Sora's POV
The stream runs down out of the eastern forest, and it hasn't stopped for the war.
I found this place my second week here. Behind a screen of alder, the water gathers into a pool, deep and cold. It's far enough from the camp that the noise thins out to almost nothing by the time it reaches here.
Whenever I can get away, I come. It isn't often. This is the one place within fifty kilometers where I take off the mask, take off the surgical cap, and set down every last piece of my guard. I let the cold water rinse the blood and the antiseptic and the long day off my skin.
It's the only place I can be completely unguarded.
Which is exactly why I don't hear him until he speaks.
"You wouldn't even claim her."
His voice comes from the tree line behind me. Hoarse, and full of fury
