Chapter 2 : In the prison of the Silver Fang

----- 10 years later -----

The air is damp on this full moon night,
A man, on the verge of losing his mind, looks up from his stone tower at the moonlight for the last time,
While others sleep like rocks, or party for.. no reason at all?
A fearless young boy decides to get closer to the tower,
This young aspiring warrior has a big mission: to capture the bandits who live there
Single-handedly, he slowly makes his way towards the tower, where he sees some scoundrels getting drunk and having fun throwing knives at an outside wall
As the young man prepares to cast one of his favourite spells for capture,
He was surprised, hiding in his bush, by some fighters in battle-scarred armour who were doing their rounds on guard
The bandits caught the young boy without any difficulty and led him to the tower to suffer the consequences,
The consequences of wanting to become a warrior, to make those around him proud, for a noble cause,
On a mission as dangerous as this one, the little adventurer had took a quest bigger than himself, as usual
It's not enough to be fearless and intrepid, you also have to know the cost of exposing yourself to danger
Tonight, the young man will be kept in the prison of the Silver Fang, until he can be sold to the highest bidder
This is how Ao wakes from his sleep, awakened by the drops of water falling on his nose

----- In the basement of the Silver Fang Bandit Tower, Prison -----

So noisy tonight! Between the prisoners insulting each other and the noise of the water drops!

Luckily the prison beds are comfortable
I don't know how they did it, but their mattresses, although a bit mouldy, allowed me to sleep for a few hours without too many nightmares..

I've only been here a few days, and I think I'll stay a little longer before setting off again to discover the surrounding kingdoms
But I think it won't be long before I'm contacted for a mission, as I can sense the presence of the Golden Order not far from here
I'm often hired as a mercenary, well, I don't consider myself one
I'm just doing a favour on my journey, without really looking into the whys and wherefores.. Even though I can't help but get involved in things that don't concern me
But hey.. I'm still moving towards the goal of my journey, and I've still got a lot of work to do before I get there
Aaaah.. but what a comfortable bed!

Our dear Ao, dressed in a torn black poncho, shirt and stained, blackened jeans,
Wakes up in a small, dilapidated cell, in a musty, soaking wet bed
The prison is just one long corridor, with cells for left and right prisoners,
Still lying there, eyes closed, he begins to hear the prisoners getting more and more agitated

Prisoner #1: 'AHAHAH Fresh meat just arrived guys!!!'
Prisoner #2: 'SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU PERVERT!!!'
Prisoner #3: 'SHUT THE HELL UP!!!'

Spitting noises are heard in the prison, and the body of a young man is dragged by two bandits into the middle of the prison
Suddenly, the boy screams

Young boy: 'I swear, if you don't let go of me, you'll be hearing from the KING OF KAMELOTT!!!'
Prisoner #1: 'AHAHAHAH He's got a mouth on him'
Prisoner #2: 'We're going to beat the shit out of you, kid! You should have stayed in your warm little kingdom AHAHAH!'

Camelot?. But that's the name of Arthur's kingdom, with Excalibur and the Grail and the Lady of the Lake and Merlin and..

A prison cell gate creaks open, a guard opens it and throws the young boy inside, handcuffed by a large piece of metal locked electronically

Young boy: 'SINCE IT'S LIKE THIS, I'M GOING TO BREAK MY HANDCUFFS WITH MY TEETH'. The young man starts desperately clacking his teeth on the handcuffs

He can't be serious? with his teeth?
Good luck munching on that Celestial flesh alloy
I'm curious about this Camelot story, does it really exist? I thought it was a fictional novel

Young boy: ' GNN GNNNNN' Sound of teeth chattering on hard metal
Prisoner #3: 'Garcia, get the screwdriver out!'
Prisoner #1 (Garcia) : 'SHUT UP I DON'T NEED YOU' Prisoner pulls out screwdriver
The prisoner takes out a screwdriver from under his bed, and quickly turns the lock on his half-locked cell
An unlocking click is heard

Garcia: 'And there it is! AHAH'
Prisoner #3: 'Give it to me! I want to have some fun too!'
Garcia: Throws the screwdriver at the prisoner's face 'Hurry up, there won't be any left for you soon!'
Prisoner #2: 'FUCK, WAIT FOR ME!!!'

The prisoners get even more agitated and start trying to get out of their cells to go to the young boy's cell

Sigh Can they shut it?!!
Ao turns over in his bed, trying to get back to sleep

Garcia: Stands in front of the young man's cell 'Hey you!!! AHAHAH'
Young man: 'Help me get out of here!'
Garcia: 'Of course, with pleasure'
Sneaky laugh
'But before that.. we're going to sort out your little Kamelottian ways!'
Garcia licks the bars of the young man's cell, which doesn't bode well for him

OK, I get it, I'm getting up!
Ao gets up from his bed, stretches hard and continues to hear the prisoners getting restless and coming out of their cells to find themselves in front of the young man
Huh?! But they're all standing in front of a kid's cell!
More importantly, what's a kid doing here?

