What makes you a man?

[cellar.]

(dw, welcome back! Glad you're feeling better )




The man turned his head back towards town, and River followed his gaze. He could see all the lights from the buildings illuminate the night sky in a halo of faint orange. A little distance away, the wall rose from out of the dark expanse of forest – reflecting light gray in the moonlight. A steady breeze blew, ruffling his hair, before moving along to rustle through the grass. He could feel his skin prickle with goose bumps against the wind. The temperature was dropping in the absence of the sun, and it was getting pretty late.

Oh, he was tired and done with caring.

Let the guy follow him – in the end, he could just lock the door and that would be that.






"What do you mean? Did you guys not come from inside?"




And once again, River found his attention being snapped back to this stranger, whether he particularly wanted it to or not. He was growing

very, incredibly, definitely

more confused the more this person spoke. Answerless for a few moments, he tried to digest the swamp of incomprehensible questions into something he could make sense of. It left him with a weird sense of anxiety; the way he was supposed to understand something that seemed to be glaringly obvious to the other party, and yet couldn’t.






(Either that, or the guy was shitting with him.)




“Hmm, sorry?” River repeated again – shrugging – raising his hands in defeat. “I-I, really don’t understand watch you’re going on about? Come from inside...what?” There was some great gap in his knowledge between

what he knew

and

what he didn’t –

that maybe he

did

understand what his person was saying, but was refusing to make the connection.

 

[Michi]

[[i'm still getting over it. But at least this gross Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom is helping. Tastes awful though.]]


He didn't understand this. He acted like he'd never been inside the wall. Or like he didn't even know what the hell the wall was. Which he knew could not be true, it was huge, and everyone could see it for miles. But if they weren't from inside then where did they come from? "Wait, where did you come from? People aren't supposed to be able to live out here after the war. Is there another city somewhere or something?" But that hardly made sense. If they had come from inside another city, which was most definitely not in view on any horizon, why would they walk all the way from that one to here just to live outside the wall.


Hmm, so that wasn't it. His hand went up to cup his chin thoughtfully between his thumb and index finger. It was possible they had lied to them, but there really wasn't any point to that. What would be the point in lying? From what he'd seen so far of out here, no one would willing choose to leave to live out here. Everything looked like it was going to fall apart at any second, the clothes were torn and dirty, he wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even have running water, or bathed in a river. Oh god was he going to have to bathe in a river?! He hadn't even seen a river anywhere on his way there. He was starving too. Ugh he couldn't focus and all this thinking was giving him a headache.

 

[cellar.]

(Ahh, maybe take them with Skittles? X)






"Wait, where did you come from?"






Oh.

Well wasn't that a good question?


Most people were born.

But not River.

As far as he knew, he had be birthed by a frantic rush of foamy white water, and then pushed onto the pebbly banks of civilization, of thought, of

life

. So maybe he had been like all other babies…Well, he

must’ve

had a biological mother and father, even if he couldn’t be sure, even if nobody could confirm it. River was a product of the womb, just like everyone else. There was definitely some sort of past life swirling in that body of water – lost when the currents had swept his memories away and wiped his head clean of his own history.


The man was right;

where did he come from?


“Um, I came from here?” River finally answered. A partial truth. “This is the only place I know of…Everything else is just forests.”

Maybe.

He actually wasn’t sure what was beyond…nobody really was. But it was the part about the war that managed to deepen his confusion further. School had taught him about some

disaster

years and years ago that left the earth decimated and desolate. However, there had been survivors – people who started the Rebirth and created the village they lived in now. That’s what the teachers had always liked to say:

they were ancestors of the blessed.

The whole town was all very much alive and fine, what was this guy talking about?


“So…I’ve been kind of wanting to ask the same thing,” he piped up after a brief stretch of silence. “Mmm…Where do you live exactly? Are you really lost-”

or insane

“-because, I could help you back or...or something?” River hoped that would be enough of an offer to lead the guy back to where he came from. It was dark out, and his patience being slowly drawn out, but he could still manage it if it came to that.

 

[Michi]

"In the Northern District. Right off Applin Str-." Noan answered habitually, but his voice trailed off as he looked back up at the wall. No he didn't live there anymore. He lived out here.... in a tree or something now. "Never mind." Pausing he turned back to the other guy once again. "Can I just... follow you for a little bit longer? While I figure out what I'm supposed to do next? I just need- I need some time to think... There's not a town hall or anything here is there? Or city hall? Courthouse? Or something?" They had to have some sort of government building he could possibly stay at for the night, or get some food or something.

