Into the Wilds

Chapter Two

      Deja peeked into the common room, it was dinner time and the place was packed with workers who had just gotten off second shift at the mines. She spotted her father in his usual place at the bar. He was talking animatedly to Eon who was nodding in between swallows of beer but doing little else to contribute to the conversation.

      She doubted her father even noticed. As long as he had someone willing to listen, he could spin yarns all night long, tall tales that told of grand adventures in far off places. Deja loved listening to his stories, especially ones about the Ocean. The way her father described it made it seem as vast and endless as the sky itself and, because of that, she was skeptical that such a place was real.

      Nothing, she had concluded, could be as endless as the sky.

      Tempting as it was to wander over and listen, Deja didn't have time. It was nearly dusk and if she didn't leave soon she would be late for her meet up with Abraham.

      Easing away from the door so as not to draw attention to herself, Deja moved towards a metal door at the end of a narrow hall. Shoving it open, she slipped out into a narrow, trash littered alley and eased the door closed so as not to alert anyone within to its use. The local strays, startled by her abrupt arrival, turned to regard her cautiously with their glowing golden-green eyes.

      Paying them no mind, Deja moved deeper into the alley rather than out to the street. While taking the main roads would have certainly been more direct, she didn't want to risk someone on the way to the cafe seeing her.

      At the far end of the alley, just before reaching the street, Deja climbed onto a pile of empty storage crates and used a rusty pipe to shimmy up onto the roof of the adjoining building.

      A cool breeze tugged at her dark curls, tangling them around her face and slim neck. She frowned and took a moment to tie the hair back into a loose braid before continuing on her way across the rooftop towards her destination.

      She was nearly there when a commotion below caught her attention.

      "Who do ya think you are talkin' to me like that?"

      Deja rolled her eyes as she recognized the voice. It belonged to a local thug named Kirst. He ran with a few others and liked to bully the younger kids or people who encroached on his self proclaimed turf. From her vantage point it appeared there were four of them in total and they had backed their victim into a corner.

      Crouching on the edge of a wide wall just above the altercation, Deja tried to make out their target in the deepening gloom. It wasn't a kid, and it wasn't anyone that she recognized. It was a tall boy with dark hair and pale skin. His clothing was plain and from what Deja could see was relatively clean though sporting a few tears. She couldn't know for sure if he'd shown up that way or if the tears were a result of Kirst and his minions.

      One thing she did know, whoever this boy was, he didn't live in the Cogworks.

      The boy in question chuckled, but there was no joy or mirth contained within the sound. She saw him bring his hand to his face and swipe at it, the motion leaving behind a streak of crimson.

      "You call that a punch?" The boy said at last.

      "This kid..." Kirst said with a shake of his head. He looked back towards his friends a moment before suddenly raising his arm and swinging it towards the boy. Deja grimaced, waiting for the blow to land. To her surprise the boy ducked, avoiding the blow while swinging his own fist towards his assailant. In the end it was Kirst who went staggering backwards, clutching at his stomach and shouting a string of swears that would have gotten his ears boxed if her mother had heard him.