Children of the filth

Around midnight, or so he thought it was midnight, Raivi heard a scratching noise from the door. Curious and mildly annoyed, he opened his eyes. Darkness. But, he could tell that 'he' was alone.

-Click-

The sound came from the door again. Being with Cinsa all these times, it was a sound he was familiar with. Someone was trying to open the door to their room without a key. A thief?

Out of everything, he hadn't expected to be robbed on a ship like this. The thief continued to fight with the lock, whoever it was his skill was pitiful. At one point Raivi almost dozed off waiting.

Maybe he should just open it and show that robbing them was a bad idea.

Another click and then he heard the creaking of the old door opening.

Finally!

He did a final check and lay down, pretending to be asleep but kept his fire ready. Right below his skin, right behind his eyes.

Footsteps, light, and then a small figure against the dim light of the hallway. He tried hard to get over his instinct of burning his eyes to see better.

A child, couldn't be more than ten, walked in. Skittish and trembling in what he was certain was fear. The child grasped around, their bags and clothes, Cinsa's weren't there. Good for the child, as she wasn't one to forgive anyone who touched her strange bag.

A murmur came from the outside like someone walking in the hallway and the child jerked up like a spooked deer and skittered outside his room. After a moment of thought Raivi too ran off after him.

***

He tried to run and found himself stumbling all over the hallway with the ship's swaying, so he hobbled forward instead. Dark, damp and empty, the hall had grimy walls that Raivi left clean smudges wherever his shoulders hit on the wood.

Frustrated, he burned. He had to. Legs, hands, eyes, ears but not his nose, he could do without the smell. With his senses improved and balance fixed, he took the rotten stairs downstairs where everything seemed to worsen tenfold. Cages, smell of human filth, and ankle deep water.

The child couldn't have come here… he thought and pulled his foot back up from the thick sludge.

Then where?

There were not any obvious places that the child could have …

"Shhh… someone's here." It came from somewhere in the flooded room.

Someone hiding? Something bad going on? Not his business and Raivi was about to turn then paused.

"But I am hungry…" Another voice cried, whined. Petulant, like that of a child. Raivi realized it WAS a child.

He turned and looked, burned more fire into his eyes and wished he hadn't. What floated in the water was stuck to those rusted cage bars… it couldn't be what it seemed like. He didn't see anyone in the amount of chaos the massive room had, the child could be hiding anywhere.

"I am hungry…"

"Shut up."

…

Raivi had been wrong, they were BOTH children. Might have belonged to one of the slaves on the ship. Seeing them just by themselves in this filthy room his own memory of his transfer came to him. It had been in a lavish room, not lacking in anything and he had still cried the whole journey, terrified of his loneliness and the life ahead…

What would 'He' have done if he was made to travel in a place like this?

He knew the answer without any doubt in his mind; he would have burned the whole ship and the people in it to the ashes. Instinctively he tried to push the fire back inside of him; it hadn't been always in his control. His fire was always prone to eradicate whatever it was that upset Raivi, whether he wanted it or not.

He stepped down onto the water. Filth burned as it touched his skin. He followed the quiet sobbing. Empty crates, and boxes, barrels, all filthy. His eyes burned and watered in the smell. He wished he could burn off his senses but fire never touched him to hurt.

"Shhh… shh…" one tried to quiet the other but in vain. The sobbing continued though, muted than before. Raivi heard it all the same. Fire was pulsating in his ears, making every sound clear and sharp like it had been uttered right beside them.

A box, wood, no taller than three feet stood in its place like all the others near it. Not too solid, not too rotten, but the soft dual thumping of inside it was clear. Two children could easily fit in there.

He could leave, pretend he didn't see anything. The children had survived like this before, they could go on. But into what? A life of slavery?…

It was not his business… that was what life had dealt for them.

Two souls among millions. Their better lives would mean nothing in the wide world; that was, if there was something Raivi could do. Yes. He should leave. Yes.

-Creak and the box was flung open.

Two figures gasped inside, holding each other, trying to make them smaller, eyes frantically wide as they both trembled before Raivi. He knew what they were seeing, he saw it often in the mirror himself. A demon. A dark figure with fire for hair and two burning eyes.

He dimmed his eyes and burned the air instead, four balls of fire floating around him, no brighter than a torch.

Two skinny little kids sat on a dirty rag inside a small box that barely fit them. Bony hands, filthy clothes, he saw his own face on them. The slightly taller one, a girl and -what he guessed was her brother- tiny sickly thing, with dark trails running down his shrunken cheek. The hungry one, Raivi grimaced.

"Come with me."

Raivi said, sounding more menacing than he thought.

Both were jerked back by his sudden announcement. The girl suddenly pushed the boy behind her and picked up a sharp looking rusted bar of iron and held it in front of her like a knife.

Her hand trembled and it looked as if she would die from fear but she held strong, her other hand holding the boy behind her.

He was wrong, there was no 'he' in the girl but all 'Cinsa'. Fierce despite her fears.

The boy struggled and managed to free himself from his sister's grip and crawled out from behind her. Eyes still wide but instead of fear, there was wonder.

"Magic!" He squealed.

Hunger forgotten as he tried to jump toward a fire ball. Raivi killed the fire and the girl held the kid back by his collar.

"Fire, dangerous." Raivi said simply, as a fireball went off to explode an empty crate.

The girl dropped her 'Knife' in shock of the sudden violent display of power. Her own helplessness in the situation but the boy only squealed in delight, clapping his hands.

"Again!" He said.

Raivi grimaced, it was not the effect he was looking to have and turned to the girl, who being the smarter of the two wore the same expression on her face as she looked at her brother.

"Come with me, I have food." Raivi said.

"…I-we don't need it-" The girl answered in a trembled voice but was cut off by her brother's whining.

"But I am hungry."

"Warm clothes, fire and food. You know my room, you were just there." Raivi said and turned and walked away.

"I am hungry…" "Shhh…" the same conversation repeated more times behind him and Raivi doused the fire in his senses.

Through the dark hallways he walked back to his room, took off his filthy boots and burned them off. And waited.

About an hour later, the door creaked and two tiny figures walked in, again.