The "Hive." I couldn't make the argument that it was some grand bastion of strength in the slums. Not like how Riu liked to advertise it as. It was an abandoned cluster of derelict 2-story apartment buildings, walled off with junk fences composed of wire, stone, sandcrete, and wood, topped off with a hole-ridden tarp that gave the locale its name. But whether it was the weathered, chipped walls decorated in graffiti, the rotten wooden furniture that gave me splinters whenever I tried to get comfortable, or the leaky ceilings that prevented me from ever really getting a good night of sleep, it was home.
Naturally, of course, it was more than just the scenery that made the Hive what it was. It was the people. Housing 54 hornets, it was the epicenter of our gang in this city, making up a solid half of everybody we had in the slums, the other half being distributed across safe houses or other locations. Here though, this being the core of the Hornets, nobody was put to waste. If you lived here, it was either because you were part of Riu's inner circle, you were a half-decent fighter, you were running supplies between here and the other locations, or you were a homemaker. Hell, even we needed those. You were either useful in some way, shape, or for, or you were dead on your sleeping mat, waiting to be tossed out. I'd seen the latter too many times to doubt its frequency.
My role here tended to fall under 2 categories. When I wasn't picking up the slack left by the rest of us who'd been worn down for the escalated tensions as of late, I was our chief muscle, making sure all in the Hive stayed orderly, and all that wasn't in the Hive stayed out. But in addition to that, I was Riu's right-hand man. Have been since the beginning.
I stood guard at the entrance, an old lobby part of the apartment complex that we'd blown the sandcrete wall out of, turning it into a security checkpoint instead. The only way out of this lovely home of ours. I had my back to the wall, knife rolling between my fingers as though it were a coin, eyeing my motions meticulously, careful not to add to the already plentiful scabs on my hand that'd been inflicted by this unhealthy habit of mine.
I caught the knife between my thumb and index finger, spinning the blade to get a good look at myself, wiping it with the sleeve of my left hand when the image proved unsatisfactory. Skin still tan, hair still brown, eyes still green. Still alive. No signs of gangrene. Cut healing…alright. Good. All things considered.
I slipped the small pocketknife back into my pants, the sound of footsteps beyond the entrance, however, prompting me to wield it again in a worst-case scenario type of incident, though I doubted that would be the case. In either case, it paid to be prepared.
I stood at ease though when I saw who it was, letting my guard down as the other 2 guards at my side, Aden and Meeko, stepped forward to meet the silver-eyed information broker, clubs and spears raised.
"You know the drill, Fluke. Arms up."
"We need to go over this again?" he asked as he raised his arms into a T-frame position, his question, however, seemingly not directed towards my orders. "It's Luke. Not Fluke." The knife at his waist, pathetic little shiv that it was, stood in clear sight for me to confiscate from him for the time being as I ignored his complaints.
"You'll get this back on the way out," I said as per protocol, placing it on the reception desk, prompting him to turn around, which he did so obediently as I checked him from behind. "Anything on you that I should know about?"
"Well, seeing as how you're going lower and lower, I should warn you that this puberty thing is set to be starting around now, so don't let any unexpected growth startle you too much."
I flinched back, unnerved by the mere thought of it, but went back to patting him down, careful, however, to quickly move past his groin region, not wanting to put his comments to the test. Going down his leg however, something caught my attention tucked into his ragged shoes, beneath his pant sleeve. I patted at the area a small bit longer until I could confirm it wasn't meant to be there, raising his pant leg to reveal an iron arrowhead.
"Shit," Fluke said, eyes peering downward to see the same thing I did. "Forgot I had that."
"This is Fire Nation," I informed him matter of factly, stating what was likely obvious to him considering his possession of it."
"Got too close to the gate," he shrugged. "Not a big fan of us street urchins I guess."
I knew him well enough to know that it had been unintentional, but there was a reason that the Hive hadn't been hit for over 3 years, and that was because I did things by the book. There were rules, and rules had to be followed. And besides, I had an example to set for the others, even if it did mean being something of an ass. "You trying to stab me, asshole?!" I yelled, placing a hand against his chest and pushing him back, raising the arrowhead as though demanding an explanation.
"Hell no! I'm selling!"
Of course he is. "So, get on with it and talk."
"That depends," he grunted, regaining his footing. "What are you offering?"
"Nothing until we know what your info's worth. You know the rules. You're not changing anything."
He groaned, but submitted quickly enough. "Fine, but it's good. Trust me. Miro's having trouble feeding his guys. I have a feeling that you hitting that safe house of theirs the other day really screwed 'em up good."
Nobody was supposed to know that their safe house getting lit ablaze was us. Either one of us squealed, or he just was that good. Frankly, I didn't doubt the latter.
"His guys are clearly pissed. One of them even, Mu, he looks about ready to crack. I wouldn't be surprised if you could squeeze him for some info or maybe even turn him."
Aden scoffed from behind me. "Why the fuck would we want Mu? Little shit can hardly even fight."
"He'd say the same about you guys. How's that arm of yours treating you by the way. Mu sends his wishes. Hopes your recovering well."
Aden, his right arm still not back into perfect shape, palpably grew more tense behind me, multiple flattering ideas on how to put the kid's confiscated knife to use in so many very creative ways.
