Prelude to War

Morning came, its first rays peeking through the windows of the orphanage. It woke up the young Leo, who had eventually fallen asleep in the early hours of dawn. The boy walked sluggishly through the narrow halls, reaching the living room. Looking through the window, he saw the snowy sky, much darker than usual.

"Leaving already?" Jarim asked, standing behind the young boy. Leo turned to the old man, a grimace on his face.

"And if I am. It's not like you need me anyway."

"True." Jarim said, "But then I can take care of you."

"I reject the offer." Leo said, "I won't live with a man like you." Leo turned to leave. He reached the door, pausing for a moment, before opening the door.

"And Meimei?" Jarim asked. "She is your friend after all, she came here because you saved her."

"She was here because I brought her here. I came to bring her to you."

"To a man you don't like?"

Leo grit his teeth. "Yeah, I did. She's from the Above, not from here. She has nothing to do with what you or I believe in and I'd rather not want to take care of her either. Besides, she seems important, the Above-dwellers might come for her."

"You've thought it through, huh?"

"Exactly. As I always do."

Leo exited the orphanage, walking away in the snow.

"Leaving already?" Peter asked. Leo turned to him. Peter was leaning against the wall, with a smile on his face. He walked towards Leo, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Not even saying bye to me? Or Joy."

"You know I can always visit, right?"

"Yeah. And Meimei?"

"She won't be here for long."

"Yeah, but you can at least say your farewells to her, right."

Leo looked at him, and at the orphanage. "No." Leo said, "I don't want… no I don't need to. Later, Pete."

Leo turned to go, waving at him. Peter watched as he walked away, until he couldn't see him anymore. He let out a sigh. He knew he'd see him again. He knew. But sometimes, there was this unsettling feeling. This feeling that something bad could happen to him, like he could get hurt. There was the hope that he'd live with Madam Alicia, and she wasn't one to back down on her word. But he kept his fingers crossed.

He only wished the best for his little cousin.

The doors suddenly burst open and the young Meimei dashed out of the Orphanage.

"Meimei!" Alfa cried out, but she was already gone. Peter groaned, running after her. "I'll get her back, don't worry. She couldn't have gotten far."

"Be careful!" Alfa warned.

Careful? Peter smiled. The two couldn't have gotten far, could she? Peter made a turn, only to run into a raggedy man.

"Sorry!" Peter said, helping the man up. "I'm in a hurry."

"Wait, wait, wait." The man said, "I just need a few directions, that's all."

"I'm kinda in a hurry. Like urgent."

"I just need directions to the Orphanage. It's urgent."

"Turn left, it's the biggest building you see, you won't miss it." Peter said, his voice trailing off as he ran off. The raggedy man, Wren, watched him go, shrugging, thinking of how children here had more energy than usual, as compared to the Utopian kids. Or was it that the circumstances were different? Nah, Wren thought. The kids in Downtown were equally as fast.

Torn woke up, carrying himself to a barrel of water. After a minute of deliberation, he washed his face with the cold water, feeling the tingle on his face. He put his palms together a fetched some of it, drinking it and rinsing it in his mouth. He spat it out, repeating it a few times before walking out of the building. He passed by Tigre, who was busy clawing at the face of Ron, the poor guy. Kah Mal came through the entrance of the compound, nodding at Torn. Torn ignored him. He walked up to a bunch of Orca buddies, sitting around a fire and laughing.

"Hey." He said. The five turned in fear. "Which one of you is Sid?"

Sid slowly raised his hand, trembling.

"Have you seen Nathan today?"

"N...No sir. He left two days ago."

"Left to where?"

"Didn't say sir." Sid replied, "But it seemed important, the guy would have left without a word to anyone if he hadn't …"

Two Orca members rushed into the compound, tripping over each other, causing the others watching to laugh at their folly. However, they were in no mood to joke. One of them, Oliver, rushed over to Torn Wyrn.

"Sir…you need to see this right away."

Torn looked at him. "Yeah, sure. I'll be there in like…four hours maybe. Whatever." Torn turned back to the building, "I just woke up, and I'm not in the mood to deal with some random gang or gifted or…"

"IT'S URGENT!" Oliver cried. Torn turned to him, shocked. The entire compound looked on, waiting for the man to beat the crap out of him. To take out the metal batons in his coat and lash out at the imbecile who had dared to shout at him.

But Torn didn't do such a thing. Those days had long passed, and he had long lost that sense of wanting to be above everyone. Besides, this was Oliver. He never joked around, was always level headed, and knew who to mess with and who not to mess with. Oliver was also crying. Crying was weakness, the first thing stripped off a man in the Orca.

"What is it, Oliver?" Torn asked.

Leo knocked on the door, and waited. He didn't wait long, as Madam Alicia came out.

"Well, look who it is, the boy who hates the Orphanage but wouldn't mind sleeping over there."

"Yeah, it was the plan you know."

"Ha-ha."

"I'm going back."

"You don't need to, though," She said, "I've just signed my resignation letter. I am officially not part of the Orca as of today."

"Really?!"

"Yeah."

"So you signed out."

"Well, yeah. Obviously there are no letters to sign but you get the point."

Leo smiled, hugging Madam Alicia.

"I'll go grab my stuff."

"You don't need to though, I have some clothes…"

"No it's something that belongs to my mom."

Madam Alicia looked at him for a while and smiled, closing her eyes to hide the sadness in her eyes. She patted Leo on the head.

"You be careful, ok."

Leo nodded, running off to the Upper Half. Madam Alicia watched him go until she could see him no more, before disappearing into her home, missing the blue haired girl run after Leo.

Leo, on the other hand was delighted. For the first time since he had got here he had been happy. The only thing he'd miss was Mr. Ishaan, but it wasn't like he would be in any danger. No more hiding, no more having to beg. Freedom was right at his doorstep.

Leo reached the fountain, seeing a large crowd of people standing still, around a long pole. He didn't take much notice of it, looking at the place where the two Wolf gangsters had beaten him up. He smiled faintly, thinking about how he won't have to see or go through this again. His thoughts were interrupted by the weight that pushed him to the ground.

"Leo!"

Huh? Leo's mind resounded. How was she here? Why was she here? The girl began to pound his back angrily, as if he had committed a crime.

"Hey cut it out!" Leo cried, but the girl wouldn't stop.

"You're leaving? Without even bothering to say goodbye. You big meanie!"

"Cut it out!" Leo broke free, rolling over and standing up straight. The girl looked at him, frowning.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked her.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the orphanage,"

"I came to get you back to get you! So that you wouldn't get hurt again!"

"You have got to be kidding me! You are in more danger than I am! Why are you so daft minded? I swear I could….ughhh!"

Meimei, however was not looking at Leo anymore. Her concentration was now on the crowd, and the long pole that they had gathered around. Some of the black coated people were there, trying to pull the…

Meimei let out an ear-piercing scream. Leo turned, confused, until he saw the reason behind the scream. His eyes widened, as his heartbeat increased, He was motionless, stricken by the hand of fear.

Torn looked up at the dangling body of Nathan Wyrn. His boy. His wrist and ankles had been cut, his muscles exposed, there were deep wounds all over his naked body. Bruises were on him as well, indicating that he didn't have it easy. Parya looked on, tears forming in her eyes. Some of the Orca members couldn't bear to watch, others had already thrown up at the sight. But Torn just watched on, not saying a word, not speaking, just watching in silence.

No one needed to be told. This was war.

From the office of Solomon Hunter, the two women sat in front of the desk. Kah Mal leaned against the walls of the office. Solomon himself sat on his chair, facing the window, watching the expanse of the Iceland, a smile on his face.