The sun was now shining, rising beyond the clouds that hung high in the sky and ushering in a new day.
At around the same time, Vigil was falling, showcasing to the world how utterly exhausted he was after that night long marathon.
Now laying down with his back on the ground, Vigil was panting heavily as he reached for the canteen full of water that he had recently acquired.
After grabbing the bottle of water and sitting up, albeit reluctantly, he undid the top and began to gulp down its contents, acting as if there was no tomorrow. By the time the flask was half empty, the boy had stopped drinking, brought it down from his face, wiped his mouth clean, and strapped it back onto his belt.
Letting out a slow relaxed breath, Vigil looked up towards the sky, noticing the large dark grey clouds that cascaded over him like a blanket that spanned the length of the horizon.
Sniffing twice, Vigil closed his eyes and took in the fresh air.
"Smells like rain..."
He said as he began to think about what to do next.
'Based off of the smell and how the sky looks, it will undoubtedly rain today. Guess I have to find some shelter and quick, less I want to risk getting caught out in the rain...'
Finishing up his thoughts, Vigil opened his eyes and got up from his previous sitting position.
Dusting himself off, he looked around to try and see if there was anywhere he could use as a temporary shelter to shield himself from the rain.
Seeing as there was nothing in sight, he then glanced at the ground. Noticing the ever so faint tracks that he had made just before collapsing, Vigil turned his head in the opposite direction. That was the direction he decided to travel in.
Normally, he would look to the sky and at the sun or moon to tell where he needed to go. Sadly, as the sun was blotted out by clouds, he could not rely on that method. So instead he just took the best bet he had and decided that traveling going the opposite way he had come from would be best.
As Vigil began to walk, he thought back to the night prior. More specifically, he thought back to the voice that he had heard, telling him to leave.
A few things about that moment had been bothering him.
For starters, was that voice truly just in his head? Could he have just imagined a person talking to him and giving him advice?
'Not only that, but it also sounded exactly like me... Now that I think of it, that was not the first time I had heard that voice. I heard it once before, on the first night. But at that time...'
"At that time it did not give me advice, it insulted me."
He finished off his own thoughts by whispering to himself under his own breath.
However, just as soon as the first string ended, the second one began, forcing his mind into a whirlwind of thoughts and questions that came hurling at him one by one.
'It was quite odd if taken from an objective standpoint. I heard a person, presumably in my head, that talked to me twice. The first time it sounded as if it hated me while the second it gave out advice... But at the same time, my mental state during both of those times were quite different from one another. Could it have to do with my emotions, or maybe my head space?'
Without even realizing, Vigil had already begun to accept the fact that he was hearing voices within his own head. If any sane person was able to hear his current thoughts, they would label him as crazy, without a doubt.
And soon after, the boy himself began to do so as well.
'No, no, no, this all sounds way too weird now that I think back on it. The first time I heard it, I just assumed that I was hallucinating due to blood loss. But then what about the second time? There was nothing special going on then...'
As he kept going on and on within his head, his thoughts began to get more and more out of control.
At first, he thought that he had just become crazy due to the stress that War Field had put him through. Moments later, it was a disease. Then, it had something to do with the day Gravolta, his home country, fell.
Afterall, on that day he was also hallucinating, and much worse than he was now. That one sounded the most realistic out of everything, but even then, his thoughts changed once again. Eventually, they had gone a full circle and Vigil was back to thinking that he had just gone crazy.
Thankfully, putting a pause to his thoughts, Vigil had his attention stolen away by the sight of a place that he could use as shelter.
Regretfully however, he was more than just slightly reluctant to walk any further in its direction as what he saw made his heart skip a beat and his body shudder.
Several kilometers out, standing tall - but no longer proud as half of it seemed to have fallen - was a beyond large wall that seemed to have touched the heavens. Not only was the wall tall, but it was pretty wide as well as it went on farther than Vigil's eyes were able to see.
"Is this... another country...?"
Vigil said in a voice laced with unhidden surprise and bafflement as he took a step back.
This was the first time he had ever laid his eyes upon another nation's walls. He was able to see his home country's own when he had fled, but they looked nothing like this, as the ones that Gravolta used to signify its borders were barely eighty meters tall (~two-hundred and sixty feet). These walls on the other hand were, based off of Vigil's rough estimate, a full kilometer in height.
However, what scared Vigil the most was not the overly tall walls, the fact that they had been destroyed by someone or something, or the memory of Maltena explicitly telling him to avoid them at all cost playing in the back of his head.
No, what made him want to turn and run away in fear was the never ending sounds of explosions going off in the distance, all coming from the same place...
Beyond the walls.
"Yep... Not going in there any time soon..."
He said as he began to turn around, fully intending to leave and try finding somewhere else to take refuge. Sadly for him though, the world, or in this case War Field, was just as forgiving as he thought it to be - Not one bit.
This was because, just as he turned around, a very loud yet familiar periodic rumbling resounded from the distance, growing ever so slightly louder and louder with each time it was heard.
'No... No way... You have got to be kidding me!'
Just as he thought this, an immense silhouette could be seen taking shape in the distance, making even the massive wall behind him seem puny.
Making a quick decision judgment call, Vigil ultimately decided to turn around, back towards the crumbling wall, and sprint at full speed. He knew that, even if he did go as quickly as possible, there was no way to outrun something that grand in scale. So, it was currently him against the clock.
As he was sprinting, Vigil could not help but think about what would happen if the massive monstrosity behind him decided to enter the walls, same as he was doing.
However, just as quickly as those thoughts popped up, they were shot down.
'Do not think about those things right now! All you have to do is run. Come on Vigil, RUN!'
With each passing minute, Vigil's lungs began to burn more and more, screaming, begging to be given some rest. But even then, he refused to stop as the sound of footsteps had only gotten louder.
However, even though things were looking quite grim at the moment, there was at least one good thing that happened.
The sounds of fighting within the walls had ceased, presumably because they heard the same thing that Vigil was hearing - the giant creature.
It had taken him a solid twenty to twenty-five minutes before he made it to the closest opening in the colossal walls. As he entered within their encirclement, he quickly drew his firearm from the holster strapped to his leg and kept it beside him. Just in case he had the misfortune of meeting some unsavory people the second he got there.
Passing through the final pieces of rubble, Vigil was able to see what lay beyond the walls - the place that he had been forced to take refuge inside.
Sadly, he was unable to admire any of the scenery as the sound of another footstep had sounded out.
Looking to his left, Vigil saw an opening to a large structure that he had never seen before throughout his whole life. Without wasting even one more second, he rushed toward the building and entered. Leaning his back on the first wall he had come across and sliding down it until he was sitting on the floor, allowing himself to catch his breath.
'Now, all I can do is wait and pray that the creature just walks away...'
"..."
"You should have just kept quiet."