As they were walking through the birch forest, Steve and Alex conversed back and forth about morals. A conversation that quickly turned into a heated debate on what’s right from wrong, ended up tying the two closer together. Alex had just thought of Steve as the guy that fell from the sky. For some odd reason, she thought that the two looked similar, which Steve couldn’t disagree with more.

He initially passed it off as her ignorance of the world around her and having only seen the villagers her whole life could’ve messed up with her sense of reality. Regardless, Steve only thought her strange for not noticing their differences.

Walking along the trail, barely making it over a small hill, they noticed a cloud of black smoke rising from over the hill. Amongst the bright blue, empty sky, the clouds of ash shocked Alex and left Steve in a state of concern. Confused, Steve looked up at Alex and noticed the utter fear clouding her mean eyes. Her entire face rose, eyes, lips, brows, her whole body resenting the thoughts clouding her mind. Something about seeing her reaction further raised Steve’s curiosity. He looked back at the clouds and mountains surrounding it.

Alex knew what was just beyond the horizon.

She commanded Beverly to pick up the pace, forcing Steve to attempt to keep up. She clutched onto the saddle’s reins and leaned in to get a better view. Beverly progressively increased in speed, very quickly reaching a max speed that Steve couldn’t keep up with. Racing towards the black clouds, through the forest of dying birch trees that paved a white path, Alex’s aching pain in her stomach only grew stronger. The closer she got, the more her heart raced, and the clearer the image became.

As soon as she made it through the forest, she came face to face with her biggest fear. In front of her was the place she calls home, the people she held close to her heart, and the memories she cherished, all thrashed into a bonfire of despair. What was once a thriving village of prosperous individuals, turned into a relentless holocaust leaving none remaining.

Alex couldn’t believe her eyes. Tears built up between her lashes as she watched, dumbstruck and incapable of saying a word. Her heart wrenched as she stared at the piles of bald men laying lifeless, covered in blood and the remains of others. Severed bodies and guts were scattered about, along with flames that reached the clouds covering the building, reducing them to ash. Laying about the ground were grey flags with what looked to be a face printed on them. Sharp blue eyes nestled under a bush of dark eyebrows, and a streak of dark grey centered underneath the eyes reaching the bottom of the banner.

Beverly stopped in front of a villager in a white robe and refused to move beyond that point.

Once Steve made it to the scene, he immediately coughed from the ash clouding the air. Breathing was borderline impossible, making him cover his mouth with his collar. He looked around at the calamity and gasped in disbelief. Everywhere he turned was a pile of rubble, bursting flames, or a body laid to waste away. He walked around until he heard Beverly’s neigh followed by a series of sobs. Steve found Alex on her knees, in tears and crying her lungs out with the body of a villager in her arms.

Its large, squid-like nose, round egg-like head, and thick unibrow over its dying green eyes were exactly as Alex described. It was unlike anything Steve could remember, and exactly what Alex considered family. The stories she told him along the way made complete sense. He approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder, attempting to comfort her in a way.

Putting the pieces together, Steve quickly realized that this place… this village was Alex’s home. Looking at it wouldn’t reveal anything if there was anything to be revealed. The village was relatively small, with only a dozen homes and a stone church standing tall amongst the flames. The homes were completely devoid of color or life. Anything that wasn’t stone turned to complete ash, and the stone was completely blacked out.

Steve walked up to a banner untouched by the flames, rolled it up, and slipped it into his pocket. If anything could tell him about what happened, this banner was most likely the first clue. Carrying it around gave him a bad feeling, but letting it go wouldn’t solve anything. He walked back to Alex and helped her up from the ground. She had her knees deep in a pool of blood, leaving a crimson stain on her cotton leggings.

“Steve…” She whispered, her voice coarse from crying. Her eyes had gone red and the remains of her tears glistened with the flames.

“We need to get somewhere safe,” Steve replied. She turned to him and narrowed her eyes.

“I… will kill whoever did this… if it’s the last thing I do.”

Steve sorrowfully looked into her cruel green eyes. The vengeful look in her eyes and the fiery hatred was shown in full effect.

“Are you sure?” Steve asked. “Getting revenge won’t fix anything.” Alex gritted her teeth and took another look around. The heart-wrenching view of her home burnt to a crisp only further fueled her anger.

“I don’t care!” She replied with her mind clouded with agony. She pushed herself away from Steve’s grasp and continued on her own.

