Rai didn't remember how long he ran.
His legs were numb. His feet bled, leaving dark prints across the snow.His breath was shallow. His body, too small to survive in the wild.But he didn't stop.
His mother's words echoed louder than the wind:
"Run, Rai. Run now."
So he did.
Through forest. Through cold. Through silence.
The Wild
The trees above whispered secrets. The cold wrapped around him like a second skin.His arms were scratched. His lips cracked. His heartbeat slowed.
But Rai didn't cry.He couldn't.
His eyes stayed open, even when snow landed on his lashes.He had no food. No warmth. No direction.Just a feeling — pulling him forward.Like something was calling him from the mountains.
So he climbed.
The Mountain
It wasn't a mountain anyone in the village dared name.Steep. Jagged. Black stone rising through clouds like a blade.But Rai didn't hesitate.
His fingers were purple. His skin cracked.He slipped. Fell. Bled.
Still, he climbed.
Until his body finally gave up.
He collapsed onto the frozen path, the snow rising around him.
His vision blurred.His heart slowed.Everything was still.
And then…
The Dream
He stood in darkness.
But it wasn't cold. It wasn't cruel.It was quiet.Peaceful.
Above him, a giant form curled in the sky — unseen, but overwhelming.Wings like galaxies. Breath like wind across oceans.
A voice rumbled through the void. Not loud. Not angry.
Just deep.
"You saw the worst of them… and still did not break."
Rai looked up.
He didn't answer. He couldn't.
But the voice continued:
"Pain does not make you weak.Pain burns away what you were…So you may become what you must be."
"You are not alone."
Then, silence.
The dragon was gone.
But something stayed behind — a warmth, like a fire lit deep inside his chest.
The Push
He awoke with a gasp.
Frost clung to his eyebrows. His arms shook.
But his fingers moved.His legs bent.He was alive.
The dream had given him something the world never did — hope.
He stood.He climbed.
One hand after the other.Barefoot. Shivering. Breathing like a beast.
Until finally… he reached it.
The Dojo
It sat between two cliffs, hidden behind a waterfall.Old. Wooden. Covered in frost.A single lantern glowed near the door.
Rai stumbled forward, too dizzy to speak.
A figure stood by the entrance — not a monk, not an elder.A young man, no older than fifteen. Calm eyes. Simple robes. A sword strapped to his back.
He stepped forward, catching Rai just before he hit the ground.
And as Rai fainted in his arms, the boy whispered:
"I don't know what you've been through…But if you made it this far, then I know one thing."
"You were meant to survive it."