chapter 10: fragments of a forgotten fight
ren's eyes fluttered open, heavy and blurred. the cold, rough surface beneath him was unforgiving — the road. the morning light filtered weakly through cracked clouds, but his mind was still tangled in shadows. a faint ache pulsed in his skull, a dull reminder that something was wrong, very wrong.
"why are you sleeping on the road?" a small voice pierced the fog.
ren turned his head slowly to see a little girl standing beside him, her eyes wide with concern and curiosity. her clothes were simple, worn, but there was an undeniable warmth in her gaze.
"i… idk," ren replied quietly, the words tasting strange on his tongue. pride told him to be stronger, to act like he knew everything — but his memory was a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing.
the girl crouched down beside him, producing a small wooden cup with clear water. "come with me," she said softly. "i have water at my house. you look like you need it."
ren hesitated, pride screaming that accepting help was weakness. yet, the emptiness inside him, the fractured echoes of a fight he couldn't recall, weighed heavier than his pride.
"someone… attacked me," he muttered, voice rough. "but i don't remember who or why."
the girl's eyes darkened just a little, like she understood more than she let on. "that kind of thing happens here. sometimes people forget things, or remember them wrong."
ren frowned, struggling to gather his thoughts. fragments of images flashed behind his eyes — blurry shapes, cold steel, pain — but no clear meaning. "my head… hurts. and there's something missing. like someone erased what happened."
"maybe," the girl said quietly. "but you're still here. that means you're stronger than they think."
ren looked at her, the first flicker of something unfamiliar — trust? hope? — warming his chest. yet pride remained, fierce and unyielding. "don't think i need saving."
she smiled faintly. "i'm not trying to save you. just offering water… and a place to think."
as ren struggled to stand, his fractured selves whispered loudly in his mind, arguing and shouting over one another. they fought for control, for pride, for survival. but beneath the chaos, something fragile was forming — the realization that strength might come from more than just pride.
"fine," ren said finally, voice low but steady. "lead the way."
the little girl nodded, taking his hand gently. as they walked away from the road, ren glanced back once — the shadows there seemed to watch, waiting for him to remember, to fight back, to become whole.
inside, the pieces of himself began shifting, not yet fixed, but moving toward something new. and the battle — both inside and out — was only just beginning.