Otherworld Year Three: Chapter 2



"What a day, huh?" Gabe said wearily, leaning against the doorway of the workshop.

"Mmm." Auron mumbled, his glasses pushed up to his brow from their customary place on the bridge of his nose, to protect his eye from the honing wheel.

A shower of hot sparks fanned out, accompanied by the high pitched whine of metal meeting stone, as he brought the blade of the short sword to the rapidly spinning disc. He turned the blade deftly in his hands, its dull edge beginning to gleam once again with razor sharpness. Turning the wheel off, he reached across the workbench for the polishing cloth, and began to buff the steel of the sword to a high shine.

Gabe watched him work in silence, and when Auron eventually let out a small grunt of approval as he examined his work, finally spoke. "Let's close up Auron... Sahna's expecting us for supper, and I want to take a nice long shower before we go."

Auron was silent for a moment, then caught Gabe completely off guard with his question... "Do you ever intend to tell her Gabe?"

"Tell her? What do you..." Then Gabe stopped himself, realizing it was foolish to feign ignorance.

"Aw man, I don't know. Every time I think I've worked up the courage, I wimp-out... it's pathetic, isn't it?" Gabe replied miserably.

A sympathetic smile touched the corners of Auron's mouth. Then he surprised Gabe again with his reply... "Your feelings for her should not remain unspoken. Life is... fleeting." He finished, a note of sadness in his voice.

Gabe brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head, smiling sheepishly... "You're right Auron, you're absolutely right... perhaps it is time I fish or cut-bait."

************

They made their way down the road to Sahna's in silence... each of them lost in their own thoughts, as the last rays of the sun glowed against the cityscape, setting its facade on fire with the reflected colors.

Then Auron's head came up sharply, his brow furrowing, as he recognized the figure of Sahna... hurrying toward them in the rapidly fading light. The two men exchanged a look, then quickened their pace to meet her.

"What is it?" Auron asked in concern, noting Sahna's agitated bearing.

"Have you seen Remie? I thought he might be with you... I sent him to the market hours ago and he hasn't returned. I've looked everywhere." Sahna said, a look of panic rising in her face.

************

When they reached the incline that led down to Sahna's house, Auron turned to Gabe... "Remain here with Sahna, in the event Remie returns home, I will search." As he turned back to continue up the road.

"No. I'm going with you." Gabe said, starting after him.

"Please do as I ask Gabe, she needs you with her. I will find the boy... I give you my word."

Gabe looked at Sahna, intending to follow her wishes, and no one else's. She silently nodded her consent, looking at Auron in complete trust. That was good enough for him, he supposed. "Alright. But if you're not back within two hours time, I'm coming after."

Auron didn't reply, but merely wheeled and disappeared rapidly into the growing darkness.

************

Auron had been searching for over an hour, asking everyone he passed, if they had seen the boy. He had completed a thorough search of all the shops as well, with no sign of Remie.

Coming to the end of the marketplace, he scanned the buildings just past it, then turned to start back the other way, when he caught sight of what at first appeared to be merely some refuse thrown against the outer wall of the last shop in the row. Then his heart began to beat faster, as he recognized one of Remie's shoes.

No... not this. He ran to the side of the building and knelt, looking down, hissing a sharp intake of breath through his teeth.

It was Remie... laying on his side, blood oozing from his badly cut mouth. Someone had beaten him. His right eye was swollen shut, his face on that side swollen as well, and his arms were covered in large dark bruises, just beginning to form beneath the skin.

Auron gently gathered Remie up in his arms, trying to move him as little as possible. Remie cried out then, his eyes flying open in terror as he began to struggle... trying to free himself from Auron's arms.

"Remie, it is I." Auron said, bringing his hand up beside the boy's face, trying to still him. "Auron?" Remie said in a small voice, quieting down.

"Yes. I have you safe now. I am taking you home." Auron said softly, as he began to walk as quickly as he could without jarring the boy.

"Auron... they took all the gil... I tried to..." Then silence.

Auron stopped, looking down at Remie... his heart once again a trip-hammer. But Remie had merely passed out, his breathing shallow but steady in his small chest, as Auron pressed his ear there to listen.

Auron looked up to the sky, closing his eye, then started away again... quickening his pace.

