2 The First

The carriage ride was not long. We had approached a rather magnificent palace.

This was the place we were going to stay at? That seems just way too nice. Once we had gotten off the carriage Ela placed her hands together.

"Alright, now that you are here we will bring you to where we keep our dorms. You can do as you wish. Just be careful and make sure you return before nightfall."

Ned and the two girls were fascinated by the palace, and they made their way towards it. Erin had whispered something to Alyx, to which she nodded. Ned let out a small sigh and bowed towards Ela.

"Thanks for your hospitality."

Ela gave a small smile.

"Naturally."

Although it seemed everyone else was eager to check the palace out, my urges told me to check out the lively village. After parting ways with the rest of the group, my eyes looked over the various brick houses. My feet brought me down the cobblestone road and my eyes were drawn towards the villagers around me. Their clothes looked a little worn but nothing terrible to wear, those talking had smiles on their faces making the whole place look rather amicable.

Down one path to the next, my journey was directionless. My eyes closely observed how the people around me were interacting. There was an old man bargaining at some other old lady's shop that sold an assortment of fruits.

"Ah come on you old bag of bones, just give me this apple."

The old lady rolled her eyes as she snatched back the apple that the old man held in his hands.

"I will give you this apple after you hand me enough coppers."

My walk down the path continued. My eyes were on some kids playing with sticks, acting as if they were in a sword fight. They had few cuts and bruises, making me concerned.

"Hey guys, it's not safe to play around with sticks, you could hurt yourselves."

The kids turn to me annoyed, one of them frowned.

"Another lame adult telling us what to do, leave us alone."

The kids start running away from me. A sigh escaped my lips.

I guess I tried at least?

My footfalls made tapping sounds against the cobblestone. My eyes were unconsciously drawn towards someone.

It was a man with yellow hair that was too long to be befitting of him. He didn't look much older than me, yet something about how he looked made me think he was much older. He was wearing quite worn clothing, but that didn't seem to bother him, instead, his bright blue eyes were focusing on a small white rock in front of him. He kept turning it around again and again as if he would find the world's secrets if he kept searching. My body was starting to lean over closer to him as my eyes locked on him, which he had noticed. He chuckled.

"And what is it that you want?"

What did I want?...

"Nothing really."

He casually threw away the stone. The corner of his lips tugged upwards and he gave a proposition to me.

"Do you want to play rock, paper, scissors?"

Huh? What in the world is this guy saying?

"Uh sorry, I don't know how to play that."

He raised an eyebrow but explained it to me nonetheless.

"In a game of rock, paper, scissors two people say rock, paper, scissors while keeping their hand in a fist. That fist lightly hits the palm with every word so that both sides can be in sync. After such, both sides either choose rock, by keeping their hand as a fist, scissors, by sticking out two fingers, and paper, by making an open palm. Rock crushes scissors, scissors severs paper, paper outlasts rock. When both sides choose the same technique the process is repeated. To some, rock, paper, scissors is a game of chance, to others, it is a game of deception and intelligence."

My mind was having difficulty processing all the information he said, the focus was on the rules he stated.

"Ok, I think I get it."

He then put his fist over his palm after which my hands imitated him.

"Since this is your first time I will let you know my choice is rock."

"Oh, thanks."

So... paper outlasts rock so I should choose paper by making my hand into a palm, right?

We do the motions and say rock, paper, scissors together. He did not move his fist, while my fist became a palm. A flash of surprise went across his eyes.

"Haha, you won."

My hand arbitrarlily scratched the back of my head.

I mean he let me win didn't he?

"Well, yeah I guess."

He looked at me inquisitively.

"My name is Mark, may I know yours?"

My face froze for a second, my mind churned to remember the name Ned gave me.

"...er Jay, yes Jay that is it."

Mark smiled amicably.

"Well, goodbye then Jay."

"Ah yes, goodbye."

Mark proceeded to sit down on the side of the road and his eyes inquisitively peered into the sky. After one last look at Mark, my aimless wandering continued.

...

Things started to seem a bit off. The more steps my feet took, the more decrepit things looked. There seemed to be some people begging for food and the sun was just about to disappear.

