WARNING: *Strong language*
Volume I: Chapter IX: Ultimatum:
"Hey, who's the kid?"
"What's Raven thinking bringing a kid here?"
"He looks pretty fucked up."
"Yeah, those are some nasty looking injuries."
"What's a kid doing here?"
"Is he even still alive?"
"I'm betting he's dead."
These (as well as many others like them) were the words and voices I could hear and start to make out as I slowly came to and faded back into consciousness as the ringing noise in my throbbing head served as an alarm. I'm still a bit dazed (due to the blow I took to my head and the blood loss) and I can't really tell where I am right now, but the ground feels cold and somewhat like soil. Due to the throbbing in my head, I decided to keep it pressed to the ground as the coldness of it felt very comfortable and alleviating.
I soon realized that my hands and feet were not bound as I started to stir and move around a bit more. Why didn't they bind me? I guess they figured my injuries would be more than enough to keep me down. They're not wrong to think that either. Everything hurts right now and the slightest movement is a struggle for me right now. Speaking of which, I noticed that I feel bandages wrapped around my entire torso and my forearm. Who treated me? Better question: why would they treat me? These people aren't the kind to do that. They are more known for taking lives rather than saving them.
I think it's time for me to get a good look at my surroundings now. I can't keep my eyes closed forever. As I slowly opened my eyes, I was greeted by a much different environment than I was in when I was last conscious. I am surrounded on all sides by bars that stood between and a group of curious people wearing ragged clothes, all with a gun in their holster or knife in their scabbard. Some looked very dirty and scarred while others looked mostly fine (or at least fine to their standards). They were bandits. Just a bunch of thugs and criminals who prey on the weak and defenseless. I've always heard stories of bandits raiding villages and murdering innocents. Dorado would get occasional bandit attacks every now and then, but they would always get warded off by my dad, but I never thought I'd see the day I would be captured by them. Behind them I can see tents set up everywhere and behind me there was some kind of large fence or wall made of cut down trees with a few watchtowers stationed about. I guess that's the camp perimeter wall.
"Hey, he's finally awake!"
"Guess that means I lose the bet."
"You mind telling us who you are, kid?"
"Where'd you come from?"
"Why did Raven bring you here? What the fuck's got her so interested in a runt like you?"
Damn, they're annoying me! I wish they would all shut up and stop bombarding me with questions! I'd tell them to shut up myself, but that would just make my head hurt even more. I need to stay calm and ignore them so I can assess my situation. Judging from the fact that I am unbound by any ropes or chains or whatever, Raven (assuming it was her that put me in here) must feel pretty confident in my injuries being more than enough to keep me put. She's probably right to be confident too. No way I can fight my way out. I wouldn't last a minute in the current state I'm in.
I look to the sky and see that the sun was starting to set as the air started to grow colder. I must have been out for a while. Maybe I can escape in the dead of night? Hmm... I don't see anything useful around or in this cage for me to use to escape. As I moved my head around to search the cage some more, I could only find disappointment in the form of a small stone as that was the only thing in here with me. I then pat my pants down and check my pockets to see if I might have anything useful on me. But instead, the only thing I ended up getting was a daunting realization.
(Gasp!)
"SHIT! I don't have my weapons or mom's knife!"
My heart and mind started to race a bit as I realized I didn't have them on me and I began to frantically pat myself down even more, foolishly hoping they would just suddenly appear in my pockets. I then started to move my head to search around the cage again, completely abandoning my previous mindset and ignoring the small crowd watching me.
"Where are they?!" I thought frantically to myself. "Where are they?! Where are they?! Were they left at that clearing from earlier? Did that Raven person take them? That's probably it. She must have taken them when she knocked me out."
The small group of bandits, still curious, stayed around the cage either trying to basically interrogate me or silently observe me while others simply whispered among themselves, presumably coming up with their own theories of who I might be or whatever relation I may or may not have with Raven that would make her take an interest in me.
(Sigh.)
I feel like the latest attraction at a zoo while a group of onlookers stare and gawk as if I'm some kind of animal. I wish they'd give me some space.
Eventually, one by one, they all suddenly stopped and instantly grew silent, as they started to turn their heads toward a specific direction and parted as if they were making way for someone. I, also intrigued by whatever it was they may have reacted to, stopped what I was doing and looked in the same direction as well.
