Paedyn wakes alone in the Whispers with only the thin clothes she slept in and quickly understands how cruelly the Trial has changed. Instead of fighting in the Bowl before an audience, the contestants have been abandoned in the forest and ordered to return with stolen leather bands. Because Paedyn needs water and a way to defend herself before she can risk a fight, she travels toward a water source she spotted from a tree and gathers the supplies the king has conveniently scattered through the woods.

Using arrowheads and feathers she finds along the way, Paedyn crafts arrows to go with a bow and quiver she discovers. Her memory of her father helps her, and she manages to kill a rabbit cleanly for food. As the day drags on, Paedyn grows more frustrated, hungry, and thirsty, while a Sight briefly follows her to record her progress. She also finds a large shirt hanging from a branch and puts it on, even while resenting the king's calculated generosity.

Near sunset, Paedyn spots what looks like a hidden pool and rushes toward it, desperate to drink and cook the rabbit. Then she sees Kitt floating dead in the water. The sight horrifies her, and in that moment Paedyn realizes she does not truly want Kitt dead and can imagine that he might become better than his father. When she leaps into the pool to save him, the vision vanishes, and she finds herself on dry ground. The illusion shifts again, this time surrounding her with starving child versions of herself begging for help, forcing Paedyn to relive the misery and grief that followed her father's death.

Paedyn recognizes that Ace is behind the visions, and he appears to demand her band. When she fires at him, her arrow passes through a false image, revealing that Ace is hiding among illusions. He creates multiple copies of himself and closes in, trying to confuse her and cover his movements. Paedyn studies the duplicates, notices sweat on the real Ace's temple, and fires just as he lunges. Although Ace's spear slices a long gash across Paedyn's stomach, her arrow buries itself in his leg. Paedyn immediately runs before he can recover.

Once the adrenaline fades, Paedyn realizes how badly she is hurt. She stops long enough to inspect the spear wound under her rib, tears the borrowed shirt into strips, and binds the bleeding injury as tightly as she can. Weak, in pain, and still without the water she has been seeking, Paedyn forces herself to keep moving through the forest.