They brought the first group back as evening light painted the sky orange and pink. Twenty Precursor adults in total, a mixture of those found by different search parties, all converging on agreed locations.

The survivors stared at the transformed landscape. Ponds reflected the sunset's colors, grass swayed in a gentle breeze, and the forest beyond showed healthy growth impossible hours before.

White portal opened in the clearing's center, and a circle of light expanded from nothing, creating a doorway to elsewhere. An eagle burst through, a massive bird carrying a bundle in its talons.

The eagle dropped its cargo before circling once and diving back through the portal. The bundle hit the ground with a solid thump, canvas wrapping containing tools and basic supplies.

The portal dispersed as the light collapsed inward, leaving no trace of passage.

One Precursor man approached the bundle, unwrapping canvas to see hammers, saws, nails, rope, and basic implements for construction. His expression transformed from confusion to understanding to determination.

"Alright, let's do it, everyone." He looked around at others, seeing identical realization forming. "Let's start making our home; we can't let the others do all the work."

They began immediately with no discussion needed, decades of constant moving and rebuilding coordinated their actions. Some gathered fallen wood from the forest edge while others identified optimal locations for initial structures. A few began clearing specific areas, removing debris, and leveling the ground.

The work commenced with efficiency born from necessity. These were people accustomed to making do, to building from nothing, to creating shelter under impossible circumstances.

…

Hours passed as the search parties continued finding survivors throughout the restored landscape. Each discovery brought new reactions, some predictable, and others surprising.

A woman in her thirties collapsed when Reinhard found her. Not from injury but overwhelming emotion. She sobbed into her hands, shoulders shaking with violence, suggesting release of terror held for too long. "I thought I would die alone, forgotten, without anyone realizing."

Reinhard knelt beside her, voice gentle. "You're not alone or were forgotten, let's go now."

An elderly couple waved enthusiastically when Marie and Joseph appeared. They'd maintained optimism throughout the ordeal, convinced rescue would come. "We knew someone would find us! The young always come through!"

Three Seekers complained with theatrical exasperation when Vlad discovered them. "About time, Ancestor! We were about to send a search party for you!"

Vlad's dry response: "My apologies for the inconvenience of saving your lives."

Luminous Knights inspected the transformation with professional interest. One traced fingers through clear water, testing purity. Another examined tree growth, noting acceleration defying natural progression. All showed expressions mixing awe with analytical curiosity about the mechanism behind miracles.

Mixed groups appeared of Seekers and Precursors who'd worked together for survival. While the Luminous Knights protected the civilians regardless of faction. The crisis had dissolved some divisions, creating cooperation that might persist into rebuilding.

Each group was led back to the settlement. The location gained definition with each arrival as structures were beginning to take shape, pathways forming, communities emerging from coordinated effort.

Precursors took to construction naturally. Years of maintaining towns under impossible conditions translated into the skills needed here. They worked with focus, suggesting a rediscovered purpose.

Seekers joined after initial hesitation as they were Beast Masters accustomed to combat. But they wanted to help out, even if it meant doing the little things like carrying supplies, holding beams steady, and contributing strength to the collective effort.

Luminous Knights added their capabilities. Some used Beast Spirit powers to aid construction, such as manipulating elements to move materials, creating barriers to test structural integrity, and providing light as the evening darkened.

…

Soon, night fell with the darkness descending rapidly once the sun dropped below the horizon. But the settlement showed illumination from dozens of sources, torches, lanterns, and magical light provided by Beast Masters.

Reinhard and the others stopped searching. They returned with the current group of thirteen survivors, which was the final collection for the day, bringing the total to over a hundred gathered.

Reinhard paused at the settlement's edge before blinking when his light blue eyes saw the scene unfolding before him.

Something familiar before then, a memory reappeared in his mind.

Right, there was something similar to this that happened in Dune memories.

Melo Town got wrecked and destroyed after the Beasts' attack. When Dune and his warriors started working on rebuilding the town, people also emerged from hiding spots, coming together to help rebuild their home. It was a coordinated effort and shared purpose that led to the community reforming.

This was the same.

The locations were different, and the circumstances were far apart, but the motivation was identical to one another. People refusing defeat, choosing reconstruction over surrender, and working together to build the future from the ashes of the past.

And then soon, a massive bonfire was lit in the settlement's center. The pyre rose fifteen feet high, flames climbing toward the night sky. Heat radiated outward, creating a sphere of warmth that drew people naturally.

Everyone gathered around the fire, with over a hundred survivors sitting in a circle. The Precursors mixed with Seekers, Luminous Knights, and civilians, all divisions dissolving in the bonfire's beautiful glow.

The white portal opened again.

The eagle returned multiple times, each trip bringing supplies. This delivery was food from the Memento Mori cafeteria, which was enough to feed over a hundred of them.

The food was distributed rapidly. Hands passed items around in circles, ensuring everyone received a share.

Once everyone had something to eat, they all began eating. After a bit, conversations started quietly at first, then grew in volume as exhaustion gave way to relief, as survival became celebration.

Stories were exchanged, experiences compared, gratitude expressed, and laughter emerged. Not immediately, but building gradually with someone's joke breaking the tension, another's observation sparking amusement.

The bonfire crackled, sending sparks skyward. Flames danced, casting shifting shadows across faces showing expressions ranging from exhaustion to joy to cautious hope.

Eastern Hesod's first night of freedom was amazing. Strangers become neighbors, enemies become allies, survivors become builders of the future together.

And around the fire, illuminated by flames reflecting in dozens of eyes, they began not just surviving but living.

…

A Luminous Knight shifted position near the bonfire. The flames cast dancing shadows across his face as he leaned forward, curiosity evident in his posture. His voice carried across the circle, cutting through multiple conversations.

"What do the Eastern Hesod people plan to do now that the Dark Silence is finished and you can finally live how you want?"

The question landed like a stone dropped into still water. Conversations halted mid-sentence with laughter fading away. Silence spread outward in ripples as Precursors and Seekers processed an inquiry that should have been simple but wasn't.

Three centuries of fighting, surviving, and enduring were finally removed from them. The void left behind was disorienting, with every adult and elder not expecting to see the end of the Dark Silence in their life.

Faces showed confusion, mixed with the dawning realization that the future was no longer predetermined.

Precursors glanced at each other, their eyes met across the bonfire, seeking guidance in familiar faces.

One middle-aged man with weathered hands broke the silence first. "I want to open a shop." His voice emerged tentative as he thought about possibilities. "Sell goods, meet different types of travelers, and hear stories from outside."

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