Flashback Luck is strange innit? (rachel)

[Osd]

Summer 7th 504av It was hot today and the blistering sun shone down harshly on the city of anarchy. Most people that could had retreated indoors or sought out a spot of shade. Not Osd though. He had been working in the forge for a long time already, and several hot summers working next to a blazing fire for hours at an end did harden you a bit to severe heat. Still, his teacher was on business and didn't trust his apprentice yet to keep working alone without burning his business down. So he had been given a day of. Having nothing to do irked the small teenager the only thing he could do was wander through sunberth in search of any entertainement. Hoping that there was a small brawl going on, maybe he could go and piss off a few orphans again and get into a fight. That would at least cure the boredom. He leaned against a ricket wall and looked around. A small girl with dirty blond hair was running around the street. Two drunks leaning on each other and gawking at the blonde girl. not really good fighting. Some people hurrying to somewhere else none of them looked a lot of fun to fight in his sober state. All in all nothing really that exeptional in sunberth. Osd took a gulp from his waterskin. Unfortunately unless somebody decided to mug his mizaless person. He doubted anything interesting would happen soon. He sighed as he ban to saunter on. Maybe he could visit the docks and try to nick some small stuff from unattentive sailors who hadn't been to sunberth before.

[Rachel Messer]

"Ha... ha..." A young girl wearing a dirty one-piece blue dress, no older than twelve springs with shoulder-length blonde hair was trudging through the streets of Sunberth in blistering summer heat. She was gasping for breath and clutching her stomach, her form looked thin and sick, she hadn't eaten for a while. The orphanage had another shortage of food and it was not a rare occurrence, Rachel was used to being starved, but by Priskil, it hurt like being punched in the gut repeatedly every time. Growling sounds emitted from her poor belly, she rubbed it in a futile attempt to calm it down. Her only solace at the moment was the glowing light from her right palm where Priskil kissed her years ago. Back then, the Goddess of Hope disguised herself as a frail old woman, testing the young girl. In her act of selflessness, Rachel managed to befriend the Goddess and she gave her mark of Luminance.

Priskil... She looked up to the sky, shielding her face from the hot rays of Syna. Despair loomed over her mind, but she quickly pushed off the thought. She was Priskil's friend! She couldn't lose hope, the little girl continued searching for some scraps of food. Hopefully, a baker would be so kind to give one of his delicious bread... just like that time. As she walked, she didn't realize the two male drunkard leering at her from the side. The men's was slightly intoxicated, but still sober enough to let their criminal mind concoct plans for the girl. One of the drunkard nudged at his cohort and gestured to the girl with his head, his comrade nodded and then they casually approached the girl from behind.

"Why hello theeeere~"

"!?" At the unknown slurred voice, Rachel abruptly turned around, a tall bulky man was standing right before her, his clothes and hair dirtied, he was also holding a bottle filled with ale on his right hand. Instinctive fear began creeping into the girl, but she was a kind child and a rather naive one at that, she thought this man simply wanted to talk to her. "Y-yes, Sir?" The man didn't answer right away, he simply knelt down to her level. His alcoholic breath washed over Rachel, filling her mind with the smell. "A-ah..." The girl felt nausea, the combination of foul breath and alcohol dazed her. She wanted to run away, Rachel took a step back, but the man suddenly grabbed her right shoulder with his left hand.

"Where are youuu goiiiing? Eh? You look looonely... you should come with uuuus~"

His slurred voice triggered Rachel's survival instinct, she gulped down hard and smiled nervously at him. "I uhm... ehehe... m-my friends are w-waiting, s-so... I'm s... sorry, Sir, but I must g- !?" Then she felt a bump on her back, glancing behind, she saw a tall thin man grabbing her other shoulder. The wicked smiles on their faces terrified the girl, her gnosis flared with light, but it wasn't much use at the moment. Trapped between the men, Rachel trembled in fear. These two were bad men, she knew it. How foolish, she should just run away when she had the chance. Now, she was powerless. What could a child do against two adult men? Even if the child was a friend of Priskil. "Ku?!" The girl suddenly felt her body being grabbed from behind, the thin man then leaned down to drag his teeth along her neck. She shivered, a sick sensation flowing through her body.

"Hey... she looks pretty and cute, I bet she will fetch a good price in the market."

"P-pri.. pri- umph?!" She couldn't finish, her lips was being muffled by something foul, it smelled of stale alcohol. Her green eyes opened wide in shock, the bulky man was kissing her! The act was so disgusting, Rachel flailed around, desperately trying to push the man off her. Of course, with her child-like strength, it was no use. After what felt like an eternity, the man pulled away. Tears began falling from the girl's eyes as she whimpered, begging for the men to release her. The bulky man didn't care and smiled wickedly at his partner.

