"Hey...HEY...HEEYYYYYY- MASKED BOY, WAKE UP"

"Ugghh" what is...this pain. I look down on my leg. It's covered...in so much blood, as I attempt to move "AHHHH" holding onto my left leg I release I retract my muscles in my leg. Looks like I'm not moving anytime soon.

"HEY STOP IGNORING ME!!!"

"Who are you?"

Proudly announcing "Only the daughter of Duke Sytesque, Rosetta Sytesque-so what's your name?"

"I'm a nobody but if you insist on a name just call me 'R'..."-not like you'll remember it anyways. As I take a good look around "so tell me where are we?" Cause as far as i can tell it was a damp dark chamber with bars on all sides and as i observed further i notice other kids of various age groups.

"I don't know to be honest because I just woke up here all of the sudden...However I did notice an auction downstairs though"

Man its sucks there aren't any windows or openings. To check it out..."NO" I quickly check my pockets "DAMN THOSE BASTARDS" THEY TOOK MY HARD EARNED GOLD.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, but can I ask you a favor? Just pull me to the entrance of the cell so I can get a better view of our situation"

"WHY WOULD I TOUCH YOU AND YOUR FILTH?!"

"Really..." I think I'm gonna get a headache "are you seriously worried about such things in our current situation" this girl....is hopeless.

"It doesn't matter!!- I, daughter of Duke Sytesque, shall not be tainted in fact you should be working a way to get me out of here."

"Why exactly 'Daughter of Duke Sytesque' shall I do that for? Does it look like I care about you? As far as I'm concern you are just one of those 'wealthy merchants' that are spoiled so you can just find yourself out of here." I quickly crawl my way to the door and relax there...I'm hoping to look for some information.

"You did NOT just ignore me like that. I'll have you know my father will behead you at my command!!! So if I were you, you better do as I say!"

"I'll take my chances" man this mouth of this girl just keeps moving. I turn my focus to outside our cell. The pain in my leg still lingers...focus-focus-focus Rave just think about fishing

"HEY listen to me I'll have you know I am the most popular perso~"(Rosetta)

Ahh fishing it's a nice day. I look back at the girl...all I see is a moving set of teeth....so glad I'm able to tune it out. While I was observing the outside I notice guards pulling kids probably for the auction. Judging the interval we'll be sold half a day from now.

"HEY ARE YOU LISTENING!!"

"Sorry, you say something?"

"UGH I HOPE YOU SUFFER MUCH PAIN WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE CAPITAL"

"Well if you are going to torture me then shouldn't you prioritize escaping?"

"Pfft why would I need to escape when my father can just get me out of here?"

"Yeah sure count on someone else for your problems....you know you are so childish for your age."

"EXCUSE ME HOW OLD DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, I'm only 11 and a half”

"Really? Nahhh you can't be 11-"

"AND A HALF"

"HAHAHA!!!!!! My bad your makeup makes you pale as a ghost I mistook you to be a lot older"

"Excuse me, gentlemen unlike you find me mature for my age, hmph"

"Yeah sure" I really can't afford to waste my time. I need to think of a plan and soon. I started crawling my way to shackles and started to look for any rusted parts so I could pull at. After I got a chain I wrap it around my hands-luckily the kidnappers are so cheap they don't do maintenance around here.

"Hey R, what're you doing? That's an ugly accessory HAHAHAHA"

"Well this 'accessory' is my ticket out of here and unlike you rich folk I have to work for it" man I hope my leg recovers soon. I crawl back and was about to concentrate until the guards arrive in my cell.

Suddenly a guard arrives and starts scribbling down something..."so the boy looks strong, strange hair. The girl..."

"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING??, MY FATHER WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD"

"...is young but obnoxious"

I snickered.

"IF I WERE YOU, YOU WILL LET ME GO THIS INSTANT OR YOU BE KILLED BY FATHERS HANDS"

"HAHAAAAH Do you really believe your father will come for you? Guess what young lady your father doesn't know where you are so as you are now you are a sitting duck until we sell you to some slave owner, guess what, they can do anything they want to you so keep hoping lady~" at that he left with a face I an animal

*Rosetta shivers* she holds her body in attempt to protect herself.

Well she's mentally unstable; I better not intrude her- not that I would anyways.

"....hey 'R' could...could you...help me?"

