I looked at my healed hand before, wrapping ordinary bandages over the armor bandages before putting on another glove. Clenching my hand, there wasn't any notable discomfort, but it was still shaking ever so slightly.
The puncture in my hand took 1 and a half stones to heal it. Leaving me with only a couple more healing stones before there's none left. A sharp pain made wade from my stomach to my head. Leaving me to contemplate in ringing silence.
"I just need to tough it out." I reasoned to myself. Sighing, I placed the bag back in my robe before telling Po he could move away now.
"So what are we doing now?" E spoke while tearing at the dried meat which I gave to White who distributed it to the others. No one asked where the white-headed girl got it and accepted the meat gleefully.
The little girl didn't ask anyone specifically, but no one answered her right away. Leaving the space in quietness beside the sounds of chewing.
I looked at my abandoned piece off to the side and started picking at it. I forced myself to eat it, using my clothes as a barrier from prying eyes, but stopped as the taste left me reeling a bit as I tasted a familiar metal flavor. The texture also felt grimy making my stomach roll. However, when I looked up, no one else seemed to be tasting the same thing.
"Maybe they're pretending?" I thought, but even the Bear didn't show any discomfort, and he wore his feelings on his face. I looked towards Po, and handed the piece close to his nose. The canine smelled it but didn't show any discomforted actions towards the piece of meat.
Bringing the piece of meat back to me, I looked at it before tearing the piece and forcibly eating it. However, most pieces went into Po's belly, as the feeling of bile rising was coming quicker and quicker each time I ate.
I was in the middle of tearing another small piece which would eventually end in Po's stomach when Polka, or now referred to herself as Jie, finally answered.
"We wait." She responded simply, shoving the rest of her meat in her mouth causing me to quietly gag.
"That's it?" E explored puzzled.
Jie looked at the younger girl with a bored look before sighing and rubbing her face, "You're new, aren't you?" All three triplets nodded their head, alongside the oversized child next to me who was basically glued to my side despite being triple my size.
Jie rolled her eyes before remarking, "It's obvious you're new, Bamboo." Causing the 6-year-old to straighten up.
"My name isn't Bamboo." The Bear spoke bravely but ultimately failed as his last word was stuttered out.
Jie raised her eyebrow as she asked, "Then what is your name?"
"Yong!" The Bear, Yong, shouted suddenly causing almost everyone to jump. Seeing the displeasure on everyone's face, he instantly shrunk back on himself while apologizing.
Jie grumbled while rubbing her ear, "Well anyways, this is usually how it always goes. Game, then we wait."
"We played other games before, and we were immediately escorted back." O commented from the side making the older girl nod her head.
"In lower games, they take you back right away, but in this situation not so much. Congratulations you have been promoted to join the Big Games, where Death is chasing and creeps are watching." Jie said with fake enthusiasm while as if proving her point more eyes formed on the wall.
"So they're watching from there." I heard O mumble to himself while Jie continued.
"Plus it's not like we can't leave or anything, but we have Gu in us that basically turns us into dolls if we act out of line." She sighed. The memory of them entering the area came to mind, and my stomach twisted.
Everyone became quiet again. All with different looks on their faces, while they finish off their meat. Looking at Po, I just gave him the rest, not wanting to torture my stomach even more.
"So we're pretty much like sitting leaves huh," D said breaking the silence with a nervous laugh. However, his words caused me and O to look at him with doubt.
"Leaves?" O asked with a bewildered look.
D seeing his brother's face asked hesitantly, "Is it not leaves?"
I and O shook our heads while E corrected, "It's sitting ducks."
"But that doesn't make sense," D grumbled.
"And leaves do?" E said, looking like she didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
D, not wanting to back down, nodded feverishly and the two started to banter, while O looked over at Jie, "They can hear?"
"Yes."
"How long does it take for them to get us."
"Depends."
"On?"
"How the audience is reacting." This answer caused everyone to become quiet and return focus to the conversation.
"Can you explain more in detail?" O asked.
"The more they like us, the more they have us stay out, the less the audience likes us the quicker they want to take us from the public eye."
