Chapter 2: The Pit

Location: Falling into the streets

---

Everything was blurry...

The last thing I remembered was falling... 

A few seconds ago, I ran out from a room and out through the window two floors up. I braced myself and closed my eyes before crashing into the damp and hard stone streets. I felt something break in my left forearm at the moment of impact. I was rolling like a log on the streets and I could feel my elbows smashing into the concrete floor. Finally I hit one of the houses and came to a stop. 

I could feel my head spinning and my body sore from the fall. I tried moving left arm but every time I do it felt like it was being torn off. 

They're coming to get me. They're going to kill me. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get up. My legs were feeling weak from the fall and from not having eaten anything the whole day. I didn't want to, but it felt good to just lay there and do nothing, accept my fate... I closed my eyes and just laid there motionless.

"Eishi! Get up Eishi! Get up!"

There it was again, the voice of the little girl. I opened my eyes and somehow I felt more motivated to get up and get out of there. I gave it one last push using my right, less injured, hand. I managed to get back up on my feet but I was grimacing and hurting so much from the pain. I didn't look back. I just took one step after the other and I hopped and skipped, till finally I was able to gallop like an injured frog. It didn't matter if I knew the way or not, I just willed myself to get away from there as far as my injured body could take me.

Union City Streets

---

The Kidnappers were shocked that Eishi would jump out of the window. They didn't dare follow him down the same way after seeing what happened to the boy. They scrambled out of the room and downstairs to pursue Eishi. But when they got out of the hideout, Eishi was already gone, galloping down the street like a polio patient. 

They blew their whistle, signalling that the prisoner had escaped. Their remaining accomplices scattered throughout the city heard the call and gathered towards the hideout.

The whistle was loud enough to reach the harbor. The thieves watching Gene heard it and quickly ran towards the sound of the whistle. They were on the roofs, they leap from one roof to another like flying squirrels.

Union City, Harbor...

Almost too angry to be reasoned with, all he could do was writhe in frustration of his predicament. But as to break his irritation, a loud whistle could rang off in the distance. He saw several shadows scurry away around several corners. He could also see others leaping and bounding like ninjas over rooftops. "Caught you!" He ran towards the city with Ayshee's stuff in tow and jumped onto some barrels to get him elevated enough to reach one of the roofs with sheer brawn.

C.S.R., Union City...

He hurdled from one rooftop to another as he went searching for the culprits behind this shitty mess. Luckily, they weren't too far apart that Gene couldn't jump from building to building with ease. At the same time, he tried his hardest to keep his mouth shut as he went chasing the criminals that were just in front of him. ("I'm gonna get every last one of you, ya' bastards!!") he'd follow the lot of 'em until reached the source of that whistling sound.

He tailed them for a while until he saw a kid limping through the streets down below. He could recognize that hair and puny body anywhere. ("Ayshee!!") He looked a good spot to jump off and leaped down onto some large crates. Gene easily caught up with the boy and stopped him. "Ayshee! Where the hell've you been?! You look like crap! Here, put these on and drink this." He gave Ayshee back his clothes and uncorked his HP potion, handing it to him. "This should heal up all those wounds. Drink it, pour it on yourself, doesn't matter as long as your body can absorb the stuff. Now hurry up, you've brought some nasty company." He said as he unsheathed his sword.

Union City Streets

---

After seeing Gene and Eishi reuniting with one another the thieves gathered on the roofs and surrounded Gene and Eishi. They aimed their bows at the two, and were about to spray them with arrows, when all of the sudden two Ramoan knights walked into the event.

"What is the meaning of this!?" one of the knights said with her small yet forceful voice while her hand was standing by her sword, ready to draw it out in case she needed to.

Another guard walks towards Gene and Eishi. He assesses them and then looks up at the thieves, eyeing down every single one of them, even the ones hiding behind the buildings, then he said, "23 on the roof, 11 on the street, 6 inside the residence-o." he had a deep and emotionless tone. On his hip was a slightly thicker blade compared to that of his female partner. He drew it out in a flashy fashion, the blade was so sharp it was giving off chimes as he paraded it around.

The thieves were intimidated and decided to abandon the mission. They were kidnappers and lowlife thieves but not really good fighters. They gave each other the signal to retreat and then disappeared into the shadows.


