Rai stared , frozen. The silver-eyed girl lay still, her breath shallow, her skin glowing faintly with the same blue light that still hung in air like mist. The threads trailing from her wrist weren't like the village threads. Thy pulsed with something alive.
She tried to speak again, but her voice was barely a breath. " Help...me.."
Rai didn't hesitate. He knelt beside her, gently lifting her into his arms. The energy around her tingled against his skin, but didn't burn.It
welcomed him.
As he carried her back to his hut at the edge of the village, the blue threads curled behind them like cautions snakes, retreating into her body, vanishing into the night.
Hours passed.
The girl slept.
Rai sat by the fire, watching. Who was she ? What was she? What did she mean by "Threadless"?
Then, her eyes opened again.
" you followed the call," she said.
Rai blinked. "what call?"
" The sky choose you. That's why I fell here." she struggled to sit up, her face pale. " you're not like them."
He looked away. "l know. I don't have a thread. I never did."
She reached towards him, not touching, just hovering her fingers over his chest. Then her eyes widened.
"There it is."
Rai heart jumped. "What?"
" you do have a thread. But it doesn't connect to the loom like theirs. It's buried. Hidden. Shielded from the world."
She looked him dead in the eye.
"you're not Threadless, Rai. You're unwoven."
Rai couldn't speak. His entire life had been shaped by rejection, by the label "Threadless." But now... a thread? Hidden?
"why?" he whispered.
The girl hesitated." Because if the loom finds you...it will try to erase you."
Suddenly, the air outside twisted.
The wind stopped.
A sharp ringing filled the air – like metal threads being plucked.
She stood quickly. " They've found me ."
"who?"
Before she could answer, the door exploded open in a flash of light.
Two figures stepped inside, cloaked in silver and black, their threads crackling like chains.
Their faces were hidden, but their intent was clear.
"Hand over the fallen one,"one said, voice cold and metallic "
Rai stepped in front of her.
His first clenched.
He had no thread. No power.
But something inside him stirred.
And for thefirst time –
Something invisible pulsed through the air behind him.