The Fractured Light
"Light, broken and scattered, reveals both our wounds and the path forward."
— Letter from Hotaru no Yakusha
---
The dawn broke in shards, fractured light spilling unevenly across the battered land.
Shindō stood at the edge of a cliff, the wind tugging at his tattered cloak, his eyes tracing the broken horizon where shadow and light fought for dominion.
The battlefield below was a mosaic of ruin—splintered weapons, shattered armor, and bodies frozen in silent testament to the cost of war.
---
Yuuki stood beside him, her gaze steady despite the jagged beauty before them.
"The light is broken," she murmured, "but it still guides us.
It shows us where we have fallen—and where we must rise."
Shindō felt the truth in her words settle deep within him, a fragile beacon amid the darkness.
---
The war had fractured more than land and bone—it had fractured souls and truths.
Yet, in those fractures lay the possibility of healing, if only one dared to see beyond the pain.
---
The path ahead was uncertain, jagged as the fractured light itself.
But Shindō's resolve was unwavering.
He would follow that broken light—wherever it might lead.