Nowhere, together.

Vel awoke to freezing cold. His clothes and the blanket he was swaddled in felt almost frozen rigid, and the stark night air made him shiver with every slight gust. As he wrapped his blanket tighter around him, desperate to regain some warmth, the rugged cavern floor dug into his back and sides with his every slight movement, pointedly painful despite the profound numbing effects the cold had had on his body. His surroundings were shrouded in almost complete darkness, save for the light from the fire’s dying embers a couple feet from where he lay and the watery, feeble light from the cave’s mouth; even together, they were barely enough for him to make out anything much at all. Shivering again from the cold, he struggled closer to the last of the fire, the blanket still wrapped tightly around him, and leaned in close for its warmth. It was faint, but it was better than nothing.

After a few minutes, with some life and agency restored to his limbs, Vel gradually raised himself up, pulling his blanket with him and wrapping it around his shoulders in a cloak-like fashion as he did so. His eyes were beginning to adjust to his surroundings, and the darkness became more and more permeable as they did. Across from him on the other side of the sputtering fire was his friend Arren, barely visible except for a silhouette whose chest rose and fell with each shallow breath as he slept fitfully. Although he would have to wake him up soon, Vel decided he would let the other boy sleep a little longer; they needed to be as well-rested as possible for the long day’s journey ahead. He decided against trying to get back to sleep himself; without exhaustion to help him block out the cold and discomfort of sleeping on the cave’s floor, he would probably find getting back to sleep far too difficult. The dawn was also fast approaching, if the growing light outside was anything to go by, so Vel decided there was no real point in him even trying to get back to sleep at this point.

Vel clambered to his feet, hefting the weighty blanket with him, and made his way to the cave’s entrance, stumbling a little on the damp rocks. There was an incline in the floor before the cave entrance, which he scrabbled up as best he could with his aching limbs and the hefty blanket still draped over his shoulders. At the top, the incline levelled out again, jutting forward to create a small platform in front of the cave mouth. Vel plodded to the platform’s edge and swung his legs over it as he sat to dangle in the air, little stones tumbling over the edge as he did so. They rolled the long distance down the steep, rocky hill that the cave was set into the side of and disappeared into the darkness of the forest below. The hill was abrupt in its interruption of the forest, jutting almost directly upwards as if it had been cleanly cut from the ground and pulled towards the sky. Light grass and several trees grew on top as if it were just a normal continuation of the forest. It had been a striking image when Vel and Arren first stumbled upon it, and its strange beauty could be well appreciated from Vel’s point halfway up the rock face, tucked away in the little cave that was almost level with the treetops of the forest below.

The darkness wasn’t nearly as oppressive now he was outside, with the trees awash in soft light that foreshadowed the dawn, making their gentle movements in the slight wind seem close to ethereal. Just below where he sat, Vel could make out the jagged rock face he and Arren had used to climb up the sheer hillside to the cave mouth, hostile and treacherous; the many scratches and scrapes he had received from losing his footing time and again on his way up stung at the memory, and he winced at the thought of having to go back the way they had come.

Of course, they could always climb up rather than down. Vel clambered to his feet, letting his blanket fall from his shoulders to pool on the ground, and turned around to size up the rest of the rock wall from the cave mouth to the grassy bank above that he had seen from the ground the night before. The distance wasn’t too great - definitely no greater than the distance from the ground below to where he stood now. The rock face looked just as uninviting to climb above the cave mouth as it was below, but that couldn’t be helped. They would just have to manage. And from the top, they would probably get a good vantage point to survey the area ahead. Neither he nor Arren were stellar navigators, and Vel often found that the ragged little map they had snagged from one of the shops in an empty village they had been through was rather difficult to interpret, especially when they were journeying through large forests with few obvious landmarks to help pinpoint their location. It had managed to get them this far, but having a good idea of what lay ahead would definitely be helpful.

Deciding it was time to rouse the slumbering dragon, Vel clambered back down into the cave, where Arren still lay curled up beside what was now the cold remains of the fire.

“You awake?”

Arren groaned a begrudging affirmative, yawned, and propped himself up on his elbows. “Is it dawn already?”

“Almost. We might as well get going. The sooner we get to the forest’s edge, the better. We’ve gotten lost too many times already.” Vel offered Arren a hand up, which the boy took after a few moments, and heaved him up to stand unsteadily on his feet.