Ao's cell is right in front of the screaming prisoners
Prisoners: 'OUH OUH OUH'
Ao: Hisses loudly 'HEY DICKHEADS, GET BACK TO YOUR CELLS!'
Garcia: Turns to Ao 'WHO'S THE DICKHEAD ?!'
Ao: 'You heard me right! I was having a nice nap and you're keeping me awake'

A prisoner takes the screwdriver and bangs on the bars of Ao's cell
Prisoner #3: 'YOU HAVE A PROBLEM YOU LITTLE..'
Gets interrupted by a punch to the face and nose bleeds badly

Ao: Punches the prisoner in the face 'Last warning, guys'
Garcia: 'Okay..' Points to Ao's cell 'Slaughter him!!!'
The prisoners smash into the bars of Ao's cell, and the bars start to come off the wall

Well, how many are there? 3,4,5.. 6 ! And I've just woken up, I don't feel like fighting!
So.. He perks his right fist and prepares to strike in the direction of the prisoners
It's clearly not your lucky day!
The bars of Ao's cell come off the wall and the prisoners rush towards him

Ao: Shoots his fist at the prisoners 'Nova'

Nova is Ao's signature technique, and one of his favourites
The moment the fist touches the prisoner, and throughout the entire Nova technique,
an irresistible and extremely strong force draws all the prisoners and their internal organs to Ao's fist,
A blinding blue light that lasts for a fraction of a second surrounds Ao's fist.
Then, a large ball of blue energy forms in the prisoners' bodies, and explodes

The prisoners explode from the inside, and their organs scatter all around the prison and blood splatters on the walls and on the young man, who has not yet realised what has just happened

Phew.. I did the smallest Nova I could, I don't really want to collapse the prison..
Well, I'm going back to bed!

Young boy: 'I.. don't.. don't hurt me! He gets down on his knees and starts to cry
Ao: 'Huh? Oh..' Seeing the young man's body stained with the blood of the prisoners
I'd completely forgotten there was a kid there.. Sigh

Ao slowly approaches the young man's bars, unhooking them from the wall with a sharp tug, and places his hand on the boy's shoulder

Young Boy: Jumps 'AAAH'
Ao: 'Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you!'
Surely he hasn't seen anyone killed before, is he a civilian?
Ao: 'What's your name? And what are you doing here?!'
Young boy: Tremble 'My name is Gin, and I must.. capture the bandits of the Silver Fang'
Ao: 'Capture? But you're the one who got captured' Disappointed look
Gin: 'THEY TAKEN ME BY SURPRISE!!!'
Ao: 'Yeah, right. And you're going to tell me you're supposed to capture them on your own?'
Gin: 'Yes.. I have to' clenches his fists tightly and looks at Ao with determination
Hmm.. None of my business
Ao: 'OK.. listen to me, I'm going to untie you, go home and train more before committing you to such dangerous missions'

Gin: 'You don't understand. I must succeed this quest!'
Ao: 'Then get stronger and maybe you'll succeed! Fighting the Silver Fang bandits is one thing, but against their leader you don't stand a chance!'
Gin: 'BUT!'
Ao: 'OK, show me your handcuffs'

Gin: Shows Ao his handcuffs 'That's Celestial flesh, you won't be able to untie that easily! It absorbs star power and..'
Ao: 'I know what it is, but it's Celestial flesh alloy, it's really very simple to unlock'
Gin: 'Huh?!'

The initiation system for Pendragon warriors is really that bad.. Disappointed look
Ao puts his hand on the handcuffs, and sends an electric shock inside to unlock them
A click is heard

Gin: Takes off his handcuffs, stunned 'Wow.. How did you do that?'
Ao: Wipes Gin's face with his poncho 'A simple electrical spell, the Silver Fang clearly aren't rich enough to afford to make handcuffs out of pure flesh, so the star power comes through'

Gin: Embarrassed 'Hmm.. I forgot, what's your name?'
Ao: 'Call me Ao'
Gin: 'Thanks a lot, Ao.. And uhhh..' Looks at the torn "bodies" of the prisoners
Ao: Sigh 'Don't worry about it, they were scumbags'
Gin: 'Help me capture the Silver Fang, please!' Kneels down
Ao: 'YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO ANYTHING I TOLD YOU!!!'

It's none of my business.. I've got to get out of here!
Ao starts to leave, when suddenly Gin yells
Gin: 'I MUST SAVE MY SISTER, PLEASE!!!'
Ao stops
Gin: 'She's very ill.. and we have a way of curing her, but to do that..
I have to complete this mission first'
What's this sensation I sense on this kid ..?!
Ao's body shivers slightly, as if he senses something unpleasant
Ao: 'What exactly will this mission give you?'
Gin: 'The title of Warrior Class 3!'
The what? That's a rank, isn't it? Like in video games.. or guilds.. a guild?
Ao: Turns around 'Are you in a guild?'
Gin: 'Yes, one of the most prestigious in the Kingdom of Kamelott'
Hmm.. Maybe I could get a private audience with their king..

