Heading Up Stream (2)

Warren was pulled from sleep by something soft nudging his shoulder.

He blinked slowly.

Kaela crouched beside him, face half-lit by the morning sun bleeding through the trees. Her loose hair caught the light, strands of it shifting gently with the breeze. She was smirking, just a little.

"Time to get up. We're moving soon."

Warren sat up slowly, rubbing the side of his neck.

She stood, turning away as he adjusted himself upright.

His eyes lingered longer than he meant to.

'Cute.'

Now in the daylight, things looked different.

He stole a glance between the two people he was now traveling with. Kaela double checking her gear and Vin sitting with his arms crossed by a log, keeping his usual half-glare. Both of them looked like they'd been carved from different corners of some idealized world.

It was jarring.

Back in the real world, Warren would've assumed they were Ranks 3 or even 2. The symmetry in their faces, the lean muscle, the posture that said they belonged in control of something.

It was subtle. But unmistakable.

They didn't look normal.

They looked... upgraded.

Vin caught him staring.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, blunt as ever.

Warren blinked, then smiled.

"I just noticed... you both are quite the lookers. Is it a requirement to be hot to become a scout?"

He tried to keep it light, his tone playful.

Vin's face seemed to turn from stone to a dark scowl . He didn't answer at first just stared.

"Everyone in this world is like this. When you woke up here... didn't you notice how your body felt the same but also different?"

Warren paused.

His smile faded.

'I did notice.'

His body had been leaner, his skin smoother, his stamina longer-lasting. Even the way he moved—it wasn't his old self.

Vin continued.

"This place pushes your physical form toward its highest potential. Compared to the people of this world, we're average."

Warren didn't respond.

He just sat with the thought.

'I wonder if he was including me in that we.' 

***

Breakfast was silent at first. Just the soft sound of Kaela tearing the last of the dried meat into smaller pieces and the occasional sip of water passed from the canteen. Vin stayed quiet, ever the statue.

Warren broke the silence.

"So… this place. What exactly is it?"

Kaela glanced at Vin, but he said nothing.

She answered for him.

"It's called the Veil. That's what the first humans who came here named it. The name stuck."

Warren took another bite of the dried meat, chewing slowly.

"And the system? That app back on Earth—Belli? That's what brought me here."

Kaela nodded.

"That's how it works for everyone. Once you accept the terms, you're pulled into the Veil. The system links your life here to your Rank on the outside."

Warren leaned back a bit, letting that set in.

"So you're telling me… my rank out there still matters in here?"

Vin looked over now, finally speaking again.

"It matters more."

Warren's brow furrowed.

He thought he'd escaped it.

The weight of a arbitrary number deciding his worth. He'd come here to break from that system, not fall deeper into it.

Kaela must've read the frustration on his face.

"The Veil is built on Ranks," she said cheerfully. "It determines how much access you have to the system here. What kind of skills you can awaken, what kinds of milestones you're capable of reaching."

Warren exhaled slowly.

"So what rank are you two?"

Kaela answered first.

"Five."

Then Vin.

"Six."

Warren raised an eyebrow.

"But if you're Rank 5... why stay here? It's not ideal, sure, but it's better than 6. You could go back, live normally. Even have kids that inherit the Rank."

The question dropped heavy into the space between them.

Kaela looked down.

Vin looked away.

Silence.

Then, softly:

"Because I can't," Kaela said.

Warren blinked.

"Because . . you . . cant?" Warren repeated in slow manor

She looked up, her eyes meeting his.

"Only Rank 2 and above can return to the real world."

The words landed like a punch.

Warren stared at her.

Then at Vin.

Stone. Cold. Impossible to read.

Kaela's eyes, on the other hand, were sincere.

Too sincere.

'So if I came here as a Rank 2... I could just come and go as I please.'

His hands clenched into fists.

'If i want to leave this place i need to be a Rank 2!'

His throat tightened.

His blood felt too hot.

Vin's hand shifted ever so slightly toward the hilt of his sheathed sword.

The air grew tense.

But no one spoke.

Not yet.

Eventually, Warren broke the silence again.

"So... how do you become a Rank 2?"

Vin didn't hesitate.

"That's different for everyone. Most people who ascend don't even know what triggered it. Others... refuse to say."

"Why?"

Vin looked at him.

"Because the milestones are personal. Dangerous. And sometimes... selfish."

Kaela added, "Some people fight. Some heal. Some endure. The higher the Rank, the more difficult the milestone. But one thing everyone agrees on: surviving here is already part of it. The longer you live, the more you grow."

'So even just breathing is considered progress in this world...'

It made sense.

A twisted kind of sense.

In the few short days Warren had been here he had clashed with a Wolf larger than most grown men and nearly bleed out from just a single blow.

Warren sighed and stared into the trees.

The others started packing.

Kaela folded a small piece of parchment paper and tucked it into her satchel. Vin doused the fire with a leftover flask of water, eyes always on the woods.

No more talking.

The forest grew thick again as they moved forward.

Each step kicked up soft dirt and scattered leaves.

Warren stayed near the back, letting his thoughts catch up.

'Ranks... again. Even here. Even in another world.'

It was supposed to be different.

But the weight of status followed him like a plague refusing to be forgotten.

'The privileged stay privileged. Even in a place like this.'

He scowled, watching Vin's broad back move through the trees ahead of him.

'And the rest of us just keep clawing for scraps.'

Then—

A sound.

Not a dangerous sound.

Just nature.

Rushing water.

The gentle hiss of a stream carried through the trees ahead.