*squee!* You guys ROCK! Seriously. All the feedback has just been.... EEP! Much love to all of you! And, of course, this love will be expressed more at the shoutouts at the end of this chapter. So! ONWARD WITH THE CHAPTER! Things start getting a bit odd for two of our newsboys...
Disclaimers: Sita doesn't own Newsies. Really. I promise. Cross my heart.
Warnings: Eventual language, slash, and violence
Angelsight
Chapter I
There were three things that Kid Blink hated more than anything. He hated being cold; and he hated being looked down upon for being a newsie.
But, first and foremost, he hated being hungry. And, of course, hunger was usually the one thing he couldn't escape. The cold could be fought by huddling close together with his friends, and he was well-known to take a swing or two at anyone who sneered at his broken shoes and ink-stained clothes.
But the hunger was always there. Always.
The meager breakfast that they received from the sisters rarely held off the hunger for more than an hour or two, at best. Blink would feel the constant, gnawing hunger grow more and more intense, but he would continue throughout the day with a bright smile on his pale face.
"Hey! Hey, you there!"
Blink snapped back to attention, his dream-like trance shattered. He jerked his head towards the fat man standing in front of a food cart. The man glared back at Blink from underneath his bushy eyebrows and rested his meaty arms on the cart as he waited for a reply.
"Yessir?" Blink replied in as much of a respectful tone as he could manage.
"You gonna buy that or not?"
"Huh?"
The man rolled his eyes. "You've been starin' at my bread for the last ten minutes. You gonna buy it?"
Blink wrinkled his nose; the man smelled like sewage and cheap beer. He glanced down at the cart and, for the first time, consciously noticed the loaves of fresh bread resting on the cart. He hadn't even realized he'd been staring. A loud snarl sounded from Blink's stomach as the bread's scent wafted past his nose...
"Hey, kid!"
"Huh? Oh! Erm... no. No, sorry. Don't have any money."
The vender snorted. "I knew you wouldn't. Damn street rat," he spat. Blink clenched his fists as the man sneered down at him.
"Look, mister, I ain't-"
CRASH!
Both Blink and the angry vender whirled around to search for the origin of the clatter. Blink raised an eyebrow as he noticed a shattered flower pot on the cobblestones; where had it come from?
"Hey! You took my bread!"
"What?" Blink stared dumbly down at the cart. Sure enough, one of the loaves had disappeared. "It wasn't me!"
The fat man replied with a bitter, sarcastic laugh. "Right, street trash."
"I ain't trash!"
"Hey, mister!"
The man looked up. So did Blink.
There, crouched calmly on the catwalk of the building behind the vender's cart, was a tall, dark-haired boy. His grin widened as he tore a chunk of bread off of the loaf in his hand.
"I don't like you givin' my friend here credit for something he didn't do."
Snitch beamed once more at their dumbfounded faces before popping the bread into his mouth and darting off.
Blink grinned as the vender cried out angrily and uselessly grasped at Snitch's rapidly disappearing legs. He immediately turned his fiery gaze towards Blink and barreled towards him.
"Shit," Blink hissed. Automatically, he dropped the remainder of his newspapers, whirled around, and tore off down the street, the heavy footsteps of the burly man pounding behind him. He quickly skidded into a narrow alley only to find a tall, grungy brick wall blocking his escape route. "Dammit!" he swore, searching desperately for an exit as a shrill police whistle blew somewhere behind him. The thudding footsteps grew steadily louder.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked sharply. Blink, caught by surprise, stumbled backwards into a small, hidden alcove of the alley, then spun around to face his attacker.
Snitch grinned and wiggled his fingers in a mischievous wave.
Blink stared in shock for a few seconds, then breathed a sigh of relief and smacked Snitch upside the head.
"Ow!"
"You bum!" Blink yelled, unable to keep the relieved grin off of his face. "You take stupid chances, you know that?"
"Aw, come on-"
"You could've gotten away with that, no problem, but you had to show off."
"I wasn't showin' off, Ma."
Blink pretended to glare for a bit longer before finally breaking into a grin that matched Snitch's. He greedily snatched at the bread and tore off a sizable chunk, much to Snitch's annoyance.
"Hey, there, you two!"
Blink and Snitch immediately froze at the sound of the police officer's voice. The two newsboys stared silently at the three blue-clad men standing at the entrance of the alcove.
"What do we do now?" Blink hissed, keeping his eyes locked on the men. "Run?"
"'Course not!" Without faltering or losing his smile, Snitch swiped a rock off of the greasy street and threw it. It crashed directly into the nose of the tallest officer, who doubled over, howling and clutching his face.
"Now, we run!" Snitch grabbed his dumbfounded friend's arm and dragged him further into the alcove. Blink found himself racing after Snitch through unfamiliar, maze-like passages, listening intently for the two remaining policeman.
"Snitch, where are we goin'?"
