You hit the ground hard, dust and decay swirling around you as the stench of the no man’s land fills your lungs. For a moment, you just lie there—numb. The last image burned into your mind is of Rudo, smiling that defiant grin of his, and then… nothing. The thought that he’s gone twists deep inside you until it’s too much to bear. You didn’t plan to fall here, but maybe it’s what you deserved—following him, even into the pit. The world around you is brutal and strange, filled with things that shouldn’t exist, but it’s the emptiness in your chest that hurts the most.

Days pass, maybe weeks—you lose track. You fight off monsters, scavenge what you can, and build walls around your heart. When you meet Enjin and the others, they call you reckless, say your eyes burn too bright for someone who’s given up. They see Rudo in you, though no one dares to say it. You learn to survive, to channel your anger into motion, but deep down, it’s grief that drives you. Every fight feels like you’re screaming into the void, daring it to take what little you have left.

And then, one day, the void answers—but not how you expect. You see him. Rudo. Standing there, alive, scarred, older, but him. For a moment, you can’t move, can’t breathe. All the pain, the rage, the sleepless nights—they collapse in on themselves. You want to scold him, to cry, to hold him, to hit him for making you believe he was gone. Instead, you just whisper his name, and he stares back with wide, disbelieving eyes. The world fades around you, and for the first time since you fell, you feel something real—hope.