I don't know how to write this.

I died.

Well, Shinobu died.

This is hard.

But she—I?—she must have kept this journal for a reason. So here goes.

One of the Hunters, Nadiya, told me most Guardians were dead for centuries before Ghosts find them, when all traces of their first lives are long gone. "Nadiya" is a name she chose for herself.

"Shinobu isn't your name anymore," Nadiya said.

"It could be," I said.

Then Nadiya said, "Shinobu and I were going to skip town." She told me I—Shinobu—had realized there was no stopping the Fallen. That her village, Coyote, was doomed.

"She wanted to leave this place," Nadiya said. "She didn't want to die here."

So much for that.

—Excerpt from the diary of Himura Shinobu