"Heh, I get it, son, but ye don't gotta lose yer mind over the Roarer arrivin'." The older man chuckled, pulling Subaru up to his feet, slapping him on the shoulder.
"The… Roarer?" The younger man blinked, trying to make sense of… whatever this was.
"Aye, the Roarer, what are you deaf?" The old man frowned. "Huh, prolly not used to it. Go get some healer to check ye ears after this shift. Told ya to cover ya ears, ya buffon!"
"But didn't the Roarer… arrive?" Subaru mumbled, his heart thumping in his ears.
"Aye, it arrived! Look, just now!" The old man shook his head and sighed. "Bah, you prolly got yer brain knocked around by that whistle, go sit down, take a break, but only A SMALL ONE, ya hear!? I know how ya young-uns give the googly eyes and then slack off." Carefully letting Subaru go, checking that the younger man could stand on his own two feet, the older man nodded to him reassuringly before turning around and pacing away, his mind already off of the strange teen that he helped.
"H-huh?" Subaru's legs instantly failed him again, though this time his behind was met with the sturdy top of the box of anthracite, the youth sitting down unconsciously.
"But the Roarer arrived…" Subaru mumbled, "But wait, I…" His hand darted to his temple, checking that his head was still on his shoulders. It was. "I…"
He wasn't dead, then that meant that he..? Nausea bit at the back of his throat as he tried to understand.
'I didn't die… when I was killed…' That much, of course, was evident, but this wasn't like in the anime or some old American 90s movie. No, this was-
'REAL…'
He looked up, the stream of passengers from the Roarer began to increase. No, this couldn't be right; the Roarer HAD arrived, it couldn't JUST come NOW.
"Hah… haha!" The laugh came out forced, Subaru trying to retain his optimism. "This is fi-"
His mind caught it out. The man was pacing along the main street with the same green overcoat and grey hair, throwing glances over his shoulder. 'Maybe… maybe he has answers….' The young man grabbed on desperately to a fragment of past events.
"Hey! Hey!" Subaru would jump to his feet, running into the crowd and trying to push his way past the passersby, "Wait up!"
The man would turn around, noticing Subaru and visibly recoiling, his expression dropping as he also broke into a messy sprint, trying to escape as he slammed into almost every member of the crowd as he went.
'Damn it!' Pushing a couple of the Roarer passengers out of the way, Subaru would merge out of the crowd, taking the more straightforward side of the street to catch up, dodging several of the armoured men as he went. "Wait up! Stop! I want to talk!"
"Go away! I don't have any Odite! I sold it; it's all gone; leave me alone!" Noticing his pursuer's tactic, the grey-haired man would also merge out of the crowd on the opposite side of the street, picking up pace and expanding the gap.
Instead of continuing to scream, Subaru focused on his breathing as he began to feel himself run out of steam. 'One-two, one-two, one-two, just like in callisthenics!'
Closing the gap, Subaru cut through a less dense part of the crowd, now both on the same side of the street.
"~hah~ ~hah~ Leave me alone!" The man in front of him wheezed, clearly not used to so much exercise, stumbling into one of the dark back alleys in a desperate attempt to hide.
'Damn this repetition!' Subaru could see the irony of where he was heading but turned in after the grey hair. "Stop!"
This alleyway didn't lead into any courtyard, instead being a fenced passage to the next street over, the pursued man hopelessly attempting to climb up the iced-over iron gate, before slipping and falling back, hurriedly pulling himself up and turning to face his pursuer, pushing himself up against the barrier and closing his eyes like a cornered animal.
"~hah~ Engine's exhaust, ~hah~ I said I don't have any-!"
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS; JUST LISTEN TO ME!" Subaru cut the protest short, taking a few steps forward. "Look, I just wanted to ask you somethi-"
"Wait…" The man opened one eye, throwing Subaru a glance, before suddenly slipping down into a sitting position, gasping tiredly, catching his breath, giving a sigh of relief. "You're a pipe worker! Oooooooh, Engine's exhaust, you shaved off at least a few years off of my life with that stunt, friend!"
The adolescent felt a little annoyed, "What' stunt'? I just wanted to talk, and then you suddenly ran off!"
"Heh! Hahaha! Sorry, I just… HAHAHA," The man began to giggle, his relief causing him to loosen up a lot. "Whew, I just, heh, I saw the look on you and thought you were about to beat my head in, but that's just your face! GAHAHAHAA!"
Subaru sighed; it was true that he seemed menacing with his eyes and all, but it still didn't feel nice to have it said to him like that, "Are you done?"
"O-oh, heh, right, where are my manners." Giving a few more laboured breaths, still recovering from the run, the man in front of him stood up and shook off some of the dirt and snow on the overcoat before bowing politely. "I apologize for laughing; I-I was just relieved." He straightened out before smiling awkwardly, the lack of adrenaline probably causing his social anxiety to come back.
