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Escape from the Pits
"It will be alright Kenny, you will see. I'll be back before you know it." Those are the last words of my brother Jaden as he was escorted out thought the doors of one of the small cells i use to call home. The door slammed shut as the sound of footsteps faded into the distance, and darkness once again wrapped me in its cold endless embrace. But before i write any further, i must tell of the end, the end of course of my beginning.
I was born on a deathly cold winters night, or i was told by my brother, deep in the mountains of the north of a land far from the stretches of Akanbar. Jaden was only seven years of age at the time and as he had recalled, mother was just a simple quiet woman in our small village, and father was a warrior nothing more or less. Details of them i do not know, for it was only four years after my birth that the incident occurred, a moment that would tip the scales of fate, and send me on a journey that i shall never forget.
Fire.....the fire burned bright and hot, screams of the dying, the smell of burnt flesh are engraved in my memory. Pain, suffering, anguish. Those were the first things i experienced in this rotting world. Jaden tells of a band of mercenary men, led by a ship captain by the name of Silas....Silas Ore. They swept through the village like a scythe through wheat cutting down all in there path, slaughtering everone in the village, save myself and my brother, who hid in a small wardrobe. The screams slowly turned to silence, the groans of those dying cut off by the sound of steel piercing flesh, sending them to the afterlife. So me and my brother waited, and waited.
The seconds seemed like days, the minutes like years as we cowered helpless in the wardrobe, my brother holding me close in his arms, attempting to quiet my muffled cries. The sound of footsteps drew closer, and closer. The door was flung open, the light blinding us both. When our vision was restored the crooked smile of Silas Ore was greeting us, his one good eye staring down at us. Looking back on it, he was my salvation, a tool that fate had placed neatly along my path to guide me into the rest of my life, if only it was so simple to see then. With a order to his men, my brother was pulled from the wardrobe and struck across the face with the butt of crude club, as his body went limp the thug slung him over his shoulder and began walking away. The blood stained hands of Silas lifted me out of the wardrobe and held me at eye level. He gave me a wicked grin and carried me off towards the distant harbor.
The Hungry Gull....that was the name of the cursed ship we stayed aboard. Day in and Day out, months at a time at sea we stayed in the lower decks of the ship, chained in the brig. The cold damp cell me and my brother shared had a almost deathly silence about it. The only light i can recall was the lantern from when a scrawny man would open the door to the upper decks and bring us a small bowl of slop and some dirty water to drink. A full two year at sea in that darkness, that is how long it took us to reach the waters of Angoroth, and it was there that we found what we had been purposed for....the pits.
Me and my brother were pulled from our cell, malnourished and weak, we were dragged to the upper decks of the ship, the light almost blinding as I squinted my eyes to attempt to make out details of our destination. A large port greeted my eyes, crowds of people bustling about, small carts set up all over, selling everything under the sun, spices, weapons, food....if you wanted it, it was there. Me and brother were then shackled, and escorted by Silas himself and two of his men off of the decks of The Hungry Gull, and down into the market. We made our way thought the crowds of people, and down into a back alley. We came to a halt at a old wooden door, the front worn and splintered. A circle, made of red paint marked the door, Silas banged loudly on it and was greeted by a muscular man, who was quickly handed a small purse of gold before hurrying us inside as the old heavy door slammed and locked shut behind us.
Silas and his guards hurried us down some stairs and into a small room. A table stood before us with a plump man seated behind it, a large door to his back. The man seeing Silas gave him a wicked grin. He stood from his seat and walked around the table, pondering over me and my brother. The man gave Silas a wicked grin before saying "Right on time, as usual my friend." Silas nodded at the man and saying "I aim to please...Are we ready to begin?" The pudgy man carefully studies both of us, his eyes drift over me and stay, pondering thoughtfully he strokes his chin before saying "This one.....too young...the other is fine, but give that one another year." Silas muttered under his breath before nodding, the man reaches under the desk and takes a small bowl, dipping his fingers in it he paints a yellow cross on my brothers forehead. He then knocks on the door behind the desk, and a guard grabs Jaden and pulled him from my sight. Silas leaned down to me, and whispered "Live or die, your bother will decide soon."