 

[cellar.]

He started reciting an address – some place that River did not recognize – before cutting himself off and letting the sentence trail into silence. The man paused for a second, and then mumbled out a

“never mind.”

Never mind…? He couldn’t really understand it. But the one thing that was becoming clearer to him was that this guy didn’t seem like he was from around town. His subsequent words confirmed River’s suspicions. Someone who lived here would definitely know where the town hall was. With its copper roof and spiraling pillars, it was easily the most recognizable and most pretty-looking building in the whole area.


So this person wasn’t just lost; he was completely…misplaced.


Then a better question would be

where had he even come from?


“Uh yep,” River answered hesitantly, “Town hall. And the Hall of Justice…But it’s pretty late now, probably’s closed.” Still, he shrugged, sighed, and began walking back towards the glow of building lights. In truth, he was kind of curious about this man, and where he had come from

(was there even anything beyond the forests? Could he be lying?)

After all, there'd be no harm in showing him where the governing buildings were... “We…can still go, if you like. The front doors are always open.” Looking over his shoulder, River paused and waited for the stranger.


“Hmm, if you’re going to follow me, make sure you follow well. Don’t get lost in the dark.”

 

[Michi]

It was closed, probably the guy had replied. But the doors were always open. Why did it close? Didn't that defeat the purpose of having a town hall? Turning Noan followed after the other male, trying to stay close but not too close. What was he going to do about food, now? He could just stay at the town hall until someone showed up and told him what he should do next, but he had to get food tonight too.


His hand moved up to fiddle with his watch. The one thing that kept his place in this world. That would always be able to remind him of his home. The technology that held his entire identity. And more importantly, his money. If they even took money the same way they did inside. He found himself looking down at the other's wrist. If they used it he'd have one right? I guess I could always ask. "Uhm... What kind of... money do you guys use? Do you.. use the same stuff here?"

 

[cellar.]

River paused for a moment to make sure the man was following him. Then, he glanced around to look for the shadowy figure of Pan.

How long had they stood there just talking?

Pan was bound to be tired and thirsty, and instantly, River regretted not packing a water bottle.

Crap.

He was going to have to make up for this

mis-adventure

somehow, later, soon...However, it proved much too difficult to distinguish fur from darkness, the road ahead of them being swallowed entirely by an inky black. He'd let his dog run free for the most part -

chase after birds, run through fields, whatever.

But now that the sun had gone down, it was a whole other matter. Stopping in his tracks for a moment, River whistled three notes – cutting loud and clear into the stillness of night.


A bark answered his call, and a few seconds later, he felt something scoot up beside his legs.


"Oh what have you been up to, kid?" River mumbled, surveying the dog that was now covered in straw. He stroked him across the ears, making sure everything was okay. A bath was definitely in order, but besides that, Pan seemed alright for the time being. So he continued walking, keeping a hand on Pan's collar. Most of the trek proved to be audibly silent, save for the chirping of crickets hidden alongside the road, and the occasional rustle of grass. But as quiet as it was outside, River's head was buzzing with questions to ask the man trailing behind him a few paces. Every

what, where, why, how

lead to another one taking its place.

It was a never-ending chain-linked thought.

Suddenly, the echo of footsteps was replaced by a voice, disentangling River from the net of his mind. He glanced over his shoulder again and slowed down his walking speed.


"Um, like paper money? Well, sorta..." They had that physical kind of money, if that was the kind of thing the guy was going on about. But people in the town tended to accept trades just as easily. As far as he knew, people were generally helpful enough if you knew to ask for it."I...think you'll be alright...why?" River added as an afterthought. Was this stranger planning to stay or something? Was that why he wanted to go to the Town Hall? To become a citizen? And again the question of

where in the world was he even from

popped into mind. He hesitated asking.


On occasion foreigners did end up joining the town. Jumping with curiosity, River had been so eagerly fascinated by the travels of these strangers

(and it occurred to him that maybe they could tell him something about himself too.)

