“RISE AND SHINING! WAKEY WAKEY WAKEY!”

Jaire’s eyes creaked open. His head throbbed as his body ached. He sat up and stretched, every muscle groaning as he did.

“Ughh...where am I??” He hazily looked around, and found himself in a decrepit, musty room. Cracks ran along the walls and sunlight shone through the various holes found along the roof. There was no furniture around, his bags being the only decor, which he had awoken on top of, covered by his mother’s blanket.

At last, the memories came rushing back. After the awful dinner, Styx had whipped out a bottle of alcohol and passed it around. After it was drained, Styx had another. And another. Unwilling to be a downer, Jaire had drunk along, more than he perhaps should have.

“OHHHH WARRRIORRRRR!! COME OUT AND PLAYYYYY!!”

Warrior? Does he ever make sense? With one final groan, Jaire arose and dressed. When he was ready, he sighed and opened the door.

“Damn, you look like shit man.” Styx commented full of cheer, “Maybe shouldn’t party so much huh? Come along then! The gang’s been waiting!”

Gang? Waiting? Why? He wondered as he stepped out. Outside, each muddy pathway was covered in trash and debris. The surrounding buildings were only a story high, but some heaps of thrash rose even above those. It’s worse in person…

He sighed as he followed after the happy go lucky man.

“Where are we going?” He called out, sidestepping a broken vase and large, broken spools.

“To the pit!” Came Styx’s reply.

“Why??”

“For the expedition of course!”

Of course…wait what!?

“Wait! What expediti-whoa!”

*Splat!*

——————————————————

Half an hour later, Jaire finally stumbled into the clearing, covered in mud and scrapes. Styx had moved on, praddling without realizing he had fallen. Without Styx's guidance, he was unable to tell one pile of thrash from another and had gotten lost.

“Jaire! You’re late!” Styx called out, “Get over here!”

Why would you leave me like that!? Jaire internally yelled as he jogged forward. Ahead, eleven people stood in a line facing Styx and another person, presumably the first in command.

“Jaire,” Styx spoke when he arrived, “Please meet our captain and fearless leader! Karebal~ the~ Great!” He flung his arms high, releasing confetti into the air.

Nobody reacted.

“It’s too early for this shit…” Karebal sighed. He was dressed in rags similar in condition to Styx’s, but he looked as annoyed and tired as Jaire felt, and reeked far worse of booze.

Jaire propped up as recognition entered his mind. You’re the guy who recruited me!

“Well then,” Karebal lazily called out to the lineup “Marx’s crew needs a fillup. Who's in?”

Groans erupted from the members.

“Ahh quit your bitching, we don’t have all day. C'mon, work it out amongst yourselves”

Not very disciplined, I guess the rumors were true...

“So,” Karebal yawned as he faced him, “Styx says you volunteered for today’s expedition.”

What!?” Jaire cried out in shock. Are you crazy!? No I didn’t!! That's insane!!

“Yup yup!” Styx interjected, “Happened last night! He stood up on that rock right there and boasted how he and his lady will one day be living way out in the middle of nowhere! Said to prove it, he’d come along today and every day we head out!”

WHAT!?!?

“Really?" Karebal asked with a raised a eyebrow, "You sure you want to go?”

No! Of course not! It’s only been a day and no one has taught me shit! I’m not ready for this!

“Of course he is!” Styx huffed, “Who do ya think he is? He ain’t no quitter! He’s gonna show you all why he’s the best around! Tell ‘im Jaire!”

“I…I…” Jaire stammered.

“Fine, whatever.” Karebal lazily responded and turned to the line up. Styx grinned as he gave the stunned Jaire a thumbs up.

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The rest fell into a blur as Jaire stared at the floor, mind reeling over the event that had occurred.

Oh god...this is happening...this is actually happening…oh god oh god oh-

“Listen up kid,” Karebal spoke, snapping Jaire out of his daze. The other members had disappeared, leaving only Jaire and Karebal.

“It’s dangerous out there," He continued, "so there are some rules to follow.”

Jaire nodded profusely as he perked to attention.

“First, regardless of what may occur, do not approach the caravan.”

...Huh?

“Second, keep your head down at all times.”

Wait...what does…

“Lastly, and I really cannot stress this enough, keep your fucking mouth shut. You are not to interact with anyone except for Ghost. If you need anything, tell them and they will relay it to me. That’s it. Front gate, two hours.”

With that Karebal walked away.

...what...WHAT!? Are you kidding me?! Who gives a shit about the caravan! What about the Zvyrs!! What do I do if we are attacked!? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DEFEND MYSELF!?!?

——————————————————

“Jaire! You made it!” Styx happily called out as the wired Jaire approached the gate. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. He had recovered just enough to wander back to his new home. It was easy to find as all he had to do was retrace his steps and follow the trail of body imprints found along the floor. Once inside, his panic went into overdrive and spent the remainder of the time packing and repacking, unable to decide what was absolutely essential. In the end, he carried a hefty backpack chock-full of clothing and weapons.

