My eyes were closed. My head between my knees.

I blindly toyed with the chains of my bindings as the carriage raced to my destination. They chained me in a cage in the back of the carriage. I sat in the autumn cold while guards were comfortably inside the cabin of the vehicle. And this was luxurious compared to how some would be shipped to the prison.

The reality was kicking in at about that moment. A stark reality. There was no wiggling out of this situation like I did with everything else. I would have to suffer through it if I wanted to get back to living my life in the shadows.

The carriage came to a stop, and men started moving objects and preparing for my transfer.

I didn't bother to move as the door to the cage opened. Two men crawled in the cage and dragged me by the arms. I could barely keep up with their hurried pace as I hobbled along on my one good leg.

We entered a large wall surrounding the camp. We shuffled through large halls with various different doors to different parts of the military quarters. I was too tired and worn to bother inquiring what exactly was behind them.

Voices started growing closer. I'd soon reach whatever destination I was being dragged too.

Along with the voices getting louder, the lights started growing brighter. Soon I was met with the blinding light of a torchlit room. So I let my eyes adjust for a moment, then took in my situation.

Two men were chained and on their knees. One scrawny and skittish, another dark-eyed and round-faced. nameless prisoners.

They were looking at who mattered. An older samurai paced in a circle. His aging but still muscular physique was shroud in large leathers for the autumn cold. Also somewhat due to the coldness that comes with the dark.

A guard put a hand on my back and pushed me to my knees. Which was easy to accomplish with my broken leg easily giving, the binding and leather straps pulled uncomfortably as my leg bent.

I defiantly shrugged the guard's hand off my shoulder, then adjusted myself upright.

Once we were all at attention, the old soldier started. "Now that you're all here, I will begin. I'm the warden of this establishment. I've worked as the warden of this prison since it's conception. Before that, I was working closely with the Shogun himself." He paused for a moment. Then continued pridefully declaring his years spent in dogma. "And the Shogun has trusted me with keeping this camp the secure and well-behaving place it's been for almost twenty years. And that means I expect you all to behave." He smiled and leaned in. "And the Shogun lets me do whatever I want, as long as you're all alive for your hearings. So expect there to be punishment for breaking my rules." He looked over us. Inspecting eaches reaction to his words. None of us were fazed by his expected threats. He looked away somewhat disappointedly. "Fine. We're done." He waved at the guards to take us away. And so they did.

The three of us were escorted through large stone corridors and passageways. Time grew longer and eventually was lost in the sprawling maze. No point of reference or landmark.

After an endless amount of time, we were met with a new sight. An enormous gate blocked the path to a fury of cold wind. Damnation was behind those doors. The gate slowly creaked open at the sight of all of us.

If not for my leg, I might've been able to survive. Yet another rash decision comes another painful outcome.

Finally, the door opened enough to see what was hiding behind it.

A city, half burnt to the ground could be seen through the opening. Torchlight bounced off the ghastly faces of the prisoners. Starved and deprived of dignity. Filthy.

The gate fully opened and the guards threw us to the ground. The three of us gazed at each other after we regained our composure. I was the first to break the stare and go my own way. I didn't want to be responsible for these criminals.

In the main area of the camp was some sort of large and open gathering center, possibly the remains of a market. I got out of the crowded and vulnerable place as soon as possible.

Out of the torchlight and into the dark. I hobbled weekly along in the hopes of shelter. If I wanted to live, I needed somewhere to hide, and quickly.

I started to feel eyes watching. Figures hiding in the shadows. Something with a sinister gaze was trying to watch me while staying undetected. I forced myself to keep on the path and not pursue them.

You're injured. Keep moving and play defensively.

I quickened the pace, as it was the only thing I could do. Quicker. Quicker.

My leg was close to giving out. I wasn't faster than a jog, but I could feel my body giving up.

There was a half-burnt building a short way. That would have to do.

I slipped into the rotting old house and closed what was left of the door. There was no way I outran whatever was following me, and there was no way it became uninterested. Find a hiding spot.

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Stained black paper walls and burnt furniture was all that met my eyes. There had to be something.

It was hard to see in the dark, so far away from the torches of the courtyard. But I could use that to my advantage.

Ok. There was an upturned table, I would push it to its side and hide behind it in the corner of the lounging room.

I could feel whatever was watching getting closer. My body strained to push the light table, the side effect of not sleeping for days.

Finally, my hiding place had been set and I found myself crouched in the corner of the room. Gradually I came to lay flat on the ground.

Through the crack between the table and the bamboo floor, I could see the door creak open.

Large and fat feet stumbled into the room, pacing from left to right.

I tried to keep my breathing quiet and slow, but it was a hard task. And no matter what I thought about, my mind would ache with anxiety.

Closer and closer the heavy footsteps got. Faster and faster my heart beat. His path was getting closer with every step.

Soon I could no longer look through the crack. I had to lay completely flat and still if I had a hope to survive.

