Felix sat for a moment to relax himself. He is also rubbing his chest and letting out a long sigh. When he was completely relaxed, he peeked through the entrance of the tent, and then he got out. It's dawn. The sun is still low and barely shines much. The morning air is so refreshing. If he thinks about it, he barely woke up this early. Then, Seren's loud voice came from his left. He immediately focused on her sound; she was by the riverside. Fishing with the simplest tool: a thread attached to the edge of a long stick.
"Brooo!" She called from a far, waving her hand high in the air to him while the other held the fishing stick; she was sitting on the grass at the riverside.
Felix walks to her; firm and steady steps. Seren's now accompanied by her brother. The sun has risen—its yellow and bright color gradually shines from the east.
"Yes?" Felix asked Seren.
"Why did you wake up this early?" She scanned Felix from bottom to the top. "And … w-why are sweating, bro?"
"Huh? Oh, you noticed it…." He wiped his forehead with bare hand. "Well, that's fine … perhaps the weather is kinda hot, I suppose …."
"Hot… huh?" She ponders for a while, then quickly turns to a warm smile, "Whatever," she handed the hand-made fishing stick to Felix. "Here, I'm a little bored with it."
"Oh-" He instantly accepted it and then took a seat for himself beside her. "Did you always wake up this early? Wait… did you wake up much earlier than I, right now?" He put on a sympathetic and irritated face to feel sorry for himself.
She tapped on his back gently. "Nope, I just woke up like… 5 minutes ago. Don't worry about it, bro-ther." She teased Felix for a little bit. A little tease is somewhat adorable.
"Ohh… 'right…." He turned his face away—facing the river to focus on fishing. Is he focusing or… perhaps he's avoiding Seren?
They continued this moment for quite a while now. Felix's fishing with a simple stick. But, somehow, he catches a few fishes from the river. In this post-apocalyptic world, creatures and living things should be extinct; animals somehow remain intact—untouched by the hands of the Chronicles.
Those creatures whose surviving is living peacefully in the madness of the Chronicles. It's like… their actual target is humans, just humans, nothing else. That is what makes Felix believe in his experience of exploring this new world that they had to live through. If the humans have vanished, will this catastrophe end?
Back to their state, the rising sun enlightens the dark sky with its yellow shine. They stayed silent between both of them. It's not like Seren would've stayed silent completely—she was watching her brother in amusement. Meanwhile, Felix was fishing silently; sometimes passing those catched-fishes to Seren to be saved in a bucket.
Follow the riverside, my friend. Those words kept echoing in Felix's head. He was wondering … who's that girl who appeared in Felix's dream and then tossing an even more confusing sentence. Should he actually follow her advice?
Dude… things are getting out of hand. Firstly, I'm able to hear the Chronicles' voices; but others don't. Now, a mysterious girl… or woman? She sounds a little mature, though. Felix ponders for the whole time of their fishing session. From the outside, he was biting his lips unconsciously. His face signifies confusion and concern. His eyes were sharp-blank, staring at nothingness. His doings are automatic and weren't consciously aware of his current state.
Soon after, Seren was gazing at Felix's expression in worry. Sometimes, Felix does ponder for a long time. But this time, she figures out that Felix's face has a lot more concerns than before. However, she kinda … wings it; hoping it won't get any worse than now.
Nonetheless, Felix's bitted-lips started to bleed; he wasn't aware that he was biting even harder.
What should I do?… this decision is literally a life-saver if chosen wisely. What should I do? If I followed her command but it somehow led to the Chronicles' group, we wouldn't survive. Like before, they are going pretty crazy; I witnessed it… we have witnessed them all. What should I do? What should I do to save Seren? Her life is worth more than mine. I don't want her to-
"HEY!" Felix's long-pondering shuts down in the middle of a sentence as someone pushes him to the side; although he manages to support his falling body with his hands. He dropped the stick, also.
He turned his attention back to Seren. She was staring at him with a shocked face.
"What's wrong, bro? You've been acting weird this morning." She leaned closer to Felix, who was almost falling because of her. "Y'know…. Did you have a bad dream? I hope you'll open yourself up to me…." She leaned closer in the feeling of worry and sympathy. Their faces are so close to each other, this time.
"Oh… I…." He hesitated for a while before, "It's not really a bad dream-" Felix tried to explain things. But suddenly, Seren slipped, which pushed Felix down—on the ground. She stared at her brother down below. Her face suddenly burst to blush red. She was flustered, for sure. On the other hand, Felix was also in a condition where you can tell he's blushed … slightly.
They went on this condition for quite a while—forgetting the last thing they should've discussed. To make things even more dramatic, the wind suddenly came out of nowhere. Nice support, nature.
"Uhmm, Seren …." Felix broke the silence after a long time.
"Ouh- Ah…" She jumped to her back; leaving Felix on the ground while she's back to sitting like before. She went even redder than before. "S-sorry…." She apologized, then reached for Felix's hand to pull him back to seat. Then, Felix goes up to his original position.
For a few moments, it went back to silence. As if they're processing what just happened before. Soon after, Seren spoke up.
"L-like being said, you've been acting weird this morning…. What's wrong? …" She turned her face back to Felix. Her face's still slightly red.
Felix looked down, then immediately lifted his face back to Seren. He was hesitating about the consequences for opening the lid. "I… saw a girl…. No, a woman in my dream." Nevermind, he said it in a lower tone.
Seren stared at Felix in silence. Although her face is obviously confused and was trying to process this overloading 'data' since she had just woken up. Literally.