“What’s in the bag?” Styx questioned.

“Well, I packed multiple spearheads just in case, also two swords for smaller foes. Aside from that, I also have extra pairs of clothing, a second canteen, a-”

“Why??” Styx abruptly cut in.

“Um, for protection?” He responded with confusion.

“Jaire, ya know the Seekers will be looking out for us right? Plus the trip will take less than a day at most, no camping involved. Sooo...”

“...Oh.” A heavy weight fell from his chest and his tensions eased. He mentally kicked himself as he let out a hugh sigh of relief. Of COURSE the Seekers would be there! Duh!! Ugh they probably thought I knew already, which I should! And damn me for thinking they would just send me out unprepared. It's OBVIOUSLY just a test run. I thought they were irreponsible because of their base, but being messy doesn't mean they'll get me killed for no good reason. I'm so stupid.

Styx laughed and shook his head. “Oh boy, you're something else. Anywho, Marx’s base is currently in area 3 and Navaro is ready and waiting at the North Gate. Once Care Bear is here, you’ll be off! Any questions?”

“Whose Marx and Navaro?” Jaire asked. And what’s a ‘care-bare’?

“Mmm, you’ll meet them soon enough don’t worry about it.”

He mentally sighed. I don’t know what I expected…

“What should I do with my stuff?” He tried instead.

“Just give it here, I’ll leave it your place since I won't be joining in on your merry expedition this time around.”

“Ah,okay. Thanks Styx.”

“Anytime! Welp I’m off! There’s some time to kill so I suggest you go meet the crew.”

“Alright, will do. Thanks again.”

Jaire handed his bag over and Styx sauntered off.

Alright then. Ahead, the silent boy from the prior night sat in the shade of the wall, doodling on the floor yet again. Aside from him, two members Jaire hadn’t seen yet were chatting away to the right side of the path. One was a man in a rather cheerful mood, the other a female with a bitter expression. Both had similar features, sharing the same hair color, eye shape, and nose. Surprisingly, their clothing was patched rather nicely and uniformly as well, though they were still old and worn out. Might as well start with them, doubt the other will talk much. Well, here goes nothing.

He approached the duo with a warm smile. “Hello, I’m Jaire, the new guy.”

“Hey there!” The man replied, “I’m Maverick. This here is my sis, Jackal.”

The woman nodded but stayed silent.

Better than Psyma I guess. But Maverick and Jackal? Really?

“Ah,” Maverick continued, “sorry I couldn’t make it last night, I spent the whole day training and was absolutely exhausted. I knocked out waaaay before you arrived.”

“No problem. What did you train?” Jaire asked.

A sly grin crossed Maverick’s face,“It’s a secret.”

Before he could respond, Jackal interrupted with a groan. “Ugh, don’t listen to him Jaire, he has his head up his ass.”

“What!?” Maverick responded. At that, they began to argue. Jackal doted on every shortcoming Maverick had, while he despereately tried to defend himself. Soon, they completely forgot about Jaire, and bickered between themselves. Rather than feeling awkwardly out of place though, a sense of comfort mixed with a pang of loneliness swirled in Jaire’s chest as the scene continued on.

“Alright that's enough you two.” Karebal’s voice rang out, cutting the argument short. From down the path, Karebal approached with Ghost, who wore the same outfit from the prior night, in tow. “Let’s get this over with.”

Well...it’s finally time. Jaire thought as he took in deeps breaths. He focused on the cold metal that was strapped above his ankle, hidden underneath his pant leg. It's icy touch cooled his body, and gave him a sense of security. I hope Styx is right...

“Alright, regular formations.” Karebal spoke as the crew gathered, “Jaire, stick with Ghost.”

They formed in pairs, with Jaire and Ghost bringing up the rear-end, and walked outside. As soon as he exited, the rancid smell attacked his nose once more. Ugh, it really does smell worse out here, I completely forgot about it until now. They headed westward, walking parallel to the base as they travelled. Half an hour later, they stood in front of the settlement’s border wall.

It was a massive thing, looming high into the sky in absolute defiance against the world. According to his mom, it rose at least fifty meters, and dug another ten underground. Within, it was reinforced with metal bars, though he could not understand how shoving metal into stone wouldn’t simply force the stone to crumble. His mother couldn’t really explain it either, as the knowledge was greedily held between the members of the Institute of Advancement.

For all of its glory however, the wall was not impenetrable. It had been breached three times since Rivivera’s inception, and in those times the settlement only survived thanks to the thousands of selfless sacrifices of its citizens. This western portion of the wall was where the last breach had occurred, which was the worst to date. That breach led to the mass destruction of the old housing district, which bumped the death tally to almost a quarter of the entire population. Since then, the wall was rebuilt without a main gate, and the width of it was doubled. Thus he stood in front of the gigantic, solid stone wall, and only a single thought went through his head.

How are we going to get through?