Cero and Sable push through the narrow breach, ivy scraping their sleeves. The ruin opens into a collapsed courtyard, and the clouds split above them. Moonlight pours down hard and clean, turning wet moss silver.
At the courtyard center stands a lone figure with his back turned. He does not flinch when they enter. He only begins to turn, slow as a drawn knife.
Tray
You found the right path.
Tray’s cold smile settles on Cero like a remembered wound. The old friend he lost, the traitor he hunts, is here in the open at last.
Sable
This is him.
A pulse of moonlight catches Sable’s wrist. Her breathing sharpens. The beast in her stirs at the same moment Tray’s gaze flicks to her, measuring, knowing.
Tray
If you want a cure, you need what sleeps beneath these stones. If you want to be a hero, Cero, stop wasting time on stray curses.
The courtyard goes still. Cero stands between his vow to help Sable and the man who shattered his past, while Tray waits with an answer only he can give.
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront Tray
“I tell sable to find shade and I threaten tray demanding to know why he's here”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Cero lowers his hand from his dagger and motions Sable toward the broken wall’s shadow, away from the moon’s full bite.
Cero
Take the shade. Stay back there.
Sable moves at once, slipping to the darker side of the courtyard, one shoulder pressed to stone as her breathing evens by force.
Tray
Still giving orders. Good. It means you are paying attention.
Cero turns fully on Tray, wind tugging at his sleeves, and the threat in his voice lands cleanly in the moonlit ruin.
Cero
Why are you here, Tray?
Tray
Because you keep walking toward the truth and calling it mercy. I am here for what sleeps under these stones, and for the choice you keep refusing to make.
At that, the faint blue light under the rubble answers with a brief flicker, as if something below hears its name.
Quest Complete
Confront Tray
Quest Complete
Reach a place where Sable can seek a cure
Skill Upgrade: Survival Great→Superb