(The morning after the carnage. The sky is gray, sunless but smokeless. Snow falls softly on the scorched ground as the column of Fire ninja moves north. At the head — Minato, his gaze cold and empty.
In one of the medical squad's vehicles — Arden lies on a stretcher, his eye bandaged, the battle scar still visible on his chest. Next to him sits Lyra, curled up, frozen, but awake.)
Narrator:
"After twelve days of travel and one night of hell, the Shadow arrived in the North.
The mountains became fortresses, and the snow — new ashes."
(The vehicle stops. Lyra presses lightly on Arden's shoulder—he opens one eye, the healthy one, green as the flame before the explosion.)
Lyra (quietly):
"Good morning, hero."
Arden (hoarsely):
"Heroes don't lose an eye."
(A slight smile crosses her lips.)
Lyra:
"Heroes are not those who never bleed...but those who stand up when everyone else falls."
(Arden looks at her for a few seconds. Then he sits up slowly, feeling the sting under the bandage. Lyra instinctively puts her hand out to hold him, but he steps back slightly, proud, stubborn.)
Arden:
"How long have I been…out of everything?"
Lyra:
"Two days. Minato led Shadow ahead, but he's waiting for you to arrive."
He said… he's not moving to the front line without you."
(Arden smiles for a moment, barely perceptible.)
Arden:
"I knew he wouldn't admit it, but he cared."
(Silence. The wind whistles through the tent. Lyra looks down, then speaks softly.)
Lyra:
"You know… when you jumped in front of me, I thought you were going to die.
And yes… I'm not worth it."
Arden (cold, but with warmth in tone):
"I don't decide whose life is worth Lyra.
I'm just not letting them take it away without a fight."
(She smiles—tears well up, but holds them back. He looks through the opening of the tent, sees snow covering the burned valley.)
Narrator:
"Somewhere between fire and ice, Arden felt silence for the first time.
Not the one made by death — but the one borne by peace."
(Lyra hands him a cigarette. He takes it, lights it with a flame from his finger, and blows the smoke toward the opening of the tent.)
Lyra (with a slight smile):
"You're still smoking… even though you're barely alive."
Arden:
"That's why I smoke.
As long as there's smoke — there's me."
(Lyra looks down, but her smile doesn't fade. The camera pans up above the tent — the northern front is visible, endlessly white and silent, and far on the horizon — the blue flashes of Lightning Clan lightning.)
Narrator:
"War awaits him in the north.
But in his eye, now burned another flame — one that is not extinguished in battle, but in the soul."
(There is silence in the tent. Lyra is still sitting next to Arden, checking his bandages. The snow outside is still falling, and the light from the lamp casts a warm glow on his scar. Suddenly, the canvas of the tent moves—someone enters.)
(A silhouette appears at the entrance — a tall figure in the dark uniform of the Shadow. A long coat of black cloth, a katana at the side. When he takes off the hood, a woman's face is visible — sharp-featured, but perfect beauty. Hair brown as chestnut, eyes blue, cold as the surface of a frozen lake.)
Lyra (surprised):
"She didn't…?"
(Niya nods without smiling, her eyes immediately go to Arden. She measures him for a few seconds, without a trace of emotion.)
Nia:
"So you're the…Vex."
(Arden looks up, still with the cigarette between his fingers, his gaze calm but insightful.)
Arden:
"Depends on who's asking."
(A slight twitch of the lips — perhaps a smile, but it disappears too quickly.)
Nia:
"Captain Nia. Special Shadow of the Northern Front.
From this moment on — you are in my unit."
(Lyra looks at her in surprise.)
Lyra:
"But…he's still wounded, he's just—"
Nija (interrupts it's cold):
"They don't heal in the Shadow, Lyra. They burn in the Shadow to ashes."
(Arden watches her, then slowly gets up, though his wound pulls him back. He stands facing her, without taking his eyes off her.)
Arden:
"So, I'm under your command now?"
Nia:
"No. You're the captain.
We are in the same line. Two leaders, one battlefield.
Minato ordered that we operate together in the north—until the rest of the Shadow arrives."
(Silence for a moment. Then Niya turns to Lyra.)
Nia:
"Get him ready to go. We're heading for the White Gorge in three hours.
Scouts of the Voltaris clan are already active there."
(He starts towards the exit, but stops for a moment and, without looking at him, says quietly.)
Nia:
"And Vex…
I heard what you did in that ambush.
Just so you know — emotions on the front kill before guns."
(He exits. The canvas of the tent sways in the wind. There is silence. Lyra looks at Arden, worried.)
Lyra (quietly):
"I don't like..."
Arden (cold):
"Me neither.
But maybe that's why we'll get along so well."
(He raises his katana, looks at the scar in the mirror. The wind outside is blowing snow, and the horizon is filled with bluish light—the lightning of a distant enemy.)
Narrator:
"In the north, two forces met — ice and fire,
both soulless, but with a reason to burn."
(A northerly wind whips through the forest. Snow crunches under boots. Arden and Nia walk side by side, the silence between them long but not empty. A faint smoke can be seen in the distance—the Voltaris clan's guardhouse burned.)
(Niya walks ahead, her step light but determined. On her shoulder she bears the symbol of the Shadow — a black seal with a white circle. Arden walks a little behind, draped in a black cloak, a fox mask hanging from his belt, a cigarette smoldering in his mouth.)
Arden (quietly, to break the silence):
"You know… you don't seem like one to talk much."
Nia (without looking at him):
"I'm not talking. I'm listening."
Arden (smile at the corner of his mouth):
"And what have you heard so far?"
(Niya pauses, looks over her shoulder at him — her eyes are cold but sincere.)
Nia:
"That you're crazy. That you burn for no reason."
That you should have died three times, but you didn't."
(Arden blows out the smoke and gives a short laugh.)
Arden:
"Sounds like the truth."
(They walk a few more steps. Then Nia speaks softly, her tone changing — less cold, more serious.)
Nia:
"I also heard that you once fought with Rin and Tara."
Arden (surprised, pauses):
"You know them?"
Nia:
"I know them now. Rin has been transferred to the spy unit.
He works directly under the command of the High Council. He disappears without a trace, returns with secrets that no one should know."
(Arden thinks for a while, his gaze wanders towards the horizon.)
Arden (quietly):
"Sounds like him.
He always knew how to disappear when you needed him the most."
(Niya continues walking, and after a few steps she adds coldly, but respectfully.)
Nia:
"And Taro… he's Minato's right hand man now.
When the Shadow retreats, he leads the charge.
People call it 'Silent Steel'. He doesn't talk — he just snarls."
(Arden laughs with a slight sadness in his eyes.)
Arden:
"I knew he would go far.
He was always stubborn."
(Brief silence. Just wind and snow.)
Nia (calmly):
"And what are you going to do, Vex?
While everyone grows up, you still wear the mask of the fox."
(Arden pauses, looks up at the sky — snowflakes fall on his shoulders. In his eyes you can see the glimmer of a flame, somewhere deep inside.)
Arden (quietly):
"The mask is not there to hide me…
but to protect what is left of me."
(Niya looks at him, but doesn't answer. Just keeps walking. In the distance, among the trees, there's a soft crackling—a sign that they're not alone. Both of their hands automatically go to their weapons.)
Narrator:
"In the north, the wind doesn't just carry snow...
but also memories, and the faces of those who once walked together,
and now they stand on different sides of darkness."