"Where is he?"
A small voice cut through the quiet. Shoyo lay on the dry ground, staring up at the crimson-red sky.
Lebia didn't answer at first. She was watering a cluster of half-dead plants near their scrap-built shelter, lost in thought.
"He said he'd come back... but it's been so long," Shoyo added with a sigh.
"He will come back, okay?" Lebia replied, her voice soft but strained. "Just be patient. Naran doesn't break his promises."
But even as she said it, she hesitated. Her hand froze over the watering can.
Memories crept in of all the people Naran had deceived with sweet words and fake hopes. All the times his promises had been to tricqk people into giving him free thing.
She swallowed hard.
"...Well, at least he doesn't break the ones he makes to us."
Then she blinked and turned toward Shoyo.
"Wait. Where's Louie?"
"He's been in our room a lot," Shoyo said quietly. "Not coming out. Just... lying there doing nothing like an old guy."
Lebia frowned. She hadn't seen much of Louie lately.
'is he really thinking about Naran? But they argue all the time Or something else' lebia wondered
In the dark room, Louie lay on his bed, wrapped tightly in blankets. His body trembled.
He was remembering.
That day.
That moment.
It had started so simply. Him lebia and shoyo where in there so called castle. Louie was reading his books about monster and creatures he would have to fight when he became a scavenger, lebia was busy with her plant while Shoyo was sleeping
Till Shoyo worked up and had asked him for a glass of water
"Pls Louie I'm thirsty."
"Go get it yourself if you really want it."
"Please.... please please please. It's to far." Shoyo begged
"Fine I'll go get it." Louie said closing his books and getting up
He'd left the little castle they were building, dragging his feet, lazily kicking a stone along the way.
Then came the sound.
A dull thud. Followed by a muffled explosion.
He paused. The noise had come from the main building.
Curiosity pushed him forward.
He approached slowly, then stopped just outside, hiding behind a half-broken door.
Peeking through a nearby window, what he saw made his heart stop.
Roar's Enforcers had stormed the building.
They were everywhere pinning Coroules' scavengers and everyone in the building at that time to the ground. Louie ducked behind the window, trying to stay hidden.
That's when he walked in.
A tall, imposing man. Everything about him screamed power. He moved with the confidence of someone who didn't fear death because he was death.
Louie watched as the man strode toward a woman with grey hair.
Without a word, he gripped her by the throat.
Louie couldn't hear what was being said, but he could see the fear in her eyes.
He could see her struggling. But he also saw her defiance.
Then nothing.
Her body went limp. Her head dropped.
For a moment, her eyes locked with his through the glass.
Then she was gone.
Louie stumbled back in shock, hitting the cold floor. His breathing quickened. His chest burned.
It wasn't his head that had dropped...
But it felt like it.
He stood up shakily, trying to calm down, but then came the voice.
"Why is a prisoner of Roar here?!"
A roar, sharp and commanding.
Louie peeked again through the broken window.
The man now held an Enforcer's head someone who must have tried to answer him.
Then, he crushed it.
Pop.
Blood splattered everywhere.
Louie's body froze. Then, without thinking, he ran.
He ran blindly, stumbling through corridors, past twisted metal and broken walls, until he reached a shadowed alleyway.
Then, he collapsed And he vomited Again and again His stomach twisted in on itself His body trembled uncontrollably, He felt like he was falling apart.
"Haaahhhhh!"
Louie shot up from his bed, gasping, his skin pale and drenched in sweat.
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
Another nightmare.
Another memory.
He couldn't understand why it wouldn't stop haunting him.
Why did it still feel so real?
So raw?
"What's wrong with me?" he whispered to himself.
He had always wanted to become a scavenger.
But if he couldn't handle this, how could he ever survive out there?
He pulled the blanket off his head and stood, still trembling. He looked down at his hands they were shaking.
"If I can't handle death… how can I call myself strong?"
He clenched his fists.
He had to be strong.
He would be.
"I'm destined to become a great scavenger," he whispered, trying to convince himself.
"A little blood… some heads getting popped off… it won't bother me. I'll get used to it."
But deep down, he wasn't sure.
"Miss Cathie! Miss Cathie!"
A man burst into the meeting room where Cathie stood, surrounded by a few other senior members of the coroules scavengers who couldn't go on the mission because if injuries or some reason or the order.
She turned, eyes narrowing. "What is it?"
"Roar… they left!" the man shouted, out of breath.
"Left?" Cathie repeated. "What do you mean they left?"
