Arya tried to make a run for it, however his small body could only run so fast. Realizing that there was no way he could escape, he turned to fight, trying his best to remember the techniques that Gray had used in front of him. He willed mana from his fragmented core, yet nothing responded, without a working core there was no way he would be able to use those knight techniques.
Throwing that plan out the window, he swung his little fists at the fist kid that ran into him, hurting his knuckles in the process. The older boy twisted Arya's arm behind his back, pinning him down while the other boys pounced on him. Arya tried lashing out but there were simply too many, try as he may, he was overcome by the violent swarm of kids that relentlessly pummeled down on him.
Dust flooded his lungs and sand snuck its way into his mouth. Soon, his face was littered with scars and bruises and he could already feel the spots that would be swollen after the beat down. Esla kept screaming at them to leave Arya alone, yet it was all for naught. Her voice was trapped in his mind, and even he was too lost in thought to pay any attention to it.
The fighting went on for several minutes, it was as if the children had just found an outlet for all their pent-up anger and they were making the most of it.
At first, one of them removed Arya's shoes -perhaps to wear them for themselves- but soon it became a trend, until Arya was left naked on the dusty road. A few of the kids seemed concerned about whether or not they had gone too far, yet even if it were the case they would not give back what they had looted from him.
They were suffering, and pity was something reserved for those in a good enough position to care about it.
Whilst all this was happening, Arya remembered the days when he and Randy would get beaten up at the orphanage, after all, it wasn't so different. The caretakers there were just overgrown children, all facing their own issues and using them as an outlet. And just like he did for them, Arya swore he would get revenge on these children. However valid their reasons were, he couldn't allow them to trample all over him like this.
{What if it had been Streya? Would they have held back because she was a girl, or would they have had their way with her as well?} wondered Arya as his attackers ran away.
{They're just kids,} comforted Esla, though the anger in her voice was apparent.
{And so what if they're kids? They were old enough to attack me out of spite, they ran on something primal... it's just a few notches off.}
Arya tried picking himself up, but a jolt of pain that ran up his leg as soon as he tried applying pressure on it. He instinctively directed his weight to his uninjured leg, struggling to find balance. As he wobbled on one leg a tidal wave of pain consumed his head, its dull throbbing making him falter back to the ground in agony.
{No... they'll pay Esla, I'll make sure of that.}
After trying to get up a few more times -without much success- Arya closed his eyes, perhaps after resting for a bit he would be able to stagger his way home he thought to himself. The rocks that stabbed his back made for an uncomfortable bed, but after a few minutes, he was fast asleep.
***
"Gray, have you seen Arya around? I sent him to buy a few things but he hasn't returned." Lillian's voice sounded concerned and as much as she tried to hide her anxiety, her slight twitches and uncomfortable fiddling gave it away. If not for her cooking lunch, she would've been out searching for him already.
{I knew I shouldn't have sent him alone. What if something happened to him?} Thinking about it made it hard for her to swallow. She knew that her worrying was -at most times- unfounded and mere overthinking, yet she couldn't help but feel that something had happened to her boy.
"I'll go look for him," replied Gray, eyeing the slight tremors that shivered through his mother's hands as she cooked. After wiping the sweat he had worked up during his training with Armin, he went to his room and put down his sword before going back to the kitchen.
"Where was he going again?"
"Jernah's. Now please hurry Gray," she pleaded, before turning to look at all the other kids in the kitchen. Armin and Streya were well aware of their mother's anxiety issues when it came to Arya, however, Leon on the other hand didn't understand her sense of urgency.
"I'll go with you," Armin decided, before the two stormed off.
It wasn't even five minutes before they came across a strange figure lying on the ground, covered in dirt. Gray quickly ran towards it, anger boiling deep within him with every step he took. He tried hard to ignore the voice telling him that it was indeed Arya who was lying unconscious on the ground, yet when he saw the white hair he knew it was right.
After anger followed a cold emotion, his heart instantly dropped as he realized that his brother might actually be dead. Fearing the worst, he couldn't even bring himself to see if Arya was still breathing and instead backed away to let Armin handle it.
"Sanatio Locatio." With that chant, a series of green concentric rings hovered over Armin's hand, rotating as he placed it over Arya's head. After a few seconds, he began moving his palm over the other areas of Arya's body, before finally gasping in relief.
"He's okay, but it looks like he broke a few bones," said Armin, before the spell deactivated.
"Let's get him to Cas-"
"What are you doing?" Armin stopped Gray just as he was about to lift Arya off the ground.
"I'm taking him to see Cassandra."
"And risk waking him up? We don't have anything to dull his pain, if he wakes up now he'll just be in for a world of suffering."
"Then you heal him," shouted Gray before slumping to the ground with a defeated sigh.
"I can't, Arya's still a child. If I heal his bones wrongly then it could affect his growth..." mumbled Armin.
"Stay here, I'll go get Cassand-" Armin's voice was muffled by the loud rumbling of thunderclouds. A thick blanket of dark clouds had completely covered sky, threatening to pour rain at any moment.
"Yeah," replied Gray, staring at the sky.
Armin ran off as fast as he could, leaving Gray alone with Arya.