However, it had always been generally forbidden to ask about the pasts of these people, and they never spoke about it at all. It wasn't a rule or anything,

not that he knew of anyway

...just taboo. Perhaps it had to do with courtesy...but River was never sure.

He had become familiar with keeping his questions to himself by now.


No one seemed to have the answers anyway.

 

[Michi]

[[Haha it seems like you started in the middle of a sentence... or the post.]]

 

[cellar.]

(ohlala, in the process of editing, pls ignore everything going on XP)

 

[Michi]

[[hmmm okay I shall ignore it for now]]

 

[cellar.]

(omg done word-vomiting finally *flails*)

 

[Michi]

Paper money? None of them had dealt with any of that in generations. He wouldn't even know where to get any of that. "But what about the account system?" The money would go into their accounts, and be taken directly from it. Like a giant banking system everyone was a part of. Though, he wouldn't be surprised if they weren't in the system. They didn't live in the city after all. "What if... I don't have any paper money? Or anything like that?"


The bear was back, walking along side the guy once again. "That's a nice... bear you have. Where did you find him at?" Small talk, be polite right? Especially because it seemed like the guy was possibly the only thing standing between him and not starving through the night. "Have you had him for a while?"


His stomach was growling loudly, and the pain were something he'd never experienced before in his life. Not this intensely anyways. He felt as if something were twisting around his insides and jabbing him sharply in the stomach. It was the most unpleasant thing he'd ever felt, and he'd once closed his hand in the hood of his truck and broken his hand. Now that had been painful and uncomfortable but this was deeper.

 

[cellar.]

“Well…I think you’ll be fine,” He answered with a shrug, having no idea what this

account system

thing was supposed to be. However, he was sure that the community wouldn’t want its new citizens to starve to death – if that was the reason the man was going to the Town Hall; if he was deciding on staying permanently or something. People were always wary of strangers, but warm enough to new inhabitants. It was weird, but it was the way things were. River fell into stride with the other man, this time walking beside him. Absentmindedly, he looked up at the sky and began connecting the points of light – looking for the constellations he had been taught as a kid.

(It was far too easy to get lost in the vastness of it all.)




"That's a nice... bear you have. Where did you find him at?"


His gaze fell back on the man – who was now all shadows and silhouettes in the dark. The words rang hollowly in his ears, and River could only stare at him blankly, unsure what he was even talking about this time. As far as he knew, he didn’t own any sort of bear, nor would he ever want one

(…maybe. The notion of having a bear as a pet was funny. He could flirt with that idea in his head during later thoughts and daydreams.)

But then, the realization hit him –

the guy was referring to Pan.


It was downright

absurd

; hadn’t this person ever seen any animals before? He looked down at Pan – fur rippling in the wind, tail wagging behind him. Sure his dog was pretty big and all, but he wasn’t

a bear.

Unable to suppress the storm of giggles, he started laughing – harder than even when Cas sprung the question about cows on him. “…He’s definitely not a bear. I think…you mean

a nice dog

,” River managed to answer after calming himself sufficiently enough. “But, um, I’m not sure really. Pan was a puppy when he kind of wandered in…And then after awhile, he just stuck around.” Glancing up again, he added "Hmm...You're kind of funny. Don't you know what a bear looks like-?"


In the middle of his words, there was a growling sort of sound. River stopped speaking, his eyes following the noise down to the man’s stomach. It must've been a long and tiring day of tons of hiking judging by the way the guy looked coming out of the forest, and River felt that he had been a little dense to have not realized it earlier.


“…Hungry?” He asked. “...Huh, well me too.” It was only the added weariness that managed to take the edge off of hunger, numbed it, and made it ignorable for him. He was peculiar in that he was never

tired and hungry

at the same time. Being tired always made him not want to eat.


“Mmm. D’you know what time it is?” River said. He stuck his hands in his pockets, felt around until he was sure he had enough money. “Some places could still be open. We could get something to eat.”

 

[Michi]

It was Noan's turn to look at the other man with confusion. That was a dog?! His eyes looked at the creature one more time, "That looks nothing like the pictures in the books. Dogs are blonde and brown, and small. That looks more like the bears in the books. Are you sure it's not a bear? I really think it is. Have you ever seen a bear? They're pretty big."


