Chapter 4
Huff! Huff!" Rhiem flattened himself against a decript car. Glancing around the bumper, he motioned for Riu to follow. Riu slipped down behind a large net of garrote wires, and dashed across the street to follow him. Rhiem poked his head around the corner. A searchlight stood tall on the abandoned radio tower, sweeping the entire section of the town. He slipped into an imploded bakery, and lay up against the reception counter. Neither of the two made a sound.
A light, bright and baleful, cut across the room like a saber. A soldier stood in the doorway. Behind the red visor, the soldier scanned for lifeforms. Satisfied, the soldier moved on.
"Nice gun." Rhiem swept under the soldier like a whirlwind, trippig the man and smashing him hard against the concrete. Rhiem pried the gun from the unsuspecting soldier's hands, and pointed it at him.
"Don't move. Just wait there, and put your hands" The man struck Rhiem in the groin. "-Guh!" Rhiem recovered quickly and tried to point the gun at the soldier again, but the soldier was too quick on the draw, and smacked the firearm out of Rhiem's hands. Rhiem pulled out his Tomahawk, to match the Stun Fist that covered the Soldier's right fist. The Stun Fist was a dangerous weapon that delivered ten million volts of electricity every second, into machine or man. One scrape from the Stun Fist would paralyze him for hours. Rhiem swung at the man, aiming for the leg, and trying to trip him. The soldier swung the Stun Fist, the deadly guantlet crushing a nearby locker. He punched against, cracking the wall. Rhiem caught the forearm, and pulled it over his shoulder. Both went flying, however, Rhiem landed on the unfortunate man.
He checked the unknown man's pulse. Still alive.
Rhiem collected the Stun Fist, and the Rifle the soldier had. He checked the model. It was a SQR 234 Battle Rifle. Scope and the whole shebang. Rhiem motioned for Riu to follow him out. Riu glanced for a second at the unconcious man.
"Forgive me..."
It was morning. The sun rose along the skeletons of charred buildings, streaming through the cracks of burnt steel and crumbled walls. Rhiem woke up, and stared out at the gray sky. This was the first time he woke up without a ceiling to look at. For a second, it hit him that he had thrown away his entire life. The sky started spinning, and Rhiem felt dizzy in the head. He stood up again. The two of them needed to move.
Daylight travel was usually the safest. Hostiles could be seen for miles. However, in this case, any hostile would have to be deftly avoided, at all costs. Even a glimpse of either Rhiem or Riu would spell disaster. Rhiem made his way through an abandoned elevated highway, using the cover of the huge bridge to hide the from spy drones.
"...we should take a break here." Rhiem tossed the small rucksack he had on his back onto the floor. "Whew..."
Riu curled up, and stared at the ground.
"Where are we going?" Rhiem barely glanced at her.
"...To a Fringe settlement. Over there, where people live independant lives. You should be safer over there."
Riu's silver hair swept up as she turned her head.
"And what about you?"
Rhiem hesitated for a second. This was not missed by Riu.
"I...I'll go back to the Rubine Firebase. They'll let me back in..."
Riu curled up even tighter, and focused even harder onto the ground.
"I'm sorry..."
The fringe settlement was not hard to find. In the cove of a abandoned city, a wall made of broken pieces of concrete and scavenged metal stood like an enormous fence, surrounding the pocket of what Rhiem assumed to be a lake. The two of them came to a checkpoint in the road. Two guards, dressed in nothing more than plain clothes, stood, holding SMGs. One of them noticed Rhiem and Riu.
Alarmed, he scrambled to take the safety off his gun.
"HALT!" Rhiem was not impressed. The kid was over three years older than him, yet held the gun like an amatuer. "I SAID HALT!"
"Spare me."
"DROP YOUR GUN!" The second guard had finally found his magazine, and pointed his gun at Rhiem, too.
"DROP IT!"
In one motion, Rhiem grabbed the barrel of one SMG, and twisted the barrel to face the second. He quickly used the first barrel to knock the second gun into the sky, and ripped the first SMG out of the unsuspecting guard's hands. Rhiem tripped the guard with the stock, and gave him a kick for good measure. Rubina training was far superior to whatever wish-wash that the Fringe settlements conducted.
Rhiem grabbed the second SMG on its way down.
Holding both guns, he pointed the two at the unarmed guards.
"You two will escort me and this girl into your settlement. Now." The guards looked at each other, and then the guns.
