Bit of a note. I've been going back and revising some chapters to improve on them. A friend has been kind enough to work as my 'editor' so the story reads better. All the Chapters are being fixed up. Once Chapter 9 is updated, I'll be adding new Chapters again. Chapter 1 has been revised. I'll add notes at the top of each Chapter as they're done. Thanks everyone for being patient and I hope you enjoy the story!
An icy wind blew hard across the vast and desolate landscape, battering the few trees that managed to cling to life. There was little other sound, save the endless clatter of near-frozen raindrops colliding with the tin rooftop. High above, the sky swirled with vivid storms akin to Saturn's eye, every flash of lightning that struck the snow beneath being followed by the rolling grumble of distant thunder. There was nothing kind about this planet. Not the sky, nor the chill of winter.
Every breath felt like the storm sucked the soul from any living thing unfortunate enough to be caught outside, stagnant and filled with an acidic humidity that threatened to kill off the weakest of those who dared journey to this dangerous place. If one was not facing the storms of winter, locked away and shielded from its aggressive nature, they were fleeing or fighting the bandits that crept out from their hiding places during the long winter months. There was no limit to those who'd established lives on this planet and no end to their madness.
A lone cabin, barely visible with each pulse of lightning, peeked up from the frozen earth. Made from metal sheets and an assortment of old, creaking wood, it provided some small shelter to the girl hidden inside. Her slender and emaciated frame was curled beneath rags that could hardly be called clothing and a single blanket that was frayed beyond repair, huddled inches away from the cheery blaze of a small fire for what little warmth it offered. Though youthful in appearance, the look in her sleep-deprived and blood-shot eyes belied that she had seen things no child should ever have to see. She clutched a repeater in her small grip, finger twitching against the trigger and causing the firearm to tap against the long sword beneath, as if she expected an ambush at any moment. A small, rodent like creature that looked akin to a sugar glider kept her company. Its eyes were reptilian in nature, with hints of feathers running along its back and scales along its stomach. Its wings were large and coated in soft fur with a long, lizard-like tail curling its way around whatever it perched upon. Tiny but sensitive ears rounded out the creature's almost cuddly appearance.
There was silence besides the crackle of flames, warming the cabin just enough to stave off the brutal wintery landscape outside. Suddenly, the little creature would chitter, alerting the girl to the fact that something was approaching. The young girl trilled her tongue in response to sooth the audible growl from her small companion, but soon even her ears could pick out the crunch of footsteps against the snow. The flimsy door rattled once as whatever was outside tried to enter, foiled by a few jury-rigged locks. One by one, the locks would be shot loose, leaving little behind but ruined metal. The girl slowly rose to her feet and raised the repeater to eye level as the last lock was undone, sucking in a frigid breath as an eerie silence settled once more. She fumbled for the sword with her free hand and crouched slightly; waiting for what she believed would be a single intruder.
Nothing.
Not a creek, not a hiss, nor any sound. Even the little creature's ears swiveled in search of something, but nothing further came of it. As the flames began to die down, the young girl's foot slipped forward as she began to ever so slowly creep closer to the door, sword resting against the curve of her lower back. As she neared the door, the sound of a tiny growl alerted her to something else in the room. A fleeting shadow caught her eye, causing the tiny creature to scurry quickly towards her and perch upon her shoulder aggressively. With a click of her tongue, the growl waned from her little friend, muttering just under her breath, "Shh.. Eissa." The little thing perked its ears, looking towards the fleeting lights and shadow play that begun to become more and more apparent around the outside of the cabin. Something inside however, kept grabbing her focus.
"Who's there!?" The girl demanded, violet eyes darting to and fro to try and see what had dared to invade her cabin without permission, "COME OUT!" A dark figure slowly emerged, tall and wiry thin with red eyes focused upon her. A slow, malicious grin spread across its dark features as it took slow, purposeful steps in her direction. "I'm warning you!" She yelled hoarsely as she trained the repeater on the shadow. Eissa hissed as it jumped off her shoulder, growing to the size of a large skag, peppered in feathery scales and massive fangs. What were once tiny ears had grown to bat-like proportions with tiny serrations along the edges, and sharp claw-like hooks along its fingers and toes. Its maw had stretched viciously wide, sprouting row upon row of beastly-looking teeth. Leathery wings were the final appendages to sprout from slits in its back, laced with feathers along the tops and claws at the joint and tip. But the tall creature didn't stop. Its large form towered over her smaller one with a gaze that tore away at every shallow breath she took. Eissa snarled and lunged for the monster of a man, its maw opening wide as it neared him. A sudden flash silenced the whole room, followed by a crash as the large creature hit the floor, struggling to raise itself up before falling still. "Ei-Eissa?" She whispered, her face and chest spattered with greyish blood. "EISSA?!" She cried out in a panic. All she could feel was the thick blood dripping down her face, the world beginning to wobble wildly. The last thing that she saw was a hand reaching out to her from what seemed like an eternity away, replaced by the frozen earth suddenly rising to meet her...and then darkness.
