Chapter 3: The Drunkards
"You punks again?" An old man with worn out clothes greeted the boys that were sneaking out of the plantation. They were regular employees of course but, it was way past working hours.
"Hey Grumps."
"I told you to stop calling me that kid." The old man said in reply.
Sol and Cain didn't know his real name nor did he tell it to them. He didn't want to get to know the kids better because emotions are a waste on the domain they lived in. It was, after all, a place where only the fittest could survive. And even this casual talk between them was not without consequence.
"Come on then, out with it." The old man opened his hand and waited for it to be filled with whatever it was that got the two into overtime. Sol happily obliged, opening his basket bag and taking out one small cloth pouch. He then threw it to the old man who had no trouble catching the small object.
"Oh? And what would this be?"
"Just open it." Sol commented.
"This better not be a bomb kid." As Grumps opened it, Cain was expecting some overrated reaction from the old man. Instead, Grumps simply whistled and closed it immediately.
"Well would you look at that." He said, with a devious smile plastered on his face.
"I believe that should be enough to keep your mouth shut?" Sol negotiated.
"Oh as long as you feed me kids. I'd have no trouble zipping this old mouth of mine."
With this, the two were able to get out of the plantation without any more problem. The road back to the domain was a far way ahead but, they needed to walk barefooted. Primarily because they couldn't; afford any sort of ride. Nor was the transportation device of the plantation available after working hours.
But the two of them didn't mind. With all the crazy things that happened and, the good meal that awaited them, walking back home was a small price to pay.
"What do you want to eat for dinner?" They put on their air masks. An item which was a must because, the air outside the domains and the plantations was hazardous and toxic.
"Anything would be fine. Are you sure your old man isn't coming home though?" Sol asked.
"Definitely. He…he beat up my mom this morning again. Of course she tried to hide all the money I earned by working but, she could only hold on to it for long..." Cain's voice was trailing away and shaky. The boy didn't like speaking about those things and Sol knew about it. That's why he tapped Cain's shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to hear the whole thing.
Cain's father was a brute. A poor excuse for a living organism. A man who has given up on life and seemed to be fueled by nothing else but the desire to beat up his own family. Sol hated him as much as Cain did but, as they were, there was nothing they could do against him.
In fact, just by mentioning his own father, Cain was already in a bad mood. Sol could feel this and, thought that cheering up his friend would be a good course of action.
"Cain my boy, how do you like the tour of my vineyard?" Solomon imitated the tone of voice used by noblemen from higher ranking domains.
"What on earth are you doing this time?" Just as Sol expected, his friend was already relieved from his grumpy state.
"Ahh, that won't do my dear friend." Sol held his walking stick in the same way as the noblemen did. Finally making Cain realize what he was doing.
"My vineyard old cap, how does it fair to your taste?" Cain began laughing at how well executed it was. Aside from being abnormally intelligent, Sol's acting skills were also top notch. But, not as good as Cain's was.
"Biftraps and Booglurs if I do say so myself! That fine vineyard of yours should be kept a secret between us. Lest we want our heads rolling on the ground." Sol began laughing at that point and, the two of them continued the charade until they finally reached the gates of their domain.
A high cobblestone wall enclosed the whole area in a circular shape. Runes were engraved on this, preventing the same toxic air that was found outside to enter. Guard posts were on top with drunk soldiers and, there were also two of these on the gates itself.
"Hey waddya hawve there?" A drunk guard said, finally taking notice of the two.
The harvest that they looted was kept within their basket bags. In order to escape any chances of these being searched by the guards, Sol took out a few regular harvest from the plantation and gave it to Cain. Knowing how good his acting skills were, Cain could easily fool anyone. And that was a fool proof plan against two drunk adults.
"T-these sir? It's our harvest from the plantation." Sol was laughing inside. Already having an idea of how things will go down.
"huuh? the plantatiooon?" The first guard asked.
