No heroes, only survivors

What greeted them was the face of a little girl, face littered with various kind of injuries. Along with the fresh wound from the recent attack.

What stunned Keir the most was that there were no tears in her eyes. Instead, there was a pair of burning sapphire blue eyes.

"Now, why did you attack us?" Amant asked, slowly limping over.

Despite seeing the same sight as Keir, his heart remained unfazed.

"No, no.." The girl slowly said, "I was just having a peek in any nearby world."

Keir brought his hand to his eyes, "If you've studied any basic rules, you don't connect to the user's private network. You should've also sent a message if that was your intention."

The girl sighed, scratching the side of her cheek, "You two going to arrest me or kill me now?"

Keir's brows knitted together while Amant raised a brow.

"I doubt you will be talking if that's the case." Amant responded while walking towards the girl, causing Keir to take a few steps back, "Let me ask you, who did these to you?"

"You." The girl stated plainly.

Keir glanced away, holding a laugh, while Amant's brows twitched.

"I meant the old injuries." Amant clarified, "You looked like you've seen war."

"Oh, I've seen war, and I will become strong to save everyone!" The girl said while touching her burn wound, flinching a little.

Amant squatted down to face the girl's eye level, "If you've seen war, you won't even have the thought of being a hero. Kid."

The girl narrowed her eyes, "You don't look like you've been through war."

That statement caused Keir to glance over, placing his hands in his pocket.

"Why would I talk to a kid about what I've been through?" Amant tilted his head to the side while patting her shoulder.

"I'm not a kid!" Her fist raised but only punched the air, looking up to see Keir pulling Amant away.

"Hey, that's unfair!" The girl said, "Fight me like a real man!"

"I'm real, not foolish." Amant scratched his nose, "What do you even want to wave at us for?"

The girl frowned, pinching her chin.

"It's whatever, you don't mean to hurt us. So let's go back camp..." Keir interjected, "Come back to camp with us. It's better than standing around here."

Amant glared at Keir, "How do you know she's really alone? How do you know she won't ambush us?" He spoke in a harsh tone.

"You know I can hear you, right?" She stated plainly, causing Amant's brows to twitch.

"We can always tie her to the rock nearby." Keir said, "Besides, she looks harmless."

"Yeah," Amant rolled his eyes, "Say that when the last thing you see before you is a harmless-looking person."

Keir's brows knitted and said, "You don't look harmless."

"Glad to know I will take your life." He raised a brow, "Now can we get back to this girl?"

"She had run away," Keir said with thumbs up.

"What!?" Amant snapped his head only to see the girl already a distance away, "Why!? That's some potential danger there!"

"She's just a kid. She can't even hack into my world. How could she endanger us?" Keir waved his hand in dismissal, "Let's go eat."

"I'm really gonna be the last thing you see before death." He said while placing his hand on his hip.

"I'm counting on it." Keir pulls down his mask to reveal a grin, "Let's go."

Amant rubbed his brows while sighing, following Keir back to their camp.

When they reached back their tent, Amant sighed dramatically while using his hand to fan himself.

"Oh jolly me, who could have predicted we would be stolen from." He said while falling on Keir, "Oh my, is that the face of a loser I see?"

"Fuck off." Keir pushed Amant's face away, "Why would they do this?"

"Survival of the fittest, my dear." Amant stood up straight while replying, "An idiot you are, a genius I am."

Keir went towards the tent with holes now, and saw their bags were all there.

"Why leave the bags?" Keir asked, "Are they afraid of tracking devices?"

"I'm afraid your case is more severe than I thought, I assumed you were able to use your brain properly, but I fret not." Amant continued his accent, "Apology on my end."

Keir rolled his eyes, as he went around looking for any footprints.

Amant scratched his head while saying, "I understand taking the food, but why take the whole pot? They can't cook without the proper instructions.."

Keir slowly turned to face Amant with a grin, "I hope it blows up.."

"What a change of attitude." Amant said, "Let's just eat an energy bar, we shouldn't have hike near this zone."

Keir sighed while taking down what remains of the tent, "Who knows how much longer it will take if we don't traverse near the edge."

Amant stayed silent, heading over to the bed.

When he lifted up the pillow, something went off with a bang.

Instantly, Amant dropped to his right side and squatted down, his head held down as his whole body shook.

Keir heard the sound, turning to see Amant looking like he was hugging something. His left sleeve fluttered as he stayed in that position.

"You okay?" Keir leapt over, seeing Amant staring down.

Amant didn't answer for a while, looking dazed.

Keir was about to ask again, when Amant opened his mouth, "I feel like I've forgotten someone very important…"

In his vision, everything was a patch of whiteness. However, he could see a glimpse of a faded figure.

"I lost something more important than my life… like I've lost another part of me.." He mumbled, slowly collapsing on his knees.

Keir stood rooted there, his hand reaching out only to stop. Clenching it, he squatted down and placed a hand on Amant's left shoulder.

Amant flinched from that, glancing up to see everything returning to normal, seeing Keir's worried gaze.

"I'm here for you, bud, even if I'm not sure how. Just know I'm here for you." Keir's eyes flashed with determination, causing Amant's eyes to well up.

"Don't cry, I can't deal with someone crying.." Keir pleaded, causing Amant to chuckle while wiping his eyes.

"Hey, say what was the name you found? Amant asked, trying to change the topic.

Keir gazed at his panel and answered, "Awilda Leto."

Amant's froze and stared with wide eyes, "Leto..."

"Um? Amant?" Keir waved his hand in front of Amant.

Amant shook his head while pinching the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath and asked, "Keir, have you heard of something called the wasteland?"

In a land with piles of junks as far as one could see. The sky was dark like something was blocking the light.

A figure wrapped in a thick coat was travelling across the land. The figure looked big and bulky, with an almost broken mask covering the face. The mask had a faded smile, with tapes holding the remaining pieces together.

The figure moved slowly but steadily.

Soon across them laid a boy visibly shivering. The figure picked up their pace and forced their body to move faster.

The figure slowly leaned down, staring at the little boy through their mask.

Raising an arm, a green glow spread from the figure to the boy.

The boy's pale face slowly regained a bit of colour, and the wounds on his face became lighter.

He slowly opened dull black eyes, looking at the figure that healed him.

He opened his mouth, only to start coughing.

The figure patted his head with their thick glove, placing a finger on the base of their mask.

Through the gaps of the mask, the boy could see another cloth mask covering the bottom half of the face underneath.

"Kid, your fate was death." The voice sounded rough and muffled through the cloth, "But you've fought the fate placed upon you. You have the blood of a fate slayer in you."

The words spoken were loud and clear in this silent wasteland.

"You remember who caused you to this state, am I right?" The figure's eyes met his gaze.

The little boy felt like he was staring into an abyss, a pair of black onyx eyes staring back at him.

He looked up at the dark sky, his forehead furrowed as his fingers slowly tightened into a fist.

"Humanity has outcast us." The figure slowly glanced up at the dark sky, "Leaving us in this wasteland."

Standing up, they held a hand out, "They don't deserve what they have now. Let's show them that."

The little boy stared at the hand. He spoke in a hoarse voice, "Who are you?"

"I'm Kai." They peeled off the top part of the mask, and a few strains of long silver hair fell out, "But you can call me Elaine."

A young woman's face could be seen hidden behind the remaining piece of the mask. Her calm demeanour matches the wasteland atmosphere, cold and dull.

Like her faded smile