“Agh, it’s freezing!” Arren rubbed his arms frantically, shocked by the onslaught of cold as his senses awoke.

“Yeah, it is. But hey, the day will get warmer, and so will we once we start walking!” Vel stamped down the fire’s charred remains to catch any last embers that might be there, then grabbed one of the two backpacks they had left resting against the back wall of the cave. Inside were the rations they had picked up in the last village they had been through, although they were almost out - down to just a few protein bars and a bottle of water each. Vel had felt rather guilty about breaking the windows of many of the houses they had checked for supplies, but as Arren had reminded him, the previous owners had chosen to flee and leave the supplies behind. He couldn’t fully shake the guilt, but it was a little easier thinking of it that way. Not like those people would be coming back, anyways. Other than the rations, there was the map and a first aid kit in his bag, matches and a flint-and-steel in Arren’s, and one of the water bottles in each. Vel took the map out and stuffed it in his pocket, then went back to the cave entrance to gather up his blanket and stuff it into his pack as best he could. The dampness didn’t help his efforts, but Vel just about managed to squeeze it in. Arren followed suit, gathering up his blanket and stuffing it in his backpack. He hoisted it onto his shoulders before ambling over to where Vel stood, suppressing another yawn. “Where to, boss?”

Vel laughed a little and elbowed Arren, who grinned despite himself. “You’re not gonna like this, but we’re going up.”

“Up? Not again…” Arren quickly lost his grin as he followed Vel out of the cave and onto the small platform. He turned and sized up the wall in front of him, hissing out a long breath. “This is gonna hurt.”

With an angry glare at the wall for good measure, Arren became to climb as deftly as he could with limbs still heavy from sleep, swearing quietly as the jagged stone bit into his skin. Despite his obvious fatigue, he scaled the wall with surprising speed and yanked himself over the edge at the top, breathing a sigh of relief that could be heard from where Vel stood down below. After a few moments, he turned around and saw Vel preparing to climb up after him. “Wait! Chuck your bag up first!” Vel paused, then slipped the bag off his back and slung it up towards Arren. It just about reached Arren’s outstretched hand, and he teetered on the edge a little from the sudden weight of the bag in his hand, before pulling it in to his chest and falling back with the momentum. Vel laughed as he watched from below, then began to make his own way up. Just as expected, the rock wall was sharp and hostile to his hands, and he winced every time he pulled himself up or found a new handhold. However, he made quick progress, ignoring the pain as best he could as he focused on the tufts of grass that stuck out over the edge, beckoning.

Just before he reached the top, Arren knelt by the edge and offered a hand towards him, which Vel took, pulling himself onto the grassy bank with Arren’s help. They both collapsed onto the grass in a heap of limbs.

“Thanks.”

Arren pulled a tired grin at Vel, then rolled onto his back, closing his eyes and resting in the soft grass. Vel pushed himself upright, slightly unsteady on his feet, legs still in protest but just about willing to comply. The hilltop they were on sloped gently upwards, cresting a little further ahead from where he stood. He trudged his way up to the peak, blinking in the brightness of the dawn’s first rays on the horizon. The hill extended off and gradually downwards to either side of him, blending seamlessly into the forest surrounding it like a wave frozen in motion. A little further on in front of him, the forest rose up to meet the hill’s base. The view wasn’t as good as Vel had hoped, but to his joy he could see an end to the forest in the distance, where the trees grew scarcer. As long as he and Arren kept heading in the right direction, they might be able to reach their destination in a day or so. Of course, that was assuming nothing went wrong, which was usually far too positive an assumption. But for once, Vel felt truly optimistic. The end was finally in sight.

“We’re close, then?”

Vel turned to see that Arren had come up beside him. “Yeah, we are. We’re finally at the end of our journey.”

“I knew it. Haven’t seen you smile like that in ages.”

The two stood in quiet silence for a while; it still felt almost unreal that they were so close to the end. Even though they were optimistic, there was still a wariness they shared. Their future was still uncertain, and safety was never a constant anymore.

But the end was in sight; for now, that was enough.

Arren sat down heavily, spreading his legs out in front of him. “At least the view is nice. Makes ripping my hands to shreds a little easier to bear.”

Vel sat down beside him, then slipped his backpack off and opened it to reach in and grab a rather crushed protein bar out, which he then chucked at Arren. He pulled one of his own out as Arren caught his. “You’re so overdramatic. It wasn’t that bad, man.” He rolled his eyes with a smile when he saw Arren staring at him incredulously.

