The forest was quiet—too quiet.
Pine's eyes were locked on the mark burned into the girl's skin.
A black crescent.
A line of embedded symbols.
A sigil that didn't belong on the surface world.
Pine's pupils shrank.
"…No," he whispered. "No, no, no—"
His hand darted for his cane.
"Volow. Behind me. Now."
Volow blinked. "Huh? Why? What's happening—"
"MOVE!" Pine barked.
Volow stumbled back, pulling Suki with him.
Pine stepped forward, cane raised, its engravings pulsing like something alive.
He wasn't calm.
He wasn't composed.
He was nervous—for the first time since Volow had known him.
The girl didn't flinch.
She just watched Pine with calm, resigned eyes.
"You're a Shinimoon," Pine said.
His voice cracked with something between anger and fear.
"That mark… that brand doesn't appear on the surface. Ever. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be alive."
Volow's mouth hung open.
"A what-moon?"
Pine hissed:
"A slave of the Solum King. An elite. A trained killer. Conditioned since childhood to obey."
His cane glowed brighter.
"You brought a Shinimoon to my forest?!" he snapped at her.
"Were you waiting for the hunters to weaken me? Planning to finish the boy yourself?"
The girl's expression didn't change.
"No."
But Pine didn't lower his cane.
"That mark demands obedience. You can't disobey the King without consequences. You're lying."
She finally stepped forward.
Pine immediately shifted his stance—
the forest floor cracked beneath his foot.
Volow tensed.
"Hey—HEY! Stop! If she wanted to kill me, she had hundreds of chances!"
The girl's voice was soft… but sharp.
"I'm not here to harm him," she said.
"I'm here because I owe him a debt older than you, Crustfolk."
Pine's jaw tightened.
"You owe HIM? You didn't know him."
"No," she said quietly.
"But I knew his mother."
Volow felt his chest tighten.
"My… mother?"
The girl exhaled—slow, controlled.
"I was born in the Mantle's lower reaches. Taken by Solum guards at eight. Branded a Shinimoon at ten. Our lives were pain, orders, and obedience."
Her hand brushed the tattoo on her back.
"This mark means we belong to the King. We cannot leave. We cannot refuse. We cannot even dream."
Pine hardened his grip.
"You're trained to manipulate, to assassinate, to infiltrate—"
"And to die without question," she added.
"But your mother… gave me something none of us were allowed."
Silence.
Pine didn't lower his cane, but his breathing slowed.
Volow swallowed. "What did she give you?"
The girl looked at him—really looked at him—and for a moment the mask of calm cracked.
"Something no one in the underground remembers anymore… kindness."
Wind rustled through the clearing.
"She found me during a surface mission," the girl said quietly.
"It was supposed to be routine—enter, observe, leave. But I was careless. A trap collapsed under me and crushed my leg. My squad saw it happen… and kept walking."
Her jaw tightened, but her voice stayed steady.
"A Shinimoon who falls behind isn't rescued. We're trained to accept being abandoned. Dead weight does not return to the King."
Her fingers brushed the mark on her back.
"I wasn't even worth dragging back as a corpse."
For a moment she stared past them, as if reliving it.
"I crawled for hours. I tried to stand. I thought maybe if I begged—just this once—someone would turn around. But they didn't."
Her voice cracked for the first time.
"They didn't even look back."
She swallowed.
"And then… she found me. Your mother."
Volow held his breath.
"She should've run. Shinimoon aren't saved—we're feared. Hunted. Used. But she didn't flinch. She didn't ask who owned me or what I'd done. She didn't even hesitate."
The girl blinked hard, fighting the burn in her eyes.
"She lifted me. Carried me. Hid me from the patrols searching for strays."
Her voice softened, trembling.
"She cleaned the blood off me with her own scarf. Sat awake all night in case I stopped breathing. She risked her life for someone the underground had already thrown away."
The girl shook her head slowly.
"…And she wanted nothing. Not thanks. Not loyalty. Nothing."
She looked at Volow, guilt and gratitude tangled in her gaze.
"She saved me simply because I was suffering.
"What was her name?" Volow asked, barely breathing.
The girl hesitated.
"…Melon."
Volow froze.
"That's… my mother's name."
Pine lowered his cane slowly—just an inch.
The girl took a breath.
"When I healed, I was supposed to return underground. To report her. To bring soldiers.
But I didn't."
She looked away, eyes heavy.
"I ran."
"For the debt,"
"Mantle people always pay their debts. Even if it kills them."
Pine finally exhaled… the tension in his shoulders loosening.
"So you came here… to protect the boy?"
She nodded once.
"I came because the hunters were not sent to capture him anymore.
The King wants him dead.
If Volow dies… the prophecy dies with him."
Pine stiffened.
Volow swallowed. "What prophecy?"
The girl met his eyes.
"The one your mother died trying to keep hidden."
Silence.
The trees stood still.
The air stopped moving.
Even Suki froze.
Pine's voice was barely a whisper.
"…Volow. We need to talk."
But the girl stepped forward and bowed her head.
"Whatever you decide, Crustfolk… my loyalty is not to the King anymore."
Pine frowned. "Then who?"
She looked at Volow.
"...The one who holds the ring"