Cael collected himself as best he could and continued to walk forward, though now with far less drive in each step, with less vigor and purpose than before. He was simply dragging his feet across the salt, leaving shallow trails behind him. His back was slouched and his head hung low as he walked and walked through the monotonous white landscape.
Another day of complete emptiness went by in a blur, and Cael now found himself in an odd and completely unexpected staredown that made him question his sanity once again.
'W-What the?' he thought in shock as he stared with wide eyes at what appeared to be a boy roughly his age standing in front of him in the distance, staring back at him with equal shock and surprise.
The boy in front of him had short brown hair and light brown skin, a stark contrast to Cael's pale complexion and white hair. He wore a simple type of grey tunic that looked worn and patched, and a long furry hooded brown cloak with the hood currently down around his shoulders. The cloak looked well-used, functional rather than decorative.
They both stared at each other for many long silent moments, neither moving, neither speaking. The tension stretched between them like a physical thing.
'Is this another illusion?' Cael thought wearily, exhaustion creeping into even his mental voice. 'Probably…' he decided with resignation, preparing for this vision to disappear or transform into something horrible like the last one.
But then suddenly, the boy across from him had his face light up dramatically with wide eyes and a huge, genuine smile. He began running up to Cael with unexpected enthusiasm, closing the distance between them rapidly.
"Holy crap, I thought I was the only one out here!" the boy said excitedly and frantically, now standing just in front of Cael, practically vibrating with energy. "Who are you? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"
'T-This is an illusion… right?' Cael thought, feeling less sure than before as he looked at the very real-looking boy standing in front of him. The boy seemed solid, three-dimensional, his enthusiasm genuine and unforced. He stared at the boy's big brown eyes for many long moments, not saying anything, still deeply unsure of what exactly he was looking at or if his fractured mind was playing tricks on him again.
Finally, he asked a rather stupid and simple question that made him feel foolish even as the words left his mouth.
"Uh… are you real?"
The boy tilted his head to the side in obvious confusion, his brow furrowing. "Am I real? What kind of question is that?" The boy studied Cael's face more carefully, concern creeping into his expression. "You got a screw loose or something?"
Cael grinned stupidly despite himself, the expression feeling foreign on his face. 'He has no idea,' he thought with dark amusement regarding the boy's comment. If only he knew.
Suddenly the boy began to look Cael up and down more carefully, taking in his full appearance with growing concern. "You look absolutely horrible… what happened to you, and what type of weird outfit is tha—"
The boy's words got caught sharply in his throat as his eyes finally reached the top of Cael's head, his hair, his distinct white hair that marked him unmistakably as an Eve descendant. The universal identifier that separated humanity into two camps.
The boy stood there staring at the white hair for a long second, his eyes slowly growing wide with dawning horror and recognition. Then suddenly, without warning, he jumped backward multiple feet and rapidly pulled a sword out from beneath his cloak, pointing it directly at Cael with both hands gripping the hilt. His face was now flooded with anger and hatred.
Cael's eyes grew shocked, and he took a sharp breath in surprise as he quickly reached his hands out in front of him, waving them back and forth in a placating gesture. "Woah, woah, relax!" he said with genuine worry creeping into his voice. This was definitely not going how he'd expected.
The boy had his sword pointed steadily at Cael, but despite his aggressive stance, the blade shook noticeably in his trembling hands. The boy had a look of pure rage burning in his eyes, but also unmistakable fear lurking beneath that anger.
"Y-You're an Eve descendant!" he said with a shaky, accusatory voice.
Cael froze completely as he just now properly registered what the boy's brown hair meant. "Y-You're an Adam…" he said with a quiet, almost disbelieving tone.
The boy clenched his sword hilt even tighter, his knuckles turning white with the pressure. "What are you doing out here!?" he demanded, his voice cracking slightly.
Cael took a careful and small step forward with his hands still raised in surrender, trying to appear non-threatening. "Uh… would you believe me if I said I'm lost?" Cael offered with a wry, nervous grin.
"Stay back!" the boy shouted, taking an aggressive step toward Cael, causing him to immediately back up and retreat.
"Woah, all right, all right!" Cael responded quickly, raising his hands higher. "What do you want?"
But even as he spoke calmly, he was already getting mentally ready to use his ice powers if the situation turned violent. His mind raced with possibilities and strategies.
'An Adam descendant! I've never actually seen one before in person. I heard they were still alive out here in the wasteland, but to think I'd actually run into one… and what's his deal!?' he thought frantically, trying to understand the boy's extreme reaction beyond just the tribal hatred between their peoples.
Before Cael could think further, the boy spoke again in his unsure and shaky tone, and the words made Cael's blood run cold.
"You people killed my parents! You took everything from me! I-I…" The kid glanced down at the ground for just a second, his face twisting with emotion, before raising his eyes again with steeled determination and renewed anger. "Now I'm gonna take everything from you!"
Cael blinked a couple of times in complete shock at the absolute irony of this situation. Of all the things that could happen in this wasteland, this was perhaps the most unexpected and darkly poetic.
'This has got to be a hallucination… right?' he thought desperately, almost hoping it was. Because if this was real, then he was standing face-to-face with a boy who was essentially his perfect mirror, another orphan, another victim, another person consumed by the same rage and desire for revenge.