7 Part 1.7

I followed Kuzric for a week. I didn't say anything and stayed out of his way, but I soon understood what he meant by 'Give and Take.'

His daily routine revolved around him overpowering hungry prisoners and taking their food for himself until he had large amounts of it. Then he would give some food to prisoners who were on the verge of dying. Or, he'd do something that would make my blood run cold.

Sometimes, he would step into cells in places where I couldn't follow him without being seen. I would hear him speaking inside but I wouldn't be able to follow him inside. After a few minutes, he would step out. His hands and mouth would be covered in blood and he would walk away with a smirk on his face.

He was terrifying. The guards wouldn't bother him, and he didn't bother them. I had no idea why considering how obvious it was he was killing other prisoners. If any prisoner started 'unruly' behavior one of the chief guards would come and teach them a lesson. Or if they were really unlucky, Magellan himself.

After my week of following him, he must had been fed up. He walked around a corner, and when I followed him he was standing there waiting for me with his arms crossed. He had an annoyed expression on his face, but the corners of his mouth were pointed upwards as if he was smiling. It was weird how he showed two different emotions at once.

"So, what do you think?"

I shake my head slowly, the haze of thirst clouding my higher thinking. Someone once told me that 'hunger honed the mind'. They obviously never thought about proper hydration.

"I think about a lot of things sir. It would be easier if I wasn't so hungry and thirsty."

He began licking his teeth, visibly to me. "You made it obvious that you weren't willing to take food from others yourself. Oh, I get what you're saying. How pitiful."

Wait. What am I saying?

"Fine. I only have a year left before my execution anyways. I will take you on as my student, and then you will entertain me until I die. How does that sound?"

I'm usually a boring guy, but I overreacted when he said that. My face turned sour. "I don't like the sound of that. I really don't."

He uncrossed his arms and leaned in close. His eyes staring into mine. I was about to say something sarcastic for the first time when I was interrupted harshly. He leaned his head back, then quickly brought it forward, giving me a brutal headbut and laying me out flat.

He then stood over me, two conflicting emotions on his face. He was smug and apologetic all at once.

"I don't care."

His face turned back to normal. He began walking down the hall away from me. He raised one hand in the air and waved it. "I'm going to go gather the stuff I need to teach you 'haki'. I'll be back tomorrow. I have some people I need to take the stuff from. The hardest part will getting the wood... screw it. It will be harder but we can use stone if we have to."

What the hell is 'haki'?

With that he walked off. His footsteps in the sand were the only trace of him remaining. I picked myself up and promptly let myself collapse on a bench in a nearby cell. The occupant of the cell tried to say something, but I kicked him out of the cell why I was laying down.

I mean literally kicked him out of the cell by the way. He flew out and bounced off the opposite wall.

I fell asleep shortly afterwards.

XoXoXoX

I woke up to a hearty, wholesome, and welcoming early morning bitch-slap. I've been bitch-slapped a lot in my life. Trust me. There's a thing in prison about bitch-slaps. Everybody does it, including myself.

The bitch-slap I got sent me flying off my bench and face first into the wall. I slid down by my face until I landed in a very awkward position. My face on the ground up against the wall and my butt up in the air above my head with my limbs in every direction.

"Wow. That's funny! You're already entertaining me, that's good."

I maneuvered my head until I saw Kuzric standing above me. For whatever reason he wore a bright blue helmet with a wire face guard and I could see a brown burlap sack on the floor behind him.

"Time to wake up kid. It's time for you to fufill your end of the bargin! I have some glop for you to eat too. I need you at top strength if I want you to be the goalkeeper for 'haki'! Oh, another thing." He turned to the sack and rsutled around until he found what he needed. He then dropped the object on the sand beside me.

It was a white stone mask with a series of leather straps. It had eyeholes carved out surrounded in red and tan paint. Several other small holes were also carved into its surface. I recognized this kind of mask anywhere. It was vey distinctive.

It was a hockey mask. How did I know that?

Kuzric started getting excited. He began walking back and forth with his hands twitching. "Oh man, you're going to love hockey! I grew up on a Winter Island and we played ice hockey all the time! Then when I began to travel my friends and I made all kinds of different hockey games. I can't wait to play sand hockey again after so long! Oh man! I couldn't find any wood, but I carved plenty of stone into the sticks and I compressed some scrap metal I found laying around into a puck."

He began pumping his arms up and down. "Oh yeah! The year of hockey is about to begin! It's going to be the best year of my life! Which is good, because it will be the last year of my life! Oh! I'll be one team captain and you can be the other, and we'll each recruit our own teams and play games! So many ideas!"

He planted both feet in the sand spread wide apart and pointed up with his left hand. "Inspiration Overwhelming!"

He then looked at me. "Go on! Put on the mask!"

He walked torwards me, and from my perspective it was like slow motion until he leaned down beside me. His breath reeked of glop and blood.

"Come on kid. Let's learn you some hockey."

I reached beside me and lifted the stone hockey mask. I shifted myself into a sitting position, then fastened it to my face.

"Alright. Let's do hockey sir."

He offered me his hand, and I took it.

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