"Are you two all right?" the female knight asked.

Meanwhile, her partner was still waving his sword around even though the thieves were already gone. He appeared to be impervious to the fact that the thieves aren't there anymore and just wanted to show off his sword skills. The female knight noticed him and got irritated with her partner's behavior. She came up behind her partner and hit him in the back of his head with her knuckles.


"Ouch-o!" the male Knight reacted.

"Enough can't you see they're all gone." said the female knight to her partner. Then she turned around and walked back to Gene and Eishi.

"You guys are safe now. I'm officer Peach and that one over there is officer King." Peach introduced herself and King to Gene and Eishi.

"Yoh-o!" King said as he waved at Gene and Eishi.

C.S.R., Union City...

Things looked bad when the unfortunate duo was completely surrounded by enemies, lurking in the shadows. But their luck changed when another pair made their appearance. The lady seemed to be the one in charge, while the big guy was just kind of thickheaded, waving his sword around like he was a kid or something. Their presence acted as a deterrent against the thieves and scared them all away. Gene had no idea there were this many in a small trading town like this. 

While he never liked admitting it, he was a man that knew how to show some iota of gratitude and humility. "Ehhhhhhhhh~ Yeah, I'm fine. So's the kid." He said pointing to Ayshee, assuming he drank his potion already. "I made some good money and those bastards decide to kidnap Ayshee to make me cough it up, but I said 'Screw that!' and went running after those scumbags." It seemed some of what he said didn't get to her as she was too annoyed by her partner constantly flailing his weapon around. 

She then introduced herself as Peach and the other one as King. As attractive as she was, with her tight petit body and red hair, after tonight, he really wasn't in the mood for any flirting right now. "Thanks for showing up when you guys did, but I could've handled 'em all on my own. How many did you say there were? 50... 60 guys? That would've been soooo~ easy! They'd be begging for their lives or running away probably after dealing with only 20. But I probably wouldn't have been able to protect him though. Kind of hard to be on defense when you've got your hands full with a whole platoon of deranged hobos." He boasted, despite having shown no evidence backing up his claims. "The name's Gene, by the way. Gene Alsyan. You and everyone else is gonna remember that name for generations to come! Haaahaahaahaahaahaaaa~!!" He decided to leave the boy's introduction up to him since he was too wrapped up in his own delusions to care.

Union City Streets

---

"40-o! There were 40 of them in total. Anyway did you see how I scared them all away-o?" King was still showing off, waving his sword around, when Peach suddenly interrupted her. 


"I know you two must be tired but I'm afraid we need you to come with us to the station, our commander will want to talk with you. It's just a few blocks away from here. We have a medical team who can see to your son. We just need information about the men who kidnapped your son. We've been after them for some time now and any leads would surely be helpful to us." Peach said. Meanwhile, King was still waving his sword around all fancy like while doing muscle poses in the background.

C.S.R., Union City...

Gene was tired of this crap and just wanted to crash in his room, but apparently they had to answer a bunch of questions about those guys before. He was also kind of blitzed that she called Ayshee his 'son'. The last thing he wanted was being tied down to a single woman and having a brat of his own. He was going to be an Adventurer 'til the day he died. That's his plan, anyway. "Whoa whoa whoa! He's not mine, first of all. I just have to take care of him for a while, that's all. And second, if you want leads, you should ask him about that stuff. Those creeps were really good at hiding themselves, so I hardly saw any of them. It really pisses me off when they act tough but never have the nerve to back it up. I'll rip 'em a new one if I ever meet any of them!" Gene then began swinging his sword alongside King, oblivious to his own ridiculousness.

Union City Guard Station

---

"There's no need for that." Knight Captain Derundes said as he came walking down the street. Peach turned her head towards Captain Derundes and King stopped his sword twirling upon hearing the voice of Captain Derundes. The Knight Captain was dragging an unconscious body with him, it was one of the thieves that kidnapped Eishi. "Let those civilians go home, we already have someone we can interrogate."