He didn't answer the question about being hungry right away. He was hungry, extremely so, he'd never experienced hunger this bad before, it wasn't something that happened inside. There weren't even any homeless people, let alone starving people. As long as everyone did their part, everyone got everything they needed. Looking down at his watch he pressed a button to change it over to the time, "It's seven thirty-seven." He told the other looking around again, it looked very different going back when it was dark like this. He felt like they might not even be going in the right direction, but the other guy probably knew where he was going.

 

[cellar.]

So maybe it was true that River had never

actually

seen a bear before in person,

but

it was also fact that Pan was one-hundred-percent a dog. It seemed like the guy's entire knowledge of animals was skewed weirdly – the assumption was only confirmed further when he mentioned the fact that all he knew about dogs came from picture books. River blinked in surprise at the comment, staring at him with a certain disbelief. "Uh, yeah, I'm sure," he replied slowly, his voice laced with liberal amounts of doubt that he couldn't hide away in an attempt to be polite. What kind of weird place had he come from to not know the difference between a dog and a bear?





"It's seven thirty-seven."

Well, that seemed like a fair amount of time. Between walking back and forth on the road, River had expected it to be much later by now, but it seemed like they had gotten out of the forest much quicker than anticipated. Still, it was going to be something of a stretch to make it all the way back at the glacial pace they were walking at now. The town lights were glowing ghostly bright in the distance, and the sight proved to be something of a motivation.

Besides, he was getting sick and tired of eating cold and stale food.



"Huh. We'll have to walk a little faster then." Without meaning to sound so incredibly doubtful, but managing to do so all the same, River glanced back at the guy walking beside him and said, "You think you could do that?"

 

[Michi]

"Uh, yeah. I can... How long have you guys been out here? We were always told that everyone died and living out here was impossible." These were only some of the questions filling his mind. But the big ones were the ones he couldn't ask. Like why were they all out here. Why weren't they inside. What did they all do to get sent out here.


As they got closer to town his feet dragged more and more. Not that he was purposely trying to be slow. It was just hard to keep going at this point. His legs had never hurt this much in his life. His feet had actually gone numb.

 

[cellar.]

"How long have you guys been out here? We were always told that everyone died and living out here was impossible."


River was still unsure what this guy was going on about. The question of

"where in the damn world did you come from?"

threatened to slip through his lips, despite the fact that he knew that such inquires were not allowed...Just like how going near the wall wasn't exactly authorized either.

(He wasn't very good at following rules, so it seemed.)

Nevertheless, he swallowed down the words and looked for a way to respond to the man's questions – something about everyone dying or whatever nonsense like that. The first part was difficult to answer, the second was a little easier at least. After all, who had told them something as silly as that?


"...Uh, I don't know. I kind of just woke up here," River mumbled, "everyone looks alive to me, don't you think?" He shrugged and turned his attention straight ahead up the road. "You...should ask someone else. People in charge." The councilmen would take him.


They were getting closer to town once again, a few more houses popping up here and there, but they were also pretty much moving at a snail's pace – at least in his opinion. Sure the man was tired, River was too, but he was practically

dragging

his feet in the ground.

"Yeah, I can,"

he had insisted. Well...It didn't seem like he was going to make it without passing out. "Um. Are you feeling alright?" River asked quietly.

 

[Michi]

(Oh good lord, I thought I'd responded to this months ago >.< I am so sorry.)


 
It took a moment for Noan to respond, his mind didn't want to focus on the words that this guy, who was kindly showing him to.... wherever they were going, was saying. "I'm just.... not used to walking this much. We have cars, and trucks, and the train system. Why don't you guys have any of that out here? Why are you guys out here?" Agh, his feet were starting to hurt, past that point of numbness to where it felt like he could feel the pressure from every step he took, on every joint and bone in his feet.


A loud grumble erupted from his abdomen, once more, and again he stopped. Crossing his arms over his stomach, he looked down at the ground. He couldn't be dreaming, dreams weren't this vivid, he wouldn't be this aware of the pain. He wouldn't feel any pain. His mouth was dry; his shoulders, feet, and stomach all ached with an intensity he'd never thought he'd experience in his entire life. What did he do to deserve this? All Noan had wanted was to know what was out here. Why the wall was shut, he wanted to see all the animals in the books, the animals that didn't exist anymore. The different kinds of tree that were in the old books from before the war. There weren't many, but sometimes, if you could get into the archives you would find some of the most amazing pictures, he couldn't even imagine.