"Away from the bulls."
"Yeah, I can see that. I mean where in the city?"
"Hell if I know." Blink promptly stumbled over his own feet.
"So, you don't know where we're going?"
They reached the end of the passageway. Snitch calmly grabbed a rung of the ladder next to him and swung himself onto the fire escape's catwalk.
"Not a damn clue," he replied, cheerfully extending his hand. Blink sighed, grabbed Snitch's hand and the ladder, and scrambled onto the fire escape. "We ain't too far from the Lodging House. We're just... not in a very good place right now."
"Whatcha mean by that?" Blink questioned as Snitch pulled the ladder up after him.
Snitch and Blink stepped into the shadows and watched as the policemen tore through the alley, searching desperately. After ten minutes or so, they trudged back out, muttering to one another in annoyed undertones.
Silently, Snitch rose to his feet and crept around the corner of the building. Blink followed, curiously peeking down at the street below. The Lodging House was clearly visible in the distance; Blink felt relieved to know that much. However, as he studied the street below him, he grew more and more apprehensive about having to travel through it.
The street was even dirtier than most of the Manhattan roads, covered with dirt and grime and other substances that Blink didn't particularly want to think about. Shady men stood in the shadows of buildings, glancing around nervously and protectively clutching packages or standing with their hands jammed into their pockets. Dimly-lit shops stood with their dusty doors wide open, most with candles flickering ominously in the windows. Blink gave Snitch a skeptical look.
Snitch just beamed.
"Well, the quicker we get through, the quicker we'll be home." Whistling softly to himself, he slipped under the railing and hopped onto the street. Blink followed soon afterwards, shrugging helplessly. "As long as we don't attract attention or nothin', we should be fine."
The two boys walked in silence as the sun began to sink, ignoring the catcalls from the prostitutes as well as the shadows that seemed to flicker past the corners of their eyes.
"Whoa... Blink, lookit that." Snitch stopped directly in front of one of the stores. Inside the window the boys could see a woman with a dark violet cloak pulled over her head standing behind a wooden counter. Sitting on the counter were thousands of small bottles, each made of a different color glass.
"Snitch, where ya goin'?"
"Inside. I gotta get a better look at those things."
"That ain't such..." Blink sighed and trailed off; Snitch was already inside. He glanced around once more before trudging through the dark doorway.
"Hello."
Blink froze at the sound of the woman's voice. She looked up, but the top half of her face remained hidden by the silky, purple cloak. Her voice, somehow, sounded extremely familiar. However, there was a strange quality to her voice, Although she was whispering, Blink had no trouble hearing her. Her words cut through the air and seemed to echo slightly throughout the dingy shop.
He caught Snitch's eye. The other boy looked as shocked as he felt.
So he can feel it, too, Blink thought.
The woman's smile was shadowed by the low brim of her cloak. "How can I help you?"
"I... I..." Snitch stammered. The woman walked calmly away from the counter and appeared to study Snitch's face. Silently, she nodded, plucked one of the bottles off of the counter behind her, and held it up. It was small and square and made of opaque blue glass.
"The Infinity Vials," she explained. "There is only one of each kind in all of Creation. Some say they created themselves from the excess matter used to create the universe." She smiled as the boys unconsciously edged towards the door. "I neither know nor care to know the Vials' true origin. However, I have traveled the world searching for them all. And finally... I have them."
"Is it just me, or is this lady nuts?" Blink hissed under his breath. The woman, if she heard him at all, took no notice and gingerly replaced the bottle.
"What do they do?" Blink raised an eyebrow. Snitch appeared absolutely enthralled by the woman and her strange bottles.
"Anyone who drinks a bit of a Vial's contents will find what they are searching for. The Vial of Love brings love, the Vial of Justice causes justice, and so on and so forth."
Her shadowy smile grew as Blink and Snitch exchanged nervous glances. She seemed to focus her gaze on Snitch, who turned slightly red and averted his eyes.
"But you..." she murmured. "You are searching for something else."
"Whatcha mean by that, miss?"
She extended her empty hand, then flicked her wrist and raised her arm.
A round, clear bottle containing neon blue liquid sat in her hand.
The boys' jaws dropped.
"How... how did you..."
She chuckled quietly, a tinkling, bell-like sound. "The Vial of Truth," she said. "You are searching for the truth, are you not?"
Snitch blinked. "The... the truth? I don't get what you're sayin'."
The woman nodded. "Perhaps you don't understand yet. Come back when you do." She placed the bottle near the edge of the counter and, without a word, swept back behind a curtain near the back of the room.
The boys blinked in surprise when the woman did not come back out.
"Maybe she forgot about us."
"How could she?"
"The lady's nuts, Snitch. It can't take her that long to forget about us."