King and Peach just nodded and gave their captain a salute, then they left but not before giving their farewell gestures to Gene and Eishi. Peach just looked at the two and smiled, while King had a grin on his face that says 'nice meeting you'. The three Ramoan Knights left and returned to the Guard Station, leaving Gene and Eishi alone in the middle of the cold empty streets of Union City, past midnight,

C.S.R., Union City... 
At night~

After the good captain of the guard showed up dragging one of those pricks behind him, his officers were told to let Gene and Ayshee go. The other two smiled and waved goodbye, with Gene giving a single wave of his hand in return. His smile then turned into a tired frown. "Whew~ thank the maker for that. Now let's get out of here before some other crap happens. *yawn* I wanna get some sleep." Being done with this exhausting night, Gene and Ayshee walked around the city 'til they found the Inn they were staying at and took a much deserved rest.

Location: Union City Streets

Where am I going?

Does it really matter?

My body hurts. My legs hurt and I am sure my left arm is broken.

I have to run! I don't want to die!

Please! Sir Gene where are you? Anyone please!

My vision was blurry and my left eye shut from the swelling, my muscle and bones were hurting but I was determined to get away from my captors. I endured the pain but I was still afraid, afraid that they might catch me and beat me up and then kill me. So I ran, well galloped, to fullest of my ability. All I could see was the path in front of me. For the moment that's all that mattered.

I heard a faint voice. It sounded like sir Gene but I didn't give it any mind. I thought I was just imagining things again so I kept going and going. Till my feet hit a misaligned brick on the street, I fell face first on the ground. My head was really spinning and my vision was getting all fuzzy and dark. But just before I passed out, I extended my arm to a blurry image of sir Gene. At this point I didn't know what to believe. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

"Sleep now. Eishi." She said to me, the girl in my dreams. I felt like I was lying on the beach under the warm autum sun. It felt really good. What I thought was the sun's warm rays turned out to be a healing potion being dumped on me. It didn't matter though, I was exhausted and I was already fast asleep.

Location: Inn

My head felt heavy like it was hit by a truck. I opened my eyes and I was back at the inn. It was like I just came from a bad dream. I didn't want tomove my head right away because it was hurting a bit and because I was still sleepy. I blinked once and then twice as I looked up the ceiling. It felt like Dejavu, like somehow I've been here before. 

Then I remembered last night. I was kidnapped by some people and beaten to a inch of my life. I lifted my hands up and saw no scars or bruises or any broken bones. I looked beside me and saw Sir Gene was fast asleep on another bed. Then I looked out the window to check on what time it was.

Was it all just a bad dream?

I got up and out of my bed quietly so as to not to disturb sir Gene's peaceful respite. I found my way to the bath and found a mirror. I spent about eight to ten minutes just looking at my face in the mirror. No bruises no wounds nothing. I remembered getting slapped and stomped on but there were no signs of trauma anywhere. My head was a bit heavy maybe I overslept or my pillow was.... I dunno. 

I wanted to brush my teeth but there was no toothbrush so I went to the lobby and asked the receptionist for a toothbrush and some towels. She didn't respond to me. She looked at me weirdlike and then just continued to ignore me.

Location: Inn hungry as hell

*blush*

My face suddenly felt warm, I can feel the blood rushing to my face. I'm not used to talking with girls and no girl would ever talk to me back at home. My mom was a natural excemption to that statement of course. I knew I was blushing but I kept my cool and stood up straight like a pole. Then I swallowed in whatever was in my mouth, hoping to take in some courage as well. Then I remembered that I had't brushed my teeth yet. The girl might get turned off if she smells my morning breath... So I swallowed in another half mouth of saliva. By then I had noticed that I had not said anything in a while. The girl might find me rude or too whimpy so I cleared my throat.

"Ehem! Ehem!"

I didn't want to look uncool infront of her but I was aready taking too long to respond. But what was I going to say? How will I hide my morning breath while sounding cool after freezing up for this long. How? What? Why?

"Oh-kay...." I finally replied. I couldn't even look at her straight, I was to shy and it felt more comfortable looking at something else... like that vase over there and the floor rug.

Darn it! I sounded stupid. But at least I didn't try too hard. Overall I think I did alright.

Union City, Local Inn...

Having slept for a long while after a tiring night of waiting for and chasing shit-eating thieves, he awoke with his own drool staining his pillow. He also only slept in his loincloth since his armor was all sweaty from him sitting out in the sun and running around. When he heard a young girls voice, combined with the smell of a home-cooked meal, he was made fully erect by both prospects. "Aww... dammit! Don't do this to me now." Too tired to even fight his large dick, he just put it away in an upright position as he put his armor back on.