As the group opened up, I could see approaching me was the person who knocked me out and captured me: Raven. She was still wearing that strange mask she wore when I first saw her. I also noticed that she wasn't alone this time either. She was accompanied by two people. On her right, a short girl standing at about 5'6 (1.7 meters), who appeared to be around 16 years of age with slightly tanned skin and icy blue eyes that could stare daggers into anybody. On her head sat dark brown hair that draped over her ears and stopped just above her shoulders as well as a pair of thin eyebrows sitting above her eyes. She's wearing a brown vest over a slightly unbuttoned dirty white shirt, slightly revealing what looked to be a black bra underneath. On her legs, she was wearing a pair of jeans that looked to be a maroon shade of red. One of the legs of the jeans was also rolled up. She was also wearing a strange article of legwear almost similar to Raven's except they were brown with one of them having a strap resembling a garter as well as a pair of brown, fingerless gloves with a large brown bracer on one of her wrists. She looked at me with an expression that appeared somewhat stern and intimidating, almost as if she were silently telling me to watch what I do or say.
Moving on from the first girl, on Raven's left, there is a pale girl who looked to be younger than the one on her right (15 perhaps) and about 5'5" (1.67 meters) in height. She had long, smooth, violet hair that looked to be reaching down to the small of her back. Her eyes were light green and somewhat resembled emeralds. She had a small nose, slightly dimpled chin, and medium sized ears with earlobes so small, you wouldn't think she had any unless you looked close enough. A pair of violet, wispy brows also sat comfortably above her emerald eyes and were being slightly shielded behind curtain bangs that draped over her forehead. I could also see that she had a small flower tucked into her hair. I could tell from here that it was a white lily. Compared to everyone else here, she seemed to be very well-kept and a bit cleaner. Even her clothes are different from everyone else's in terms of style. She wore an indigo tank-top (that looked like it leaned a bit on the blue side, but you could still tell it was indigo) with a floral pattern along the hem with an open, wool, cream colored jacket that she wore over it. On her bottom half, she wore wood brown leggings with dark green lacing that ran down the sides with the laces knotted and dangling from the hem around her ankles where she wore a pair of cream colored boots with caramel colored laces and soles.
Her casual attire definitely looked out of place here and because of that, she arguably stood out as much as Raven. Who is she? Was she kidnapped and taken hostage? No. That can't be it. If she were, she'd be in here with me. Hostage or not, I can tell she (as well as the brown-haired girl) must be very important here just from where they are standing. Just like the first girl, she was also looking at me with an expression that said I should watch what I do or say. But also unlike the first girl, it wasn't an intimidating and stern expression, but more one of worry and urgency.
"Everyone clear out!" Raven ordered in a commanding voice. "Give him some space! We don't want to make our potential new member uncomfortable."
"So she is the leader." I mentally noted. "Well I guess that officially confirms tha- wait! What did she say?! 'Potential new member'? Is she serious? She really wasn't kidding earlier! I literally just tried to kill her this morning and now she's captured me and is calling me a potential new member! Just what is wrong with this woman?!"
The small group of bandits seemed just as surprised and confused as I was judging from the looks on some of their faces that they exchanged among one another and the slight bit of hesitation before they started to break away in small chunks and go about their business. Just what exactly is going on here!?
"Vernal. Mari. That includes you two as well." She turns and says to the two girls accompanying her in a quieter, yet still commanding, voice as the group had already completely dissipated at this point.
"But Ra-"
"Do as I say." Raven says more assertively as she interrupts Vernal's questioning. "We'll begin today's training session a bit late today, so I want you two to be ready by then. Besides, this is between me and him. This is none of your concern. Not yet at least."
The two glance at each other almost like a silent conversation was held and concluded in just a matter of a split second before turning and leaving me and Raven in private. Raven takes a long look at me as I stare up at her almost as we just had our own silent conversation. She definitely remembers today- not that I think she'd forget. After all, I literally made an attempt at her life… and failed miserably.
After our brief stare down (or stare up in my case), Raven then takes off her mask, revealing a pale face with cold, remorseless, piercing red eyes. She looked like she had 29 years of age on her. It felt like she was staring into my soul. This part of the camp had now fallen completely silent as Raven and I just continued looking at each other as the only sound was a small breeze that softly howled as it passed by as our hair briefly succumbed to the winds. It didn't take long for one of us to break the silence.
