Memories

By Dixxy

Chapter Six: Caught

Glenn didn't know just how long he'd been wandering around the building he'd been trapped it, but it felt like forever. He hadn't been able to find an exit, which was bad. But on a good note, he hadn't found Curtis or any of his friends or any other men in the Porre army. So far he was having some pretty good luck with his current situation.

The building he was in was very, very big with many twists and turns in the hallway. Glenn knew that he was getting himself lost, but he had to find a way out and staying in that smelly dungeon wasn't going to help him find an escape. There weren't many doors, but Glenn didn't want to open any and draw attention to himself. He hadn't seen any windows, so he guessed that he was pretty deep inside the building. If he wasn't, he might've seen a window by now.

Unless they don't have windows here, he thought miserably.

He heard footsteps and silently began to panic. What if it was Curtis! Taking a leap of faith, he opened a door and closed it part of the way, looking out of it to see if he could see anyone. He saw a few guards walk by, talking about "hookers" that they'd "done". Glenn didn't know what hookers were, but they sounded like they must've had a lot of hooks- maybe they were fishing lures? He'd ask his father or Dario about that later. Still, what did the men mean by "doing" them? These Porre soldiers are weird. . .

Glenn heard his stomach rumble. He frowned. He hadn't eaten anything all day and he was pretty hungry. Well. . . it wouldn't hurt to find the kitchen and steal some food so I can eat something. While Glenn knew that stealing food was bad (this was a lesson learned at an earlier age when an infuriated Orcha chased him out of the Viper Manor mess hall), he could make an acceptation here. After all, they'd kidnapped him, and kidnapping was basically stealing a person, right? So it was fair. They stole him? He'd steal their food.

The little boy sniffed the air every so often, looking for the smell of food, all the while continuing to avoid guards and anybody else he came across. Once he stepped on a cat's tail. The cat didn't like that very much and screamed. Glenn could hear some men yelling about shutting the stupid cat up, and he had to just about dive into a closet to keep from being spotted.

Eventually, he nose caught something that smelled like food. He followed the scent to an open door. He carefully looked in and saw what was definitely a kitchen. He quietly tip-toed in. There was a very large woman standing over a pot of some kind of a soup. Glenn bit his lip, trying to remain quiet. He carefully got past her and hid behind several large sacks of flour.

Soon, the woman took the pot off the stove and carried it out of the kitchen, presumably taking it out of the kitchen to feed the Porre soldiers. Seeing that the coast was clear, Glenn came out of hiding and started looking for food. He saw a few loaves of bread by the stove and grabbed one. He stared at it greedily. It wasn't much, but it was better than going hungry.

Glenn looked around. That woman could show up any minute. He spotted a door that was slightly ajar. Glenn walked over to the door and looked inside. Barrels of raw fruits and vegetables lined the room as well as sacks of grains, sugar, and salt. Jars of jams and sauces were also in the room. A pantry, the boy concluded.

The boy slipped inside and found a safe spot within the barrels. He began to tear away at the bread, trying to come up with a plan of escape. Unfortunately with only five years to his name, he didn't have much knowledge to work off of. He couldn't read yet and he wasn't clever enough to set off what Karsh called "chain reactions", which were things that Karsh liked to set off a lot. The only thing Glenn knew about those were that they made a big mess and Karsh got in trouble for using them. In fact, the last one he'd used got him grounded for a whole two months.

He heard a voice outside the door and shrank back into his hiding spot. Maybe if he was really quiet they wouldn't find him. He watched as two men walked in, both of them in Porre uniforms like the ones that Curtis' friends had been wearing. But thanks to the helmets, there was no way for Glenn to tell if either of them was involved with Curtis. He bit his lip. Just stay calm and don't make a sound. Don't move a muscle.

One of the men sat one of the barrels Glenn was hiding behind, but since the man had his back to the small boy, he didn't see him. "So, what do you think about that new tank that they unveiled this after? Pretty cool, huh? What will the guys down at the lab come up with next, a cyborg?" said the man on the barrel. "That thing is incredible!"

"Yeah, sure," said the other man. "But that tank is something else. I talked with some of those guys. They believe the tank is indestructible. I don't know how they did it or where they got the material for it, but I think they're right- I shot at it with my gun and it didn't even leave a dent! That thing is something else, ya know?"