"Sorry what did you say?" I clear my ears

"HELP ME PLEASSEEEE" she starts crying an extraordinary amount.

"Why should I help someone who doesn't help me? Seems unfair doesn't it?"

"I'll pay any amount!! Name your price!!"

Oi she sounds desperate "fine 500 gold then"

Reluctantly "...fine, deal IF you can get me to the capital and ONLY if that"

"Alright then we got ourselves a deal"

"So do you have a plan to get out of here?"

"Nope not a clue, I'm waiting a couple more hours to let the sunlight flow through" at least I still have the chain

*CLUNK* a soldier walks in dragging a little bald boy and puts him in a cell next to ours.

That's strange...he has a blindfold around his face. He looks about less than 5, but can't tell he's covered in so much dirt.

"Boss, what do we do with the kid?"

I look to see the guard with the strange arm device that got me here in the first place. As I take a look closer a fat person replies

"He's a waste of space and he's blind to do anything *bites bacon* just dispose of the kid by tomorrow morning *bites* it's an eyesore."

*shouts below the floor*

“HAHAAHAA *bites* looks like I need to attend to my guests. I shall take my leave"

"Yes sir" the guard goes to another cell and brings a couple more kids to the auction.

Damn I didn't get a good look at the arm. Anyways nows not the time for that, I look back at the boy. He is crouching holding onto his legs. "Hey kid you alright?"

He nods and looks up.

That was the first time I felt sympathy-Rosetta was sobbing watching the scene in front of her-...I can't believe he was blind. "Hey kid...I'll help you get back to your parents."

He shakes his head no.

"Why not?"

"They're...up there" he points up into the sky.

"WAHHHH" Rosetta starts crying as if there was no tomorrow.

To be honest I was also on the verge of crying. I grab the bars separating us and the kid. I raised my hand through the bar "hey kid...we'll take you to our home and we'll support you. And I said I will support you not help you and if you desire to live then grab my hand"

"And mine too" she gives her hand through the bars.

Following our voice the kid slowly walks to us moving his tiny hands in search for our hand. As he finally touches a hand Rosetta immediately pulls him into her arms and starts crying. Luckily the kid was able to fit the cells that originally held us, unfortunately not the exit.

Owe to ahead and leave them alone. I NEED to find a way out for us. DAMN IT think rave -think-think. So the guard with the arm device has the keys. Once he opens our cell I will punch him I the temple with my chain, but then what. We can't go down-that's where all the auctioneers and the boss are. So the only way to go it the roof. I look back at Rosetta and the kid...looks like I have to jump roofs with them. Ok that's the plan and hopes everything goes smoothly.

I tell everyone else the plan.

"ARE YOU CRAZY WE'LL DIE IF WE DO THAT" she hugs the kid closer.

"Listen we don't got a choice, in about half an hour the guard will come and we must take the opportunity. Won't you trust me?"

After much thought "...fine, I will trust you this once"

"Ok both of you get in the corner and I'll be behind the wall"

Hmph "another day another set of work" *clunk* "ALRIGHT where are the two of y..." Before he finished I knocked him out with the chains.

"Alright let's go both you get to the roof I'll be there in a minute" as they go, I grab the arm device off the guard. Now that I have it, on closer inspection it seems to be a sling shot mounted on an arm bracelet. "I'll bring it anyways." As I run up the stairs I notice rope and grabbed it. "I might be able to use this device" as I get to the roof I put the slingshot to action. I attach one end of the rope and attach it to a nearby knife. "Rosetta go ahead and grab a couple of cloth"

"Why?"

"Just do it I'll explain later"

"Alright here it goes I release the trigger" the knife hits the roof two buildings down. I quickly attach the other rope to a nearby pole. "Rosetta Hurry!!!"

"I'm coming!!!" She hands me the clothe "so what are we doing?"

"We're going to hang and slide down the rope" I put the clothe over the rope. "Here grab it and don't let go"

"Are you sure this is safe?!?!?"

I push her.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh~~~"

I Pick up the kid and told him to grab onto me. "Alright my turn now" I grab the clothe and I started gliding.

Hehe oh man the scene was fantastic. We could feel the wind envelope us. Man I wish we could've be like this forever..."hey you smiled"

The kid blushes.

Anyways once we got down...