"So, did you sleep well? More importantly, have you calmed down yet?" Raven asked, being the first to speak up.
"What do you want?" I replied, wanting to get answers right away. I have so many questions right now.
"I'll get to that in a bit. But right now, you probably have a lot of questions buzzing in that head of yours. 'Where am I?' 'What did you do to me?' 'Where are my weapons?' 'What's going on?' 'Why are my wounds treated?' 'What does she mean by 'potential new member'?' And probably much more."
Well that was pretty much spot on. I hate to admit it, but she read me like a book.
"Everything. Now." I demand, not yet realizing that I was way in over my head with my words.
"Straight to the chase I see." Raven responds. "I like that. But just so you know, I give the orders around here. Got it? So just this once, I'll let it slide. Anyway, let me catch you up to speed. I'll keep this brief. After you were knocked unconscious, I picked up your unconscious body (along with your weapons) and carried you with me back to camp. Everyone was pretty surprised when they saw you, a mere kid, with me and not the hunting party. They asked me where they were and I ended up telling them they were all killed in a grimm attack. I never told them who you were though and ignored any and all questions regarding you. I can tell you're surprised and confused by that judging from the look on your face. Anyway, I then took you in my tent where I, with some assistance, patched you up. After that I took your weapons and put them away before putting you in this cage as a precaution. Now we are all caught up. But something tells me you have another question or two on your mind don't you?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." I respond. "Why didn't you kill me? And why did you lie to them about the fact that I killed them?"
"Very good questions: why lie? Why didn't I kill you? After all it would make sense given what you've done." Raven says as she paces a bit like a professor giving a lecture.
"You should have killed me." I answer.
"And waste your potential? I don't think so. You can be a useful asset to us and I wasn't just going to waste that. And if I told them what really happened, the entire camp would have ripped you apart, also ending your life."
"What do you mean by' 'asset'?" I ask in a confused/annoyed voice.
"I'm a survivor. More importantly I am a survivor who makes use of the things I find. And today I found you. When I examined you, you had a deep stab wound in your forearm, a bit of head trauma due to a gash on your head, severely bruised ribs, and a profusely bleeding bullet wound. With those injuries, you should not have been able to even stand a chance against, let alone win. You should have been killed back there. But despite that, you, on your own, managed to single-handedly kill six of my own with those injuries. You didn't win off luck. It was skill, determination, and more importantly, strength that won you that fight. We can use some of that here."
"Well, to be fair, I ran up and got the jump on three of them and made one of them get killed by friendly fire. It wasn't until the last two that I got my other injuries. But aside from that, your people killed my best friend. He was my family. They deserved everything that happened to them for what they did." I answer coldly with little remorse in my voice.
"Look, kid. I saw the body of your dog back there and honestly, he was on his last leg anyway. He wouldn't have lasted for another 2 days. It's survival of the fittest in this world. And if you're too weak, then you are deemed unfit to live." She says harshly.
"Screw. You." I say struggling to keep it together as I start to feel the rage returning.
"I suggest you watch your mouth, boy." She says, asserting her dominance in the situation. "Trust me when I say I am one of the last people on Remnant you want to make enemies of, let alone piss off. I may not seem like it on the outside, but I'm honestly already angry enough as it is. I didn't kill you then, but that doesn't mean I can't have a change of heart. If you're even in the slightest aware of the situation you're in, then I suggest you get a grip and listen to the ultimatum I am about to generously offer you."
"An ultimatum?" I ask with a hint of curiosity, but still feeling the anger that was rising in me.
"Yes. Would you care to hear it?" Raven offers as she gets down to a knee.
"Do either of my options involve ending you and your whole stupid tribe?"
With that, Raven's expression instantly became colder and irritated as she simply stood back up. Next thing you know, I then feel a swift kick to my gut, but missing where I was shot and bandaged and I was immediately sent into the other side of the cage hitting the bars hard and causing a loud metallic clang to ring before I hit the ground, face first, unable to breathe for a few seconds.
"One more and I kill you, right here, right now." Raven said coldly. "Do I make myself clear?"
