Vayne stood in the rain looking down at his shadow.
"How did you do that?"
There was no response. The shadow beneath him wavered. His gaze lifted slightly. The sound of rain filled his ears. His grip on the parcel tightened a little.
Vayne felt somewhat unsatisfied. That entire exchange almost felt unreal. He stood and watched two people face off and even ended up obtaining what he needed.
"I don't know what to call you."
The shadow beneath him moved slightly.
"Fay."
The voice was slightly muffled—anyone not standing close to Vayne likely wouldn't have heard it.
Vayne replied.
"I'm Vayne."
There was no response.
hih-tschiew
Vayne sneezed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.
I should go find cover.
The rain showed no sign of stopping, yet he had completely forgotten he was standing in it. His eyes drifted toward the campfire. A scrap roof shielded it, keeping the flames alive against the downpour. But there were dead bodies around it so he quickly shot that idea down.
He moved out of the dark alley. This time vaulting over the fence quite easily. The cold streets were as silent as ever—maybe even more so at this hour. Vayne glanced down at his watch as he kept going.
[ T4-C9 ]
He hadn't realized it had gotten this late. Term four, count 9—almost void night. His head was still throbbing from all of the commotion today. He wasn't used to talking so much. Having spent all sixteen years of his life in the district's poorest, most shadowed corners, there were few people he could talk to simply for the sake of conversation.
Perhaps growing up in this environment without any familial love was the reason for his detached nature.
Vayne let out a quiet breath. The rain hadn't eased in the slightest. If anything it seemed to have grown heavier. Water was soaking through his clothes and weighing them down with each step. Taking a step felt like walking in a small shallow pond. As he kept walking the streets were thinning out. The amount of cameras and broken tech was getting smaller and smaller as he went on. A bent chain-link fence came into view through the rain. Its edges had warped and were half-torn from its posts. Vayne vaulted over it, landing lightly on the other side.
A forgotten scrapyard on the edge of the district—half-flooded, and rusty. To Vayne, it was just home. He walked through the scrapyard, stepping over shallow pools of water and slipping between tilted stacks of metal. The rain sounded way louder here, striking all of the metal in uneven bursts.
His shelter came into view. It was wedged beneath a collapsed transport frame, reinforced with scrap panels and patched sheets. He ducked inside. The sound of rain dulled instantly. Vayne sat the parcel down near the wall, out of reach of any leaks. He had to turn it in as soon as he woke up tomorrow.
He took off his wet baggy clothes, leaving it to dry out near the entrance. He hung it over a bent rod he'd wedged into place a while ago, then reached for a small stack of firewood tucked into a corner that was carefully kept from leaks by sheets of plating.
He crouched and got to work.
He put the firewood in a small pit he made. Using iron pyrite and flint he produced small sparks to start the fire. He let it catch onto the wood and put the minerals aside.
Fay moved closer to the minerals, stretching Vayne's shadow.
"Ooh, do you know what these are called?"
Vayne replied.
"No."
Fay was astonished.
"The shiny one that looks like polished scrap metal is called iron pyrite. Also known as fool's gold. The other one that looks smooth and gray is called flint."
Vayne looked at the rocks.
Fay moved closer back to Vayne.
"How did you know these two work well to create fire?"
Vayne replied.
"Trial and error."
He nudged a piece of firewood deeper into the flame and rubbed his hands together.
After a moment, Vayne pointed toward the minerals.
"How did you know their names?"
"Why should I answer your question?"
"You've asked me plenty," Vayne cut in.
"That's different," Fay said.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The fire burned low between them. Vayne sat with his back against the wall, knees drawn up. His clothes hung from a bent pipe nearby and dripped onto the floor one slow drop at a time.
Vayne broke the silence.
"You said head to Highspire right? I don't know where that is."
"You live in Avalon and you don't know all the districts?"
"No...?"
"It's above Lowline. It's the highest district within Avalon."
"That supposed to mean something?"
Vayne's shadow shifted against the firelight.
"Avalon is built upward. The lower districts sit beneath the higher ones. The farther up you go, the cleaner it gets. Better roads. Better air. Better food. More guards too. Hell, have you not noticed the lift system leading up at the center square?"
Vayne looked toward the shelter entrance.
"If it's above Lowline, how come I don't see anything in the sky?"
"Because there's a distortion field in place, you won't be able to see it unless you're in that district."
Vayne stared at his shadow.
"A distortion field?"
"It bends perception around the upper districts. Not completely. You can still see the roads that lead up, the lifts, the gates. But the districts themselves are hidden from below unless you have clearance or you're already inside the boundary."
Vayne showed a little irritation on his face.
"I don't understand. You're able to move through shadows, there's an invisible field above me hiding cities, and now I'm roped into a difficult situation with a weirdo?"
"Ouch. You wound me, Vayne. Calling the man who saved you from drowning in debt a weirdo? Truly cruel. I have feelings too, you know."
Vayne dropped his eyelids slightly unphased by Fay's poor theatrics.
Fay sensed that Vayne wasn't someone he needed to be wary of right now. Since Vayne had no ties to the authorities, revealing some information didn't seem like a major risk. Still, there was no guarantee that Vayne would remain the same in the future.
"Vayne."
After a small pause he answered with a low voice.
"Yeah?"
"This is Avalon," Fay said.
"One of the great cities of the Veldorian continent. It's divided into seven districts, each with its own purpose."
Vayne didn't even know what a continent was. There were too many gaps in his understanding, the kind that came from growing up in the Lowline district, where books were rare and far too expensive for people like him. Most of what he knew, he'd learned by watching others.
Vayne rubbed a hand over his face. His body was starting to feel heavier now that the farce over the parcel had passed. The cold, the running, the talking—it was all catching up to him at once.
"I'm going to bed," he said.
"We have to turn in the parcel first thing in the morning, and it's already super late."
"Fair enough."
Vayne paused. Then his gaze slowly dropped to his own shadow. Fay was still there.
Vayne's expression flattened.
Fay questioned.
"What?"
"What my ass, why are you still in my shadow?"
Fay seemed confused.
"...?"
Vayne stared at the dark shape on the floor for a long moment.
"I don't like the idea of a grown man watching me fall asleep while I'm wearing nothing but my underwear."
Fay said, almost offended, "Hey, I'm not that old. I'm like twenty-four." He paused. "...I think?"
Vayne's face showed no mercy.
"I don't care. Get out of my shadow. I don't want you near me while I sleep. That's weird."
"You make it sound much worse than it is."
"It is exactly as bad as it sounds."
Fay sighed dramatically, the edge of Vayne's shadow rippling like it was offended on his behalf.
"Fine. There are more shadows outside anyway."
Vayne's shadow pulled away from him, slipping across the shelter floor toward the entrance. It stretched thin beneath the firelight, then disappeared into the darker corners outside.
Fay's voice drifted back, fainter now.
"Try not to die in your sleep. That would make it troublesome for me."
Vayne lay down on the thin bedding of patched cloth and old fabric.
"Try not to watch people sleep."
No response came.
The rain tapped on the metal roof of the makeshift shelter. The fire cast a weak glow over the walls. Vayne turned onto his side, one arm tucked beneath his head.
His eyes closed slowly.
And for the first time that night, the silence felt calming.