“If that is what you want,” Steve made his way to Beverly and grabbed a hold of her lead. “I can help you.” Alex suddenly stopped her track before entering the forest of dead trees and slightly turned her head in Steve’s direction. “The banners probably belong to the people that did this. If we can figure out what they are, we can find them.”

Alex looked towards Beverly who had grown accustomed to Steve and his head pats. She had her snout underneath Steve's palm and silently huffed as he caressed it. Alex had no reason to lose trust in Steve but felt he had a connection to the raid in the village. The timing from his arrival to the attack was too similar for her to just brush it off. Despite her suspicion, she had no proof to connect the two.

“What is it that you want?” Alex asked.

“You helped me out of the forest. This is the least I can do.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Steve stopped stroking the horse's snout and looked at Alex’s grieving frown.

“I want to find out who I am.”

Alex returned his stares, looking directly into his bluish purple eyes as the sun was beginning to set. The lost eyes of the man from the sky were confident in their statement. To him, helping Alex was nothing but a task to reach his overarching goal, and he was willing to use her to do so. However, Alex didn’t know of his intentions. She too was interested in who Steve was, and didn’t want to trust him until that was uncovered.

“Come on,” She slightly nodded her head north. “My house is over this way. We need to get indoors before sundown.” With a nod, Steve followed behind holding Beverly’s leash along the way.

~

The three of them traveled northbound through the dead forest until they reached a plain of green grass and flowers of all colors scattered around. From Poppies and Dandelions to taller variations like Lilac and Rose bushes, there was no shortage of flowers on the field. Across from it was a river separating the flower field from a building made of brown wood and stone.

It was fairly small in all aspects of the term, only capable of holding a single bed along with other necessities. It was too short to hold itself a second floor, as its roof hung over the front door. Two pillars connected to the roof reached the ground from where it hung, stabilizing the structure and making sure it stood. Off to the side of the building was a small stable built for Beverly, with a haystack in the gate and a roof made of stone.

Alex casually leaped over the small river and called for Steve to do the same. It wasn’t a large jump. The river separated the two plains by only a few feet and was very shallow in depth. Had Steve wanted, he could have easily walked through the water.

He took a few steps back and ran ahead to jump the four feet distance, and was applauded by Alex once he landed. Beverly then one-upped him by getting over the river with a single step.

While she was laughing, Steve looked at the small house in front of him. “Didn’t you say that you live in the village?” He asked to shut her up. She quickly stopped and looked at the small hut on the patch of land.

“I do.” She answered. “Well, I did. My house was taken out with the rest of the village.”

“Right,” Steve replied, now struck with guilt. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. Not like you had anything to do with it.” She grabbed Beverly’s lead. The three of them made it to the front porch of the house. “This is the house that I built for fun. Get yourself comfortable while I take Beverly to the stables.”

With a nod, Steve made his way up the flight of stairs and into the small riverside home. Upon entering through the stone door, Steve was put face to face with a crafting bench in the center of the home and a bed against the top left corner. Beside the bench was a furnace that merged in with the floor stone. The flooring was made of a rough stone that echoed the footsteps of anyone that stepped on them. Not as much as a tap would create a noise louder than the creaking of wood.

Steve sat on the red covering over the mattress with a sigh. His eyes stared at the ceiling, narrow and somberly. The warm cushion of the mattress made him lose all sense of the world around him and forced him into a trance. His mind thinking of what the banner could lead to when suddenly Alex pushed the door open and stared at him.

He lowered his eyes and looked back at the ginger staring blindly into his.

“Is everything alright?” Alex asked once she caught a sense of herself. She made her way to a large brown chest beside the door and began looking through.

“Neither of us is in a place to answer that with a smile,” Steve replied.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Alex raised her back, holding two different leather armor sets in hand. “Do you prefer blue or brown?”

“I already have clothes, thanks.”

“They aren’t clothes. It’s armor, to protect you tonight.”

“Why do I need it?”

Alex lowered her hands and frowned at Steve. “To fight the monsters. We aren’t going out without protection.”

“…” Steve’s silence challenged Alex’s cool. Ever since they left the village, she has been attempting to keep herself contained around her new partner to come across as level-headed and sensible. There was no doubt that Steve saw her for the strong woman she was, but even he saw through the façade.

When she entered the home Steve could tell she had recently broken down. Her eyes were pink, there was a noticeable shake in her voice, and the light from the lanterns revealed the gloss of worn tears on her arms and cheeks. Steve’s muscles grew tense as he watched Alex quickly descend into grief.