"I hope I get a chance to drive it. I could run right over Truce and Guardia with that thing. Heck, I'll run over those El Nido freaks, too!" said the man on the barrel. He laughed. He cleared his throat. "Speaking of the El Nido Dragoons, you hear what Commander Curtis pulled off today?"

"No, I didn't, what did he do, Marty?"
"Curtis got on the ship posing as a new sailor so he could spy on the royalty and the general. Well, they weren't talking about the war effort, so he needed to come up with a better plan. Turns out the Devas and the General all brought their kids on the ship they took to get to Truce," said the man, now named Marty. "He found one of them out WAY past his bedtime, flashed us the signal in that signal code with some fancy lighting trick, and tricked him into coming off the boat with him. He brought the shrimp to me and the boys. He almost got away, but we smacked him with one of those element things. Now if the Deva wants his brat back, he has to pull out."

"One Deva out of commission? What the hell does that do for us?"

"It was GARAI'S son. Garai is the leader of the Devas and the one who welds that Einlanzer sword- you know, the silver sword that has power to rival the Masamune? Going up against the Masamune is going to be tough enough- you want to go up against that thing, too? If he doesn't fight with Guardia and the Dragoons, then the odds go up in our favor. No Einlanzer, no problem," said Marty. He snickered, leaning back towards the wall, bracing himself with an extended arm. Glenn held his breath. If Marty fell, he was done. "Curtis is brilliant."

"Yeah! I think, anyways. . ."

Apparently, Marty wasn't happy with the comment and he got upset. "You're not paid to think, you're paid to fight, you dumb- AHH!" Marty had apparently gotten REALLY upset and started to move around, which caused him to loose his balance and fall backwards- right into Glenn! "What the hell- YOU? HOW DID YOU GET OUT?"
Glenn screamed and climbed on top of Marty, managed to step on a very tender part of the male anatomy. Marty screamed in pain then curled into a ball, trying to nullify the very painful and unpleasant sensation that had come over him. Not really caring what happened to Marty, Glenn made a bee-line for the door. The other soldier, however, was a little faster than Glenn and dove down on top of him, locking the small child in a bear hug.

"Got ya, ya little- AHHH! LITTLE SON OF A BITCH!" Glenn broke away from the soldier as the man nursed his bare arm, which the small child had just bitten. "I SWEAR I'M GOING TO GET YOU FOR THAT ONE YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF CRAP! I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"

Glenn started to run down the halls. They knew he was out now- no sense in hiding anymore, they'd just find him again. He darted past several soldiers and servants, some of them realizing that he was the escaped hostage. Before long, Glenn found himself with at least ten people on his tail, and still no sign of an exit.

CRASH!

Glenn found himself suddenly on his bottom, looking up at Curtis, who was now dressed in a Porre uniform. He screamed, only to receive a kick in the side for his effort. The Porre Commander advanced on the child, barking at everyone to back on. "This one is MINE," he said, grabbing Glenn roughly by the shoulder. He sneered at the little boy, causing him to try and shrink away from the now VERY scary man. "I don't know how you escaped, but you're in trouble now, little one."

After an incident with a cat, a dog, a trash can, and something flammable, Dario and Karsh were now very much awake again and wandering the streets of Porre. It was night time, everyone was probably asleep, and that would probably be the best time to try and rescue Glenn, anyways.

"So, which building is he in, Karsh?" asked Dario.

"How should ah know?" asked Karsh.

"Good point," said Dario. "Okay, what's your best guess?"
Karsh scratched his head, looking around. "Ah'd say one of those big gray ones."

Dario nodded. "So that narrows it down to about three, maybe four buildings," he said, sighing heavily. "We're doomed. There's no way we'll ever find him in the strange city! Those buildings are all so big! What if while we're searching through three of those buildings he's being hurt in the fourth one!"

"Calm down, Dario!" said Karsh, putting his hands on his friend's shoulders. "We'll find yer little brother before something bad happens to em. Before ye know it we'll be back home and he'll be trying to get in our way like he always does, ye hear me? He'll be fine."

Dario nodded, taking in a few deep breaths. "You're right. He'll be-"

"Hey!"

"AHH!" Both boys began to scream and run around needlessly in circle, eventually crashing into each other. "OOF!" Once they had gotten over their brief dizzy spell, they looked up to see a boy around their age looking down at them. He had blonde hair with a slight hint of green that had been neatly combed to one side. Dario and Karsh exchanged looks with one another.

