Shadow Slave alternate paths: The sun of song

Sunny sat in the Dojo at the academy, a faint sheen of sweat clinging to his skin.

The training hall was empty, the polished wooden floor gleaming under shafts of pale morning light. He had come early—earlier than anyone else—hoping the quiet would help.

But now, seated cross-legged in the center of the room, he simply stared at the floor.

His legs ached slightly from the morning's drills. He'd gone through the motions again—basic strikes, transitions, evasion steps—then tried to mold the memory of the slave's dance into something more.

But it was like trying to speak a language he'd never heard aloud. Every gesture felt wrong, disconnected from the rhythm pulsing in the back of his mind.

The dream had given him clarity.

Reality offered only resistance.

His fingers drummed lightly against his knee. Across the room, his shadow sprawled, still and sluggish, barely reacting to his frustration.

"Some help you are," he muttered.

The shadow looked at him, shrugged, then stood still.

He had doubled his training time in the hope of making progress.

Sparring at night with Nephis, training in the morning alone, then sometimes joining in on sparring in combat classes.

But progress was painfully slow.

In the corridors of the academy, he could start to hear the morning murmur of students as they began walking toward breakfast.

His stomach gurgled.

Yeah, breakfast sounded good.

He sent his shadow outside the door.

There he saw a familiar and weird sight.

The blind and blonde girl—Cassie, he believed—was slowly making her way toward the cafeteria, feeling her way using a metal walking stick.

He saw this sight nearly every morning.

And he ignored her nearly every morning.

"Walking corpse" is what the other students called her.

Sunny couldn't help but agree. Being blind in the Dream Realm?

A death sentence.

He quietly opened the door. It creaked slightly.

Cassie stopped and turned her head slightly toward the Dojo, then after a moment, she continued walking.

She knew someone was there, but she knew they couldn't be bothered to even help her.

After all, there was less than a week until the Winter Solstice.

She was about to continue walking when:

"Do... you need help?" Sunny asked.

He didn't know what came over him.

Perhaps she reminded him of himself when he was in the outskirts, expecting nothing and destined to die pathetically.

But then someone helped him.

Would he go so far as to try to help her if he ever came across her during the Winter Solstice?

No.

But could he do this small act to at least help her?

Why not?

Cassie blinked, the movement subtle but unmistakably shocked.

It took her a moment to process the voice, as if unsure it had been real. Then she tilted her head toward Sunny, her lips parting slightly.

"…I'd like that," she said, her voice quiet but steady.

Sunny hesitated. He hadn't actually expected her to accept.

"I'm heading that way too," Sunny muttered. "Do you need me to hold your hand or something?"

Cassie smiled faintly and lifted her cane slightly off the ground. "No need, just lead the way."

She walked beside him, tapping the cane gently ahead to feel out the floor.

Sunny stole a glance at her now and then. She was very pretty, not unlike that of a beautiful, carefully sculpted doll.

The halls were filling with students, and a few glanced their way in confusion—some even paused outright, their eyes narrowing at the unlikely pair. Whispers trailed behind them.

He was barely known in the academy; only seen in sparring lessons and sometimes sneaking about.

He was decent with the sword, but nothing compared to the legacies.

He was just known as the weird kid who sometimes attended sparring lessons.

By the time they reached the cafeteria doors, Cassie came to a stop.

"I can manage from here," she said softly, turning her face toward him.

Sunny didn't respond at first. Then he gave her a small nod, realizing belatedly she couldn't see it.

"…Alright."

Sunny stood in the hallway for a while longer, his gaze lingering on the cafeteria doors.

A few students drifted past him, none sparing him more than a glance—just the way he liked it.

Attention brought questions. Questions led to lies. And lies… lies took effort.

Well, they were impossible.

But enough half-truths could make an effect akin to one.

By the time he entered, the breakfast rush had mellowed into a steady hum. Trays clattered. Conversations bubbled at every table.

He got his food in silence—some kind of synthetic oatmeal, dried fruits, a boiled egg—and carried the tray to an empty table near the corner.

The same one he always sat at.

From here, he had a view of most of the cafeteria without being in it.

He saw Cassie, slowly eating her oatmeal with measured movements.

He saw Nephis, legacies surrounding her, trying to strike up conversation.

Nephis didn't laugh. She didn't push them away, either. Just listened, her grey eyes unreadable.

Eating his own food quickly, he thought about Wilderness Survival class with Professor Julius.

Sunny had asked the older man to focus his lessons mostly on survival in seas and oceans.

There was only one area in the explored part of the Dream Realm that was mostly water.

The Storm Sea.

Fortunately, the House of Night increased their patrol during the days after the Winter Solstice, so chances were it wouldn't be long until he awakened.

Unless, of course, he was eaten by some kind of monster in the depths.

Sunny frowned. There was also the chance he could be placed in an unexplored part of the Dream Realm that was also mostly made of water.

That wouldn't be good.

His shadow shivered.

"Well, best I can do is hope and prepare," Sunny thought glumly. "I am entirely at the mercy of the Spell."

Which wasn't comforting considering his [Fated] attribute.

He finished up his food and walked out of the cafeteria.

Walking toward his dorm, Sunny was planning on taking a quick nap before the Wilderness Survival class, since Combat class today didn't include sparring.

He stopped in a hallway.

Frowning, he turned around.

"You can come out now," he called.

A young man turned the corner, his eyes completely set on Sunny.

The young man had brown hair and a gentle, handsome face. His eyes were green, stern and unyielding. His posture, figure, and attentive gaze betrayed someone who went through extensive training. Everything about the young man screamed of nobility and strength.

He recognized the legacy.

It was Caster of the Han Li clan.