I'd respond, but I'm too busy trying to take a breath. She then continues:
"When I found you, I noticed that your injuries were not only severe, but they would have been fatal if left untreated, which is primarily why I brought you here and saved you. However, your wounds (judging from how they looked) should not be healed for a while. Putting that aside for a second, I also noticed on you a letter and map. Although it was mostly covered in blood, I could make out the name 'Kuroyuri'. That's where you were originally headed, weren't you?"
I reluctantly nodded my head yes. "What do those have to do with each other?" I struggle to ask, getting to my feet.
"Well, with your injuries and the weather quickly becoming colder as Winter is just around the corner, there is no way you'd be able to make it in your condition. If you escape or I release you (for whatever reason), you will die before you will have even made it. That is a guarantee. You won't last very long out there and it will be pointless and your life and whatever potential you may have will be wasted and gone.
"But, luckily for you, you ended up in the best (and only) place you could be from where I found you since (as I said) you had what would have been fatal injuries and we were the only ones close enough to help you. Perhaps you can be of use to us the same we were of use to you when we saved you. You know the old saying: 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours'."
"What exactly do you mean?" I ask trying to figure her out
"You have two choices: choice 1: I release you and take you back where I found you and you can go on your merry way and die trying to reach Kuroyuri (which you will, especially if you try anything funny where I may have to end you myself in case of the event of choice one occurring). Or choice 2: you accept my offer to become a part of my tribe and we take you in and give you a place to stay."
"So my options are essentially join or die." I say walking back over to her.
"Look at it whichever way you want. I've given you your choices and you now know what happens depending on which one you choose. You are in control of your fate and your future right now. I'm leaving it in your hands." She says as she turns without saying another word.
"You're insane if you think I'll join a bunch of thieves and killers like you! Unlike you, I still have my humanity and I'm not going to sell it out to the likes of you!" I blurt out while standing against the bars. Raven then stopped dead in her tracks, her back still to me.
"Killers? Humanity?!" She says with a chuckle as she turns and walks over to me and grabs my collar before forcefully pulling me into the bars, which caused another metallic clang and catching me by surprise. "Really?! You want to call us killers? You want to preach and lecture me about your humanity? Coming from the kid who literally just this morning, ran up to and brutally murdered six of my own- unprovoked I might add! Tell me, what did you have to gain to run up and kill them? Huh? Who's life was on the line that inclined you to run out and butcher them the way you did? Surely it wasn't yours since you admitted to being the aggressor and I know damn well it wasn't your dog since he was already dead! What you did was not out of self-defense. It was nothing more than malicious revenge! It was murder! Not to mention how little remorse you showed me when talking about killing them and going on to threaten my tribe—my family—to my face! So tell me, if we're killers with no humanity, then what the fuck do you think that makes you? Huh?! You're every bit the things you say we are. The only difference is your standing on a pedestal and pretending like you're any better and I've just kicked that pedestal from under you. So get off your high horse because you're just as dirty as the rest of us and all you've done and said just further emphasizes my point. So don't go preaching and running your mouth like you're any better when your actions clearly say otherwise!"
With that, she releases in a shove, causing me to fall on my back, as I was taken aback by her words with nothing to respond with. She then continues with a calmer tone sort of lecturing tone:
"When I came to that clearing and saw you repeatedly stabbing one of my own and then proceeded to shoot the other one right in front of me, I'd be lying if I said that didn't piss me off to no end, almost to the point of killing you. But when I turned my head and got a good look at your eyes, I saw what you are capable of. I saw strength in those eyes. And that means that you do have what it takes to be a part of us… so long as you're willing. I knew you were something too valuable to pass up. I have never met someone like you before. You're someone who isn't afraid to do whatever it takes to survive. You have the blood of a true survivor coursing through your veins. I know it."
She then turns and begins to walk away, but then stops and looks back at me.
"Here's another thing: don't piss me off again. My offer still stands, but just know you're already on thin ice with me. You have until the 19th to think it over and make your decision. In the meantime, you will be given food and drink. This is your second chance. If I were you, I wouldn't waste it."
On that note, she turns and continues walking away, leaving me to the company of my own thoughts.
"I'll never join a band of low-lives like them. I'd rather take my chances in the wilderness- even if it does mean death. But about what she said, is she actually right? About me being a killer with no humanity? Being just like them? I can't be! There's no way! But then again, what if she is. After all, I can't deny that was pure, unadulterated rage vengeance back there that was driving me and nothing else. I was the aggressor in that altercation who charged in and fought with the intent to kill. But they killed Bruno. They took the last thing I had left in this messed up world. The one thing that kept me together. I- I can't be one of them. Right?"