“I’d push you down that hill if you didn’t give me food,” he huffed, tearing open the packaging and biting into his protein bar with vigour.

“You have your own food! I shouldn’t have to give you mine all the time.”

“Yeah, but you steal all the good stuff for yourself and leave things like trail mix and walnuts for me!”

Vel snorted. “Maybe I wouldn’t get it all first if you were quicker.” He ducked as Arren chucked the protein bar wrapper towards him. “Rude.”

“Suck it up, buttercup.” Arren turned back to his protein bar, biting off another large mouthful.

Vel unwrapped his own protein bar, and took a bite. It was rather crumbly in his hands, probably from sitting in his backpack for a few days, but it was sweet and energising, and sated the hunger that had been sitting uncomfortably in his stomach since he had woken up. It was actually quite nice, watching the sunrise over the treetops with the sweet taste in his mouth and the careful warmth of the waking sun gradually replacing the cold. It had been a while since he had felt peace like this. After almost a month of arduous travelling, he was exhausted on every level - not only by the journey, but the oppressive weight of fear and grief that bore down on both him and Arren every step of the way.

They had just been neighbours, before all of this; saw little more of each other past a wave from across the street or a small exchange as their parents talked. Now, Vel couldn’t think of a single person he had ever trusted more than Arren. They had both survived an earthquake just to watch their homes crumble; they had both broken down in the dust and the wreckage and the sudden, terrifying quiet; they had both searched for days for their lost loved ones and found rubble, rubble, rubble. They had bled, and wept, and screamed, until the futility felt as though it would shatter them endlessly, infinitely. They had survived, and they had despised it.

But they had survived together. And as each day passed, Vel had come to cling to survival with fervour and desperation. Even as the news reports grew more nihilistic with every new natural disaster that shook the world and as people ran for big cities, waiting for the government to save them while the world fragmented beneath their feet, Vel and Arren trudged on, away from the futile promises of safety, and on towards the sea. They saw their best hope for survival in a small, unassuming, old lighthouse cottage that had been in Vel’s family for generations. Vel knew that hidden under the floorboards was a large basement stocked full of food and provisions. Most houses and stores they had raided on their way were bare or severely lacking when it came to food and important supplies, and the two boys had had to ration any they managed to rustle up - even then, they were often short, and hunger was a near constant companion on their journey. But with the lighthouse’s provisions, they could easily last a year, maybe two. It was safe and secure, and Vel knew the area after many visits there with his family. They would be safe there, he hoped. At least for a while. And despite himself, there was a small, boyish part of his mind that was filled with excitement at the thought of seeing the ocean again. He hadn’t seen it for a few years now, and his childish, wistful memories of it only fuelled his excitement to see it again. It felt like his last connection to the person he had been before the world began to end, and he held on tight.

Vel was broken out of his trance of thought by the sudden thunk of his bag being dropped in front of him by Arren, who offered his hand again just as he had done before at the hill's edge. Vel grabbed his bag with one hand and took Arren’s in the other, letting himself be pulled upright and using the momentum to swing the bag over his shoulder, where he swayed briefly from the weight, and then slid his other arm through the second loop, balancing him again.

There was a rumble in the distance.

Vel whipped round to look back the way they had come, and saw his worst fears painted out into a mass of dark, heavy clouds that spread over the southern sky, a thick grey mist blurring the landscape beneath. Arren whistled.

“…That is one big storm.”

He turned towards Vel, silent concern mutually stretching between them. Although getting caught in a forest in such a big storm was seriously dangerous, going through it was their quickest route forward, and if they reached the lighthouse in time, the sturdy cottage and the basement beneath would likely be able to withstand the storm. Outrunning the storm was by far their best bet; if they stayed in the cave, they could be trapped there for days before the weather was safe enough for them to venture outside, and they were dangerously low on food. They would just have to be fast, and hope that their navigation was good enough to get them straight to the lighthouse; just heading in the right direction and finding their way from the coast would no longer be viable, not with a storm right behind them. They had to get this right.

With one last worried glance towards the foreboding skies behind, Vel motioned towards the base of the hill, and the two set off.

