The Man Called Bruno

The horde of hunters arrives enthusiastically with everyone chanting Bruno’s name, along with an encore of chest beating and what can only be said to be equivalent to gorilla mating calls. Bruno jumps off the Tori he seems to have tamed, resembling that of a massive zombified great curassow, sporting a snazzy hairdo across the back of its head, but with hollow sockets where its eyes should be. The rest of his crew all follow suit and jump off their tamed creatures, while some of their cavalrymen grab hold of the reins strapped across the Tori heads and lead the birds to a sizable pit not far off from our location. Attached to some of the Tori were chains stringing along a few different people, ranging in age from perhaps six to late twenties. Blood was scattered across some of the bonded men and women, who were all blindfolded and likely carried here against their will.

Bruno’s grin remains after softly slapping one of his newly acquired female slave’s backside, before completely turning his attention back to me. He then begins to unbuckle some leather and steel material that he has strapped around his arms and hands, while a few others begin to unbuckle the material Bruno has strapped around his legs and waist.

“And who are you supposed to be? Don’t think I’ve ever seen your face around before.” his deep voice asserts, “And with a strange pair of eyes like that, I’d definitely remember someone like you,”

However, even as Bruno stares towards me looking for an answer, I choose to ignore his questioning, glancing around carefully to stare at each of the crewmen situated behind him.

“Not much of a talker, then?” Bruno asks with concern, until he notices the twins standing in front of me, prepared to fight, “Oh, but those are certainly some faces that I remember well. Seems those that don’t know how to speak up well tend to find each other in this place,” Bruno unbuckles his last strap before walking closer towards the three of us and bending down to face the twins with a devious smile, “How have the two you been?”

In the blink of an eye, Kedaz whips out a second weapon across from her left side strap, and begins to dual wield daggers in order to kill Bruno right then and there. However, Bruno’s consistently quick reactions proves her efforts worthless, as with every slash, she remains unable to strike him. A number of members from Bruno’s party try to interfere, as they unsheathe their own tasteless weapons in order to defend their leader.

Bruno cackles loudly, “Get involved, and I’ll kill you where you stand!” he screams out the warning to his comrades, freezing them in place.

Zedak attempts to hold Kedaz back multiple times, but Kedaz’s fit of rage continues to blow past her brother’s aim for restraint. The battle between Kedaz and Bruno continues on without Bruno even attempting to land a strike, which catches my attention a few times…but only a few.

Where are you hiding?

“Ah, those moments we had were pretty fun though, don’t you think?” Bruno cackles out loud, “I still don’t get why you went and committed suicide like that.”

My attention returns for a brief moment, but what I witness next puts me off for a bit. Tears seem to be streaming rampantly from Kedaz’s eyes, while Zedak’s expression is full of despair, especially while trying to interfere and hold his twin sister back from Bruno.

“Is that why you two came back? You missed me that much?” Bruno exclaims as he catches Kedaz’s neck while she lunges a strike mid-air. Four others from Bruno’s party grab Zedak and pin him down to the hardened floor.

“Tsk. Didn’t I say not to get involved, you half-wits?!” Bruno aggressively spits out, before returning his attention back to the struggling Kedaz and smiling confidently, “I can’t really say I missed you two all that much, if I’m being honest. There’s always plenty of fun to be had in this place.”

Bruno grips the tight clothes Kedaz wears, causing her to scream out loud fervently.

“Then again, it’s not as if going back to the same meal will spoil my tastebuds,”

Kedaz screams at the top of her lungs, constantly demanding for Bruno to let go of her in a strange accent. Even as my mind wishes to remain focused on my primary objective, my eyes continue to be distracted by the egregious situation in front of me.

“Just like what happened to these two over here in their previous cycle…you would have likely been sold off to Bruno’s warrior party. Either to be used as a meat shield in combat, or to be used as a toy to satisfy his fetish for young ones.”

I begin to scratch my head, irritated by the horrific imagining of what the twins had perhaps been through before they had been rescued by Christoph and eventually came into contact with me. Not to mention, what Kedaz fears will become her situation once more.

“That’s enough!” I scream out, putting everyone off to the point all eyes end up staring towards me. “You can look all you want, but I’d advise you not to touch what is mine.”

Bruno slowly turns his attention back towards me, while I continue to scratch my head in irritation. “Ohhh,” Bruno begins, “So you can speak, after all?”

I stop scratching, and glare at Bruno with a ticked off expression, “...what did you just say?”

“I said that I’m glad. You can speak after all. Here I was thinking you were in the same level of communication as these two.”

Many of the people surrounding us begin to snicker and laugh, ticking me off even further.