************

Sahna stood next to Gabe, his arm around her, as Auron came through the door with Remie's still form in his arms.

Auron moved to the couch and gently lowered the boy to lay him there. "Auron... is he..." Sahna started, then stopped, her voice choking off. "No. But he has been beaten badly." Auron said, looking at her, his face a mask of disgust and outrage.

Sahna lowered herself beside Remie on the couch and brushed her hand through his hair. She was shaking uncontrollably, and Gabe wanted very badly to go to her and hold her... but the immediate concern was Remie. "I'll get the healing supplies." Gabe said in a barely controlled tone, as he walked down the hallway to the bathroom.

"Remie? Honey?" Sahna pleaded, stroking his hair. Remie moaned and turned his head towards the sound of her voice... "Mom?"

"I'm here Remie, I'm here, you're going to be alright honey, just stay still."

"Who did this?" Auron asked Remie, in as gentle a voice as he could manage.

Remie answered haltingly through his painfully swollen lips... "Three men, two older, one younger. One of the older ones... he had dark hair and a red and white striped shirt, the younger one had a big tatoo on his arm... I remember seeing it when he... when he hit me... mom, they took all the gil... I'm sorry, I tried... and then he could be brave no more, and began to weep... deep wracking sobs of shame and pain.

"Shhh baby, quiet now." Sahna said, pulling Remie to her and rocking him, tears streaming down her face.

She heard Auron moving behind her, and looked up to see him going through the front door. "Auron! No! Wait!" She cried, as Gabe hurried back into the room with the supplies, looking from her face to the door. "Gabe, go after him, please, I think he intends to..." She trailed off, afraid to finish her thought.

"Damnit!" Gabe swore, not wanting to leave her, but knowing he had to stop Auron before he did something that would land him in the Zanarkand jail for the next thirty years. "Will you be alright?" He asked her through clenched teeth. "Yes, go." She replied simply, nodding her head.

Gabe hurried up the roadway, peering ahead into the dark, looking for Auron's telltale robe... but there was no sign of him. How had the man gotten so far ahead of him so fast? "Shit!" Gabe swore again, breaking into a run.

************

Auron was filled with a quiet rage, as his long strides took him quickly down the walkway of the marketplace... his eye scanning the aisles and shop windows for the men Remie had described.

Maybe it was partly for Sahna, or maybe it was partly for himself... but they had better pray he did not find them. They had taken Remie's innocence from him, and he intended to make them pay dearly for it.

************

The man in the striped shirt stood at the bar, downing the last of his ale, and wiped a sleeve across his mouth.

That wussy-idiot Zeb had decided to beat a hasty retreat after their rewarding little escapade, but Borda was still here... leaning against the back wall, doing his best to convince one of the barmaids that he was the greatest lover in all of frigging Zanarkand. Sneering at Borda, he turned to the barkeep... "Another." He growled, as he heard someone roughly shoving through the swinging metal doors of the tavern.

He turned to see a muscular looking guy with a seriously messed up face scanning the room, then stopping as his eye found your's truly. What the frig now? He wondered.

Auron recognized the man at the bar from Remie's description. Wasting no time, he moved toward him... knocking a small table and several chairs out of his way. Then reaching out, he grabbed the surprised man by the front of his shirt with one arm, and swung him around to slam him up against the opposite wall from the bar. And just to make sure he had his full attention, Auron drew him back and bounced his head off the wall a second time, as he brought his face to within an inch of the man's own.

"Would you care to return what you took now? Or would you prefer I retrieve it myself, after I've shown you your entrails... you worthless piece of shit." Auron said, his eye a burning flame in his face.

"Here now! I'll have none of that!" Yelled the barkeep, as he watched the patrons scrambling to get out of the way in anticipation of what came next. He watched in growing dismay, as Borda approached the back of the strange madman, obviously intending to beat his brains in.

Auron heard the shuffling movement behind him, and turned his head to see the tattooed man advancing on him, as he pulled a cudgel from his pocket... a feral snarl curling his lips back from his teeth.

Auron simply waited until the man was within range and brought his boot up in a side kick... striking the man with brutal force across his windpipe. The man's eyes bugged out, his tongue protruding from his open mouth, as he flew back against the bar and dropped to the floor in a boneless heap.