With a big yawn, he walked out of his room while scratching himself. The smell of food carrying him by his nostrils, he drifted through the lobby and into the homey dining room, where Ayshee was sitting at one of the tables. "*yawn~* Morning, pal." He sat himself in the seat across from him with his legs spread open and one of his arms slung over the back of the chair. After scratching his neck, he slammed his hand on the table very abruptly. "Oi!! Is someone gonna bring me something to eat or what!? I'm starving here!" He called out rather obnoxiously. He was also hoping to meet the person he heard a while ago. It was almost like some shapely deity had whispered softly into his ear while she held a giant platter of assorted eats and and drinks and only wore an apron. His mouth began to water uncontrollably at the thought. "Gyeheheheheheh~" His face turned a slight red as he made a perverted face that stared off into space.

Location: Inn Time to Eat

There was nothing on the table atleast not yet. I sat down and waited patiently for the food to arrive. The pretty lady left and told me to wait so I waited like a good boy. My head was still pretty heavy, maybe from the profound hunger I was feeling. I tried to recall when was the last time I had anything to eat. If yesterday was just a dream then it had been one whole day already and if it wasn't then I somehow survived not eating for two days, which was....

No that's impossible it must've been a dream.

Minutes later sir Gene arrives. "Hi-ho sir Gene!" I replied to his greeting. He looked as hungry as I was and slightly upset. I couldn't act out and demand like sir Geelne mainly because I was just a kid and no one would listen to me. Sir Gene on the other hand was a very intimidating person, he was very scary when angry. I just hope the waitress doesn't spit on our food. Back in New York if you show this kind of attitude, you'll get a special sauce in your dish.

Then, just a few moments later, some food arrives. Fruits and bread and a jar of milk. I was so hungry I didn't say anything else and just took a half loaf of bread on one hand and a nice plump fruit on the other. It was a debate which one I should bite into first but then I realized would it really matter? As it turns out it did. Eating the fruit first would do well for my empty stomach it was something I learned from my mom. So I took a healthy bite at the fruit and gave it a couple of chews before I swallowed it down.

Delicious! This was the best tasting fruit I have ever had or maybe it's because I was so hungry that everything tasted great. I devoured the fruit first, and then the half loaf of bread. It wasn't enough so I grabbed another pair and devour them too. It took me less than a minute to consume each handful, I wasn't surprised though I amnused to eating at an increadibly rapid phase. After every two bites, I would wash it all down with a glass of milk.

I was so engorged at my meal that I forgot all about asking Sir Gene to eat with me. It felt great finally having food in my stomach. I just wondered what would come after these starters.

Union City, Local Inn...

Gene was delighted when a cute girl brought some things over to their table, but not so much since he didn't see even one article of meat with her. He let out an unsatisfied groan and he begrudgingly took a whole loaf of bread. With just a single glance from him, the young waitress got scared and scurried away. "Heh!" Gene just chuckled and tore off a chunk of bread with his mouth. He helped himself to some of the fruit and it was not by any means bad, but it wasn't what he was after either. He wanted real meat, especially after a week of mostly eating fish, and who wants that, really. Looking around, there were also two or three good looking girls serving the other tables and looking at them made his loins burn. 

For two weeks he had been on two different boats with ugly sweaty men and a kid. He wanted to get some action real soon or he was gonna lose it. It made him think about the other women he slept with back in Ariel. Now those were some fine wenches, with their nice tits, shapely asses, rounded hips, supple skin, smooth scales, fine fur, whatever, it was all good! 

He was very tempted to give their respective cheeks a good pinch as they passed by, but he's learned some restraint since he's been kicked out of quite a few establishments for... "sexual harassment". The whole thing was ludicrous, really. He wanted to at least stay for the main course, if there ever is one, that is. He chased down what he'd already eaten with the rest of the milk in the pitcher. He slammed it down on the table and let out a loud belch. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, waiting for someone to come by and clean off their table to make room for the next course. Asking Ayshee what happened yesterday wasn't really a concern of his at the moment, since he was fine with him being here. This little investment of his could pay off with some nooky with the cat girl later on, as long he kept the kid safe and sound. "Hnnhnhnhnhnhnhn~" He chuckled maniacally to himself in anticipation for that day.