The sun had set a mere moment ago, and looking at the direction from where it had hidden beneath the horizon was Vigil, leaning back on the cushiony seats of the carriage.
To be more precise, he was watching a large caravan of metal carriages, similar to the one he was currently residing within, go by in the same direction the sun went down in.
As he was doing so, he was posed with a small mental dilemma.
'Should I leave now or should I wait for morning...'
At this point in time, Vigil was trying to leave the comfort of the small metallic box and battlefield in the distance that had become his quarters for the past two weeks.
Although he would have preferred to stay just a while longer in order to let his busted shoulder recuperate, he unfortunately had no desire to stay in the area any longer. Not after the day before.
Last night, just as Vigil was trying to get some shut eye, he heard a loud noise coming from the distance, growing closer and closer with each passing minute. Unlike the two creatures he had previously slain, this one was clearly much different as instead of it being fast it was slow and instead of it being light it was heavy...
... Really heavy.
It did not take a genius to figure out the latter part as each time that loud noise, presumably its footsteps, was heard, the entire vehicle would shake.
So for the rest of the night, Vigil was curled up in a ball as he sat within the footwell, waiting for the large beast to pass.
Not only that, but he had also seen plenty more smaller creatures pass through the area. Thankfully none of them decided to get the bright idea of checking inside the cabin or else Vigil would already be dead.
From what Vigil could tell, throwing away all of his bloodied bandages and clothes after that second encounter was definitely the right call.
Speaking of which, on the fourth day, the one directly after that small scuffle, Vigil had gone out to grab some more supplies. As he was, he also thought to dispose of the torn clothes that he was still wearing, swapping them out with ones that were still in a slightly good condition.
Albeit, they were still much too large for him.
The last thing he did before completely hunkering down - besides to grab the essentials and go to the bathroom - was take a knife off of someone's body.
Although he had never seen one quite like the one he had grabbed, Vigil just assumed that it was because it was made for combat. The weapon itself had a partly serrated seven inch blade with a five inch handle, separated by a thick guard that had a small ring on one side.
Back to the present, Vigil looked away from the window that displayed the bland terra firma with a contrasting backdrop of the beautiful night sky, and instead looked towards the supplies he had kept in the vehicle beside him.
There, he could see an untattered shirt that he had been reluctant to put on for fear of making his shoulder hurt again, his helmet, and his fathers sword - Promise.
Within the past few days, while Vigil had nothing better to do, he had been experimenting with methods in which he could travel faster, even if by just a small amount. He had come to the conclusion once again - as this was not the first time thinking over this topic - that the simplest way to do so was by no longer dragging around his above average in weight sword.
But the question was, how would he do that?
Well the answer was simple... like, really simple.
Just strap it to his belt and leave it hanging from his waist.
Yeah...
Although it had taken Vigil this long to try doing so, it was not because he did not think of it. Quite the contrary he had thought about doing it quite a lot. The only thing that stopped him before he had the chance to try, was that he would always consider his height just as he was about to do so.
You see, Vigil was pretty short. Not for his age or anything but just short in general, and because of that, he had constantly thought that, if he did strap the Promise to his belt, it would drag on the ground.
But the thought had never occurred to the young inexperienced boy that he could just adjust the angle at which the sword hung...
... In his defense, the first time he ever held a sword was about a month ago.
Moving on, as Vigil stared at the items beside him, the internal conflict within his mind raged on.
'The caravan has almost fully passed so if I do leave, then I must leave now... But what if more monsters appear...'
He began to scratch the back of his head in confusion.
Looking up and at the long line of vehicles passing by, Vigil determined that he would have about two to three minutes until the coast was clear and he could leave his refuge without risking getting spotted by some unsavory eyes.
However, the memory of what happened the night prior still weighed heavy on his mind.
'Hmm... Maybe I should just wait until morning. If I do then I can also get some shut eye before I start travelling again.'
He began clearing the seat next to him in order to lay down as those thoughts crossed his mind.
"... I suggest leaving now."
A voice, one that sounded like Vigil's but could not be as his mouth had been closed the entire time, sounded out from within the carriage.
As Vigil heard this, he quickly drew his firearm, which was now strapped back onto his left leg as his arm had healed enough for it to be of some use, and started to point it towards nowhere in particular.
While quickly glancing around the compartment, Vigil spoke in a startled voice that clearly showed a sense of unease and wariness.
"Who's there!? Show yourself!"
"..."
However, there was no more voice.
Unconvinced that he was still alone in the vehicle, Vigil got up and started looking around.
After a full minute of slowly checking everywhere he could, he had come up short. No one seen, no one found. Besides him and his belongings, completely empty.
"The stress must be getting to me. There is no way that I would be hearing things otherwise... I think so at least."
As he finished up his sentence, Vigil glanced out the window once more, opting to not lay down and get comfortable for a good night's sleep. What that voice, that he believed to be within his head, had said immediately began to gnaw at his mind, making him wane in his decision.
The final vehicle in the convoy had just left Vigil's sight when he had come to a final answer.
Putting on the shirt that he had just recently procured from a very kind and giving dead body, Vigil felt slight pangs of discomfort as his shoulder was still bothering him a bit. Thankfully, he was able to ignore it as it was now nowhere near as bad as it had once been a few days ago.
'I thought that it would take at least a bit more time before I would get to this stage, but it has been healing really well... Might this have something to do with my Truth? What was it the professor said again...
He began to think as he put on his helmet and got his sword attached nicely to his belt. Adjusting it to a preferable angle would have to come later as he had things to do at the moment. So instead he just left it at an angle that he knew would not affect him in a negative way.
When Vigil finished up, he grasped the door's handle and looked outside for a moment, allowing himself to wrap up his previous train of thoughts.
'One's Truth will grow the more experience they have with it? Nope, that was definitely not it, but if I summed it all up into one sentence, then it would be kind of close... I think... Meh, who cares. Let's just chalk it up to me healing quickly and not think too deeply about it.'
Just as his thoughts concluded, the young boy took a few deep breaths and looked out of every window the vehicle had to offer. Seeing as there was nothing in sight, Vigil opened up the door leading to the outside world, hopped out from its seats, and sprinted like his life depended on it.
He wanted nothing to do with that area anymore, so he did what he knew how to do best in these situations.
Run. Vigil ran and kept running all the way until morning.