"They moved out the gates," the man said. "And not just a few of them... they left with a full force. Like an army."
Cathie's face darkened.
As She recollected her earlier discussion with Ji Ung.
"Roar will try to sabotage us. If they find out about the Lansing, they'll come for it," Ji Ung had said, a deep look in his eyes.
"But they won't."
"How are you so sure?" Ji Ung pressed. "They're already suspicious about why that woman came here. They could assume she told us about it. Hell, they might even follow us when we leave."
Cathie paused, then quietly sat down. Taking a worn piece of cloth, she began to clean one of Ji Ung's blades.
"Yes, you're right. They could do all that they could follow us, set a trap, maybe even have spies among us."
She looked up at him, her gaze steady.
"But they don't. And they won't."
Ji Ung frowned, confused.
"Are you even hearing yourself? You just said they could have spies do you know of any? Cathie, we need to tell Coroules about this dammit,"
"I said they could, not that they do," she interrupted.
"Then how are you so sure?"
"I just am," she said with quiet certainty, standing up. "Break it down. Why do you think Gruger the Vice Head of Roar is here? Simple. He's after the Lansing. But he's not having any luck finding it. As his special unit already got wiped out trying."
She stepped closer.
"And he killed the only person who knew where it was without even proper questioning or torturing her. Think about it. If Roar had any real lead, they wouldn't have killed her. Which means it's not their top priority. I heard the gang domain wars are about to start."
Ji Ung blinked, slowly following her train of thought.
"So you're saying… Roar's shifting focus?"
"no the Lansing wasn't there main focus in the first place. Gruger didn't kill her because she was she lied to him or excaped from him no he killed her to keep others from getting information that he wasn't even sure existed. After losing their elites to corrupted wolves, Roar pulled back. The Lansing's just a loose end to them now."
Cathie, still troubled, added quietly.
"But it still bothers me. Why kill her so quickly? If she truly knew about the Lansing, she could've been useful, they could have captured her. Maybe he feared she'd talk to someone else. Maybe Roar didn't care about finding it… they just didn't want anyone else to."
She stepped back and sighed.
"Which also begs the question who was that woman? How did she know about the Lansing? Is the Lansing we're risking everything for even real? Roar doesn't seem to know. We don't. We're just factors that got caught up in something bigger."
Ji Ung, overwhelmed, muttered.
"So what are you saying… it's not real? Roar is lying to themselves?"
Cathie shrugged slightly.
"What I'm saying is Roar doesn't really care about us. And not the Lansing either. Not right now. The real issue is the gang war. The Lansing just became a variable that could shift power, so Gruger removed that piece from the board."
"Even the debt," she continued, "wasn't necessary. They could've just killed us. But Gruger gave us a deadline because he wants us to struggle. He wants us desperate."
Ji Ung lowered his gaze.
"Then… the Lansing isn't real. We're not going to survive."
Cathie knelt beside him, her voice trembling but steady.
"I didn't say that. We don't know if it's real or not. Not even Roar knows that's why they killed the one person who did. The real threat is the war. If it breaks out like the last one…"
Ji Ung flinched, remembering the last domain war the death toll, the destruction, the chaos, the last war was the reason there where under roar control in the first place.
"We should tell Coroules.
"We can't He'll cancel the Lansing mission and focus on the gang war instead."
"you rather keep this from him And let us walk into battle with the corrupted wolves, for something that might not even exist?" he asked, his voice breaking.
"No," Cathie whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "You'll go to fight… for hope. That's all we have left. Yes, it might be foolish, but sometimes we have to believe in a lie. We have to sacrifice for something greater. The kids… the elders… everyone is counting on you. On all of us."
Ji Ung knelt before her, gently placing his hand over hers.
"Don't worry. We'll find it. We'll all make it back. We'll pay Roar their credits, leave this place… and let them fight their damn war alone."
He leaned in, and they kissed quietly, desperately holding onto each other in that fragile, silent moment.
A voice broke through her thoughts.
"Miss Cathie… Cathie? Miss Cathie!"
She blinked, pulled from the memory.
"Yes?" she replied, still dazed.
"Everyone's assembled. Should we move them into the main building?"
"Yes. No one leaves until I say so."
"Did we get the supplies?"
"Yes, ma'am. Everything's here."
They were broke. But the relationships they had built, the trust they'd earned, were enough for people to lend them credits anyway.
Cathie nodded.
"Good. We stay locked in. War is coming."