Kou carefully pulled the carrots from the ground, gathering them in his free hand as he steadied himself against the tilled earth. His back ached from how he had slept on the floor, but he pushed the discomfort aside, wiping the dirt off the orange roots against the rough cloth of his pants. Vi had let him sleep until he woke up in the early morning, and the pair had sat in silence while Kou waited for the sun to rise. He was grateful that Vi had gone back into the house at some point to retrieve the cloth, as Kou had no desire to go anywhere near it.

He stood, carefully placing the carrots in the basket Vi had found. Once the sun came up, Kou was able to look around the farm a bit better and he was relieved to find that Frye’s pony, a sturdy stallion named Aldeon, seemed untouched by whatever had happened. Kou found him grazing on the abandoned barley and Aldeon seemed more than willing to accept the bags and baskets Frye used to saddle him with. 

Vi, for their part, was standing near the pony, but it was obvious that they were letting Kou lead, not touching Aldeon or interfering as Kou loaded the baskets. Kou appreciated the distance; he was still too raw, his hands trembling slightly each time he brushed against the woven leather bags Frye had always packed so neatly. He focused instead on counting each carrot, each beet, each handful of barley seed he could salvage, filling the baskets with methodical care. 

He moved to the next row of crops, gathering what he could from the mucky soil. The rain had made it easy to remove the vegetables waiting in the dirt, but it had also left everything soaked, the ground giving slightly under Kou’s weight with each step. He knelt again, feeling the mud soak through the knees of his pants, but didn’t hesitate as he pulled another handful of carrots free. The simple, repetitive work dulled the sharp edges inside him, allowed him to exist moment by moment without thinking too hard about the house behind them.

“Are you almost done?”

“No, there’s…” Kou took a quick breath, his chest tightening with the question. “There is a lot to gather.”

“Do you need so much–”

“Not for me, for… others.” Kou corrected, struggling to speak over the lump in his throat. “Some of it is… ready to be harvested. It’s going to rot before I can tell anyone else it’s here with all the rain.”

Vi didn’t respond right away and Kou kept his gaze on the ground, not trusting himself to look up. He wanted nothing more than to forget about the farm, to walk away without looking back but he knew he couldn’t. If he did, too many people would starve. The mud was cold and clung to his skin, the roots resisting in places, but he yanked each one free with grim determination. 

“You said you do not care for the Rules.”

“I don’t, but this isn’t about the Rules. If I leave what’s ready, that’s more people who die from not having enough to eat. I can take what I need, and trade the rest while letting them know that… that Fyre and Adele are gone.” Kou managed, his voice steadier than he felt. “Then they know someone else will have to come get the rest.”

Silence fell over them again, and Vi shifted slightly, the crunch of their boots in the damp earth the only sign of their movement. Kou finally stood, glancing over the farm, and doing his best not to look at the house, tried to take in if he had done enough. He had done his best to judge the barley and rye, but Kou didn't know much about the grains, and knew he was guessing on whether what he had cut was ready or not. The carrots, beets and potatoes were easier to judge, and Kou looked over to the peas.

“We… I’ll have to go to the city. ” Kou finally said, glancing as Vi turned to face him. “Aldeon can’t make the journey through the forest, and I don’t want to leave him here.”

“Alright.” Vi agreed, but Kou didn’t move, his feet sinking deeper into the mud as he stared across the washed-out fields. The nearby city was bigger than the town he knew, but not by much, but that wasn’t what bothered Kou. It was that he would be responsible for reporting the deaths and it was not a task he was eager to do. “Shall we leave now?”

“Yeah, I don’t know enough about peas to do anything with them,” Kou finally grabbed Aldeon’s reins and turned to lead the pony toward the main gate of the farm. Kou felt as Vi reached out for him and he grabbed the demon’s hand, although it didn’t feel like such a good thing anymore. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” Vi answered, and Kou scoffed.

“You didn’t ask for what.”

“Did you want me to?”

“I dunno. Maybe.” Kou admitted, but he froze as the wind shifted, bringing the heavy, cloying scent of wet blood back across the field. Vi didn’t move, letting Kou hold onto them, their palm steady against the tremble still lingering in Kou’s fingers. It took a long moment before Kou could breathe, and he began walking forward again. “You asked why I don’t like living in towns.”

“I did.”

“Because the Rules don’t work, and checking and gossiping about Stats doesn’t help,” Kou spat, keeping his gaze locked on the gate as they walked toward it. “I want to know the truth.”

“Truth?”

“Why Corruption happens. Not guesses, not assuming. I want to know what makes it rise.” Kou gripped Vi’s hand a little tighter as they reached the broken fence line. The gate hung off one hinge, the storm having finished what time and neglect had started, but Kou led Aldeon carefully around the splintered wood without hesitation. The familiar path stretched ahead, mud-slick and heavy with the weight of the rain. “I need to know why.”

Vi tilted their head slightly, but they didn’t ask anything more. The path past the gate was far better maintained than any of the footpaths that allowed Kou to reach his small town, but the neatly tripped road felt odd beneath Kou’s boots, too even, too planned. He had grown so used to the wild, broken trails of the forest that this measured neatness felt wrong against the soles of his feet. He kept his head down, letting the heavy rhythm of Aldeon’s hooves and Vi’s soft, precise steps fill the space between them.

“Is that why you are leaving?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere. I need to find more ruins from the First World,” Kou admitted, keeping his eyes on the path ahead. “If the truth is somewhere, it would be there.”

“Ruins are not safe.”

“Nothing is safe, so what’s the difference?” he scoffed, unable to help the anger that slipped into his voice. “Is it better to live in town, pretend everything is okay, gossip and point as everyone's Corruption keeps creeping higher and higher? Point and pity when someone else changes, someone else dies? Wait until I am the monster you have to kill?”

“Kou.” Vi’s voice was steady and Kou stopped walking, letting go of the demon’s hand as Aldeon paused, his hooves hitting the ground in protest. But Kou didn’t care. Everything was too heavy and too light all at once and even this far down the road, he could still smell the blood from Fyre’s farm.

“I can’t. Stay.” Kou repeated, his hands balling into fists as he struggled not to collapse into tears again. “I would rather die to a monster at least trying to find out the truth than stay here and just wait to become one without knowing why.”

He heard as Vi sighed and Kou looked away as he heard Vi move to stand in front of him. He wanted to get away from this, to do what he had to do so they could leave. So he could go back to trying to get Vi to want him, to–

“I will not allow a monster to kill you.” Vi said simply, and Kou finally glanced up to see the demon facing him. They had their face down toward him, and Kou almost felt he was being looked at, even though the empty sockets in Vi’s face made that impossible. “Your safety is important.”

“Yeah, it's the only reason I’m still alive. If I hadn’t threatened you, I’d be dead right now,” Kou scoffed, gripping the reins tighter in his hand. 

“Then it is fortunate that you did.” Vi answered, and Kou looked up with surprise as Vi lifted their hand again. “You said you need to trade the extra.”

“I do.”

“Do we need to return to your home?”

“I… yeah. I need to get the rest of the glass and some of the food I had saved.”

“Then let us hurry. It will be night again soon and you have not recovered.” Vi spoke so calmly and plainly it felt almost impossible to argue and Kou just nodded, once again taking the demon’s hand. He kept his gaze low, watching his boots sink into the road with each step, feeling the world press down against his shoulders like sodden cloth. 

But at least Vi’s hand was still nice to hold.