Sorry that the update is a day later than usual! We all got kinda tied up this week and didn't have time to set this out yesterday. Anyway, thank you so much for all your thoughts! Please enjoy!
rated: M
summary: In a world of underground fighting only the strong survive, abiding by the rules of kill or be killed. In the Ring, a feeble emotion like hope is all it takes to destroy you. And yet it exists– and those who hold onto it play a dangerous game. But once you enter into the Ring, it will never let you go.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Shadowboxing
sparring with an imaginary opponent as a form of training
Fifteen Years Ago
Lucy was terrified. It had been several days since she had been brought into this dark place she was expected to call her new home. She didn't know how much time had really passed, since most of the time they were kept in isolation.
The cage she used as a temporary home was shared with a boy the others called 'Salamander.' He was apparently special, knowing a secret form of martial arts called dragonslaying that could only be taught to a handful of people at any given time.
Lucy could see why, too. They spent time in a training room together, with Lucy merely observing for the time being while Salamander showed off explosive bursts of speed and an aggressive way of attacking that were both remarkable for a boy his age. It was like fire burned in his very soul.
She liked to watch him fight. When he sparred, sometimes it even looked like he was having fun. It was a nice distraction whenever Lucy began to feel lonely.
Happy was her companion while Salamander was busy. The kitten rested on her lap, snuggled in the white scarf he used as bedding.
At night, when it was time for them to go to bed, Salamander and Lucy would press very close together in the tiny space they shared. But Lucy didn't mind, because he was very warm and he made her feel safe.
And he whispered to her in the dead of night, of plans for them to escape together.
It gave her hope. And hope was either the most valuable or the most fatal feeling down in the Ring.
By now, she wasn't exactly sure how long she'd been here. It was hard to keep track of time when you never even saw the light of day.
The cage rattled, causing her eyes to jerk open. No… she didn't want to get up yet. She wanted to sleep just a little longer. It felt like she'd barely slept at all.
Her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, finding a head of pink hair looming above her. The lights were still off. The door to their cage rattled shut.
"Salamander?" she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. The boy crouched down, and she could see his bright teeth as he grinned tiredly at her.
"Sorry," he whispered. "Extra lessons."
Ah, right. As he snuggled into her side, she realized it was still a long way from morning.
Lately, he'd been taken out of the cage more than usual, under the guidance of an older boy he called his brother.
Something about him unsettled Lucy.
But he was Salamander's friend and brother, so she trusted him too. At least he seemed able to grant her friend some freedoms that the rest of them did not possess. She was happy about that, for Salamander.
Though she wondered how the Dark Mage did it.
When total quiet had returned to the room, Salamander shuffled beside her, and she felt his lips against her ear. They were a little wet. It felt kind of disgusting.
But she held still, guessing his intentions.
"There's a duct," he said in the lowest of whispers. "It has a grid, but it's a little loose. If I can get it off, we can fit through."
Lucy carefully nodded.
"I can get it off," he corrected himself. "The air smells kinda fresh behind it." He paused, disgust creeping into his voice. "And like garbage."
She felt him wrinkle his nose against her cheek, and suppressed a small giggle.
Even Lucy could smell it, though. The lingering, penetrating scent of decaying waste clung to the building like smoke. They had to be somewhere near a dump, maybe around the outskirts of a city. Salamander told her as much, too.
"They like to keep us away from other people to be safe, but if we can get out we can probably hitch-hike with someone. Get a ride to the closest city," he whispered, and the amount of hope and excitement in his voice reflected in his bright eyes. Even in the dark, they shone.
Lucy couldn't help but frown though.
Hitch-hiking…
Her father and bodyguards had warned her against trusting strangers. Told her she was likely to be kidnapped.
But then again, she supposed that she was already kidnapped. And nowhere could be as bad as the Ring. And other kidnappers wouldn't stick her in a cage in a dirty basement…
It was worth the risk.
"Okay…" Lucy nodded. "But how are we going to get out of this cage?"
Right now, that posed the biggest problem. Seeing as how the only way to get out of the cage was to have someone open the door with a key. The steel bars were thick and spaced close together - she could barely squeeze her arm through the slots.
But, Salamander just grinned. "Just leave that to Happy," he said.
And as if he'd been listening to the conversation, the cat meowed agreeably.
Lucy felt a little sick, because while Salamander looked so certain, she was afraid. There was no mistaking what happened to the children who tried to resist the muscle men. Some disappeared from their cages in the middle of the night and never came back. Her small hands balled into tight fists, shaking a little as she tried to contain her fear.
As though sensing her turbulent emotions, Salamander turned her over towards him so they were face to face. It was riskier for them to talk to one another like this, but his dark eyes were so warm and comforting, Lucy felt her tremors subside. He grabbed her hand, his small, battered hands squeezing into hers.
