Cinder Hollow

Creepy Tunnels and My Birthday Suit

   "OI!! Get back 'ere THIEF!" The merchant yelled to the royal guards as he pointed my way. I booked it as fast as I could down the overly crowded street, weaving through the masses of people as the two imperial guards made their way towards me.

   As I started to get further down the street and into the hoard of people I slowed down and just as I was about to turn the corner into a small dark alley I got yanked to the side by a strong grip. "Ouch! Hey who are yo-?!" I tried to say to the cloaked figure who I assumed pulled me as my words were cut off by a sudden gloved hand over my mouth. Just as I was about to pry the mystery persons hand off of my mouth, he brought the 'shh' sign to his lips and pointed to the guards passing the alley looking for me. The mystery man removed his hand and placed it back at his side.

   "You're welcome." He said to me. "I didn't ask for your help." I said with an annoyed tone. "I was doing perfectly fine on my own thank you very much."

   I finally took a second to look at the man in front of me. He was a couple inches shorter than I was with light tufts of straight blonde hair sticking out of his hood that landed just at his cheekbones. "I'm Az, pleasure helping you. I was wondering if you might be able to tell me where I could find a man named Milos?" The blonde said in a formal way making direct eye contact with me. "Why are you looking for an infamous thief?" I questioned him a little stunned from the gorgeous blue shade of his eyes. 'Like jewels' I thought to myself. "I need their help. They're well known for stealing from the overly wealthy and helping the not so wealthy towns. I have a proposition for them."   

   "Sounds like a you problem. Well, I'll be going now. Have fun looking for your thief." I gave Az a little salute with my finger-less gloved hand and turned to walk away. Just as I turned and was a few feet away from Az, a man stumbled out of the bar door we were near and looked up at me. "Milos!" He paused. "I've been looking for you since earlier!!! I missed you so much! I really hope you hadn't gotten caught by those imperial dunces!" The drunk older man said a bit slurred. The drunk man was actually my friend that I had stayed with for a while. More like a brother figure really. "Milos? You're Milos??" The smaller man from earlier questioned from behind me in disbelief. The drunk man, Arthur, hooked his arm over my shoulder letting his body weight crush me as I attempted to keep him upright by holding onto his arm. "Ugh, surprise!" I said as I let out a grunt and a defeated sigh while doing a small jazz hand gesture in Az's direction.

"You lied to me?!" Az shouted as he started to walk towards us. "Big deal. If you help me carry him home I'll hear you out, he's crushing me." Az stood there shocked for a second before he came over and hooked Arthur's left arm around his neck. He grunted when he felt Arthur's weight fall onto his smaller structure.

We continued down the street and across the dark and grimy city slums of Cinder Hollow. We finally make it to a secluded area situated next to tall rocky cliffs that was the way station for the airship docks. "Where are we exactly? We've been carrying him for ages now." Az said as we continued walking closer to the docks. "You're a whiner, aren't you? I don't like whiners." "I'm not a wh-" Az was cut off as I told him, "we're here."

(Az pov)

What I thought were docks actually wound up being an airship graveyard. Milos directed us to a storm drain that looked murky and dark. I stopped in front of it and I felt the large man's weight pull Milos back a few steps. "What's wrong with you? Keep walking or we'll be seen." Milos said annoyed like walking into a pitch black sewer was a normal thing to do in the middle of the night. He stepped forward again leading us into the abyss, Arthur was still slumped over and reeking of alcohol, mumbling something about gold speckle in his sleep. We proceeded into the pipe on what seemed to be a man made wooden bridge with very little source of light that came in through the entrance. We made our way further in and I noticed a floating orb of light in the distance. As we drew near the end of the bridge we came face to face with a metal door, next to it a hanging lantern, hence the floating orb I saw. Milos pulled out a key from under the collar of his shirt that seemed to be connected to a necklace and inserted it into a hidden keyhole unlocking the door.

We stepped inside and I turned to watch as gears shut the door behind us automatically. When I turned back around to look in front of us, I saw a humongous airship a few feet away from us. Arthur decided he was going to wake up in that exact moment as well to barf all over me. "We're home?" He questioned nonchalantly looking at me as if he hadn't just left his dinner all over my clothes. 

Milos looked at me apologetically, "Sorry mate, I'll get you something to change into when we get inside. For now, help me get him situated in a bed so he can sleep off the alcohol." I look at him like he's got two heads when he says that and sigh grabbing Arthur once more under his arm and walk onto the deck of the airship towards the crew chambers.

 We enter the room and I am pleasantly surprised at how nice and cleanly looking it is. We drop Arthur onto the bed and he falls with a grunt, wheeze? I have no clue what sound he just made but it isn't one I've heard before. Milos covers him with the closest blanket and then walks out of the room without saying anything to me. When I don't follow him he walks back in and asks me, "Well aren't you coming? Unless you want to stay in those barf covered garments?" I follow him and we go through the door which apparently leads to the bath. "I'll get the bath drawn for you so you can change out of that and clean off." He says this while pointing to Arthur's lunch. "I'll leave a new set of clothes for you on the tub side." He turns on the faucet and hot water fills the tub quickly. "I'll be in the captains quarters which are connected to this bathing chamber. You can come find me when you're done." He says. I give him a small nod and turn to face the hot water I so desperately want to submerge myself into. I get undressed and step into the tub and feel all of my muscles relax. "This feels great." I tell myself. I hear the door open and I panic when I see Milos walk into the bathroom with folded clothing in hand. He looks up and when we make eye contact I flush red all over. "I brought these for you," he says this as he walks over and sets them down on the ground next to the tub. Out of embarrassment, I try to hide as much of myself as possible and shrink down towards the surface of the water and murmur a "thank you." He smirks at me and then walks out of the room as if he hasn't just seen me in my birthday suit.

Word count:1336

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