Gabriel jolts up in a panic as he finally comes to conciousness, Instead of finding himself on the ground deep in the forest he notices he is in a log cabin, weapons and armour adorning the walls, the morning sun shining through the window.
His eyes scan the room taking in all the various things that reside in the cabin, it was rather crampt yet also felt cozy.
Eventually his vision stops at someone who was sitting in the corner of the room sharpening his sword while paying no attention to the man laying on his floor.
"You've come to your senses?" He says rather calmly, his black hair long and Lucious flowing well below his shoulder, his face youthful and not seeming to be much older than Gabriel.
He was met with little response other than the shock of Gabriel before he continued on, "sorry, you're probably wondering what my name is… My name is Judith, and yours would be?"
Gabriel took his time to get her his words but eventually mustered out, "the name's Gabriel."
"Also… I have one question, why did you save me? Do you expect to resell me as a slave in the future?"
Judith smiles a little before saying "well I think you could be of use to me, but I don't want to get ahead of myself until you're ready."
A small bit of relief fell over Gabriel before he tried to lighten to conversation by asking, "so do you live here alone, or do you have a father or something like that?"
With a small bit of discomfort Judith laughed, "oh no, I live all by myself, always have."
Obliviously, Gabriel asked on, "what's some teenage boy doing out here all alone?"
There was a small silence before Judith spoke, "long story."
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Questioned Gabriel, his tone sympathetic.
This time a longer period of quiet remained before Gabriel said, "you know, if it makes you feel any better, when I was born it was to two slaves, I was taken away from my mother as soon as possible and raised by the slave army. I was treated like how you treat a dog by these slavers," his tone suprisingly calm although you could sense his bitterness.
Judith looks at him for a second before standing up and walking across the room and grabbing a sword that was beside his bed before going on a monologue,
"do you see this sword, it is tainted in blood.
I hold this sword dear as a reminder, it is the blood of my first kill, my own father," leaving a brief silence for a gasp or two before continuing further,
"I was born to a rich merchant and his impoverished wife, he had to kill her as their marriage tarnished his reputation, after my mother was gone the man abused me daily, both mentally and physically until one night I took his sword and stabbed him as he was preparing to go to bed.
Ever since then I've been alone."
"I won't ask any further then," he says before walking over to Gabriel and lending out his hand to shake, Judith accepts and they share a moment of mutual respect.
Gabriel walks outside to get some fresh air and figure out where exactly they are, he notices that he is near the bottom of the valley's mountain, he can overlook the array of trees, the morning sun lighting up the valley and letting Gabriel see the land in all its beauty.
Judith walks up beside him before calmly speaking,
"the Tri Firma Army will likely be here soon, that's the word from the local village not too far from here."
"What do you mean?" Asks the confused Gabriel, his eyebrow raised in curiosity.
Judith takes a moment before explaining,
"Well I need your help and then you can go on and do whatever you want, but I'll give you the run down. The kingdom of Fantasium has sent their 'Tri Firma Army' into this region to persue a large slave army group, the Tri Firma men are barbarians that take pleasure in killing, they're usually tasked with taking down these slave armies. We cannot leave the valley till this incident passes, it would be too dangerous if they caught us, they're not known for good nature even though they represent the Tri Firma."
"Tri Firma you say? Tell more."
Judith continues on, "ah yes, the religion of the land. They believe in 3 gods, the god of good, evil and war, a balance of three. They use this religion to control the people, they claim the god of good sent prophets that told the masses how to avoid the corruption of the evil god, this makes up most of our modern laws."
"I think in beginning to get it," says Gabriel before he looks out across the beautiful landscape in front of him and asks,
"How can I help you then?"
"You will have to watch my back. I can train you and I can help you fight better, but I assume you have some basics from your time in the army," replied Judith.
Gabriel looks over and states, "yes, I owe you a lot."
…
The night has came and Gabriel is cutting his hair in the corner as Judith lays in the middle of the cabin resting on the floor, the curtains pulled across. A sudden and loud repeated knocking came to the door.
"I'll check, you stay here," said Judith as he grabbed a sword and walked towards the door.
He grabs the handle and with a deep breath opens the door with a sigh to see what awaits him on the other side.
Big Abe is standing on the other end although Judith doesn't know the man.
"Hello, I have a question to ask you kind young man," says Abe with a warm smile, 3 slavers standing beside him.
"The names Judith, Who are you?"
"My names Abe, and I ask you one thing. Have you seen a wild boy who ran away around this area? His hair is brown and almost down to his shoulder, he's a youthful young man. Y'see he is my son."
Judith looks confused at the man before saying, "not that I know of, no," his tone uncertain and slightly fearful.
One slaver tries to push through to the front and walk inside but Abe puts his hand out before scowling at him, "we do not try such things without good reasons!"
His eyes meeting Judiths with a heartwarming smile.
