Flashback Scars and Pains.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Autumn 78, 498

A fog had settled over the ramshackle city, blowing in from the sea. Unnatural shadows were cast everywhere, and the lights of torches, braziers, and even flaming rubbish created strange, weird patterns of light in the mist. Sh'Ky, as an eleven-year old, was holed up in the wreckage of an old, abandoned small warehouse. Three of the wooden walls had rotted away, and the single stone wall stood crumbling. The roof had caved in, slanting from the top of the wall to the ground, and a flickering light, coming from the faint flames of a fire, shone in the dark. Poking the flames with a short, burned stick, Sh'Ky head was drooping, lids of his eyes closing involuntarily. It had been a long day, and he was exhausted, battered, and sore.

With his eyes adjusted to the light of the fire, he didn't notice the slack-jawed man, grinning madly, dressed in bloody rags, approach. It wasn't until the crazed-looking man was standing directly across the fire from 'Ky until he noticed him. Nervous, Sh'Ky backpedaled wildly, and kicked up some dirt, smothering the fire. In the foggy darkness, now illuminated by only the faint moonlight, the man's face had shadows cast across his sunken cheekbones, and black holes in his face where his eyes were. The shadowy man stepped forward, and lunged at 'Ky, fingers talons, grabbing at him.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Rolling to the side, 'Ky dodged the man's outstretched arm, and swung his boot down on the man's wrist. The blow did next to nothing, other than make the man grin with a savage glee, licking his lips. "The little rabbit is running." Eyes wide in horror, Sh'Ky scrambled to his feet, and turned tail and ran. With a throaty, guttural laugh, the shadowy psycho said, "The hunter is chasing the rabbit." He got up slowly, dusting off his sleeve with a slow, grandiose motion, and then took off after 'Ky.

He had made it about four blocks before a sudden blow from behind made him drop to the ground and curl in a ball. His vision was filled with stars, and frightening blackness was rimming the corner of his sight. No, no, no, I can't black out now, can't let him catch me. Directly behind him, the man dropped a thick wooden board, the same one he had hit Sh'Ky with. Bending over to Sh'Ky's fetal form, with expectant, hushed glee, he whispered, "The little rabbit is trapped." This alone was enough to galvanize 'Ky into action. Wincing, and crying through the pain, he flipped over, and brought his right heel up into the man's nose. This surprised the man, as he hadn't expected any more resistance, so it caught him square in the face, making his nose break with a snap. Blood streaming from his nostrils, he showed his first sign of annoyance, frowning at Sh'Ky with a puzzled look.

"The rabbit... bit the hunter." Standing there, motionless, this allowed Sh'Ky to inch back a few feet, before he stood on his feet shakily, stumbling down the misty road. Pushing against the wall to support himself, Sh'Ky noticed that at the speed he was going, the rough wall was scraping the skin off the palm of his hand. Not caring, he walked a few more steps before he tripped over a pile of refuse and rubble, landing in the dusty mist, causing it to billow out around him. Continuing to move, through crawling, Sh'Ky saw a tiny entrance to a side alley that could barely be described as such. It was more like a crevice had opened up between two mountains,which were the buildings. Pulling himself forward with both hands, one bloody, the other untouched, he leaned against the wall, sighing in relief. It seemed that he had escaped that psycho. The enormity of the situation setting in, the full weight of what had just happened hit him like a mallet. Biting back a choking sob, Sh'Ky let the tears flow freely from his eyes. Oh Gods oh Gods oh Gods that man was going to kill me. He was seriously trying to kill me. I didn't even do anything, I swear I didn't, did I? I didn't! So why is he trying to kill me? Sh'Ky's shivering, sobbing introspection was cut short by the sound of metal grinding across stone. Slowly turning, horrified, Sh'Ky saw the familiar shadow of the ragged man.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

Pushing himself backward, deeper into the alley, hands getting even more scraped, his eyes wide, Sh'Ky whimpered. This... This couldn't be happening. This was a nightmare. It had to be. For in his hands, the Ragged Man held a knife, so lovingly polished, cleaned, and cared for, it shone in the night. He tried, but 'Ky just couldn't look away from the blade. The glittering death-dealer held in the man's hands just.. mesmerized the boy, entrancing him. Reaching him and bending down in front of him, the man caressed the knife's blade against his cheek.Holding Sh'Ky's head still, the Ragged Man pressed the tip into the skin above the bridge of 'Ky's nose. "The rabbit bit the hunter. So the hunter will skin the rabbit." Horrified, he could only sit there as the knife sliced a clean path down across his left cheek.

Crying out in pain, Sh'Ky grabbed the blade with both hands, sharp edge cutting into his palms. These were the only serious cuts on his hands, as of yet, so he pulled the knife to the side of his face, making it draw a jagged path under his left eye, and over his ear on the same side. The knife, pressed forward, yet moving sideways and touching no more skin, impaled itself in the dirt. Sobbing, face dripping blood down the left side of his face and neck, Sh'Ky threw the dusty soil of the road into the Ragged Man's eyes, and shakily started to run. Calling out for help, 'Ky made it to the main road, bleeding all the way.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

He had made it another four feet before a doors slammed open, letting a single burly man, holding a large sword expertly, and a bear-like man, wielding a flanged mace sprint into the street. Ambling at an easy pace after them was a bespectacled man, dressed in a red, gold-buttoned coat with silver trim. As the fighters looked at the Ragged Man, and back at Sh'Ky, they realized the situation instantly, and rushed towards him, yelling for the third man to grab the boy and take him inside. The bespectacled man, hurrying for the first time, picked the small orphan boy up off the ground, and wrapped him in his coat, holding him limp in his arms. Safe, was Sh'Ky's last thought, before he passed out, hearing a gurgling yell, the clash of metal, and a loud, obscene curse.

...

Waking up to a warm light, Sh'Ky sat up groggily, seeing three men raucously playing cards at a table in front of the fireplace. Feeling where he had gotten cut, he felt the cloth of a clean bandage around his face, wrapping around the back of his head for stability. The sword wielder noticing the boy first, he stood up and strode over to the eleven-year-old's bed, patting him on the back. "Ah, good to see you awake, m'boy. You see, we, that is, myself, Jonathan Rockberth, that scowling, bearded man with the mace, Alsoph Balloe, and that tricky sonofabitch, Grancon' D'Lamere, found ye in the street, bleedin' from the face. And then we saw that bloody beggar, chasin' you, and I says to myself, I says, 'Well ain't that old Donovan? Why's he chasin' a laddie such as yourself, and with a bloody knife, for Sylir's sake! So I says to Al, I says..." Sh'Ky didn't really hear the rest of the man's words. All he cared about was that he was safe. Falling back on the bed with a sigh, he interrupted the fit-looking man, saying but one word.

"Thanks."

[Avarice]

Sh'Ky

Skill	Points
Observation	+4
Acrobatics	+1
Unarmed Combat	+2
Brawling	+1
Running	+2
Endurance	+1

Lore

Running for my Life

Breaking a Nose...By Flailing

The Ragged Man: An Insane Killer

The Feeling of Being Hunted

Saved by Strangers

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Stuff?
Consequences, Injuries, Expenses, and More!

• N/A

Comments

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