"Yes, a good price indeed. We'll be rich. Now, let's go."

"N-no..." Were they insane? What kind of idiot would follow scums like them? The girl couldn't think of anything, her mind was taken over by fear and repulsion. She did the first thing that came to her mind. Her lips trembled before she inhaled and screamed with all her might. "Nooooooooooo! H-heeeelp! Heeeelp meeee!" To her horror, no one seemed to notice. This was a man-eat-man city where 'might means right', Sunberth didn't care if one was a child or an old woman, if one didn't have power then... this would happen. "A-aaaaaah!" Rachel regretted why she even bother to get out of bed this morning. "Mppph?!" The tall man suddenly grasped her mouth with his hand then forced the girl to drink down the stale alcoholic drink from the bottle. "M-... *Gulp*" She had no choice, her body responded in reflex and drank the contents. The girl coughed violently, her vision swimming as she felt drowsiness forcefully taking over her mind. With a final meek cry for help, she passed out. The two men chuckled, then they left the area, with the taller thin man carrying the girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

[Osd]

Osd was still close enough to hear the drunks approach the little girl. He turned around and gave both of them a look of distaste. Preying on small kids, that was just wrong. Still it wasn't his bussines and the little kid should have known better then not running away immediatly from strange drunk men. Osd was about to go on his merry way. Ignoring the girl in obvious need of help, when the lanky man began kissing the small girl. He felt his stomach turn. Was that creep molesting her? Even he, a man grown up in sunberth who had witnessed all the daily depravity the city for years just couldn't let that pass. Still, they outnumbered him and despite them being drunk probably could kick his ass without to much trouble. If a straight up brawl didn't work though, then you just needed to use your head. Osd kept watching as the men forced alcohol down the little girls throat, forcing the rising urge to just run over beat them down. That wouldn't solve anything, just give them another slave for them to sell and he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction or the coin of that. So he just swallowed his rage that was boiling up inside and followed the laughing men at a safe distance. Trying his best not to lose them in the streets. Luckly nobody really was outside due to the sun. Though that made him a lot easier to notice. But that was a risk he just had to take. Luckely for him, the men were too drunk, both on the rush of just getting a new victim and regular ale, to bother looking around them for persuers. They slowly made their way to their destination, laughing and grinning al the while. Osd keeping a decent pace behind them, akwardly hiding behind whatever he could find. Which earned him more then a few strange looks from the few other people on the street. At least they didn't bother with trying to warn the drunks. They had their own things to do. The creeps veered away from the main roads, osd following suit and eventually they came to a small shack tucked away in the small alley's of sunberth and the two drunk went inside. Now what to do? Osd slowly and carefully crept closer to the building. It was sandwiched in between two other sturctures, only one door and a small window next to it. There went the idea of surprising them by attacking them in the back or sneaking out the little girl. He gave a quick glance at his surroundings, hoping to find anything that he could use as a weapon. He was in luck! A sturdy looking wooden board was laying around, probably fell of from another building. He gripped the board firmly in his hand. There was only one enterance, so there was only one way they could get out. He went next to the door and bashed a few times with the board. No time to waste, he wanted to keep teh girl relatively unmolested. The effect was immediate, "The petch was that?" one drunk slurred from inside. "I dunno." "Then go check you idiot!" the drunks yelled at each other. Footsteps that came closer to the door and then it was janked open and the tal lanky man stepped outside. Before the drunk had any time to react Osd swung his makeshift weapon right at the man's crotch. The drunk tried to react, but he was to dulled by the alcohol and surprise to really do anything. The piece of wood hit it's target. The man let out a pained groan as he crumpled to the ground. Clutching his groan. Osd just took advantage of the opening and kept beating on the creep.

[Rachel Messer]

It was a true, tangible nightmare. The little girl felt her vision swam as if she was underwater, the stale alcohol flooding her system. The poor quality drink poisoned her with intoxication, she hiccuped and instinctively held her mouth with both of her hands, if only she was not starved, her meal would be spilling all over the criminal's shoulder. The bulky man behind the tall man who was carrying her just chuckled and rubbed Rachel's cheek with twisted affection. "Awww, you don't like it, dear? It's okay, I'll give you something else..."