"So it's better to not stand out?"
"Not really because boring performances lead to a bored audience, and a bored audience leads to a furious Ringleader, and, well, you know how the rest goes," Jie said. Her voice became somber as she glanced at White who hadn't made a peep since we were eating. O sat there in thought before continuing the conversation.
"So having an exciting performance is what we need to aim for?"
"It's dependable. Sometimes being too good at something leaves favorable impressions on people you would rather not want to impress. This can lead to somber situations." Jie answered slowly.
I heard Yang swallow beside me. I looked over and the boy's face was twisted between many emotions, but the most obvious one was fear, and apprehension. However, before I could say anything to him, White suddenly stood up and walked away. I looked at her retrieving back and quickly Jie stood up and walked after her.
The other three children looked at one another confused while I and O looked at the oldest who were talking to one another. Jie looked to be the one talking the most while White didn't seem to be hearing what the other girl was saying.
"My questioning must've brought up a nerve." O said quietly, causing the rest of us to look at him. His eyes were looking at the two before they turned to look at me. "You're from a noble family?" E by his side glared at him, but the boy didn't seem to care.
I nodded my head, not caring that I was technically lying. He looked at me in silence before asking, "You know you don't have to wear that mask. As you can see, we're all oddities here, or is your identity a special circumstance?"
"O!" E said sternly, which finally caused the other boy to shrink. The girl looking at him shook her head before looking at me, "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. He talks too much for his own good," She said earnestly.
D laughed while O pursed his lips. His black eyes rolled to the point they could get stuck in the back of his head, but he still looked over at me, waiting for my answer.
"You ask many questions." I wrote in Mandarin on the ground, smiling as the D and E laughed, nodding their heads in agreement.
O's face took on one of surprise while commenting, "Your writing in the Olden Language is much better than your writing in Zhuqili." He stood up and walked to my side to sit down. E looked like she wanted to say something but shook her head as she signaled for Yong to join her and D.
Yong looked between me and her but eventually got up and joined the two after E looked at him as if daring him to refute her. The sound of the three children soon sounded out as they huddled together and conversed with one another. Their voices left a warm atmosphere in the space, causing even Po to trot over and join them.
The oldest two were still separated from the crowd, now having a proper conversation, as White was talking back. It left me and O mostly in private besides the eyes.
Recalling what the boy said, I rolled my eyes before writing, "Says the one who cannot read it."
A small smile made its way to his face before he wrote next to my words, "I don't need to understand what you're saying, to know that what you're saying is on the brink of being Illegible."
I felt my eyes begin twitching as he continued writing, "I ask questions to better understand people and my surroundings. Our teacher said my human empathy is greatly lacking."
At that, my brows rose, before I cast a glance. He sat there, on his knees, with a straight back. His skin was a little bit tan and his black hair was neatly placed in a bun on top of his head. Something that he spent what felt like hours to perfect.
O, from the little I know him, definitely has a maturity about him. However, a lack of empathy is not something I can see him being labeled as because, at the end of the day, he was a child. A kid who has an undercurrent sassy streak that most children have. All the audacities in the world with such small bodies.
Of course, there is a group of people who were born with a lack of empathy, but I don't see O falling under it. Thinking for a bit, I asked, "Lack as in you don't care for people?"
"More like I do care for people but my way of showing it is not normal. I don't know how to communicate well." His eyes furrowed before they relaxed as he wrote, "It also doesn't help that I'm losing my sight, so I can see when I'm going too far."
Mentioning that, I looked at his eyes as I finally got a chance to see them up close. His eyes looked normal to me at first glance, but when I looked closer, I could see the haziness of those who have blind eyes. It is less noticeable as he had black irises.
Suddenly, he turned to me, face to face, as he asked, "Is it noticeable?" I shook my head, honestly. He nodded his head before quietly saying, "Well, that's good. All that training was worth it then."
"Training?" I asked.
O grinned before saying, "Yes my siblings and I are main based Wind cultivators. We have training that pretty much acts like eyes for us. It's been our savior these last few games. Especially this one."