That was all he wanted to experience, not all this. Not this pain and suffering that was completely unwarranted. This kind of thing didn't happen anymore. Part of him still refused to believe this was happening, but he knew it was real. His vision blurred as he stared down at the ground where his feet stood, the dirt and rocks blurring into each other as his mind raced. As the feeling of something warm ran down the side of his nose to the tip and finally dripped off, he realized what was happening to him.


"I want to go home. I don't want to be out here anymore." It was hard to get the words out, a lump in his throat forming threatening to suffocate his already dry throat. "I just want to go back."

 

[cellar.]

These were the sort of questions that River only knew how to respond with a skeptical stare and loads of

ums

and

uhs

. On a better day, his level of patience would’ve been more ample. Maybe he would’ve explained everything to this man – who was either the stranger he claimed to be, or just extraordinarily insane like he had first thought. But it was nighttime already. The day seemed to have sprouted extra minutes between each hour, and River Atlas was very and tired and rather disgruntled with the fact that he had the misfortune of accidentally stumbling upon this person. Now, he found himself suddenly responsible for delivering the man to the Town Hall.


With a somewhat exasperated sigh, he opened his mouth to answer.


But as he did, he realized that the man was no longer walking beside him. Pausing in his tracks, River turned around to look over his shoulder, tugging on Pan’s collar to slow him down. The shadowy figure stood a few metres away from him, his arms wrapped around his stomach. He wasn’t moving and he wasn’t speaking. The only indication that he hadn’t suddenly turned into stone was a miniscule movement of breath, his profile rising and falling against the dim moonlight.


River backtracked, making his way over to the guy. He was staring intently at the ground, a shadow casted over his face. Slowly, it looked like he was caving in on himself, wrapping himself inwards. After a moment or two of silence, he finally spoke up. The strain in his voice was now wholly apparent.

"I want to go home. I don't want to be out here anymore. I just want to go back."


The words were said quietly, haltingly…And River realized his voice was wet with tears.


He was absolutely dumbfounded at the revelation, and stood about listlessly, wondering what on earth was happening. He had never been good at being empathetic or sensing other people’s emotions, and River didn’t even realize he had fucked it up until he had.

Crap.

Maybe he could’ve been a littler nicer and a little less distrustful this whole time; maybe he had been inconsiderate... Feeling incredibly awkward, he reached forwards and patted the guy lightly on the back.


“Um. I’m sorry…” He started sheepishly. “It’ll be fine. We’re almost there, and they’ll get you home alright. Don’t worry…” He searched for a name, but realized they hadn’t even introduced themselves to each other.


“Right…I forgot to say, my name’s River.”

 

[Michi]

It took a little while, but Noan finally calmed back down, and like River had said, they hadn't introduced themselves to one another. Noan offered a hand as he stood up straight wiping his face off with his shirt, leaving streaks of slightly tanned skin showing through the grunge that had coated his face during his journey today. "Noan. Noan Swer."


Looking around he asked the guy which way to go next, and then followed him some more trying his best to match the guy's pace, the occasional tear running down his face, but he would reach up to quickly wipe it away. The building looked like nothing special. But then again so did eveything they'd already passed. If he'd been looking for the building on his own he would have walked right past it.


A man was exiting the building, keys in hand as he turned to lock the door. Probably time for them all to go home to their families and have dinner. No not dinner, he couldn't think about food. Not with the state he was in, where it felt like his stomach was caving in on itself. He looked over at River, unsure of what to say or how to grab the man's attention. Inside they just said hello, but then again, inside everyone acted the same and had the same manners. They all spoke similarly as well and wore the same things. That wasn't how this was outside. Manners... kind of seemed to be like a foreign aspect of life here. At least from the way River and his friend had first greeted him. If he'd put two and two together, he'd realize the hunger was making him cranky, but that was also something he'd never really experienced in the walls. They never had a reason to be in a bad mood. Everything that happened had logic and reason and the best for the community in mind. How did this have any logic, reason and the best for the community in mind.

 

[cellar.]

After this

Noan Swer

person seemed to have recovered enough, they resumed walking again. River deliberately slowed down to a more glacial pace, glancing over at the guy on occasion – just to make sure he wasn’t on the verge of tears again or something. He just had to get Noan there in one piece, with no more emotional breakdowns half way on the road. Gradually, the Town Hall drifted into view amongst the rows of houses and stores. It was a stone building, like many of the others, and only its greenish copper roof stood as the noticeably defining trait of the structure.




