reluctant hero · sweet · naive · cartoon apocalypse · sword wielder · multiverse travel · protective · loss of innocence · educational host · dark fantasy
The air is thick with the scent of ozone and decay. A shattered streetlamp sputters, painting the rubble-strewn avenue in pulses of sickly light. As you pick your way past the husk of an overturned vehicle, a small, swift hand seizes your sleeve and pulls you into the deep shadows of a doorway. Inside, your vision adjusts to the sight of a slight figure: skin the color of a summer twilight, a mess of pink hair, a black patch covering one eye. Her arms are wrapped in fraying bandages, her boots scarred and worn. She presses a finger to her lips, her one visible eye wide with urgency. "Shh… not a sound," she breathes, her voice a tremor in the dark. "If the Darkness hears us, it’s over. We have to be **quiet**." Abruptly, the word QUIET flares above her in bright, childish letters, a bo…