Badly wounded from Ace's attack, Paedyn forces herself through the forest toward the creek because she knows blood loss, fever, thirst, and a dirty wound will kill her if she stops. She fights sleep and panic, realizing she has lost her food and can barely use her bow, but keeps moving because water is her only chance to clean the injury and survive.

When Paedyn sees a fire beside the creek, she understands that another contestant may be there but decides the risk is worth it. The person waiting by the water is Kai. Even though Paedyn is barely standing, she raises her bow and threatens him, trying to hide how badly she is hurt and keep him away long enough to reach the creek.

Kai initially treats the encounter like another contest in the Trial, teasing Paedyn and reminding her that she is supposed to try to take his band. But Paedyn's condition quickly becomes impossible to hide. As Paedyn sways, bleeds through her makeshift bandage, and loses control of her weapon, Kai's amusement disappears and turns to alarm.

Paedyn collapses before she can do anything else. When Kai reaches her, he calls her by her real name, Paedyn, and then by the nickname Pae, revealing that he knows Gray's true identity. In her delirium, Paedyn fixates on hearing her name from him, and Kai responds with an unexpectedly tender remark about wanting to see her smile again when she is not dying.

Kai then focuses on saving her. He searches her body for the source of the injury, finds the spear wound below her ribcage, cuts away the bloody cloth, and reacts with visible horror and anger at how serious it is. As Paedyn slips toward unconsciousness, Kai orders her to stay awake and, in a final burst of desperate emotion, tells her that if she dies, he will kill her.