Kano & Cabbage

　　I want you to feel my hand

　　grazing your spine`s peaks and valleys

　　tracing pictures on your skin

　　I want to taste your sweat

　　little beads of the ocean

　　dampening your every inch

　　I want your heart to race for me

　　I want your blood to heat your face

　　so I can melt like butter on your lips

　　(dear god I hope he never finds this)

　　*******

　　A few days passed since Kano embarked on the journey towards wherever Cabbage was leading him. When the land was flat enough, he walked with Pak`s journal in his hand, reading as they went, or at least until Cabbage grew impatient with his pace and hurried him along. The journal contained dozens of poems. Each word dented the pages so deeply, Kano could almost feel the tension in Pak`s hand gripping his own.

　　"I really had no idea." He shut the book. "I see why he kept it from me, but still..."

　　"Prrrrooh," Cabbage said. Kano shook his head.

　　"We could`ve written songs together&"

　　Just as the bottom of the sun touched the horizon, the two came upon the black stain of a long-dead campfire, sheltered from the snow by a natural shelf of rock. Kano`s stomach gurgled loudly, betraying the pain of his hunger for the first time since he`d left. Cabbage watched him, ears twitching, wearing the same vaguely irritated-looking expression he always wore.

　　"I`m fine," Kano grunted. "Let`s just have a rest here."

　　He shambled forward, dropped his backpack and his guitar case, and fell to his knees before the scorched earth. Cabbage flew away to hunt their dinner, leaving Kano alone to kindle the fire. He gathered up some sticks from beneath the scattering of twiggy trees and built up a heap to set ablaze. Sitting cross-legged in front of the kindling, he focused on conjuring a flame, but his magic sputtered at his fingertips, as if struggling to escape the confines of his flesh. His body had no energy to spare. He`d done it thoughtlessly thousands of times before, but the fire just would not come. It teased him with warmth and crackling, but at the threshold of every combustion, it dissipated into nothingness instead.

　　"Goddammit&"

　　Every impotent spark reddened his face further, burning his ears with frustration.

　　"Goddammit!"

　　Fire erupted from his fingers in a violent explosion, knocking him flat and stealing the breath from his lungs. He scrambled upright, relieved to see the campfire burning, but still bewildered by the outburst. Cabbage dropped a skinny, dead squirrel into his lap before landing on the ground with a soft fhump. Kano`s stomach churned audibly at the sight of the squirrel, moved by equal parts disgust and hunger. He buried his face in his hands before he mumbled his thanks to the cat-owl, then fumbled for his pocket knife so he could skin his dinner.

　　Pak

　　My captors` eyes emanate strange trails of light. The dirt crunches beneath the wagon wheels, and the beast that pulls it occasionally huffs, but otherwise, we travel in silence. My captors don`t even speak to each other. They let me drink from a bowl, like an animal. The water sloshes around as the cart rolls, sometimes splashing me in my prone position, soaking into my clothes, chilling my bones. When we stop, they face me away and cook by fire. The fire must be magic, since it doesn`t smoke or choke us, and the scraps they feed me have a strange, sweet aftertaste.

　　I miss soft things&

　　They fasten a collar and leash around my neck and lead me away to relieve myself. It`s humiliating, but it could be worse. My legs wobble and waste, but it`s enough to carry my weight. I suppose that`s all I can hope for.

　　Time creaks on. I can`t measure it. They rotate who drives and who sleeps, so we`re constantly moving. I`m not sure I`ve slept at all since my capture, but it`s so hard to tell in perpetual darkness.

　　*******

　　The voices keep me company. In spite of their arguing and insults, it feels wrong when they`re gone. If they`re gone for too long, I start to worry. I know it`s silly, but I can`t help thinking they`ve been captured or killed&

　　That`s stupid.

　　I`m not going anywhere&

　　"I know," I hiss, clenching my jaw tightly. The air pulses with tension, rippling the fine snow that covers the darkness.

　　Where do you think they`re taking him?

　　Somewhere to die.

　　If they just wanted to kill him, they could have done that a long time ago& This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

　　They want to watch him suffer.

　　I bet they have a whole audience waiting.

　　I whimper. Visions swim through my head, every manner by which I could die: Sacrifice over an altar, public death by quartering, thrown into a pit of spikes, or a pit of ravenous beasts&

　　You`re scaring me&

　　You should be scared.

　　"Shut up!" I bark, lunging feebly to my right, but I only end up headbutting the side of the cart. I grunt and swear, pain zipping through my temple.

