"-leth... Sylleth, wake up!" says Shalyn, shaking the sleeping boy.

Sylleth slowly opens his eyes, his vision slightly blurred.

"Mhmm... what is it...?" he asks, rubbing his eyes, his voice muffled, the remnants of sleep blurring his speech into a soft, indistinct murmur.

"The storm is over, we should get going." Shalyn stands up and stretches, ready to continue their journey.

Sylleth got up from the ground, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He looked around the cave with tired gaze.

"Hey, Shalyn... have you seen the fox?" he asked, scanning the cave with a concerned look.

"What fox?" Shalyn replied, clearly puzzled, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"the little fox..." the boy muttered, slowly standing up and running a hand through his hair.

"I think you must have dreamed it. I haven't seen any fox." Shalyn replied, shaking her hands before stepping out of the cave.

"W-What do you mean?" Sylleth stammered, quickly following her outside, his confusion growing..

Outside, the air was filled with the chirping of birds, puddles dotted the ground, and several trees lay uprooted or snapped in half. Sylleth hurried to catch up with his companion.

"Shalyn, don't mess around with me like that."

"I'm serious, I didn't see any fox..." She turned to face the boy. "Maybe your mind is playing tricks on you." She smiled playfully.

"P-Please don't tease me like that." Sylleth stuttered nervously.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." The girl turned away and continued walking ahead.

For the next few hours, our heroes made their way through the sprawling forest, their destination set for the city of Naso. As they traveled, Sylleth remained unusually quiet and lost in thought, a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.

This shift did not go unnoticed by Shalyn, who grew increasingly concerned about her companion's uncharacteristic behavior.

"Hey, what's going on with you?" Shalyn asked, her voice tinged with concern as she noticed Sylleth's unusual demeanor.

"It's nothing, really..." he replied, avoiding her gaze.

Shalyn reached out and gently took Sylleth's hand, her grip firm yet comforting.

"I can tell something's on your mind. Is it about that fox?" Shalyn asked, her concern growing.

"No, it's not that... I feel strange... scared..." Sylleth's voice trembled, his eyes reflecting his unease. "...I don't even know if my family is still alive..."

"Sylleth, don't worry," Shalyn said, wrapping her arms around him. "We may not have known each other long, but we're in this mess together, right? Whatever happens, I'll be here to help you." She gave him a warm, reassuring smile.

"Thank you," Sylleth replied, his voice barely above a whisper. He felt a small glimmer of hope flicker to life inside him. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'll never have to find out," Shalyn said confidently, giving him a playful nudge. "Now come on, we've got a city to reach and answers to find. Let's not keep Naso and your aunt waiting!"

"Yeah... let's go."

Sylleth and Shalyn continued their journey through the forest as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon. They came across a small clearing dotted with a few majestic oak trees.

"How about we rest there?" Shalyn suggested, pointing to one of the larger oaks in the center of the clearing.

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"Sounds good, I'm exhausted," Sylleth agreed, making his way toward the tree.

Shalyn followed with a spring in her step. Along the way, Sylleth gathered some branches that had been scattered by an earlier storm.

"Hey Shalyn... how about we finish our conversation from yesterday?" Sylleth asked, lying beside the campfire under a tree in the small clearing in the middle of the forest. Shalyn had lit the fire, its warm glow casting flickering shadows around them.

"Hm?" Shalyn turned towards the boy, clearly expecting him to elaborate.

"Well... I don't even know how old you are or where you're from!" Sylleth crawled closer to her, his eyes wide with curiosity. "So, who are you really?" he asked, his voice filled with genuine interest.

Shalyn gently pushed his head aside. "Sylleth, stop, you're scaring me..." she sighed. "Alright, what exactly do you want to kno—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sylleth interrupted her with another question. "Where are you from and how old are you?"

"Those are the kinds of questions you should have asked when we first met..." Shalyn replied, visibly irritated. "I'm from Diae, and I'm 15 years old."

"So you're older than me..." Sylleth muttered to himself under his breath, deep in thought.

