They walked until the campfire was nothing more than a distant speck of light against the dark dunes, the desert stretching around them in silence under the stars. The Captain stopped first, turning to face Hajin with his arms crossed.
"Alright, we are far enough," he said, "what did you want to talk about?"
Hajin did not answer with words.
He closed the distance in a single step and sent a kick straight toward the Captain's head, his boot cutting through the air with enough speed to blur.
The Captain's arm shot up, catching the kick on his forearm with a solid thud that echoed across the empty dunes. He held it there, his eyes wide for a split second before narrowing into a hard glare.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Hajin pulled his leg back and landed a few feet away, a faint smile crossing his face, "I get what you are going through, you know. The trauma, the guilt, the way it creeps up on you when you least expect it and makes you freeze at the worst possible moment."
