-Trigger Warning/ Abuse/ Strong Language-
Two years ago...
The sky was dark as pitch as the thunderclouds loomed over the crag town of Ultair. Hundreds of people worked the quarries, day and night, the clangs of pickaxes resound with every ore reserve.
"NO SLACKING OFF! THOSE WHO CANNOT FULFILL THEIR DAILY QUOTA WON'T EAT." The taskmaster bellowed, an ionized whip crackled on his arm.
Every man and woman was picking up the pace. Some collapsed from the fatigue, others were gunned down for trying to escape. Some, were punished for not working too hard.
"Sir, we have news from the inner mines. Apparently the tunnels were too narrow for normal men to navigate." One soldier reported.
"Then send Operation: Canary." The taskmaster said with a malicious grin as the soldier walks towards an enclosed compound.
"Rise and shine you dogs!" He kicks the door open, and the sounds of waking children resonated.
No younger than 3 to 4 years, the boys and girls were all skinny, gaunt, and emaciated. They all wore the same clothing, an oversized tunic and a number engraved on it. And a large metallic collar strapped around their necks.
"Number 2, Number 7, Number 9. You'll be today's forerunners." The soldier took out a split screen monitor and their neck collars became primed.
Operation: Canary, or the use of Children known as Canary Boys to access uncharted territory and to safely create a navigation route so that the miners can access the repositories.
The job does not pay, and the danger is always high. Not to mention, no one would care.
"Add Number 16. This task will need... his 'peculiarities'." The taskmaster steps in.
Number 16, the boy with ash brown and dull blue eyes stepped forward, but unlike the others, he had wrist cuffs that were also primed.
The Canary Boys were led down the cavity that needed to be explored. And the taskmaster set the countdown on their collars.
"You've got 2 hours. Either something down there kills you, or those collars will and kill the bastards that ate you." The Taskmaster smiled gruesomely and kicks all four of them one by one towards the crevice.
Number 16 looks around and activates his luxerite lamp. The dim crevice was illuminated in an equally dim blue light. Their shadows were as short as they were.
"Number 16!" Number 2 screams and he turns around and finds Number 7 holding his leg, twisted in a painful angle and beyond any medical help from the camp. His fall must have been too severe for him to safely land.
"I... I can't move my leg." Number 7 took gasp of air as each sentence was in laid with tears.
"We don't have time Number 16..." Number 9 said as he also lights up his luxerite. "We... We'll remember you, Number 7."
Number 16 held back his tears and abandons Number 7 who desperately cries for help.
The crevice began to widen, but the air began to smell like brimstone. The smell of rotten eggs began to permeate everywhere and it was getting hard for any of the boys to breathe.
Number 16 brings out his purifier mask but Number 9's mask has a small crack. But even the tiniest crack was fatal in their line of work.
In a span of minutes, Number 9's movements began to slow down. In seconds before they reached the safe zone, he collapsed. Number 16 removes his mask and tries to give it to Number 9 but he stops Number 16.
"Sto... Stop trying to save everyone. If anyone needs to survive. It's you." Number 9 said as he grabs Number 16's wrist. "Number 2, make sure he makes it. Promise me."
Number 2 nods and grabs Number 16 as they run for what seems to be the surface. They clawed and scratched until their fingers bled. When the Crevice was large enough, Number 2 was the first to got out.
When Number 16 got out, his eyes were almost blinded by the numerous orange crystals that radiates heat.
"A trove of Firestones..." Number 16 said in awe as he looks at the clusters with admiration. But he knows that this is not the time to admire the stones. He prepares for a warp device for the miners to gain access.
"Number 2, I need help with the condenser ca... Number 2?" Number 16 called out, but Number 2 was mesmerized by the Firestones, and when he touched it, flames began to crawl all over him. The crystals grew eyes, and it snapped at Number 2's head in an instant, decapitating him.
Number 16 covered his mouth before he could let out a disgruntled scream. He jumped back to the entrance, but he could hear the snarls.
Salamanders, fire lizards. Those were the monsters that killed Number 2. Number 16 wore his mask as he could still hear the sound of snarling. His heart was aching, his eyes were cloudy, his lungs were screaming for him to stop running.
When he was out of the Brimstone Area to back where he was, he started climbing towards the path he was forced to take the tumble. When he got out, a huge explosion followed, alerting the whole mine and shaking the whole compound.
Number 16 was out, but he was crying. The deaths of the others... They were unnecessary.
Why? Why are we suffering? What did we do wrong?!
Number 16 was still weeping when an Ion whip smacks his back and he let out a gasp of pain. He sprawled to the floor as the pain that shot from his spine burned with agony. The Taskmaster grabbed him by the back of his head and lifts him up. The young boy yelped in pain even more.