I eventually just let out a long, exasperated sigh. I have a lot to think about until the 19th.
. . .
It's getting pretty dark since Raven gave me her ultimatum about a couple hours ago. The bright sky was quickly transitioning from a purple haze to a pitch black as the moon and stars gradually made their presence known. It's also gotten a bit colder too. Just then, a sudden breeze hit me and caused my whole body to shiver. Raven wasn't kidding about the cold! I wish I had some blankets or somethi- my thoughts were then interrupted by a low, deep growl. Instinctively, I put my hands up to defend myself only to realize that it turned out to be my stomach groaning, making me look ridiculous.
"I wonder when my food that Raven talked about is coming. I haven't eaten anything all day yet." I begin to think out loud. Raven did say I'd be getting food and drink right? I guess she never really did say when though.
"I swear to the gods if my food turns out to just be a few crumbs on a plate, I am going to take this rock and beam it at the ser-" I catch myself mid-sentence as I notice the sudden appearance of someone a few yards from the cage. I look and see that it is that purple haired girl from earlier. How long was she standing there? Did she hear me? Judging from the nervous look on her face, she might have heard me.
"-ver." I say more quietly as I finish my thoughts. I then look down and notice that she's carrying something in her hands. It looks like some sort of tray. And smells like...food! Finally! I'm starving. It took a few seconds before she decided to speak up.
"U-um. I was told to bring you your food." She says a bit timidly with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
Just her presentation alone makes her seem nothing like the others here or the ones I encountered this morning. There is no way she's a bandit. Right? I literally will not believe it if she actually is.
She slowly walks over and bends down to slide the plate and cup between the bars. I couldn't exactly tell what was in the cup due to the light, but it smelled a bit like tea. I could feel the heat radiating from it, slightly warming my legs as it sat next to me. It feels very nice. I bet if I had a bunch of these things they would warm me right up from the heat they give off. But I guess a blanket would be just as useful… and not as wasteful… and more efficient.
"I made sure to heat it up a bit more for you on my way here. It should keep you warm for a bit, especially in this weather." She says, informing me of her good deed. "But let it cool a bit first. I may have overdone it a bit." She added.
"Thanks for the warning I guess." I thought to myself.
Though she seems a bit timid, she's also surprisingly polite. Not to mention she also has a bit of a warm and friendly demeanor about her. I don't trust it. Not one bit.
I didn't feel like talking to anyone right now after the day I've had, so I just nodded in assurance that I'll heed her advice. I then take a look down at my plate, which consisted of a small loaf of bread, some corn on the cob (which I assume was stolen since this is clearly not an area where it would grow), some small pieces of potatoes and mushrooms, and a small chunk of meat. I wonder how many people they killed for this. But I can't deny it all smelled really good though (especially considering how hungry I am). But I had a growing concern regarding the meat.
"What is this meat made of?" I ask in a suspicious tone.
"Relax. It's just rabbit haunch. It's not your dog, I promise." She says to reassure me.
"Well that's a relie- wait! She knows!"
I looked at her with a confused and suspicious expression.
"How did you-?"
"Raven told me everything. As well as the offer she gave you." She says, cutting me off.
"What?! I thought Raven said she didn't tell anyone!"
"I was told by Raven that she gave you all a different story. How many of you know?" I say, quickly growing alarmed as I asked my question.
"Just me." She answered. "I promised Raven that I'd keep it a secret."
I don't entirely doubt that judging from how she presents herself, but I can't help but be skeptical and on edge given the fact I know literally nothing about this girl. Not to mention she is probably one of them.
"And why should I believe you?" I ask with a suspicious tone.
"Because (knowing her) if I couldn't be trusted with this information, Raven would not have given it to me in the first place. And besides, even if I were to tell anyone, I know for a fact that this entire tribe would come crashing down on you wanting your head on a pike by now and all that anger cluttered into one area would essentially make this place a hot spot for grimm. So please trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about." She explained.
"Fine. Whatever." I say reluctantly letting it go with no choice but to hope she keeps her word after giving a stressed sigh before I reach for my food to finally start eating.