As Blink spoke Snitch found himself glancing at the sparkling bottles out of the corner of his eye. It was obvious that Blink didn't believe a word that the woman said, but Snitch... Snitch could feel something odd about the bottles. They gave off an aura that was different from anything Snitch had ever felt before.
There was something very, very strange about the bottles, the shop, and the woman. They didn't feel like they really belonged.
Kind of like Snitch himself.
He reached for the bottle.
"Snitch, what the hell are you doing?!"
"She'll never miss one. There's so many of 'em."
"It was your sticky fingers that got us runnin' from the cops in the first place!"
Snitch glanced at Blink before reaching out, snatching the bottle, and dashing out of the door.
What else could Blink do but sigh and follow him?
*~*~*
Blink sighed and rolled over, his eyes shut tightly against the moonlight. He continued to twist and turn, searching desperately for a comfortable position. For some reason Snitch and his stolen flask kept bouncing at the edges of Blink's mind, keeping him awake.
Sighing, he cracked open his eye.
A pair of dark blue eyes sat a few inches above his face.
Blink let out a muffled yelp and tumbled off of the bed. Wincing, he dragged himself into a sitting position and glanced up at Snitch, who had stretched himself, cat-like, across Blink's bed. On the bottom bunk, Racetrack grumbled in his sleep and yanked the pillow over his head but did not wake up.
"Hey, Blink?"
"What?"
Snitch's blue eyes were wide, haunted, but sparkling. He looked happier than Blink could ever remember him looking. He hopped off of the top bunk and held out the bottle.
"I drank it."
Blink raised an eyebrow. "How much?"
"Not much."
"So, what happened?"
With his eyes still shining, Snitch handed him the bottle.
"Drink it, Blink. Somebody else has gotta see this."
Reluctantly, Blink stared down at the bottle.
His mind was completely blank. He didn't stop to think that simply taking a sip from the bottle would change his entire life.
He just did it.
As soon as the liquid touched his throat, a blinding pain shot through his body. A white haze covered his eyes, and a piercing noise sounded in his ears. Then, just as quickly, it all disappeared.
Then, faintly, a voice reached his ears. It was singing softly, gently. As his ears cleared he managed to make out the words.
"... I found the trail of the mountain mist, mountain mist, mountain mist, I found the trail of the mountain mist, but ne'er a trace of baby..."
Blink winced and scrubbed his eyes in disbelief. Either he was going insane, or... or that was a girl singing.
He rose shakily to his feet with the help of Snitch's steady arm around his shoulder. Then, wide-eyed, he glanced across the room.
A girl, skinny to the point of emaciation, was seated on the edge of Pie Eater's bed. Her messy, red-blond hair was pulled into two, braided pigtails. Her clothes were little more than rags, and her pale, sickly face was dirty. She was smiling down at the sleeping boy and singing softly.
Blink froze in place.
"S-S-Snitch?"
"Yeah?"
"That girl... she's got wings!"
"Oh, dammit..."
Blink's head snapped towards the source of the voice. Another two girls sat on his bed, and, like the singing girl, they both had huge, feathery, white wings.
One had her short, light brown hair tucked behind her ears. Her legs were folded comfortably under her full, ankle-length, green skirt. She wore a simple, long-sleeved, white shirt. The girl chewed on her lip and leaned forward. She was obviously the one that had spoken.
The other had long, darker brown hair which fell into her face. Blink raised an eyebrow at her odd style of dress. She wore a bright red tailcoat with a white "X" across the front. Her black pants fell to her calves before they were swallowed by her large, black boots. She pushed her hair out of her face, then glanced down at the two of them.
"Can you see us?" she asked, the moonlight glinting off of her glasses.
Blink opened his mouth to speak, but not a word escaped from his lips. He stared in shock at Snitch who was grinning up at the two girls like he had known them his whole life.
Wordlessly, he nodded.
"That could be a problem," the one with the shorter hair muttered.
Blink stared at them.
Then, he fainted.
End Chapter I
*squeals madly* Wow, this sucked! XD Ah, well, what can you do with schtoopid exposition? *le shrug* SO! Much, much love to my reviewers who won't be getting individual shoutouts in this chapter since my computer is screwing up and being weird. .O So, we'll do those next time! BUT! Love to:
Raven
J-Sparrow
Sapphy
Twitchikins
G.A-darling-love-face
geometrygal
Kexxxa
Checkmate
V-channy-chan
Ireland
Sinhe-doll
Strawberri Shake
Froggie-love
Oxymoronic Alliteration
Rachelily
Omni-womni
Li'l Italy
Mama Annie
B-darlin'
Thistle
Tabbers
Lutzki
D-flizzle
Poker-lee
Aaaaand that's all from me for this chapter. In the next chapter: the boys try to figure out what the hell is going on! XD As usual, there will be much love sent to ALL those who take the time out of their day to send a review to a lonely girl in Louisiana - i.e, ME. XD *disappears in a puff of car exhaust*