Awaken
Having already been awake beforehand, Haruhiro purposely ignored the voice so he could maintain some of his sanity. Slowly, he got to his feet with wide eyes, full of confusion... didn't he just die minutes ago. Hit by a track while walking a crosswalk after signing a couple of autographs. Haruhiro had always been well composed, learning it from his father, 'business instincts' he called it. But even now, no amount of skill in the art could stop the shakes in his hands from the immense trauma. He instantly released his lunch, a trail of yellow liquid leaving his mouth. Afterwards, his throat felt acidic, as the residue of stomach acid reside in his mouth.
He slowly regained his footing, taking in a shaky breath. Haruhiro tried to think where he was, he now noticed that all the stood before him was darkness. Was he in a room of some sort? Or some cave system? Moving to his left, he was able to feel the wall of some sort of rock. Definitely a cage system, he thought with narrowed eyebrows. "Is somebody there?" The voice was feminine and was clearly afraid. "I'm here, anyone else here with us?" Haruhiro responded, his voice a bit more shaky than he would have liked.
"Yes."
"Okky-dokky!"
"I'm here."
The voices continued, most were masculine while some were feminine. After everyone spoke, small wooden sticks were lit aflame in green, as if been cast by magic. What a stupid thought! Haruhiro reprimanded himself. He didn't believe in things such as spirits or magic, he needed physical evidence. Although it was still very dark, his eyes could see eleven silhouettes, he could see that among the small group that there were four females and seven men, if he wasn't including himself. "Maybe the torches are leading to an exit?" The happy-go-lucky voice thought out loud, after all, it was common sense that the torches would lead to some sort of civilisation. Through it didn't explain who they were lot without a heat source, Haruhiro could feel the cool air that resided in the cave through his hoodie. The group immediately agreed and begun to follow the torches.
The floor was uneven, rough with several spear like spikes that threatened to break through the soles of Haruhiro's reasonably priced shoes. He begun to think about the situation that he was in. Stuck in a cave with eleven other people who he couldn't immediately trust. Ranji, the man who had yelled and puffed his way to the front of the group had vocally 'demanded' that they should followed his lead. Most of the group, awed by his strong aura, had agreed to do exactly, not really seeming to see that the silver haired man was more of a dictator than a diplomat. Haruhiro had wisely decided to stray clear of Ranji, sticking to the back of the makeshift line, using the rough wall as a guide.
"That Ranji dude is quite the meanie, huh?"
A young man who was a bit shorter than himself walked besides him, his eyes brown and his clothes looking made out of expensive material. He seemed cautious, as if sizing up the Haruhiro, who walked besides him. "It's weird, I don't remember anything but my first name." The brunets eye's widened at that, after all he remembered absolutely everything about his old life.
His mother, his father and his older brother, his childhood friend who he had fallen in love with and had pursued a relationship with and of course, his entire schooling. He remembered the physics, the chemistry, math and geography. Almost immediately, Haruhiro decided to tread very carefully on this type of subject as he might trigger an emotional event of some sort.
"What... is your name?"
The smaller male stayed silent for a moment, like he was deciding whether to share or not. His red hair was curly and unruly while his eyes were a dark brown. He looked too calm, too confident. Maybe he was cocky? Maybe he didn't feel fear? But those basically meant the same thing, didn't it? Being cocky was never a good thing, it often led to defeat.
Haruhiro had learnt that the hard way, when he was first faced his sensei in a one-on-one spar. He had lost against dramatically against the old man, it was a one-sided match. As he was reminiscing of the past, Haruhiro's dull eyes picked up the slightest of shakes in young man's left hand. The shorter male noticed this, his right hand grabbing it, gripping it so hard it may suffocate.
"Ranta," the young man named Ranta said, his voice loud. He must have steeled his nerves by now, for he looked to Renji, yelling " You hear that Ranji, fear me! For my name is Ranta! Ranta the great! King of the cave!"
"Shut the fuck up midget or I'll make you."
The self proclaimed king of the cave shivered in fear, his mouth closing faster than a bullet. Haruhiro frowned before whispering "Your right, he is a meanie." Silence returned for an eternity, for fear of Ranji's wrath. Ranta eventually asked for the brunets name, Haruhiro answered immediately, there was no harm in making allies. It could only have a positive effect. The cave came to an abrupt end, the chiseled stone wall lifting as if controlled by magic or some sort of mechanism. Haruhiro soon realised that that the cave was in fact a tower. They were not alone in this world.
The group of twelve were led down a dirt path, pass several hundred unmarked graves that creeped the hell out of him, into a fortress that was also a city called Altana. Their journey ended when they entered a rather large building called to an unknown building, where a youngish man with pink and blue dyed hair that was moved to one side looked at them with a smile. "Welcome, welcome!" He seemed awfully cheerful, too cheerful Haruhiro thought.
"Why the fuck are we here?" Renji asked rather bluntly, his eyebrows narrowed in anger? Yes anger because in the little time Haruhiro knew him, the brute always seemed be angry at someone or something. Rather then flinching in fear, the man smiled and chuckled, as if amused by the silver haired man's outburst. "Haha~ you're pretty funny," Haruhiro knew that he was warning Renji, drawing a line in the sand that he shouldn't dare cross.
The man coughed into his hand to release the tension, something that the champion knew that could spread disease. "My name is Brittany, but you guys can call me Bri-chan. So to answer mister grumpy's question," Renji's mood seemed to sour even more, his lips were tight and his hands made fists, Haruhiro was silently begging Brittany to not overdo it "You're here to become volunteer soldiers for the Red Moon Army."
Silence took over the group and Brittany's smiled widened even more "The military is pressed thin protecting the front lines, so we need volunteers to fight the several thousand monsters the roam outside these walls."
"That's it, I'm leaving." Ranta shouted almost instantly, walking towards the do in a loud manner, each step causing the wooden floor to creak. Haruhiro was having the same idea, why risk his life to protect people he didn't even care for or know of. A cold chill made the red head stop in his tracks and erase any thought of walking out. "If you leave, you won't be getting compensation."
Brittany dropped twelve small pouches onto the counter, gentle picking one up and shaking it teasingly. "In each bag is ten silver coins, eight will be put towards your class training. Leaving two coins for living expenses, even that small amount can last a maximum of one month. Thirty days of paid living. Feeling intrigued yet?" The man had gained everyone's attention with only a couple of sentences, Haruhiro himself was feeling very intrigued indeed.