him, and before long the entire bath felt less like bathing and more like a race against his own determination to climb back out.

He splashed water across his face and ran wet fingers through his dark curls, working mud, leaves, and bits of forest debris free from the tangled strands.

By the time he had finished, Ash felt more awake than he had all day. The cold had chased away some of the exhaustion, replacing it with a lingering chill.

“How does he do this?” Ash muttered under his breath. Then again, Ewron was also the sort of person who wandered around covered in blood and seemed completely unbothered by it. Maybe cold baths were normal too.

As quickly as possible, Ash climbed out of the tub and grabbed one of the towels hanging from the wall. The air inside the bathroom felt even colder now that he was wet, and he hurried through drying himself before reaching for the clothes Ewron had given him.

To his surprise, they fit rather well - the shirt fit comfortably on his frame, while the trousers were slightly too short, ending halfway down his calves no matter how much he tugged at them. Still, they were warm and clean.

Gathering his old clothes into his arms, Ash pushed open the hidden door and stepped back into the basement room.

“You’re done!” Ewron perked up. “My turn!” The red-haired boy darted past him and disappeared into the bathroom, not bothering to shut the secret door properly behind him. Already halfway through pulling the bloodied robe over his head, he tossed the garment onto the floor, leaving the stained fabric crumpled beside the doorway.

Ash caught a glimpse of more dried blood smeared across his arms and shoulders before Ewron vanished deeper. A moment later came the sound of splashing.

Ash folded his old clothes and placed them on the chair beside the bed before climbing onto the mattress once more.

His plushie still sat exactly where he had left it, but the sight of it made him feel uncomfortable.

He gathered it into his hands and stared down at the worn white fur, fingers smoothing over flattened patches.

He didn’t want to go back.

They had always spoken about the outside world as though it were dangerous, full of people waiting to hurt him or use him the moment they got the chance. And yet the first person he had met beyond those walls had stolen bread for him, given him clothes, and shared his room.

Not once had Ewron looked at him the way the researchers did, not once had he stared at the glitches with concern or discomfort. He had called them beautiful.

His grip tightened around the plushie as a sudden wave of anger surged through him, directed at the researchers and everyone who had spent his entire life convincing him there was something wrong with him.

Before he could stop himself, Ash threw it and the toy hit the wall with a dull thump before tumbling onto the floor beside the bed.

The anger vanished and regret settled in its place.

Ash pulled his knees against his chest, wrapped both arms around them, and buried his face there instead.

He hated them - the researchers, the laboratory. There was no way he was going back.

Not after somebody had looked at him with kindness and called the thing he hated most about himself beautiful-

The secret bathroom door opened.

“I’m back!”

Ash looked up as Ewron stepped into the room, his damp hair sticking awkwardly in several directions while droplets of water still clung to the ends. The oversized shirt he had changed into hung crookedly from one shoulder.

“We need to-”

“Don’t make me go back.” The words escaped before Ash could stop them. Ewron’s eyes widened and Ash felt his chest hurt. “Don’t make me go back,” he repeated, staring directly at him now. “Please. Don’t make me go back to the laboratory. Don’t make me stay with the Federation. They’ll hurt me, I know they will. I’m tired of the tests, I’m scared.”

“What? The Fede-what?” Ewron hurried forward so quickly that he nearly tripped over the bloodied robe lying on the floor. “No, no, no.” He climbed onto the bed and sat down so close their knees almost touched. “I won’t, no way. You're staying with me, I won’t let anyone touch you.”

“Promise me.” Ash searched his face as his lower lip trembled.

“Of course,” Ewron said, as though the request itself was ridiculous. “I promise I’ll never make you go back, you’re important to me!” He reached forward and grabbed Ash's hand between both of his own, squeezing it tightly. “You’re the first person I’ve ever trusted with my secrets.” The grin returned. “And I have a lot.”

Ash looked at their joined hands for a moment before looking back up.

“But you said you have the power of lying. How do I know you’re not-”

“No!” Ewron looked genuinely offended. “You’re different. This is different.”

“How?”

Ewron groaned dramatically and his tail lashed against the mattress.

“Because I’d never willingly lie to you.” He seemed to actually think about the question. “You’re...” His shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “I don’t know. I just feel like we’re kind of the same, you know?”

