Lone Shoulders turned to run and got three steps before bouncing off the sweaty chest of Angres who had just come around the corner into the alleyway. Another two young toughs were with him and before Bladeborn knew it, they had him pinned. One particular boy took command and held Bladeborn in some sort of painful wrist-lock, while Angres took a pull on a bottle.
“Heya, Bladeborn!” Angres said. He had several bandages covering his wounds, received less than an hour ago in the arena. “You’ve been dodging me and the Enclave for a couple years now, haven’t you? Well, Agatha still wants me to train you and get you on the roles...”
“Wait, I'm not him! I never met Agatha! I don’t know anything!” Lone Shoulders lied. One seventeen-year-old boy held Lone Shoulders in a painful wrist-lock
“Don't you want to learn to fight like that boy? I can teach you that, and lots more,” Angres said, as he took a deep drink from a jug and unleashed a big man’s belch.
“I don't want you to teach me anything! Let go of me, you murdering ogre!” Lone Shoulders spit out.
“Wha—? Why, you little ingrate!” Without dropping his bottle, Angres grabbed Lone Shoulders by his hair and then dragged him away from the other boys around the alleyway’s corner. “Stay here me boys! This one’s got some business with ME!”
“Whup him good for it!” the boy he had decked hooted.
Angres pulled Lone Shoulders up close by his raggy shirt. Head-to-head, Angres whispered in spitting gasps, “I should be having a huge party after winnin’ my fight, but Agatha ordered me to go find you instead, changeling!”
Continuing with his lie, Lone Shoulders said, “I don’t even know who you are! I’m not who you think I am! MY name is Lone Shoulders!”
“Fine!” Angres said to him. “Have it like that, then, Lone Shoulders! By the way, this is one ugly tattoo you got under your dirty little shirt! Yeah, you must think I’m pretty stupid, changeling!” Angres said. He took another swig, still holding Bladeborn’s shirt with one big hand. “You can lie but it won’t help! I’ve known you from the beginning, and don’t you ever forget it! What you said back there about us being murderers is an insult, and it just won’t do!”
Bladeborn sensed the threat from the big man, yet he was defiant.
Lone Shoulders struggled and yelled. “Let me go!”
Angres sighed and then said, “Still all full of tough, are you? Well, I have orders not to hurt you. But the other kids expect me to wallop you. Tell you what. If you wail like a banshee and make those boys think I'm smacking the snot out of ya, I won’t lay a finger on you!”
Bladeborn understood, and he nodded.
"So, I want to hear you scream now!" Angres demanded.
“Aiee! OWW! STOP!” Lone Shoulders cried out, complying.
Angres slapped his own belly, and it made a hollow thumping sound. He kicked a bunch of the alley’s garbage about.
The noise they made together resembled a terrible thrashing, and it was enough to fool the boys of Agatha’s gang who were around the corner, who Lone Shoulders could hear laughing and yelping.
Angres whispered, "Look, Bladeborn… Come back to our part of town and join us! I know Roccar, Whistler, and Scar were always after you, years ago, but those three are gone now, and the kids who are your age are more in control.”
Lone Shoulders dared ask, “What happened to Roccar and them?”
“They were too wild for the Enclave. Couldn’t follow orders for nothing!” Angres took another swig off the bottle. “When they left, nobody missed ‘em. I heard they’re in the Hazords gang now.”
Bladeborn, nodded in understanding with a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was measuring the decision carefully.
Lone Shoulders whispered and looked down, having made a final, painful choice, and he was aware of its importance. But Bladeborn had decided to stay the course and find his own way.
He said, through gritted teeth, “I am my own person…I belong to no one… and if you take me back I will run away again!”
Angres cast a glance back toward where the other gang kids waited, and then looked at Bladeborn, releasing his grip on him.
“My name is Lone Shoulders! I don't need anything from you!” he exclaimed, backing away.
“Then don’t bother to look me up when you need help,” Angres growled. “Just remember, kid, we tried our best.”
Lone Shoulders dodged past Angres and ran around the corner, to escape. Following slowly, Angres threw his arms in the air, giving up.
