Spoiler: Chapter 1 Drak'Shul was a world where cruelty and a blade's edge had more say than words. Triton was an orphan who lived most of his fifteen years on the streets of Drak'Shul, growing up on the cold and ruthless streets he was accustomed to its ways of surviving. Kindness had no place, trust was something you'd wash off from clothes. Committing crimes to get the small luxurious of life was something he excelled at. Especially thievery, he loved stripping the loaded blue robes. Blue robes, the people who wore them were the only ones even fit to be called people, they lived a comfortable life with no worries about beast tides, droughts, and other unimaginable atrocities that went around in the world. They were the true citizens of the city state, under the protection of the State Directorate, the legitimate ruling organization of this part of the world. The likes of Triton were what was known as scavengers, those who lived off the excess that was thrown out the Blue zones, the living residency blocks for the blue robes. Living in what was the outskirts, just inside of the outer city border there was not much to say about his place. Waste littered the roads, one could probably find traces of filth from even centuries old. Buildings were a labyrinth of broken and run down walls, dozens lived in spaces smaller than a prison cell. Still Triton was satisfied having a roof over his head, in this world the truly unfortunate were the ones that had no shelter when the night fell. None of them had made it longer than a night. Once the light from the Yule star went, the Nightcrawlers creeped out from the dark domain. Beings from another dimension, for good half of the last millenium, Drak'Shul was constantly invaded by this specific dimension. None knew the reason or the cause of their invasion, but from the first calamity of their invasion the world had yet to recover to its past glory. Triton's housing was his payment for working for a flesh racketeering gang. They were exactly what they sounded like, they dealt in anything from trafficking, kidnapping blue robes, contracts, and even human flesh market for the twisted. Triton still being physically small was assigned mostly to reconnaissance for kidnapping any potential blue robes for ransom. But they had rules, as would any successful establishments. One, never question their authority, two never think of double crossing them and three, never ever touch the badge holders! Even among the blue robes, those who held badges were distinguished beyond compare. There were several types of badges but one thing was sure, nobody would come out unscathed if they slighted a badge holder. Triton didn't know what would happen, in all his years he hadn't come across any brave soul who had the guts to cross them. Their residences were even mapped and stricken out in blood red, Triton wasn't supposed to go even hundred meters close to their places. There still was another designated robes, the black and reds, or what Triton knew as the Daycrawlers. They were the hounds of the directorate, if Nightcrawlers ruled the darkness, they ruled the light. If Triton ever had to choose between the two, he reckoned he had a higher chance of surviving with the Nightcrawlers. The reason was simple. They were the Enchanted ones, a breed of humans made from centuries of research on the otherworldly beings. They wielded unspeakable powers that boggled Triton's mind to no end, just thinking about the few instances he had come across was enough to strengthen his fear for them. Awooo! Awooo! "Little Rokko must be hungry, hmmm it is time to grab something." Sitting on scraps in the junkyard, Triton thought, coming back from his lost thoughts. "Dion! You brain dead! Let's go!" Grabbing a handful of scraps he threw it at a large figure of a man lying on an another heap of junk next to him. "Ehmm.... Get going, I'll catch up" The deep voice showed his aged stature, he looked like he was in his thirties, lose shirt did nothing to hide the ripped and huge physic, his rugged beard and shoulder length hair gave a ferocious air to his calm demeanor. "Ssk, starve all you want...I'm off" Smirking at the man Triton hopped off his throne of scraps and patted off his back before looking around the direction of Rokko's bark. "Here boy! Rokko! Come here!" AWoof! AWoof! Triton could feel the ground shaking a bit at every step, a large figure resembling a canine creature made its way to his face. Greenish saliva fell from its mouths, dripping straight above his head to his sides, the towering figure of black was taller than him by quite a few feets. "Who's a good boy! Who's a good boy! Yes...yes you are!" AWoof! AWoof! Making his way to its neck he ruffled its thick fur. It had a thin layer of it, underneath was mounds of terrifying muscles that looked like chiseled metal strands. This was their gang's one of the most valued asset, a very renowned breed of dire beasts. The Helion Hound, a ferocious and bloodthirsty breed of canine dire beasts that could even gouge on rare metals and digest them. They were specially bred to be capable of being tamed and social with humans. Ofcourse the wild version of them were cold blooded monsters that lived as lone hunters preying on every single living thing around them. Even though they weren't pack hunters and their species wasn't well spread, they were apex predators in every region they lived. Even bigger dire beasts avoided confronting a Helion Hound, cause even if they won the battle all they would have is a hunk of inedible metal like flesh. Rokko's face resembled the grizzly bears of our world, albeit with a larger set of canine that were visible even when its mouth was shut. Triton went to its sides and with ease climbed its back in a moment. This was something he had practised to for a while now. If Triton ever felt powerful in his life, it was in moments like this, when on the back of Rokko and when his blades were inch from deciding life and death of blue robes. "Rokko! Let's go eat! "