This instantly piqued my interest. Cultivators are still a topic I barely understand. The main thing I could understand besides the bit of information Alene told me, was there were five main attributes, Fire, Wind, Earth, Wood, and Water. Other attributes stem from them like Ice from water and lighting from fire, however, other than that my knowledge was horrendous.
I wanted to ask questions about it but knowing it was not the time, I instead asked, " What other games did you play."
"Mostly chasing games and hiding games. My siblings and I are under the Contortionists." O answered while my mind went back to the long person in red.
"So each child is under a higher rank Circus member." I evaluated before asking, "Have you ever met him?"
"Depends on what you describe as "meet." The Contortionist compared to the others is more aloof. He would see us occasionally, but he would only stand there and stare. My sister doesn't like him very much."
My eyes twitched while I sarcastically thought, "I wonder why." Even hearing it, is causing me to have goosebumps.
O face genuinely took on an expression of someone confused but nevertheless, he continued saying, "The Cartoonist doesn't really interact and if he does, it's usually with the Puppeteer, Clown, or the Beast Tamer."
"Why only those three?"
"I don't know. I haven't been here long enough to judge or rationalize the correlation between the four. Though I can give you my personal opinion." He answered with a bit of perkiness.
He looked at me, with eyes that begged for me to agree. Feeling whiplash from the two people last night and right now, I nodded my head slowly, and instantly he leaned close to the ground and wrote in small Mandarin characters.
"I believe they don't like the Leader of this place and plan to overrule him." The words left me stunned, and when I looked at O he had a serious expression on his face.
"Why do you say that?" I questioned and once again his eyes shined bright.
"My hearing is extremely sensitive. Even if they cut off my cultivation, the fact that I'm going blind will not change. You can hear a lot of things when people don't believe you can." He wrote with a grin on his face.
"If you heard it, why is it only your theory and not a fact?" I asked confusedly.
"The same reason why the leader of the Circus hasn't done anything. All these are words of the mouth of guards and lower-position people. Who knows if what they're saying is factual or simply boredom gossip."
"In some way, you believe it though. Why?"
"Because everyone here is a person taken away." I looked at the words confused until it finally clicked.
O smiled before writing, "They were part of the earlier groups of kidnapped children and have been here ever since. To me, people will either love their kidnapper or despise them."
"Why do you think it's the former and not the latter?"
"Wishful thinking." O said simply. He looked dazed before looking up at the three children and one dog who were excitedly chatting. "Having a mature mentality leaves you breathless to the point you have to think of the positives." His voice carried a melancholy air before looked towards me.
"You're the same, aren't you? A child who has to fill adult shoes?" He asked, before saying, "Maybe that's why I feel so comfortable talking to you. I don't want to worry my siblings and talking to the older kids often leads to what happened earlier."
I honestly don't know what to say to that. In a way, I felt like I was tricking a child, as I wasn't a three-year-old but an eighteen-year-old. Sure I had my childish moments but at the end of the day, I'm an adult. Aren't I? Legally, I'm an adult.
My stomach twisted, and I patted O's back not wanting him to feel like I was ignoring him. Under my hand, I felt his usually straight back bend a bit, while he turned to me and gave me a toothy smile.
"It's hard for me to see that you're actually younger than me. I wonder if that's the difference between nobles and commoners?" He asked genuinely with a joking tone.
Before I could reply, a siren sounded out. It was like a piercing sound, and instantly I covered my ears. Hissing through the pain, I felt O who was by me move. Looking his way, I watched as he stood up, his face blank.
Startled, I looked at the others, and they were also the same way. Po was on the ground, his body twitching as he moved as if wanting to put his head into the ground.
Suddenly all the children started walking one way, while one of the walls opened up. Instantly I grabbed onto O making the siren noise come at me in full blast. I was strong enough to hold the boy still, but instantly a tree branch came crashing out of the ground.
My body tensed ready to battle the plant, but it didn't aim at me. It aimed at O, and instantly I pushed O out of the way, immediately making the plant stop.