Turning his attention back to the man against the wall, Auron offered him a chilling smile, as the terrified man began to whimper and thrash in his grasp... his feet swimming in the air above the floor, the veins along Auron's forearm distending, as he tightened his grip.

The barkeep, moaning in frustration, looked up then to see a giant blonde man burst through the door of the tavern and quickly move toward the crazy bastard in red. Good-night, he thought, this was going from bad to worse in a big hurry.

"Auron! That's enough!" Gabe boomed as he wrapped his arms around Auron's chest from behind, attempting to drag him off the mewling man pinned against the wall.

Auron released his grip on the man's shirt, letting him slide down the wall to land on his backside, the man's heels beginning to pump backwards against the floorboards... unable to find purchase to get away.

Auron broke Gabe's hold and wheeled to face him, his face devoid of emotion... only his blazing eye betraying his intent.

"Don't do this Auron... the sick son-of-a-bitch isn't worth it." Gabe said, thinking he was going to be forced to try and tackle Auron again.

Auron hesitated then... his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, as he seemed to be trying to wind himself down. "I'll do whatever it takes to stop you, I swear it." Gabe said then, locking his gaze to Auron's.

Then Auron's stance relaxed, apparently having decided to acquiesce, as he looked from the quivering man on the floor, then back to Gabe. Without speaking, he moved past him and through the door of the tavern, the door clanging wildly on its hinges as he shoved his way back outside.

Gabe knelt beside the unconscious man on the floor, and checked his pulse. "This one's still alive, but I don't think he'll be joining in sing-a-longs anymore." Gabe said, then stood.

"Get the enforcer squad here, now. This slime-bag and his buddy here, beat and robbed a boy in the marketplace earlier tonight. When the enforcers get here, tell them Gabe will meet them at the jail in the morning, to press full charges... understood?" Gabe said to the barkeep.

"Yes sir, no problem." The bartender replied, relief flooding his face.

Then Gabe leaned over the man in the striped shirt and whispered... "And you, my unfortunate friend, had better not move from that spot until they get here, or I'll bring the man-in-red back with me, and cheer him on... while he proceeds to painfully end your wretched life."

With that, Gabe turned and strode out, ducking his massive bulk through the door.

Auron was waiting for him outside, appearing to have regained his normal composure. "You okay man?" Gabe asked, approaching him slowly. "Yeah." Auron replied, saying nothing more.

"Good, then let's get back to Sahna's." Gabe said, putting a hand on Auron's shoulder as they turned and walked back together through the marketplace.

************

Sahna was still on the couch with Remie, his head in her lap, when they returned. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, Sahna's healing skills already having a positive affect on the boy's battered appearance.

"How is he?" Gabe asked, kneeling next to Sahna as Auron moved to the other side of the room and sat heavily in a chair.

"He's going to be okay I think. His lip is cut rather badly, but the rest of his injuries are contusions, they will heal." Sahna said, as she looked from Gabe to Auron, wanting to know what had happened, but not asking. If Auron had killed one or all of them, Gabe wouldn't have brought him back here. Auron's face was unreadable, as he calmly watched Remie sleeping.

"We'll stay here with you tonight, and let tomorrow take care of itself." Gabe said, as he squeezed her hand and gave her a wink, telling her that everything was okay.

"I don't know what I would have done without you two tonight, I don't know how to..." Sahna began, then Gabe gently brought his hand to her face... "Quiet now mother, you'll get yourself all worked up and wake Remie, try and get some sleep."

Sahna smiled at him gratefully, and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the side of the couch, her arm coming up to hold Remie against her.

Gabe turned and slid to a sitting position on the floor, leaning his back against the front of the couch, as he ran his hands back over the top of his head in fatigue, then settled in to keep watch.

Silently observing the trio in front of him, Auron knew Gabe would be asleep soon... the man was clearly exhausted from the emotional strain, no thanks to his little rampage this evening. But he felt no regret over his actions against Remie's attackers. On the contrary, he had felt a satisfying sense of release. Perhaps it was unbecoming... but there was the truth of it.

Then, as was his habit, Auron began to run other problems and questions through his mind... he had always done his best thinking while keeping a watch.