Thick yellow clouds hung low to the ground. A fog of pollution and dense, rain-filled cumulonimbus. Xenosa clenched her jaw and stood firm in the street. No half-pint punk was getting away with stealing from her.
"Hey you! Get your scrawny ass back here!" She shouted at the kid. Stray hairs tickled her cheeks and she angrily brushed them aside. The sun baked on her back and humid, thick air pressed against her lungs. The little boy stopped, turned and stared at her, mortified, and began to sob.
She sneered, "You think just because u ain't got any food, you can steal it from me? Come 'ere."
The boy obeyed and inched toward the snarling Vesper girl. He knew what was going to happen. Snot ran from his nose but he didn't make any move to wipe it.
Xenosa met the boy halfway across the street which he'd been running down. She grabbed his shirt and shoved him down on the ground placing a strong foot on his stomach. Sh snapped the small loaf of bread out of his hands and looked around the broken city. Without any sign of guilt or regret, she tossed the food into the sewer grate to the right of the boy. People who saw did nothing to stop it. They just kept on walking. There was no time to help people anymore, they were all doomed. Calia was doomed. The precious city, once flowing with life and activity, was now dilapidated and almost empty.
The boy sniffed. He continued to cry and asked, "If you weren't gonna eat it, why'd ya take it back huh?"
Xenosa got down to his level, on the ground, and stuck her face in his. The he saw the that stretched from her lower eye lids down to the corners of her mouth. She was one of them. "Because dim-witted little bastards like yourself have got to learn a lesson sometime." It came out like a growl. She hopped back up to her feet and kicked him aside. She payed no attention to the pained squeal that he let out and walked away.
She walked down Kaligari St. and turned left onto Paradise Ln. Looking out for followers, she descended the old subway that seemed out of use. As she went the atmosphere turned from that of smog and pollution to cigarette smoke and the stink of sweat. The buzz of conversation sounded from the disused station. She looked out over the dirty, grimy place she called home.
"Yo bitch, what took you so long, did you get the stuff?" Peter called.
She tossed him a bag of coins. "Nah I couldn't find the shop, go pick it up yourself and my god since when did you have 3000 krills?" Krills were the small gold coins in the bag, each coin was worth 500 Krills. One Krill was about the same as 5 dollars. Half a krill was a Mrin(Mer-in) and the smallest amount was called a Perl. The was the Calian money system and Peter was rich. Nobody used paper money.
Peter scowled and muttered curses to himself. Xenosa continued through the station to a small area in the back where Len usually was. Len looked up when he heard her approach.
"I'm out dude, I can't stay here right now." she told the leader. He looked surprised.
"Whattaya mean, 'your out' you cant leave. You're need here. Don't even think about it. No way." Len went back to sketching as if the discussion was closed. Xenosa kicked away the book and he looked up again but with rage on his face.
"Your picking a fight with the wrong person." he threatened.
Xenosa laughed, "Len, you know I can kick your ass up and down the train rails. So drop the tough act and shut up. You didn't even here me out. I ain't leaving the gang just Calia. I gotta get outta this place man, I can't take it anymore." She had indeed thought the decision over for a long time now. Xenosa knew this was the right thing to do.
"Yeah, so how's there a difference," he argued.
She sighed. "Look, I just wanna go back to Lakarlica. You heard about the whole bis with the kenai, we got sister groups out there Len, and they don't know we changed sides. They're gonna fight the Kenai, do you want our shilosha to die fighting the ally? So, stop being a dumb-ass and let me go out there and tell them the news."
Len thought about the decision. It was true, the Vespers had fought against the Kenai in the first attacks, when they were powerful. Especially the Vespers of Lakarlica. Of course, it wasn't to help anybody but themselves, and know the Calian Vespers decided it would be easier to join them. But they never brought word to the Lakarlicans. Xenosa was right. Especially now that the Kenai were back. "Fine," he said, "But you cannot go alone."
~HV
Shilosha(Sh-EYE-low-sha) means family in Eschazan(ESS-ka-ZEN).
Calia(Ca-LEE-ah) and Lakarlica(Lah-car-LEE-Kah) are cities-states in Eschazy(ESS-ka-ZEE)(country in Atalia) in Atalia.
Vespers are a wide spread group of anarchists and villains.
Calia is an abandon city-state taken over by a group of Vespers and known for its cruelty and poverty.
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