"I wish I could help you, but there is nobody that fits that description here," says Judith
Abe's smirk at him almost sarcastically as he asks "well I suppose it wouldn't hurt if I walked in and looked for myself, you wouldn't want him hiding in your house? I'm sure you wouldn't."
"I don't really need someone to search my—"
Judith was cut off before Abe interrupted,
"if you have nothing to hide then you need not worry what we find."
Judith was not impressed and pointed his sword at Abe and the Slavers, their faces filling with rage, all except abes.
The 3 men behind also withdrew their swords before an akward stand off ensued as Gabriel walked up behind Judith confused, a sword in his hand as well.
"What's this about?" Gabriel asked, his eyes locking with Abe before immediately redirecting to look at Judith.
Judith looks back, confused but sensing something was wrong with Gabriel, both of their eyes meeting for brief second.
Abe smiles at Gabriel and says, "what may your name be, can we have a word?"
Stunned and shocked Gabriel responds, "it's Joseph," his tone carrying a small bit of uncertainty.
"And can I have a word with you," he reiterates.
"Yes," he says walking forward with his head down. Gabriel walks outside before Abe closes the door and the slave masters make a circle around him.
"I don't want that Judith man to hear our little conversation, I only need you," his gaze fixating on the runaway slave with a comforting grin.
"What is this about," stutters Gabriel, his sword in his hand clenched tightly.
Abe takes his time before saying, "This is about Gabriel."
He looks up towards the Chief with fear, although he tries to maintain composure while saying,
"Gabriel?"
Abe puts his hand on shoulder firmly before stating, "you seem to be a man of reason, so I wanted to ask you in private, have you seen Gabriel? He would be about your age, same hair color, except his hair went down to his shoulders and was not too well kept."
"I do not know of this man."
"Why don't you let us have a look," one of the slave masters pipes up.
Gabriel stares at the slaver before coming up with a response, "our father wouldn't allow it, please understand the situation."
Abe looks down at Gabriel with a laugh before saying "very well, please come to the bastion if you ever have any clues."
He then gathers up his men and walks away, a few of the slave owners giving Gabriel a dirty look.
He walks back inside before placing up his weapon and sitting down, resting his head in his hands.
Judith looks with concern before saying, "what happened?" His face filled with curiosity and anxiety all at once.
"They didn't recognise me luckily but Some of the slave owners were giving me dirty looks so they may have caught on."
"Trimming your hair really helped," laughed Judith as he tried to lighten the mood, a sigh of relief coming over him,
"Anyway I'll keep guard for the night, we must be on high alert."
Judith and Gabriel both part ways as Judith sets up guard outside of the house and Gabriel goes to get some rest.
———————————————————
"A search party must be called once again, anxiety amongst the slavers and unrest amongst slaves is rising, we must send out a party and leave not one suspect arround, we think the log cabin to the south west in the valley could be housing him, some of our men think it was a man named 'Joseph' that is Gabriel in disguise," Abe shouts out, all the 20 slavers in the chiefs room kneeling before him.
"For the question of who will go in the search party, the answer is Laurence And Laurence alone, he is our most skilled assassin and will do great in the hunt for the missing slave, the rest of you can now leave the room."
The other slavers seem disgruntled by Laurence's presence as they thinks of him to be a strange man, Laurence is known for leading over very few slaves unlike other slavers who love the concept of having large numbers to control over, he seems rather silent and uninterested but Abe knows he is reliable when needed, he is Abe's greatest asset when it comes to skill on the battlefield.
Laurence spends most of the day trying to help slaves out, not out of kindness but more the fact he hates to see underperformance.
Laurence's past is shrouded in ambiguity and not even Abe himself knows of what he has done and accomplished in his life or even why he joined the group.
He has a scar over his left eye and a fully shaven head and beard to the point he is bald, his features are well defined and his body lean and young, the only thing they know about the him is that he was born from the long forgotten kingdom of Mibernia, most slavers gossip that he fought in the unitary wars but no records remain and Laurence himself is known for being the silent type.
The room is empty except for the chief and Laurence, a brief silence falls over the room before the inevitable was asked, "when should I set out on my hunt, all I need is a few throwing daggers and an axe."
"An axe? What a stranger choice of weapon, so bulky and so slow, why would you need this?" Asks Abe, perched upon a throne and leaning forward to question further.
"They won't suspect me as a threat."
Abe smile's at Laurence's intuition before saying, "well you can do as you wish, leave as soon as you can, I recommend tommorow night or early tommorow morning."
Laurence stands up before walking out of the courtroom in silence and down towards the armoury where he would gear up, Abe walks out with him.
Abe questions Laurence, "you're going so soon?" As he sees him heading to get some equipment.
"It's best if I build up a alibi by staying in the forest all night, aswell as helping me scout out the area a bit better, it would do no harm," he says paying little attention to Abe and continuing on his way down to the armoury.