“If we want to kill the people that took out the village, we'll need to know how to fight!” Alex threw the blue set of leather armor at Steve’s face, forcing him to catch them off guard. She quickly put on the leather padding and dug herself back into the chest. Steve couldn’t keep his eyes off of her incessant movement around the building.

“… Get some rest, Alex.”

Her movement suddenly stopped. The rustling and mumbles came to a pause. Steve hadn’t noticed until after he had said it, but the words he let slip out of his mouth hindered Alex’s opinion of him. His gut ached from the feeling that she would kick him out.

“No,” she let out her soft voice into the chest. “No—no!” She violently slammed her palms against the chest and raised her back. “I’m- I’m not going to stop!”

“Alex-”

“Not until they’re dead!” She turned to him with her eyes blinded by vengeance. At that moment, pure, unadulterated rage flowed through her and controlled her every thought. She felt her blood boil as it raced to her head. Steve flinched back as his heart rate picked up. “They might’ve meant nothing to you, Steve, but those villagers… they were my family.”

“I know, but you shouldn’t push yourself too hard.” With a sharp breath, Steve grew the courage to stand up against her. He stood up from his seat and walked up to Alex. “I don’t know what kind of monsters are out there, but this armor and your wooden sword won’t be enough.” He handed Alex the armor and waited for her response.

“Are you helping me or not?!” Her voice shook to a stop as she looked up at the 72-inch stranger she invited to her home.

“I’m not helping you commit suicide!” Steve’s deep voice filled the room with its booming echo. Alex felt helpless staring at his narrowed blue eyes. Her knees grew weak and the confidence she was trying to convey shattered.

Tears fell from her eyes, blurring her vision and running down her cheeks. She fell to a thud and silently cried like into her green shirt. Alex repeatedly slammed a fist against the stone floor. The emotions she’s been keeping bottled up erupted out of her control. Anger, frustration, sadness, and sorrow; all suddenly collapsed in on her in an instant.

Through her sniffles and whimpering, Steve bent down and rested his hands on her shoulders. His warm grip thawed her frozen heart. Steve looked at her glistening emerald green eyes and took a breath.

“Everything will be alright.” Their eyes met, freezing all of the space around them. Like time had stopped, Steve couldn’t say another word. The setting sun had cast an orange tint in the house and over her fair, freckled skin. Steve’s rather dark complexion was hardly affected, but he felt a sudden warmth in his chest.

His hands suddenly began to tremble as he gently rose them from her shoulders. Every nerve in his body was pushing him toward the girl, and before he could do anything against it, he wrapped his arms around her and leaned in for a hug.

“Get some rest and we’ll figure everything out in the morning, okay?”

Alex rested her chin on Steve’s shoulder with a nod, shutting her eyes and dropping her hands. She couldn’t muster up the strength to speak. Her mouth trembled in her sleep and light mumbles escaped her breath.

Steve lifted her from her legs and back, and carried her to the bed. After covering her with the red woolen blanket, he sat beside the chest with his arms wrapped around his knees.

~

As the sun set, the temperature of the cabin did the same. A chill fell down Steve’s spine, rising goosebumps from his skin. He eyed Alex’s blanket as he rubbed his skin. He was far from being tired. After everything that happened today, he was surprised Alex could manage to close her eyes. There was a lingering fear that the raiders possibly hadn’t gone far, and could attack the cabin at any moment. Not only them, either. The monsters that Alex mentioned also posed a threat.

Slipping out of his pocket, the banner caught Steve’s attention. His eyes slowly turned to the black border that surrounded the face. The dark emerald eyes underneath a pair of thick eyebrows intimidated him. There was still a presence of a bad omen emitting from the banner. A strange feeling of taboo followed it and the person carrying it. An aching pain slowly grew in Steve’s stomach the longer he looked at it. With a gulp, he pulled the banner from his pocket and rested it on the floor in front of him.

The banner itself didn’t have a lot to look at. A face plastered on it is similar to the villagers, only grey and without a unibrow. Simply looking at it wasn’t going to get Steve any information. He assumed that the raiders looked similar to the banner. Having their face centered on their battle sign wasn’t exactly the bright thing to do.

The back of the banner was plain white.

Steve groaned in defeat and pressed his back against the wall behind him. He shuffled his shoulders on the wood grains that were printed on his back.

His eyelids grew heavy with time. At every blink, his eyes would stick together becoming a workout to keep up. Eventually, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, sitting in the corner of Alex's room with his arms crossed and head tilted sideways.