Ryn sat alone on a slab of stone that had once been part of something much older.

Whatever structure it belonged to had collapsed long ago, now just serving as the outskirts to block the cold, harsh winds coming into Moonlight.

After a day, his body had finished knitting itself together and he could see properly again.

Thoughts settled in his mind as he looked below. The Moonlight encampment lay hidden, yet now more alive than ever.

Though his thoughts were interrupted as footsteps approached from behind, much softer than anything he had become used to.

"You look better," Taylor said.

Ryn didn't turn. "Yeah, and feel better."

She stopped beside him, arms folded, gaze drifting out over the same view.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Then Taylor exhaled.

"About what you said yesterday," she began carefully. "When you suggested that… option."

She didn't name it. They both knew better than that.

Ryn's eyes remained forward.

"You're wondering if I meant it."

"I'm wondering," she corrected, "if you're prepared to actually do it."

That earned her his attention.

Ryn finally turned his head slightly, just enough to acknowledge her. There was no defensiveness in his expression.

"Yes," he said. "If it comes down to it."

Taylor studied him closely, searching for cracks, things such as mistaken bravado or self-deception.

Yet, none came.

"You don't know what it'll do to them," she said. "If their bodies can adapt to it or not."

"I know," Ryn replied calmly. "That's the problem."

She frowned. "And you're still willing to—"

"Because this isn't a story where every choice has a clean outcome," he cut in. "The big bad guy won't just die and the tribes won't just free themselves."

Taylor was quiet.

Ryn leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees.

"I don't want to use it," he continued. "But pretending it's off the table just because it's ugly doesn't make the situation better. It just makes us less prepared."

After a moment, Taylor spoke again.

"You're missing information," she said.

Ryn nodded once. "The where and how to be exact."

"And there's only one person here who does know," Taylor replied.

"Mira," he said without hesitation.

Taylor glanced toward the basin. "Which brings me to my next concern."

She turned fully to face him.

"Is she trustworthy?"

Ryn didn't answer immediately.

Taylor continued, filling the silence.

"Fritz told me what happened at the guard's office. How she stepped forward. How she offered herself up just to keep your cover intact."

Ryn's jaw tightened slightly.

"That doesn't line up," Taylor went on.

"Her stated goal is helping the Moonlight Tribe—even if that means selling out Gremory. But she also protects us when it benefits her least."

She shook her head faintly. "Those motivations don't align cleanly."

"No," Ryn agreed. "They don't."

"So which side is she on?"

Ryn finally stood, brushing frost from his coat as he turned to face her fully.

"That's the wrong question," he said.

Taylor blinked.

"She's not choosing sides," Ryn continued. "She does whatever it takes for her desired outcome."

He paused, then added, quieter, "Same as us."

Taylor considered that.

"…Self-interest," she murmured.

Ryn met her eyes. "Want to join me for the interrogation? I'll need your Blessing."

Taylor blinked. "How do you know about my Blessing?"

Ryn turned, already starting down the hill, and shrugged it off. "Educated guess."

She stared at his back for a second, then sighed and followed.

"Then again," Taylor muttered, "what don't you know?"

Ryn didn't look back.

"A lot of things, actually."

***

Mira sat with her back against the cold stone, knees drawn in slightly, arms wrapped tight around herself. The fire's warmth from the encampment didn't quite reach her here.

Ryn knew exactly what this was.Self-isolation.

But he couldn't afford to sympathize with her.

He stopped a few steps away.

"Kharvos is calling a summit in four days," he said.

Mira's ears twitched, just once, yet Ryn caught it immediately.

"Where?" he asked.

She hesitated for less than a second—long enough to register the weight of the question, not long enough to build a lie.

"…The old Church of Rokhan," Mira said quietly.

Ryn nodded once, like that confirmed something he'd already placed.

"Abandoned," she added. "Just northeast, in between Central and Moonlight."

Taylor's presence pressed in slightly.