...It seems I did not keep track of the time.

Somehow my wandering had taken so long that the sun that was high in the sky was about to disappear. Turning back around for a few steps, there was a sudden realization.

Not only was my path not mapped out in my mind, but even if it was, there was also not enough time to make it back. My eyes scanned my immediate surroundings for any place that looked like an inn. There was one house that was bigger than the others. My fist lightly knocked onto that house's door, the size made me think it was the most likely thing to be an inn here.

A skinny middle-aged lady opened the door by just a crack.

"What?"

My shoulders hunched, and there was a sudden desire to turn away, but my fear of the dark steeled me to keep going.

"Um, is this an inn where I can stay the night? Sorry, I don't have any money right now but I can get it to you later."

The middle-aged lady had a long look at me.

"Yes, yes come in."

She moved out of the way and opened the door to let me in.

"Thank you."

The place had a strange smell and was quite dirty, there was a set of stairs leading upwards. My assumption was that the rooms were there and thus went to go up the stairs. The middle-aged lady blocked me.

"Uh, sorry those places are already taken, you need to go into the basement."

A smile formed on my face, though it twitched.

"Ah, that is understandable."

She led me through a few rooms on the first floor and removed a tarp that showed some stairs that led to a basement. The smell was really bad here, at this point it was preferable to sleep outside even if it was on the cobblestone ground and cold. However, it was too awkward to say that at this point so my footsteps trailed behind the middle-aged lady down the steps.

The place was filled with various stains, though that was expected from the bad smell. There were quite a few doors that had simple metal door locks. She undid the latch to one of the doors and pushed me a bit forcefully into the room after opening it. She quickly closed the door after and the metal latch closed.

"Uh... bye?"

The place was even dirtier than outside and there was a cot that made me a bit hesitant to sleep on, but my body reluctantly laid down. After uncomfortably shifting around, sleep drifted in.

...

My eyes flew open in the middle of my sleep, someone had forced me out of the cot and bound my hands in rope. In a haze, my ears picked up on screaming and crying.

"Hurry the fuck along if you don't want to get hit."

The captor forcefully dragged me along. As my vision cleared up my eyes took in the situation. There were many people like me being forced out of their room, some were desperately resisting and getting whipped. There were some with a deadpan face being led away without so much as a sound or ounce of resistance. Curses filled the air from the captors as they forced people out. A little girl was muttering to herself.

"Somebody... save me..."

The panic started to settle in, what is happening?

The only thing on my mind was to run, to get away. But fear overwhelmed me.

My mind could not come up with an idea, or perhaps, wasn't brave enough to think of anything.

We were led out of the house and onto a carriage. It was the dead of night, the only thing that gave light was the dull shine of the moon. The ride was slow, bleak, and filled with faint crying. Whenever someone made a sound they would be whipped, but people kept crying anyway.

There was a guy that seemed to be my age who couldn't keep himself quiet. He had many lacerations across his body, it was hard for me to tell how long it was but eventually, he started to scream. The people acted quickly, using their fists to bash his head as hard as they could. It was very unpleasant sounding and slow. When the screaming finally stopped, a disturbing smell filled the air there was a pit in my stomach. The victims were gradually becoming more unsettled, me being no exception.

"Haa... no... no."

I... had to run, I have to get out of here, I... I don't want to die. My torso suddenly launched at the wall of the carriage, making me tip over the window.

I suppose since I came along so easily earlier my captor didn't expect my sudden movements.

My fall was broken solely by face and was on the cobblestone path. My consciousness wavered and my vision was blurry. Regardless, the only thought in my mind was to run. Instinctively, my hands tried to push off the ground, but they were tied.

My chest pressed hard onto the ground and let me stumble up to my feet. My legs broke off in a sprint. There was no destination in mind, whether or not my direction followed a path was the least of my concerns, and my balance was almost lost from time to time.

But... my body was weakening quickly. My running slowed and my foot pushed the ground in an attempt to stop. Yet, my stop was too hasty, making me fall over. Instinctively my hands tried to brace against the fall but they could only struggle against the bound rope.

Then it was black.

"Um, why are you here?"