"So..." She continues. "Do you have a name?" She asks curiously as she sits down, legs crossed in front of me and leaning back on her palms, the only thing in between us being the bars.
"What is she doing?" I thought. "Why is she still here? Doesn't she have anywhere else to be right now? I want nothing to do with these people. Maybe if I'll stay silent and ignore her she'll get the hint and just go away."
"Oookay. So this is the tone we're going with." She says quietly to herself due to the awkwardness I created with my silence. Maybe she got the message and is leaving now. "I'll go first then..."
"Dammit! I thought to myself.
"I'm Mari." She says holding out her hand in between the bars for me to shake.
I ignore it and continue to stay silent, hoping she would catch on.
"Okay then. That was supposed to be your cue to tell me your name." She says, trying to persuade me to speak.
"Damn, she's persistent!" It's clear that she's not going anywhere at this point or has nothing better to do. I guess I have no choice but to acquiesce to her pestering.
"Simin." I respond quietly with a bit of annoyance in my tone.
"Simin, huh? That's a nice name." She compliments. "Can I call you Sim for short-?"
"No." I immediately say coldly, cutting her off.
"Well… um… it's nice to meet you, Simin." She says as she holds out her hand again to me.
She's up to something. I just know it.
"What do you want?" I ask as if I were a criminal about to be interrogated by a detective.
"Nothing." She says. "I just… wanted to get to know you is all." The way she said that sounds like that's not all.
"Sure." I say in a sarcastic tone.
"And... I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry to hear about everything that happened today." She admitted.
Is she serious right now?
" 'Sorry'? You're sorry?" I say, not buying her genuineness.
"Yes. I am so-"
"Do you have any idea what I've been through today?! What I've been through every day for the past month and a half? Do you have any idea what I've lost? My family is dead. My home is gone. My best friend is dead. I lost the last bit of family and the only thing I had left in this world. I have nothing now. Nothing! And you people are the ones who took the last thing I had away from me! So don't tell me you're sorry! 'Sorry' won't change anything! 'Sorry' won't give me Bruno back!"
"Simin, what happened to you was unfortunate, but look at it this way: the people who killed your dog are now dead. We aren't them. So why are you holding a grudge against all of us and holding us all accountable for their actions? We didn't kill your dog. They did." Mari says trying to reason with me as I grew silent.
"Look…" She continues. "…you're not thinking straight right now. Just please try to look past this and give us a chance, Simin. Think about it: If you refuse Raven's offer, you will be sent back out into the wilderness and you will die out there, especially with Winter not that far away. You do realize that right? But if you join us, not only will you be able to live, but we could be a new family for you. We can give you a new life here." She holds out her hand again hoping I would accept.
I'm sorry, what? Who does she think she is, talking like these scumbags can just replace the family that I lost. Replace the life that I lost. Replace everything!. As if they could give me everything I ever wanted. That is something being offered that I don't believe can be provided and I refuse to hear any of it.
"So? What do you say?" She asks.
Having heard enough I decide to fall silent again and ignore her. Mari didn't know how to respond to my silence anymore as it looked like she was thinking to herself. Suddenly her face lit up a bit as if an idea had just come to her head.
"I… wanted to give you something. I was hoping it might help." She says as she reaches her pale hand behind her.
Curious, I move my eyes up while Mari reaches behind her for something. As she starts to pull whatever it is out, I could see that it had some red on it as it emerged from behind her. see Mari reach behind her, she pulls out what she wanted to give me. As soon as she pulled it out, I was instantly hit with a heavy feeling of grief as she pulled out a red cloth. And it wasn't just any red cloth either. It was Bruno's bandana.
She then spoke up.
"After Raven and I treated you and she put you in here, that was when I asked her what happened and she told me. She then took me back to the scene where it happened and we buried the bodies… all the bodies. That includes your dog. Before we left, I took the bandana from your dog's neck, with the intent on giving it to you hoping it would help in any way. So… yeah. Here you go."
Mari then takes the bandana and places it in front of me in the cage. Upon seeing the bandana, I could see that the diamond pattern was gone and was completely covered in his blood. Upon seeing that, a surge of many different emotions hit me at once- none of them good. The emotion I felt the most was the anger I felt when I saw his body. Though not as much as last time, it was still enough to make me irate.