The little girl's eyes widened and she weakly tried to wrench herself away, but of course, it was futile. Tired, hungry, and drunk, she couldn't do anything as the men carried her into a secluded alley. Not one bystander even bothered to take a look at the kidnapped girl. The apathy in this city was unfathomable. "U-uuh..." Rachel moaned as a she forced every muscle in her body to scream, but it was too late, the men had entered a small structure which seemed to be a shack, Rachel's awareness was basically non-existent as the moment. The shack was filled with two small bed, a small hearth, a desk, a chair, and a wooden chest; empty mugs also marred the floor and the air smelled of stale ale. This was these two drunkard's abode, where they often drunk themselves to sleep. The tall man then put the girl on top one of the bed, then he picked up two pieces of thick rope from the random stuffs on the floor, he used it to tie up Rachel's wrists behind her back and ankles.

"Ehehe... can I have some fun with her?" The bulky man cracked his fingers and licked his lips hungrily, obviously planning something nasty for the girl. His companion just shrugged and answered plainly. "As long as you keep her a virgin, fetch a better price." The taller man was in a more sober state than his companion, but if he decided to deflower the girl, he wouldn't really care, a pretty girl like that would sell no matter what. The bulky man would begin his depraved act, if not for the sudden banging on their door. After some yelling, the tall man decided to check. Who the petch dared to disturb them? He walked to the door and slammed it open, angry and annoyed.

"Who the petc- WAGH!?" He didn't get to finish however as a hard object slammed his manhood. The man screamed in pain then dropped to the ground, the assault didn't end, the same hard object continued to pound his body, some strikes managed to hit his head. The man's eyes rolled back as consciousness left him, he lay curled up on the ground, his hands clutching his manhood, passed out.

Meanwhile... "M-mppph?!" Rachel felt mouth being violated again, but this time, her hands and feet were bound, the little power she had to resist was completely nullified. The foul kiss abruptly ended, the bulky man turned around when he heard his partner screamed. When he did so, his slurred vision locked itself to a boy in dirty clothes, carrying a wooden board. His drunken mind immediately registered this boy as the source of disturbance, the drunkard bellowed and charged to the boy, aiming to crush his petching skull.

"..." The little girl just stared at the commotion with empty eyes, her mind broken, but at least, he didn't go all the way. Hopefully, whoever it was would be a good person and rescued her... but it might be just another scum that tried to steal these two men's 'prize' from them.

[Osd]

Osd was breathing hard and stopped beating on the man when he went slack. It didn't look as if he would get up for a while. He was bleeding from his head, but he thought he was still breathing. He'll have to check later if he had to finish the job or not. First off, he needed to deal with the other man still standing. He didn't have to wait long, the pervert had seen him and let out an angry scream as he charged him. Meaty fists raised. Osd swung his makeshift weapon at the man, hitting him square in the chest. The man had enough momentum and smashed into him anyway. Pushing backwards, Osd stumbled over the body of the man he had beaten down earlier. Both osd and the drunk falling backwards into the street. The drunk painfully landing on osd. Both of them rolling on the ground and punching and kicking at each other all the while Trying to get the upper hand. Eventually weight and size won out as Osd was forced on the ground. “Get off me you drunken sod!” Osd spat out as he tried to push the man of him. The man just grinned as he put his weigh on him and grinned a feral smile. Osd could smell the rancid smell of alcohol and who knows what on the man's breath. “Yer not getting away with beating up my mate. You don't look to bad either, bit small and scrawny. But there's a market for that.” 'okay, for that I'm going to castrate you!' Osd thought as he gritted his teeth in disgust. Pulled back his head. “No thanks creep.” He said before headbutting the man straight in the teeth. He felt something cut into his forehead and yelped in pain something wet dripping down his forehead. 'Might not have been the brightest idea to headbut somebodies teeth.' The man let out a louder yell though and he felt a bit of the weight shift of him as the man pulled back to save the rest of his teeth. Clasping his hands instictively over his mouth. Osd took advantage of the wide opening he hit the man right in the ribs with the board. The man screamed in pain and doubeled over. Osd pulled his legs free and kicked the drunk in the stomach, sending him sprawling on the ground. Osd stood up, ignoring the bit of blood that was dripping in his eye from the wound on his forehead and made his way towards the drunk who was trying to stand up. The man was having difficulties getting back on his feet. He wasn't sure if it was from the hits or the alcohol. But he didn't care he just had to make sure he wasn't standing up again. He lifted his piece of wood and beat the downed man over the head again and again. Till he wasn't moving anymore. His head in a pool of blood. Only now Osd noticed that his breathing was ragged, that his muscles ached and that his head was pounding as if a wet wildcat had been let lose into it. He stepped towards the door, he gave a single look towards the other unconcious man that he had knocked down before. Giving him a few extra blows to the head for good measure. Bruised, bloody and beaten Osd walked towards the young gril. Wiping away the blood that was still dripping into his eye, that stung a bit. “You alright?” He dropped the wooden board next to him and began undoing the girl's ropes. Fumbeling a bit with the knots.

