Requiem of the Forgotten

Two weeks had passed since we decided to settle here.

Dragontown—or whatever the hell we'd eventually name it—was starting to feel less like a temporary camp and more like a place where people actually lived. The first few days had been chaos. No order, no leadership, just a bunch of desperate survivors trying not to starve. But humans are weird. Give us a few weeks, and we'll start building routines, making plans, and figuring out how to complain about minor inconveniences like the ground being too hard to sleep on.

This morning was no different.

"Hey, we need more firewood," Carmen grumbled as she chewed on a dried strip of some unidentifiable meat. "I nearly froze my ass off last night."

"You'd probably freeze less if you didn't keep stealing the best sleeping spots," Nikita shot back, sharpening a spear.

"I'm sorry, do you want to share your dirt with me?" Carmen smirked.

Daisuke, sitting on a log, adjusted his glasses. "Technically, body heat is the most efficient way to preserve warmth."

Carmen threw a pebble at him. "Technically, shut up."

I smirked and stretched, standing up. The sky was clear today, the morning sun actually warming the air a bit. "I'll go check the perimeter. Make sure no one's stealing our twigs and leaves."

Amina, who had been silently organizing a pile of gathered food, nodded. "I'll go with you."

"Of course, you will," Carmen teased, wiggling her eyebrows. "Gotta make sure your precious Aleks doesn't wander off and get eaten by a bush."

Amina ignored her, but I caught the ghost of a smirk.

We left the group behind, stepping past the crude wooden structures we were calling 'houses' now. If you squinted, Dragontown almost looked like a real settlement. Almost.

Then I felt it.

A presence. Someone was watching us.

I turned my head slightly. Just at the tree line, where the forest thickened, a tall, white-haired figure stood completely still.

Amina noticed, too. "That's… an elf?"

He was taller than most, his hair silver-white, his skin unnaturally smooth, like marble. His eyes—cold, metallic silver—held no expression whatsoever.

I frowned. "Something's off about him."

The elf stepped forward, his movement eerily smooth, like he wasn't entirely real. His gaze locked onto me like I was a particularly interesting rock he found on the ground.

"You are the human leader," he stated. Not a question. A statement.

I blinked. "Uh… not really?"

"You are," he corrected himself. "Relative to the others."

Amina nudged me. "Oh, you're a leader now?"

"Shut up." I turned back to the elf. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am Caelith Vaen'Thalor."

"Cool. And what do you want, Caelith Vaen-something?"

He tilted his head slightly, like he was processing my words. "I am observing your kind."

I frowned. "Observing?"

"Yes." He paused. "I was… cast out. From my homeland. I sought refuge in Lydia's territory, but I was not welcome."

I glanced at Amina. Lydia was the woman who wanted all races to unite. If even she didn't want him, something was off. "Why were you cast out?"

Caelith blinked, as if the question confused him. "I am an Ascended Elf."

"…Okay?"

He sighed, as if he was dealing with idiots. "One of my kind, long ago, attempted to conquer this world. He believed Elves were the only ones fit to rule. He slaughtered thousands. And when he fell, his final words were a curse upon his own race."

Amina folded her arms. "So they exiled you because of something some ancient elf did?"

"Yes."

"That's stupid."

"Yes."

Caelith had zero expression, zero emotion in his voice. It wasn't arrogance—it was just… blank.

I scratched my head. "And now you're here because…?"

"I wish to understand."

"…Understand what?"

Caelith met my gaze, silver eyes unreadable. "How humans survive."

Silence.

Then Carmen, who had apparently followed us, burst out laughing from behind. "Oh my god. That's the most insulting thing I've ever heard."

Amina sighed. "Carmen, please."

"No, seriously, listen to this guy!" Carmen wiped a fake tear from her eye. "'I wish to understand how humans survive.' Bro, we're just built different."

Caelith simply stared at her, expression unchanged. "…Different from what?"

I groaned. "Listen, Caelith. You can stay. Just… try not to be weird about it."

"I am not weird."

"That's exactly what a weird person would say."

For the first time, his brow slightly furrowed, like he was processing a completely foreign concept. "Then I will adjust my behavior."

I sighed. This was gonna be a long few days.

That night, after everyone had settled, I found myself lying on my back, staring at the dark sky.

Caelith's words stuck in my head.

How do humans survive?

It was a simple question, but for some reason, I didn't have an answer.

Survival wasn't just about food and shelter. It was about… more. About moving forward, even when everything was falling apart. About finding something to hold onto.

I sighed, closing my eyes.

Maybe I'd have an answer for him someday.

But not tonight.