As the Void stood looking down at his reflection in the pool, he noticed the setting sun in the sky above him. The brilliant fading colors were the most striking feature of the autumn sky. As the sunlight fell beneath the horizon, the Void watched his reflection disappear from the still water. His cold countenance was replaced by a puppy-dog expression for only a micron, and then his face immediately resumed its typical cold demeanor. With sagging shoulders and lumbering strides, the Void walked back home to his cave. There he slept, but didn’t dream.

With heavy steps, the Void trodded through the wilderness the next day. After the morning chill had yielded to the afternoon’s blistering heat, the Void stepped onto a stone outcropping. From this point, he could look down and across a running stream. The clear water reflected images of the tree limbs hanging over it. Light seemed to shine down into this place as if it were the only spot that wasn’t completely covered by tree canopy. After surveying his surroundings for possible adversaries, the Void crept down to the glistening waterfall to cool himself off. When he stepped beneath the cascading water, the Void waited to feel the pressure of the water falling onto his massive back, but that feeling never came. Astonished, the Void noticed from his reflection in the pool beneath him that there was a large gap in his form, centered over where his heart should have been. Snapping his head around, expecting to see some undetected foe, the light became too bright for the Void’s empty eyes to stand, and he fell into the water directly in front of him. The water flowed through him, but still managed to push him down into the deep dark depths of the stream. The overwhelming light was gone, and the Void could feel nothing, not even himself.

The booming sound of waves crashing into a rocky shore finally awoke the Void. Struggling to his feet, he looked around in the setting sunlight. Before him stood a figure that he had not seen in the wilderness before. It was too dark to see his face, but the Void could make out the silhouette of something in his hand. Some of it the Void could not make out, but he could definitely see the shape of his recently lost heart in the hand of the dark stranger. With an unwavering step that broke into a run, the Void crashed into the looming figure with all of his might. Quickly, the figure raised his knee into the Void’s face, and after regaining his feet, began to rain blow after blow down onto the Void. Standing there, with his feet firmly planted on the rock on which he stood, with his head dropped into his shoulders, the Void desperately tried to wait for his chance to attack. Finally, the figure fell into a rhythm of punches that gave the Void the time needed to launch his assault. It began to snow all around them. It was at this point that the Void realized that it was actually dawn, not sunset. The light reflected off of the flakes, blinding the Void so that he could barely catch his opportunity: the shadowy figure was leaving his left flank open. The Void quickly shot out his right fist and struck the rib cage of the shadowy figure. The blow connected, and the dull thud seemed to echo off the high cliffs surrounding the pugilists. The figure leaned towards his left side, in an attempt to nurse his wounds in the heat of battle, which distracted him, enough for the Void to overtake him easily. There, standing with his foot on the figure's chest, the Void reached down and stripped his heart and soul away from the possession of the figure. The cold expression was removed; a look of triumph and exhilaration replaced it. Now as a Whole and not the Void, the Void demanded to see the face of his attacker, which had somehow remained unseen throughout the conflict. As the rising sun came over the cliffs, the figure had no choice but to show his face: the cold expression, the faraway look in the eyes, yes, it was the Void’s own face! After a startled glance, the Void roared in laughter and took his foot off of the rock he had been standing on.