"BLLEEGGHHH"

"Oi Rosetta you just ruined the scene" anyways while we were gliding down I decided to exit the southern city walls and walk all the way around back to the capital. This should avoid running in with any of the henchmen and any other kidnappers. "C'mon Rosetta the day is still young- kid is already ready to move ou-"

Pulling on my shirt "my name is Airi..."

"My bad Airi, grab my hand and let's go"

All three of us were able to reach the city exit by going through alley ways. Luckily we didn't run into anything serious so I was glad. Rosetta on the other has had a lot of mental stress just from traveling. I'm not surprised that she never saw poverty first hand, slavery, prostitution, murder, orphans running about, etc.. I admit it was terrible but not far from the norm for me. One thing I WAS grateful for was Airi's blindness after all this isn’t a perfect world.

It was almost night..."hey Rosetta, can you grab some dead branches while watching Airi? I'm going to go fishing for food"

"Okay~" we both split up.

"Ahhhahhaha MAN the feeling of the gentle breeze, the gentle flow of the river-I was able to grab a few fish on line and just as I was going to put back the line..,

"AHHHHHHHHHH"

Shit I instinctively run for it, it didn't take long to get there but...

"GRRRRRRRR RAAAAAGCHHH"

A 'Panther' stares down at Rosetta hugging Airi close.

*whistle*"HEY BIG CAT OVA HERE" I grab the biggest stone and get ready to act. The 'Panther' lounges at me with great speed ready to take a bite-this was the opportunity, I grab the stone and I shove it down the throat of the 'Panther'.

"AHHHHH" my side it BURNS.

"RAKKKKAAKAKAAAA" it was gasping for air.

I silently crawl back to the Panther and close the rest of its wind pipe. It took a while but it was a silent death. "Hey you two alright..." I tap onto Rosetta shoulders to snap her back to reality. "UGGHHHUH" Rosetta pounces at me and cries in my chest. I try to comfort her but I'm not that sentimental so "Rosetta chin up"

"But your woun-"

"Don't worry about, wounds heal-I’ll be fine okay"

"NO WE HAVE TO TREAT IT IMMEDIATLEY, I KNOW!!! WE..."

"Rosetta..."

"CAN GO BACK TO..."

"Rosetta"

"THE CITY, IM SURE THERE...."

"ROSETTA!!!" I slap her across the face. "Look at Airi, you absolutely can NOT go back to somewhere so dangerous, Airi is counting on you"

"But..."

"NO BUTS we can only look at the future, like I said wounds heal so don't worry about me so grab the wood and we will eat fish tonight, alright? I'll be fine till tomorrow." I leave Rosetta and Airi crying and I go back to the fishing spot and grabbed all the fish back to camp. We all ate in silence. I never seen Rosetta so depressed-although my first impressions was absolutely still present I sat next to her and hugged her gently and patted her back.

"WAAAAAGGHHHHH" an outburst of emotion fell out.

I let her cry spilling out her anger on the world onto my chest. To be forced out of life of comfort only to see the cruel reality must took a toll. Airi on the other hand falls asleep on my lap holding my right hand. I try to pry my hand out but to no avail. Eventually Rosetta fell asleep with all her crying. In fact I was surprised she didn't pass out earlier, man she is stubborn in everyday...At some point I passed out without knowing...

"Ughhh" damn you morning sun...always ruining my sleep. I see that Rosetta is drooling all over my stomach...probably dreaming about food. Airi on the other hand..."hey kid you alright? You must've woke up early"

His face was so close it seems like he was smelling me. He smelled everywhere from top to bottom.

I have never felt so molested than today. "Hey Rosetta get up...we got a long walk ahead of us"

"Mhmm ughh hehe good piggy hehe"

"ROSETTA!"

"AHHHH WHERE AM I WHO ARE YOU?" *BUNK*

"WHY DID YOU PUNCH ME?!?!"

"Hmph your fault or waking me!"

"Well if I didn't how else would you get home" whatever "anyways that's not the main issue... Its morning we need to move out"

"But-but I just wok-"

"No buts let's go and remember the deal Rosetta-500 gold"

"I remember I remember jeez I can see you aren't a morning person"

"Just grab Airi and let's go- from what I remember we need to cross a river in order to get to the west entrance to the city"

"How do you suppose we do that?"

"I don't know...I'll guess we will 'cross that bridge when we get there'(this is a saying)"

During our travels we came across many panthers, even though they are dangerous, once you learn their patterns they're easy to deal with. After a long walk we finally manage to reach the river...now what.