"I told you to find us a way in, not cause a forsaken explosion!" He shouted and throws him to the ground and starts brandishing his whip on Number 16.
Everyone watched, horrified as a grown man was punishing a boy no older than 4. Yet no one lifted a finger to help him. They know it was cruel. They knew it wasn't the right thing to do. They know it was against morality.
Yet still... Still.
No one was there to help him. No one stepped up and had the courage to say 'no'.
"Take him to solitary confinement!"
The guards took him to an isolated room, and chained Number 16 down to the ankles, wrists, and neck.
He wasn't a human nor an animal. No... He was a possession. He was... an Item. An object.
Number 16 sat by his cell three days after being punished by the Taskmaster. No food, no water, and no light. But the Fontamer region never had any sunlight to begin with, just perpetual darkness and night.
His back still stung from the ion whip, the tears dried but his pain remained. He traced all the wounds and scars, each one telling a different tale of pain and anguish. A tale of his harrowing survivals.
Number 2, Number 7, Number 9... All add to the countless bodies of Canary Boys who were senselessly slaughtered, left to die, and sacrificed. And for all that, they all had the same thing to say:
"Live... If it's you. Then it will have meaning."
But Number 16 doesn't know what he has, nor does he know why they wanted him to live. But all that changed in the night after.
He was ready to sleep for the fourth night with no reprise, when he heard the explosions set off in the distance.
The world felt hot, but Number 16 just retreated. It was just a one off skirmish. This will pass soon. But three minutes passed, then five... Then 20 minutes and the gunshots still won't stop.
"It's the Garden!" One soldier shouted loud enough for 16 to hear. His heart beat fast, the Garden of Cinders, the Taskmaster has told the Canary Boys about them, a group of murderers who will sacrifice countless children just to satisfy their greed.
The Door of the Solitary Confinement opened, and the Taskmaster comes in and grabs Number 16 by the hair and pulls him out. He tried to fight back but he was just dragged, his knees scrapping along the hard, dust and debris-filled ground.
"This place is lost. Send word to Fontamer, the Canary Boys will be handled by them." He told one soldier.
"Sir! We have a problem! Our lines have been shut down!"
"It's just three people! How can you not handle them?" The Taskmaster shouted. But the soldiers were now taking a step back and were startled by someone behind him.
He turned and finds a Boy, a bit older than Number 16, was walking towards them.
To Number 16, he looked more fed than he could ever be, he had ash brown hair, and dull eyes burning an orange hue. And from both his hands, flames danced in a somber afterglow.
Number 16 noticed that the taskmaster's hands began to shake, the whip on his other hand was quaking at the sight of the boy walking towards them.
"S-shoot him! KILL HIM!!" The taskmaster shouted and pointed at the boy, the bullets flew towards him, but they all disintegrated to ashes when they came into close contact with the boy.
When he was in range, the boy flicked his hand and a scorching wave of heat began to beat down on them. And Number 16 sees a number of red scales that were like petals in the wind.
And in an instant, the boy snapped his fingers and a series of explosions were set off, blinding everyone in the vicinity. Number 16 felt someone else grabbing him and was taken away, when his sight was restored, he was holding the hand of the boy who was attacking the taskmaster. Instead of feeling thankful, he felt afraid.
This boy was part of the Garden, and he was a Cinderchild. And from the looks of it, he has the ability to generate and manipulate fire. One thing that scarred Number 16 for good.
"L-let me go!" Number 16 said as he pushes the boy away, but he was only met by a blank stare and an expressionless face.
"You're just going to kill me! Just get on with it!!" Number 16 said but the boy made him duck and grabbed the ion whip that was about to grab Number 16. He was shaken when he could see the blood dripping from the boy's hand.
"So your targets were the Canary Boys. How noble of you. And they sent another freak to liberate them." The Taskmaster gloated. His Ion whip hummed with bioelectric energy, the Boy's palm was continuing to bleed out, but Number 16 saw no reaction from his face.
"These kids are coming with me." The Boy said in a resolute tone, Number 16 didn't hear any quake nor anger, as if he was saying it in a matter of fact manner.
"To what end? To replenish your dwindling numbers? The Garden of Cinders is nothing more but a brutal camp for orphans with nowhere to go." The taskmaster gloats as his brandishes the whip towards Number 16 but it was caught by the boy, who let his flesh sizzle from the ion burning through. But the whip suddenly dispersed and wrapped around the boy, entagling him in a painful ionized netting.
"What are you doing?!" Number 16 shouted at the boy but he tells him to keep quiet.
"What are these children to you?" He asked the taskmaster. His dull eyes turning orange by the minute. His body sizzled from the ion net but he made no reaction whatsoever.
The taskmaster ponders a bit, and offers a devilish grin that made Number 16's blood run cold.