"My name is Otto Suwen, but friends call me Otto. I-it's a pleasure, and again sorry about the whole… you know…"
"Yeah, no worries." Subaru grinned cheerfully before striking a pose, "Natsuki Subaru! The greatest… uh… eh… Well, the greatest something until I find it!"
Otto laughed again before slapping his mouth closed, "S-sorry! Sorry! Uh… well, what did you want to ask? I mean, considering the lengths you took to catch up to me, it must be i-important, right?"
"Oh, yeah." The young man had gotten carried away; having his first acquaintance in a new world did have a substantial distracting effect. "Tell me, didn't some armoured thugs attack you recently? Like, I don't know, with glowing… stuff..?" Subaru had only then become acutely aware of how little thought he gave to how he was going to explain the situation. "Like… you know… uh…"
Otto blinked thoughtfully, trying to understand Subaru and scratched his chin, "I don't know about armoured, but I suppose… you mean, the Travellers..?"
Subaru paused, remembering what the armoured man said when he punched him, "Right! Travellers! Did you get attacked by any?"
Otto chuckled nervously, "Well, I was trying to avoid that; that is why I ran when I saw you."
"Why's that? I mean, why would you want to run away?" The adolescent had only understood how nosy he was only after the question left his mouth, but by then, trying to take it back was a little late.
"Why?" Otto gave Subaru a suspicious glance before relenting. "I… well, I got a Gold Rush declared on me." Noticing the same lack of understanding on Subaru as there was before, he added, "I went scavenging in the Capital Wastes and found an Odite cobble. I sold it and paid the Travellers for their assistance; however, I forgot that everything has to be written down when you work with such types, so they said I didn't pay them even a copper coin. Hence, the Traveller Expeditionary Forces declared a Gold Rush on my dumb ass. They have a right, at least between themselves, to beat me up and take whatever is owed."
"H-heh…" The fantasy world didn't seem as rosy anymore; Subaru remembered how the 'Traveller-in-training' acted. Then again, he still had no clue what Odite was, why it was so important or who the Travellers were. Still, his sympathy for the unfortunate trader beat out his curiosity, at least temporarily, "That's terrible… How's that even legal..?"
"I don't know! They're just brutes!" Otto exploded, the frustrations and fear suddenly flowing out, the fact that he was ready to spill his emotions to the stranger showing how far this whole ordeal pushed him. "Disgusting thieving brutes! I am utterly sure that if any of their founders were alive to look at them, they would-!"
"Well, weeeeeeeeeell, not only is the mark a thief, but he also has the gall to run his mouth about the Founders." Subaru felt a shiver run up his spine as he recognized the voice, understanding almost everything from how Otto choked on his words and stared behind his back.
Whirling around, Subaru took a step back. In the light coming into the alleyway from the main street, it was much easier to make out the man and his entourage, the figure in the armour pale and malnourished, though their expression did not go with their appearance, less like an exhausted, sick man and more like a fat cat that just caught a juicy mouse.
His associates were opposites, one fat and wide, the armour pieces less prominent, another small and short, the helmet on his head almost the size of his torso.
"Not only does he spit on the memory of the Founders, but he also steals as well! Let's get 'em, Chin!" The smaller one screeched in a self-satisfied manner before grunting as their leader, so-called Chin, slammed a fist on the top of the smaller one's helmet, shutting him up.
"Shut your mouth, Camberley, don't order me around!" Chin gazed back at his prey. "Oh, right, the thief and a… GAHA! Look at that lightly-clothed bastard; we got ourselves a pipe worker, fellas!"
The wider one sighed, "Bah, just finish 'em, Chin, we gotta get moving, the Roarer's stopping only for a bit."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, BOTH OF YOU! I HAVEN'T GOT A GOOD GOLD RUSH FOR MONTHS!" The thin one turned to his compatriots, continuing to rain obscenities.
Up to now frozen in place, Subaru turned back to search for Otto, noticing the trader trying to climb over the fence again. Quietly shifting to the wall himself, the young man whispered, "Hey, I help you up, you pull me over, we run off together, deal?" Sure, it wasn't the most heroic, but since he came up against Chin, Subaru wasn't ready to meet his maker again either.
"Mhm, sure, sure, just push me up…!" Otto tried to pull himself up, Subaru quickly shifting underneath him, pushing him up to the top of the fence.
"Hey!" The Traveller-in-training's voice rang out as he finally noticed the escape attempt through the haze of his tirade directed at his associates, "Stay wherever the fuck you are!"
