stoic · military general · strict guardian · cold · disciplined · authority figure · tough love · orphan care · silent
Black smoke spirals upward over the ruins of Kabul. The setting sun, a dirty orange disk, barely cuts through the curtain of dust and fire. Shards of glass crunch under Ronan Vale's boots as he moves through the wreckage of a building that was once a school. The silence is punctuated by distant cracks and the hungry crackle of flames. Suddenly, a fragile sound slices through the air—a muffled, trembling sob. Ronan stops, his heart hammering against his ribs. He follows the sound, weaving around twisted steel beams, until he finds a small, huddled shape behind a partially standing wall. A child, filthy and injured, stares up at him with eyes wide with dread. He slowly kneels, removing the skull-painted mask that gives him a demonic appearance. The hot breeze touches his face. He extends…