In the gentle haze of pre-dawn, Jimmy stirred.
His body lay still, but in the restless chambers of his mind, the storm returned.
The beatings.
The betrayal.
The pain that bloomed behind his closed eyes like fire licking the edges of a page.
He remembered it all—the fists, the boots, the blinding ache as consciousness shattered. Then… nothing. Blackness. Until now.
In his dream, he screamed again. A voiceless scream, trapped in a throat that had never known sound.
But just as the terror threatened to drown him again—he felt something.
Familiar. Soothing.
Warm, like sun on skin after a long winter.
Through his cracked dreamscape, Jimmy opened his eyes slightly—and there it was.
A small Whisp, no more than half a meter tall, padded softly toward him. Four legs moved with quiet power. Its body was sleek and cyan-blue, edged with swirling azure accents. A regal white mane fanned across its chest like mist caught in moonlight, and curved, tan horns crowned its head—arching backward like the sweep of falling stars.
Its hooves struck the earth with such grace it might have been walking on memory itself.
Jimmy's heart stirred.
His hand rose shakily.
"…Ah… ahhhh…" he tried to say, his mouth forming the soundless gasp of one returning from exile. Inwardly, he whispered: You came… wait for me… tomorrow… we'll make the pact.
The Whisp stepped closer, its golden-amber eyes glowing with deep knowing. With a soft grunt—"Liu… liu… liu…"—it leaned down and licked his cheek, just like it had done long ago, back when it was still small enough to rest in his palms.
She remembered him.
She had returned.
Then, like starlight passed through glass, her body pulsed with radiant light—gentle and pure. The light passed through Jimmy's chest and limbs like a wave through water.
In one breath, every ache in his bones, every split in his skin, every torment in his skull dissolved. His brain, once surging with unstable energy, now quieted—solidifying, stabilizing. The storm had passed.
She looked at him once more and gave a silent nod, then turned and gracefully trotted back toward the pond's edge, disappearing into the mist that clung to its surface like a secret. Jimmy watched her go, eyes soft. His body stilled again, but this time—he slept peacefully, with a smile.
Later That Morning
The cry of a soaked dove shattered the quiet dawn.
"Du-du! Dududu!"
Jimmy stirred, blinking against the soft morning light. The warmth on his skin felt different—no pain, no weight, just a strange lightness. He sat up slowly, blinking in confusion.
Beside him stood his dove companion—completely drenched.
Her feathers were slicked to her body, wings drooping with water, eyes wide with indignation and distress. A spotless dish lay neatly on the grass near the pond.
Jimmy's eyes followed the dish… then to the pond… then back to the soaked dove.
Realization hit.
A mischievous grin crept onto his face.
He pointed between the dish, the water, and her sopping feathers, then signed playfully: You washed it there?
The dove fluffed her wings in frustration and let out an indignant squawk.
"Du-du! Du-du-du-du!"
Jimmy laughed silently, holding his stomach. She looked both pitiful and hilarious—like a knight returning from battle with nothing to show but wet socks.
Still chuckling, he reached for the blanket, gently wrapping the edge around her and patting her dry. The dove gave a resigned coo but leaned into the warmth.
Once her feathers stopped dripping, Jimmy gave her a half-exasperated look. He moved his fingers in loose signs, but a few motions weren't formal—more like gestures shaped by thought and instinct than structured sign language.
A mix of the unspoken and the incomprehensible.
But the dove understood.
She tilted her head.
"I don't understand your angry chirping," he teased silently with a small grin, Call Nun.
The dove blinked twice, then gave a sigh through her beak—"Duu…"—and nodded. A moment later, she stilled her body and activated her mental link to Nun Lisa, her eyes glowing faintly with the effort.
Jimmy sat back, watching her.
Even though his voice could never form, even though his signs weren't always clean, he never needed words with her.
She just… understood.
And somehow, in a world full of silence, that meant everything.
Afterward:
With the pond now behind them and the first full light of morning spilling over the rooftops, Jimmy stretched his limbs and slipped quietly into the rhythms of his old routines—the ones he had practiced every day at the orphanage.
Breathing.
Sign forms.
Meditation.
The pain that once gripped him was gone—completely, eerily gone. As if it had never existed at all. Like a candle whose flame had been snuffed out… leaving no smoke, no heat, no trace.
His body felt lighter than it ever had before. Every breath came easier. His thoughts, once foggy and fractured, were now calm. Clear.
And with that newfound clarity, he began to trace shapes in the air.
Slowly. Deliberately.
The base structure of a beginner's Whisp Master Array.
Once.
Twice.
On the third attempt—it held. The glyph hovered in the air before him, pulsing gently, balanced and true.
Jimmy stared at it, hardly daring to breathe.
..............................................
Soon, footsteps rustled along the path.
Jimmy turned his head, sensing more than seeing them—three familiar figures moving steadily along the outer edge of the courtyard.
Nun Lisa.Dr. Mu.And floating between them, the gentle shimmer of a bell-shaped Whisp.
It glided silently through the air like a drop of morning light. Its round, glassy form was painted with curling patterns of green, white, and red—festive and serene. A faint golden loop crowned its head, pulsing softly like a heartbeat. Its face was simple: closed eyes and a permanent smile, radiating quiet comfort.
Jimmy blinked, adjusting to the strange vision that was now his truth.
In this new sight—his "Sense"—the world appeared as glowing white lines drawn across an endless sea of black. No texture. No light. Only shape, presence, and aura.
And yet… it was enough.
He could tell who they were. He could feel their emotions through the air. He no longer feared what he couldn't see.
He stood, slowly but without hesitation.
His limbs were steady.
His heart, clear.
The chapter of pain was ending—fading like a dream behind him.
And before him, something ancient stirred.
Something that had waited for him… and him alone.
A step forward.A breath of dawn.The future was calling.
And this time, he was ready.
A new, auspicious journey dawns for him.