Chapter 1: Head Ranger
~And sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself because I could find no language to describe them~(Jane Austin)
Pity laid down on her makeshift bed in between two billboards she fashioned into her hideout. She lifts one headphone up only to hear the sounds of cursing and screaming that normally resonate through the streets, she shakes her head and let's the headphone snap back to her ear. "Hey pity you up there bud." Her friend Craig calls from down the ladder. "Hey princess," he shouts as loud as he can but with no reply from pity. "I'll be your princess baby." A man from the street below waves flirtatiously, Craig turns embarrassed and quickly climbs the ladder. When he gets to the top he sees pity laying down bopping her head to her music, wack!!! He gives her a slap on the head.
"Get up princess," he says with a smile.
"Ouch, what the hell was that for," Pity shouts, turning to Craig and rubbing her head.
"I was trying to get your attention but I got beauty Dave's instead." He says crossing his arms.
Craig is a tall, bald, dark skinned man who's slaps make you not wanna test his punches. "So what's so important that you had to disrupt my vibe, you're not taking beauty Dave up on his offer are you," she says with a big mocking grin. His face turns beet red, she knows he gets embarrassed really easily especially since she's the only one who knows he likes men. Craig is part of the Rangers, a group of individuals in each sector chosen by the captain who is in charge of all 8 ranger squads that patrol each town. No one knows his true name nor what the captain looks like because he wears a full suit of gold armor to show his status. Although he is in charge of the lowest part of the sanctums he is still nobility thus his armor makes that very clear to everyone who gazed upon him.
Craig clears his throat "anyway the captain just told me he's promoting me. Apparently he's choosing one member of the rangers from each squad to help keep things in order as his second hand for their sector!" He gets loud and jumps for joy. Pity can't help but join in, being her only friend she's always happy for the good luck he receives. Unfortunately deep down she's envious of this luck since hers has always been the worst imaginable. She secretly wishes he stood stuck as a nobody like her, an equal not her better, and pity hates herself for this. A loud horn blows and Craig's face gets serious. "Alright pity I've got to go, that horn means there's a possibility of someone breaking into the outer sanctum." He bolts off with a quick wave and a mocking "bye princess," in which pity responds with a big smile "see you beefcake".
Running down the streets of Ramear is no easy task. There are people laid out everywhere begging for cash, selling whatever goods they can find and of course the usual fist fight. He doesnt think about that stuff though, instead he reminisces about his rise to this promotion. Every step of the way was a struggle, growing up in the sectors was already hard but his goal to become a ranger seemed just a dream. That didn't stop Craig. He was scrawny with a mop of a fro on top of his head and he was constantly getting into fights to help people in need. He was pummeled every time and spit on by the people he tried to save because his intervening usually upset the criminals into causing further damage. Ace found him on the street when they were sixteen and normally he would avoid situations like this. As he turned to walk away he noticed it was Craig lying in a pool of his own blood. The moon made the blood glisten in the dark of the alley. Ace rushed over and started tearing his own shirt to shreds to wrap up Craigs wounds, the whole time repeating "you damn fool" in a quivering whisper. After hauling Craig home, Ace dropped him on the couch and shouted for his sister "Prin, Prin please hurry Prin he's bleeding so much i think he's gonna die." Almost falling down the stairs Prin appears in the hallway. Hearing her brother's cries she already had the med kit in hand, although three years younger then her brother she was the one that cooked and cleaned and mended their clothes. Quickly she ran over and started working on stitching up the bigger wounds on Craigs arms and legs all while yelling commands at Ace to bring her items or to apply pressure. She wasn't a medical expert but she learned enough from Craig's mom to keep them alive. After closing his wounds, Prin goes into her ice chest and pulls out two blood bags, and she places them on a heating pad to prepare for transfusion.
Two hours have passed since the second bag was set up for transfusion and although Craig is still out cold, Prin can tell his vitals are back to normal. She forces her brother to get some sleep and before passing out herself she sets out some bread and water with a note for Craig saying "take it slow." The following afternoon Craig awoke in immense pain, reading Prins note and smiling he takes her advice and eats and drinks slowly. Ace steps into the living room staring angrily at Craig.
" I'm done Craig, you're a goddamn fool. If you wanna get yourself killed helping morons who don't appreciate shit then so be it but don't think for a sec your gonna keep scaring us like this. It kills us to find you out in the gutter like that drenched in blood almost dead. But I know you're stubborn so i guess…. Well i guess i'll have to be there by your side," he huffs as his lecture comes to an end.
"What do you mean" Craig says weakly
"Come on you idiot, it means i'll be by your side every step of the way. Every dumb fight and stupid citizen you try to save, ill be there."
"Wait what about being a ranger, you said not in your life would you join those glorified thugs." Craig rolls his eyes.