For a while neither of them spoke, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, though. It felt different from the heavy silences Ash was used to. This one felt softer, filled by the crackling candle and Ewron’s occasional fidgeting.

Eventually, Ewron tilted his head.

“So where did you come from? You said something about…” Ewron huffed. “Fede…?”

Ash lowered his eyes to the blanket gathered around his legs.

“The Federation’s laboratory.”

“Laboratory?” Ewron sat up straighter and Ash nodded.

For a moment he wasn’t sure how much to say. The words felt strange, yet the longer he sat there, the easier it became to continue.

“It’s where I lived,” he said quietly. “There were a lot of kids there, and we were all experiments.”

A faint flicker of purple light danced beneath his wrist. Ash barely noticed it, but Ewron’s eyes followed the movement, though to his credit he didn’t interrupt.

“They were always trying to make us stronger - that’s what they said, anyway. They’d put needles under our skin and make us take things. Sometimes they’d hurt us on purpose just to see what happened afterward.” His fingers tightened. “They were always watching.”

The memories settled heavily inside his chest, and with them came more glitches. Purple static briefly skipped across his arm, bending the candlelight around it before reality settled back into place.

“They said I wasn’t doing very well.”

Ewron’s ears lowered slightly.

“They kept saying I let emotions interfere too much. Every time I got scared, or upset, or angry, the glitches would react.” Another flicker appeared beneath his skin as though proving the point. “They said I was supposed to control them, but I couldn’t. Every time they tested me, something would go wrong. Every time I got frightened, the glitches got worse.” His fingers tightened around the blanket. “They said I’d be stronger if I stopped feeling things.”

Ash looked at Ewron, who only appeared confused by the statement.

“Stopping feelings is stupid,” he said. “Why would anybody want that?”

“They said it would help,” Ash shrugged.

“Hm.” Ewron folded his arms across his chest and leaned back slightly, thinking. His tail swept lazily across the blanket behind him once, then again. Suddenly his ears perked. “You know, the priest says things like that too.” Ewron straightened his back and lowered his voice into a terrible imitation of an adult. “Emotions cloud your judgment and interfere with proper decision making.” His tail swished to the side. “Maybe adults are right,” he admitted after a moment and his tail swept back the other direction. 

“Sometimes I’d spend days trying not to get upset about anything because I thought maybe they were right, and maybe if I just tried harder I’d finally stop messing everything up.” Ash stared down at his hands. “But... a lot of things are blurry anyway.”

That caught Ewron's attention.

“Oh! Is this about your memories?”

Ash hesitated, because it was difficult to explain because he wasn't entirely sure he understood it himself.

“I don't remember everything,” he admitted quietly. “It’s just... sometimes I remember pieces of things.” His fingers twisted together. “I know it was important, but then I try to think about it properly and there are parts missing.”

Ewron looked unsettled, his brows lifting slightly.

“What if you forget everything?”

Ash lowered his eyes. The possibility had crossed his mind before.

“I don’t know.”

“Ash… Will you remember me?” The question was asked so quietly that Ash almost missed it.

When he looked up, he found Ewron watching him carefully from the other side of the bed, looking worried. Ash sat up a little straighter.

“I’ll remember,” he answered quickly. “I’ll try really hard.” The promise felt impossible, but he wanted it to be true.

“Thank you.” The relief in Ewron’s voice was so obvious that Ash almost smiled. Then Ewron’s ears twitched and his expression darkened as he seemed to reconsider everything Ash had just told him.

“But, you know what?” he said after a moment. 

“What?”

“The Federation is really stupid. Like, actually stupid.” His tail lashed once against the blanket. “Like, unbelievably stupid. Actually, maybe they’re not stupid because they managed to build an entire laboratory, and that sounds difficult, but they’re definitely wrong. Because they put you through all those tests and they hurt you and you couldn’t leave. That’s terrible!” His ears lowered slightly. “They hurt you.”

“Isn’t that what happens to you, too?” The question slipped out before Ash had fully thought it through.

“What?” Ewron frowned.

“From what I understand, the priests make you do these tests for the deity.” Ash glanced toward the discarded robe lying beside the doorway, the dark stains still visible even in the candlelight. “They make you get hurt too.”