Lone Shoulders ran headlong into the older boys who caught him again and laughed, “You want to hit him some more, Angres?”
“Let him go boys,” Angres called to them. “He just won't listen. He'll never be one of us!”
They released him, and Lone Shoulders ran until he reached his best hiding place. He had decided long ago that he would not sacrifice his independence simply to follow in the footsteps of the Enclave.
By sixteen or seventeen years of age, most street kids had found their way into a merchant’s guild or a gang. Some, such as those in Claw Girl’s gang, stayed connected to the loose group they had when they were younger. Another such gang was the Fire Tongues.
Each gang held a certain safe area, and the Fire Tongues were no different. What was unusual about them was they let Lone Shoulders stay nearby their gang roost without harassing him. The leader of the Fire Tongues was known as Flametooth, and it was by his order that Lone Shoulders was left to himself.
Still, Lone Shoulders joined with no one, not even the Fire Tongues. He seldom talked to anyone except the people he sold stolen or scavenged items to. These fences bartered with many gang members, but even they knew little about Lone Shoulders.
Lone Shoulders grew to be suspicious of everyone, especially Flametooth, thinking that he and his gang would eventually come to get him. Because of this, he began to sleep lightly, hiding in different crawlspaces every night. He truly had no place he called home.
Because there were so many young thieves in Old City, food was hard to come by. Several times, Lone Shoulders tried to sneak into a farm level, but the entrance Guards stopped him. They would briefly give chase, but Lone Shoulders was too quick to be caught so easily.
One place he often visited was the fountain and statue of the Nameless Hero in the main lower city market. The fresh water of the fountain was said to have magical healing properties. Like many people of the lower City, Lone Shoulders stopped there to soak and drink his fill almost every day.
Lone shoulders gained a reputation for being a sneak among the vendors. Vegetable sellers began to spot him coming and keep a more watchful eye on him. Lone Shoulders wasn’t a little kid anymore, and the merchants of the lower City markets didn’t overlook his thievery. Several times, he was driven away from food stands by thrown shards of broken pottery or shouts to the City Guards.
However, the worst threat faced by Lone Shoulders was from older gang members. Eventually, he was caught alone by a group of three older thieves he knew all too well.
Although they worked for the gang known as the Hazords now, they still felt hatred toward Bladeborn. They recognized him while he was at the Nameless Hero fountain, and immediately surrounded him.
Roccar, the toughest of the three, said “So this is the famous Lone Shoulders—the one who won’t join a gang…Or maybe your name is really Bladeborn? Nice tattoo there!”
Lone Shoulders got ready to run for his life. He knew there would be no way to take the three of them.
Roccar moved in close and declared, “What should we do with him, guys?”
“Let’s break his pretty face open!” exclaimed the Scar, a lad who had his cheek was cut at a young age.
“Crack his teeth!” yelled Whistler, who was missing two in front.
Lone Shoulders bolted and the three others gave chase. He ran down a nearby alley and cut through two more dark passageways, realizing too late that the three older boys had split up and cut off his escape. Except for a locked door,
there was no way out.
“What are you going to do now Bladeborn?” Roccar said, after Bladeborn tried the door. Roccar grabbed Lone Shoulders’ arms before he could slip past. The three older kids began to take turns slugging Lone Shoulders until he fell and didn’t get up. The three repeatedly kicked him while he was on the ground. Lone Shoulders wailed from the horrendous beating, arms and legs tucked up, trying to survive.
Through the back door of his shop, a store owner heard the noise. He unlocked it and poked his head out the door, shouting "Hey, you kids! Leave that boy alone.”
Roccar smiled and mocked, “You’re next, old maaan!"
The Shopkeeper, although frightened, said, "Leave him be right now or I’ll call the Guard."
In defiance, Roccar stomped on Lone Shoulder’s head once more. The other two boys laughed in delight.
“Guaarrd!” the man called loudly.
Roccar looked at Lone Shoulders and said, “This is NOT over, Bladeborn!” He and his group began to back off down the alley. “We know who you are, and next time we see you you’re dead! Come on, me boys!” They ran down the street, whooping and hurling insults at the Shopkeeper.
