000

Title: Light

Rating: M

Prompt: Light

Summary: When all you know is darkness, sometimes you need a little help to find the light.

Warning: Mentions of cannibalism, attempted rape

000

The cells were dank and horrible, the smell of open drains, blood and disease filled your lungs with poison and made you as filthy and sick inside as you were outside.

There were no locks or doors in this horrible prison, there was no need.

Green eyed stared up at the flawless ceiling he couldn't see above him, soon it would be feeding time and others could come. He sighed, silent and tired as he turned and walked away. He would come back and scavenge what was left once the frenzy had died down. If he were lucky, there would be some morsel of food still clenched within the teeth of a corpse before it got dragged off and eaten. The body as well as the food.

In this place of darkness and cruelty, he was the last sane man standing and while that was enough to give all other predators within this place pause, it would not stop them taking their meal out of him should he get in their way at Feeding time.

Almost on cue he heard the ceiling rumble open with the sound of those Earth Techniques the people of this country specialised in, and equally on cue, he heard the shrieking, skittering and howling of his housemates as shadows flickered through the tunnels. He flattened himself into a crack in the wall, sliding through into a separate chamber and carried on walking, hand trailing the wall so he would know where he was as his eyes were useless in this darkness. Sleeping on the ground was dangerous in this place so he climbed until he found his safe-haven, a niche in the ceiling where he curled up in the tattered remains of his old winter-cloak and waited until the screaming stopped.

It was more chaotic than usual today, the screaming was louder and there were roars occasionally, which meant dominance battles and orgies once they were finished. He sighed and turned away from the gap in order to burrow himself deeper into his cloak. He would not be eating tonight.

Eventually it fell silent within the corridors, only the occasional shriek and roar echoing back to him.

He frowned, hearing muted thumps overheard and felt the rocks around him shudder.

An avalanche? He rolled out of his niche, taking his cloak along with him as he landed in a silent crouch in the middle of his small room. They were uncommon but not unheard of. He had been in this place for five years now and he had already been given the misfortune of being caught in one, it was terrifying and suffocating and he had been so beyond lucky that he hadn't died. Being small and thin had come in handy when he had been forced to crawl out of there.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps drew him out of his memories.

"Hurry, this way! The rock is stronger, it should be safe!" a male voice shouted as more and more feet headed his way.

Harry looked around desperately, uncertain of why he was filled with such fear.

All of a sudden, a 'tink' sound hit his ears and the whole world exploded in white. He screamed as the flashbang burned his eyes, blinding him and sending him into a panic as he scrambled backwards, his ears ringing and unable to ear as he felt the ground beneath his barefeet shuddering with the approach of several people. He felt his back hit a wall as he withdrew into as tight a ball as possible, whimpering hoarsely as he desperately rubbed at his streaming eyes.

He couldn't hear anything but he definitely felt the heavy footfalls approaching him and cringed back, fingers searching for a weapon, anything, the sharp edge of a rock or the blunt smooth surface of something to crush their skull.

He could smell the approach of the hand, it smelt heavily of fresh blood and he tried to duck away and run but the hand closed in cruelly on his hair and pulled him back, slamming him roughly against the wall.

Almost as if he were swimming, he could hear their voices now. Male, rough.

"-ctually sane."

"Must be a tough cookie not to crack in this place. You recognise him?"

"No, before my time. I'd recognise a face like that."

Wet fingers traced their way down his cheek and he tried to pull away as the scent of blood filled his nose.

"Red looks good on him."

"You're a sick fuck, you know that?"

"Yeah, but its been what? Two years since we've been allowed back to the Capitol? That's a long time to go without seeing the Wife if you know what I mean. Greedy bitch probably already found herself a man on the side so why can't I have a little fun of my own?"

"He's a man and he's been in this place longer than we've had to Oversee it. Kami-sama only knows how many diseases he's got."

A laugh and the same cold hand that touched his face had his wrist and there was a hot, unpleasant tingle in his abdomen.

"Concerns laid to rest, my friend. Clean as a Fire Country Hospital."