———————————————————————————————— ———— —

There was a quiet stillness throughout the forest as Vel and Arren trudged forward, their fast pace wearing on them heavily now after several hours without rest. Despite their determination, they were beginning to slow down, and Vel couldn’t help but keep looking up from the map to cast furtive glances behind them, even though the approaching storm wasn’t visible through the thickness of trees that blotted out most of the sky. Having the storm so completely obscured from his view was even more worrying than when it lay in plain sight; with no visible sign of it in the sky, there was no telling how close it might be, or how long was left before they were caught in the middle of it.

“How much longer until we get there, do you think?” Arren’s question distracted Vel away from his watchful worry, and he turned to face his friend’s inquisitive look.

“An hour, maybe two. I can’t tell for sure, but we’re definitely close.” He didn’t hold Arren’s gaze for long, folding the map and turning back to the treeline and the sky above. “But I don’t know if we’re close enough. What if- “

He was interrupted by Arren’s hand on his shoulder, and once again tore his gaze away from the frustratingly unyielding sky to meet Arren’s. “Let’s just keep going. That’s the best we can do. No point worrying now.” He gave a small smile and motioned forward with his head. Resisting the urge to look back up at the sky again, Vel nodded, unable to bring himself to smile, but reassured enough to grit his teeth and begin to march forward with new determination.

“I’ve never actually been to the ocean before.”

Vel regarded Arren with surprise and curiosity as they walked. “Really? Not even once?”

“No, never. I’ve always wanted to, though.” Arren’s expression became something unreadable. “My parents planned to take us one day. We never really had the time or money. But they always said they would.”

A painfully wistful silence fell, as both boys paid their quiet respects to their broken past and lost futures. Vel took a deep breath, trying to swallow the lump in his throat, and pretended as though he hadn’t seen Arren rub at his eyes. “You’re going to love the lighthouse, then. It has the most amazing view of the ocean, especially when the sun sets.” Vel managed to keep his voice from wavering and let his best memories of the lighthouse flood to the front of his mind. He turned to Arren, finally able to muster up a small smile, and Arren responded in kind. The next silence was no less wistful, but the pain was slightly lessened. With memories of the lighthouse fresh in his mind, Vel unfolded the map again. They were close, but they still had to be careful not to get off track. He looked down, squinting at the map; he couldn’t make it out as easily as before. Had it gotten dark?

A deafening rumble punctuated the plummeting feeling in Vel’s stomach. They were in danger.

Arren stared at him, fear painted across his face that mirrored Vel’s own. Vel frantically checked the map again, desperately trying to make out the details in the dim light. It began to flutter in his hands, as all of a sudden the wind began to swirl around them. Vel’s cheeks stung with every sharp caress of freezing air laced with occasional raindrops, and leaves danced around the two boys as if they were puppets, strung along in jerky motions every which way. The wind seems determined in its efforts to prevent the boys from advancing; it snatched at their clothes and skin and hair, dragging at their heels with dogged gusts. Vel clutched his map fiercely in his hands, knuckles white with the effort to prevent it from being torn away from him. His nose was almost to the paper in his desperation to make out where they were, and he could barely see anything else around him in his focus.

“Vel! Move!”

Vel barely registered what had happened before he heard the thunderous crack of tree splintering apart and felt Arren’s shoulder crash into his ribs barely a second later; the momentum pushed him back several feet, and he crashed into the ground, completely winded. His head swam, and the forest spun around him. He shook his head and struggled to stagger to his feet.

Inches away, he saw the shattered giant, and the broken body underneath.

For the second time in his life, Vel’s world broke. And this time, he fractured along with it.

He didn’t see his hands wrap around the fragmented wood, didn’t know how he got it off Arren. He didn’t dare look at the sharp, splintered branch that dripped crimson darkness into the weeping ground. All he could see was Arren; the unspilled tears in his eyes, the blood that bubbled at his lips as he tried to breathe. Sobs began to wrack Vel’s body as he tugged Arren close, clinging onto him tighter than he had clung to anything ever before. His mind screamed that this wasn’t happening, that this was impossible. The world began to spin again; his chest burnt with soul-splitting pain as he felt blood seep into his clothes and tears spill onto his shoulder where Arren’s head was buried in it. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t ever fair. For a brief moment, he was back in the ruins of his house, searching desperately for his mum and dad, just wanting to go home. And this time, Arren wasn’t by his side.

But Arren was there. He was still there, in Vel’s arms, and he wasn’t going anywhere. His warmth was peaceful, and Vel’s sobs hitched as trembling arms encircled him one last time.

Arren was there, and it was all going to be fine.

They were going to be fine.