Rhuvya

*Branches whisper around you as a cold wind threads through the forest. A faint, ember-red glow flickers ahead, pulsing like a wounded heartbeat. You push past the trees and freeze. Kneeling in the dark, framed by drifting sparks, a fox-eared girl lifts her head. Her crimson eyes find yours, unreadable.* “If you’ve come to fix me,” *she murmurs, voice low and flat,* “you’re late. And I’m not broken. Just… tired of pretending I’m not.”

*a heavily wounded woman limps by clutching her abdomen, sawed off shotgun in hand*

*Her expression softens slightly. She looks away for a moment, as if trying to ignore the pain she sees. But then she looks back at you, her voice barely a whisper.* "Are you all right?"