About 20 minutes later, they came out, laughing at some joke one of them had likely made. No one had yet to notice me. There was just the pale yellow light from the streetlamp over the door, and it didnt illuminate more than a few feet in each direction. I jumped down off the wall I'd been crouched upon, following the two drunk men I used to look up to. Now, I merely dispised them, for what they were ,and what they had done to my friend.

I eventually ducked down into an alley, making my way up onto the flat roofed buildings in this section of town. It was easier for me to follow them, because there were no people up here, rebels being the only ones who ever used the roofs as means of getting around the city. I had to hurry to catch up with them, which was difficult. The roofs were worn and slippery with freshly fallen snow, and I was thankful for the new boots mother had bought me at the end of last season which had been a size too big, but now fit perfectly. The tread helped me keep my footing, and they were warm, and kept the wet snow out.

When we were finally alone, Damien and Sam dropping into a dark, empty alley, I watched them for a moment, searching for weapons. No swords tonight, since who would be out in this cold weather? It was, however, likely they had knives hidden under teir cloaks or in their boots, much like I did. Drawing up all the courage I had, ignoring the cold wind biting at my exposed skin, I jumped down, landing directly behind them, with just the softest of thumps. Somehow, luckily, they did not hear me- senses must have been dulled by the ale they'd been consuming all night. I grabbed both quickly by the backs of their cloaks, and held tight as they struggled. I spun each one around, and punched them rigth in the face, watching as they stumbled back. I pulled out the two daggers at my belt, and got ready for another attack. “I'm going to make you two pay for what you've done... You seriously thought you could get away with hurting Kalen like that?!” I said, loudly.

Damien just sneered at me. “Yeah, we did... But what's it to you, anyways? That boy's a rebel, and he's got so few friends.... Who knew someone would actually find out, eh, Sam?” He ssaid, turning towards the shorter of the two, away from me. He didnt know who I was, couldn't, because my hood was still up, keeping half my face in deep shadow, the thin lighting from the windows above not throwing much light to see by, anyways.

“Yeah... Why do you even care? Not like that boy means much in this world, anyways....” Sam added, grinning, licking his lips slightly, quite likely remembering last night's occurances.

I couldn't stand the look, or the hint of lust in his voice. “How can you say no one cares? He may be a rebel. He may be hated by some, but he has family nd friends that care deeply about him, you know? What if it had been one of you, or Seth? Would it have meant anything more, had it not been a rebel you two decided to prey on? ...Oh, and I think you may know why it matters so much to me, and why I care so much, if you knew wwho I am...” With that, I pushed my hair back, soft light shining down and illuminating the bright blue hair. When they realized it was me, they both were in shock. “It matters to me because not only did you two hurt my closest friend, but you also betrayed our trust... We used to look up to you both, Sam, Damien... Now, I can hardly even look at the two of you without feeling utter hatred and disgust. Word of this will get around to my brother. And when it does, you're both as good as dead. Seth sees Kalen as a younger brother, even though they arent related. Imagine how he would react if it had been me you two attacked, and nearly raped last night, then went off gloating about it?”

“You won't tell... You try, and you won't like what we'll do... We'll do worse to you than what we did to Kalen. Mark my words on that, kid.” Damien said, glaring straight at me. It was obvious he didn't like being threatened by someone younger than him, and a rebel to boot.

“Oooh, soo scared...” I responded, turning my face to a look of fright. Deep down, I was slightly worried they'd hold their word, but I didnt let it show. Instead, I turned that fear to anger at them for even trying to scare me, drew my katana, and attacked. They obbviously werent expecting it, since I managed to land a few blows before they both drew out their own daggers to attack. We fought, me landing the majority of the blows, but Damien got in the worse blow to me. He ad, somehow, managed to circle around behind me while I was fending off Sam's attacks, and caught me on the shoulder, knife blade stabbing in and slicing, tearing my shirt and cloak, and skin beneath that. I cried out in pain, and dropped one katana, my right arm now rendered useless.


I took the pain, and turned it to anger, and attacked them viciously, doing plenty good damage to them, to where they would not be able to come after me right away, or fight. My anger was slowly fading, leaving me exhausted, and in pain. I looked directly at the two soldiers, and warned them. “This isn't the end, Sam, Damien. I will thell Seth about what happened, and you'll be wishing you'd never laid your filthy hands on Kalen.” That said, I turned and walked away, leaving them drunk and bleeding in the alleyway to maker their own ways back to the rest of the soldiers.