As I later learned, the pits were a underground fighting arena, scattered across many neighboring lands, where there is only one rule. Two men enter, only one can leave. The fights ranged from men to women. Two verses two combat, to two on one, i even saw ten people thrown in the pit to see who would be left standing in the end. But the main fights, the main events, were that of the young ones, children and adolescents. When i came of age, i was seven if memory serves me correctly, i had my first match in the arena. A blue cross adorned my head, as i was stripped bare and lead into the center of the arena, another boy was there, around my age, with a blue circle adorning his forehead. fear gripped my heart as my peer rushed at me, a lifetime passed in that pit as we both fought for our lives. A sliver of glass with a grip made of cloth was thrown in the arena, and it was my hand that reached it first. I fell once more as my attacker tackled me, but as i laid on my back, i felt warmth on my chest, and saw the crimson dripping down my body. The shard of glass jutting out of the boy's neck, and the gurgled choking sound of him trying to cry out, tears running down his face. I quickly pulled myself free from underneath his body, tears filled my eyes as i sat against the wall of the pit, staring at the boy who could have been me. Then the crowd erupted in wild cheering and applause. I was lead back and tossed into my small holding cell outside the arena, my brother rushing over to me to attend my wounds as the door slammed shut. Two had entered, and one had left.
Some hours later the door to our cell opened again, and a slender man stepped inside the doors with a guard at his side, he painted a blue cross on the forehead of my older brother and grinned before stepping outside, the sounds of the distant crowd echoing in the hallway outside as he left. I looked up at my brother, knowing that soon he would have to kill or be killed again. I lowered my head as he stood, two guards walking in the room, one looking to my brother and saying "It is time, pit dog."
"It will be alright Kenny, you will see. I'll be back before you know it." Those are the last words of my brother Jaden as he was escorted out thought the doors of one of the small cells i use to call home. The door slammed shut as the sound of footsteps faded into the distance, and darkness once again wrapped me in its cold endless embrace.
Hours passed, and no word of my brother. I knew of his fate, and my thoughts raced across my mind like flashes of lightning. It was not fear, or sorrow that gripped my mind, but thoughts of anger, thoughts of death. The death of the ones who took my life from me, the death of the ones who took my brothers. It was then, that the darkness embraced me, it was then that i first heard the whispers of the night.
A voice from the black spoke, a small, steady whisper saying "Do you wish revenge? Do you wish to make those fools suffer? Suffer for the pain they have brought to you and your kin?". My reply was simple, i looked deep into the blackness and said "Yes, whatever the cost.". Light.....no.....fire...struck out from the blackness, struck out from the dark and consumed me, burned within me, my body felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside out, over....and over again. I screamed in agony, then as soon as it had all begun, it ceased. The voice whispered "It has been granted to you." Before vanishing into the nothing that it was spawned from.
Years passed, my pain became my strength as i was pitted against peer after peer, boy after boy, man after man. In the darkness i plotted, until everything was in order. I would escape this life and make one for my own, teach the world the meaning of pain, show my enemies the true meaning of suffering. And that one night on the open sea, my plan became reality.
The Hungry Gull rocked back and forth as the sea churned underneath, the night was heavy, the darkness thick and devouring. I waited, patiently in my cell, a wicked smile adorning my face. A few nights ago a deck hand had come below to deliver my rations. He hadn't noticed that he had dropped a small nail from his pants pocket as he walked back up the stairs, the nail rolling right in front of my cell. Within a matter of seconds my shackles were loosed and i had waited patiently for a moment of opportunity, and that moment was now.