She looked down at his grubby fingers, wrapped with bandages. It was hard to see in the dark, but she knew small cuts were nicked all the way up his arms. Still, that didn't seem to bother him. Even when he was hurt, his attention was always on her and Happy. He tried to keep them safe.
Salamander could be a little rude with his blunt way of speaking sometimes, but he was steadfast in his trust in his friends. Lucy felt very lucky to have him while they were in this place together.
"Don't worry, Heartfilia," Salamander breathed, his dirty forehead pushing against hers. "We're going to get out together. And we'll go home together."
Lucy bit her bottom lip, her eyes wide as a sudden, terrifying thought came to her. "What if only one of us gets out?"
Salamander stilled at that, his lips pressing together. The thought of failure didn't seem to register in his mind, much less one of them being left behind. The answer, for him, looked very simple.
"I promise, I'll come get you," Salamander vowed, his smile wide and catching. It was enough to chase away the remaining threads of fear in Lucy's own heart.
She found herself nodding along after him. "Me too."
Her hand untangled from his, and she looped their pinkies together in a vow solemn for children.
"I promise I'll come back for you too, Salamander."
A small smile stretched across his face, and he nodded.
They drifted off into a deep sleep, their tired bodies finding rest in the safety of each other's arms.
- : : -
Natsu jerked awake, a hard gasp forcing his lungs to breathe. His body was aching something terrible and when he shifted, he found his right arm was locked down. Consciousness slipped from his fingers like a flightless bird, and it became a struggle for him to look at anything around him.
Slowly, a white wall came into focus.
A loud, penetrating sound kept him from drifting back to sleep. It was right next to his head, a constant, merciless beep, beep, beep.
He tried swatting at it, but again, his arm wouldn't budge.
Natsu didn't like anything about this.
His breath caught and he tried again, sense creeping backing into him. His eyes flicked down to his wrist, seeing where it was strapped down to the bed. He gasped, practically swallowing back his tongue when he saw he couldn't get free from the bed. Panic built in his chest as he frantically tried to remember what happened to land him in this bed.
Where was he?
The room he was in looked sterile, like a hospital. He remembered a time, long ago when he used to go to places like this with Igneel. Only then there were elephants on the walls and giraffes painted on the ceiling. Happy animals with silly faces to soothe children when they had their first visit to the doctor.
Was he in the hospital?
No, he couldn't be. That didn't make sense.
Every time he went to see a doctor after he had been taken, whether it was to treat an illness caught by the close proximity of the fighters, or go under the knife to repair damage from a fight, it had always been the same.
Plastic tarp would cover the walls of a dimly lit room. Simple machines and a cold metal table were all the comforts the patients received in the underground 'medical' facility.
He pushed himself up, lifting his shoulders enough for him to grimace over the pain in his side. It caused his entire face to inflame angrily, and he swore, reaching around with his free hand to gingerly touch at the bandage on his face.
"Oh, you're awake," a man grunted near the door, peering at Natsu with cold, indifferent eyes. "'Bout time, I didn't sign up to babysit."
Natsu stiffened at the sight of the stranger. He wore a simple uniform, blue, with a shiny silver badge on his chest. Was he a cop?
He didn't like the expression on his face.
In fact, he didn't like anything of what was going on.
Why was he here? Why was he chained to a bed? Why didn't he recognize anyone or anything? Why was this guy staring at him as if he were one of the muscle men? Why weren't there any of the muscle men here?
Anger mixed in with Natsu's confusion, chasing away the last bits of fatigue and clouding his mind with a red, hazy fog.
Nothing was right. He didn't understand anything anymore. His world, everything he knew, came crashing down around him. The beeping beside his head only grow louder, and faster, and unbearable.
He wanted it to stop.
Grabbing his chained wrist, Natsu began yanking at the handcuff. His feet scrambled, pushing into the white linen as he pushed upwards, his whole body recoiling from the cold metal digging into his wrist.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" the man demanded, and Natsu thought he heard him calling for backup.
He had to get away. He had to get away before they came and took him back.
They'd come and hold him down and inject him and throw him into a cell and he'd be beaten and punished and he'd never see Lucy again and-
Where was Lucy? Where was Happy?
As the memories came crashing back in with his panic, his wild eyes darted around the room.
There was no one. No one except that damned guy who looked terribly unsettled all of a sudden, glancing at the door again and again. Natsu kept tugging at his restraints like a madman, barely feeling how the metal cut at his skin.
A voice was drowning out most of the annoying beeping, loud and angry, and he realized it was his own.
Someone new entered the room. Another face he didn't know, that of a sturdy, calm woman. Natsu's eyes dropped down to the syringe in her hands.
Everything was a blur after that.
More info on their childhood! I wonder what happened after that, hm...
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Next time! Chapter 20: Long Count