[Rachel Messer]

She had to admit, despite her almost breaking down to the point of no return, Priskil's blessing on her right palm kept the girl's sanity intact and with this apparent saviour, the Goddess' claim of befriending the girl stayed true to the end. She must be the one who guided this boy to her, who knows, he might be one of Priskil's. Some light returned to Rachel's eyes as her green orbs witnessed a first-hand experience that size didn't matter in terms of bravery, one could be small and yet much braver than grown-up cowards, demonstrated by this mysterious boy. The boy beat those petchers and with actions that made Rachel cringe, he finished them off, slamming their drunken heads with blunt force, most likely enough to send them back to Dira. They were no more, at least for the moment.

The sight of a young boy with blood dripping down from his forehead, wielding a make-shift weapon, filled the girl with dread. While she knew he was saving her, he could be just a monster in disguise, aiming to finish off every living thing inside the shack, herself included. When he was done with the thugs, he walked to her, his form seemingly getting larger and larger with each step. Rachel instinctively closed her eyes and prayed to Priskil, begging her friend to keep her safe. "!?" She opened her eyes when the boy's voice echoed within her ears. "I..." Rachel couldn't make up the boy's face clarly, her mind still plagued by stale alcohol. One thing for sure, he was asking a question, she decided to nod. The bounds on her hands and feet were loosened and a few moments later, she was free.

"U-ugh... ah, t-th..." The young girl held her head with both of her hands, the right one shining with soft yellow light, filling herself and the boy with courage. He might notice the magical glow, but Rachel wasn't sober enough to even care. "Tha-... nk yo... u..." Her words were broken and barely comprehensible, her hands reached out to hug the boy, loose at first while getting tighter by the ticks. Rachel's pitiful sobs filled with the shack as she slowly cried her heart out, still extremely relieved and horrified at the same time. The girl slowly looked up, noticing a stain of red on the boy's face. "B-blo... od?" Rachel fumbled as she climbed down from the bed, taking the boy's right hand with her left, "H-home, clean... blood". She wanted to take him back to the orphanage, he needed medical attention, but by the looks of it, Rachel couldn't identify left from right at the moment.

[Osd]

Osd got a wiff of the little girl's breath as she tried to answer. 'Petching bastards. They drugged her. They petching earned the beating.' He thought with venom as he pulled the last of the knots appart. He didn't trust her nodding when she was still smashed. He didn't know much about what alcohol did. Aside from the puking and getting drunk. But he was sure kids weren't supposed to drink it. If an adult got very sick from it, wouldn't kids get even sicker. He knew a bit about medicine, but it was mostly just fixing cuts bruises and burns. Not alcohol poissoning. He needed to get her back to wherever she came from, let her rest in a safe place at least. The orphinage maybe? He noticed a soft light coming from her right hand, chasing away the doubts and bolstering his courage. 'The petch is that? Looks like magic, divine? Ain't heard of a mage making lights.' The girl managed to stammer out a broken thank you before she gave him a hug. Clinging tno him like a mollusk to a ship. Osd was flabbergasted and honestly didn't know what to do. Here he was, in a shack somewhere in the arsecrack of sunberth with a young crying girl clinging to him and two dead or soon to be pieces of shyke lying on the floor. 'The petch did I do to get in this situation.' Then the girl finally let go of him. Only to grab his hand and mutter something about bleeding. “Ey don't cry. It's okay. Just a small cut.” He felt at the wet spot on his head. “Cuts on the head just bleed badly. It'll be alright.” He tried to assure her. He made sure he kept a firm hold on her so she wouldn't fall. “I'll come with you to your home. But where do you live? Do you have a home?”

[Rachel Messer]

If she was a mollusc, then this particular mollusc was comparable to a sailor who just drunk five bottles of ale and being rocked here and there by the waves, the girl had no bearing on what was up or down, she stumbled like a child who was learning how to walk and would fell on her face if she wasn't holding her saviour, the girl instinctively hugged him to keep herself from meeting the cold, hard, dirty floor. Feeling safe, the light on her right palm slowly dimmed down until it was no more, Priskil's blessing didn't bestow alcohol resistance however and she was still very much drunk. She could hear the boy's voice, but comprehension was out of the question. "Uhm... home... home, Sunset..." The blond girl just mumbled whatever came to her clouded mind.

