This chapter introduces a new character. For those confused with the lack of spoken words, this boy is a mute. He sees Singed, but 'the blue-eyed boy' identifies Singed as 'the red-eyed boy' because he doesn't know Singed's name.
The boy coughed as the wind blew past him. When he had been warned of a sandstorm, he hadn't expected it to be this bad. He actually was kind of excited, this was the first time that he had seen a sandstorm. The boy smiled as he heard a female voice in his head ask if he was alright, and he smiled at his Gardevoir. Being a mute, the boy always communicated with Gardevoir with his thoughts. He thought back to her that he was fine, but he wouldn't be if Gardevoir's reflect wasn't so efficient at blocking the sand. Gardevoir smiled back as the two of them continued walking.
The boy found nature to be so incredible. Even sand was an efficient weapon in the creative hands of nature! The only problem the boy had was his make-shift crutch kept on trying to sink into the sand whenever he put his weight on it. Hmm, how long had it been since his leg had been crushed? Not that it mattered, this was a permanent injury. It was remarkable just how well his leg had healed from that, the bone had been in quite a few pieces after that semi ran his leg over. He grinned as he remembered that trip to the hospital, It wasn't often that the doctors got a patient who couldn't remember their name, and one that no one in the town knew. Ah, that was fun.
When Gardevoir touched the boy's mind again the boy turned to face her. Gardevoir had a frown on her face, and she alerted the boy to the fact that someone was approaching them from in front. It didn't take long for that person to come into view, and the boy had to admit that this person looked . . . intimidating. The boy and his Houndoom were walking right through the sandstorm, neither one paying too much attention to the sand.
As they walked closer to the boy, both he and the other boy locked eyes for a moment. The blue-eyed boy learned a lot from what he saw. The red-eyed boy with the Houndoom had a furious rage within him, a rage born of something that had wronged him. What the boy first mistook as two black-eyes were truly bags under the red-eyed boy's eyes. It looked like he didn't get much sleep anymore.
In return, the red-eyed boy appeared mildly interested in the blue-eyed boy. It was more a passing glance, but as they passed each other the two of them locked eyes again. In the red-eyed boy, the blue-eyed one saw torture, a trauma so strong it could change one's entire personality. The blue-eyed boy felt sympathy for the red-eyed boy, while it was clear he was dangerous, it didn't appear to be entirely his fault.
The boy then looked at the Houndoom, and marveled at its well-groomed fur. Unlike its owner, the Houndoom was very well taken care of. Yet in its eyes was the same fire its owner shared, both of them had been wronged by the world and they were dead-set on showing the world the error of its ways.
Then the red-eyed boy turned to face the path in front of him, and just as abruptly as they had appeared the boy and his Houndoom vanished into the sandstorm. Gardevoir immediately touched the blue-eyed boy's mind, and stated that she had seen pain in the other boy's eyes. The blue-eyed boy agreed, and thought that it would be best to not upset them.
With a nod of agreement, Gardevoir and the boy resumed their path through the sandstorm. The boy was curious in what he had learned, apparently somewhere in this region was a place known as the Dreamyard. The boy was fascinated with the name, and wanted to see what it looked like. But even as they continued on their way, they both thought about the red-eyed boy. What could cause a person so much pain, so much horror, that it could make the person feel that much rage?