I Refuse!

Jacob felt like the army in front of them was looking at him and Samuel like they were idiots, and truly, this was an insanely stupid idea.

Still he moved forward while keeping an eye on the archers. And good thing he did so as not long after they started moving, the archers fired arrows at them. 5 in total.

Since they were only two of them, the arrows were easy to dodge when you knew when they were coming. So Jacob and Samuel didn't have too much of an issue dodging the first volley.

However, the closer they got, the more difficult dodging became.

"We'll engage with their close combat fighters so that the archers can't risk friendly fire." Jacob said as he tilted his head to dodge another arrow.

With that, he dashed forward and reached the closest soldier who was a spearman. He knew that the Goblin had the advantage in range, but he also knew that it couldn't flexibly wield the spear like a sword or a club.

And since he was unarmed, there nothing slowing him down. Hence he easily predicted where the spearman would attack first and dodged the thrust before running past past the spear to reach the spearman.

The Goblin panicked and tried to close the distance, but Jacob was faster. Punching the Goblin in the throat causing it to drop its spear and clutch at its neck. He then grabbed its head and bashed his knee into its face.

Then he grabbed the Goblin and used it as a meat shield to block a spear thrust from another Goblin. Let go of its corpse, and using his strength, grabbed the spear that was still in the dead Goblin's body and pulled.

The unfortunate creature failed in the contest of strength and got pulled helplessly towards Jacob who then gave it a vicious uppercut.

Jacob wasn't guven any time to breath though. He caught the faint sound of something cutting through the air and dove down with all his might. And even then pain flared on his cheek as an arrow grazed him.

The pain was the least of his problems though as when he dove down, the nearby spearmen tried to skewer him on the floor and he rolled out of the way.

While rolling, he grabbed one of the spearmen's legs and pulled as he stood causing the Goblin to fall on its face, and he gave a ruthless stomp to its throat and crushed it.

He then moved again avoiding two more arrows.

"Argh!" A cry of pain drew his attention, he turned his head in time to see Samuel get cut across the chest by a sword. It wasn't deep as he had shifted his body to evade most of the impact, but the long red line of blood was very real.

This distraction by Jacob, was also not missed.

It was the footsteps that just barely managed to snap him out of his stupor making him shift his body. And not a moment too soon as a spear tore his shirt and grazed his side.

Jacob's teeth clenched at the jarring pain and mentally punched himself for loosing concentration.

He tried to grab the spear of the Goblin, but it had learnt from its partner's mistake and moved it away from Jacob before he could do so.

Jacob panted as he dodged some more arrows again. He was already starting to get tired from the constant dodging and his mind was beginning to get heavy from the constant calculation he made.

'Fuck, this might really be it.' He thought inwardly as the spearman charged at him with arrows sailing above their heads. He could only dodge so much at a time, and even if he managed to avoid lethal injury, his fighting ability would still be impaired.

Time seemed to slow down and Jacob really took everything in.

His life appeared to flash before his eyes. His fucked up childhood and the less than honorable things he'd done. Back then killing was the norm, after all it was killed or be killed for him.

He didn't know who his parents were and grew up under the care of a very eccentric armed robber who ended up dying after pissing off the wrong people.

Then he was left to fend for himself, eating even a meal a day was considered an achievement and life seemed to pass by unbelievably slowly.

Jacob lost count of how many people he'd killed, most of them dying because they severely underestimated what a 7 8 9 10 and 11 year old could do.

It was just a repetitive and messed up cycle, and no matter how many lives Jacob took, he never seemed to move forward. In fact, his mind became more and more secluded and empty.

Nothing seemed to have meaning anymore and darkness was his only friend. Well, that was until he met Samuel.

***

In some random alleyway.

A scrawny looking boy wearing tattered clothes could be seen sitting by a trash can, a piece of stale bread in his hands.

He munched on the piece, his movements appearing like that of a robot. But the most disturbing thing about him were his eyes.

If one gazed into them, they'd see dark holes devoid of any hope, light, or life. Like a Deadman walking. Seeing such a gaze in a child was enough to sadden anyone.

But the child didn't care, he'd gotten some food and that was good enough.

"He went this way!" A voice caught the boys attention, but he soon lost interest. He'd heard things like this happening multiple times. Usually, minding your own business was a good way to stay alive.