Spoiler: Chapter 2 For scavengers, sourcing food was a lifelong ordeal, living everyday at the fear of starvation. Triton was better off, being part of a gang he was rationed and was provided food and water to survive. The quantity was bare minimum, the contents... Was better left unquestioned. Riding Rokko in the streets, Triton acted like a boss, hands across his chests, his nose a degree higher than the horizon and his eyes never leaving the sky. "Look at that punk! I want to smash his face like clay." "Sure, just make sure to deliver your head to the Finchs afterwards. Hahahaha " A nearby group of men muttered among themselves looking at Triton's comical stride. Finch was the gang's leader, his name was etched in every heart of every scavenger in this corner of the world. His "accomplishments" were nothing short of legendary to some of the low-life scavengers. Rumors were that he once hunted down a Daycrawler all by himself, even that he used the Daycrawler's skull has a mug. Even more unbelievable rumors were that he feasted on Nightcrawlers daily to be that strong. Ofcourse all of these were just rumours, Triton knew a bit more than what the outsiders were privy to, and yet he felt Finch's deeds weren't any less legendary than the rumours. "Quick throw over the pack Fugo! Throw Rokko's as well!" As he made it to the place he shouted over the second floor window, his head easily reaching over to see the inside. Rokko was just too big, just sitting upon him Triton could feel what it felt like to be big and powerful like the other adult members of the gang. "Quiet down, Or Rokko will be having you for dessert" A calm voice came over the window, a man who looked to be in twenties was seen slowly coming into the view. Black hair dropped down his sides, his eyes were black as well, like a bottomless pit. His face was like a cold mold, no expression could be made out "Get down from Rokko first, and clean that filth off you... Even Nightcrawlers will flinch at that stench" Feeling his boss aura fading away, Triton's face darkened. He subtly sneaked a sniff at his shoulders and involuntary flinched back. "It's..not much" "Enough to flatten the city, hmm maybe we should use you instead of tranquilizers next time on the hunt" Triton face fell even harder, still a child he felt perplexed at the onslaught of taunts, realising he truly stank his mind didn't work out what to say next. "Finch! Not fair! I..I..I'm not that dirty, look! Rokko smells much worse" "True, you're stench is not at par with the dire beasts... Yet, don't worry you'll get there in a few days time" Taking a deep breath, Triton closed his eyes and jumped off Rokko, looking away from Finch. 'I can't be bothered with him!' Finch looking down from the window cracked a small smirk on his wooden face, thinking about how Triton carried himself on the street left him quite entertained. 'A pity you were born as a generic' Knowledge was everything, it held true in this world and in Drak'Shul. What many thought as enchanted ones were actually just a variant species of humans, brought on by mutation due to the exposure of Miasma. The Generics were Humans of old, uneffected by the spill out of Miasma, a strange form of energy that constantly leaked from the other dimension. The enchanted or variants, had their own set of uniqueness, not necessarily of the supernatural in nature, but the vast majority of them were genetically better off than the generics. From diseases to physical poweress, the Generics were too flawed for their time. Maybe before the calamity they would have not fallen down in comparison, but in the present times they were close to obsolete. The only plus point was that generics were actually immune to Miasma, or more specifically their genes had found a way to fight off the mutation catalysis caused by it. In a way they were the true winners of the war, the real inhabitants of the world. Finch squinted his eyes thinking of something else after this thought, forgetting about Triton's acts he went back deep inside the building. What looked like a simple building outside, housed a deep maze of dozens if not hundreds of rooms inside, all of it belonging to Finch, the old building stretched a good half a block and Finch was the master of it all. Triton was back to his high spirits, forgetting about the annoying Finch he went inside and quickly made his way to the sanitary wards for the common bath stations. As for Rokko, with practiced ease it made its way up the towering building, till it reached the