Noah had never been out of Halo before. Well, at least, not before the last few days. Ezekiel, on the other hand, had been traveling like a madman after the portal opened up and outlanders flooded Halo. Well, they had not really flooded it -- but their presence was definitely noticeable above the small population of Halo that he knew so well. Noah was busy keeping their house in order, their dedicated people fed, all while Ezekiel had all but flown the coop. Noah had little interest in exploration, of adventure, but it had been exactly what Ezekiel had been desiring his entire life. Nearly a week ago, Noah's wayward brother returned. The two had fought as Ezekiel pressured Noah to leave Halo, and Noah pressured for Ezekiel to stay. They went back and forth, each standing firm on their beliefs: duty and adventure. Ezekiel left in a huff, and Noah was left furious in their cold, empty house.
Finally, however, the stubborn brother budged. Ezekiel had called him a coward, and Noah was determined to be lots of things, but never that.
He found himself here, in Torchline, where the sun blazed and blazed and touched his skin relentlessly. At first, he had shed almost all of his clothing. He was down to what no one had ever seen him in before -- shorts (pants that he cut off at the knee, desperately), and a thin shirt (that he had also cut the sleeves off of, desperately). However, the sun was relentless and burned his pale skin. He had to trade the rabbit he had brought with him to get a salve to put on his burned skin, and he had traded the vest he had brought for a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt. He lathered the salve on his skin and stayed to the shade until his skin was mostly healed, after it blistered and began to peel.
He continued to be smarter about the sun than he had before, but he was also ready to do some exploration. He found himself standing at the coastline, watching the water. He waded in, carefully. He couldn't swim, after all. He waded only until he was waist deep, and climbed upon a large rock that jutted from the water. It was surprisingly smooth, and he was careful not to slip back into the water as he climbed on, turned, and sat, looking out at the water. The sound of it moving and crashing at the shore was nice, and he decided that it was okay here -- but it was not Halo, his home.
