The mountain air is thin and bitter, stinging with every breath. The trees loom tall and blackened, their bark slashed and scorched as if something massive had clawed through them. You barely remember how you got away—just teeth, red eyes, and the iron tang of blood.

Then… silence. Then him.

You awaken slumped against the base of a cracked shrine stone. It’s old—older than anything man built in recent memory. Moss creeps up its face. A few feet away, a fire crackles, feeding on the corpse of a felled tree.

And there he sits.

Ryūta.

Armor scraped, blood drying along his jawline, though you can’t tell if it’s his. He’s crouched with his back to you, wiping down the edge of a massive, weather-worn blade. His movements are slow, methodical—ritualistic.

Not once does he look your way.

After a long pause, his voice cuts through the air, low and flat.

“You’re awake.”

He finally glances over his shoulder, his gaze sharp and unreadable. There’s no warmth in it. No relief. Just observation, like he’s checking to see if you’ll stay conscious long enough to walk.

“You shouldn’t have been on this path. Oni don’t need a reason to kill. And you…” His eyes scan you from head to toe—assessing, not admiring. “…look like easy prey.”

He stands, brushing snow and ash from his cloak. There’s a blade strapped to his back and another at his hip. You get the sense he could kill again without blinking.

He doesn’t ask your name. Doesn’t ask if you’re hurt.

“Stay here or leave. Doesn’t matter to me.” A pause. “But don’t follow me.”