First, my hunch is starting to look like it is incorrect. Then, my trackers are put in danger because of their lack of control. Now, these meatheads think it's funny to laugh at me, of all people, over something so trivial as refusing to speak out before.

…good grief.

“Do you know of someone called Chen?” I ask, attempting, but also failing to hide my irritation. I place my right hand a few centimeters below my eyebrows, “She’s about ye high, and is of Asian descent. Slim figure. Short hair. Nasty atti-”

“I know of her, yes. In fact, I know her all too well.” Bruno responds, still holding Kedaz’s neck.

My expression lights up, “Really? Do you know where she is?”

Kedaz begins to try and wrestle her way out of Bruno’s grip, but Bruno only tightens it, causing her to lose air quickly. However, my attention remains focused on the important matter at hand.

“Firstly, what do you have to do with Chen?” Bruno asks with concern, “Someone so new like you shouldn’t even be aware of her, since she’s-”

“Answer the question,” I interrupt as a sinister grin reappears across my face.

Bruno stares blankly towards me, before setting a struggling Kedaz down to her feet, as she continues to struggle against the brawny man.

“Ohhh. Looks like someone’s feeling real confident all of the sudden,” Bruno chuckles, “Tell ya what, why don’t we make a deal?”

“A deal?”

“Yeah. I give you information on Chen, and her possible whereabouts, while you give me these two in exchange. They belong to you, don’t they?”

“Of course.”

“Then it’s a deal?” Bruno grins deviously, as Kedaz shakes her head violently in fright as she looks towards me.

Silence ensues, as smiles coming from Bruno’s men in his party spread across like wildfire. My blood begins to boil, to the point my heart feels like it has to work so hard that it is forced to stop briefly.

However, laughter fills the air not long after.

“A deal…where you take something of mine,” I say as I continue to laugh, “You? Take something from me? You?...take something…from me?”

My laughter stops, as I quickly return my attention to my primary goal, “Don’t make me laugh even harder than I already have,”

Bruno continues to stare at me, before letting go of Kedaz and walking over towards me. Kedaz is quickly reprimanded by five others from Bruno’s party, who all seem keen on pinning her down for reasons I do not wish to see for myself.

Bruno, who is no taller than I am, then stands confidently beside me, while I continue to look around towards the faces of each member of his party. I also attempt to pay attention to the female slaves he had surely rounded up for himself, but still fail to find my objective.

It looks like I was wrong after all.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Bruno asks, only a few centimeters to the right of my ear.

I ignore him, continuing to search around to no avail.

“She isn’t here, you know?” Bruno states, still only a few centimeters to my right ear.

“Breathe in my ear one more time, and your party will be going by a different name for a while.” I answer with an irritated smile.

Bruno breathes in my ear even deeper, as he nears his head closer to mine, “You’re the one that didn’t want to take the deal. Be grateful I’m even giving you this much inform-”

Suddenly, a black diamond dagger appears underneath Bruno’s chin, resulting in many of Bruno’s surrounding party drawing their weapons towards me. I turn my head slowly to face Bruno.

“No, no, no. The deal is still on. The difference is that I will still be getting information on Chen…while you get to walk away with your life…”

Bruno grins, “Well this position certainly feels familiar. You learnt it from her, didn’t you?”

“I tend to pick up a few things here and there.”

“Was this all supposed to be a setup? You wanted me to get close to you from the start?”

“I don’t need to resort to such tactics to get what I want. The same would apply if you were hundreds of meters away from me, or where you are standing now. Now then, do we have a deal, or not?”

Bruno chuckles loudly, “How greedy,”

A confident smirk appears across my face, “I get that a lot,”

“He certainly does!” a voice calls out from a short distance, causing all eyes that had been plastered on Bruno and I to trail towards it, “I have witnessed it many times, firsthand!”

Christoph strides forward towards the large settlement for Bruno’s party, walking through everyone to reach the twins, and then bending down to see Zedak’s distraught expression. He sticks out a lengthy polished gold sword, causing the men pinning both Zedak and Kedaz to let go of them and step back.

Christoph holds Zedak’s shaking head, “I warned you not to fight at any cost. Only bluffing at best.” His attention sways towards the crying Kedaz, and sighs, “But it seems it was out of your control.”

“Now isn’t this something,” Bruno cackles, as he walks away from me and towards Christoph with open arms, “THE Christoph Schmidt gracing our presence, and on such a low floor nonetheless.”

Bruno then bows his head for a brief moment as Christoph stands to look up towards him. Although one would expect it to seem like a sign of respect, it only felt like he was trying to mock him.

Christophs smiles softly, trying his best to diffuse the tension, “Yes. I needed some materials on the lower floors, and ran into some helpers along the way.” Christoph then looks around towards the surrounding area, before looking back towards Bruno with a puzzled expression, “I must say though, I’m surprised to find your gang of ruffians down here as well. What brings you all down here?”