"Assets. You think I take those children in from the goodness of my heart! Their parents never loved them, so they sold them off. And I, their owner, holds them on a Tight Leash! They will never leave me! And NO ONE SHALL TAKE THEM FROM ME!" The Taskmaster said and Number 16's ears began to burn and ring.
Assets... But, he called us his children. And the ones who got too sick to work... Where are they?
"And those whose names were crossed off? Where are they now?" The Boy kept questioning.
"Since you're going to die as well, I should tell you too. They were disposed off. Unfit children have no business in these mines. If they cannot work, THEY CANNOT LIVE!"
"YOU ASSHOLE!" Number 16 shouted in his anger. "You said they were safe! You promised us!!"
"And that's how business works Number 16. Your lives belong to me, and I shall see fit on how to use it." The Taskmaster's face became a mask in Number 16's eyes. A Mask he so wanted to break.
"I suppose we should this conversation." The taskmaster whips out a pistol and takes aim at the Boy's head.
"I agree." The boy said as the Ion Netting burned off and he summoned a lance of flames, slicing bot the taskmaster's hands cleanly.
The taskmaster still had the grin up his face when it happened. The boy then lunged forward and cleaved his legs as well.
Realization only hit when the boy's eyes turned back to dull gray. It was then did the screams bound to the open sky.
Number 16 couldn't believe it, in an instant, the taskmaster became the helpless one. Then he head something clatter next to him. It was the Pistol that the Taskmaster was supposed to use.
The Boy slowly made his way towards Number 16, despite his eyes being dull, he felt a sense of protectiveness. And Number 16 could see his face clearly. The Dull Gray eyes, countless bleeding wounds and a tattered uniform. But what caught his eyes were his hair, they were the same shade of ash brown.
"You okay?" The Boy asked in a soft voice, almost careful not to scare Number 16 off. But he grabbed the pistol and aimed it at the Boy. His hands shaking as his index finger is at the tip of the trigger.
The Taskmaster then laughs. But he struggles to stand, he just lay facing the sky. and with difficulty, he managed to look at Number 16.
"That's right! The fact that Number 16 is still mine will never stop! Now Number 16, as your owner... SHOOT THE BASTARD!" He shouted in a desperate glee.
Number 16's hands still shook, his aim getting blurry and weary. Tears were streaming down his face, causing him to waver even more.
Shoot him... Take the shot... SHOOT HIM! PULL THE TRIGGER!!!
"Take the shot." The Boy said, he wasn't on guard, but gives Number 16 a resolute look, as if telling him:
It's okay.
BANG!
The shot pierced the sky, and from the barrel of the gun, a hole bore through the Taskmaster's Chest. His grin slowly fades into horrible realization.
"YOU STUPID CHILD! WHY DID YOU SHO-"
BANG! BANG! BANG!!
Number 16 kept shooting at the Taskmaster. Torso, neck, eye socket. In blind anger, Number 16 was turning numb, with each bullet the gun shot, his tears went uncontrollably and his anguished screams filled the skies until he ran out of bullets.
He broke down, crying as he drops the gun, and the lifeless body of the Taskmaster drowning in his own blood and a body full of holes.
The boy towered over Number 16 and takes the gun. He examined the crying canary boy and throws the gun towards the dead Taskmaster. And with a flick of his fingers, the body ignited, turning it to ash.
The boy then turned to the numb Number 16. And carried him out. When he returned with the other Cinderchildren, they were surprised by his return.
"So... You did found someone. Funny, I mistook him for your younger brother, Moth." A girl with glass-like wings said.
Moth took a look at the boy again, and a small smile played across his face.
"I guess... you're right." Moth said.
"I heard Canary boys were only assigned numbers. Guess the kid has no name huh?" Glasswing said.
"Padrino will want a whole report, and the canary boys will be admitted to the Garden. But none so far displayed the Gift of Providence." a boy with a long body cloak resembling a leaf said.
"None... Except this one." Moth told his older siblings, the boy on his back was still numb, but he wasn't crying anymore.
"He's too damaged Moth. He won't survive a day in the Garden as a Cinderchild." Leaf said.
"I'll... Figure something out. This kid... He's already done enough." Moth said as he fixes his posture. Making the boy hug tightly.
"So if he's going to join, should we name him?" Glasswing asked, but they didn't get to name him when the transportation arrived.
Once inside, and Moth bundled up the Canary Boy near him. He pats his head and extracted his memory as a Canary Boy. But one thing he couldn't take away, was the scars. He opened his eyes, and the boy gave Moth a teary eyed blue stare.
"Am I dreaming? Are we free? Am I alive?" He asked the boy, whose eyes were now a shade of ghost blue.
"You are... You're safe now... Caterpillar." Moth replied and the boy, formerly known as Number 16, felt relieved for the first time.