The two teenagers continued their staring contest, unsure whether breaking contact would be wise. Hill focused on the axe being held tightly within the girl's hands. He could see the crude weapon trembling in her grasp through his peripheral vision. The shaky movements did nothing to ease the tension within his soul—in fact, it made it much worse.
She's thinking about killing me, isn't she? The way she's holding that axe...it feels like she's dying to cut me down! But she's also from Earth, so we should be helping each other out. So why is she just staring at me?
Sweat began to drip down his face as the silence persisted until the girl decided to break it once more.
"You're...you can't..." She stuttered, her gaze suddenly even more uncertain. "Are you part of the Krugenhold?"
"Say what?" Hill responded, flashing an awkward, dry smile.
"The Krugenhold," the girl repeated, pointing behind Hill toward the other side of the forest across the river. "They're the people who live in this place."
"I've...never heard of them."
The girl's amethyst eyes widened, and Hill could have sworn that he saw a smile crack on her delicate face. "That's good. That's really good."
After saying those words, the girl began walking back toward the forest before turning around and motioning awkwardly for Hill to follow her. So he did.
While his instincts were screaming at him not to follow her, he ignored them. Logically, it wouldn't make sense for him to try and live independently, especially if he was stranded in an unknown wilderness on an unknown planet—which he was. There was also the option of going off to find the Krugenhold or whatever the girl called them. She had described them as 'people,' so he assumed they could potentially be friendly. Unfortunately, their conversation wasn't extensive enough for him to learn anything about this mysterious group.
But he could push that off—he wasn't overly curious about the Krugenhold anyway. He was curious about something else.
"What's your name?"
The girl turned around suddenly and slowed down as if surprised by his question. Hill tried his best to smile encouragingly. "I just wanted to know."
For whatever reason, though, the girl seemed very on edge. Her demeanor had taken a noticeable change in such a short time. There was sweat beading on her forehead, and her breathing accelerated.
Noticing this, he turned away awkwardly and scratched his head. "Sorry, I guess I was being too forward."
The girl stared at him more, then spoke, her voice barely hovering above a whisper. "Soleil. My name is Soleil."
The name surprised him. He knew her name meant 'sun,' but it didn't match her icy outer appearance.
Hill nodded, smiling briefly. "My name's Hillel, but you can just call me Hill. That's what everyone calls me."
Once again, Soleil opted to just stare at him instead of responding. Despite his introverted tendencies and lack of social skills, Hill felt he could hold a conversation. This girl, however, just didn't seem capable of doing that.
He let out a breathy sigh, observing as Soleil continued to pierce him with her eyes. It wasn't an aggressive stare, but it was very intense nonetheless. He felt like a constant stream of scrutiny was washing over him, causing the hairs on his neck to prickle.
Okay, so maybe she's just not a talker. At all.
He decided to try again, aiming to be as polite as he could manage.
"Soleil," he began, offering a small smile. "That's a... a nice name. It means 'sun,' doesn't it? I read that somewhere."
The change in her was subtle but immediate. Her amethyst eyes, which had been focused on his face, suddenly flickered and shivered. Her hand tightened around the stone axe, causing an audible wooden groan. Her breathing, which had been calm before, suddenly hitched.
She didn't respond to his compliment. Instead, she spoke after a silence that stretched for a couple more uncomfortable seconds. Her voice sounded exhausted and low, like a growl.
"Yes, it does...you also have a good name." She smiled at the tail end of her sentence, but Hill could tell it was forced.
"Am I bothering you?" he asked.
She shook her head from side to side, motioning for him to follow her. "Let's not talk too much out here. It's too risky."
"A-Alright, if you say so," he responded, chuckling slightly as he fell in rank behind her. The two of them continued walking in the opposite direction of the river. Based on their route, it was growing increasingly apparent to Hill that she had probably been following him for a while before he reached the river. She had retraced his footsteps entirely to the point of his waking up.
Finally, she slowed down next to an exceptionally massive purple tree. In fact, he didn't immediately register just how vast the tree was until he stood right next to it. Its diameter might as well have been three lengths of his body—a massive specimen.
She looped around the tree, and as he followed her, he found himself alone in the forest.
"Huh?" He looked around, wondering where Soleil had disappeared.
"Over here!"
He looked back to the tree, noticing a small opening around a foot and a half wide near the trunk. Her amethyst eyes shimmered from within.
"How'd you get in there so fast?" he asked, astonished by how quickly she had vanished from his view.
"I've had some time to practice," she responded. "Come inside, there's plenty of space."
"Ah, sure thing." He shoved his head through the opening and squeezed his shoulders through one at a time. Then, the rest of his body followed suit. Thankfully, his slender frame didn't hinder his movements too much.
The inside of the tree was much more spacious than he thought. In fact, it was bigger than his family's bedroom in the tenement back in Agshaka. The hollow had no natural source of light and relied on the scattered beams coming from the orbs above the canopy.
He sighed, noting how that slight sound somehow echoed within the hollow. A giggle followed soon after—not from him, but from Soleil. Those giggles echoed as well, causing chills to shoot up his spine. He playfully laughed it off.
The echoes faded, and an awkward silence settled between them. Hill looked around at the surprisingly spacious hollow. The purple wood of the tree's interior was remarkably smooth, almost polished in places. It was also dry, a welcome comfort. The stray beams of light from outside seemed to get caught on the scattered patches of moss on the tree's inner walls, providing a faint luminescence.
"This is a cool spot, Soleil," Hill began, suddenly feeling eager to dish out a compliment. "And a lot bigger than it looks."
"You think so?" she responded. "I thought you'd dislike how dark it is."
"Why would you think that? We barely know each other." He looked out the opening. "Is there a way to determine when it's nighttime? This light isn't coming from the sun, after all."
"No. There isn't." She mumbled, wrapping her hands around her knees. "I wanted to ask you a question, Hill."
"Go on," he said.
"You seem new around here. How long ago did you arrive here...in Igashia?" she asked, her eyes rising to meet his.
"I'd say I arrived here around an hour ago, maybe less. I'm not too sure."
The change in Soleil was palpable. She leaned forward, her eyes widening as her body language shifted. She was definitely interested now, the feeling causing a slight blush to rise to his cheeks.
"An hour?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "So...you know more about what's happening on Earth than I do."
Hill nodded grimly. She continued: "So, what happened? Were they able to stop the devouring cloud? Surely they did, right? What happened to Peridia? Is it destroyed? Or did they survive? How did you get here? Are you from Peridia as well? Please tell me that they killed those monst—"
"Woah, woah, woah there," Hill began. "Settle down!" He released a shaky sigh and looked away, readying himself to tell her the bad news. He wasn't sure what her story was, but what was happening back on Earth was the greatest tragedy in human history. Reliving such experiences was torture for everyone, mainly because the living had already died. So, he needed to answer her questions succinctly and adequately.
He cleared his throat. "I'm not from Peridia; I'm from Gargath. The cloud reached us, too. Nobody could stop it."
For a second, Soleil's mouth just hung ajar. Then, a short laugh left her mouth as she clasped her face, failing to stop a tear from running down her cheek. Hill continued avoiding her gaze, his emotions bubbling beneath the surface. He couldn't let himself dwell on those things. He needed to change the subject.
"Soleil?" he asked softly. "This place... Igashia. You called that river 'blood.' Why? And what exactly is going on here, in this... underground forest?" He paused, then added, his voice dropping slightly, "And... is there anything to eat? Or is water safe to drink? I'm pretty thirsty. And hungry." He hesitated again. "And those people you mentioned before... the Krugenhold? Who are they? You seemed worried when you asked if I was one of them."