After they had gone, the Shopkeeper looked down at Bladeborn, who was in a bad state.
“On my word! The things that happen in this city,” the Shopkeeper said.
A woman’s voice came from somewhere inside the store, “What was that awful racket? Get in here, old fool, before someone kills you!”
“It’s nothing, dear; just some kids causing a ruckus,” the Shopkeeper lied.
“You always stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong,” the Shopkeeper’s wife said. “Close that door and get back in here or you’ll bring trouble down on our house.”
The Shopkeeper said under his breath, “I guess she’s in one of her moods today…Young man, despite what my wife says, I simply can’t turn my back on you. Saint Morth would not allow it. Let’s just hope she doesn’t come out here…”
With some effort, the Shopkeeper dragged Bladeborn to a pile of rotten vegetable rinds, propping him up, and then he cleaned some of Lone Shoulders’ deepest wounds with his handkerchief.
“Oh, you look a terrible mess!” the Shopkeeper said. “I’ll be right back, young one. I won’t forsake you.”
He went into his store and returned with a cup of pure water to clean Lone Shoulder’s wounds. “This water is from the fountain of the Nameless Hero in the central market. I am sure you know the one. Hopefully, the water’s healing powers will help. Gods, protect us from thugs like those boys. Now—I can do no more.” With a prayer for the boy on his lips, he went back inside his shop.
The Shopkeeper couldn’t take Bladeborn inside, yet Roccar, Scar, and Whistler didn’t return to the alleyway. The Shopkeeper started to visit Bladeborn several times a day to help as much as he could. He fed Lone Shoulders broth and put salve on the biggest welts.
The Shopkeeper asked, “What’s your name young man? I can’t very well pray for you unless I know your name.”
“Lone Shoul—Bladeborn…” he responded.
“Well? Which is it?”
“Bladeborn is my name, but on the street, they call me…”
“I will call you by your real name in my prayers. It just seems right.”
Bladeborn nodded, smiling at the man a little, and sipped more of the thin soup the Shopkeeper offered.
Bladeborn slept that night wondering why the Shopkeeper had shown him such kindness—and why the man had to do it without his wife finding out.
The next morning, the Shopkeeper told Bladeborn, “Business is very slow, selling my odds and ends in these lean times. It’s all I can do to stay afloat, and the men from the Hazords gang want me to pay them for ‘protection.’ I can’t afford it because I’m on the end of a lesser street of a lesser market. I’d like to take on an apprentice, but my wife would have a fit!”
Bladeborn sipped the broth and the Shopkeeper left his side saying, “You look better today. A little at least, yes. I know something that should help…I’ll be back this afternoon.”
Late that day, the Shopkeeper came back. He said, “I went to the great Temple in the center of the City, young one, and said a prayer for you. I spoke to a Priest and he said caring for you was the right choice. But I just can’t afford another mouth to feed right now… You are almost healed and I…”
“Thanks,” Bladeborn said, distantly.
“What was that?” The man seemed to be shocked to hear a word of gratitude.
“Thank you,” Bladeborn said again, knowing the man’s kindness had saved his life.
“Oh! Well, you’re welcome,” the Shopkeeper said. “I have to go now—the wife and all. I’ll be back with another bowl of soup tonight.”
Nodding in understanding, Bladeborn felt the time for him to leave the alleyway behind the curiosity shop had come.
* * *
The Fire Tongue gang was meeting with the Claw Girl gang in a thieves’ roost near airshaft 486. Flametooth himself, who always drank a dye to look fearsome, was first to speak.
“Did you hear what happened to Lone Shoulders yesterday?” Flametooth said.
“He got himself killed by Roccar and them, didn’t he?” said Claw Girl. “…I hate Roccar and I am going to kill him.”
“You better not. You know Roccar and the others are with the Hazords—the Hazords are strong, and they will kill you and your gang if you kill Roccar,” said Flametooth.
