Professor Lucian had always been a man of few words. His stoic nature matched the desolate island we called home. There was other people on here, yes, but I was his only student, his only charge. I'm ten, full of energy and wild ideas.

While he tolerated my chatter, I could tell he hated it when I got too close. Yet there was something in his red eyes, a flicker of something softer, even if he never let it show. He cared in his own way—not in words, but in the way he always made sure I had food on the plate, place to sleep and study- like a silent promise, he will not leave me behind. Every evening, he'd sit on the cold rocks by the beach, staring out at the endless ocean, lost in thoughts I could never reach.