Barren Falls - Evening
The encampment was perched high upon a cliff overlooking the larger, more flattened terrain with peaks dwarfing many modern skyscrapers around the edges. Many bandits would settle at the very edge of the fence with booze and cigarettes propped atop their knees and eyes focused on the dog-fights between the outlanders below. Occasionally a sudden uproar would announce the defeat of one or more of the unlucky combatants, leaving the bandits with the prospects of more skulls and bones to decorate their huts with and a plentiful meal.
There were hints of hierarchy within the encampment as many huts were decorated with bones, painted symbols and often different colored leathers or fabric that were likely stolen from unfortunate trespassers. In one such hut, cobbled together from skins and old, rusty pipes, the young girl's white hair lay tossed over her face as her eyes began to slowly open. Her wounds were mended and her form covered with what might be called clean blankets despite where she had been taken. A single midget knelt beside her, watching with dim eyes behind the disturbing mask he wore. From time to time, unsettling giggles would draw her eyes open bit by bit, until fully widening at the burst of psychotic laughter from the lone midget.
Her eyes were tired and her stomach groaned with pain, causing the midget to glance over at her hunger-bloated belly. He cocked his head to one side, arms resting over his knees as he balanced perfectly on the balls of his feet. Another tilt of his head to the opposite side made the girl feel suddenly very ill at ease by his presence. He didn't speak, though his interest in her injuries made her wonder if perhaps there was some level of sanity still left inside him. Screams outside caught her attention and prompted her to look away from the midget that lingered by her. They were awful, the sound of someone being tortured or perhaps skinned alive in preparation for a meal. She knew the bandits were prone to eating things most would never even consider, and others would rather be killed then be forced to eat. Her own thoughts on the matter were mixed. Being young, she didn't yearn for death, didn't suffer from depression, and didn't particularly care where the food came from. But the idea of eating another human made her queasy at best.
The screams grew louder, followed by a gurgled cry which she imagined was a death rattle, a slit of the throat probably, pushing back any other thoughts as to what ended the poor man's life. She whimpered softly as the midget stood up and wandered to the door to see what the commotion was. With a gleeful laugh, he disappeared out of the door flap, giving the girl a chance to really see just how badly the weather had turned. It was brutal outside, the winds whipping around the innards of the hut long enough to steal away any semblance of warmth in her bones, but the bandits didn't seem to care.
She shifted and found her limbs bound to the frame of the hut. Her wounds ached terribly, but she realized that whoever had taken her had wanted her alive. As she thought on it more, her head would settle back with a long, heavy breath. "What do they want me alive fo-" She begun to mutter, before being cut short by the movement of the leather flap. The midget had returned, and with him, a fresh, juicy looking slab of meat. It smelled odd, but then again she thought everything did in the hut. The midget set it down in front of her, cooked and reddened by the fire outside. It looked quite appetizing, the fact she hadn't eaten in some time only serving to make it even more difficult not to desire the food. Her thoughts flooded back to the screams she heard, though, and she begun to wonder if this was the gruesome result.
The midget sliced a small piece free and began to cut it like he were feeding a small child, before extending it out towards her mouth. At first, the girl hesitated; her look caused the midget to pause with another tilt of his head. He didn't seem to understand her reluctance and resorted to lifting the lower part of his mask, exposing blonde stubble and chapped lips. As he opened his mouth, his rotted teeth became visible and made her suddenly tongue her own as if she had forgotten to check that they were all still there. To her relief, everything seemed in place, and the ease showed on her features. That made the midget think she finally understood, and just as he finished his bite he would jerk the other piece into her mouth without a moment's pause.
At first, the girl screamed as she was forced to take the small piece into her mouth. Whatever it was, she didn't recognize it, but to her starving body it was the best thing she'd eaten since she was a little girl. Her cry cut short as she chewed and swallowed, receiving a satisfied nod from the midget who would begin slicing more small pieces off for her. She had begun to grow impatient, however, as her body begged for food. Her head jerked forward towards the plate, causing the midget to jump back a bit and nearly cut himself with the small knife. His body language suggested he was puzzled, and she could only imagine his expression if not for the fact she had managed to chomp down onto the juicy meat and began to ravenously eat like a starved animal. The midget looked from the knife to the starved girl and just shrugged, lazily tossing the blade out the door. There followed a grunt from outside, where a larger brute had been passing by. He reached his hand down just outside of view of the two inside, plucking the knife from his hip with a contorted expression that rapidly turned to one of confusion. The brute scratched his shaved head before he too tossed it off, with another yelp of pain following in the direction it had gone.