The room fell quiet and Ewron's tail stopped moving. Ash watched the realization pass across his face as the words settled somewhere behind his eyes.

“But...” Ewron began before stopping again. “That’s different, right? The priests aren’t that bad.” The certainty returned to his voice then. “I mean, they took care of me!”

“But they hurt you too,” Ash pointed out.

Ewron frowned as he appeared to consider this very seriously. Then, apparently reaching the only reasonable conclusion, he nodded.

“Well, we should hurt them instead.”

Ash laughed, because the transition had happened so quickly that his brain struggled to catch up.

“What?”

“We should kill them.” Ewron nodded again. “The people who hurt us. You said they hurt you and I don’t like them.” Ewron pointed directly at him. “But I like you, so obviously I’m helping you get back at them for what they did. And when I get my deity gift, we’re going to get revenge and it’s going to be amazing. Maybe I’ll get a really cool power and they’ll all be terrified, and you’ll be there too, and we’ll watch as they die and then we’ll win.”

His hands moved constantly while he talked, acting out parts of the plan only he could see and despite how ridiculous the whole thing sounded, Ash felt something warm settle inside his chest. Nobody had ever talked about standing beside him before.

“Then I’ll get really strong to help you too,” Ash said firmly. “So I can keep you safe.”

Ewron's grin widened, so bright and delighted that it looked as though Ash had just agreed to the greatest plan anyone had ever conceived.

“We really are similar,” Ash said as his gaze drifted toward the discarded robe still lying beside the doorway, the dried blood visible even in the candlelight, before returning to Ewron.

“I told you about the Federation.” He hesitated briefly. “Can you tell me a bit more about you?”

“What about me?” Ewron blinked.

“Everything you want to.”

Ewron seemed surprised, as though nobody had ever asked him that question before. He looked at Ash, then toward the ceiling, then somewhere off to the side while the answer slowly caught up with him. 

“Right!” He brightened, and scooted closer across the mattress until he was practically sitting beside Ash, folding his legs beneath himself as the excitement of explaining something completely took over.

“So there’s a goddess. Well, technically there are probably lots of gods because it’d be weird if there was only one, but ours is the important one because she’s ours, and the priests say she watches everything all the time, which honestly sounds exhausting because that’s so many people to keep track of. Anyway, we pray to her and do rituals and offerings and all sorts of things, and if she likes you enough she gives you superpowers.”

“The gifts,” Ash nodded, managing to keep up.

“Yes!” Ewron’s ears twitched. “Oh, and there are sacrifices too.”

“Sacrifices?” Ash frowned because he didn't like the sound of that.

“Mhm! A sacrifice is sort of like a thank you to the deity.” His gaze drifted toward his hands. “The priests usually send me to do things. Sometimes it’s staying awake all night. Sometimes it’s fasting.” Then he lifted both hands. “And sometimes it’s spilling blood.”

Thin cuts crossed Ewron’s palms in dozens of places, some faded almost white with age while others remained pink and fresh against his skin. They overlapped so many times that it was impossible to tell where one ended and another began.

“There are a lot of them,” Ewron admitted, turning his hands over and studying them in the candlelight. “But everybody says I’m doing really well.” The pride in his voice made something uncomfortable twist inside Ash’s gut.

“It looks painful.”

“It's supposed to be.” The answer sounded rehearsed, as though repeated many times.

Ewron seemed entirely unbothered, and just a moment later his expression brightened again and he leaned forward, lowering his voice into an excited whisper.

“The goddess accepts lies as prayers now because of my first gift.”

“So it’s blood and lies?” Ash frowned. "If blood is the sacrifice… What powers would you get if you sacrificed lots of people?"

Ewron's eyes widened and he stared.

“Holy shit.” The grin spreading across his face looked increasingly dangerous. “Ash, Ash.”

Ash felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, as Ewron continued;

“If some blood shows dedication, then loads of blood should show loads of dedication, right?” Ewron asked, already sounding convinced by his own argument. His hands began moving through the air as he spoke, as though he was physically assembling the idea in front of them. “That’s just how numbers work. If one sacrifice is good, then loads of sacrifices should be really good, and then we’d get ridiculously powerful gifts and nobody would be able to tell us what to do anymore.” The excitement in his voice grew with every sentence. “We’d take over the world. And every person who was mean to us would be absolutely terrified. The Federation would be terrified. The priests would be terrified. Everybody would look at us and go, ‘Oh no, look how powerful they are,’ and then we’d win.”