"Sylleth, you're really starting to scare me..." Shalyn said, though a slight smile tugged at her lips. "Alright, it's getting dark. Now go to sleep."

"Can I call you sister?" Sylleth asked, settling down under the tree.

Shalyn responded almost immediately as she extinguished the campfire.

"No, absolutely not."

Sylleth turned toward her and sighed.

"Well, it was worth a try. Goodnight!"

Shalyn lay down a few meters away, her voice tired as she spoke, "What am I going to do with you..."

Just before they both drifted off to sleep, the night sky suddenly burst into a display of vibrant colors. Sylleth shot up instantly, his eyes widening as small red objects began to fall from the sky in various directions.

"Hey... Shalyn..." Sylleth, clearly frightened, tried to rouse his companion.

Shalyn groggily sat up and gazed at the sky.

"W-What is that..." she whispered, her voice trembling as she stood up, just as terrified as Sylleth.

After a few seconds, it became clear that these objects were flaming arrows, falling one after another, both onto the clearing where our heroes stood and into the nearby forest. Sylleth froze, the image of his burning village flashing through his mind. Fear paralyzed him, rendering him unable to move or think, as he stared at the spreading fire, teetering on the edge of hysteria. Shalyn grabbed his hand firmly.

"Sylleth, we have to run, now!" Shalyn shouted, urgency in her voice. She started to sprint toward the part of the forest that the fire hadn't yet reached, pulling Sylleth along with her.

The heroes ran into the forest, with the fire slowly spreading into this part as well. Sylleth's breathing became rapid, and he was clearly terrified for both his and Shalyn's lives. The girl ran as fast as she could, determined to reach safety before the fire caught up with them. Unexpectedly, Sylleth felt a drop of water on his face...

He snapped out of his daze and, pointing to a small but sufficiently large stream of water, shouted, "Shalyn, water!"

Shalyn turned around and then, with quick steps, pulling the boy behind her, dashed into the stream. The raging fire finally reached them, setting the grass and trees around the stream ablaze. As they submerged under the water's surface, it seemed they might survive. However, Shalyn had forgotten that Sylleth would eventually run out of air. The boy started thrashing, desperate to reach the surface, and Shalyn grabbed his leg, trying to hold him back.

Sylleth's movements grew weaker, yet Shalyn refused to let go, knowing that surfacing meant facing the flames. With his last bit of strength, Sylleth broke free and reached his left hand out of the water. Just as he was about to surface, the flames engulfed his entire hand. He screamed in agony, swallowing water in the process and starting to drown.

Shalyn, panicking and unsure of what to do, frantically tried to extinguish the fire around the stream. In her desperation, she hit her head on a stone and almost got caught by the flames herself.

Despite the searing pain and confusion, she managed to resurface and grabbed Sylleth, pulling him back under. Her vision blurred, but she refused to let him go. In a final act of desperation, she pulled him towards a deeper part of the stream, hoping the flames wouldn’t reach them there. The world around them became a chaotic blur of fire and water, their survival hanging by a thread.

As the boy began to slip into unconsciousness, Shalyn, fueled by desperation, grabbed his right hand. Despite the peril, she resolutely decided to pull him from the stream. Just then, the sky above shimmered with an ethereal light, and a wave of radiant, blue water, sparkling with tiny stars, surged through the forest.

The magical water danced and twirled, extinguishing the flames in its path before evaporating into a fine mist of shimmering particles. Shalyn, exhausted and drenched, crawled onto the bank, dragging Sylleth behind her. As she caught her breath, a smooth, velvety, and slightly alluring female voice echoed through the now-silent forest.

"And who do we have here?" said a pale, mysterious woman, her voice smooth and almost musical. She stood before the girl, holding a glowing azure crystal that pulsed with an otherworldly light. The woman was dressed in a gray robe adorned with intricate black accents, giving her an air of dark elegance.

Shalyn tried to stand, but the exhaustion from prolonged stress and the rush of adrenaline overwhelmed her. She stumbled and fell, her vision blurring as consciousness slipped away.

"What an interesting aura..." the woman’s voice echoed in her mind, the last thing she heard before everything went black.