Aw Shucks Cutscene -

He sits up, dripping. A slow, incredulous smile spreads across his face.

"Did you just—"

"You panicked ?"

"It was shiny under the moonlight!"

The rain hammers a syncopated rhythm on the tin roof. Inside, the air smells of hay, dust, and failure.

"Oh yeah? What's its name?"

Maverik slips on mud, lands flat on his back. Lys stands over him, soaked, hair plastered to her face.

"I’m a victim of circumstance!"

Lys loses it. She slides down the post, tears in her eyes, laughing so hard no sound comes out.

Maverik looks down. In his palm isn't a glowing seed. It’s a single, slightly squashed corncob.

"Agreed," Maverik says.

"Not intentionally!" Maverik backs toward the barn door. "It slipped out! It was a reflex!"

Lys freezes mid-laugh. Her eyes narrow into deadly slits.

For a moment, they just breathe. The rain softens.

The quest was simple: retrieve the "Starlight Seed" from the Scarecrow King. Maverik succeeded. Technically.