Then Ewron suddenly thrust his hand forward.

“Ash. Pinky promise you’ll help me kill everyone.”

The request was delivered with complete sincerity. Ewron’s little finger remained extended toward him, waiting patiently while his tail swished back and forth across the blanket behind him. 

Ash looked at the offered finger for a moment and hooked his own around it.

“I promise.”

Ewron practically folded in on himself with excitement. His tail thumped repeatedly against the mattress. He gave their linked fingers an extra shake for good measure, apparently determined to make the promise as official as possible.

The excitement of their promises, revenge plans, and future world domination gradually began to lose against exhaustion.

Ewron was the first to yawn. The sound escaped him, interrupting whatever thought he had been in the middle of, forcing him to blink several times afterward as though surprised by his own body's betrayal.

Slowly, the two of them settled beneath the blanket, shoulders occasionally bumping together whenever one of them shifted. Ewron somehow managed to occupy most of the mattress despite being smaller. His tail ended up draped across the blanket between them, and every now and then it twitched lazily whenever he adjusted his position.

At some point during the night, Ash had managed to fall asleep.

When he woke again, it was because something heavy suddenly landed across his shoulders.

For one disorienting moment, panic surged through him before his mind had fully caught up with reality. His heart lurched painfully against his ribs as he jerked awake, the room around him still blurred by sleep and unfamiliar enough to send sharp alarm rushing through his chest.

Where-

A face suddenly appeared directly above his own.

“Dzień dobry!”

Ash nearly headbutted him. Ewron’s grin stretched from ear to ear as he hovered over him, one arm planted on either side of Ash's shoulders while his hair hung messily around his face.

Despite the initial scare, Ash felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“What does that mean?” he asked quietly.

“It means hello!” Ewron straightened from his hovering position and stretched, raising his arms high above his head, nearly tipping sideways off the mattress before catching himself at the last second. “Do you want to go to the forest with me?” he asked. Then, as though a new idea had suddenly struck him, his eyes brightened. “We could eat breakfast outside, that would be fun! Wait for me here!”

Ewron was already halfway across the room and a second later the door slammed shut behind him.

The room had already filled with soft morning light and for a few moments Ash simply remained where he was, blinking sleep from his eyes while trying to remember where he was. Slowly, he sat up and pushed a hand through his messy curls before turning toward the window. Outside, leaves swayed gently somewhere beyond the glass while sunlight flashed between the branches, scattering patches of gold across the forest beyond.

Ash found himself staring. He didn’t know what the day would bring - nobody had decided those things for him. It felt exciting.

The door suddenly burst open.

“I got food!” Ewron appeared carrying a small, wicker basket, holding it up and swaying around. Ash’s grin widened at the sight of several pieces of bread sticking out from beneath the cloth covering the top.

Then Ewron pressed a finger dramatically against his lips.

“Shh, cichutko.” Ewron pointed toward the window, then at himself, then at the basket, then back toward the window again. “We’re going to be sneaky.”

Ewron dragged the chair across the floor and positioned it beneath the window before climbing onto it. Standing on his tiptoes, he pushed the window open wider and fresh morning air flooded into the room. Ash took a deep breath.

“Come on!” Ewron chuckled, waving him over. Ash climbed off the bed and joined him beside the window. “I’m going first, then you hand me our food, yes?” Without waiting for an answer, Ewron thrust the basket into Ash's arms.

Then he pulled himself up through the opening with practiced ease, making it painfully obvious that this was far from the first time he had escaped through that window. For a moment only his legs remained visible, kicking slightly as he squeezed through, before those disappeared too.

Two hands suddenly appeared through the window, palms opening and closing expectantly.

“Basket time.”

Ash walked over and handed the basket to the outstretched arms, watching as Ewron carefully pulled it through to the other side. A moment later Ewron's face appeared in the opening.

“And it’s your turn now.”

