⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
The lower terraces unfolded around him in layers as he walked.
Training studios lined the street, open door panels revealing sparring mats worn smooth by years of use.
Barefoot kids traded quick strikes while older summoners watched with arms crossed, stepping in only to correct a stance or tap a shoulder back into place.
Music drifted from somewhere ahead.
Drums, light and fast, testing a rhythm that would be heard again soon during the festival.
A game of Tonk sprawled across a low table near a fruit stand. Cards slapped stone. Someone groaned. Someone else laughed and scooped up the pile of gambled lumens.
Kit barely registered any of it.
His focus stayed fixed on the back of Geni’s shoulders.
He picked up his pace, weaving past a pair of merchants hauling fabric bolts, slipping between a group of off-duty guards sharing food.
For a moment he lost track then caught sight of her again near a spice stall, relief hitting harder than he expected.
She stopped.
Kit stopped too, nearly colliding with a passerby. He murmured an apology and edged to the side, heart beating louder than the city.
This was the moment.
She stood alone, waiting for a vendor to finish counting change. The space between them felt thin enough to cross in one step.
Kit didn’t move.
His mouth went dry. Thoughts stacked too quickly.
He rehearsed what he might say.
Hey, I know followed you but I promise I’m not a stalker.
Did you eat today?
Every word sounded wrong as soon as it formed.
Geni took her pouch and turned.
The moment passed.
She moved on.
Kit stayed where he was for half a breath, then followed again, slower now. The crowd thickened.
The city moved like it always had.
People laughed. People argued. People trained. People grew.
Kit felt it settle in his chest.
He had survived something no one here understood, yet that didn’t make him any more valuable in this moment. He couldn’t even bring himself to talk to the girl just a few paces in front of him.
The lower terraces continued in living detail around him.
Food stalls crowded close, steam rising from flatbreads and stews.
A storyteller held a small ring of listeners captive with animated hands. Wind chimes clinked from balcony rails. The twin suns poured down in overlapping warmth, one high and brilliant, the other casting long copper shadows.
Kit felt small in it all. He continued. Moved by gravity more than pursuit.
The moment opened again.
This was it.
Geni stood near the edge of the street, adjusting the strap of her satchel. Sunlight caught the edge of her sleeve.
No one stood between them. One step would have closed the space.
Kit’s pulse jumped but his feet stayed where he was.
For a beat he stood there and battled with his decision.
To wait for a better moment. One where it would make sense. One where he wouldn’t feel like an idiot opening his mouth.
He adjusted his pace, closing the gap before he even realized it.
But he was a step late.
She wasn’t alone anymore.
A group waited near the edge of the square. Dylan stood with his arms folded, posture settled and solid. Dash bounced in place, quick energy spilling out of him as he spun once and landed clean. TJ watched from a step back, eyes moving constantly, cataloging.
Ohana stood slightly forward of the others. When Geni arrived, Ohana shifted without speaking, making space, aligning the group with a glance.
Geni slipped in beside her.
Conversation picked up immediately. Plans. Training. Small arguments that resolved just as fast.
Kit stopped at the edge of the square.
He watched them talk and felt something twist in his chest.
Weeks ago, he had run through the Wilds. He had climbed out of depths that pressed the air thin and heavy. He had trusted his body and his choices when everything around him wanted him gone.
Now he stood ten paces away from a girl he’d spoken to before and couldn’t move.
The thought stung.
Around him, Sol kept going. Drums resumed their rhythm. A vendor shouted a price. Someone won a Tonk round and boasted about it.
Geni laughed at something Ohana said.
Kit watched, hands loose at his sides, feet planted, heart loud in his ears as he was realizing the truth settling into him.
Eyes fixed on a future already in motion.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