Ootya Fringe Settlement
"What? An intruder?" The fat and portly minutemen commander fell off his chair. "Get the troops out! Sound the bell!" The town hall, (a large amount of scrap concrete and wires) Rang out its warning bell. Screaming, unprepared men rushed from their homes and to the armory. They swarmed in front of the doorway to the armory, while the Minutemen Commander made his way to the lock.
"Come on...open!" The lock fit in, and the Commander rushed his troops in. "Hurry! Arm yourselves!"
Suddenly, they were all rushing out.
The commander was left, dazed, at the mouth of the armory. Inside, sat Rhiem, on a box of RPG warheads, and holding an SMG and a battle rifle.
"Nice guns," He smirked.
Chapter 5
"So what is your reason for being here?" Riu and Rhiem were across the Fringe Settlement leader, Chief in council. There were rough pads set across the floor; a low-set tea table made of old wood held the center of the small tent. The Chief was dressed in an extremely old Yukuta, that flowed far past her, ending like a small train behind her dainty feet. The enormity of the dress offset the fact...
The Settlement Chief was merely a small girl.
"Well? I'm not here to solely to enjoy your company. Speak." The Chief poured some more root tea, and sipped slowly.
"...I...I'm sorry for the trouble we caused!" Riu bowed down, and hid her face.
"Psh. I'm glad you scared my troops. They needed a kick in the ass to get moving anyhow." She nodded to Rhiem, who was tied up in a corner. He was gagged and strung up so many times he looked rather like a moth in a cacoon.
"And don't worry. I'm sure you had a legitimate reason to hold two of my guards hostage, seize control of my armory, and taser my second-in command. But until then, you can stay tied up there."
"(mmmfff)"
The Chief returned attention to Riu.
"Now hurry up."
"...I was on the run from Rubine Forces. And he, Rhiem, helped me. More than I could ever repay."
"You would be suprised how easy it is to 'payback' men...him in particular. I assume you pursue refuge here, in Ootya?"
"Y-yes...I will work for my stay, I'll do anything you ask."
"I'm not concerned with that" The Chief waved a dimunitive hand in dismissal. "I can tell a person's character. You'll work, no doubt. What I want to know...is what to do with ...Him."
"H-He said he will return to the Rubine Firebase."
"Ha! You believe that?" The Chief glanced back at Rhiem. His eyes narrowed in frustration at this brat...struggling, Rhiem twisted around, trying to free his bonds. Chief turned her head back.
"No...If he helped you, nothing awaits him back there. So the next thing you'll ask is if he can stay here?"
"..."
"No. He's not staying here."
"Wha?"
"He's a stupid brat. Even if I put him to work, it would be done half-assed, and with reluctance. You would be the only thing keeping him here, and eventually his concern for you would turn to hatred. The doubts of helping you in the first place would creep into his mind until it turned malignant, and then he would lash out at you. You would then seperate, and die hollow lives from then on."
The Chief seemed to darken at her own prophecy.
"I'll going to do something else with you two." She stood up, and cricked her knuckles.
"What...what are you going to do?"
...
"He can join our hunters."
"H-Hunters?"
"You know why every one of our guard is pathetic? It's because anyone worth anything at fighting has joined our specialty mercenaries. The Hunters." The Chief poured some more tea, and then kicked back on the mat she was on.
"Hunters are paid by assignment from our Guild Hall. They make good money...if they can survive."
"Is it really alright for him to do such a dangerous thing?"
"This stupid brat is good enough. He took apart my entire town guard, let's see how he does against those ravaging machines."
...
"But wait..."
"Hm?"
"What does that have to do with Rhiem staying here?"
The Chief cracked an evil smile.
"Because stupid brats..." She looped a length of rope around Rhiem's neck. "Sleep outside city limits!" She dragged Rhiem outside. "Make yourself at home. Not like I have much of one."
Thunk!
"(mmmmfff!)"
Rhiem's head had collided with a rock.
"Oops. Watch your head."
"(mmmfffhhhuukkk yooouuuuu)"
Thunk!
...
"Hm! Heheh, Hahaha!" Riu laughed out loud, and clear.
It felt good... she had not laughed before in her life, but it felt really, really good. She kept on laughing, and laughing until tears came out. She crouched down, and held her sides. Tears flew freely now.
Soon, these tears of laughter mixed with tears of joy. She slumped down, and covered her face.
She...Riu...She had a home...