Below the walkway another, smaller bandit was perched and watching through a break in the wall for any intruders. He'd reach down and pluck the knife from his rump before looking up with an irritated glare behind the black and red mask. As the brute looked down to see what the commotion was about, there was a hint of movement followed by the glint of the blade zinging back upward towards the muscular man. He reached his hand up trying to catch it, but found it instead imbedded firmly into his palm. With a long pause, the fussing of the smaller bandit soon ended with an audible cry from the brute. Tears swelled in his eyes and poured down his cheek as the man wailed loudly, drawing the attention of most the camp.
The young girl didn't notice. By then, she'd filled her mouth with food and was struggling to swallow it all before going for more. The night seemed much longer than usual, and before long the midget tending to her would settle against the doorway again. He'd watch her from his perch, drawing a shotgun that had been propped outside the door frame up against him, the barrel resting against his shoulder. The bandit hinted at his fatigue with a weak yawn, but the girl had already fallen into a deep slumber, her belly bulging out comically from the first decent meal that she had gotten in years.
Barren Falls - High Noon
The snow was bright and glistening with the intense light that broke through the seemingly endless storm high above. The young girl would stir as its blinding rays hit white and bounced into the darkness of her hut, revealing her hands unbound and her wounds fully closed. She drew to her feet with a tired grumble; her eyes squinted against the harsh glow of the outside world, until she found the silhouette of the midget reclining against the doorway. She could not think but to thank him, despite her better judgment to stay put and remain quiet, but she paused as she realized that his mask was missing...and that he was very, very still. "H-hello?" She squeaked with uncertainty, before she began to draw slowly nearer with a heavy feeling of uncertainty building in her gut. Her fear was well-founded, as she found the midget dead and wired to the edge of the door in a stance that would have mimicked the one she last saw him in. Her hands cupped over her lips in horror, panic forcing her body back as she tried to comprehend what it was she saw.
"Don't tell me you'd grown attached." A sinister voice drew her eyes away from the deceased midget, "That wouldn't be smart." He spoke with an intelligence that exceeded that of the average bandits she had encountered. "He was a good doctor... if a bit.. nutty." The male laughed, deep with a thunderous roll to his bass voice, "I think he was reminded of his daughter. Easy to do.. You're as young as they get out here."
He drew nearer to her like a predator in the shadow of the hut. "Did you enjoy your meal?" He questioned, "That kind of meat comes rare. I'm so glad we found a use for your friend... Eissa was it?" At the mention of her deceased pet, her head jerked towards him with eyes set ablaze in horror and rage. "D-don't mess with me..." She hissed, but his laughter seemed unaffected by the small threat. "I'll gut you, you son of a bitch!"
"Oh now.." he tutted, "Don't curse at me, you pathetic child. You haven't the foggiest clue what I could do to you." He said nothing further about Eissa as he ventured towards the light. His long fingers drifted forward to brush the leathery cloth aside, casting darkness away to reveal a much less phantom appearance. His frame was tall and quite slender with a pair of goggles perched atop his head. His gaze was deep, and seemed empty despite the crystals of green that made up his irises. Stubble ran along his chin, some shaved in intricate swirls that seemed oddly feminine for a man that looked so roguish yet somehow fit his slender chin. Patchy browns and dusty cream cloth and leather made up his outfit, torn in places to reveal his slender and athletic physique. His hair was blood red and done up in dreads, with a multitude of scars crossing all over what skin was exposed. He would be quite pale if not for the red tint of a constant sunburn. As he'd turn to glance back at the young girl, his armored shoulder would come into view, with spikes jutting out menacingly across its surface and a smaller curved band resting snug against his upper arm. Leather straps kept it taut to his form, indicated by occasional creaks when he moved his arm into certain positions, "Come on out, girl." He beckoned, his left arm raised up to gesture at the snow scape just outside the hut.
The girl's expression fell as he beckoned her out. She was suspicious, and couldn't trust he wasn't leading her into a pit to be skinned alive. "Why..?" She'd ask finally with a flick of her eyes to the deceased midget.
"Hmm? Oh, him. When you were snoozing, some crusaders came around and killed him. He wanted to be close to you...What better way to honor his final request than this?" A cruel laugh rumbled from deep in his throat as he turned and left the leather flap to fall back across the opening. She stared towards the outline of light around the covering and felt warm tears as they ran down her blushed cheeks. She never understood the reason for such violence, but rationalizing it was far less important than ensuring one could survive.