　　We come to an abrupt halt. The wagon lurches, and I slide forward, my exposed flesh scraping against the rough surface I lie upon.

　　"Goddammit-!"

　　"SHHH!"

　　A cold hand covers my lips. I pull away from the touch, but they maintain their grip. Something slides and scrapes at the front of the cart, then I hear the thump thump of feet finding the ground. Someone grabs the back of my neck, shooting a streak of white heat down my spine - pain of a different nature, the pain of unwanted touch.

　　"GET YOUR FU-MMPH-!"

　　They stuff the gag back into my mouth.

　　"MMMPHMPH!"

　　SSSKAP

　　A hiss, followed by a loud crack, erupts between my ears, and suddenly I can see.

　　I see every dimple in the rock ceiling, every fiber in the wagon`s strange grain, every individual bit of dust drifting in the air. There`s no light here, and yet, it`s as if there is, as if it`s somehow shining out from inside my own eyes. I can see better than in the ordinary light of day.

　　My captor grabs my cheeks and forces me to face them-

　　She`s pretty&

　　Disgusting.

　　Her skin is dark as the tunnel which engulfs us, stark in contrast to her white hair - filthy from eons spent underground - and her face is splattered with white freckles, like& mine. I remember what Lilia said inside the rainbow classroom that day&

　　You have stars on your face.

　　My captor impales me with her gaze, face framed by the tension in her brow and the rings around her lower eyelids. In the darkness, her eyes had a faint glow, but now it`s as if they`ve extinguished their light. Her chest rises and falls quickly. I can see her heartbeat pulsing in her neck, beneath her sharp jaw&

　　It`s angry.

　　I twitch, and a squeal escapes the back of my throat. She snaps her finger to her lips, then presses the same finger to my gag. Thin air flutters in and out of my nose, barely reaching my lungs. Her nostrils flare like a bull`s, her breathing quick and heated. After a moment, she releases her grip on my face and launches into an animated pantomime:

　　Two fingers form the legs of a person walking along an invisible path, bobbing carelessly with every step. Suddenly, the other hand takes the shape of a stiff, gnarled claw, and it springs on the finger-person, toppling it. The claw mauls the person over and over again until it goes limp. My captor gestures vaguely out into the cavern, then pokes me firmly in the chest, pokes herself in the same manner, and drags her finger across her throat. She gives me a pointed look, as if searching my face for some semblance of understanding. I nod. Her eyes linger on mine, narrowing, then softening, then&

　　SSSKAP

　　The light snuffs out. I keep my throat locked, my whimpering contained. In the darkness, I see a faint, dusty trail of light migrate back to my captor`s eyes, igniting their glow once more. The wagon creaks back to life. Without warning, she pulls the gag from me, freeing my mouth with a pop. I gasp, startled and grateful for air, but I keep quiet. I know now that there are beasts lurking in the dark, waiting to pounce on noisy passersby.

　　Time drags on&

　　*******

　　The journey never ends.

　　I see pictures in the darkness. Faces, glaring, judging, whispering. I try to turn on the light the way my captor did, but the magic sizzles on the surface of my eyes, inert. So I stay as I am. Silent. Blind. Hallucinating. I`m just hallucinating&

　　I try to focus on the gravel crunching beneath us, on the wagon`s vibration, on my captors` muffled coughing, sniffing, breathing, on the sounds of the beast which tugs us along. I rub my fingers raw, chew my lips bloody, soak in the smell of dust, earth, mildew, sweat, shit, piss. I try to focus on anything real, anything to tether me to the world outside of my body.

　　The next time one of them tugs your leash,

　　tear their throat out.

　　The cold voice smiles, flashing thousands of long, sharp teeth. I wince and try to scrub the image from my mind, but it won`t go away-

　　The gray boy`s lips are stained with blood.

　　He crouches over his captor`s corpse, feasting, like a demon in the night.

　　The body gurgles, still breathing.

　　He`s eating her alive.

　　I just want it to go away...

　　He`s not violent&

　　The weak voice to my left speaks in my defense. It`s a small comfort.

　　Yes he is.

　　I tense up, catching my response with a small gurgle.

　　What do you think he`s going to do when he finds his dad?

　　Give him a hug? Tell him he missed him?

　　You know why he came down here.

　　You don`t know what he`ll do&

　　But we both know what he wants to do.

　　"Sss&"

　　I seal my lips shut before my noise kills us all.

　　Worthless.

　　The intrusive image only fades once all the meat is gone and my captor`s body is only skeleton and viscera. The nightmare never ends.