The king continued with his spiel, even though he was totally wrong.
"If you want your little lab rat back, then you'll have to do something for me first."
"If you want me to fight then I'll fight, but win or lose, this severs our relationship… U N D E R S T O O D?!"
Uncle T's killing intent leaked from him like a full-on waterfall.
"Whatever you say, Terry."
And with that, one of the guards came and undid my restraints. This whole room literally smells like rancid funky socks and the king ENJOYS THIS. Couldn't pay me enough to say anything nice about this pig. On our way out, Uncle T grabbed what was left of my shirt and began dragging me through the door while I held my tongue out and looked as silly as possible.
It's been hours and we're still not at our destination. Where are we going that even with Uncle T's speed it takes hours to get there?
"We're here!"
"Finally! By the way, why exactly did you drag me the whole way? I get dragging me in front of the king but after all those hours my ass is just completely ra-... uhh… Where the hell are we?"
Somehow I'm standing in front of absolutely nothing but forest right now. There's literally nothing here but trees. I don't even see a porta-potty out here! I gotta sh*t in the trees?! … Well… I guess that wouldn't be so bad.
"Death"
Huh? What's he talking abo-
"What kind?"
WHO THE FREAK WAS THAT?!
"INSTANT"
Out of nowhere, the ground beneath us seemed to shake. I didn't see it before but it actually looks like a cave is right in front of us. My head was just swirling and in disarray but now suddenly, I can see the entrance clearly.
"You comin' or what?"
I guess Uncle T is just going straight in but who's voice was that before? It seems pretty sus but whatever. I'm sure Uncle T has this covere-
"Who's the kid?"
Suddenly I heard a husky voice from right behind me as something cold and sharp pressed against my throat. Like I'm just about to stand here and let you threaten me. You got me messed up. I kicked backward at the guy as a jumped forward and turned to face him.
I'm shook… Not because of how he looked or because he reappeared behind me, but because I never shook him off. Throughout every movement I made, for every moment I was in motion, even when I was jumping, the knife stayed pressed against my neck in the same way and the same place.
"If you move again before it's clear who you are… I'll have the captain identify your body."
You know what? I ain't scared of nobody! So dude's dumb threats don't mean anything to me. However, I don't really want Uncle T to get caught up in a weird misunderstanding so I'm just gonna be still for now… for Uncle T of course.
"St- (Snicker) -stand down Shin. This is my nephew Logan. He'll be joining us starting today. Logan this is my best and most goofy friend and vice-captain Shin Takahiro."
"DON'T LAUGH T! YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO BE SCARY IF THEY SEE THIS SH*T ON MY FACE!! YOU JUST HAVE BAD TIMING!"
What the hell are they talking about?
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lo-"
Ahh, so that's what it was about. So he's wearing a mask. You would think it would be some kind of cool assassin's facial covering or something but no. No, it's not that kind of mask. It's an oatmeal-based beauty mask. I'm no longer afraid.
"What's wrong? Please, continue."
I can feel the anger in his voice but I- I just can't stop laughing. This is the dude who was holding a knife at my neck?
"Listen T, this mask sh*t was not my idea. This all Rinata's fault. I didn't even agree to-"
"Oh so now it's my fault that my husband doesn't take care of his skin."
A slender figured woman with a scar streaking across her face appeared from the depths of the cave. Although her scar was big, her face was still extremely beautiful.
"And who's this little cutie?"
"Don't get too close, he bites."
"No, he doesn't. He's my nephew. My late brother's-"
Suddenly, Rinata ran over and hugged me tightly with tears in her eyes. She didn't hurt me or suffocate me, she just held me. It was… warm… It reminded me of my mom. Not sure why but… tears almost fell… ALMOST. I ain't no B****
"What's going on?"
I was extremely confused and everyone's silence just made it even more frustrating.
"I'm so sorry for your pain. I heard about your parents… I… I was a friend of your mom's. She was an amazing woman and I just want you to know I'm sorry for your losses. I can't imagine the torment you've gone through."
Something made me pull the little bit of cloth I had on me to cover as much as I could of my grotesque skin. I think my uncle noticed me.
"Shin shut the entrance and let's take Logan to meet the family."
As we headed in, I realized that this "lair" was far bigger than I had thought. There was an extremely large training room that seemed to be the main room of the whole cave. There were rooms with tools of torture next to bathrooms. On top of everything else, there was a room that just had a gerbil sitting in the floor… he was just staring at me… We made our way to the kitchen and despite all the different rooms, I never saw anyone else
"Shadows"
"SIR!"
Out of nowhere, almost twenty people dressed in black came to the table. They all stood still, waiting for Uncle T to say something.
"At ease."
"WELCOME BACK CAP!"
In an instant, the atmosphere went from cold and stiff to loud and cheerful. It felt just like when dad took me to hang out with the knights. As everyone got riled up and excited to see Uncle T again, I slowly became immersed in the atmosphere.
After Uncle T introduced me to everyone, I learned a lot of stuff about his crew. Aside from the captain, there were two vice-captains; Shin and Rinata. Below them were three squad leaders; Jacob Moore, TJ Wright, and Hanz. No one knew Hanz's last name. Beneath each of them was a group of five other assassins. Here, everyone was family.
While everyone was joking and laughing, my uncle came over and slapped my back, shifting the piece of my shirt that was left. I'm not sure why but I just feel extremely self-conscious right now. I think my uncle noticed again
"EVERYONE!"
Suddenly, everybody went quiet at the sound of Uncle T's voice.
"My nephew has been through a lot lately. He was beaten and abused somethin' serious. If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it if you'd all take off your shirts for a minute."
What was he talking about? Soon, everyone had taken their shirts off and turned their backs on me. That's when I saw it. Each and every one of them had the same kind of scars as I did. Some even had knife wounds running along their arms and stomachs.
Suddenly, my uncle stepped toward me and took off his shirt. He had more scars than anyone else in the room. One scar, in particular, caught my eye. It was a large slit right in the middle of his stomach, but the size wasn't what caught my eye. What surprised me was that the exact same scar was on his back too. He had been impaled by something enormous.
"We all have scars. We've all been tortured and deformed heavily. But we wear our scars proudly because we survived that torture and we're still here and stronger than ever."
Everyone turned around and smiled at me. I hadn't been here long, and there was no reason for these people to care about me… but for the first time in a long time… I'm happy. I found a new family.
"By the way,"
My uncle started saying something.
"This little girl heard my conversation with the king and kneeled in front of me for three days while I was still in town, begging me to let you go so I thought I'd bring her back here."
Who in the world would care about me that much? There shouldn't be an-
"LOGAN!"
Huh?
"Nessa?"