The Freaks of the Ring

Sixteen : Doku

I don't know why, but it feels like there's some sort of weird tension between everyone this morning. Everyone's already started on breakfast by the time I get to the Mess Hall, eating in an uncomfortable silence that's only broken by the sound of my footsteps. A few people barely glance up at my arrival, but that's to be expected. I'm probably the most useless out of everyone, so I get ignored a lot. I really don't mind, but it still stings a little when no one even makes on indication that they want me anywhere near them. It's only by some saving grace that I notice Blitz motion me over with a quick spark of his fingers.

I get my usual meal of synthetic rattlesnake and plop down next to him with a sigh, already ready to dig into the food despite the fact that I'm not even hungry. "Everything okay? Rem still down and out?" I whisper, not even bothering with the dull knife on my plate and tearing it apart with my hands instead.

Blitz just nods, dumping back the remaining bit of what he calls 'insect cereal' in his bowl. "Yeah. Haven't seen either of the twins this morning, everyone's getting worried, to say the least." He sighs and picks up a glass of what we all guess to be water. "And of course no one dares to check on them because they're literally life and death and could kill one of us easier than Kannie. I never actually realized how scary that sounds until now. Huh."

I roll my eyes and nudge his shoulder with my own. "Don't worry, the big bad dying kid is here to protect you." I toss the last bit of my own food into my mouth, already knowing that a piece is stuck on my fangs. "I'll be a guardian and a distraction from my pathetic lack of abilities."

He snorts and plugs his nose before dumping back the sludge in his cup. Yeah, that so isn't water, if I can even compare whatever the hell that is to the stuff in my books. Maybe with Rayne here, we'll actually get something not potentially toxic to drink for once. It's a nice thought, so why wouldn't it work? Blitz provides all the electricity for the Ring, so why not? I'm actually fairly certain that we're the last people on this side of the planet to have that luxury. The world is progressing backwards, I swear.

I snatch up our empty dishes and take them to the hole in the wall that we're fairly sure holds a robot that cleans the dishes and cooks our food. No one's ever been brave enough to confirm the suspicion, since the last person that tried ended up dead. This place is more dangerous than it first seems, just from the sheer amount of accidents that happen on a weekly basis. Of course, most of that crap happens to me or Blitz because we're clumsy and reckless, respectfully.

Blitz leans back in his seat with a sigh. We're the only two people in the room talking, but a few others have at least appeared to relax with a bit of sound in the place. "Let's ditch this for a while, just you and me. Get away from everyone, explore the depths of the place, ya know?"

As tempting as his offer is, I'm almost hesitant to respond. "I dunno...I really wouldn't want to get us in trouble..." I trail off, not particularly sure where that train wreck of a statement was even headed for.

He just smiles and gets up, taking my gloved hand in his bare one. "Just come on. You've gotta be getting sick of sitting around here all day with nothing to do." His gold eyes lock on mine, a flicker of amusement hiding behind them. Is my heart racing? Because I swear it's going faster than its usual sluggish tempo.

"Fine. But if Kannie sears us to well-cooked pieces of Freak, I'm blaming it all on you." I look down at the floor, catching a glimpse of our hands when I do so. Damn, does mine look tiny in his. It sure does feel nice though.

Blitz just smiles that shit-eating grin of his and pulls me out of the Mess Hall without another word. "Truth be told, I actually found this really cool place a while ago and I thought that you'd appreciate it the most. I don't even think Percikan knows about this place."

I can't help but be a little scared and thrilled at once. Weird combination, I know, but it kind of works now. He leads me down a series of halls and through a few doors that I don't recognize. I sure hope he remembers the way back, because I sure have no clue where in the world we're headed.

A while later, we end up in a cavern at the end of one of the halls. It's fairly dark in there, but there's a few handfuls of glowworms hanging out on the ceiling and Blitz lights a makeshift torch on the wall. "I think that someone was building something down here at one point, but they stopped. I mean, it's too perfect to be real, am I right?" He turns to me with a smile plastered to his face, and I can't help but agree.

"I see what you mean," I breathe, running my hand on one of the dew-coated walls. "I had no idea that the Ring went this deep, let alone had anything cool in it like this." I turn to him and all but leap into his arms. "It's beautiful, Blitz. Thanks for showing me this."

"Erik. My real name's Erik." He hugs me in return, his words barely a whisper. I'm more than shocked to hear it, since we're never allowed to tell one another our real name from before we came. I can barely even remember my own, it's been so long since I've used it.

But I smile up at him without even thinking. "Well, Erik, it's nice to meet you. I'm Miles." It doesn't sound like much, but it's the world to me. No one else can use those names but us. It's almost as sacred to any of us here than even living. But if anyone can know my real name, I'm glad it's Blitz, err, Erik. It's nice not being so secretive for once.