Jin walked into the dark wasteland. The twin moons cast long, pale shadows across the rocky plains. The cold wind bit through his brown cloak.
He walked fast. He did not look back.
Nyx moved silently beside him. She was a ghost in the moonlight. She did not make a single sound.
Behind them, the noise was terrible.
Scrape. Crunch. Sniff.
Luna was trying to keep up. She was failing. Her bare feet hit the sharp stones. The rocks cut her soft skin. She tripped over dry roots. She gasped for air. She cried quietly to herself.
Jin tried to ignore the sounds. He focused on the horizon. He told his mind to shut the noise out.
He was a practical man. He liked order. He liked things to make sense. A weak girl in a bloody dress did not make sense in a deadly wasteland. She was wasted energy. If he stopped for her, they would lose time. Time was survival.
He walked for another twenty minutes.
The scraping sound behind him grew worse. He heard a sharp intake of breath. Luna stumbled and fell hard into the dry dirt. She let out a small, painful whimper.
Jin stopped walking.
He stood perfectly still in the cold wind. He closed his eyes. He let out a long, heavy sigh.
He was trying very hard to be cold. This alien world demanded a cold heart. If you cared too much, you died. Nyx proved that every single day. She survived because she felt nothing.
But Jin was not born in this brutal empire. He was born on Earth. He was a normal man who used to drink coffee and look at spreadsheets. He could pretend to be a ruthless prince all he wanted. But listening to a terrified girl bleed on sharp rocks was too much.
His heart softened. Just a little bit.
He turned around.
Luna was sitting in the dirt. She was holding her bleeding right foot. She looked up at him. She flinched instantly. She pulled her knees to her chest. She still thought he was a dangerous pervert. She expected him to yell at her for falling behind.
Jin ignored her fearful look. He did not say a word.
He looked down at his belt. The small, grey spatial pouch hung securely by his side. It held the massive wealth of the destroyed bandit camp.
He placed his hand over the soft leather bag. He pushed a tiny thread of his Level 4 Aether into the opening.
His mind connected with the compressed space inside. He saw the mountains of glowing cores. He saw the heavy iron chests. He ignored the wealth. He searched through the giant pile of stolen merchant goods.
The bandits had robbed many caravans. They stole everything. They stole weapons, but they also stole clothes and simple supplies.
Jin found what he was looking for.
He pulled his hand out of the small pouch. A flash of dull light appeared in his palm.
He held a pair of small, sturdy leather boots. They were simple traveler's shoes. They were lined with soft fur on the inside. They had thick rubber soles meant for long journeys.
Jin walked back toward Luna.
Luna shrank away from him. She pressed her back against a large, jagged rock. She looked at his hands, expecting a weapon.
Jin stopped three feet away from her. He tossed the leather boots through the air.
They landed in the dirt right next to her bleeding feet.
Luna jumped slightly at the sound. She looked down at the boots. Then she looked back up at Jin. She was completely confused. Her blue eyes were wide. The dark blood drying on her face made her look like a broken doll.
"Put them on," Jin ordered. His voice was flat. He tried to hide the pity in his tone.
Luna hesitated. She reached out a shaking hand. She touched the soft leather. They were real. They were exactly her size.
She quickly pulled them onto her feet. The soft fur inside felt incredible against her cold, cut skin. The thick soles protected her from the sharp gravel. She tied the thick leather laces with trembling fingers.
She looked up at Jin again. The fear in her eyes was slightly replaced by pure confusion.
"Why?" Luna whispered.
Jin crossed his arms. He relied on his practical logic. He needed a good reason to justify his kindness.
"Bleeding feet leave a scent trail on the rocks," Jin stated coldly. "A blood trail attracts nocturnal beasts. I do not want to fight a pack of mutated wolves because you stepped on a sharp stone. The shoes are for my protection, not yours."
Luna blinked. She did not fully believe him, but she did not argue. She was just grateful her feet stopped hurting.
Jin turned his head. He looked north across the dark plains. He remembered the detailed map he saw in Cloud City. He had memorized the route to Iron-Spire perfectly.
"There is a river three miles ahead of us," Jin said. "It crosses the main trade route. We will stop there to rest."
He looked back at Luna. He pointed a finger at her ruined, bloody dress.
"When we reach the water, you will wash yourself," Jin commanded. "You will scrub that dried blood off your face and out of your hair. It smells like death."
Luna looked down at her stained blue dress. She felt a wave of fresh horror remember the bandit boss dying right in front of her. She nodded quickly. She wanted to be clean more than anything else in the world.
"I will find clean clothes for you in the storage pouch," Jin continued. "Simple, common clothes. You will change out of that dress. You cannot walk into a major city looking like a murder victim. The city guards will ask too many questions. We cannot afford any delays."
"I understand," Luna said softly. Her voice was much calmer now.
She slowly stood up. The new leather boots supported her weight perfectly. She did not wince when she stepped on the uneven dirt.
Jin turned his back on her again.
"Keep up," Jin said. "I will not stop again."
He started walking north. He set a fast pace, but he made sure his strides were just slightly shorter than before. It was a tiny adjustment. Nyx noticed it instantly, but she did not say anything. She simply followed him like a loyal shadow.
Luna followed behind them.
She looked at the broad back of the young man in the brown cloak. He spoke with a cold, harsh voice. He looked at her with dead, calculating eyes. He claimed he only gave her the boots to hide her scent.
But her feet were warm.
Luna wiped a stray tear from her dirty cheek. She took a deep breath of the cold night air. She jogged lightly to catch up with their pace. The fear was still there, but a tiny seed of trust had been planted in the dry dirt.
They walked toward the river under the light of the twin moons. The journey was long, but Jin felt a little better. His logic was intact, and he didn't have to listen to anyone bleeding. It was a successful compromise.