[And 1 year later, Felix decides to come back...]

A pair of boots march down the streets of Vale. Step, step. Step, step. Step, step.

This steady tempo provides a beat for Felix's mind. He loses himself to his thoughts, ignoring the water beating down on his back and seeping through his shoes, disregarding the people milling around, eyes mirroring the sky above them. His mind flickers back to his old teammates-CJ, Noch, and Ginger- and wonders where they are now. It had been a while since he'd seen them, even though they attended the same school.

He sighs and mindlessly kicks at the ground beneath him. Their time together was short. Apparently the whole 'next four years' thing doesn't always pan out. An empty smile forms on his face as he thinks back on their excursion to the cabin-ha! They were immediately raising hell in the old building, and of course Ginger was the main source of it all. The smile grows wider as he recalls stories passed on of the silly antics that the forest girl had been up to. Even though they hadn’t talked face to face at all the past year, one could literally be six feet under and still hear of the unfortunate events.

Buildings blur by until he finds himself in the middle of town near a crowd with people that seem to be handing out lanterns and paper. Felix’s gaze wanders over the men and women that are littered around the edges. Almost all look exhausted, as if Remnant itself is sucking them dry of what little energy that have left. A woman approaches him- lantern in one hand with a paper in the other- and gestures to it. With a heavy sigh, Felix takes the items and trudges over to an empty bench and stares at nothing in particular.

Damn, I should’ve brought an umbrella…