A new ideology begins to take shape—one not based on saving the world, but on surviving it together.
The group that will come to be known as The Vvaywards forms, not as traditional heroes, but as wanderers searching for purpose.
They make a pact: to help those in need, not as saviors, but as fellow lost souls walking the same path.
Chapter 3: No Capes, No Masks
The world had changed. There were no more shiny emblems or flashing lights signaling the arrival of justice. The streets didn’t welcome heroes, they swallowed them whole. The world needed something real, something people could touch, something they could understand. And that was never going to come from a man in a red cape.
The Vvaywards were the embodiment of that truth. They weren’t the polished, perfect heroes that had once dominated the stories of the old. They didn’t wear capes. They didn’t wear masks. They didn’t even pretend to have the answers. They were broken, like everyone else. That was exactly what made them more human than any hero that had come before them.
The Problem with Heroes
Before everything went to hell, people used to look up to heroes. They were icons, unquestionable, larger-than-life figures who made the world feel safer, and cleaner. The world’s problems seemed so far away when you could focus on the gleaming armor and square jawed smiles. In the wake of the second global pandemic and the political collapse, those illusions shattered. What had been supposed to be the cure for the world’s suffering only brought about more despair.
people had cried out for help in the streets, but all they got were empty promises. Governments collapsed under the weight of their own corruption. The super powered figures in tights who had once been myths were nowhere to be found.
Those who had survived the chaos, whether through sheer will or by hiding behind the remnants of broken systems, knew one thing: The time of perfect heroes was over.
They were tired of seeing shining figures perched on high pedestals, out of reach, out of touch. It wasn’t hope they needed anymore. It was understanding. They needed someone who knew what it was like to walk in the mud, to be broken and tired, but still keep going. And that’s where The Vvaywards came in.
The Vvaywards: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Actions
The Vvaywards didn’t step into the chaos of Seattle or the surrounding wasteland with a clear goal in mind. They weren’t soldiers of a grand plan. They were a collection of survivors, each with their own wounds, physical, mental, emotional and their own scars. But what set them apart was a single, unspoken promise to each other.
They wouldn’t give up.
There were no masks. There were no disguises. No flashy gear to tell the world that they were more than anyone else. What you saw was what you got imperfect, unpolished, tired, and confused