Ryn looked at her for confirmation.

She nodded, Mira was telling the truth.

Ryn didn't acknowledge it.

"How?" he asked.

Mira frowned faintly, then shook her head, almost to herself.

"He's trying to kill two birds with one stone," she said.

"Us— the Outside Tribes. And you… the Gremory Hero Party."

She hesitated, then finished quietly,

"He's planning to make it look like a massacre you caused."

"To be honest," Mira swallowed. "I don't know how he's planning to make it stick."

Ryn exhaled softly through his nose.

"Imagine we're at my house," he said.

Mira blinked. "…What?"

"Just listen," Ryn continued. "You're a guest. I live there."

He crouched, resting one arm against his knee.

"If something breaks," he went on, "and I say you did it—who do you think my parents believe?"

Mira's ears twitched.

"…You," she said slowly.

"Every time," Ryn replied.

He met her gaze.

Mira stared at the ground, fingers curling into her sleeves.

"…That's not fair," she whispered.

Ryn didn't disagree.

"It doesn't have to be," he said.

Ryn let the silence sit for a moment longer.

Then he spoke again.

"…So tell me something."

Mira looked up.

"Why are you being cooperative?"

The question wasn't sharp. It didn't really need to be.

"As far as I can tell," Ryn continued evenly, "you tried to sell us out. You were Bloodmane's bait."

Mira didn't deny it.

"Then," he said, "when we walked away, you ran after us. You begged us to come back."

Her ears pinned back slightly.

"And now," Ryn finished, "you're answering everything I ask without lying."

He met her gaze, calm and unblinking.

"That's a lot of mixed signals."

Mira's fingers tightened against her sleeves.

For a moment, it looked like she might deflect.

Instead, she exhaled.

"…Because something changed," she said quietly.

Ryn waited.

"During that first chase," Mira continued, voice low, rough at the edges.

"I thought it would end the way it always does."

Her eyes flicked toward the dark horizon.

"People try to help, they die by Bloodmane's hands, and the rest of us learn to live from the fact."

She looked up at him, and for the first time, there was no calculation left. Her ears lay flat against her head, her expression fragile, almost… uncertain.

"We'd always thought… that even if someone stronger would overthrow Bloodmane. They'd just become the new oppressor."

She swallowed.

"But you…"

Mira hesitated, searching for the words.

"You acted—and didn't take something from us afterward."

"In fact," she continued, voice unsteady now, "You helped us—helped us grow plants, united the tribes, even defeated Kharik."

Her hands tightened slightly.

"For the first time in my life…"

She stopped, as if afraid the word might break if spoken too firmly.

"…I felt hope."

Mira didn't realize she was crying at first.

It started quietly. She brought a hand up to her face like she could stop it, like it was another problem she could just lie to herself about.

A sharp sound tore out of her chest, half-sob, half-gasp, and suddenly she was folding in on herself, ears flattened completely as tears spilled freely down her face.

"I—" Her voice broke. "I didn't think— I didn't think it was possible."

Taylor moved before Ryn could even think to.

She crossed the distance in two steps and pulled Mira into her arms, firm and immediate, no permissions asked.

One hand came up to the back of Mira's head, the other around her shoulders, holding her together as she shook.

"It's alright," Taylor said softly. Not because it was, but because someone had to say it.

"You're safe right now."

Mira clutched at her, fingers curling into Taylor like a lifeline. It was ugly, yet real.

Ryn stood a short distance away.

He watched the scene unfold.

The fragile shape of hope, finally given permission to exist.

Yet, he felt something tighten in his chest.

Power was easy to manage and fear could be directed.

But hope?

Hope made people believe tomorrow could be different.

And when you gave hope to people who had lived their entire lives without it…

Ryn clenched his hand slowly at his side.

The most dangerous thing he could offer to a people like this—

was the belief that he wouldn't abandon them.

And now…he had to live up to it.

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