It seemed to her that she had slept for nearly the entire day. The encampment appeared large, sitting atop a high ridge that overlooked the valley below. It was clear the position had been chosen for what it offered in security from rival groups, or hopeless treasure hunters looking for an easy route to riches. The lands surrounding the camp were alive with firelight and celebration as buggies were sent off fighting far below, their metal bodies gleaming in the fading light. The girl's solitary figure slipped out from the hut, letting leather brush over her form without any regard. It was as if it simply didn't exist to her, her gaze finding the ground most inviting as her thoughts left her unaware of the hustle and bustle going on around her. As suddenly as the cheers would pique in an uproar of celebration, they instantly cut out when the gathered horde spotted the young girl standing there with little but a blanket pulled loose around her thin frame and a piece of cloth tied around her mouth to protect against the harsh air. The hyena-like laughter of one of the psychos caused the group to stir slightly, and just as swiftly the call for "fresh meat" was silenced by the sound of a revolver going off. It was enough of a signal to the rest that the girl was not to be handled.
"You came out." The voice of the man was suddenly behind her. His toothy smile alone told her he was not like many of these others. He received barely a glance from the young girl as she tugged the blanket a bit tighter over her shoulders. He would nod, as if accepting the silence, and continued. "You've given up? Good, good. Some of us are civil. It was surely in your best interest to not fight, and simply accept you're one of us now." She turned slowly, tears welling up in her eyes with unbearable sadness filling her gaze. His smile only grew, becoming more malicious as he begun to close the gap between them, "My daughter."
"Go die in a fire." As suddenly as she spoke, the man's hand would swing about to slap the poor girl's cheek and send her spinning with a tumble to her stomach. She remained on the ground, facing away from the man with snow melting against the front of her clothing and the now dirtied blanket that she had pulled around her. Crawling slowly to her feet, she turned to face him. Her gaze was no longer sad and resigned, instead replaced with a murderous glare.
"Go eat, and we'll discuss this further, hm?" He wiggled slender fingers onward towards one of the fires. Bandits scattered when she drew closer, the heat of her rage making them second-guess their baser urges. Itchy fingers edged around guns and waited for a chance to fill her with bullet holes, but none of them dared to make the first move, particularly in the presence of the man who stood not far off and simply observed the reactions of the residents.
One of the bandits remained sitting where he was, and seemed uninterested in the girl as he stoked the embers. Its filthy scent caused her nose to wrinkle, but soon enough she had sat on a rock off to the bandit's left side with her back towards a wall. The rusty metal wall had done its job to keep people out, and offered a bit of shelter from the snow – if only slightly. As the bandit realized she was sitting so near to him, he'd turn and adjust his coat lazily as if trying to decide what to do.
"Nice blanket." He finally commented behind the mask. The area over the mouth was like a grate unlike the rest of his full mask, and allowed Jez a small glimpse at the man's mostly hidden mouth when he spoke. He clearly had rank in the hierarchy of their society, though the girl couldn't guess as to just where he sat. "Skag's almost done, Chirp." The nickname caused her to look at him with mild confusion. "Ah, Chirp...You chirped at your friend. Seemed fitting." He shrugged absently before asking, "Are ya hungry?"
"That's not my name." She protested. "Well, I like Chirp kiddo. Anyway, you should eat. You're practically skin and bones." He gave a huffy wave of his hand in emphasis as he drawled, "He wouldn't approve of you starving." 'Chirp' turned towards the motion, realizing it lead to the eerie man that apparently had settled onto the edge of a hut. He'd kick one leg lightly against the wall, with his other pulled against his chest and hands lazily resting on the surface of the hut's rooftop. At her glance, he gave her an unsettling smile.
"Don't let 'im bother ya. He's kept us all alive. I'm sure he'll keep you alive just fine, too." The bandit reassured her. 'Chirp' scoffed in response as she pulled her legs up against her chest and covered everything but her head with the blanket. "Name's Logan. Not much of a Bandit name, is it?" He chuckled lightly, as if it was a joke only he found funny. 'Chirp' gave him another confused look before focusing her attention on the nearly-done meal. Its once filthy smell had become more appetizing to her as her stomach reminded her that she was once again hungry. As much as 'Chirp' hated to admit it, the fact there was food made staying a little easier and meeting Logan had only amplified that sensation of comfort. But off away from the two, the man's green gaze seemed to glimmer with a hint of red. His smile never waned; it only intensified as he watched their interactions.