SORRY THAT THIS TOOK FOREVER! I didn't start writing this until June 14th. I had other projects that I was working on, which delayed me. And then, I didn't ever have the motivation to write this. I APOLOGIZE!
This might be a total fail, but I will keep trying to improve it. If it is a fail, I AM SORRY!
Shadow was having a very good time.
Terrifying the other gang members without fear of retribution was just a perk of being in Lash's inner circle. He was the "resident maniac", as Cressedia had labled him.
Growing bored, Shadow tossed the kid he was holding into a pile of rubbish. He wandered off, not really paying attention to his path. Then he heard a scraping noise.
Rounding the corner, he saw a kid, maybe twelve or theirteen, upended in a garba-holder. The only strange thing about the scene was that you rarely saw kids his age nearly upsidedown while scavenging. Shadow watched, not sure what was going on. Then the kid righted himself.
Shadow felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He recognized that cropped silver hair.
Automatically, he bent down and grabbed a fist-sized rock. Taking careful aim, he threw it.
The rock hit dead-center on the back of the kid's head. He fell in a heap, out cold. Shadow walked over and slung the boy over his shoulder and took off at a brisk walk. No one barred his way; his ranking within the gang, coupled with the fact that he was carrying a limp body over his shoulder, was enough to part the crowds like the Red Sea.
Approaching Lash's quarters, Shadow kicked open the door, interrupting whatever Skull was saying. It looked like he had just barged in on a possibly important meeting. Shadow couldn't care less.
"Lookie at what I found," he announced, ignoring Skull's outraged expression. He dropped the boy on the floor with a loud thud. Search immidiately darted over to identify the stranger.
"This one's a castle ward," he announced, seeing the castle crest on the thick metal band around the boy's wrist. "I just wish I knew who!"
Shadow snorted.
"That's Narix Prove. He's about 13."
Lash looked at Shadow, eyes narrowed. Then he looked at Narix on the floor.
"Narix Prove...This is Andrik's brother."
"Was" Shadow hissed. He refused to be identified as Andrik, even if it was his birth name. The story was that Andrik had been killed by Shadow a long time ago; Andrik was now refferred to in the past sense. Lash still held the fact that Shadow was noble-born over his head.
"Keep him in the back room," Lash ordered. "Shadow, speak with me alone. I have an assignment."
*Some Time Later*
"I hate special assignments!" Shadow whined. Skull was the only one in earshot, and he very pointedly covered his ears; Shadow's voice was still much higher pitched than most Vestal boy's, even those who were years younger. This made it torture when he complained, because his voice was sure to annoy anybody-except Lash, who was never annoyed.
He grumbled, wrenching open the door to the back room, where Narix was sleeping. He was muttering under his breath for hours. It wasn't until he heard the boy he'd once called his brother stir that he halted his stream of complaints.
Narix's voice, strict and authoritive, like Jekrom's had been, but with a touch of fear, followed right on cue.
"Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you?"
"Why don't you just chillax kid?" Shadow mocked. "We're not keeping you for long. Soon you'll be right back onto the peak of the snob mountain, where all you nobles belong."
Narix refused to be deterred from his demands.
"If you are a local, you should be able to tell me the whereabouts of someone I'm seeking. Tell me, have you ever met a boy named Andrik?"
"Yeah," Shadow answered, looking back at him. "I knew him, but he died about a year ago. Killed in a border skirmish."
Narix looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. Shadow felt a satisfied smile cover his face. Yes. Andrik was officially just stared at Shadow. Then he murmured, "You look just like him."
Shadow gritted his teeth. This was the part of the assignment that he did not want to do.
"You ever think that's because I'm all that's left?" Shadow asked, acting like he was annoyed, which he was, just not in the way he needed Narix to see it.
Narix once again looked like he'd been lowballed.
"Andrik?"
"Didn't you hear me?" Shadow snapped. "I told you Andrik was dead! I'm not Andrik, I'm Shadow!"
Narix flinched away from the ferocity of the attack. Then he whispered, "You are my brother. No matter what name you take we are of the same blood."
"I'm not your brother," Shadow snapped. "We may have the same bloodline, but we are not brothers."
Shadow crossed the room, wrenched the door open, and stalked outside.
And that's a wrap! Yeah, took so much longer than expected, but this is how it worked out. We're getting closer to the New Vestroian exodus. Please keep reading and reveiwing!
When I was out of the room, a joint effort of sillyness from my two brothers made this:
qwerty says hi :) bob exclaimed to jerry the fishg900-7