Otto's boots landed on the other side of the fence, Subaru sighing with relief, "Alright, now help me u-"
The trader gave Subaru an apologetic look through the fence bars, "Sorry, I uh-... I'll be seeing you around! Sorry!" The green overcoat disappeared down the opposite side of the street, leaving Subaru astonished and disappointed. 'Fool me once…'
"HEY! ARE YOU FUCKING LISTENING!?" A hot metal glove grabbed the adolescent's shoulder, turning him around and slamming him against the fence painfully. "YOU JUST COST ME A FUCKING MONTH'S PAY! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?" Subaru closed his eyes, Chin's spittle not being the most pleasant thing to accompany his shrill screaming.
"Fucking pipe workers, fucking traders, all of you..!" The Traveller-in-training continued his polemic, letting Subaru go, getting worked up seeming to be a habit for Chin. "Sitting on the back lines, suckling on the Roarer's tit, no one's got any drive to search for warmth or magic anymore! GHAAAAAAAAAAA THIS DRIVE ME-" The gauntlet let out a whistle of releasing steam as Chin slammed his fist into the wall, several of the bricks cracking, "UP THE FUCKING WALL! And now I've got a pipe worker, A FUCKING PIPE WORKER, stealing my pay! FUCK! FUCK! FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" The gauntlet whistled again, releasing more pressurized steam, melting the frost on the wall, Chin pulling it out with a crunch.
Subaru suddenly understood that no matter what locked powers he may have, he's not really in the position to fight yet. "S-sorry, man…" The apology attempted to bide time as Subaru's eyes scanned the surroundings.
"SORRY! YOU'RE SORRY!? YOU'RE A PIPE WORKER! YOU'RE DREGS! AND YOU GET ALL THAT WARMTH FOR WORKING WITH THE ENGINE NODES! THE ONLY SORRY I GET OUT OF YOU IS IF YOU DROP DEA-!"
The wide man sighed again, "Chin, we geeeeet it, just take a deep breath and-"
"DEEP BREATH!? DEEP BREATH!" Turning away from his victim, the Traveller-in-training marched back up to his associate, "You're telling ME, YOU, DANTON, ARE TELLING ME TO TAKE A-!"
"Out of the way!" Before Chin could finish, a blurry shape burst into the alleyway, the person (?) darting up the wall and diving in-between the arguing Travellers, slamming into Subaru, knocking his breath out.
Slipping down the fence, towards the ground, struggling to breathe, Subaru caught a glimpse of this new arrival, two red lenses of a gas mask staring back from underneath a dark wool cloak; two iron pistons hooked around the thin legs of the person.
"Bah, shit!" The voice was that of a young girl as she pushed herself away from Subaru, quickly recovering, turning her head, her movements appearing alarmed as Subaru heard another set of quick steps but was unable to see the new participant due to the intruder's cloak still wrapped around him.
"Oi! Who the fu-" Chin's angry question was disrupted by what sounded like a sonic boom, something heavy smashing into the fence overhead and crumpling to the ground with a clang of metal next to Subaru, the young man to his horror understanding that the thrown object was, in fact, Chin.
The young girl would swear under her breath, clicking something on both of her legs, the mechanism encasing her legs coughing to life before trying to untangle her cloak from Subaru, the man himself trying to break free from the material. "Just- Wait just- Gah, stop STRUGGLING!" The young girl would exclaim, swinging back her fist.
'Oh, n-'
The impact threw Subaru back into the same darkness he had been in less than an hour ago.
His head rang as he resurfaced partially, the outer world coming in waves and ripples, a slim figure wandering the alleyway, observing the unconscious bodies, something in its hand glowing with a soft green hue.
Hmmmmm…~ Hmmm…~ Hmmmmmm~
'Humming…'
He would try to get up, his body heavy and unresponsive.
Hmmm..?
The person would notice the noise from Subaru's struggle, turning around and walking up to him, sitting on their knees to look at him.
"H-hey… a little bit of help…." His throat hurt as he mumbled.
A cold hand would extend to his cheek. "You are warm, as hot as... no, warmer than any here." It was a woman's voice, so pleasant yet empty and monotone.
His vision would clear for a moment, his saviour becoming visible. Silver hair cut to shoulder-length, a set of calm, blank, purple eyes, and the most beautiful facial features he ever saw. His eyes were drawn by small movements, a curious twitch of the ears, long- 'Elf ears….'
A chuckle. 'Of course, it wouldn't be a fantasy world without….'
He would close his eyes, the pain of concussion and the mist of exhaustion weighing heavy on his mind. Something soft yet cold would wrap around his shoulders, a female voice murmuring monotonously into his ear.
"You're quite warm… So warm…"
"He- Hel-" Before he could answer, the familiar void swallowed him whole, not even chewing.
