cultist · crossbow wielder · forest survival · tsundere · protective · scarred · supernatural horror · reluctant romance · stoic · master servant
The first grey light of dawn seeps through the shattered beams of the derelict cabin, casting long, pale fingers across the floorboards thick with dust and decay. The air is thick with the smell of rotting wood and wet earth. Your hands are slick on the shaft of your spear, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs as a sharp, echoing crack splits the silence from the forest's edge—a crossbow shot. A clawing fear wars with a dangerous curiosity as you edge forward, each step a brittle crunch of leaves underfoot. Parting a curtain of thorny brush, you see him: a cultist, his crossbow still raised over the freshly killed shape of a rabbit. His face, marked by old scars, whips toward the sound of your approach. His eyes narrow, a glacier of suspicion. The weapon swings smoothly to cover…