Chapter 4 - Sold
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Black Bandana moved his prisoners off the ship and through the town. While walking through town, Ace noticed a myriad of unique-looking people. He noticed rich-looking folks, likely merchants, with horse-drawn carriages and fancy clothing. He saw what he guessed to be city guards. They wore leather armor and carried long swords. Poorer-looking townsfolk also caught his eye. There were so many of them. They were doing tasks like cleaning the street and transporting things; many were begging.
They gazed upon Ace and his comrades with sad looks: likely empathizing with their oppression. Perhaps they were grieving Ace and his comrade’s fate with knowledge of what they were going to be subject to. The poor people of the city seemed to be in a much sorrier state than his village was. The most clear distinction between the poor and the other classes was the presence of sandals. All the barefoot poorer folk were very skinny and wore clothes resembling rags.
Ace assumed some must be slaves, but there were so many he assumed that many in this city were just that poor. Ace pondered how people living in such a fantastically large and grand city could be in such a sad state. Perhaps they were refugees from other cities.
Ace also spotted quite a few people like him: half-animal, half-human hybrids. It was Ace’s understanding that their kind were usually called, “hybrids”. They were all foreign and strange-looking to Ace, but he did recognize a man who looked like a wolf. He seemed to be a bodyguard for one of the richer folk. He stood by a carriage with a sword and leather armor. They met eyes and the wolf-man frowned.
After a while of walking through the city's busy streets, they reached their location. A large open plaza filled with merchants and tradesmen. The smell of spices and fresh produce hit Ace’s nose. He noticed a plethora of goods he’d never seen before. Some merchants offered clothes dyed in various colors. Others had weapons or tools. The majority offered fruits and vegetables, most of which, Ace couldn’t recognize. A great number of shoppers perused the stalls covered by cloth canopies. Liveliness filled the air and Ace could hear plenty of conversation.
Even if Ace couldn’t understand what they were saying, he figured most were haggling for goods. Customers handed traders coins in return for various products. Ace knew that in foreign places they used coins instead of trading, but this was his first time seeing it.
They walked to a corner of the square and Black Bandana commanded them into a large cage with a few others inside it. They looked scared and disheveled, not meeting eyes with their new roommates as Ace and his companions filed into the cage.
Black Bandana shared a few words with a man sitting under a shaded canopy by the cage and got visibly upset when the shaded man responded. He shouted back something and pointed at Ace and his sister. They argued for a while before Bandana Man angrily accepted a large bag of coins the other man counted out for him.
“Hey, what language are they speaking?” Ace asked Rook.
“That's Spanish”, Rook answered simply.
Since Joel’s death, Rook hadn’t had much to say. He tried to remain a leader for the men, but his failure took an obvious toll on him.
The man in the shade waved over a guard, they exchanged words and then the guard left. He returned an hour later with a short, robed man with short curly hair. He had an ugly face and a big round belly. Ace assumed he was a man of power of some sort. Not many people were fat in the city. The man was accompanied by two bodyguards wearing blue uniforms.
“Thanks for giving me first pick! You’ve got some good ones with ya!” he said loudly in English. He approached the cage and then said something in Spanish to his bodyguards, pointing at Ace and Luna. He shouted to the man under the canopy, “What about these two?” The man in the shade responded in Spanish, and the short guy’s face curled into a frown.
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“Tch, I can’t spend that much!”
He paused thoughtfully and started counting on his fingers. “I guess I'll just take the cheaper one”.
He tossed the man in the shade a purse full of coins.
“Hey girl, you’re comin’ with us!” He pointed at Luna.
Time froze when Ace realized what had just happened. He grabbed Luna and shouted at the man, positioning himself in between Luna and the door to their cage.
“No! You have to take us both! Don’t take her away from me!”
“Sorry kid, I’m on a budget” the short man responded. He let his guards enter the cage and they approached with cruel grins.