The window suddenly looked much smaller than it had yesterday. Still, he climbed onto the chair and reached toward Ewron’s hand. The moment their fingers touched, Ewron grabbed hold of him with a surprisingly strong grip.

“Okay,” Ewron said. “Don’t fall.”

“I won’t.” Ash pushed against the stone wall with one foot while Ewron pulled from above, the two of them working together in a manner that felt considerably less coordinated than either of them probably intended.  For a moment Ash became convinced he was going to get stuck halfway through the opening, but with one final pull from Ewron he managed to squeeze the rest of the way through.

Fresh morning air brushed against his face and the next thing he knew, he was sprawled across the grass with Ewron trapped somewhere underneath him.

Ewron burst out laughing, the sound so sudden and contagious that Ash found himself laughing too.

Slowly, he pushed himself upright before offering Ewron a hand. The red-haired boy grabbed it, allowing himself to be pulled back to his feet.

“Come on!” Ewron's grip tightened around his and he snatched the basket from the ground with his free hand and took off toward the forest, nearly dragging Ash after him.

“Ewron!” Ash laughed as he stumbled forward, adjusting his hold on Ewron’s hand and feeling the cuts scattered across his palm.

Leaves brushed against their clothes as they ran. Branches swayed gently overhead while birds called somewhere deeper within the woods, their songs drifting between the trees as sunlight flashed through the canopy above them.

By the time they finally slowed down, both of them were breathing heavily, laughter still lingering between them as they made their way through the last stretch of forest. Ash had long since stopped paying attention to where they were going, too focused on keeping up with Ewron as the red-haired boy continued weaving effortlessly between trees.

“This is the best spot ever,” Ewron declared proudly.

The trees opened around them, revealing a small clearing hidden deep within the forest. Several enormous trees stood around the edges, with roots twisting across the ground, while fallen trunks rested between them, weathered smooth by time. And everywhere Ash looked, purple flowers grew. Lavender - the name surfaced from some half-forgotten page he had read long ago.

Clusters of lavender stretched across the clearing, filling the space with shades of violet that stood out vividly against the surrounding green. The rich scent lingered in the air, and Ash found himself pausing for a moment, caught off guard by how different it was from anything he had ever known.

Without thinking, he took another deep breath, letting the fragrance settle somewhere deep inside his chest. 

“It smells amazing, right? Always makes me feel better.”  Ewron crouched beside one of the bushes and plucked a small sprig of lavender before hopping back to his feet. Bringing it to his nose, he inhaled deeply and let his eyes drift shut for a moment. He gave the flower a small wave through the air before extending it toward Ash. “You should have one.” A grin spread across his face. 

“What do I do with it?” Ash carefully took the flower between his fingers.

“You can hide it inside a book so it dries,” Ewron explained, nodding enthusiastically before plucking another lavender stem for himself. He lifted it to his nose and took a deep breath. “Then you can keep it forever, and if you ever feel sad, you can smell it and maybe feel a little better.”

Ash lowered his eyes to the flower resting in his hand and carefully tucked the lavender into his pocket. The idea felt strangely important.

Meanwhile, Ewron dropped onto one of the fallen trunks and proudly placed the basket between them. Folding back the cloth covering it revealed several fresh buns, a handful of berries gathered into one corner, and pieces of cheese wrapped neatly in cloth.

Ash’s eyes widened and his mouth instantly watered at both the sight and the smell of the bread.

As they sat together beneath the trees, the buns were still soft, the crust slightly crisp while the inside remained warm. The berries stained their fingers purple, leaving small marks across their skin that Ewron proudly declared looked like blood. He grabbed Ash’s hands for inspection and seemed deeply satisfied with the result.

At some point, as the food gradually disappeared, Ash tilted his face toward the sunlight and simply enjoyed the feeling of its warmth resting against his skin.

Beside him, Ewron had stretched himself comfortably against the fallen tree trunk, lazily kicking his feet through the grass while Ash turned the lavender stem between his fingers. For a while neither of them spoke. Ash closed his eyes and listened to the forest around them, letting the warmth settle into his skin.

Then he felt that uncomfortable sensation of somebody looking at him, a feeling that years of living in the laboratory had made so easy to notice. 

Ash opened his eyes to find Ewron staring directly at him.

“What?” he asked, confused.

Ewron tilted his head slightly.

