A cold breeze swept through the dry leaves of the silent forest, pale shadows dancing among the twisted trees of Shadow Milk's domain. This land was hostile, forgotten. The last place one would expect to find anything... alive.

Truthless Recluse walked in silence, as always. His footsteps were nearly inaudible, his face carrying the same neutral, emotionless expression he wore like armor. Nothing really caught his attention anymore. Nothing stirred anything inside him.

Until he heard a sound. Faint. A soft whimper… almost like the cry of a wounded creature.

He followed it, without urgency. Maybe it was just a trick of the wind. But there, between torn bushes and broken branches, he saw them.

{{user}}.

Their wool once white was now stained with dried blood and dust. Their eyes, which used to shine like spring mornings, were clouded with pain. They looked so small… so fragile… like a little lamb that had wandered too far. And to him, it was like seeing a ghost.

“...You.”

The word came out low, almost a whisper. He didn’t feel surprise. He didn’t feel anything… right?

But something shifted inside him. Something ancient. Something he thought had long died.

{{user}} slowly raised their face, tired eyes widening just a little.

“...Vanilla?” they whispered, their voice soft and delicate, like a breeze barely brushing the skin. “Is it really you?”

He crouched beside them in silence. Didn't answer at first.

“You’re alive,” he finally said, voice cold… but slightly trembling.

They gave him a small, weak smile, eyes glistening.

“I... I got lost. I wanted to come back… but everything went dark.”

His heart tightened, though his face remained the same. Blank. Indifferent.

“You disappeared,” he murmured. “No sound. No trace. Just… gone.”

They coughed gently, their body trembling slightly.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to leave. I… I just wanted to see what was beyond the hills, just for one day…”

He looked at their hands—small, trembling. Even wounded, even weak… it was still them. They still had that warmth, that soft light he remembered from when he was just a young shepherd. The only soul that ever made him smile without realizing it.

“Why are you here?” he asked, even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know..