"Yeah even that, maybe with you on the squad they won't be so useless." He smiles at Craig and they fist bump to seal the deal. Since then Craig worked hard alongside Ace everyday to get stronger and faster. They were determined and that determination turned Craig into the strongest man in all the sectors and Ace into the greatest strategist
The last fifteen minutes of Craig's run is quiet, and there are less buildings and people. Nothing more, just a long stretch of dirt road that extends from the edge of town through the woods and leads straight to the Captains courtyard. Upon approaching the huge gate Craig is stunned at not only how beautiful the captain's manor looks, but also at how it's the most defended area in all 8 sectors. There are tall walls that wrap around the entire manor, patrolling guards at every turn and watchtowers. Meeting up with his fellow rangers Craig realizes there's only the seven other head rangers from each sector waiting. Ahead of him he sees Ace, his best friend and head ranger of the fifth sector leaned against the fence that surrounded the manor. Craig walks towards Ace to see if he knows what's going on.
"Hey ace it's good to see you man, this is the first time this horn has been blown you have any idea what's going on right now." Craig says as he scratches his bald head.
"No not really but the captain wouldn't have sounded that horn unless something important was going down." Ace says in a low cool voice.
"Well Ace I guess you're as clueless as me." Craig says chuckling
"I take that as a compliment I would have to work really hard to be as clueless as you." Ace snickers and slaps Craig on the back.
"You're an ass man." Craig says humorously in retaliation but with a swift comeback Ace whispers "you would know if I'm an ass man wouldn't you." He grins as Craig turns red with embarrassment but before Craig could reply the huge gates open up to let the rangers inside the courtyard.
As the rangers entered Craig noticed the gates closed by themselves. They could see a grand fountain sitting in front of them in the middle of the courtyard surrounded by flowers, the rest of the yard has sculptures set in very terrified poses. On the other side of the fountain sits the Captain's manor and just as Craig starts to get lost in the beautiful design of the building the captain steps out onto the balcony overlooking the fountain. All rangers quickly stand in attention."You gentlemen are the finest Rangers the 8 sectors have to offer, but before your promotion to "The Hands of the 8 sectors'' you must prove your loyalty." The Captain's voice booms across the courtyard and not a single ranger averts their gaze from him as he continues his speech. "This test is not for the faint of heart you will be pushed beyond your limits physically, mentally, and morally." He stops and stares at His soon to be Hands and for the first time since he stepped out the rangers break their gaze. They looked at each other confused but quickly stood back in attention. "You will not have a chance to back out once you accept the test, so this is your only chance to leave but know you will be stripped of your title and no longer a ranger which means all benefits will be taken as well. So I ask will you accept the chance to be my Hands or will you turn away and strip yourself and your family of everything you worked so hard for." Again he stops waiting to see who will back out, and sure enough Ace steps forward and apologizes for his cowardice. "I apologize captain but i can't do anything that goes against the very morals that helped me rise to where i am now."
"It is fine Ranger, please drop your emblem on the ground. Anyone else," the captain says softly. No one else steps forward. "Very well ace you may leave the compound." The captain waves his hand towards the gates with a smile. As Ace goes to walk by Craig he mouths the words "I'm sorry'', Craig nods with a smile and waves. Suddenly a gust of wind hits Craig in the face and before He could blink his once tan uniform gets coated crimson red with blood. Looking up in terror Craig sees Ace smiling, blood dripping out his mouth with eyes void of life. In an instant his beloved friend was gone. The captain's whole arm was sticking out of Aces chest gripping his still beating heart. Every ranger jumped in horror as the captain throws Ace's body into the center fountain. Craig stands there shaking from sheer terror, he can't understand how the captain just sped from the balcony 30 feet away right into Ace's chest. "This is a test of loyalty." The captain starts as he paces in front of his hands. "If you won't take the test there's no question on where your loyalties lie, with yourself and that just won't do. To be my hands you must be loyal to me and only me. To be my hand." He pauses, stops his stride and stares at Craig with a smile. "To be my hand you must kill your closest friend....
The captains words rang in Craig's head on a loop, kill your closest friend, over and over as he walked back to town through the woods. He looked like a zombie shuffling down the dirt road. Not paying mind to his surroundings, he kept straight with a blank expression. What happened to Ace seemed to paralyze Craig, he couldn't process the death of his friend nor how the captain looked after killing Ace right In front of him. All he could picture was the smile on Aces face as blood poured out of his mouth, and the murderous nature in the captains eyes as he held Aces heart in his hand. Craig leans on a tree and he realizes he's still covered in his friends blood and that thought sends him over the top. He can't hold it back anymore, Craig falls forward onto his hands and knees and vomits aggressively. In between vomiting and catching his breath Craig begins to cry, he now has come to the realization that his only other friend in the world is pity; and now she too must die.
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