“Your hair is a mess.” Ewron stood up and stepped around the fallen trunk before stopping beside him, studying the dark curls spilling across Ash’s shoulders with obvious fascination. “Can I braid it?” He pointed at his hair as though clarification was necessary. “It’s really long, and I’ve never braided hair this curly before.”

People had touched his hair. Pulled it, examined it, and occasionally moved it aside while looking for something else.

“…Okay,” he said instead, because he trusted Ewron.

The red-haired boy dropped into the grass behind him, scooting closer with barely contained excitement. Ash heard leaves rustle, followed by the unmistakable sound of Ewron rubbing his hands together.

“Oh, this is going to be great.”

Ash felt fingers slide carefully into his hair and his shoulders tensed - yet the discomfort he expected never came. Ewron’s fingers moved gently through the dark curls, separating strands one at a time while quietly muttering to himself whenever he encountered a knot.

Slowly, Ash found himself relaxing. The tension eased, his eyes drifted shut, and he leaned into the touch unconsciously.

“Braids are important, you know. The priests wear them sometimes and they all mean different things, except I don’t actually remember what most of them mean because every time somebody tries explaining it I get distracted halfway through, which is probably why I had to learn how to braid them myself, because nobody wanted to explain it a fifth time.”

“That's not fair,” Ash interrupted. “You just need more tries.” Ash picked at one of the lavender flowers growing beside the fallen trunk. “We had that in the laboratory too. Sometimes they would explain something and then get annoyed when we didn’t understand. But later we’d find a way to explain it to each other instead.” His fingers turned the flower stem slowly. “Sometimes for the fifth time.”

Ewron hummed in thought.

“Anyway,” he said. “they made me sit still for an entire afternoon and I hated it because sitting still is awful and I wanted to leave, so I started playing with bits of string instead, and then I learned how to tie knots, and then bigger knots, and then really complicated knots, and then somebody looked at what I was doing and told me they were basically braids.” His fingers worked another section of hair loose. 

At some point Ash heard fabric rustle behind him, followed by the sound of somebody digging through their pockets. He cracked one eye open just in time to see Ewron pull out a thin red ribbon. A few careful tugs followed as Ewron secured the end of the braid, his tongue briefly sticking out in concentration.

Then he heard the rustle of grass and turned slightly, just enough to see Ewron crouching beside one of the lavender bushes and plucking several flowers. He returned a moment later and carefully tucked the lavender into the braid, one blossom at a time - adjusting each of them with surprising patience before moving on to the next.

Finally, after placing the last flower, Ewron sat back against the fallen trunk and admired his work.

“Done!”

Ash reached back and carefully pulled the braid over his shoulder. Several curls had already escaped in places, stubbornly refusing to remain contained, but the braid itself felt secure. One thick braid ran down the length of his hair, while two smaller ones had been woven into it. Lavender flowers rested among the dark curls, making the purple petals stand out.

“It looks good,” he admitted quietly. “You said they have meanings. What does this braid mean?”

“It doesn’t have a meaning, because I didn’t want you to wear a braid from the temple,” Ewron explained. “This is your braid. You can make your own meaning!”

Ash lowered his eyes to the braid resting across his shoulder, his fingers gliding carefully over the lavender flowers.

“Can it be... our secret braid?” he asked.

Ewron gasped.

“Like a secret vow to becoming really powerful?”

“And killing everyone who hurts us,” Ash added with a firm nod.

“We should learn how to fight then,” Ewron declared. “If we’re going to get revenge one day, we need to know how.”

“That makes sense.” Ash pushed himself to his feet and spotted a fallen branch nearby. He picked it up and gave it an experimental swing through the air. “Fighting was part of my training,” he explained. “They said we needed to know how to defend ourselves.”

“Woah! Hold on, hold on.” Ewron laughed and took a quick step backward with both hands raised. “I wasn’t expecting you to start immediately.”

“You said we needed training.” Ash felt a smile tugging at his lips.

“I did say that,” Ewron admitted, still laughing as he began circling through the clearing. The makeshift sword remained firmly in Ash’s hand as he slowly matched Ewron’s movements. “Hey now,” Ewron said, sounding more delighted than concerned.

“You need to learn.” Ash stepped forward and swung.