I looked at the plant and O and when I was going to touch him again the plant was also inching its way to strike the boy. I thought about fighting but knowing there was more than this branch underground, I couldn't guarantee the safety of everyone.
I went to grab the still struggling Po before turning around, thinking I could go after them, but the plan was halted before it could even manifest. There in the hole in the wall stood a very familiar Ringleader.
His beady eyes stared at me as one by one the children walked past him. When O, the last one who came in, was walking by the Ringleader, who was still staring at me, reached out, and instantly both the arms of O were ripped off and fell to the ground.
Blood instantly spurted to the ground, while the boy himself didn't seem to care as he continued walking. The Ringleader just smiled before turning to follow behind the bleeding boy leaving only a couple of words behind.
"I don't like when you have conversations I can't understand, Black."
The hole closed up, leaving me there by myself. The siren wasn't ringing and the scent of blood was coming at me stronger. Everything was shaking, and the area around was becoming blurry.
I tried to understand what was happening, but it was like my mind was going through honey, while my stomach was now feeling like it was in the blender. Looking towards the ground, I didn't realize how close it was.
"You don't look so good." A cheerful woman's voice barely registered in my ears when I looked over. Po growl finally entered my ears and at one point he grew to the regular size of a Chow Chow.
However, the person being growled at didn't seem to care as The redhead Beast Tamer stood there with her arms crossed in front of her. "Little Feline, you alright Kitty?"
The question oddly enough left me to contemplate. I felt fine but at the same time, I felt like everything was falling. I barely blinked, and suddenly the woman was in front of me, crouched, while tilting her hat up enough for her hazel eyes to peek through her curls. Her eyes were parallel to mine as she stated, "You're shaking."
Her words were like cold water on a hot sweltering day. I looked towards my hands, and she was right. The space around me wasn't shaking, I was. The place wasn't getting blurry. There were tears in my eyes. The bending of space was because I stopped breathing.
"Why did he do that?" I didn't know why I was asking her. She was my enemy. She didn't care much about the little girl who died. Furthermore, she had a group of kids under her that she sent out to die. Was it because I was subconsciously thinking about what O said?
Or was it because she was looking at me with worry similar to how an adult would look at a sad child? Is this the influence of the occasional child mentality or is this me?
The Beast Tamer stared quietly at me before saying, "Because he can."
Those three words pierced me. They were simple. All three words by themselves had little to no impact but put together made me even more breathless.
The Beast Tamer watched me for a bit before a wide smile spread across her face as she said cheerfully, "My mother was from a place called Ireland Ériu." She smiled wider to the point her canines were on display. One of her gloved fingers reached up and tugged at her curly red hair.
"She said she was a Celtic and Viking mix, but funny enough she was killed by both parties during the war between the two groups of people. Father took a great liking to her, and thus I was born."
Her voice was even despite the happy tone. Her eyes stared at mine while she said each word slowly, and I barely noticed my breathing evening out.
"Your sister?" I asked with stiff, shaking hands, yet the woman didn't seem to notice.
"She's my half-sister. Her mother gave birth to her at the same time my mom gave birth to me." She explained. I nodded my head in understanding while she breathed out and finally stood up.
Dramatically she shook her body while looking at two new beasts that followed her this time. A Wolf and a Jackal. Looking down at her pants, the two animals also were different, showcasing the two canines.
Unlike the felines who walked without a care in the world, the canines were on guard. It was evident as their bodies were tensed, while both animal eyes were focused on another canine who'd been growling the whole time.
I looked at Po who didn't let off looking at the two opponents in front of him. His body was becoming tenser by the minute and obvious heat was drifting from him.
"Babies heel!" The Beast Tamer's voice shocks all three animals out of their showdown state. Even I was startled as her voice contained a maturity I hadn't heard from her before.
As if she didn't just shock everyone in the vicinity, The Beast Tamer turned around with her wide smile which I'm slowly realizing was her signature, and did a presentation bow. Slowly the wall opened up a different way, then the others went, right behind her.
"Now then Little Feline shall we begin our game?" Her sparkly hazel eyes beat all the red ones around her.