Wartime Reverie

"There are a lot of places and passages in a slum that only the slum dogs know about." Allen recognized Nny immediately, but he didn't know from where.

 

"Do you know of any places slum dogs go to meet?" asked Nny. He figured this boy was very smart, but Nny thought the boy might be from around here. Since Nny saw him crawling about some passages, he assumed that the boy knew more about this place, such as knowing groups of people who might possess valuable information.

 

Of course Allen did know several places where the slum-goers of Cassenova would congregate, but around here, the slum dogs looked out for each other. Giving away one of their meeting places to the wrong person could be like betraying them. As kind and caring as the city's poor were, they were also innately distrustful of the upper classes; they knew that nobody cared about the slums or the people who lived in them, but if any of the upper classes learned what the slum dogs knew or had access to via there old, run-down, and ignored secret passages and places, they would care.

A large part of the slums consisted of an abandoned and forgotten industrial district and through forgotten tunnels and unused pipelines the slum goers had access to the city's entire infrastructure. They could tap into the city's water and power grids, the had access to sensitive political information, they could even effect the city's waste disposal systems. If they wanted to, the slum dogs could cripple the city, and with it, all of Janina. If the ruling classes knew this, who knew what they would do. All the slum dogs knew for certain was that they would definitely lose their access to these things.

That would be a catastrophe. They used their access to the city's infrastructure to keep the slums hydrated, and sanitary, they used the tunnels out into the forest to hunt to keep themselves and each other fed. Taking away their access to inner workings of the city could very well be just like taking away their chances at survival. And so could giving away their secrets.

"Why do you care?" He did his best not to give away that he knew anything. If this other boy didn't know any of the meeting places used by the slum goers, then he clearly wasn't a native to these slums. He could still be an immigrant from another slum though, or a refugee of some sort, or some other person who the slum dogs' secrets would be safe with.

 

Nny knew right away what the boy was doing, and he didn't like it. "That's a bull***t answer and you know it." Said Nny somewhat quietly. Nny then grabbed Allen by the collar of his ripped shirt and pulled him behind an alley. There, Nny slamed the boy up against a wall. However, Nny took note of the boy's strength, and that the wall did nothing to harm the boy. "I need answers. Did you hear about what happened to the school? I was there. I saw horrible things beyond my own comprehension. I need to know what those things were, and I'm not going to let a punk like you stop me! Tell me what I want to know, and I would be glad to let you go unharmed. Now, where are the organizations that run this place? Someone there must know."

 

Allen then realized where he had recognized the other boy from; he had seen him around the academy, his name was Nny, he had a reputation for being an exceptional student and a bit of a jerk. "I was there too y'know. I saw the same horrible things you did." Allen was unphased by Nny's threats, in fact, he was even more confident now than he usually was, because he knew this place well. He knew the slum goers always had someone watching from some hiding place or another. He knew that even though no one could be seen around them at the moment, there were there slum dogs watching them right now. He knew that they would be moving into position to save him if they needed to. He had lived in these slums longer than anywhere except the academy. The slum dogs knew each other well, the other slum dogs would recognize him. And of course, the slum dogs looked out for each other. "Now think for a minute before you start making threats. I lived here a long time. I know my way around here, and the people around here know me. This is my home turf, and I have a significant home court advantage. If I were you, I'd stop threatening me, and answer my question."

 

Nny's pride would not allow him to give in "You may know me, but obviously you weren't well known enough to ever get my attention at the school. Now, if you saw all those monsters, then why would you wish to hinder me in my progress of learning more about them?" Nny then held a blade up against Allen's throat. "If you had anything to do with those things I will cut you down right now. This is your last chance, tell me where I can find answers. NOW!"

 

Suddenly an arrow struck Nny's sword arm.The slum dogs had snuck up on Nny with the kind of stealth that could only be learned by a lifetime of using stealth to survive. Now there were several of them standing in the alley or on the roof tops around it with makeshift, but still very effective, weapons at the ready. Many were armed with bows, and many were completely hidden. A good number of them had similar builds to Allen's, and all were experts with their chosen weapons; they had to be to survive. Allen smirked. "I wouldn't tell you where to find a meeting place because slum dogs look out for each other. Now I'd be happy to call them off if you're willing to be civil. That was a warning shot by the way."

 

Nny had dropped his sword when the arrow hit, however Nny didn't scream in pain or make any noise. Nny then slowly pulled the arrow out of his arm knowing they would not attack. Nny then ripped off a bit of his pants before wrapping it around his arm. He then kicked his sword to the side to signify that he meant no harm. He looked around him at all the people he could see. He noticed the rags they wore and also noticed how all of them were patiently waiting on him. "There are many expressions of power, obviously this is the only way of expressing your own, through others. Such a shame you have no power to speak of for yourself." Nny taunted, attempting to at least make a slight jab at Allen "I will be civil. Seeing as how you do not wish to answer my question, I will answer yours. What was it again?"

 

Allen was unperturbed by Nny's mockery, he knew he could fight for himself he needed to. "I wanted to know why you want to know about places where slum dogs might meet. After all, you don't really seem like the type to hang out with slum dogs." He handed Nny back his sword, and signaled for the slum dogs to stand down. He didn't expect Nny would try anything again.