"That doesn't change the fact its a dude!"

"Like I give a fuck. A hole's a hole. That Yellow Flash bastard's just gunna cut my throat, I'm at least going to enjoy the last half an hour of my life!"

He croaked in alarm as cold hands began to pull at his clothing, the smell of blood becoming overpowering as hot air brushed over his collar, his baggy prison issue clothing hanging off his bony shoulders as he was shoved back onto the floor. He kicked out and clawed at the floor, trying to pull himself away but the grip on his thigh was too strong.

The distinct, clean shwipping sound of a blade through the air made him freeze as he felt the fabric around his legs and arms get shredded.

CLANG

Metal on rock, an inch from his ear.

"Yeah, you know what that is, don't you? Heheh, you just hold still and take it all in like a good little boy or that'll find its way into your eye."

"Sick freak."

"If you don't like it, don't fucking watch!"

Another laugh, this one puffing hotly over his now bare chest as something hot, rough and wet scraped up his belly-button. A tongue. He twitched and tried to cringe away and gasped as teeth clamped down on his skin.

CRACK

"Shit!"

SHWING

He flinched, trembling as hot, thick blood splashed across his face and stomach, the heat from the man above him vanishing as a third person roughly hauled him off and threw him unceremoniously into the corner of the room. He continued to shiver, not daring to move, eyes screwed tightly shut and flinched as a cloth touched his face. It was cold and wet and gentle.

"You're alright now, they're gone," the third voice told him, it was low and soothing. It actually sounded like it cared, something he was entirely unused to. New arrivals tended to be tortured so badly they were caught and killed and eaten before they managed to recover enough to even be lucid enough to speak. He avoided the new arrivals as they tried to latch onto him as the last sane man present, but he wasn't stupid enough to get attached. They would just die. Either from lack of food, infection, the Madness or the others eventually got them.

Gentle hands were pulling him up into a sitting position. Out of reflex, he pushed his back against the wall.

"Hey, shhh, its alright. I won't hurt you. I promise. Let's get you out of here. Here, the light, it hurts your eyes, right?" the voice continued and he flinched as something touched his face. Warm fingers gently pushing something around his head, not caring one whit over how dirty and matted his hair was – and likely infested with lice if he was honest. There was a pause and it took him a moment to realise that something heavy had been tied over his eyes, blocking his vision. Cloth with a metal headplate. Fingers gently traced the engraving, a leaf?

The warm hands lifted him easily back onto his feet.

"Come on, let's go." He wanted to follow the voice. But he was scared.

It must have shown because a moment later an equally warm arm was around his shoulders and the rough fabric and familiar smell of his cloak was fluttering around him.

"My name's Minato. What's yours?" the voice asked, gently steering him somewhere. Out of reflex, his arm slid out from under the cloak to trail on the wall, familiar etchings and groves sending him information. They were going back to the Feeding Hall. "Watch your step here. There we go, lift your foot, up, forward, just a little more, there we go, just hop over now." The wall was wet and sticky as he did as he was told, he must have been stepping over a body. The smell told him that it was one of the others, the Leader's female.

He opened his mouth but all that came out was a rough croak.

"Alright, you tell me when we've got some water into you. That throat sounds pretty dry. Here we go. I'm going to pick you up now and jump out, okay? Try not to panic. Hm? What's wrong?"

He had stopped, just before reaching the opening to the hall, he could hear the sounds of fighting nearby and the blood that streaked the sand squelched between his toes. He would see the light brought the weave of the fabric, it stained his eyelids red and made them ache. He was scared, he didn't want to go, the light hurt.

"Minato! We gotta get outta here, they're planning on bringing the whole place down around us!" another voice shouted.

"Right! Sorry about this but we really do have to get out of here."

He had a split second to wonder what that meant before his feet left the ground. Powerful arms enclosed around him, pressing him against a warm, solid chest. Suddenly the air washed rapidly across his skin and he felt it. The light.

It was warm.

000

I quite like this one, I may continue it.