"isn't it way past the working hours?" The second one furthered.
"Y-yes sirs. But me and my friend weren't able to get any harvest. That's why we stayed for a while longer."
"ye right, yer going to prison with that friend of yers."
"No sirs. Please spare us!" Cain knelt down and put his hands on a praying position. A perfectly executed form that would get anyone pitying him.
The two drunk guards looked at each other and smirked. Of course they weren't going to bring the boys to prison. They were drunk after all and, if their chief saw them in that state, they would get as much punishment as the two boys would.
"fine, just give us yer harvest and we'll let it sliiiide."
"Of course sir!" Cain stood up immediately and handed the bag of harvest to the guards. His hand was shaky in the process and his head was bowed down. Looking straight at the ground.
"okay, but just dis once." With this the two guards stood to the side and allowed the boys to come through. The whole thing was perfectly handled by Cain, not even showing how nervous he truly was with the whole ordeal.
With both of them looking straight ahead, they walked past the guards. At least, that was how it was supposed to turn out.
Sol was punched to his stomach, with the fist being buried deep. This caused Sol to cough up blood as he dropped to the ground.
"Sol!" Cain was just about to grab his friend when the other guard pointed his spear.
"Do you think we're some sort of fools? You think we've never done this job before?" The guard was suddenly less drunk in speech. The one that punched Sol gripped on to his hair, raising the boy up and making him scream in pain.
"I know that you have something on that basket of yours you filthy scavenger. You can't fool us."
"I-I don't know w-what you're saying sir. I've got nothing in there." Sol mentioned in a rugged voice.
"Ha! Who are you fooling?" The guard slammed Sol's front to the wall, opening his basket bag right away.
"How do you explain…huh?"
There was nothing on Sol's bag but his working equipment. The guard even flipped it and shook the bag but, only the items came out. The corners of Sol's lips curved into a smile as he commented.
"Sir I don't mean to be rude but, there are people watching." As the guard looked around, he saw some stares directed at them. There was no crowd forming but he knew how observant the people were.
"Fine! Take it and leave!" The guards said, throwing back the small bag of harvest which was given by Cain as the boys were finally able to pass through.
There was a lot on Cain's mind at that point. He was thinking of how they almost died a few seconds ago and, how Sol was able to make every harvest on his bag disappear. He looked around them and, sure enough, there weren't prying eyes nor ears. So he began asking in a low tone.
"hey sol, how did you do that?"
"oh the bag trick?"
"well what else would I be asking?"
"i actually placed a secret compartment on my bag. the bottom is actually a fake one and, beneath it are all the things we gathered."
"holy shit man, did you put that on mine too?"
"of course not."
"why not? what if I was the one they searched?"
"oh that won't happen. you have legal guardians cain, they won't hurt a boy who has parents. as for me, well they wouldn't care less about beating me up and getting all i have." Sol casually said, like it was not a cause for worry or concern at all.
The boys didn't exchange any more words after that. They needed to keep things to themselves because, even without the Odd Balls roaming around their domain, they knew that every Void was just as vigilant.
The two went through the alleys filled with prostitutes, drunk men, and drug abusers. Through the houses barely left standing and trash scattered all around. There was the smell of rotting flesh and many others everywhere they went but, they dared not look where it came from.
All of this was normal for the Void Domain. Through all these dangers, the sole safe haven of the boys was a house just as run down as every other. Dead flowers were on the pots in front of it and, empty bottles of liquor were scattered all around. A carton as big as a bed lay on the side of this. Around it were a bunch of scraps and worn out books and pages.
Then, as they approached, they saw a girl peeking out of the window. This instantly cheered the two up as another person appeared. A tall woman opening the door for them, with a smile on her face.
It was Cain's mother. A person whose smile warmed them up inside despite the chilly night. A person who, for both boys, was the definition of home.
She hugged them both in her arms. And just like that, all that they had to go through seemed like a distant past.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone