🔥 EPISODE 4 — "THE SHADOWS THAT MADE HIM"
(Long, deep, emotional, anime-level… just how you asked.)
---
Night falls. Episode 3 ended with Aryex sitting alone near the old shrine, confused & sad after Raven scolded him.
The wind is cold. Aryex keeps replaying Raven's harsh words:
"Power without control is a disaster."
"You are not ready."
He lowers his head.
For the first time, Aryex feels… small.
Suddenly—
tap… tap…
The sound of a stick on stone.
An old woman steps out from the misty path.
Tall, sharp eyes, silver hair tied neatly, a wooden staff, and a steady calm aura.
Old Lady:
"Child… sit with me."
Aryex hesitates, but something in her voice feels… familiar, like warmth he hadn't felt in days.
They sit near the shrine lantern.
The flame flickers between them.
---
THE BACKSTORY BEGINS
The old lady takes a slow breath.
Old Lady:
"You are hurt because Raven shouted at you…
But you don't know how much pain he swallows every day."
Aryex looks up, confused.
Aryex:
"Pain? He looks strong… unbreakable."
She shakes her head.
Old Lady:
"That is because he has no room left to be weak."
Her voice carries decades of weight.
---
🌑 Part 1 — Raven's Childhood: A Life of Emptiness
"When Raven was your age," she begins softly,
"he had no home… no family… no name.
He wandered from village to village,
not begging…
not crying…
just surviving."
Aryex imagines a small boy with torn clothes, cold nights, empty stomach.
Old Lady:
"I found him collapsed near a riverbank.
Half-dead… but those eyes…
those eyes carried a fire I had never seen."
She smiles gently.
"I took him in. Fed him. Taught him his first words."
Aryex's eyes widen.
"You… raised him?"
"Raised him? No.
Raven raised himself.
I only stopped him from dying."
---
🌑 Part 2 — The Curse
"At age 10," she continues,
"a strange mark appeared on his spine during a fever."
Aryex sits up.
Old Lady:
"A curse that grants strength… in exchange for loneliness.
Anyone who stays too close to Raven for too long…
feels their life force drain."
Aryex freezes.
"That's why he never lets people near?"
Old Lady:
"Yes. He trains alone. Eats alone. Sleeps alone.
Not because he wants to…
but because if he doesn't, he might kill the ones he cares for."
A heavy silence.
Aryex suddenly remembers all the times Raven stepped away, avoided closeness, kept distance.
Everything makes sense now.
---
🌑 Part 3 — Betrayal & Battle
"When Raven was older, a group of warriors took him in.
He trained harder than anyone.
But one day…
during a mission…
his curse activated."
Her eyes lower.
"His friends… the only people he trusted…
collapsed around him."
Aryex feels a stab in his heart.
"He didn't mean to. But the world blamed him.
The ones he saved turned their backs.
The ones he trusted feared him.
He walked away… alone again."
A single tear forms in Aryex's eye.
---
🌑 Part 4 — The Twist (Your C + B Choice)
The old lady leans closer.
"And do you know why Raven was so strict with you today?"
Aryex wipes his eyes.
"No…"
Her tone becomes sharp.
Powerful.
"Because you reminded him…
of himself.
His younger self.
Wild. Emotional.
Full of power but no direction."
Aryex's heart drops.
"He is scared, Aryex."
"Scared that you will fall the same way he fell…
and he won't be able to save you."
Aryex covers his mouth, shocked.
The old lady places her hand on his shoulder.
"And one more thing…"
Aryex looks at her.
She smiles with heavy sadness.
"Raven saved your life…
because once, long ago…
I saved his."
Aryex's eyes widen.
"And now… he wants to protect you the way he wished someone had protected him."
---
🌑 FINAL MOMENTS
The lantern crackles.
Aryex feels his chest tight, but warm.
He whispers:
Aryex:
"I thought he hated me…
But… he was scared of losing me?"
The old lady nods slowly.
Old Lady:
"Raven will never tell you this.
His pride won't allow it.
But he cares for you more than he cares for himself."
Wind blows.
Aryex clenches his fists—not out of anger, but determination.
Aryex (whisper):
"I'll become someone he doesn't need to worry about.
I'll become strong…
so he doesn't have to be alone anymore."
The flame flickers—
signalling the beginning of a new bond.