Rising from the Ashes
"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
Samuel Adams
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Amidst the chaos of cries and explosions, a fat, disheveled man stood, his once-pristine silk robe now smeared with dirt and veiled in smoke. Flames and dust and smoke filled the air, obscuring his vision. "This is not over!" he bellowed, his voice strained, competing with the tumultuous cacophony. The acrid scent of burning structures and the clatter of destruction assaulted his senses.
His unwavering gaze remained fixed on the fleeing child, a solitary figure weaving through the pandemonium. "YOU HEAR ME?!" he screamed, his throat raw from relentless shouting, heedless of the need to cough or draw breath. Smoke clawed its way into his lungs, while tears blurred his vision.
On the ground behind him, the lifeless forms of two women lay sprawled on the ground, their once-elegant silk robes now stained crimson, rent, and frayed. Their final expressions etched in painful terror.
But the man pressed on. "I'LL FIND ANY ISLAND YOU'RE ON AND BURN IT TO THE GROUND!" he roared, choking on the acrid air. His body, battered and weakened by the relentless abuse, finally gave in, and he crumpled to his knees, further staining his once-immaculate attire. "This isn't over…" he muttered, succumbing to darkness as he fell face-first onto the blood-soaked road.
The shouts of others gradually dissolved into a muffled oblivion, but the man knew that the nightmare was far from its conclusion. Though most of his slaves had escaped, tracking them down was an inevitability.
If those worthless trash thought that they could escape from their fate, then they were mistaken. For he- they had everything in this world. They owned those worthless inferior beings. They owned their islands, their homes. Even their life.
Summoning the last bits of his fading strength, he cast a final glance at the boy everyone had gravely underestimated—a boy who carried not just a name, but the will to defy them.
The will of 'D.'
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'I'll kill you all' The voice inside screamed. Eyes that were glaring daggers at everything and everyone passed through the flames. The fire and ember fell on the naked torso filled with nothing but scars of whip lashes. Yet the child gave no reaction when the skin burned, leaving more burn marks.
'I'll kill you all!' The voice inside the child screamed out, his eyes taking in every single detail. From the collapsing buildings to the other slaves running around like headless chickens. The guards, with their weapons, slashed and fired away at the escaped slaves bearing the mark of a dragon claw. Some who still had the slave chocker on their neck despairingly cried out before they exploded with screams filled with horror. Taking in everyone that was around them and shaking the ground they were on.
'I'll KILL ALL OF YOU!' The boy promised himself, his rage increasing with every explosion and loss of life, only seeing red. 'EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. YOU!'
"Ash!" A girly voice called out to the boy, stopping him in his tracks and turning towards the girl. "Koala!" the boy replied, his previous rage disappearing in an instant. Before the brunette could reach the boy, a guard in black armor appeared over the girl.
"Die!"
Before the spear could pierce Koala, a white flash appeared between her and the guard, revealing it to be a young white tiger cub. Without wasting another moment, the wild beast thrust its sharp claws into the guard's chest. Piercing the armor and destroying the man's heart and spine in the process.
As soon as the duo landed, the white cub transformed back to a black-haired child that Koala was familiar with. "Ash! Are you okay?!" She called out, tears on the verge of escaping her eyes but she cleared them away. The consequences of crying itched into her body throughout her time in this place.
Ash's black hair clung to his forehead before the boy wiped the sweat from his forehead. His intense black eyes looking around the place, taking in the escaped and runaway slaves. All of them heading towards the sides of a red mountain where elevators were installed. In front of them, a tall red man kept shouting at the slaves to keep running.
"Let's go!" The boy took Koala's hand and followed the other slaves who were heading towards the elevators guarded by strange men with gills on their neck and webbing between their fingers. 'Fishmen,' Ash concluded, remembering the slaves who had died due to exhaustion from labor.
The slaves, seeing hope for the first time in their life, jumped on the elevating platform, dreaming of freedom at the cost of others. Some who had been consumed by despair thought that if they didn't get on as soon as possible, they would always remain. Which led to them jumping from the red mountain, hoping to land on the lifts that were going down.
Though the fishmen stopped some of them, most of the slaves couldn't see reasons. Koala, scared for her life, held tightly to Ash's arms, tears threatening to fall. But it got no reaction from the boy. Instead, he was looking at the crowded lifts with a frown.
Seeing one of the newly arrived platforms, Ash got on the move, dragging Koala along with himself. But he wasn't the only one who saw the opportunity. Thinking quickly, any slaves that were in front of the duo were brought down with a sharp pain.
"Ash!" Koala cried out in fear, but the boy ignored her, pushing through the slaves and running over their screaming body, slashing away at the back of their knees with his morphed free hand and dragging the girl with him.
His action brought them the attention of the nearby slaves who got away from them in fear and by the time their savior also noticed it, the duo was already on the cramped platform.
The fishmen were baffled by the 8-year old's action but the cries of the slaves edged them to start the moving platform.
Seeing as the fishmen weren't going to interfere, Ash finally let go of a breath that he was holding on. Releasing Koala's wrist, the fruit user turned towards the slaves on the floor that were looking at them.
Some of those who had their legs slashed earlier looked back at the duo with malice and hostility while the platform was going down. But a scowl from the boy made them look away, their eyes showing the despair they were feeling at missing the lift.
