Ryu Akakage

The Citadel buzzed quietly with the usual crowd, but I barely noticed the noise.

A few feet behind me, Yvette sat on a stool, her rifle slung over her back, the weight of it making her appear more tired than usual. 

She was fidgeting with a small hair clip, a crystal-like piece that caught the light in a way that made it look more delicate than it was.

 Her fingers worked over the clip absently, but her eyes were distant. Ever since that night, she hadn’t been herself.

I needed to find something—anything—to take her mind off it.

When I reached the counter, the receptionist barely looked up from her papers. She knew me by now. 

“Looking for a commission?” 

she asked, her voice as neutral as ever.

“Rank 5.” 

I said, keeping my tone steady and calm. 

I wasn’t seeking a challenge this time—just a distraction, something to keep Yvette busy and out of her own thoughts.

She glanced through the stack of requests and paused before pulling one free. 

“You’re in luck. We just had a Ferin sighting.” 

he looked up, as if expecting me to reconsider.

I took the slip of parchment from her hand without hesitation. 

“I’ll take it.” 

Dangerous or not, it would give Yvette something else to focus on.

The receptionist raised an eyebrow, her eyes darting toward Yvette briefly. 

“Ferins are serious. You sure about this?”

“I am.” 

I turned back toward Yvette. 

She hadn’t moved, still absently adjusting the crystal clip in her hair. Her eyes met mine for a moment, but she didn’t say anything. 

“Ready?” 

I asked, my voice low.

“Mhm...” 

she murmured, barely audible, her eyes flicking away from mine as she adjusted the clip in her hair one last time.

We left the Citadel behind, making our way through the snow-laden outskirts of Esperia. 

The cold bit at the air, but neither of us noticed much. 

The crunch of snow beneath our boots was the only sound as we walked in silence, Yvette a few steps behind me, her head lowered as if weighed down by more than just the weather.

I kept my pace steady, but my mind wasn’t on the Ferin anymore. 

It was on her. 

She hadn’t spoken much since that night, and the silence between us had grown heavier with each passing day. I knew she wasn’t okay, but Yvette never let anyone in, not even me.

The snowstorm in the distance swirled lazily, the kind that always loomed over this part of Esperia. I glanced over my shoulder at her, her face hard to read, but the tension in her shoulders was unmistakable.

“What happened, Yvette?” I finally asked, my voice breaking through the quiet. I didn’t look directly at her, giving her the space to decide if she wanted to answer.

For a long moment, there was nothing but the wind, carrying the distant howl of another storm. Then, her voice came, quiet and brittle, like something about to shatter.

“They’re gone,” she said, her words barely a whisper at first. “My family. My little sister, my brother... even my father.”

She stopped walking, her hands gripping the straps of her rifle tightly as if grounding herself in the weight of it. I turned to face her, and for the first time, I saw the depth of the pain she’d been hiding behind that silence.

“They’re all dead.”

I held her gaze for a moment longer before lowering my eyes to the ground. 

“I see...” 

was all I could manage. 

But I understand her more than anyone.

The silence that followed wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable—it was just... heavy. 

I was about to speak again, maybe tell her we should keep moving, when something caught my eye.

Ahead, just beyond the treeline, a dark shape moved, too large to be anything ordinary. 

I narrowed my eyes, focusing.

It was a Ferin, its twisted, sinewy form hunched over something in the snow—a Furrot. 

The creature’s body was limp, its once-white fur stained with blood, three lifeless eyes staring blankly into the frost.

The Ferin didn’t notice us yet, too consumed in its feeding.

I glanced back at Yvette, and without a word, she followed my gaze. 

Her hands slowly dropped from the straps of her rifle.

Without hesitation, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small crystal shard. 

It caught the light for a moment before she deftly slotted it into her rifle.

She cocked back the rifle with a smooth, practiced motion, the click of the chamber echoing through the cold. She lifted the barrel, taking aim.

Then she pulled the trigger.

The crack of the rifle echoed through the forest, sharp and clear. 

In the same instant, the crystal-empowered shot tore through the air, hitting the Ferin square in the back of the head. 

It didn’t even have time to react.

The Ferin slumped forward, collapsing on top of the lifeless Furrot, its body going limp in a heap of twisted limbs and bloodied fur.

Yvette didn’t lower the rifle right away, her eyes still locked on the creature’s corpse, as if waiting to make sure it wouldn’t rise again. 

Only when the forest returned to silence did she finally exhale, lowering the weapon.

For a moment, she stood there, staring at the lifeless bodies in the snow, her grip tightening around the rifle. 

Then, without looking at me, she spoke, her voice quiet but clear.

"My father..." 

she began, her tone distant. 

"He told me once to follow my dreams. To be happy."

I watched her, knowing there was more she hadn’t said yet.

She let out a slow breath, her eyes still fixed on the bodies before us. 

“But what good is happiness in a world like this? I’ve thought about it... and I think I know what I want now.”

She finally looked at me, her gaze resolute, her fingers brushing the crystal clip in her hair.