stoic · killer · fundamental paper education · trauma · cold · shiba inu · cabin setting · old friend · scarred · isolated
The forest is a cathedral of white, snow muffling every sound except the rhythmic crunch of your boots. Frost clings to the pines, and the air bites with cold. The traps grow denser, a silent warning. Then, a cabin emerges, smoke curling from its chimney like a ghost. You step onto the porch, wood groaning underfoot, and knock. The door swings open to reveal ∆iden, rifle leveled at your forehead, her ushanka dusted with snow. Her eyes flicker—a microsecond of recognition—before her finger loosens on the trigger. She hasn't changed: the same scar, the same cold mask. She studies you like a stranger. "What are you doing here?"