I myself was bleeding, mostly from my shoulder, but I had numerous cuts along my arms and sides, as well as my back, and face. Mother would not be happy, having to wash blood out of my clothes and repair them, again. But it was just something I would deal with later, after I'd gotten to Seth, and had my wounds tended. But, thing was, I didnt even know where to look for my brother. He would probably be either on shift, or out somewhere with others who weren't doing their rounds. Then I remembered, Terry's birthday was tomorrow, and he had promised to come home for a few days. So, instead of going to my brother, I would let him come to me.

I walked home, wishing I could run, or at least get myself up onto the roofs to travel. The sun would be up soon, and with it, other citizens, who would be coming out of their homes and start their day. And I did not want to be seen in my current state. I went as fast as I could, cutting through alleys, and rebel passages, making my home faster than by street or rooftop.

I went in quietly, heading upstairs and into the washroom to take a secoind shower that morning after grabbing a clean outfit from my room. Thankfully Kalen was still asleep so he wouldn't have to see me in my current state. In the washroom, water on hot, I stripped down and got in, hissing in pain as my fresh wounds were pelted with near burning temperatures. I quickly washed as best I could, hardly able to use my right arm. I ignored the harsh sting from the soap, knowing it better to deal with it than to risk infection. I rinsed quickly, before getting out and shutting the water off. I dried off and pulled on boxers and a pair of pajama pants. I left the shirt off for now, needing to bandage my shoulder first. I headed back to my room, keeping my shoulder from bleeding everywhere by pressing a damp cloth to it to soak up my blood. I got to my room, and was surprised to see Seth there already. He was standing there, watching Kalen sleep, taking in the injuries littering his body that had not been serious enough to need bandaging. He must have heard me come in, because when I did he turned and looked at me, abbout to say something, but stopping himself when he saw how I looked.

“James... What the hell have you bee n doing?” He asked. I responded with 'revenge', then briefly explained what happened the previous night until I'd gotten back this morning. His look was one of shock and disbelief at first, but by the end of it, his whole body exuded anger and hatrred for his two closest friends when I told him they had outright admitted it to me. He slowly calmed himself, remembering my wounds when I shifted the cloth pressed to my shoulder. He made me sit down on that desk chair and pulled out the first aid kit from my closet, and proceeded to take care of my shoulder, bandaging it up better than I could have done on my own.

“Thanks Seth... Hey, Damien and Sam were invited to Terry's party, right?” I asked him. He nodded. “Perfect time for you to bitch them out about what they did, then. I told them you would learn of what happened... They threatened me with worse than they had done to Kae if I told anyone else....” I looked up at my brother, truly worried right then, since the facts of what had happened to Kae really sank in. He'd managed to get away before he'd been raped... Did that mean Sam and Damien would make sure I did not escape them?

I voiced my worries to Seth when he noticed the fear and asked what was wrong. “Don't worry, little brother. I won't let them lay a hand on you, or anyone else, ever again. Even if that means they need to be killed.” He said, pulling me into his arms. Finally I couldn't hold back anymore, and I slumped against him, my head buried in his chest as I cried. Out of fear for not just myself, but for Kalen, and for Seth, knowing that while Seth was stronger than both Sam and Damien, with two against one, it might not work out as we planned.

I cried hard, and long, and obviously loudly, too, because that's what woke Kalen. “Mhh, Jae? What's wrong?” He asked, worried, because I never cried in front of anyone, not even him, or my brothers. I tried to stop my tears, sniffling slightly as I wiped them away with my left hand and pulled back from Seth.

“It's nothing, Kalen... Sorry to wake you.” I said, sitting back down on the desk chair, after slowly, and painfully pulling my shirt on.

“What- Did they do that?” He asked, motioning to my shoulder, and all the other numerous wounds on my arms and torso that he saw before my shirt was pulled on over my head. “I thought I told you to be careful, James...”

I couldn't help but grin. Through everything that had happened- which had been more to him than me- he was still worried about me. “Sorry, Kalen.... I tried, really I did... Bastard snuck around and got me from behind, though.” I said, standing and going over to him, sitting on the bed beside him.

When I sat down, he wrapped both arms around me. I returned the gesture, though with only one arm. Seth left the room, not wanting to interrupt mine and Kalen's time together. I'm still thankful for his help and support then.

We sat like that- for how long, I have no clue, but it seemed like just a minute or two later Terry came running in, saying mother had sent him up to get us for breakfast, and to get our butts downstairs before it got cold. At nine years old, I doubt he thought anything was odd about the way Kalen and I were sitting together. A good thing, too, that he didn't know any difference between the way we were acting now, and the way we usually did.

I sighed, stood, and offered my hand to Kalen to help him up. He took it after a brief hesitation and I carefully hauled him to his feet. He wavered slightly, and I wrapped an arm around his waist, letting him lean against me as we went downstairs and into the kitchen. I let him sit down first, then took up the seat to his right, which was at the end of the table, so no one would bump into my arm.