However, just as he was about to get up,a young boy ran into the alleyway, his eyes frantic. His gaze immediately locked unto where the fit one was sitting down and ran in his direction.

'Why are you coming here!?' The boy frowned seeing the new person run towards him.

However, he didn't say anything. He just ran past him and without hesitation, jumped into a pile of trash bags and covered himself.

Not a moment later, a bunch of thuggish guys appeared in the alleyway looking adequately pissed.

The immediate saw the boy sitting on the floor and stalked over to him.

"Hey you, did you see which way that brat went?" The one at the front asked.

The boy considered snitching, but he decided that he was about to leave anyway, and the other boy hadn't tried to involve him, so he just shrugged and pointed to the other end of the alley.

"That brat, when I get my hands on him." The leader said and he and his guys ran out.

After a few moments, the trash bags where the boy was hiding moved and he came out looking both pleased and disgusted.

The first boy took a look at him. If you ignored the trash on his body, he was dressed quite nicely.

'Must not be from around here. I wonder how he even got here. Whatever, not my business.' The boy turned to leave.

"Hey." However, the voice of the other boy called out causing him to pause. He turned his head with a questioning look.

"You mislead those guys right. You're my savior!" He said excitedly and bowed.

The boy looked at him weirdly before waving his hand and turning to leave.

"My name's Samuel, what about you?" The sudden introduction caught the boy off guard and he looked at him with an even stranger gaze. Wasn't he scared that he would be robbed?

"... Jacob." The boy ended up replying, his voice hoarse as he hadn't spoken in a while.

"Jacob. I like it. Let's be friends." Samuel said and stretched out his hand. Jacob stared at it with a blank gaze. Both the term and the gesture appearing foreign to him.

"... I'm okay by myself." Jacob shook his head and turned to leave.

"Now that can't do. You pretty much saved my life. We can't just part ways after that." Samuel said with clear defiance.

"If you don't want to get hurt then I suggest you leave." Jacob said as his gaze suddenly turned sharp at the constant pestering.

Yet Samuel wasn't even fettered and he said with determination.

"You saved my life. And that's a debt that can't be repaid easily. So we'll be friends for now on whether you like it or not. Where you go, I go, and no Homo." Jacob frowned and wanted to say something, but that was when he noticed Samuel's eyes causing any word in his mouth to vanish.

Pure wonder and light swirled around in them like galaxies filled with stars. Jacob had seen his reflection before, and his gaze was the total opposite of what Samuel had.

Part of Jacob was jealous. Both of them appeared to be the same age, so why was his gaze filled with such light while his was just darkness? That's how part of Jacob felt.

But another part of him, felt warm. A fuzzy sensation filled him as the thought of having such a person genuinely desire to be his friend made him feel something he only ever felt after a successful scavenge, only a thousand times better. Joy.

It was so much that for a moment, Jacob didn't even know how to react.

"Hey dude, why're you crying all of a sudden?" Samuel's concerned tone brought him back to the present. He was crying.

He wiped a hand across his face, and sure enough, fresh tears were felt. Was he really that emotional?

Jacob shook his head and calmed his emotions. He looked at Samuel and thought for a moment before saying.

"Fine, let's go." Hearing this, Samuel beamed and pumped his fist.

"Yes! Follow me, I know the way out of this dump." He said earnestly and moved ahead, Jacob following.

And that was how it all started. Jacob learnt that Samuel came from a very well of family and got his own allowance.

From there, Samuel used his own money to pretty much acclimate Jacob to the world. Got him new clothes, cleaned him up, and actually made him feel human.

But it wasn't until he entered school that the light in he eyes fully returned.

For a while, it had just been him and Samuel, but when he joined the class filled with all those different personalities and his teacher. He truly new what it meant to be human.

'And I'm going to lose all of that.' Realization set in as unwillingness bloomed in his heart.

He'd never see them again. All the things he wanted to do with them would no longer be possible.

'No!' He shouted inwardly.

'I didn't survive for so long and finally meet people I care about just to die!' Along with his unwillingness, something else appeared, a sensation.

It was subtle at first, but then it surged forth like a tide and rushed through his body.

'There' no way in hell that I'd loose all of that!' The feeling intensified as his very existence began to buzz, and his arms, his arms felt as if the were on fire.

'Especially to some greened nosed Goblins!!!' He roared mentally.

Time resumed and the arrows reached him, and at the same time, He swung his arms.

BOOM