2. Intrinsic Rendezvous

The sun shined upon the landscape as both Ethan and Caia continued without halting. It had been a few months since they last met and since they witnessed what was a climatic final blast dropped as an attempt to not be wiped without retaliation. Truly a souvenir of war itself.

Ethan opened the map attempting to pinpoint their exact location.

"You're holding it the wrong way." Caia harshly remarked

"Did you really need to point that out?"

"Yes, I do not like the idea of walking another 3 miles only for it to be in the wrong direction again"

"C'mon, Why are you still clinging onto that it was just a newbie mistake. I'm not some kind of expert yet. If you feel so confident why don't you do it?"

"You know what? Gladly" she commented as she snatched the map from his hands.

They traveled for another 20 minutes before they reached some building, just as their legs were about to give out.

The house made of concrete was situated in a peculiar area, almost in the middle of nowhere. They scouted the surroundings to find empty barren fields and decided to enter the building.

"It doesn't make sense," Caia thought aloud.

Ethan asked what she meant in a sardonic tone.

"Finally reached the brink of your sanity?"

"I'm talking about the location of this building dumb-ass. It can't be sustained without the presence of a town nearby."

Caia further questioned why the building looked like it had been recently abandoned with the minimal amounts of accumulated debris and dust. The presence of minute belongings implied that the owners were driven out rather than abandoning them.

Ethan's eyes lit up with intrigue at this revelation, "What are we waiting for then? It's been over a goddamn week since I last saw someone else" He hurriedly said as he rushed to the roof of the house.

"Ironic coming from you, maybe this wouldn't have happened IF SOMEONE hadn't barraged into the town at their top speed."

"How can you blame me? I was relieved that we finally found a place to settle down. C'mon, it's not my fault that they were so unwelcoming."

"UNWELCOMING? YOU BARGED INTO THE TOWN HALL, SAW A RANDOM FUCKING CHURCH BELL AND STRUCK IT WITH YOUR BARE ARMS."

Ethan had indeed run into a random town he discovered and whilst immersed in his enthusiasm, saw a church bell and struck it with his bare arms. He had not noticed the Board next to it that stated the bell's intention.

One ring: Time for supper.

Two rings: Town meeting.

Three rings: The town is being invaded.

Ethan had rung the bell 8 times without hesitation.

This resulted in his immediate expulsion. Subsequently, Caia who had been watching the whole event was suspected of being his accomplice and thus was also kicked out.

"Well, I would call that a little harsh as I only expressed my happiness upon finding such a place. What else could I have done."

Caia gawked at Ethan's reply, shortly afterward her eyes followed the unexplored walls of the building. Her gaze stopped at a large painting on the adjacent wall and noticing this Ethan decided to stand in front of her.

"This looks like a cool painting," He said.

Caia's eyes brimmed with annoyance as she sighed and said "Your very presence depletes the artwork of its beauty". Not taking such statements lightly, Ethan gradually approached the artwork and whilst shaking it said "Really now? Something like this is worth mor-"

Ethan stopped mid-sentence as he felt the painting fall to the ground only to reveal a small passageway barely enough for a human.

Caia's tone grew uncertain as she attempted to find an answer to this. What could something like this be doing here and more importantly for what purpose? Her mind was gauged at the sight. Her curiosity peaked and her mind was flooded with different thoughts until she unexpectedly shot the idea down, afraid that it would only cause problems again. She didn't believe it was worth it and quite frankly was afraid to continue.

"We don't have enough resources to do this Ethan, instead of exploring some abandoned building that could be a death trap it would be better to try finding something more worthwhile."

"You are thinking too deeply into this", Ethan looked at Caia with annoyance but ultimately gave in and they made their way to the roof in silence.

Ethan's mind wandered to the passageway, even after accepting Caia's advice he was eager to know its contents and kept it at the back of his mind. Could it have been treasures or something completely irrelevant? Feeling unsure, he decided to follow Caia's decision.

They headed to the roof where their eyes scourged the vast distances in an attempt to discover anything of value. Caia unloaded her bag, searching it for anything that could quench her hunger but only discovered a small can of fruit.

As Caia attempted to pry open the can, Ethan's eyes continued searching, searching for anything in the vast distance until he noticed a shadow walking in the opposite direction to them. Without hesitation, he called out for it. As he shouted, the figure grew faster, and Ethan grew apprehensive. Unwilling to let go of such an opportunity, he headed in the same direction.

"Ethan! Where are you going?" Caia shouted as he ran without any explanation, she packed up reluctantly as she tried to stop him questioning why he rushed without knowing anything.

"Let go of me, we need to hurry this may be the last opportunity to do something other than roaming around like nomads in this wasteland." Ethan proclaimed in a frustrated voice as he ran.

Ethan ran frantically to catch up with the figure which had already vanished from his field of view. His mind was raised with multiple thoughts, where was he going? Why was he doing this? Will this finally achieve something commendable? Devoid of concrete rationale he pressed forward without stopping until he finally came to a stop. His eyes widened with glamor as he stared forward, he had not felt such excitement for ages.

Caia soon catched up to him upbraiding him coldly for his instinctive reaction as her eyes too drew towards the large town that lay ahead, after traveling for multiple days they had finally reached here.

"Well let's sta-"

"You are not running into the damn town. Not again"