But really... I've got to stop meddling in things that are none of my business
Ao sits up, then lies down on his bed, ignoring Gin's words

Gin: "Please! Don't ignore me!!!"
Ao pretends to snore
Suddenly, at the far end of the prison, an iron door slams, and a man in armor comes dangerously close to Gin and Ao's cells
Man in armor: Slowly strides into the prison, looking at the cells
"Where are the prisoners?!"

He stops in front of a blood-stained wall, with burnt human organs lying in front of him
Man in armor: "WHAT THE..." Gets interrupted
Gin appears behind the man in armor, and prepares to strike him
Gin: "Enhance: Left punch" Sends a left punch

The armor vibrates, but withstands the punch without difficulty, Gin not having put enough power into this blow
The armored man quickly turns to Gin, and draws a sword from his waist
Man in armor: "YOU DID THIS?!!" Dashes at Gin with his sword

The man in armor sends lateral sword blows to try to hit Gin, but dodges the few blows
Suddenly, the man in armor throws his sword at Gin, who barely dodges it

Gin's thought
He's throwing his sword at me?!!..

Gin prepares his fist for the next Enhance blow, but..
The armored man advances on Gin very quickly, and surprises him by grabbing him by the shoulders and knocking him to the ground, he stands over Gin, and starts punching him in the face
Argh.. AAARGH.. I need... to... get off him!!!

The sounds of cracking bones, spurting blood, manly grunts and boyish torment can be heard throughout the prison

Ao's thoughts
Sigh He's being beaten to a pulp..
The noises continue
...
...
...
What the hell, is he still hitting him?! If he continues, he's going to kill him
The noises still continue
...
...
...
SHIT!!!

Ao quickly gets up and runs down the corridor, sending a huge kick into the back of the armored man
The armor breaks on impact, and the man is sent flying several meters in front of Ao

Ao looks at Gin's face, and sees that he's covered in wounds
Nose, both arches and jaw broken, and also bloody
But Gin is still breathing
Ao: Bends down to him "You're really too weak to capture them, aren't you?"
Gin: Breathes with difficulty "My.. sister.."
Ao: "Yeah, yeah.." Exasperated sigh "Okay, don't move"

Ao stands up, and puts his hand in his front jeans pocket.. and digs deep
Ao: Searching in his "big" pocket
"Hmm.. I think I'll give him a light power pearl, I feel like he's slowly dying.."

Ao pulls out a small bag of white pearls from his pocket, and feeds a pearl to Gin
Gin: "Wha.. What's that..."
Ao: "A senzu"
Gin: "A what?"
... Another one who doesn't know their classics..

Ao: "A pearl of light power, let it do its work"
Bone-cracking noises begin to be heard in Gin's face, as if he were slowly rebuilding himself
Within seconds, Gin's wounds are closed and he feels great

Gin: Gets up very quickly "What... BUT.." Touches his face, shocked
Ao: Places his hand on Gin's head "Yeah it's working fine, you're lucky to run into me"
Gin: Looks at Ao with fascination "Th.. Thank you so much, Ao!" Salutes Ao several times

At least he knows respect
Gin: Looks at Ao with excitement "HELP ME CAPTURE THEM NOW!!!"
Ao: "THE NERVES ON THIS KID !!" Taps the top of Gin's head with his hand
Gin: Kneels down in front of Ao "I'm begging you, Ao, help me!"
Ao: "Don't you just want to go home?!"
Gin: Speaks sadly "I can't do this... my" Gets interrupted
Ao: "YES, YES YOUR SISTER, I KNOW!!.."

Gnnnnn Ao looks at Gin in frustration This kid is getting on my nerves..
Suddenly, Ao notices something in Gin's natural aura
Ao's eyes change from anger.. to fear and excitement
He takes a small step back.. and is astonished to see what he sees in Gin's aura

Gin: Lifts his head towards Ao "Ao?.."
Ao: Rubbing his eyes "Hmm.."
Gin: "What ?"
If what I've seen is real.. I could maybe reach one of my goal! A frightening smile spreads across his face
Gin seems worried by Ao's odd reaction, and slowly gets to his feet

Ao: "Ahem.." Completely rubs his face and takes a serious stance "Okay.. I'll help you, Gin"
Gin: "REALLY?!!"
Ao: "But on one condition.."
Gin: "Oh.. What do you want?"
Ao: "I just want you to tell your superiors about me.. tell them I helped you capture them"
Gin: "Hmm.. I don't see any problem in doing that, yes"
Ao: "Well, keep your promise, okay?" Extends hand to shake hands
Gin: "Yes!" Shakes hands with Ao, promising that he'll tell his superiors about Ao

The two characters, now standing in the middle of the Silver Fang prison, are ready to get out and face the threat..
But is Gin prepared to do what's necessary?