Chapter 6
Rhiem strode through the field of tents that made up the community of Ootya. It was just row after row of dusty, dated tents. Row after row, cluster after cluster, block after block, a sea of tents rose to his view. Some large, some small, some long and some fancy. There were some tents that looked as if the only thing keeping them up was duct tape and prayers, yet they stood against harsh winds every day.
He glanced down at the directions the Chief had given him. Scribbles were drawn on a piece of parchment,
"Make a right at the bush that looks like a bunny rabbit with a carrot on his back, climb over the rock that is shaped like a slide. Turn left at the big tent with the seagull that always pecks the girl from the Romda family and take another left at the tent with the patch on it. After that tent, count one-hundred and twenty dog tails to your next right, where you will see our Guild."
He looked up.
"What the HELL kind of directions are these!" He tossed them in the dirt, and ground it with his foot.
He strode up to the nearest tent. Ducking inside, he knocked on a wooden support.
"Excuse me, where can I find the Guild?" A loud clanging could be heard, and a few frightened cries. Rhiem glanced in. A mother was hiding her two children's faces in her dirty apron. She looked up fearfully, and mumbled and pointed to her left. She then gripped her kids tight, and looked away.
Rhiem exited the tent, and walked down the corridor of tents slowly.
These people…although they don't know me…they know my uniform.
He slowly made his way to where the women had pointed him to.
A large building, made of scraps and cloth, was erected at the very center of the settlement. It stretched like a pyramid across the barren sky. The very building carried an air of intimidation, what with iron spikes stretching out of the ground, holding the entire building up.
Rhiem pushed through the iron door. He stepped in, chest out, eyes open.
Inside was surprisingly light. Torches lit the walls every few feet, illuminating the round, central hall. Tables made of rough, dark stone were set up every few yards. Each table was filled with thugs, warriors, and soldiers. Each one of them had more scars and piercing than the last, each one more and more intimidating than the last. Dozens of rough, scary faces turned to face Rhiem. Some glared, some growled, but most were silently focused on the Rubine Soldier that had just stridden in.
Rhiem strode in, not scared in the least. Here he felt more in place. Here were fighters.
As Rhiem passed their table, a group of particularly rough-looking men all stood up, looking angry. The leader, a stocky man with a small Mohawk and scars covering his arms, walked right into Rhiem's face. He bared his teeth.
"Rubine scum. What do you think you're doing here, weakling? I thought your fancy barracks and clean cloths were what made you dogs superior to us."
Rhiem calmly stared back at the man, returning his challenge.
"The weakest bark the loudest. Is that what you are, you strutting peacock?"
Both drew their weapons. The man pulled a shotgun from his back, pointing the wide barrel straight at Rhiem's face. His scarred face grew a cracked smile.
"Well, Rubine Aristocrat? Not so tough, are you?"
Rhiem imitated his cracked smile. The man glanced down, and saw the slim barrel of Rhiem's Battle Rifle poking from under his torn, ragged armor.
"What?" He clenched his teeth. Violently, he pulled the shotgun back. Turning full circle, a knife came out of nowhere. "You bitc-"
A mechanical, prosthetic hand grabbed the knife, and pulled it out of the man's grip. A large, scarred and old hunter had appeared behind the one with the Mohawk.
"Don't lose your temper, Gona. Have a seat." The seven-foot tall hunter easily pushed the smaller, younger Gona back onto his seat.
The old hunter looked at Rhiem. Rhiem noticed that all of the hunter's limbs seemed to be made of some metal prosthetic.
"Young man, you should know better than to come into here, wearing that uniform."
Rhiem fixed the battered collar on his combat jacket.
"I'll wear whatever I want here, until someone can prove me wrong." He smirked at Gona, who murderously glared back at him.
"It should be obvious that you won't be able to stay long here. What is your purpose here?"
Rhiem pulled a slip out of his pocket.
"I need to find this man: 'An old geezer with glasses larger than beer mugs and limbs thinner than chopsticks.'" He flicked the paper in his middle and index fingers. "Know him?"
"Sakami must have written that slip, for only she would disrespect our treasured weapon smith with that poor description."
"Sakami?"
"You shall find Master Vulcan in his forge, at the back of our Guild." As he left, the old, scarred hunter looked back one last time. "Do your business quickly, young one. I cannot guarantee your safety with my incensed comrades at my side."
Rhiem then became very aware of the fifty-plus hunters that were fingering their weapons at this newcomer.
"Che. Nice welcome party."