Ace tried stopping them, but they surrounded him before ruthlessly striking him in the leg with a club. Pain shot through his body when the metal club pounded into his lower leg. As Ace fell to the floor he saw Luna being dragged out of the cage.
“Luna! I’l find you! Don’t forget our promise!” He yelled to her as they dragged her away.
Luna struggled and spit at the men carrying her. “You have to take my brother too! I won’t do what you say if you don’t let him come with us!” she demanded.
“Oh don’t worry, we have solutions for the ones like you…” the short man said menacingly.
The shaded man angrily shouted in Spanish, pointing at Ace. In response, the short man tossed him a few more coins with a frown.
Ace’s leg felt broken. The club they struck him with seemed to be made of metal. He would learn later that it’s called a “baseball bat”.
The prisoners sat in the cage for a while, and a few of Rook’s men were bought by passersby. Ace hung his head in shame. First his parents, next his village, and now his sister. He failed to protect everyone he loved. He blamed himself for everything that happened. “If only I was stronger,” he thought to himself. “If I wasn’t so weak, this all would have never happened.” He remembered what Rook told him, and steeled himself for what was to come. If he was to make everything right, he would have to strengthen his heart.
He vowed to himself he would become strong, find his sister, and take revenge on the people who did this to him. One day he would find the man with the black bandana, and kill him himself.
More and more people stopped by as time passed until the sun rose directly overhead. It seemed like many of the people inquired about Ace, but were displeased by the Shaded Man’s offer. Then, a very tall, dark-skinned man, with many scars and huge muscles approached the shaded man’s stall. They spoke briefly before the dark-skinned guy approached the cell.
“Hey kid, come here.”
Ace looked up and saw the man staring at him. He limped over to the man and looked at him. He had a serious look in his eyes, but something about him made Ace feel better about his situation. The man inspected Ace’s body and noticed his broken leg. He then asked Ace to smile. Ace showed the man his sharp teeth. After inspecting Ace’s gums, nails, and fur, the dark-skinned man said something in Spanish to the man in the shade. After haggling extensively the mysterious man gave the shaded man a purse of coins.
“You're coming with me kid. My name is Omar, and I’ll be looking after you.” the dark-skinned man announced.
“Could you take him with us?” Ace asked while pointing to Rook.
“Sorry kid I only need strong men,” Omar responded.
“He’s strong! Look at him! And he’s great with a sword! I saw him cut down two men just the other day.”
“That true?” Omar asked Rook.
Rook nodded, “Yes… I was a pirate back in my day, only reason they captured us was because they had a flintlock.”
“A pirate?”, Ace thought. Rook never told me he was a pirate before.
He knew pirates stole and looted; he heard they openly opposed the Shattered Empire. He thought about what the man in the bandana did to them and wondered if Rook ever acted like that in his past. The thought confused Ace, because Rook was always such a good person, and he couldn’t imagine him doing something wrong.
This was also the first time Ace heard the word “flintlock”. He guessed that was the name for the relic Bandana Man used to kill Joel.
After a short word with the man in the shade, Omar motioned to Rook.
“Alright old man, you’re coming with too. You’re lucky I got a deal since the tiger’s leg is broke, and you’re old. Don’t let me down though, or I’ll have to separate you two.”
Rook looked at Ace with a smile. Watching over Ace was something Joel would have wanted him to do. Although he had failed to protect his village, he had another chance to protect someone he loved, and he wasn’t going to fail this time.
Ace was happy he was able to stay beside Rook, but wondered about his past as a pirate. They left the cage and Omar tossed the slave trader a few more coins.
Ace noticed that he didn’t give nearly as many coins to the trader as he did when he purchased himself. He guessed it had something to do with him being a hybrid.
Ace and Rook looked behind while walking away from the cage they were in. They waved by to the few men left of their group. Ace remembered all the memories he had with these men who he had grown up around, many were not too much older than him. He hoped he’d get a chance to see them again, and thought about Luna, praying he could find her, and return home to Roft.