Back on the platform, not all the slaves were looking away from the black-haired boy who was glaring at them to try something. Those that were former pirates immediately jumped on the opportunity to get revenge on the little brat that attempted to hurt them.
"Time to pay, you little shit." One of the slaves with scars on his body shouted. His right-hand heading towards Ash's neck. Instead of replying to the former pirate, Ash screamed back in fury and hostility, his body morphing into that of a white tiger. The celestial brand disappearing from his chest, covered in white fur.
Before the marked slave could react, a 3 feet cub was in front of him, its sharp teeth already at his neck. "Wa-"The word was left unfinished and instead, a rain of blood fell on all the nearby slaves, painting them red anew.
Landing back on the platform, the now crimson tiger morphed back to the boy, his mouth hanging on the flesh he tore from his victim. Gurgling, the former pirate's hand headed to his missing neck before falling on his knees, and then face first on the floor.
The slaves around them shrieked in terror and others gasped. The former pirate's blood pooling on the floor of the elevator, the other slaves trying their best to not touch the red pool but were unsuccessful.
Spitting away the torn flesh, Ash looked at the nearby slaves, their expression filled with horror, now looking away from the little monster. Even Koala flinched and trembled when the fruit user looked at her, half his face dripping in red.
For the rest of the climb down, the elevating platform was covered in tense silence. But as soon as it came to the sea level, all the slaves, women and men and children ran.
There were some ships, pirates, and revolutionary firing cannon balls at the navy ships, keeping them away from docking at the redline. Though this led to some cannon balls missing the pirates and revolutionaries and instead hitting the redline. Causing explosions to hit some of the unlucky slaves.
The fortunate ones immediately died upon impact, but the ones that weren't, were thrown away by the explosion, either breaking bones upon landing or being thrown to the sea where sea beast were having a feast.
Each second that passed made it hard for the enemy of the navy to hold on and some of the pirate ships were already sailing away from the battle to save themselves. Each moment passed, more and more navy ships were appearing from the horizon.
In the chaos, the slaves were on the move, heading towards the ships close to them, whether that be revolutionary or pirates.
The deafening explosions and cries of the slaves made it hard to concentrate but as soon as Ash saw a ship with a giant fish as its figurehead, he was on the move. He grabbed Koala from her shoulders, ignoring the flinch she had upon contact and pointed at the ship. Looking where he was pointing, the young girl nodded hesitantly before following him.
But before they could get close to their target, they were separated by a cannon ball that landed behind them. Throwing the duo away due to the explosion. Composing himself, Ash looked at the girl, struggling to stand up.
Gritting his teeth, Ash stood up slowly, pushing himself off the ground and heading towards the 11 years old girl. Though his vision was getting dizzy and unclear due to smoke and headache, he could see the lying figure of Koala.
Another explosion a little away from him caused the ground to shake, making him fall to the ground, his remaining strength slowly fading away before he grasped onto the last bit.
By the time Ash was ready to stand up, Koala had spotted the boy and was running towards him. But once Ash saw her, "RUN!" He shouted at her, pointing at fish like ship. "GO!" He ordered her and as if instinct took over her body, the girl had changed direction, heading at the blue ship.
Gritting his teeth through exhaustion, Ash looked back at the shore, only to see some marine ships had already docked. Some soldiers were capturing the slaves and others were shouting at the running and fighting slaves to stop or they would die. Through it all, Ash spotted three girls running towards a marine ship, flames of revenge and despair in their eyes.
The marines that were ahead of them also understood their intention and started firing at the trio. Only for the black-haired girl to dash ahead of the green-haired and ginger to take care of the soldiers.
Hearing another scream, Ash saw a group of fishmen with the brand of world nobles not heading towards any ships but towards the ocean and jumping in, taking care of any marines that were between them and water. In the distance, some marine ships were already sinking.
When on his feet, Ash saw another group of slaves that were fighting against a group of officers closest to him, picking up swords and rifles and guns from the ground and using them against the enemy, fueled only by despair and hope.
But even with weapons in their hands, the slaves who were normal former civilians were losing, two soldiers getting out of the scuffle that was happening and flanking the slaves. Slashing away at their back and immobilizing them or killing them in the process. The ones that had experience in fighting were quickly outnumbered and taken down. Painting the red stone in blood.
With fear, Ash attempted to move on from his position, only for one of the marines to spot him, a gun in his hand and saber in the other. "You! Stop!" He shouted at the black-haired boy, his voice cutting through the screams and explosion to the boy, but Ash ignored him. Without any hesitation, the man slashed at the slave that was obscuring his aim and aimed his pistol, his finger gently pulling the trigger.
BANG!
Before the marine could see the result of his action, he felt a sharp pain in his back, his voice turning into a scream of pain and his vision turning dizzy.
"DIE!"
He heard a woman's voice before he felt the sharp cold saber pierce through his neck. His blurry vision taking in the sight of the boy he aimed at on the ground, his back rising and falling but his arms shot back up and pushed himself off the red floor. Though when the boy was up and walking, he could only limp on one leg, the other covered in blood.
Before losing everything, the warrant officer felt another cry and then a thud before his attacker, the woman's head, fell in front of him. Her eyes filled with horror and despair. The light in her eyes disappeared faster than his.
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"The darkest hour has only sixty minutes."
Morris Mandel
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Author note will be in the Author's thought from now on where I will be explaining a lot of things, regarding the timeline.