Renji stirred, the scent of frost and ash lingering in his nostrils. His eyes blinked open to a world still dimmed by morning fog, the pale blue sky smeared with the ember hues of the previous night's campfire. He shifted slightly—and froze.
There, curled up against his chest like a stray cat that had claimed her favorite sunspot, was a small white-haired girl. Her fluffy ears twitched softly with each breath, and her warm tail was draped across his stomach like a living blanket. Her name came back to him like a whisper.
Mira.
She was fast asleep, her tiny form rising and falling with every breath, one hand clutching the edge of his coat as though she'd always belonged there.
"...What the hell?" Renji muttered, his voice gravelly from sleep and disbelief.
A chuckle rolled in from the side.
Zach sat by the fire, poking at glowing coals with a stick like he was some bored pyromancer. His silver hair shimmered in the firelight, and his expression was one of dangerous amusement.
"She found you cozy," Zach said, smirking. "Told her you were harmless. Didn't think she'd make you a mattress."
Renji narrowed his eyes. "You picked up a kid?"
Zach shrugged. "She picked us. Stole half our food last night. Thought it was cute. Nearly took my left boot too. Feisty little furball."
Renji sighed, rubbing his temple. "You're really just adopting random strays now?"
"She's not a stray," Zach said, more serious now. "She's a Moontail. Last one. Her clan was wiped out during a Light Order raid... She's been hiding alone in the frostwood for years. Surviving. Barely."
Renji looked down at Mira again. Her lips were parted slightly in sleep, her tiny fingers still gripping his coat like it was the only warmth in her world.
Something twisted in his chest.
"She's got nowhere else to go," Zach added. "But I figured you wouldn't mind. You've got that 'hero complex' thing going."
"Shut it," Renji grumbled, gently shifting Mira without waking her. "We're heading to hell, you know. This road—there's no coming back."
Zach stood, his boots crunching the frosted grass. "Yeah. That's why she needs to come. She's got nothing left to lose. Just like us."
Renji stared at the sky.
The road ahead led through the Wailing Chasm—an unforgiving trench that separated the cursed North from the ruins of the Eastern Shrine. There would be beasts. There would be blood.
But there would also be purpose.
And maybe… family.
He wrapped Mira's small form in a blanket and pulled her closer as the wind howled through the valley. She shivered once, then stilled, safe again.
"Alright," he murmured. "But if she bites, she's your problem."
Zach grinned. "She's already your problem, pal. Welcome to hell."
Mira's ears twitched.
Then her eyes popped open—bright, golden, alert.
In a flash, she assessed her surroundings. Cold forest. Crackling fire. Faint snoring... No threats.
Except—
Her eyes narrowed.
She was in someone's arms.
A man's arms.
Her pupils shrank to pinpricks. Her instincts kicked in like a trained assassin's. She sprang up like a coiled spring, her little hands moving faster than thought—
SMACK!
"GAH—!"
Renji's head jerked sideways as a tiny hand latched onto his face like a spirit-summoned vice. He barely registered the motion before Mira had spun around and perched on him—one knee on his chest, the other elbow cocked like she was about to deliver divine judgment.
"Who are you?!" she barked in a tiny but thunderous voice, her white hair puffed from sleep like an angry snowball. "Where's my food?!"
Renji blinked, disoriented and betrayed by his own blanket.
"I—What?! I was asleep!"
Zach lost it.
He doubled over by the fire, laughing so hard he nearly dropped his roasted mushroom skewer.
"This. Is. Gold," he wheezed. "She went full ninja mode!"
Mira stared at Renji, still on top of him like a feral squirrel claiming a tree trunk. "You smell like meat," she said with grim suspicion. "You have meat."
"I don't—Wait, is that my dried jerky in your mouth?!"
She paused, cheeks puffed, mouth full. Then—gulp.
"...No."
Renji groaned. "Unbelievable."
Mira hopped off him like it never happened and landed in a crouch, brushing invisible dust from her fur-lined shoulder wraps. "Okay. So. I'm awake now. What's for breakfast?"
Zach tossed her a piece of toasted flatbread. "You already stole breakfast."
Mira caught it in her teeth like a fox catching prey. "Finders, keepers. Losers... snore."
Renji sat up, rubbing his jaw. "She's worse than you."
Zach grinned. "She's better. She's tiny, terrifying, and comes with a tail. We're keeping her."
Mira stood tall (well, tall-ish), hands on hips, golden eyes gleaming.
"Wherever you're going... I'm coming. I'm fast. I'm sneaky. I bite. I will be useful.", she said.
Renji stared. Then sighed, "Fine. But stop sitting on me in the mornings."
"No promises.", she laughed, a small warming laugh.
————
They moved as a trio now.
The frostwoods had begun to thin, giving way to craggy hills and ash-laced plains. The air grew warmer—but not in a comforting way. It felt… tainted. Like the land ahead had been cursed long before time remembered it.
Renji led the way in silence, cloak billowing behind him like a war banner. Mira walked beside him, arms crossed, occasionally kicking rocks. Zach trailed with his usual lazy swagger, but there was something in his eyes—like a storm brewing behind silver clouds.
"Alright, kiddies," he said, stretching like he was about to give a TED Talk on apocalyptic geography. "Time to learn where we're going—and how screwed we are."
Mira tilted her head. "Ooooh. Story time?"
Zach winked. "Even better. War time."