Woods.

The flickering candlelight danced across the rough-hewn walls of the cabin, casting long, distorted shadows that seemed to writhe and twist like the gnarled branches of the trees outside. Dust motes drifted lazily in the still air, illuminated by the faint glow.

Liu sat hunched over a crudely fashioned table, his gaze fixed on the intricate carvings he’d been working on. The wood was dark and smooth beneath his calloused fingertips, the lines and curves flowing effortlessly from his knife. He wasn't thinking of anything in particular, his mind as blank as the untouched wood before he began to carve. It was a meditative state, a way to pass the long, quiet hours in the desolate woods.

A thick, ragged scar bisected his left eye, a stark contrast to the otherwise smooth skin of his face. It tugged at the corner of his mouth, giving him a perpetually melancholic expression, even when he wasn’t feeling particularly sad.

"Another day in this quiet sanctuary..." Fingertips gently traced the raised scar. A faint, phantom ache pulsed beneath the rough tissue. "It's... lonely. But peaceful."

He glanced out the single, grimy window. The forest pressed close to the cabin, a wall of dark green and deeper shadows. He’d grown accustomed to the solitude, the whispering of the wind through the trees, the rustling of unseen creatures in the undergrowth. It was a stark contrast to the life he’d once known, a life he barely remembered anymore.

A sudden snap of a twig outside the cabin broke the silence. Liu tensed, his hand instinctively reaching for the hunting knife that lay on the table beside him.

"Someone's out there..." A flicker of curiosity, mixed with a healthy dose of suspicion, sparked in his chest. "...I wonder who it could be?"