A lone carriage rode along the ruined road. The carriage looked out of place, as if it had been transported throughout time, like from the medieval age straight to a post-modern society. However, this society was long gone and was instead replaced by collapsing buildings infected by rust and vines.
There were multiple different sounds around this particular carriage. For example, there were the various insects and bugs chirping away with no one to bother or stop them or the sounds of skyscrapers finally toppling to the ground after decades of erosion effecting them. Oddly enough, the carriage itself, made no noise, or in better terms, the noises you think you heard always seemed to escape you at the last second. The carriage had an almost mythical feel about it, as if it was from the holy lands an old tale once preached about. While this mythical aura was indeed fascinating, the people inside of it were even more interesting.
"Nah man, you have got to be pulling my leg here! There is no way that ever existed."
"I'm telling you it's the truth! There was once people living on the moon! It's called a moon base!"
Near the back of the carriage two men, one of shorter stature with raven-black hair and gleaming obsidian eyes that seemed to sparkle when compared to the night sky. The other had a more robust and buff build with a head void of hair and brown eyes. The two men were talking about the past of the ruined city they were currently traveling through.
"What kind of idiot believes everything they read."
The bald man spoke with a somewhat condescending tone which made even the other passengers not paying too much attention to their exhausting ramblings shoot a look at him in annoyance.
A girl with dirty blonde hair spoke before the raven-haired kid had a chance to bounce back to the burly man.
"Man I wish you guys would just shut up and make out already."
"Come on now Claire, you know it's fun to mess with the kid. I mean it's not like there is anything else for me to do right now."
Claire smirked and turned to face the black haired boy.
"…And you need some more confidence! Don't let Kade get you down. You should be more like my brother over here!"
As Claire spoke, she grabbed hold of another boy around 16 years old with light brown hair and ghostly teal eyes and proceeded to drag him over to where the three of them were chatting at.
"Stop messing with me Claire. It's not funny to anyone else but you."
"Stop being such a downer Nova, this is why no girls ever want to talk to you."
Nova, the brown haired boy, blushed and pulled away from his sister and returned to the opposite corner of the carriage.
The carriage itself wasn't big, however it was still quite spacious. Nova's message that he wished to be left alone and not bothered was properly received by his sister.
While Claire was busy pouting at the fact that her own brother rejected her, Kade was laughing hysterically while pointing in their direction. Claire meanwhile, still annoyed at her brother, turned to the raven-haired boy once again.
"You're such a buzz kill Nova. Maybe you shouldn't learn too much from him Trev."
"Or maybe he just shouldn't listen to advice from you at all Claire."
A women who looked a bit older than the rest of them spoke up. Her sparkling pupils the color of a bright shade of white and hair that was a radiant shade of blonde, shot a playful smirk towards Claire.
"Why am I starting to get ganged up on, please don't abandon me like my failure of a brother Ivy!"
Claire started to cling to Ivy and as she did, the carriage erupted in laughter.
Not that it could be heard outside though.
The group continued their talk into the night to try and pass the time. Eventually all growing quiet and falling asleep.
Nova was appalled at the fact that their group that was so animated not even 30 minutes earlier could look so defenseless and pass out while in the middle of nowhere.
Trying to avoid the thoughts of his idiotic comrades, Nova looked out the carriage. In the distance, the sun, or what resembled the sun at least, started to slowly peak up and thus ending the night.
***
A bit of time later, two doors that looked to be made out of rusted metal, and a long fortified wall that stretched to each side of the horizon started to come into view.
The one presumed as the "leader" of their little group, Kara, spoke up first. She had long blonde hair and gleaming red eyes that permeated the aura of royalty. Her voiced roared to her chatting companions.
"Alright looks like we finally made it, you all know what each of you need to do before we go through those gates!"
"Yes ma'am!"
Kara looked a bit uncomfortable at the formal tone her troupe used with her, especially with no one else around. but she quickly switched back to her stoic, commanding face.
"Good, you all know how long we have journeyed to reach this point so let's not falter!"
The group quickly rose to attention then proceeded to jump out the carriage and prepare to enter the stronghold.
As they approached the stronghold, the gates began to creak and slowly opened as if to invite them inside. Fog seemed to spread out from the gates and while the troupe knew that there was something inside, they could not see it.
While looks of worry and uncertainty were being shot towards their leader, they proceeded to enter through the gates. As they passed through, the gates started to creak once again and slowly closed, cutting the inside of the stronghold off from the rest of the world.