"What're you doing out at this hour?" the newcomer asked.

Karsh stood up, brushing himself off. "Oh yeah? What're YOU doing out?"

"I asked you first!"

"Well now ahm asking you!"

"Karsh, cut it out!" said Dario. He then turned to the boy. "Who are you?"

"Like you care," said the boy.

Karsh glared at him. So, the newcomer has a name. . . I'll remember that. But why do I get the feeling that there's more to this guy than meets the eye? Ha! Good one, Karsh, he's just some stupid Porre kid that you'll probably never lay eyes on ever again and you know it!

"Well, my name's Dario and this is Karsh," said Dario. "Now who are you?"

The other boy glared at them. "You know, my father is a high ranking commander in the Porre military," he threatened. "I can get you in big trouble if you keep this up, you know. Your parents will have a fit if they were to find our you were sneaking out late at night."

Karsh snorted. "First off, aren't ye doing the sing thing?"

The other boy paused. "Well. . . I. . . um-"

Dario grinned. "And what kind of a wuss are you if you have to have your old man fight all of your battles?" he said. "Face it, you're a coward and you know it. Threatening to turn in those committing the same crime you are and hiding behind your daddy. What a guy!"

"Well, well, my dad is Commander Curtis!" he said.

"Again with yer- did ye say CURTIS?" asked Karsh.

"Yeah, that's right!" said the kid. "I see you've heard of him."

"Yeah we have all right- he kidnapped my baby brother!" said Dario.

The Porre boy looked between the two other boys and started to laugh. "Oh, that's a good one. My dad is a respectable officer in the Porre army- why would he go after some little dipstick when he can go after a Guardia general or even one of those El Nido guys," he said.

Karsh growled, grabbed the other boy's shirt collar, and pushed him into the wall. He placed his face in the other boy's face, growling. "Look. We happen to be the sons of two of the Acacia Dragoon Devas, ye got that? He took Glenn to taunt his old man into not fighting."

"You're-!" the other boy started before Karsh clamped a hand over his mouth.

"I'll kick yer butt so hard ye'll-"

"Karsh! Shut up!" said Dario. He turned to the other boy. "Look. My little brother is only five. If you aren't lying about Curtis being your father, then he lured my brother off of our boat and into his hands. He's only five years old and he's probably scared to death. What has a five year old done against Porre? Tell me that. What harm has a five year old who is probably a lot like you were when you were his age done?"

The other boy blinked, looking thoughtful. Karsh let him go and the boy fell to his knees. Karsh and Dario surrounded their prisoner. Their captive stared at the ground, seeming to try and absorb the words that they'd told him, trying to decide if he believed their story. The boy looked up at them, then sighed. "May I stand?" The other two shook their heads no, not wanting this boy to try anything funny. "You really must be after your brother- you two sound desperate." He looked over at one of the stone buildings. "He should be in there if he's anywhere."

Karsh looked over at the building. "All right. So we git ourselves in there."

"It's impenetrable if you don't know the way in," said the other boy.

"What's the way in?" asked Dario.

"I can show you how to get in."

"How can we trust you not to turn us in?" asked Dario.

"Well. . ." said the other boy, "I don't think it's right for my father to have done something like that to a five year old. He's always been very protective of me and I remember what he and my mom looked like when I disappeared on them once when I was a kid. My mother was in crying hysterics and my father looked beside himself. His parents must be in a similar state."

"I bet yer dad's in horrible shape," said Karsh.

Dario nodded. "My mother died just a few months ago and he's still healing from that."

The other boy looked away. "I wouldn't want Guardia or El Nido taking my son because I was from Porre. And how would my father feel in your father's shoes? Pretty awful, right?" He looked down. "I don't know much about war, but I don't think that it's right. I mean, you say he's five."

"Yes! He doesn't mean anyone any harm!" said Dario.

The other boy finally nodded, sighing in exasperation as he threw his hands into the air. "All right. I don't know WHY I'm helping you, but I'll tell you one thing right now- you are from El Nido, I am from Porre. I'm only helping you because if you speak the truth this is wrong on too many levels for me to ignore- we're trained in school to fight with honor and dignity and I see no way that kidnapping an innocent child counts as an honorable act."

Dario held out his hand, shaking the other boy's hand. "Deal. And your name is?"

"Oh. My name is Norris."