roof where a sprawling terrace of plants and other oddities laid infront. Suddenly the ground gave up at a side and a metal box came up, with a clicking sound the box opened up like jigsaw puzzle to reveal the content inside. Sprakling ores and metal pieces spilled over, of all sizes and colours, when Rokko saw the ores its eyes suddenly became lively and it lifted its tyrant like body on two feets and a roar escaped its monstrous jaws. If one had heard emergency sirens stationed at cyclone prone regions they'd be familiar with the type of bone chilling feeling the sound gave. Slightly, cause the roar was far louder by a dozen times and a mysterious pressure water over like radiating waves. Dire beasts were unique like that, their bodies were strengthened by constant exposure to Miasma, their level of accumulation of Miasma or the quality of it determined their power, which was not simply a physical poweress. People throughout the block blanked out for a good few seconds, some felt annoyed and cursed the Finchs, some sighed and didn't mind the small inconvenience. Triton in the shower gave a hearty laugh after being shocked silly by Rokko's roar, he felt a close kinship of sorts with Rokko so naturally Rokko's dominance made him feel like his own. "Good, Good! Nothing less could be accepted as my stea..cough..blegh..cough" Lost in his pride he swallowed a mouthful of the washing solution shot out of the shower unit. "You bloody shower! Cough...blegh" He quickly brushed the awful taste off his tongue, he swore he'd get his revenge on it. 'hmm maybe next time Finch is about to go in shower...hehe..' Lauding himself for coming up with a plan to kill two birds in one stone Triton finished up his shower and hurried over to the upper floors to collect his ration. 'My stomach is probably eating itself already!' ........ "Boss! Dion's back!" The burly man from the junkyard entered the dimly lit room, his hair still unkept with bits of dirt and scraps still stuck. His eyes were lethargic, he scratched his beard and slowly made over and grabbed a chair to sit down. " Birds of a feather flock together, maybe you should adopt that kid Triton..." Continuing to scratch his beard Dion shifted around to get himself comfortable, seeming not to have heard Finch's chide. "Triton? Will I get to eat him if I own him?" He looked over Finch, not an ounce of humour in his tone, one couldn't tell whether he joked or was genuinely curious on the prospect. "Hmm... Only if you swear you won't be poisoned by his stench" Hahaha Hahaha The few occupants of the room broke out into a laughter, except for the two parties in conversation. Dion fell into a thoughtful expression, maybe it was really possible? He felt this was a viable plan and instantly fell into contemplating about it. "Are you prepared for the coming hunt?" Brought back from his lost thoughts, Dion looked Finch straight in the eye and nodded firmly. "Ready and waiting for your orders! " "Hm, good" Finch then didn't bother with Dion and instructed another aide by his side with some specific duties and sent them off. Dion seeing everyone leaving got up in a groggy manner, he was about to exit through the door when suddenly "Wait" Dion turned around, he saw that Finch had laid back in his chair, half his face hidden by the shadows. "Yes, boss?" "Choose your preys wisely" Finch's eyes were half closed, his arms relaxed on the sides, he looked to be resting and only talking in the passing. But Dion felt his hair standing up, he saw a glint of glow pass over Finch's half closed eyes. He felt like a lamb caught in fangs of a wolf, shaking his head to come out of the trance, he frowned and scratched his beard once again, like he wasn't bothered by the warning. "No Triton? Ok got it" With that he closed the doors behind him and lazily made his way to his room on the other end of the building thinking 'ah, so annoying, why is everything got to be so complicated.' ..................... "Foof...disoof..da..beyfuuf" Shoving his mouth with the bars of food, Triton seemed ecstatic and happy at the taste of the flavours hitting his tongue, these were the moments he lived and risked his life for. 'Way better than wet rubber for sure!' Back when he was still a kid hitch hiking any space on random buildings his source of food was either the garbage, which was the best outcome or any soft and bite-able material he could get his hands on, and rubbers were the most easy to get hands on, sometimes he'd be lucky and get some wood or even sponge for that matter, 'hmm I actually miss the sponge, the flavour of it is just too good' Finishing up the last of his bars he wiped his mouth and grabbed the glass of a slimy drink next to him, gulping it down in one go he banged the metallic glass on the table and gave a hearty laugh "Food is the best always!" A skinny old figure smiled at Triton's theatrics, he held a plate in his hand wiping it clean with a cloth. "Be sure to make it in time for your shift, don't be late like the last time. " The old figure said in a warm voice, seemingly worried Triton would get himself in trouble for being late again. "Ahahaha! Old bones I wasn't late, they were just too early!" Triton happy with a full stomach joked and sauntered off to get ready for his shift.