"Go away." I say quietly and coldly.
"What was that?" She said leaning closer as she couldn't hear me.
"I said go away." I repeat slightly louder, while struggling to grip onto my composure.
"Simin, I didn't mean-"
"I said...GO AWAY!" I yell at her, completely out of patience, as I pick up the rock I noted from earlier and beam it at her as it bounced off her forehead, leaving a decent sized bump in its place. Mari was knocked back with a surprised and startled yelp due to both the force of the rock hitting her and the suddenness of my outburst startling her. She fell on her back and proceeded to hold her hand to her forehead with visible pain on her face as she took a few sharp breaths. After she recollected herself, she then simply stood up before turning around. As she did so, though it was hard for me to see due to the dim light and her hand covering part of her face, I could barely make out the disappointed, saddened expression on her face.
"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to upset you. I'll leave you alone." She says with much disappointment and in her voice.
She then quickly walked away with her head down without even making so much as a peep. After she was gone, I go back to eating my food. Eventually, I look over to Bruno's blood-stained bandana and touch it. After feeling the softness of the cloth, the urge to cry comes up.
"Dammit!" I think to myself as I bite down hard on my cheek. "You've shed enough tears already." I bite so hard on my cheek that I could eventually taste blood.
Eventually the urge to cry passes as the pain was enough to distract me as I go back to eating my food. I then look over at my tea, which was still warm. She really meant it when she said she heated it up. I pick up the tea with my uninjured arm, wrapping Bruno's bandana around the cup so I don't burn my fingers, and drink it after giving it a few blows and place it on the plate. It didn't take long for me to finish my food and tea as I pushed the plate and cup aside. Now that I had calmed down from a few minutes ago, I then curled up into a fetal position as I slowly laid back down with my back against the cold bars. I then grab Bruno's bandana and hold it close against my chest as it was the only thing that brought me any kind of comfort on this cold night.
*CHAPTER END*
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Hey everyone! I don't really have a whole lot to say here, so I will try to keep this brief. But before I say anything, I just wanted to say that I've made a twitter account (I actually made it a while back, but I never really used it for anything other than to get permission to write this fanfic). I'm only really going to use it to give small updates on where I am in the writing process of the fanfic (which you will probably see more of whenever I go on hiatus once finishing a volume) as well as maybe answer questions regarding the fanfic in case anyone has any. However, I will be avoiding or be very vague toward questions that require me to give spoiler answers since I don't want to spoil anything. You can find the link on my profile. However, I might recommend copying and pasting to use it because I couldn't figure out how to get it to work. I'm technologically inept. I will also post it in the reviews section as well just in case.
Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, we are officially in Act 3. Prepare for lots and lots of dialogue because there will be a lot of that here. I know I sound like a broken record here since this is about the third time I've brought this up. This was probably the hardest one for me to write since I needed to get comfortable writing dialogue so I put a lot of that here.
Moving onto Simin, we now have a good idea of his new situation and we also pretty much see how far he's fallen. This act is essentially going to be about how he will start to bounce back from this and start to rebuild himself. Also yeah, Simin does not think highly of bandits and has a very low opinion on them.
Also regarding new characters, we're going to meet some more oc's of mine. We've just been introduced to Mari and we will be meeting a few more in this volume as well. The other's aren't really huge characters, but I hope you will like them.
I think out of all the characters I've written, created, or handled in this fanfic (more specifically this volume), Raven was probably my favorite. I really hope you like what I do with her. My goal here is to pretty much capture how she was in the series and see what I can do to maybe improve and build on it. I want to stay faithful to the character, but also capitalize on it. I also want to do some of my own things as well that would still fall within her character as well. By the way, there is another reason that Raven let Simin live, but we won't find that out until much later in this volume. Anyway, I think that's pretty much it. No crazy long essay this time! Yay! Anyway, here's fun fact #9:
Fun fact #9:Mari's design may or may not be inspired by and based off the design of my favorite DDLC (Doki Doki Literature Club) character, Yuri. but with a few changes and alterations (the biggest differences being how Yuri has purple eyes while Mari has green eyes and that Yuri wears a sweater while Mari wears an open wool jacket, etc.) I also subtly reference Yuri by putting a lily in Mari's hair, which (for those who don't know) Yuri means lily in Japanese (or at least according to google translate)