The deckhand was first. As he reached to set the small bowl of food in my cell, i reached forth and slammed his head against the iron bars, taking the keys to my prison i unlocked the cage and took his dagger from his sheath, sinking the blade into his neck before slowly making my way up the stairs and to the upper decks as one by one, i silently slaughtered a few night watchmen on deck. Until finally, i stood in front of the heavy door of the Captains private quarters.
I slid open the door quietly as i crept into the large room. The silence deafening, every footstep seemed like an eternity as i neared the bed of the great Captain Silas Ore. At last I stood over him, his large frame slowly heaving up and down as he peacefully rested. I set the blood drenched dagger down on his bedside table, and stared at him, looking carefully at him. I smiled, savoring the moment. Suddenly his eyes burst open, he sat up, his eyes bulging at the sight of me standing over him, he screamed "TO ARMS!, INTRUD-". But before he could finish, my hands clasped around his meaty throat. He struggled violently as his arms flailed, reaching for anything he could grab to defend himself, his hand found the dagger i laid by his bedside. In a flash the blade streaked across my face, cutting me across my eye, down to my jaw. My grip tightened, and at last the man let out his final gasp, his eyes fixed in horror, staring lifeless into mine. I leaned over his body and softly whispered, "Thank you..." in his ear before standing, the sounds of boots clambering aboard the deck making me realize that the remaining crew must have heard him. With all the speed i could muster i dashed out of the cabin door, men already scrambled across the deck. As i ran across the deck the men one by one charged after me, one drawing a bow and loosing an arrow as i ran and dived off the side of the ship, the arrow grazing my shoulder as i fell.
I swam until daybreak, and kept swimming adrift at sea for four days, i was parched for thirst and barely able to keep my head above the salty waters. The next thing i remember is being dragged about a small fishing vessel, a young lad standing over me and asking if i was alright. The ship could not keep me aboard. They patched me up and gave me some extra clothing, then dropped me at nearest port. That port happened to be the port of Merridan, on the Celestial Isle, and it was there that I found myself in the lands of Akanbar. Now, now is where history shall be written, and I shall be the one to write it.
The Beginning of Kenpachie, born of the Pits.
I was born on a deathly cold winters night, or i was told by my brother, deep in the mountains of the north of a land far from the stretches of Akanbar. Jaden was only seven years of age at the time and as he had recalled, mother was just a simple quiet woman in our small village, and father was a warrior nothing more or less. Details of them i do not know, for it was only four years after my birth that the incident occurred, a moment that would tip the scales of fate, and send me on a journey that i shall never forget.
Fire.....the fire burned bright and hot, screams of the dying, the smell of burnt flesh are engraved in my memory. Pain, suffering, anguish. Those were the first things i experienced in this rotting world. Jaden tells of a band of mercenary men, led by a ship captain by the name of Silas....Silas Ore. They swept through the village like a scythe through wheat cutting down all in there path, slaughtering everone in the village, save myself and my brother, who hid in a small wardrobe. The screams slowly turned to silence, the groans of those dying cut off by the sound of steel piercing flesh, sending them to the afterlife. So me and my brother waited, and waited.
The seconds seemed like days, the minutes like years as we cowered helpless in the wardrobe, my brother holding me close in his arms, attempting to quiet my muffled cries. The sound of footsteps drew closer, and closer. The door was flung open, the light blinding us both. When our vision was restored the crooked smile of Silas Ore was greeting us, his one good eye staring down at us. Looking back on it, he was my salvation, a tool that fate had placed neatly along my path to guide me into the rest of my life, if only it was so simple to see then. With a order to his men, my brother was pulled from the wardrobe and struck across the face with the butt of crude club, as his body went limp the thug slung him over his shoulder and began walking away. The blood stained hands of Silas lifted me out of the wardrobe and held me at eye level. He gave me a wicked grin and carried me off towards the distant harbor.
