They didn't wait.
The moment the elder turned, the others moved with him. No command. No signal Aric could see. Just… movement.
And then—
They were gone.
Aric didn't move.
His body remained where it was, half-turned, eyes fixed on the empty space between the trees. His breath was uneven.
"Gone."
"Every last human… gone."
The words echoed in his mind. Again. And again.
His hands tightened slightly.
He was alone.
"…No," he whispered.
It didn't feel real. It didn't make sense. There had to be others. There had to be.
But the way the elder had said it—calm, certain, final—
Aric swallowed. His chest felt tight. Not from exhaustion this time. From something deeper.
He looked down at his hands.
Still shaking. Still human.
"…I'm the only one?"
The words felt wrong the moment he said them. Too heavy. Too big.
No answer came.
The world remained still.
Aric exhaled slowly, forcing himself to breathe. Think. Standing here wouldn't change anything. Wouldn't bring answers. Wouldn't bring people back.
People.
Faces flickered faintly in his mind—blurred, incomplete. Voices he couldn't quite remember. Gone before he could hold onto them.
His gaze shifted in the direction the turtles had gone. They had left—but not randomly. They had been moving somewhere. Purposefully.
"…Home," he murmured.
Aric hesitated.
Every instinct told him this was dangerous. Following them. Entering their territory. Trusting something he didn't understand.
But staying here—
Was worse.
He took a step forward. Then stopped.
"…Damn it."
Another breath. Slower this time. Steadier.
Then—
He moved.
Carefully. Deliberately. Following the same direction they had taken.
The ground he stepped on felt different. Not as wild. Still uneven—but… used.
Every step carried weight. Not just from exhaustion—but from thought.
Humans. Gone. Extinct.
His jaw tightened.
"No…"
He shook his head slightly as he walked, trying to push it away. Trying not to think about it.
It didn't work.
Time passed. He didn't know how long. Minutes. Maybe even hours.
The ground beneath his feet changed further. Subtle at first—then clearer. Less chaotic. More… shaped.
The path wasn't obvious. But it was there.
Aric slowed, his eyes scanning the ground, the trees, the small signs he would have missed before.
They lived here.
The thought came quietly.
But it stayed.
Then—
He saw it.
At first, it didn't register. Shapes between the trees. Too structured. Too deliberate.
He stepped closer. Slow. Careful.
And there—
A settlement.
Not large. But real.
Structures stood between the trees. Built from wood and stone. Low. Wide. Stable. Not ruins. Not broken.
Lived in.
Aric stopped.
His breath caught slightly.
More of them moved between the structures. Turtles. Dozens. Maybe more. Different sizes. Different shapes—but all the same kind.
Some carried tools. Others moved slowly, deliberately, as if they had nowhere urgent to be.
A few turned their heads as he stepped closer.
They noticed him.
Aric froze.
No one attacked. No one rushed him.
They watched.
Low sounds passed between them. Short. Controlled.
Curiosity.
Not hostility.
Aric swallowed. His grip tightened slightly at his side, though he held nothing.
"…Okay…"
One of them stepped closer. Slower than Luma had before. More cautious. Its gaze moved over him, from head to toe, lingering.
Another joined. Then another.
Not surrounding.
But… gathering.
Aric stood still.
He didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to say.
He had never felt more out of place.
"…I'm…"
He stopped.
What was he supposed to say?
Human?
The word felt heavier now.
He didn't finish the sentence.
The turtles watched him. Not aggressively. Not kindly. Just… observing. Like he was something they had never seen before.
Which—
He realized—
He was.
A low sound passed between them. Short. Controlled.
One of them stepped forward slightly, then stopped. Its head tilted, studying him from a different angle. Another made a quiet clicking noise in response, as if correcting something.
They were talking.
Just not in a way he understood.
Aric hesitated, then raised one hand slowly. Not too fast. Not threatening.
"…I'm Aric," he said.
The name felt small here.
Unimportant.
No reaction.
But they listened.
That much, he could tell.
One of them shifted its stance, tapping the end of a long tool against the ground once. A signal, maybe. Another turned its head toward the sound, then back to Aric.
Everything they did had purpose.
Aric swallowed.
"You… live here?" he asked, glancing at the structures behind them. "This is your home?"
A pause.
One of the turtles made a low, drawn-out sound. Another answered with something shorter.
Then—
A single word.
"Home."
The same word Luma had used.
Aric nodded slowly. "…Right."
So it wasn't just her.
That word meant something here.
More than just a place.
He shifted his weight slightly, careful not to move too suddenly.
"…Do you all stay here?"
No clear answer.
But one of them turned slightly, gesturing with its head toward the settlement behind them. Others followed the motion briefly—then returned their focus to him.
Shared understanding.
No need for more words.
Aric exhaled quietly.
"…Okay."
Another turtle stepped forward. Smaller. It circled him once—not too close, but enough to see him from all sides.
It was inspecting him.
But not out of hostility.
Curiosity.
It stopped in front of him again, making a soft sound. Different. Lighter.
Aric blinked.
"…I don't understand that," he admitted.
The turtle didn't react to the words. But its head tilted again, slightly sharper this time.
As if noting that.
Aric noticed something then.
They didn't interrupt each other.
Didn't speak over one another.
Every sound had space.
Every movement had meaning.
Even the way they stood—
Positioned.
Balanced.
Aware.
This wasn't random.
This was… structure.
A system.
A way of living he didn't understand.
Yet.
Aric lowered his hand slowly.
"…I'm not here to cause problems," he said quietly.
This time—
One of them responded.
Not with a word.
But with a single, slow nod.
A movement to the side caught his attention.
Two turtles stood slightly apart from the others, speaking. Their voices low. Measured.
He couldn't understand most of it. Not clearly. But a few sounds stood out. Repeated. Important.
Their posture—tense.
One gestured toward the forest. The other shook its head slowly.
Disagreement.
Something wasn't right.
Aric's eyes narrowed slightly.
A problem.
He didn't know what it was. Didn't know what it meant.