 

Nny took the sword and holstered it. "I have already told you, I want answers for what happened at the school." Explained Nny "And I may not look it, but I'm smart enough to know that if people create something, or get ready to launch an attack like that, then someone along the line had to know something. And I know that nothing gets past those who live in the garbage the rest of the world throws out." Nny then grabbed a broken wine bottle on the ground "This is merely an example of the kind of trash that gets thrown here, look at this wine..." Nny put it up to Allen for examination "This is trash thrown out by the upper class... No one here would ever be able to afford, much less find or steal, a bottle of that vintage." Nny then crossed his arms and stared at Allen "Now you tell me that there aren't things going on that people here WOULDN'T know about. I dare you."

 

Allen knew from his childhood in slums that Nny ws right. "Based on what you just said I'd guess either you've spent time as a slum dog, or you're very smart. And I'm guessing the slums would be better off if you were on our side. But before I tell you anything, I want your word that you're not going to give the information I give you to anyone, or use it against the slum dogs."

 

"I'm not interested in your slums... I'm interested in those creatures." said Nny. However he realized after saying that, that this guy wouldn't give up with that knowledge alone "You have my word that nothing bad will happen to the people here. As far as I'm concerned, being in a place like this is probably the worst thing that could happen to a person."

 

"That's a matter of opinion." Allen stopped and thought. "There's a market place--sort of--slum dogs go there to make trades. It's pretty packed sometimes, sometimes it's practically empty. Even if it's empty though there's usually at least one information broker. I'll show you the way there if you want. Or you can try and find it on your own, it's not as well hidden as most of the slums' secret places, but it can still be pretty hard to find if you don't know where your going or what you're looking for."

 

"Why don't you take me. I don't like to waste my time, so we'll get striaght to it." Nny intended to follow the boy to make sure he was telling the truth. Simply because Nny didn't do anything about it before, he could still kill Allen if he really wanted to. It was a rather tense relationship between the two of them. The one willing to take out the other if need be. However, they seemed to be working along quite well, so the need would most likely never arise.

 

"Alright," Allen started walking as he spoke, "keep an eye out for anything useful on the way. If we have to talk to an info broker we'll need something to trade. And remember slum dogs can find things useful for different reasons than what they might usually be useful for. That said, don't just pick up any piece of garbage you find think about the possible uses for something, all the possible uses for that something, and decide whether you think it might be valuable to someone because of those uses."

 

" Even though I haven't been to Janina before I know one significant person who lives here... hopefully he still remembers me though... I haven't seen him since I was eleven. Hes stationed up at the palace currently.." Phisoxa said as she began to take a different route, this time heading towards the palace.

 

Nny followed Allen quietly waiting for him to find the way. He kept an eye out, but Nny acted above it all, and decided nothing was significant enough to grab.

"Well, good luck to you. I have my own errands I must run." Said Dr. Traken, saying good bye to both Phisoxa and Shero. He then left to go back to his old house that he hadn't been to in years. It hopefully held the old ingrediants that Dr. Traken had once deemed worthless. However, thanks to new research by the doctor himself, he realized their true importance.

 

After walking for a little while Allen stopped and picked up a long piece of re bar laying near a wall. "If we can't find anything better we can probably trade this to a junk dealer. Keep looking though, just in case." He kept walking.

After a time he walked to an unassuming little back alley. It looked like absolutely nothing special; just like any other alley in the slums, but looks could be deceiving. Allen walked over to large, broken, and slightly rusty pipe, it had a whole in it big enough to fit a grown man. Allen tossed his piece of re bar down the pipe and then turned to Nny. "Stay extra close from now on. It's easy to get lost in where we're about to go."

The place they were about to enter was known as The Labyrinth. It had been aptly named, the slum dogs called it The Labyrinth because it was a gigantic network of forgotten pipes, abandoned tunnels, unused sewers, and other paths for desperate people. More than all that, it was the city's infrastructure. Allen had put off showing Nny The Labyrinth for as long as he could, the whole city's infrastructure, as well as most of the slums and large amount of places in the city, could be accessed through The Labyrinth. It was the slum dogs greatest advantage and best kept secret, and the fastest way around the city's sprawling slums. The market Allen had told Nny about could only be accessed through The Labyrinth though and so he had been brought to the closest entrance to the market in the hope he wouldn't discover what it was he was being led through.

Allen climbed into the pipe and started down, he had to press his hands and feet against the sides of the pipe to keep himself from falling, there was no ladder, and the drop could easily kill somebody. He was sure Nny would be able to manage though. Allen reached a point in the pipe where it turned at about a ninety degree angle, picked up the steel re bar and started crawling. After a while he reached a point in the pipe where there was another whole that he climbed up through into an old industrial complex.

Allen led Nny along the complicated path through the city's infrastructure, looking back often to make sure Nny was still following him, until eventually they came into a large underground room, the market. The market was semi-busy at the moment, but not packed. Allen looked at Nny. "Well, here we are."

 

"You know you didn't really give me a chance to reply: Robert said before taking a formal bow "Its my turn now, I am Robert Versia, pleasure to meet you" he said as he stood up straight. "I have a favour, could you come down here my neck is getting irritated looking up, also so its harder for people not to overhear but mostly the neck"

 

Reese Smiled Slightly. She wondered what he was going to ask of her but the statement had somehow lightened her mood. Right before she jumped down from the slum house roof, she saw two boys, headed into a passage. "I wonder where they're going." She thought. She jumped, a bit higher than she meant to, and landed a few feet behind Robert. "What do you need?" She asked as they turned to face each other.