‘I hope we’re not too late,’

he thought, staring up ahead at the building. Right on cue, some man exited the front doors, looking like he was preparing to lock the place down for the night.




‘Oh. Oh crap.’


“C’mon,” River said. A hint of urgency tinted his voice. “Before he leaves.”


If they missed this now…Well, he didn’t have an inkling of a clue what he was supposed to do with his

accidentally-stumbled-upon-tagged-along

buddy until morning. With that desperate thought in mind, he quickened his walk into a run.


“Mr. Redish!” He called out, close enough now that he could now recognize the man’s face. Pete Redish of the council swerved his head around to look at the source of the noise, dropping his keys in apparent surprise. He bent to pick them from the ground, straightening up just as River had made it to the front steps of the building. Panting, he managed to cough out a few disjointed words. “W-wait…I have… a problem.”


“I’m sorry. It’s after hours,” Redish answered impatiently. “Please come back in the morning.”


“Hold on!” River interjected. He paused for a second to catch his breath. “Uh, I-I don’t think he can wait until morning.” The implications were clear enough when he turned to look at Noan, before returning his gaze to the councilman."He's...He's not from around here, I think?"

 

[Michi]

"What do you mean you think? Where else would he be from?" The short stocky, balding man asked exasperatedly. Turning to look at Noan, he took a breath through his nose and then noticed how dirty the young man was. Good lord he looked as if he'd been dragged a few miles by a horse drawn carriage. "Where's your house, Kid?" He asked with an impatient tone.


"I don't appreciate your tone, Sir." Noan replied, but unlike Redish who'd had an attitude, Noan said it just like as if he'd say the sky was blue or a greeting.


"What?"


"You tone. It's slightly rude, and I do not appreciate it?" Confusion spread across Noan's face. What did he mean what? The guy should have thanked him for his honesty and apologized. Did no one out here have manners?


"The hell? You're the one being rude. Where's your parents?"


"At home, on the inner west side. Where are your parents?" Why was he asking about his parents. This was just getting weird. He was being rude, and not helpful. He looked at River then back to the man. "I just need to get back inside, River said you guys could help me."


"Inside what?" It was Redish's turn to be confused. Good lord, was this some sort of prank it had to be. "I don't have time for nonsense." He just wanted to go home, eat dinner, and go to bed.


Turning Noan pointed in the direction of the forest and the wall. And the man stared at him, then looked in the direction that he was pointing. "Your house is in the forest?"


"No on the other side of the wall."


"You mean, like, inside the wall...?" He asked slowly, his eyes widening as Noan nodded. "Wait, you mean like on the otherside inside the wall?" He continued slowly.


"Yes..." Noan responded slowly. He didn't understand all these vocal cues, why was he talking like this, was this something normal out here? Like how people used to speak all sorts of different languages. The man's face went from confusion to shock, and there was a moment before he turned around stuck his key back in the door and unlocked it.


Pushing the door open, he turned and grabbed Noan's arm, giving River a slightly dirty look with a simple. "Go home, River." Closing the door he told Noan to sit down while he paced for a minute before deciding he had to get the others here because he had no clue what to do about this.

 

[cellar.]

He looked back and forth between Redish and Noan, a mixture of surprise and amusement stamped across his face as he tried to follow their exchanges. It wasn’t exactly common courtesy for some bedraggled-looking foreigner to tell a councilman to his face that his tone was

slightly rude

, or

wasn’t appreciated.

Confusion and frustration was beginning to run rampant, and River slowly backed out of the conversation before things turned heated. Okay…Maybe he should’ve given Noan a run-down of how things worked in the place, before he

(very politely)

had just insulted one of the directors of their village.


“I just need to get back inside…”




‘Inside what?’

And Redish’s words perfectly mirrored his own thoughts.




“...No on the other side of the wall.”


The other side…? Inside the wall.

Inside.

Oh. Ohhhhh – ‘

uh, what?’

Noan lived in the other side of the wall?


River turned to Noan slowly, his eyebrows rising into a look of utter disbelief. The guy might as well have said he was raised by bears, and he would’ve been more inclined to believe him.

