11 The Grey Terminal

Walking beneath the dense canopy of overhanging leaves I marvelled at just how vibrant and full of life every leaf and twig seems to be. But that's nothing compared to the sensations flowing up from the soles of my feel. The dirt between my toes, the crunching twigs beneath my heels; every sensation sends waves of joy coursing through my veins like bolts of lightning.

I practically teared up for the hundredth time the moment my feet touched grass for the first time after standing on sand for so long. I'm not sure when i'll be able truly get over this newfound excitement. I'm not sure I ever want to if I'm totally honest.

Pressing my toes into the solid ground, I kicked off into a sprint. Dashing forward as fast as my 12 year old legs could carry me. Ducking under branches, leaping over logs and somersaulting over anything that blocked my way just because I could.

All those videos of parkour I had watched on the internet, all those hours I spent longing to move and run freely like that, and now I finally can. Jumping up at full speed I gripped a long, sturdy vine attached to a tall oak tree. Using it to swing towards another I let go mid air. Letting myself soar over the forrest floor before gripping a branch with my left hand and swinging forward.

Picking up speed and using my momentum to propel myself faster as I moved through the jungle in a way that would make Tarzan proud. Swinging from vine to vine, leaping across the boughs of the trees and using their sturdy branches as spring boards to launch myself further and higher into the air.

The small wings on my ankles beat with every jump I made, helping carry my across the tree tops with the grace of a ballerina. Pure glee filled my heart. I kicked off a particularly tall tree and flipped through the air before taking hold of another vine. Using my momentum to propel me to the next branch just as I had a dozen times before.

"AAHUAAA UAAA UAAAAAAAA." With a mighty bellow I channeled Tarzan in my best wild man call to date. I couldn't help myself. It all just feels so freeing. To be able to move like this, to be in complete control of my body again, especially after spending nearly half my life in a wheelchair, words fail to describe the emotions I'm feeling.

With no real direction in mind I kept going until I was forced to stop. I had seemingly neglected something rather important about this world while sprinting through the woods like a man possessed.

So there I stood, on the north side of mount corvo, staring up in awe at a bear bigger than an elephant in the middle of a ferocious battle with a tiger the size of a tractor trailer.

The tiger struck out with its razor sharp claws, raking them along the left side of the bears face and cutting deep across its left eye. But the bear didn't back down and lashed out even more violently. Swatting the tiger back with a ferocious sweep of its powerful front paw. Leaving three jagged claw marks across the white fur on the tigers chest.

'Well shit… I almost forgot about the giant ass monsters living in this world.' I thought as reality slapped me back into focus. I did my best not to draw any attention while carefully retreating. Doing my utmost not to make even the slightest sound.

Namor may be able to stand toe to toe with the heaviest of hitters, but I'm still a child and I've never actually been in a fight before. So this may not be the best place for me to start looking for one.

Thankfully the two behemoths were preoccupied with one another, meaning I escaped without so much as a scratch. Continuing my trek through the woods, this time with far more caution and less acrobatics, I found my way to the other side of the forest region. It took quite a bit of effort to avoid all the monster sized animals, steep cliffs and random pitfalls. Making the entire mountain seem like one giant death trap. But I made it after a bit of trial and error. It helps when you can survive a fifty foot fall with only a slight bump on the head.

Rather than passing straight through the dense midway forrest between the Goa Kingdom and Mount Corvo, I'm skirting along the edge to quicken my journey. Doing my best to keep the ocean on my left.

When I reached an opening in the tree line after another hour or so of running, I was greeted with quite the peculiar sight. A mountain of scattered trash stretching the entire length of the city wall behind it.

"The Grey Terminal. To think it would actually be this large. I half expected the anime to have exaggerated… No matter how they portrayed it, seeing it in person is something else entirely. Just how long have they been piling up their garbage for it to accumulate to such an extensive degree?"

Utterly baffled at the scene expanding before my eyes I stood stock still on the edge of the great heap. Staring at the smoky pile of discarded junk in stunned silence for almost a full minute.

'It's not just common litter and miscellaneous garbage either. I can even see plastic toys and stuffed animals. I didn't even know this world had plastic.'

Just from where I'm standing, I can make out broken construction beams, snapped ship masts, rusted chains laying beside stacks of damaged bricks, piles of old furniture, countless metal pipes wth varying patterns of rust, several carriage wheels missing their spokes and a plethora of broken or discarded tools.

'This place must be the dumping ground for anything even remotely considered unwanted, or damaged. I guess the same could be said of the people too.' I thought wryly. The sight had practically killed my enjoyment the moment I set my eyes on it. The stench was even worse. Rancid and foul were the only real ways to describe it and it lingered in the air like a bad joke.

Living within this derelict location in the corner of the Goa Kingdom, crawling over every square meter of scrap, are the poor and forgotten. Citizens deemed unfit to live in the capital, those who don't get along with others, and those who have been branded as thieves, or criminals can be found in abundance here. Making it quite the gallery of rouges. All of whom have been shunned from society and left to rot in this squalor. Some of them try to make the most of it, but the majority are resigned to their fate.

The lack of anything resembling a doctor and the severe negligence of government officials have made this a place where crime and disease go hand-in-hand. To put it simply it's a lawless zone.

Yet even here they have their own market place, small though it may be, where you can trade or barter for food, clothing, tools and other goods found amongst the trash. As long as your strong enough to keep what you find that is. For most of the people living here, they're merely doing their best to get by the only way they know how.

"This isn't a place I can just wander into looking like a helpless twelve year old. Unless I'm looking to get robbed and beaten that is."

Even though my body is roughly 12 years old I'm I already 5'5. Still, I don't exactly strike an imposing figure. I look too much like an easy mark. Grabbing a large handful of mud I started rubbing some of it into the clothes I found myself in when I first arrived in this world. I also rubbed a bit of dirt into my wavy purple hair to keep it from looking so pristine. To further compliment the look I smeared some of it onto my face. Taking my once clean countenance and marring it with dust and filth, allowing me to blend in with the populace.

The fact that some of my clothes frayed and tore while I was running through the forrest only helped to accentuate my façade. Mere moments ago, I looked like an out of place nobles son, clean and dressed in fine clothing with perfectly combed hair. Now I look closer to a poor street urchin, covered in dirt and hand me downs. It's perfect.

"The fact I have no shoes on only adds to my disguise." I said to myself while wiggling my toes in the dirt. My wings pressed themselves into my shins making them almost look like a fancy tattoo rather than extra appendages growing out of my Achilles heels.

'I mean, technically speaking this isn't really a disguise since I really am poor.' I joked sardonically while walking towards the great trash heap in the distance,'but that all will change soon enough.' I thought with a mischievous, yet determined grin.