An Unexpected Midnight Meeting

Raucous laughter began to trickle in my ears as I woke up. A dull ache on the side of my face and the taste of copper in the back of my throat was the second thing to greet my waking senses. Groaning as I sat up, I felt a pair of hands helping support me. Opening my eyes, the world swirled, and multicolored lights floated around. The person in front of me kept switching from one blur to two blurs with many of the floating lights flying close to them.

[Those damn bastards. Why would they hit a kid so hard? What if they gave me permanent damage?]

Gently touching the area where I was hit, I began to slowly look around once my vision settled and the floating lights started to dim. Around me were boys and girls of different ages and races. The blur turned out to be a human boy. He had light brown hair and emerald-green eyes. He seemed to be around my age and was my height. However, looking into his eyes, I didn't see the innocence and ignorance most kids had. They held no panic or fear. Instead, they were calm and made him seem reliable.

All of us were in a sort of caged wagon. At the end of the caged wagon was a big iron gate with a warped lock that had obvious signs of being tampered with. Since they couldn't use the original lock anymore, they had instead wrapped a thick chain around the gate and one of the bars with a thick padlock, keeping it from being easily opened. Beneath us were the wooden planks of the wagon and a thin layer of straw.

[It seems that these slavers aren't just stealing children.]

As I looked around slowly, a hand began to rub my back gently. Jumping slightly at the unexpected touch I looked back to the boy who was still by my side.

"It's ok," he said in a gentle voice. "Even though it's scary, as long as you behave, you'll be fine."

With a slight frown, I moved my body slightly to stop him from rubbing my back.

"I'm not scared," I said.

With a slight smile, he pulled his hand back. As I continued to stare at him, I couldn't help but furrow my brows. Even though my sight had cleared up and was no longer blurry, those floating lights were still there. While they were barely noticeable when I looked elsewhere, they would get brighter whenever I looked at the boy. They seemed to constantly try to surround him, giving him a sort of halo outline.

[Oh no! They did give me permanent damage! What should I do!?!?!]

I quickly stood up, worried if anything else had been affected, and wanted to test if anything else was wrong. Unfortunately, a wave of dizziness overtook me, and I stumbled forward, tripping over the boy and landing with a thud. Luckily, the floor was covered in straw, and it helped cushion our landing. I was still unable to stifle my groan, though, as my previous head injury began to ache again.

*Clang**Clang*

"You brats need to keep down!" One of the nearby slavers yelled while hitting the bars with his sword. 

The other children jumped, and some younger ones began to cry. The slaver slammed his sword against the cage again as he stepped closer. A threatening aura seemed to radiate off him. Now that he was closer, I was able to see his face clearly and recognized him as the fat man who had knocked me out. Taking a look under his left eye, I felt some consolation as I saw the small wound I had left.

"I told you to be quiet," he growled.

Immediately, the ones crying did their best to suppress their crying while the older kids assisted those who couldn't. Seeing this scene and their obedience, the fat man laughed and walked away.

"Are you ok?" quietly asked a slightly straining voice beneath me.

Looking down, I saw with some embarrassment that I was unintentionally trapping the boy down. I got off him swiftly while also taking care not to trigger the dizziness from before.

"Sorry," I said, reaching out a hand to him.

With a small smile, he grabbed my hand, and I helped him stand up, surprised by how little he seemed to weigh.

"Are they always like this?" I asked, moving closer to the left side of the cage where the fat man had just been.

"Some of them are. Others don't get angry as easily."

I began paying attention to the situation outside the cage as I reached the left side. It was pitch dark, and I couldn't make out much besides what was illuminated by the fires. The fat man had rejoined another small group of slavers a foot or two away from the caged wagon. They were huddled around a small fire, quietly talking to themselves. They would randomly burst into laughter louder than anything we had done. Though I knew we would be punished if we were even close to being that loud. Many other small fires spread out a few yards away throughout the area. Unlike the group next to us, the men around the other fires were asleep, wrapped up in their bedrolls, trying to escape the chill of the night.

"Those near us are the guards. To make sure we don't escape." The boy whispered next to me.

In surprise I jumped as I didn't hear him approach. Staring at him for a bit, I decided it wasn't the time to explain how scary that was. With a sigh, I returned to observing the outside of the cage.

"Are they the only guards?" I asked.

"No, the slavers have more guards further away. But those ones don't get a fire."

"How often do they swap guards?"

"They swap guards every few hours."

[How surprising that another kid was so observant. To know not only the estimate of the time they stand guard but also about the other guards. This kid seems to be an actual genius. I'm jealous~ T^T]

Having looked at what I could in the darkness, I knew there wasn't anything else I could see for tonight. With a sigh, I turned around and sat down, resting my back against the bars, hoping I was able to get some sleep tonight.

"It's best to call it a night," I told the boy.

Without giving him time to respond, I curled up in a ball, resting my forehead on my knees, and closed my eyes.