From Cinders (3)

"JUST RUN GODDAMNIT!!! LIVE!!! GO!!!" The old ashen gritted his teeth, and shouted at the man in front of him. In addition to that, he also sent daggering glares at the man, threatening him. It was as though he was speaking directly at him, If he tried saving him, it wouldn't just be the Watcher who'll butcher him.

Immediately, the old ashen plunged his left hand into his bloody mouth, pulled it out, before gripping tighter on the charcoal in his right hand. Using the strange steel, penetrated through his front, and utilizing the abnormally hard charcoal in his right hand as a flint, he sparked his left hand.

Clack! Woosh!

Just like the burning flames in which they walked with, the flames flaring all around them, the ashen man's left hand ignited brightly. The blood smeared on it, acting as a sort-of gas for the flames, and his flesh, as fuel.

"Hehehe... today is your lucky day, Watcher... because... you just won a lottery for... DEATH!!!" The old ashen screamed his final words, laughing in discord. Before thrusting the flames into his bloodied mouth. Combusting his entire body.

Kaboom!

The combustion of the old ashen, the explosion, his death, had throttled him backward. The man's final push had helped him reach that small stretch. So with that, he fell. The pitch-black hole, devoid of fire, darker than anything you could possibly come across, he fell into.

Zoosh!

"NOOO!!!" He shouted in anguish. Why would the man sacrifice himself? Why would he pin his entirety to him? Isn't he afraid that he'll just die in vain? What if it was a lie? What if all of this, and him falling into this hole will leave you in vain?

Woosh!

As he plunged deeper into the hole, question after question just kept appearing, one after another. Questions, even he didn't know the answers to, nor will he ever. Obsolete, and useless questions he didn't even know why he had thought of so.

Woosh!

The man kept falling. His thin olden body, his ashen dirtied self, and his long hair spoke of everything. The man had lived long, and there was no denying to that. Perhaps, this hole would lead him somewhere, or perhaps it wouldn't. Whether or not he will be punished for his sin, was unknown to him. But either way, however, the man was glad that he had done so.

Finally, his eyes closed. There was no agony, no crying, no crying, and no fighting. In here, falling, was the simply the greatest thing he would ever ask for. But the feeling of lost, simply remembering before, prevented him from resting peacefully.

△▼△

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Drops of transparent liquid licked his forehead. The noise, echoing through the cave structures. Lying down on chilly stone, sleeping soundlessly. For unknown reasons, the man had ended up here, unconscious.

Looking at him, the man was scarcely thin. to the point, it showed his brittle bones. His stomach, weirdly sucked in, as though his intestines were shrunk and dried up. His entire body, revealing scars and defection. Most of which, came from; lacerations, whips, stabs, slashes, and even some other unexplainable things. His skin, charcoal black, simply just that dirty. However, it was not exactly his true color.

His hair, a long and messy grey-white. Accompanying it, a white beard, similarly stretching down an identical length. Certainly, this man had it worse than a street bum. All this, would make one think just what the man experienced?

Drip! Drip! Drip!

"Kuh..." Over the ever licking drops of this weird transparent liquid, the man awoke. What little muscles he had, he cramped his way to a sit. However, as if he had just noticed the dripping water falling on his forehead, quickly, he stood up.

Drip! Drip!

Frantically, the man jumped upwards, his tongue stretching outwards. He reached for what few drops of water, dripping down. Dehydrated, he was. His wrinkled skin, past crumpled yet almost withered, would surely leave others at a daze. Just how long did he stay that way? While all think of so, the man merely thought of it as a part of growing old.

Whatever little drops fell into his tongue, he considered a bliss. It was rather instinctual really. However, as unfortunate as it may be, after mere several jumps, the man had instead slipped his footing.

Slip! Thud!

"Argh!!!" Blundering on a small puddle of that very same liquid, produced by the fractured crevice above. The man fell. His frail body failed to protect him. His muscles ached, his bones reverberated, and his left arm cramped. His foot as well, in a twisted shape. It was apparent, that his left leg was also injured. He might have sprained it, or even break it. Knowing how frail his body was, anything was possible.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

"Bloody... f*cking hell..." The man's body pained. Although back then, he had always suffered the Watcher's punishments, never in his olden life did he ever get over it. It was then he saw it, the yellow light, shining at the corner of his eye. The old man curved his head to look.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

"Sh*t!..." He stared with eyes of fear. His body, injured. He couldn't move, and even if he tried, it would just make it worse. The yellow light he saw, the steps that echoed through, and distorted voices all throughout. Wielding the flame, were five figures, equipped with items of clothing he had never seen before. Speaking languages he recognized, yet unfamiliar of.

Drag! Drag!

"I cannot let them see me... Ngh, I cannot... let them see me... Argh, I cannot..." He mumbled his thoughts out, over and over. The man, utilizing his less cramped right hand, dragged his body away. In just two drags, barely did he pull himself forwards. Finding himself in a bad situation, the man turned his head back.

"Damnable... humans!!!" He sneered at them, but not scornfully. As swiftly as he could, the man reached for a charcoal piece, tugged away around his ragged loincloth. Afterward, he bit on it, hard. He breathed in, and using his unnaturally sharp nail, he thrust it up his chest.

A sly trick he learned during his years, but infrequently used as it induced too much pain and shock. Heck, it was risky, he could even die using it, and it wasn't even guaranteed to work.

Ziung! Bang!