All I needed to do was dismissively wave a hand at the side of my waist to get him to calm down behind me. Setting an image was good for a great many things. It kept things in order, and it kept the others in line. I turned back to Fluke now, wondering if he had anything more, but when he failed to speak, I shrugged, asking, "That's all?"
"That's all?" he echoed in surprise. "That was good shit. So how much you offering? Food or coin?"
"Coin this time. Food's low. 5 coppers."
"Oh, bullshit! Come on! Don't screw me on this! 10."
"5."
"10. That was good stuff I gave you. You burned down their storehouse, sure, but you had no idea of what effect it had. Now you do, and now you also know the different opportunities it opened up for you all. You can start recruiting from their side. Should be no issue if you offer food, unlike with how you're screwing me over right now," he added at the end with a hint of bitterness.
There was a pause following his exclamation. I wasn't particularly fond of it either, but orders were orders. We were stocking up on food and not trading with it anymore. I'd have to check in with Riu to see if he deemed recruitment a worthy investment of food.
Fluke, on the other hand, was taking a risk in speaking to me this way. Despite having known me for a good while, the last 2 years I think it was, he knew I wasn't the kind of guy to hesitate from beating somebody's ass because of a shared history. Unless, of course, it was Riu. Here though, I couldn't help but give him credit where credit was due. It was helpful. I couldn't give him dinner, but maybe I could at least help him find some.
"Fine. 10."
Fluke smiled, but not in a manner that made me want to wipe the smirk off his face, but simply in a way of thanks. Aden, at my gesture, walked behind the reception desk in the room and reached down behind it to unveil the small chest where we kept a small amount of money for day-trading. He inserted the key he kept on his person and opened the small container and extracted 10 copper pieces, counting them meticulously to ensure that he didn't give the boy a penny more. He handed the pieces to me once he was done, and I, in turn, handed them to the kid.
"Thanks," he said, taking them. "I appreciate it. On that pleasant note," he said with a yawn that seemed too loud to be legitimate, "mind if I come inside for a small bit. I'm quite tuckered out from all this bartering. I could use a rest." I understood he was joking and couldn't help but be amused at his quip. It was better than the regular tedium with Aden and Meeko who, as indicated by their humorless responses now, weren't quite the entertaining individuals.
"Leave," I said strictly, granting him however a small grin so as to show him his efforts didn't go wasted.
That proved to be enough for him, however as he smiled in turn and, before spinning around to leave, outstretched his hand to me. "Knife and arrowhead please."
Upon his request, I took the knife from where it rested on the desk and handed it to him, slipping the arrowhead, rather, into my own pocket.
"And arrowhead," he said, emphasizing the connector as though he expected that to remind me of the second item.
"You know the rules. Whatever you don't give up, we take."
He grimaced, shaking his head in displeasure, muttering, "Asshole" as he turned to leave.
I had hoped this would be quick, and it had, but not quick enough. It was a tight schedule. Too tight. I hadn't turned the kid away knowing that in doing so, I would only get his suspicions roiling, but what now was occurring directly in front of me, it was far worse. On Fluke's way out, he was shoved aside and passed by one of our guys, our courier, Mahin, pulling a wheelbarrow, uncovered, arms and armor in plain view. Fire Nation arms and armor.
He had to come back just now. Damnit.
I didn't even need to turn my head up to Fluke to know that he'd seen the whole thing, but I did so anyway, his shiteating grin in plain view as his eyes met mine, just screaming out, 'Should have given me my arrowhead back.' He didn't need to say anything though. The situation spoke for itself, and so, without a care in the world, he simply walked off in the opposite direction down the narrow alley, whistling a happy-go-lucky tune to himself. And he was gone just like that, Aden and Meeko by my side, just as aware of the situation as everybody else was here.
Meeko had already moved to close the tarp of the entrance, ensuring that no other smartass passerby got a look at something they had no need to see.
My eyes were drawn to the courier, that man, no, that kid, and then to the wheelbarrow full of weapons that immediately marked us for city-wide controversy. Why the hell were they uncovered?!
The look in my eyes yelled that same question as I glared at Mahin who was just now realizing his mistake. I signaled for Aden and Meeko to take the supplies inside. They did so more than obediently, leaving just the two of us.
"Danev." He started, his voice quivering. "I'm sorry. I didn't have time to-" He didn't have time to finish his defense before my fist connected with his jaw, knocking him straight down to the ground, not another word leaving from his lips before consciousness had slipped away. Down already. Pathetic.
Him on the ground, my knee on his groin, left hand holding him up, I slapped him awake with my right hand, waiting until his eyes opened. He was going to be awake for this. Whether he liked it or not. Another first connected with his face, then another, and another, until I was sure his nose and much more was broken, along with a good amount more. His day's only getting started.
I wanted to feel sorry for him, but I couldn't. Not anymore. He'd made a mistake. Hell, he made more than one. He could have turned away seeing we had company. He could have covered the goods. But no, this was on him. He made the mistakes. And among the Hornets, we didn't make mistakes. But when we did, there were consequences. Very real consequences as Mahin was soon to find out.