Simpler Time

SpeedBlade:

"Here," I say, throwing everything in my arms right in front of Ms. Justice and QuickShot. The two of them jump back as I throw everything down. The second I tossed it all away, I immediately feel better. My back is still hurting, but throwing everything helps.

"This is everything I could find that resembles what is it you asked for," I say, bending over to place my hands on my knees. Taking a breath, I breathe before pushing myself up.

"Use it well," I say, "Because I ran all over the city for it, and now I'm about to collapse."

Taking another breath, I turn and walk to my room but stop.

"Hey," QuickShot says, stopping me. "That was rude of you. What was that for?"

"What was that for," I repeat to myself. "What was that for?"

I spin around.

"All of that was for Ms. Justice. It's everything she asked for. It's what I could find after digging through trashes, and it wasn't easy to carry it all back here. How about before giving the OutPost a defense, you make me something I can use to carry all of this."

Turning around, I wave bye to them as I head for my room.

"Enjoy your technology," I say, entering my room.

Throwing my sword onto my bed, I start to pace back and forth.

"I hate that," I think, rubbing the sides of my helmet. "I really, really hate that piece of junk. I hate technology. I didn't even know about technology six months ago, and now, I am completely surrounded by it."

I stop and close my eyes. I then think back to before. Before I became SpeedBlade. Before I met QuickShot, Ms. Justice, and even JumpStart. Before I become an OutCast.

I open my eyes and find myself outside, standing on top of a grassy hill. The sun is starting to set, with the blue sky turning orange. I'm not wearing my armor, so I can feel the wind as it hits my bare skin.

"Javin," my brother yells as he runs up the hill. "Javin, come on. If we don't hurry, we will miss her."

"Maybe that would not be such a bad thing," I say, slowly running down the hill toward my brother. Reaching him, we walk side-by-side into the forest. "After all, our father will not be happy if he finds out where we've been."

"Our father will not find out," my annoying brother yells, "I've told father we would be in the wood training for knighthood. That's not a lie. We will train. After this. Come on, Javin. You're so slow."

"This is as fast as I want to go," I say, shoving my brother. Almost hitting a tree, he pushes me back and I actually hit a tree.

"You okay," he asks.

"I'm fine," I answer, spitting out some bark. "Besides, why do you want to see her so badly? We both heard horrible rumors about her. The things she had done. I am not in a rush to meet here."

"There it is," my brother screams, hitting me in the arm and pointing forward. Looking ahead, I see the old rope bridge. It's not too far away. As we approach the bridge, I immediately regret it.

Very little is known about the rope bridge. From what I've been told, it's decades old, build even before my grandfather. What remains of the bridge now is a little more than flimsy pieces of wood held together by thin ropes.

Carefully walking up the bridge, I lend to the side and peek over the edge. The bridge linked two cliffs together, and in between these two cliffs is a rushing river, with jagged stone spikes all over the sides and even some in the river.

"The Passage to the Underworld," my brother says suddenly, making me jump.

Holding my hand over my chest, I punch my brother over and over again.

"I'm sorry," my brother says, shielding himself. "I'm sorry. It's just, I'm started to understand why the people called this place the Passage to the Underworld."

"And yet," I say, looking at the rope bridge. "Here we are."

"Yeah," my brother laughs. "I know. Come on, let's go."

Even before I can do or say anything, my brother steps onto the bridge, his two hands instantly grabbing the rope handles.

"Wait up," I say, following after my brother. Stopping as I look through the bridge, I shake my head and step onto the bridge. "Remember. We're just going to see her. We're not going to talk with her, wave at her, or do anything. Okay?"

"She won't even know we're there," my brother replies, more than halfway across already.

Before I know it, my mind is distorted by what happened next. I see myself meeting with the woman for some reason I can't remember. We're talking about something, something bad had happened. I then see myself running from the people of my villages. They're chasing me down, hunting me. I have no choice but to run back to the rope bridge. I tried to cross it, but with my armor, I'm too heavy and one of the wooden steps break. As I fall, I see a strange blue light, and then find myself here.

My eyes open and I feel my heart running faster than I can. As I look around, I see my room and everything in it; my bed, my sword, my anvil.

"Why did I have to remember that," I ask, shaking my head as I breathe. "I don't want to remember that."

About to go to sleep, I stop when the alarms ring and the lights turn red.

I grab my sword from my bed and quickly run to the other three. As expected, they gather around the computer.

"Uh, technology," I whisper.

"What is it now," QuickShot asks, sliding on her quiver.

"There's a break-in right here," JumpStart answers, playing with his technology. He points at the computer. "But I'm not sure what this place is."

The pictures on the screen switch over to moving ones. These pictures show a tall man surrounded by screaming, running people. The tall man is grabbing things and loading them onto a vehicle.

"Wait," Ms. Justice says, "I think I know this place."

"Really," QuickShot says, "How?"

"From a long time ago," Ms. Justice starts, "I can't be sure but I think it's a warehouse. It's supposed to be filled with welding supplies if I remember correctly."

"Welding supplies," QuickShot repeats.

"Welding supplies," JumpStart also repeats. "Like, the things needed to work with metals."

"Or a mixture of metals," QuickShot goes on.

"You think it had anything to do with our 'guest'," Ms. Justice asks.

"I believe so," QuickShot says.

"Then let's go," I say. "To this Ware's house. Which way is it?"

JumpStart plays with the computer for a bit longer before he turns to me.

"It's not too far," he says, "We should be there in no time. Follow me."

"This is where I fit in," I say, clutching my hands as we all follow after JumpStart.