The boy seemed to understand however and with him holding her, they both left the cursed shack and to the street, heading to the Sunset Orphanage's direction. In the journey, Rachel's condition only got worse, the stale alcohol set in further and her knees buckled, feeling her stomach twisting in agony. Rachel held her mouth with her right hand, but ultimately retched what little she had in her starving stomach onto the ground. The girl coughed and trembled for a few moments before her green eyes fluttered in rapid blinks, she felt her conciousness fading. N... no! I must... She couldn't take it anymore, her knees buckled as Rachel blacked out.

True to its reputation, no one seemed to care about the two children, even when one was visibly sick and unconscious. The populace was busy with their own businesses and didn't have time nor resources to care about two simple children on the streets.

[Osd]

Home and sunset, those were the words he could make out from her mumbeling after he asked where she lived. Everybody who grew up in sunberth would have known what she meant just with those words. The orphanage, he knew where that was at least. Still even with a firm destination in mind he was worried about her state, she got weaker and weaker before finally her knee's buckled. Osd was quick enough on his feet to grab her by the shoulders and keep her steady. Something he instantly regretted to have done when the blonde girl retched all over him before falling unconcious. “She just had to puke her gut's out didn't she.” He growled to himself as he slung the nowunconcious girl over his shoulder, after having worked as his masters errand boy and apprentice at the forge one small girl didn't weigh that much in comparison to the tools and steel he usually handled. 'At least some of the alcohol got out of her.' He wrinkled his nose as he whiped the vomit of his shirt as good as he could. Dispite the appearance that nobody was caring about the two kids. Osd still kept his eyes open. He didn't rescue this girl from a horrible fate as slave and sex object just to end up enslaved in a percieved moment of weakness because of it damn it. It took him a while, but eventually he stood in front of the orphanage and he knocked on the door as loud as he could. “Hey open up will ya.” The door opened up slightly. Somebody peering through the crack at him. “What do you want?” “I pulled a kid out of the hands of some perverts.” He pointed at rachel hanging over his shoulder. “They gave her something that knocked her out. Probably alcohol. But I'm not sure it's just that. Would you just stop asking questions and let us in already for Izentor's sake.” he kicked the door in frustration, which was immediatly followed by a yelp as the door slammed against the person's head. Something that let Osd grin in satisfaction. Showed that bastard not to be a dick in this situation. The door swung open, an older and irritated woman looked at him, only for her eyes to go wide when she saw who exactly was slung over his shoulder. “Rachel!” The woman pulled osd inside, took rachel off his hands and laid her on a nearbye couch. Barking some orders to other children to get her some things. Osd was then promptly ignored for a few chimes as she took care of the girl, rachel she was called it seemed.

[Rachel Messer]

All was black and silent, Rachel found herself hugging her knees in a fetal position as she drifted in the void-like space. The girl was terribly scared, trapped in an unknown realm with no one to help her, stuck and helpless, she could only cry, but then... a miracle happened, the darkness around her trembled in panic as a beacon of light spawned before the girl, consuming the dark with comforting bright yellow light. Within a matter of ticks, the void was replaced with yellow and white, Rachel felt her heart spirited as she opened her eyes and lifted her head, an orb of light floating in front of her, she instinctively tried to cup them between her palms. This orb of light then took residence within her body by seeping into her right palm, then her vision was overwhelmed, but she didn't fear... for she knew, Priskil would always be with her.

.........

.....

...

"..chel?"

"Rachel..."

"Rachel!!"

The little girl's green eyes jerked open and she immediately swayed her body to the right, spilling out everything from her stomach. This was an action in reflex as her mind still recollected itself, her blurring vision slowly came to a focus, and Madame Calyn's gentle face greeted her. "U-uhm... I, where?" She looked around, she was sitting on top of a bed in the Sunset Orphanage, her home.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" The Konti hugged the girl, her voice clearly showed her relief, she almost lost a child to those scums, but Destiny had other ways, sending a saviour to pluck the blond girl out of a fate worse than death. The Konti woman then explained to the blond the events that transpired based on what Osd told her, then she patted the girl's head before leaving to get some hot water for the girl, only Osd and Rachel were left in the room.

"Uhm... I uh..." Her memories were still fuzzy, but she knew Madame Calyn wouldn't lie to her, so... this boy named 'Osd' was her saviour. Rachel climbed down from the bed, hesitated for a few ticks, then hugged Osd tightly. "T-thank you... I, I... uhm... thank you". She just couldn't form other words beside stammering her gratitude. She would rather die than being sold to slavery, an atrocious fate undeserved for every single child in Mizahar. Rachel kept hugging Osd for chimes before releasing him, her right hand still tightly grasping his left.

"I... I'm Rachel, y-you are Osd, right? W-will you stay with me?" She didn't want to discuss what happened, she wanted to bury it deep among her forgotten memories.