Past
Talia and Maria sat together closely, fingers entwined, as their eyes looked through cell bars to the afternoon sky. The vast blue was clear allowing the sun's rays to sink into the pit, causing it to heat up like a sauna. They didn't mind the heat at all, it was better than the grueling cold.
The prisoners became livelier during this time of the year. No one had to stay in their cells and wait out the winter, which many did not survive. So it was to all the prisoners' mortification to see the only two children in this hellhole alive and well and as satisfied as could be in a place such as this. They should be dead, but the monster was always close by. The few who tried to take away the fiend's treasures were ruthlessly slain.
Fear was what kept the prisoners at bay for so long. And some could not bear to be in the vicinity of the very opposite of vileness. Some couldn't bear the memories of how good their lives used to be, and the children were a constant, stabbing, reminder of the goodness that used to be instilled within all of them. And so some tried to escape. Some would make the climb, such as this day when Talia and Maria were quiet and still.
A man stood by the stone wall, eyes calculating how long it would take to ascend a wall the height of a skyscraper. As another prisoner tied a rope around his waist others gathered around, all knowing how this would end, but had nothing better to do.
And with a deep, settled, breath the man begun.
He was rather quick, scaling the wall like a spider. He had the physicality and the stamina to make it up the wall but there was a catch. He couldn't just climb. Halfway up the wall there were two stones, large and strong enough to hold a man, protruding from it. They were not too far apart, however in order to finish the climb one would have to jump to the other.
And this was the moment when most failed. He knew how fast he had to be, his limbs knew what they had to do to make to the other side. A soft chant began to crescendo into a loud rumbling roar consisting of only one word, 'deshi basara'. The man let out a fierce battle cry as he ran and jumped. There was a silence as all eyes stared up.
Fingers touched the other side, but he couldn't get a firm hold and he plummeted back into hell. The rope did not always assure the survival of the drop. And the man's spine snapped from the rope's harsh tug to prevent his body from impacting the stone ground. Unfortunately he didn't die, and couldn't move at all, and was rushed by the other prisoners as they stole everything on his person than proceeded to rip him limb from limb, some would make use of his bones to forge weapons and some would make use of his flesh to fill themselves. Maria and Talia had seen this before and each time disturbed them greatly. They knew they're presence was not welcome. They knew they would have to make the climb someday.
But they didn't know it would be so soon.