Claw Girl said, “I could care less about what the Hazords think. Lone Shoulders isn’t the first one Roccar has killed. Roccar need to die.”
Fire Tongue went on, “You’re right. Roccar and the others are acting without orders…Doing all sorts of wild things. They didn’t fit in with the Enclave, and now it’s the same way with the Hazords. They will get theirs.”
“What do you mean?” asked Claw Girl.
Flametooth replied, “Leftee, the leader of the Hazords, will punish them. Roccar and his boys are too wild for a gang like the Hazords. I’ll bet Roccar and them guys are finished by the end of the week.”
“We should kill Roccar now,” fumed Claw Girl.
“What are you talking about? Do you like Lone Shoulders that much?” Flametooth said, looking askance at Claw Girl.
Claw Girl’s eyes narrowed, “I only meant…”
Sensing weakness, Flametooth interrupted, mocking her, “You like him a lot, hahaha!”
"Shut it up now, or I’ll claw you,” spat Claw Girl.
There was a moment of silence when the entire roost was about to break into a fight. Claw Girl was insulted by Flametooth insinuating that she had such feelings. Gang members on both sides held their breath, waiting for a signal to attack.
However, Claw Girl knew what she said was foolish, so she backed down. “Watch your words, Flametooth,” Claw Girl warned quietly, looking away from him.
“I know something you don’t, Claw Girl,” Flametooth went on. “Lone Shoulders is still alive! He was broken up bad by Roccar and the others, but….”
Claw Girl said, “Sooo what?”
“Don’t worry. I saw him grab a bunch of cavern-carrots from a lower-floor market this morning. He gets away with the goods, just like he used to. If he could learn to take orders, he would be a good Fire Tongue. IF he could take orders!”
Claw Girl said, “He won’t last too long on his own. No one can be alone. Soon either the Constables or the Hazords will catch him—then he’ll be dead.”
Flametooth replied, “One of my boys is gonna’ ask him to join with me…I think he already considers us friends, since he spends most of his time in our corner of the four directions. We shall see what he wants.”
Flametooth let the words sink in. Claw Girl thought for a moment about the Fire Tongue Gang with Lone Shoulders in it. Lone Shoulders was wise in the ways of the lower city, and a good brawler if the odds were right. If Lone Shoulders joined with Fire Tongue, she would consider merging her gang with them also. Tog
ether, they could become a real force in the lower City.
* * *
Bladeborn had left the alleyway behind the curiosity shop where he had lain for two days and moved to a safer place to get better.
Soon afterward, he went to meet the undercity fence. The fence stood in neutral territory, and always seemed to have a few extra bits of food to trade for trinkets. Bladeborn wished to do something nice for the Shopkeeper who had saved his life. He planned to trade his best stuff for a special gift.
As it turned out, one of the Fire Tongues was hanging out at the fence’s place. The Fire Tongue boy came up to Bladeborn and said, “You trading? I might have a better price than the fence—just for you.”
“The fence won’t like you under-cutting his deals,” Bladeborn said. “It won’t be good for you or for me…”
“I have already fixed the deal with him,” the Fire Tongue said, and he waved at the fence and his muscle. The man ignored him and that was a sign that such a deal had been made. It seemed to Bladeborn that the Fire Tongue boy was telling the truth. “Like I said, Lone Shoulders, just for you.”
“Well, then check out what I have…I need a jar of Liquid Sweet.”
“That is an expensive trade,” the Fire Tongue said. Yet he seemed to like what Bladeborn had to show.
The boy said, “I can swap a jar of Liquid Sweet for what you’ve got there, if you want.”
“Sounds good,” Bladeborn said.
“Before we make the trade, Lone Shoulders… I want you to know that my leader has more of it—a lot more—in our secret stash. He has good ceramic shivs, knitted chest armor, and more.”
“I just want the Liquid Sweet,” Bladeborn said.
“You sure?” the Fire Tongue boy asked.
“Yep,” Bladeborn affirmed. They made the deal and shook hands.
“Lone Shoulders, I am supposed to ask you—why don’t you join with us? Fire Tongue himself told me to ask. But he’s only asking once.”
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