The Hungry Gull....that was the name of the cursed ship we stayed aboard. Day in and Day out, months at a time at sea we stayed in the lower decks of the ship, chained in the brig. The cold damp cell me and my brother shared had a almost deathly silence about it. The only light i can recall was the lantern from when a scrawny man would open the door to the upper decks and bring us a small bowl of slop and some dirty water to drink. A full two year at sea in that darkness, that is how long it took us to reach the waters of Angoroth, and it was there that we found what we had been purposed for....the pits.
Me and my brother were pulled from our cell, malnourished and weak, we were dragged to the upper decks of the ship, the light almost blinding as I squinted my eyes to attempt to make out details of our destination. A large port greeted my eyes, crowds of people bustling about, small carts set up all over, selling everything under the sun, spices, weapons, food....if you wanted it, it was there. Me and brother were then shackled, and escorted by Silas himself and two of his men off of the decks of The Hungry Gull, and down into the market. We made our way thought the crowds of people, and down into a back alley. We came to a halt at a old wooden door, the front worn and splintered. A circle, made of red paint marked the door, Silas banged loudly on it and was greeted by a muscular man, who was quickly handed a small purse of gold before hurrying us inside as the old heavy door slammed and locked shut behind us.
Silas and his guards hurried us down some stairs and into a small room. A table stood before us with a plump man seated behind it, a large door to his back. The man seeing Silas gave him a wicked grin. He stood from his seat and walked around the table, pondering over me and my brother. The man gave Silas a wicked grin before saying "Right on time, as usual my friend." Silas nodded at the man and saying "I aim to please...Are we ready to begin?" The pudgy man carefully studies both of us, his eyes drift over me and stay, pondering thoughtfully he strokes his chin before saying "This one.....too young...the other is fine, but give that one another year." Silas muttered under his breath before nodding, the man reaches under the desk and takes a small bowl, dipping his fingers in it he paints a yellow cross on my brothers forehead. He then knocks on the door behind the desk, and a guard grabs Jaden and pulled him from my sight. Silas leaned down to me, and whispered "Live or die, your bother will decide soon."
As I later learned, the pits were a underground fighting arena, scattered across many neighboring lands, where there is only one rule. Two men enter, only one can leave. The fights ranged from men to women. Two verses two combat, to two on one, i even saw ten people thrown in the pit to see who would be left standing in the end. But the main fights, the main events, were that of the young ones, children and adolescents. When i came of age, i was seven if memory serves me correctly, i had my first match in the arena. A blue cross adorned my head, as i was stripped bare and lead into the center of the arena, another boy was there, around my age, with a blue circle adorning his forehead. fear gripped my heart as my peer rushed at me, a lifetime passed in that pit as we both fought for our lives. A sliver of glass with a grip made of cloth was thrown in the arena, and it was my hand that reached it first. I fell once more as my attacker tackled me, but as i laid on my back, i felt warmth on my chest, and saw the crimson dripping down my body. The shard of glass jutting out of the boy's neck, and the gurgled choking sound of him trying to cry out, tears running down his face. I quickly pulled myself free from underneath his body, tears filled my eyes as i sat against the wall of the pit, staring at the boy who could have been me. Then the crowd erupted in wild cheering and applause. I was lead back and tossed into my small holding cell outside the arena, my brother rushing over to me to attend my wounds as the door slammed shut. Two had entered, and one had left.
Some hours later the door to our cell opened again, and a slender man stepped inside the doors with a guard at his side, he painted a blue cross on the forehead of my older brother and grinned before stepping outside, the sounds of the distant crowd echoing in the hallway outside as he left. I looked up at my brother, knowing that soon he would have to kill or be killed again. I lowered my head as he stood, two guards walking in the room, one looking to my brother and saying "It is time, pit dog."
"It will be alright Kenny, you will see. I'll be back before you know it." Those are the last words of my brother Jaden as he was escorted out thought the doors of one of the small cells i use to call home. The door slammed shut as the sound of footsteps faded into the distance, and darkness once again wrapped me in its cold endless embrace.
