CALAMITY : Legends Of The Chosen

Title: "The Shadow That Chose to Stay"

Slum-Born, Street-Raised

Zans Keifer was born and raised in the Gutterveil District, the lowest, filthiest rung of Neo-Jinchuan — a forgotten slum buried beneath scaffolding and industrial runoff. No sky. No sun. Just steam, smog, and the cold metal echo of living beneath civilization's floorboards.

He never met his parents. Some said his mother OD'd. Others said his father sold him off. He didn't care.

He lived.

He stole his first meal at age five. Took his first beating at six. Dodged his first gang recruitment at eight.

No birth certificate. No guardians.

Just the shadows — and her.

Kuro.

At first, she was just a voice. A presence in the dark. A flicker of white eyes in the corner of his vision when he cried alone.

People said she was imaginary.

But Kuro warned him about ambushes before they happened.

Kuro whispered when he was about to eat something rotten.

Kuro told him when to stay hidden. When to run.

She kept him alive.

The Years of Silence

Zans never got attached to people.

Everyone either left, betrayed, or died.

He stayed quiet.

He worked small jobs: scrap salvage, rat-cleaning, back-alley courier work.

The few who saw him often said:

"That kid's got something wrong in his eyes… like he's seen things he shouldn't have."

They weren't wrong.

Zans didn't cry when he saw corpses. Didn't flinch from screams. He just… endured. Like shadows do.

But he wasn't heartless.

Especially when it came to the young ones — the ones like he'd been.

He always made sure they had food. Water. An escape route. Even if it meant going hungry himself.

He told them to run, always.

Even if it meant staying behind.

The Final Day — Age 19

He was 19 when he died.

It was supposed to be a normal route run. Down a side alley, past the bridge ruins, toward a collapsed storage site.

Then he heard it — a scream.

High-pitched. Terrified.

A little girl, no older than seven, cornered in the dark.

Hovering above her — a Wraith Demon.

Invisible. Half-phased. Almost silent. But Zans felt it.

Kuro screamed inside him: "Don't!"

But he ran anyway.

No weapon. Just a rusted steel pipe.

The Wraith turned.

Zans charged.

He struck it once.

Twice.

Three times.

It phased through the fourth hit — and slashed his side open.

Zans didn't stop.

He leapt forward and tackled the girl out of its path just before it struck again.

And then—

Silence.

His vision faded.

Blood pooled under him.

As he lay dying, the girl ran.

Safe.

Zans' final thought wasn't regret.

It was relief.

And Kuro's whisper…

"I won't let you fade."

Rebirth in the Dark

When he awoke, he wasn't in the alley.

He was in a black sea of whispers — no light, no shape, only thought.

Nocturne, the Primordial of Shadow, stood before him like a void draped in mourning.

"A soul that dies in shadow, yet sacrifices for light…

is worthy of rebirth."

Kuro appeared beside him — now with a humanoid form. Pale skin. White eyes. Shadowed arms. Still silent. Still loyal.

Nocturne offered a deal:

"Live again.

But as a part of what you were born in.

Not the world's light.

Its unflinching dusk."

Zans accepted.

His soul was reshaped.

His bond with Kuro fused permanently.

She would now live within his shadow.

And he became a Stalker-Class Chosen.

Not to be a hero.

But to make sure no child ever had to die screaming in the dark again.

The Pact with Kuro

Kuro, now fully sentient and semi-independent, became both protector and weapon.

But when she fights through him, she becomes feral. Her memories of his death — her fear, her rage — make her unforgiving.

When Zans loses control, Kuro takes over.

And when Kuro takes over, she doesn't hold back.

"She's not evil.

But she remembers what it was like…

to lose me."

Present Day

Zans travels alone.

Tracks demon nests. Destroys them quietly. Doesn't ask for thanks.

Doesn't explain himself.

He appears, kills, vanishes.

Some call him a myth.

Some say he's a ghost.

The "Dark Witness." The "Alley Phantom."

But he doesn't care what they call him.

He made a promise to the dying boy he used to be:

"You die once.

You live twice.

And the second time…

You make it count."