Flesh And Metal

I opened my eyes to find myself staring into the deep blue sky. I was sitting down with my arms behind me for support, the grass rubbing up against my skin. I looked up to find that I was sitting at the bottom of a hill. My clothes were covered in mud and there was a small tear on my shorts. At the very top of the hill, two other boys stood, their faces blurred in my vision, obscured by the sunlight. Though I could not make out their expressions, I could tell that they were laughing hysterically. Just seeing their joy had made me crack a smile, so I got up from the mud to join them. As I walked further up the hill, the sunlight got brighter and brighter, making it impossible to see what was in front of me. Then, I felt a forceful tug on my forearm, presumably one of the boys, as he pulled me forward. The sun was blinding and everything quickly became white.

I jolted awake, my head still spinning from having to sleep against the rugged bricks. I woke up in somewhat of a bad mood. Perhaps it was just the way I had slept that night, but it did not feel like that. Instead, I felt more upset about the dream I had, but I could not figure out why. Across from me, Fesha was still sleeping, using her bag as a pillow as she laid down with her back against the wall and her feet toward me. I shook her shoe and she awoke with a hazy look. As soon as her head seemed to clear, we got up and continued on our path, deciding to skip breakfast to ration our food.

We walked through the large empty roads, watching the passing buildings. Some of their walls had crumbled down, allowing for a view inside. At a glance, rusted metal frames, boxes, and pipes could be seen. From the looks of it, many of these large brick buildings seemed to be factories with remnants of its machinery left inside. It got me curious as to what they could have possibly been mass producing, and I just so happen to be walking behind someone who might know.

"Hey Fesha, what were they making here?" I asked her.

She seemed to be lost in thought. When I interrupted her, she looked over with a glazed look in her eye. "Ah, well... Perhaps an assortment of goods." She said vaguely.

There seemed to be something wrong with her as of late, like she was constantly in her own world. Fesha would answer a lot of my questions vaguely and with a hint of confusion, like when I had asked her about her fight with Tenebris yesterday. It was a bit annoying, but she seemed to be going through something so I stayed unbothered by it.

Eventually, we ran into a wall that stretched from the floor all the way up to the bottom of the next layer. This wall had many protrusions of different sized buildings each suspended by sturdy metal supports. There were ladders against the wall that led up to some of these buildings. Following my vision upward, some buildings at the very top of the wall had metal ladders and stairs that went into small holes into the next layer. With that, Fesha and I made our way toward the closest ladder and began our climb. Heading in through the bottom of one of the buildings, I saw an assortment of old machines that looked out of this world, then again, I was not from this world after all. I peered out the window, looking at the view of the arrangement of factories we had past on our way here. Fesha signaled me to keep moving so I followed.

We had made our way up a couple more buildings before ending up in a labyrinth of halls. Fesha and I explored at a steady pace, always searching for the next staircase or ladder to climb. We made our way through a long hallway before something had disturbed our peace. As I exited the end of the hall into a new room, I felt a thin tugging sensation at my ankles. I looked down to see a thin string that ran across each side of the walls. Immediately after, gray smoke exploded and filled the room. Loud metal bell noises rang throughout the place. Then I heard the sound of footsteps from the hallway we had just came out of approaching us quickly. I readied myself to fight and instantly, an arm grabbed the strapped that kept my armor to my chest and I was hoisted backwards. I slammed against the rough brick wall, my feet hovering above the ground. In front of me, a girl about my age was holding me hostage. Her hair was short and light brown. Her eyes looked fierce in their blueish hue. Her skin was white but stained with dirt. She was about my height and her figure was toned. The arm she held me against the wall with was well defined, the shape of her muscles present but not overbearing. 

The mystery girl looked at me, than looked back toward the smoke where she had her other arm raised toward it, at least what should have been her arm. In place of her arm, a series of metal plates, wood, and thin rope in the shape of an arm was held against her shoulder. Her metallic fingers were spread far apart and a series of cylinders extended from her palm.

"Who goes there." The girl said. Her tone was deep and aggravated.

The smoke cleared and Fesha stood there with hands up. "We mean no harm, we're simply passing through." Fesha said.

The girl looked at me, then turned toward Fesha again. "Hmm, fine. Thee seem harmless enough." She said as she let go of me. The cylinders that came out of her palm slide back into the metal, clicking into place.

"Apologies for the rowdiness, last one to come through her was quite the problem, so now I'm weary of folk who come through." She said. "Anyway, mine name is Serrum, and thou?"

Fesha answered. "I'm Ma--... Ah, forget that, call me Fesha, and this one still needs a name." She said pointing to me. Fesha's actual name still sounded garbled in my ears. I had nearly forgotten she had been going by an alias due to whatever condition I had.

Serrum looked confused at Fesha's name change, or maybe at the fact that I lacked a name. "Right, well if thou folks are searching for a way up, I can lead the way. I can lead supplies if thee needs em too. Just no funny business, or I'll have thee end up like the last man, or whatever he was."  She said ominously. After our brief introduction, Serrum signaled us her way with a wave of her and we followed with a bit of caution.