Over 6 months ago...

I watch as the explosives activate. There's no time to grab anything except a few diamonds and the transceiver in my pocket. I hug Scar's hat close, hoping he's alright, as I run to the kitchen window, slamming it open and jumping.

I fall fast, but know what I'm doing. Hopefully. I grab onto the edge of a window, slowing but not stopping, falling from it, snatching at another. It creaks under my weight as I hang there, panting. I look down at the ground. I'm only a couple storeys from it, climbing the rest of the way.

And then the building explodes.

I'm well out the way of the blast, but rubble starts falling. I slip from the window frame, trying to find a better angle as I fall again. 

I land, and the world turns black.

Darkness surrounds me as I wake. Pressure. Something above me. I push slowly from the pile of wood and ash, staring at the half destroyed building. Cameras flash. I see Beef from the news talking with a citizen. Hoping I'm not visible, I crawl out. Everything hurts. But I'm alive.

For the next couple of days I hide in an alleyway. I buy food and basic potions from a nearby shop. With added value of diamonds and immediate revulsion at my battered appearance, I don't know how cheep I really get supplies, but it's enough to keep some diamonds, feed myself, and start covering my injuries. 

From there, I'm left wandering the streets in search of a job. I listen to the news through people's windows, learning my way around the rooftops, sleeping anywhere. After around a month, starving and nearly out of diamonds, I grow reckless. Ignoring my morals screaming not to, I steal food from empty houses. Just enough to survive. I start finding homes people've moved out of. Barricade the door, and live inside again. There's enough food there to eat, and my appearance starts to gain something close to normal again. I continue looking for a job. In the end, I give up. Keep stealing.

Start planning revenge.

And then I see him.

Walking in the street. Talking. Laughing. Enjoying himself, with a friend in a red sweater and another with a rather fancy moustache. 

Scar. 

Every instinct tells me to run over and hug him. Relief floods me. He's alive. And not just alive, he's happy. Safe. Free. 

I catch a glimpse of my reflection a the window. I might look better than at first, but dirt still smudges my face and hands. Scratches and scars cross them. My clothes are a complete mess. He'd regret leaving me. He'd want to leave everything he's deserved for so long behind just to help me.

I can't let him give up everything again for me.

So I slip into the alleyway, fighting tears, and run back to my stolen home with my stolen food, knowing me and Scar will never get to be friends until Ren's gone. 

More time passes. After the first encounter, I see Scar everywhere. I spot him in his home as I'm climbing buildings for entertainment. Walking with his friends. Grian, I hear he's called. I find out about him. Me and Jevin sometimes meet on the rooftops. He tells me he's ex-resistance. Teaches me resistance code. By this point it's been around 5 months since me and Scar separated. I move around a lot. Keep my last few diamonds for bribes. Plans grow. Jevin tells me Grian used to have a shop for technically not being part of the resistance. He's got the fire-power I need, and he's friends with Scar. So I prepare a meeting. Send a cryptic letter he's bound to be intrigued by, and wait.

3 hours later I'm tied up in Ren's dungeon in agony, insisting I know nothing about Scar's location. Guards lead me out into the blinding morning sunlight where my death awaits. Cameras flash at me. I see the gunman watching me and recognise them from Jevin's descriptions alone.

Etho.

Ren speaks, and then I do. I know I want to die in style. I hear the panic behind.

The camera-holder in front of me drops it.

A gunshot.

And everything goes black.

I'm lying in a street.

Someone's telling me I'm alive.

Everything hurts.

The world appears in front of me in flashes. Moments. Words. Insistence that I'll survive. They've given so much. My body still feels like it's on fire. I don't know how long it's been until I wake up for longer.

'Try not to move.' I hear the voice mumble. I frown as I realise who it is.

Etho?

'I realise you were alive and couldn't let you die. I ran away from the Crastle... The bullet missed anything too vital... so... you're not dead.'

'W-where am I?'

'On the streets. As far as I could take you away.'

I try to sit up and instantly regret it as pain flares up again. 

'No- no- don't move. I've been trying to give you potions... they're working but... slowly.'

'How long's it been?'

'A few days... a week... get more rest. The potions take a while to work properly.'

I close my eyes again.

'Thanks. For rescuing me. Saving me.'

'I couldn't let you die after... what you said. Your speech. I don't know what it was but... realising you were... that Ren... It made me see differently. I think I missed the shot on purpose.'

I sit in front of his grave.

There's a park not far from what used to be Scar's home where I buried him. Next to Mumbo's grave. Tears blur my vision as I read again what I scraped into the rock.

Etho

He never let people's opinions change his

I stay as long as I can, before rising slowly, wiping the tears from my face, and return to the life I'm only living because of him, in the home that used to be my best friend's, to prepare to help the friend's life who sacrificed everything for Scar.