Untitled - Chapter 2 - The Outsiders - Seg.4

{segment 4 of chapter 2 - Garn}1

I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw this troop from the craft. They’re perfect for this operation. There seems to be plenty of different characters here with whom I can manipulate, it’s a small troop so if I must I can fight them, not to mention they could do with my help. They witnessed my arrival so there’s no question of how I got here; everything I’ve said seems true to them, I’m sure. Another great thing about this is that I didn’t have to walk for uncertain distances in search of my first troop either. But the best part is that they didn’t trust me enough to let me join them completely. I owe them nothing, my supplies are my own, and I’m basically just here for company. This is more perfect than I could ever hope for.2

When I told them my name I couldn’t hide my amusement at my own little joke. Nrag, being Garn spelled backwards seemed to be a very suitable name. These people wouldn’t have heard of anyone called Garn, but I can’t take any chances considering the amount of times I’ve been out here now. Everything is going so smoothly I can barely believe it’s just chance. 3

And then there’s this girl. She kneels in front of me, gradually getting through the first chain. Her name is Avalia. I can’t ignore this. It could just be that her parents had a strange sense of humour, or this is just amazing coincidence, but I have to look into it. Meanwhile I have to stay in character as a typical outsider. Avalia seems… like an unusual outsider though, and I can’t bring myself to do or say anything very crude. Instead I make pointless conversation for a while; maybe she’ll assume I’m not very smart.4

“So um, Avalia…”5

“Call me Avi,” she replies. “Only my father calls me by my full name.”6

“Avi then. What’s it like around this territory? Is there much to hunt?”7

She shrugs. “I honestly don’t know. Only Sasher occasionally hunts, and only if he can be bothered. Besides that, we haven’t been in this territory much longer than you have. We travel about a bit.”8

“Oh.” I nod. “I guess such a small troop would have to move around.”9

“Where was your territory before you tried to get into the City?” Avi asks innocently. I know she’s trying to coax information out of me. I don’t think Sasher would have chosen her for this job if he could help it; there’s definitely something between those two. It could be one-way though. I point out across the plains with both hands and she has to stop working to look. “Beyond the mountains,” I say. It’s far enough away that I don’t have to get specific. I put my hands back down and she continues filing the chain.10

“I’m sorry about your gang,” she says quietly.11

“Hmm?”12

“I’m sorry they all died in your attempt to get into the City.”13

“Oh. Ah, that’s ok. They were all going to die one day anyway. So am I.”14

“That’s uplifting,” she mutters. 15

“It’s the truth. Wouldn’t you rather know the truth than be ignorant, even if the truth is bad?” Crap. How fucking stupid was that? That’s gotta be the first mistake I’ve ever made on a mission. What I just said was completely out of character. I’m not supposed to be smart. What’s wrong with me? I’ll have to do better than this if I’m to stay alive. Avalia looks up at me, blinking. She stares at me for a long time. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. Finally, she looks back down at her work. 16

“I don’t know.” 17

Avi gets through the first chain. “Maybe I’ll just be able to undo the knot now,” she says, but I know that won’t work. She struggles with the chain for a little while, frowning, but can’t figure it out. She sighs. “I guess I’ll just have to keep filing.” There’s already a whole heap of metal filings in my lap. By the end of this I’ll be covered in the stuff.18

“Tell me about yourself,” she says. “Where were you born?”19

This makes me laugh. I might as well tell the truth. If it sounds like I have secrets that won’t matter to her, there’ll be less attention on the secrets I’m trying to keep. “I have no idea,” I say. “I have few memories of my childhood.”20

“What happened to your parents?”21

I smile again. “I don’t know.”22

“Well, what happened to you then?”23

“I joined a gang, became their leader and tried to get into places I shouldn’t have. There’s nothing much to tell.” I look up at the dark clouds, bored. “What about you? I’m sure your life has been more interesting than mine.”24

“Not really,” she scoffs. “I grew up with this bunch. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful; where would I be without them? I just feel like I don’t belong a lot of the time.”25

Why is she telling me something so personal? We only just met. A typical Outsider would be embarrassed right about now, so I laugh nervously. “Yeah… that’s um… not good.”26

Avi sends me a wry smile. “You’re smarter than you make yourself out to be. I won’t question your reasons for it; perhaps it’s a survival thing. I just don’t want you to underestimate me either.”27

I blink stupidly, immediately contradicting what she just said. “…Right.”28

“Sasher!” one of the twins stands up and points at a low hill nearby. A man who looks like a walking corpse is there, silhouetted against the sky. Avi and the rest of the gang scramble to their feet.29

“What do you want?” Sasher yells.30

The man smirks. “You’re in our territory.”31

“Our territory?” I mutter. That’s not good.32

Avi curses and throws herself back down, rapidly trying to get through my chains. I look past her and see what she already knew was there. An entire troop of about fifty gets up off the ground and makes themselves known. They had hidden behind the low hill while their scout made sure we were as helpless as we looked. Even if they look even less healthy than we do, they can beat us easily in numbers alone. Sasher clenches two fists at his sides. He knows he’s lost, and can’t think of a way out of this fix.33

“We’re just passing through,” he says. “We were just about to leave, in fact.” Everyone but Avi and I picks up their belongings.34

The thin man laughs. “No, don’t bother yourselves. Food is scarce around here, as you know. Fortunately, we believe that anything we find in our territory is automatically ours. You can run if you want, but you can’t run forever and we’ll catch up anyway. Save us some time and surrender.”35

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen,” Sasher rolls his eyes. “Does that ever work?”36

“It’s always worth a try. Well, if you won’t surrender, will you at least fight and then surrender?”37

Sasher glares at the man. Our group is no match for this one, but what else can he do? “You heard the man,” he declares to us. “Prepare to fight.”38

No one but Avi, it seems, expected this. They throw down their bags and pull out their weapons. None of them have guns, not even in the enemy gang. This is going to be a fight of blunt knives and spears. Just like cave men. Avalia is filing furiously while the two leaders exchange argumentative banter. She’s never going to get through this. “What are you doing?” I ask and pull away. “Defend yourself.”39

“You’ll be defenceless if I don’t do this,” she retorts and tries to get my arms back. I stand up and hold them away. “I thought you said you weren’t underestimating me. I can look after myself, now put the damn file down and get ready.”40

She glares at me. She, like Sasher, has no real choice. “Fine.” She drops the file on the ground and pulls out a knife from her belt. “But if you die, I’ll kill you.”41

“I can’t begin to tell you what’s wrong with that statement.” 42

I have no weapon now, but perhaps I can use this chain, which is now partly hanging down from the main knot. If I die, Avalia will be dead too. I can’t let this happen.43