The branch narrowly missed Ewron’s side as the red-haired boy darted out of the way with surprising speed. He continued backing away, keeping his eyes fixed on Ash while a wicked grin slowly spread across his face.

“If you want to fight me,” he said, “you need to catch me first.” Then he winked, spun around, and bolted.

Ash watched the red-haired menace tear across the clearing.

“Ewron!” He gave chase and the answering laughter drifted through the forest ahead of him.

A fallen tree appeared in his path and Ewron vaulted over it. Ash followed a second later, landing heavily on the other side before having to duck beneath a low branch that Ewron had somehow managed to avoid without even slowing down.

Every time Ash thought he had finally figured out where he was going, the red-haired boy abruptly changed direction again, slipping between trees. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground, his laughter carrying through the forest while tail swished wildly behind him, acting as a bright red warning of where he was about to be one second before he vanished somewhere else entirely. Ash was beginning to suspect this was less a fight and more a hunt.

“Hey!” Ash shouted, trying and failing not to laugh. “That’s not fair!”

“Don’t give up!” Ewron twisted around while running backward, nearly losing his balance when his shirt caught on a branch and for one moment it looked as though he was about to crash face-first into the ground, his arms windmilling while he fought to stay upright - only to recover at the very last second and dissolve into laughter before taking off again.

Ash's lungs were beginning to burn from the effort, yet he found himself smiling anyway, because every time he got close enough to think he might finally catch him, Ewron somehow slipped away.

Ahead of them, the forest floor suddenly dropped away into a low rocky ledge no taller than a person.

Ahead of them, the forest floor suddenly dropped away into a low rocky ledge no taller than a person.

Ewron slowed down and Ash saw his chance. He lunged forward, reaching as far as he could, and his fingers finally brushed against the red tail swishing behind Ewron before slapping it.

Ewron let out an offended yelp.

“Got you!” Ash laughed, unable to stop smiling.

“No, you didn’t!” Ewron jumped down from the ledge, landing safely on the forest floor beneath it before quickly retreating several steps.

“You’re supposed to stop when I catch you!” Ash shouted from above. 

“But you didn’t catch me, you tapped me!”

Ash stared for a moment, then let out a laugh.

“You want me to tackle you to the ground?”

“I don’t know, maybe!” The answer arrived with complete sincerity. Ewron disappeared behind a cluster of trees, his laughter lingering behind him as he vanished deeper into the forest.

Ash shook his head and prepared to jump down after him, when a hand closed around the back of his collar and yanked him backward hard.

Everything inside him froze.

The laughter ahead continued to echo through the trees, but it sounded strangely distant now, swallowed beneath the rush of blood roaring in his ears as another hand clamped firmly over his mouth.

Ash caught a glimpse of smooth white skin and recognized it. He didn’t need to see the face, because he already knew who had found him. The world around him warped as glitches burst beneath his skin, purple light flickering wildly across his arms and neck. He threw himself against the grip holding him, twisting desperately in an attempt to wrench himself free, but it was useless. The hand fisted in the back of his collar never loosened, no matter how hard he struggled.

His nails dug into the worker’s wrist, his feet scraped desperately against the ground as he kicked and fought for purchase, his shoulders twisting hard enough to ache while panic surged through every part of him.

Somewhere ahead, Ewron was still laughing - the sound drifting through the trees was bright and completely unaware of what was happening behind him.

He tried to scream Ewron’s name, but every attempt died against the hand clamped firmly over his mouth.

Some years later…

Ewron had been only half-listening for several minutes now, leaning lazily against the wooden railing of the cruise ship while conversations drifted around him from every direction. The sun hung low over the sea as golden light spilled across the deck, painting long shadows between the groups of people scattered around the ship.

Somebody was laughing nearby while somebody else was trying and failing to tell a coherent story. Nexe was saying something too, probably important, though Ewron had stopped paying attention somewhere in the middle of it.

Normally he would have listened, or at least pretended to. Instead, his gaze kept wandering through the crowd, moving from person to person as he noticed the way people carried themselves, the pauses before they spoke, and the little tells they thought nobody else saw. Some looked powerful, some looked useful, and some were doing exactly what he was, scanning the deck while pretending not to and quietly taking stock of who else had been invited aboard. Most people, however, weren’t worth more than a glance.