Even through my efforts, I could still hear the heavy footsteps grow eerily closer. Finally, the large silhouette looked down at me. My heart finally broke loose of its restraints and started beating rapidly. In a moment of desperation, I swung my fist. But the damned dark betrayed me, and I caught nothing but air.

The silhouette lifted what had to be a large club. With a thud, I could feel myself drift away from consciousness.

---

A canvas bag was draped over my head. My arms tied to the wooden chair I was sitting in. The only thing I could see through the bag as the exceeding amount of light in the room.

With a pull, the veil was lifted from my aching head.

The first thing I saw was a muscular man standing in front of me. With a quick turn to the side, I could see the two new inmates that I got briefed with earlier. In the corners of the room stood a few goons. Which meant that the muscular man in front was the leader.

I paid attention to the man in front. I would have to if I wanted to stay in one piece, I assumed.

After a moment, the man spoke. "Greetings. You may be wondering why my men so rudely interrupted whatever you had been doing and brought you here. Well, I brought you all here so we could get acquainted. I assumed you all got briefed by the warden of this place. So think of this as something similar to that." He paced between us for a moment, nonchalantly checking our expressions and composures. "Now. What I've learned is that the warden doesn't actually do a very good job of getting you all familiar with our slice of hell and its rules. So I'll be picking up the old man's slack. My name is Cho. And while the warden may think he owns this establishment. I actually have control of this place."

The round-faced inmate spoke up. "You're a prisoner as well, aren't you? Why should we all pretend you have dominion over this place?"

Cho responded loudly, apparently he did not like to be spoken to out of turn. "Do not speak unless spoken to!!" He paused for a moment, the started speaking in his friendly demeanor once again. "That's the first rule of this place..." He noticed that he had grown extremely close to the dark-eyed inmate. Cho backed up and went back to the planned lecture. "Now. The rest of the rules are quite simple. You obey my commands, you get fed. You don't do what I ask, then I can't help you." He leaned closer towards the round-faced prisoner. "Now, what will you do?"

The prisoner's face grew red. "I won't follow your orders! You and your pile of horse shit group can burn in hell! Take me back to where you found me!"

Cho's eyes burned with anger, while his face only grew a smile. "Oh no, we don't take you back to where we found you." He stood tall and commanded a couple of his lackeys. "Throw him in the pit and don't feed him until he begs for it like a dog." With that, the men grabbed the prisoner and dragged him into the darkness screaming. Cho then went to the next. "So. What will you do?"

The scrawny one's face went pale in fear. "I submit! I'll do whatever you ask! Please..." Cho smiled at the skitterish one's panic.

He shook his head. "That won't do. Someone who kneels to the first person he comes across. No integrity." He waved towards a few more of his men. "Let him go. He can make his way with the rest and learn to rely on himself." The man was untied and taken out by his arms. The final one was me. "So... What'll it be?"

You know what happened to the first. Don't do it. I said don't- "I'll be damned if I kneel to you."

He smiled and started to command his men. But as his mouth opened, something caught his eye. A different order than what I had thought came out of his mouth. "Gentlemen, roll this man's sleeves up." Oh. I struggled as the men pulled on my dirty kimono, but there was nothing that could stop them. As my sleeves were pulled back, the ashen scars on my arms were revealed. Cho's eyebrows raised as he saw them. "Oh. That's interesting. The only explanation for burn marks as bad as those, would be if you're ashen. You had an Ember, then it was stripped away from you by lady Amaterasu herself? You should've told me that at the beginning."

I responded. "I'm not-"

Cho interrupted. "Oh, no. You don't lose an Ember for some small sin. You see, I had to burn down this entire city before I lost my Ember. They had to build a wall around me even after it was taken away because I was still so powerful from its imprint. So don't try telling me you didn't do anything wrong." He nodded his head and smiled. "You know what. I'll let you stay with us in the big house. I think you have quite the potential... Are you ready to be civilized and join us for dinner?"

I was torn between shouting at this man in anger or forcing myself to stay quiet. This is how you survive. "Yes... I would love to."

With that, I was untied from my cloth binding. Standing up, I finally got a good intake of my surroundings. This room looked like it was maybe once a lounging area. Busy rooms were hidden behind painted paper walls. Cho waved at me to follow, which after a moment of reluctance, I obliged.

We passed what had to be a kitchen. A deep hall full of doors, that must have been the bedrooms. We finally reached the dining room. Hot food was sprawled all over the enormous table. With all this room and intricate details, I guessed that this must have been a hotel in the past.

Cho spoke. "Sit... Uh."

I responded quietly. I had to comply if I wanted to eat and live. "Kenshi."

Cho smiled. "Ah, Kenshi. Sit and eat."

My body tried to resist. But I hadn't eaten in days. I guess in some way that was following an order, submitting. No. Food is essential. I'm not caving. I'm living.

Days of not eating made me eat quickly, and heavily. The men gathered around the table looked in awe at how much I ate so quickly.

Cho laughed. "Now you see how nice it can be as my friend." Slowly his smile faded. I saw that the stare of awe of the men around me may not have been awe, but silently waiting for something. Cho continued. "And friends help friends, don't they?"