Hours passed, and no word of my brother. I knew of his fate, and my thoughts raced across my mind like flashes of lightning. It was not fear, or sorrow that gripped my mind, but thoughts of anger, thoughts of death. The death of the ones who took my life from me, the death of the ones who took my brothers. It was then, that the darkness embraced me, it was then that i first heard the whispers of the night.
A voice from the black spoke, a small, steady whisper saying "Do you wish revenge? Do you wish to make those fools suffer? Suffer for the pain they have brought to you and your kin?". My reply was simple, i looked deep into the blackness and said "Yes, whatever the cost.". Light.....no.....fire...struck out from the blackness, struck out from the dark and consumed me, burned within me, my body felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside out, over....and over again. I screamed in agony, then as soon as it had all begun, it ceased. The voice whispered "It has been granted to you." Before vanishing into the nothing that it was spawned from.
Years passed, my pain became my strength as i was pitted against peer after peer, boy after boy, man after man. In the darkness i plotted, until everything was in order. I would escape this life and make one for my own, teach the world the meaning of pain, show my enemies the true meaning of suffering. And that one night on the open sea, my plan became reality.
The Hungry Gull rocked back and forth as the sea churned underneath, the night was heavy, the darkness thick and devouring. I waited, patiently in my cell, a wicked smile adorning my face. A few nights ago a deck hand had come below to deliver my rations. He hadn't noticed that he had dropped a small nail from his pants pocket as he walked back up the stairs, the nail rolling right in front of my cell. Within a matter of seconds my shackles were loosed and i had waited patiently for a moment of opportunity, and that moment was now.
The deckhand was first. As he reached to set the small bowl of food in my cell, i reached forth and slammed his head against the iron bars, taking the keys to my prison i unlocked the cage and took his dagger from his sheath, sinking the blade into his neck before slowly making my way up the stairs and to the upper decks as one by one, i silently slaughtered a few night watchmen on deck. Until finally, i stood in front of the heavy door of the Captains private quarters.
I slid open the door quietly as i crept into the large room. The silence deafening, every footstep seemed like an eternity as i neared the bed of the great Captain Silas Ore. At last I stood over him, his large frame slowly heaving up and down as he peacefully rested. I set the blood drenched dagger down on his bedside table, and stared at him, looking carefully at him. I smiled, savoring the moment. Suddenly his eyes burst open, he sat up, his eyes bulging at the sight of me standing over him, he screamed "TO ARMS!, INTRUD-". But before he could finish, my hands clasped around his meaty throat. He struggled violently as his arms flailed, reaching for anything he could grab to defend himself, his hand found the dagger i laid by his bedside. In a flash the blade streaked across my face, cutting me across my eye, down to my jaw. My grip tightened, and at last the man let out his final gasp, his eyes fixed in horror, staring lifeless into mine. I leaned over his body and softly whispered, "Thank you..." in his ear before standing, the sounds of boots clambering aboard the deck making me realize that the remaining crew must have heard him. With all the speed i could muster i dashed out of the cabin door, men already scrambled across the deck. As i ran across the deck the men one by one charged after me, one drawing a bow and loosing an arrow as i ran and dived off the side of the ship, the arrow grazing my shoulder as i fell.
I swam until daybreak, and kept swimming adrift at sea for four days, i was parched for thirst and barely able to keep my head above the salty waters. The next thing i remember is being dragged about a small fishing vessel, a young lad standing over me and asking if i was alright. The ship could not keep me aboard. They patched me up and gave me some extra clothing, then dropped me at nearest port. That port happened to be the port of Merridan, on the Celestial Isle, and it was there that I found myself in the lands of Akanbar. Now, now is where history shall be written, and I shall be the one to write it.
The Beginning of Kenpachie, born of the Pits.
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