Which was why the flicker of purple - a brief distortion in reality itself - caught his attention.

He felt his stomach drop at the sight of it. His ears twitched and his attention snapped away from Nexe entirely, the rest of the conversation dissolving into meaningless background noise as he straightened against the railing.

He was hiding his face beneath a white hood, its edges embroidered with red symbols belonging to the deity he served, as he pushed away from the railing and began moving forward, ignoring the surprised sound Nexe made behind him.

He tried to appear casual as his gaze swept across the deck in search of another flicker, hoping it hadn't been a trick of the light.

Because after all this time, it couldn’t possibly be him.

The deck suddenly felt too crowded, too loud, and far too small. Conversations blurred together with the distant sound of waves striking the hull while his eyes remained locked on the disturbance, following it through the shifting sea of people moving around the ship.

Somebody greeted him as he walked past, but Ewron ignored them. He turned, searching for the distortion in the light, and for a brief moment he thought he had lost it among the crowd.

Then he saw him. Standing by the railing and looking out across the water.

Ewron paused mid-step, his eyes widening.

The years had changed him - of course they had. The boy from the forest no longer existed, and expecting otherwise would have been ridiculous. In his place stood a man with broad shoulders and old scars crossing brown skin, worn purple fabric wrapped around his frame and marked by travel, battles, and years Ewron had never been there to witness. Long dark curls spilled around his face and down his back, gathered into a braid that caught his attention.

Ewron felt his mouth part slightly as he stared at it.

The braid was a bit different - better than anything two children could have managed, yet the structure remained the same. One larger braid ran down the length of it while two smaller ones curved around it, tied with a red ribbon.

The purple glitches seemed more controlled now too, no longer bursting chaotically into existence, instead lingering around him in brief flickers and distortions. 

Ewron would have recognized those glitches anywhere, yet as he stood on the deck of the ship all those years later, he found himself strangely reluctant to take another step closer. 

For a long time, the only thing that had convinced him he hadn’t somehow imagined that part of his childhood had been the white plushie Ash left behind, still sitting among countless other objects he had collected over the years and yet somehow remaining the one thing he never threw out, or forgot about.

Because what if Ash wouldn’t recognize him? What if Ash remembered the laboratory, the escape, the forest and the braid, but not Ewron, the red-haired boy who had spent an afternoon stuffing lavender flowers into his hair.

Ewron bit the inside of his cheek and took another step forward, approaching the man from behind. Up close, the difference felt almost ridiculous. At some point Ash had grown taller than him by an entire head. A disbelieving laugh escaped Ewron.

“Hello, Ash.”

Ash’s head snapped toward the sound, turning with his gaze fixed on Ewron. The glitches around his face flickered harder, slipping into the same chaotic rhythm Ewron remembered from years ago.

Ash frowned as he took in the man standing in front of him, dressed in white. Ewron took a slow breath before pushing back the hood with a smile, revealing bright red hair and a pair of fluffy ears.

Ash kept staring, the confusion on his face deepened as though he were searching for something buried somewhere just beyond reach. His hand rose to his temple, pressing against it while he continued to look at him.

“Wait...” His eyes widened. “It’s you,” the words escaped almost as a whisper and relief flooded through Ewron so quickly that it left him dizzy.

“Yeah,” he said, unable to stop the smile threatening to spread across his face. “Yeah, it’s me.”

“Ewron.” Ash spoke the name slowly, testing it. “Ewron.” He repeated it again, and then frowned slightly. “I thought...” The rest of the sentence remained unfinished, but Ewron knew exactly what he meant.

The noise of the cruise ship gradually returned around them, conversations and laughter drifting across the deck once more, yet it all felt strangely distant compared to the years that seemed to have collapsed between them in the span of a few seconds. 

“Do you remember our promise?” Ewron tilted his head slightly.

The question pulled another expression from Ash, one that looked dangerously close to laughter. The tension seemed to drain from his shoulders as recognition finally settled into place, and a grin slowly spread across his face, growing wider with every passing second until he looked as though he was struggling not to laugh.

“Do you want to help me kill everyone?” Ash asked in a low voice.

“I absolutely can and will.” Ewron answered immediately.