"So uh 'R' what do we do?"

"There are a few hollow bamboo sticks so might tie them together to make a raft; but we can only ride it on a calm day so we could potentially be here up to a month, so we might have to camp here"

"A MONTH I CAN'T DO THAT"

"Well can you swim?" With that she went mute.

The next couple days were quite treacherous. We first had to build a little tent while I had to make a raft since Rosetta was clueless in using materials she has at hand. As for food we had to fish, it was plentiful don't get me wrong, but many 'Wild Bicorn Bobcats' were able to sniff outrun fish so I also had to defend everyone. At first I was using the ol 'choke-them-with-something-hard-tactic' but I eventually created a device based on the arm device from the henchman.

The henchmen device was basically and unfortunately a small bow with a tube to put your projectiles. I was hoping it was more sophisticated but you know...'beggars can't be choosers'. I created my own type of weapon based of the henchman’s. Basically I used saliva from cats and when mixed with a bit of blood from any source it starts to expand. I used the tube and when I load a projectile into the tube on top of saliva, I just add some blood and it just flies. Problem was it was really slow to reload and almost impractical due to constant supply of saliva and blood. But by far the best weapon we got.

"Hey 'R' I got a lot of fish tonight" oh yeah I recently taught Rosetta and Airi how to fish. Basically Rosetta holds the fishing like and Airi touches the line and senses any movement. Although they don't catch as much as me it was still enough to eat and besides, I got my hands full with building the raft and defending the group itself. Any fish leftover we had, I usually toss em back to the river. Rosetta at first reluctantly toss the fish back but I told her it's a waste if a life to keep it so let it go back and reproduce. The problem with the rich nowadays is that they will have a surplus amount of items and end up throwing it away the next day. This angers me as it could be used for something valuable. I do not like wasting such as the saliva or blood because everything has a purpose, I also pray after I kill anything despite their nature.

"DONE" after two weeks I was able to finish it. It was 5x5 meters and could reliably float to the other side. As we took it...

"AIRI NO KEEP YOUR HANDS IN" Rosetta grabs onto Airi like a mother. Airi has gotten closer and closer to us, in fact he has been smiling a lot more...as for talking he goes straight to Rosetta.

Every morning I always see Airi sleeping and drooling on some part of me like my arm. I swear Airi is able to find my body with the ability to see. It's quite frightening.

"Just a few more meters" all of us was awaiting the time we hit the other side. Rosetta has never felt so over joyed in her life " Oi Rosetta we still got hours of walking distance left, don't celebrate now" I kind of chuckled because since the first time we met there has been a lot of progress. Anyways as we walk, we each held one of Airi's arm and we just swung her up and down. I promise you the smile was the best thing I have seen in my entire maligned life. However the thought of what to do with Airi is an unanswerable question.

Just as we see the city's west entrance "Airi how do you feel living with Rosetta..." To tell the truth Rosetta and I had this conversation before. We both agreed that she would take responsibility. I knew I wouldn't be able to take care of him cause I lived a hard life of poverty and I no longer wish for him to live the life of pain and suffering as he has suffered enough with his blindness. Airi opinion on the matter on the other hand...

"NO NO NO" he grabs onto my shirt.

To say the least both of us were startled at the reaction. The sun was soon enough about to set "listen Airi" still holding onto my shirt "it’s better that you live with Rosetta, ok? And I am not giving you a choice."

"NO!"

The sun is coming down..."listen Airi...if you ever find me then I promise to give you a gift-"

"NO!!"

"And a promise..." Man this kid is stubborn as Rosetta; if he had red hair just like Rosetta I wouldn't be surprised if they were long lost siblings.

"..."

I lift my hand ready as if I was shaking hands to confirm a deal. "Want to shake on it?"

Reluctantly he took my after many attempts to find it unexpectedly he lift my hand to her nose. As soon as he lets go he runs back to Rosetta. With that I take my leave. "As for the gold Rosetta...leave it with Airi"

"Will you ever come back, 'R'?"(Rosetta)

"By the way my name is Rave and to answers your question...

~Maybe"

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Author's Note: Finally this is the last chapter in the 'Reminiscence Arc'- hopefully things would pick up so sit tight my friends xD.(I highly emphasis that you guys list any grammar mistakes and if you guys see a word that better replaces any of the words above feel free- After all i'm desiring to become a better writer.