After traversing the frozen landscape and crossing the Frozenlake of Ruin, Winter was finally back home in the Ruins. The Ruins weren't called Ruins without a reason, the streets were littered with debris, some walls were scorched by fire and the smell was nothing short of suffocating, the air reeked of decay and rot, each breath was like a punishment on your lungs.
Most people in the Ruins were used to it, humans could adapt to anything after all. So Winter was not really bothered. And most of all he was just too tired. Winter was not a strong guy, he had never been and he never thought he would be, mostly because there simply was not enough nutrients to grow strong here in the Ruins. That's also why the strong stay strong and the weak never get a chance to be anything else than that.
As Winter walked through the unguarded gates of the Ruin he stopped and turned around, the sun was setting so it would be dark soon. He had to get back to his hideout before it got too dark, since there are no sources of light in the ruins except for the sun it would become hard to travel the desolate streets of the Ruins.
'I better hurry up.'
Walking further down, the street started splitting into corridors, and those then split into alleyways. The Ruined city was like a labyrinth, but Winter had lived in it his entire life, so he knew it like the back of his hand.
But the Ruined city had more dangerous aspects than that, there were beasts, who could emerge from rifts in space connecting the human realm to the soul realm. If there was one good thing about the Ruin, then it had to be that it was unsuitable for living.
Even for mystical beasts...
The lack of resources and inhospitable environment served as a double-edged sword. Humans, as few as there might be, had the advantage of being intelligent. Which allowed them to adapt and survive, though just barely.
And that is also why beasts were not the biggest threat...
'Left... then right, down there and...'
After wandering the narrow paths through the ruins and occasionally having to climb and crawl through some collapsed structures, he made it to his destination.
In front of Winter stood a large clocktower that had been abandoned and was mostly toppled over. It was made out of granite, and the weathered stone walls had cracks and gashes all over.
'I wonder what could have done such catastrophic damage...'
He did not really have time to ponder on such things anyway, he had to get inside before anyone or... anything, saw him.
He climbed through a crack in the wall and ended up in an empty room, there was a beast hide in the corner and pieces of stone and splintered wood littered around the wooden floor.
Winter turned the left side of the hide over and revealed a small hatch in the wooden floor.
After opening it, a small ladder leading further down came to view. Winter started climbing down and closed the hatch above him, filling the hidden chamber with darkness.
When he got down he lingered for a few moments and pulled on a poorly made curtain, which he had made with scavenged pieces of cloth and tied together.
Suddenly the chamber was illuminated by the night sky, a wash of moonlight chased the dark away, dimly illuminating the chamber.
There was some wooden furniture, like a chair, and a small shelf, which was a true luxury here in the Ruined city. Winter had lived in many places before, but none could compete to this one.
It was well hidden, had good protection from the elements and... it was cozy.
The former being the most important, Winter had lost count on how many times he almost lost his life because some beast or group of bandits found his... "house", Winter only escaped because he had prepared for those exact situations, with elaborate escape routes and simple distractions to shake off anyone chasing him.
But he did not want to think about that now, today was a special occasion after all.
"I'm home."
But nobody answered.
"Well... I guess I'll just celebrate my birthday on my own."
'Again.'