Was this supposed to be bullshit or truth?

For all the times that River had passed the length of the concrete-solid structure, he had never found anything more than a few cracks that littered the rough surface. They were shallow fractures that led to nowhere: no major imperfections, no holes, no doors, no nothing. How…How would it be possible that he had come from the other side?




Bullshit. Must be.


Before River had much time to soak in the piece of information he had just learned, Redish grabbed Noan by the arm, pushing him into the building. With a hurried glance over his shoulder, the stocky man uttered a “go home, River” before shutting the door in his face.




...Truth?

He stood at the foot of the unexpected revelation, listless.






“So, tell us again what happened,” Brooke Shelff said with an air of urgency.


The woman brushed back her blonde hair – a motion that was dipped in some sort of contemptuous impatience. All the council members were seated at the circular table – wearing varying expressions of incredulity, wariness, and mistrust – as they stared down at the guy who claimed that he was from Inside. This was not a matter to be careless with. If this kid was actually from the other side of the wall…The act of breaking a signed agreement was enough to shift equilibrium of power, to tip a scale balanced on fragile relations. It had caused too much trouble decades ago, and they didn’t need for more of the truth to seep out from under their grasp.

 

[Michi]

He'd already told the story repeatedly. He didn't know why he needed to keep saying the same thing over and over. It's as if they'd expected him to be lying. But people didn't lie anymore, at least not inside. Lying lead to conflict, which lead to war. And no one wanted another war ever again. Not after the horrors from the last one. He started recanting the story once more, starting again from the very beginning of his day telling them how everything happened leading up to arriving at the town hall.


Thankfully while they had been waiting for everyone to show up, Noan had been taken to a nearby house to shower and change, while the guy's wife worked on washing his clothes. When they got back almost all of them had been there, he was given a sandwich and was allowed to eat, but it felt weird. The fabric that he was wearing, the pattern felt foreign. And it was blue. He'd always wondered what it would be like if they wore color, but now that he actually was wearing color he felt... out of place. He would have rathered been wearing the dirty clothes he'd been wearing all day. But it was nice to be clean, and finally have some food.


Unfortunately, the counsel was still having a hard time believing his story. "Do you know exactly where this door was? And how it opened?"


"No. And it was more like a giant gate. Tall enough to fit entire buildings through. It sunk into the wall and then moved to the side. And I came out into the forest and then she had them close it. I'd never seen anything like it before. I found a tiny crack but I had no idea the door was there." Noan told them once more. As he finished his third sandwich, even with him being as hungry as he had been, he took his time eating, making sure to use his manners.


Another man, Phillip Heno, looked at his colleagues, all of them had the same look on their faces, one of loss and confusion. What were they supposed to do now?

 

[cellar.]

“Could you please step out the room for us, uh Noan?” Shelff said, taking a brief second to recall the guy’s name. She met Phillip Heno’s inquiring glance with a slight tilt of her head, and then turned back to the rest of the table. Nobody presently sitting here today had an inkling of a clue of what they were supposed to do. Exiles were a thing of the past – a deal which had been snipped away by several complications for the Outside. Their society wasn’t a dumping ground for Insider rejects, and they had been tired of being treated as so. The last known exile was accepted some decades ago. Almost all the councilmen present at that time were now buried bones in the ground.


After Noan was ushered out of the meeting room and into the hall, the table burst into noise.


“We have to get rid of him –”


“But imagine what we’ll say to the townspeople!”


“And that other kid, River…”


“And what about the Inside?”


The din gradually quieted down to silence, each council member looking at one another for the answers.


“We could just kill him,” Redish said matter-of-factly. “No one would care.”


Brooke Shelff shot him a crippling glare. She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled in a huff.


“That’s not the point Peter. Getting rid of him is fine. That fact is the Inside has broken an agreement. If we don’t take counteractive measures against this action, they’ll get the idea that they have the upper hand.”


“Oh, so what do you propose? Stop sending them arms and machinery? They’ll freeze us out too.”


“No, Ms. Shelff is right,” Cade Burry answered smoothly. There was a calculated pause. The man swept across the room with his eyes, gathering the attention of the other members. In the midst of this confusion, a course of action was finally taking root. “Remember, it’s them that have been caught. The next move is ours…And I think that we can all agree that we’d rather have the upper hand…”