Bruno spits towards the bone-like floor, which immediately results in his spit sizzling like water in a pan, before evaporating into the air and being absorbed into its atmosphere.

“Why do you think, Christoph?” Bruno asks fervently.

Christoph laughs, “If anything, I’d have to assume you are taking a vacation.”

Bruno begins to laugh along with Christoph, while looking at the other members of his party in order to prompt them into laughing along as well. The festival of laughter continues on, while Bruno walks over gallantly towards Christoph and places his muscular left arm across Christoph’s shoulders.

“A vacation. That’s really funny, to be honest. See, I always knew I liked you, Christoph…you know how to tell good jokes.”

Bruno leans in closer and whispers into Christoph’s right ear with a straight face, but I happen to catch what he says, even from a bit of a distance.

“Why don’t you join my party? You know it’d be a lot of…fun.” He ends with a cheeky smile.

“Oh come now, Bruno. You know I can’t do that.”

“...and why not?”

“...because I belong to another party, of course.”

Bruno lets go of Christoph’s shoulders, and begins to laugh once more while strolling away from Christoph. Not long after, he returns to Christoph’s side, but keeps his hands placed carefully against his low cut, dark beard.

“That’s funny…because I have been hearing a lot of noise about how you abandoned the king’s group…and are now running away from them on the lower floors.” Bruno asks with a stern look.

…the king?!

“Oh…it's funny how rumors can play out these days, you know.” Christoph responds with an awkward smile, “Pay them no mind. I’m just getting some materials like usual, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Then why has the king asked for your head?” Bruno responds quickly.

Christoph’s expression turns blank, and slowly begins to sulk into an even more awkward expression. It is easy to tell he is trying to come up with an answer, but knows he’s cornered.

“Leave him alone. He’s also with me.” I speak aloud, while still searching for Chen amidst the crowd. However, this time around, I have begun to walk up to them, and inspect them one at a time.

This one with the hood…

Bruno turns to me, “Are you still getting involved? You’ve seemed so distracted since you got here, yet keep acting like you even have a right to speak up.”

“Of course. What’s mine is mine. Stick to what’s yours.”

“You’re talking as if these three are your property,”

“That they are.” I respond quickly as I turn back to Bruno.

Bruno starts to laugh softly while talking to himself, “I see. It was a mistake to act like there was even a deal to be had with this guy in the first place. Once again, my kindness trumps my reason, when in reality I should just kill them where they stand,” Bruno’s expression then changes into that of a calm, but clearly irritated look, as he glances back towards me, “Read the room, fresh face. None of you are leaving this place unless I give the ok. And with that attitude of yours, it's not looking too good for your and your property.”

I begin to laugh out loud, and return to my primary goal, “The big man called Bruno thinks he can lock me in a cage…just because he has a bit of help.”

Bruno stomps his foot into the bone-like ground three times, prompting the people surrounding all of us to step back and form an extremely large circle; trapping the twins, Christoph and I in a ring with Bruno. Bruno rips off his black tank top, revealing his naturally built muscular upper body to its full extent, while flashing the gold front teeth that he had replaced with his natural front teeth. The gorilla mating call chants begin to ensue once more, as I cringe in annoyance at the impending situation.

“What was that about help?” Bruno boasts proudly as he waves his arms to highlight the arena he has created with his posse, “If you're so big yourself, then give it your best shot. I’ll even let you leave with your little group if you can best me.”

“...that’s it?”

Bruno stares at me, puzzled, “What? What more do you want than that?”

I pin my index finger into my right temple three times, “What do you think I want, genius? Try to use that undeveloped brain of yours as hard as you can, and I’m sure you’ll come to an obvious conclusion.”

A few veins pop across Bruno’s red hot forehead, but he remains vigilant enough to smile confidently in the process of his speaking, “Alright. I’ll even give you all the information that I have on Chen, along with letting all four of you go.”

Bruno then licks his lips, as he stares fervently towards me, “But…if you can’t win, then your head is mine. I get to turn the two demon twins into my slaves once again. And THE Christoph Schmidt will be joining my party. Deal?”

The twins turn towards me rapidly, looking anxious for what my answer will be. Christoph walks up behind me and places his hand on my left shoulder while quietly relaying his message, “Are you sure about this, Mr. Nehman. I thought you mentioned something about you not being a gambling man?”

I stare towards Bruno, who quickly snaps his neck back and forth, while whipping out his hands and legs to stretch them out at a rapid pace.

However, I consider all the experience I gained from the streets where I grew up, along with dealing with all the dirtiest styles of fighting I could possibly imagine throughout my life.

A confident grin plasters across my face.

“...we have a deal.” I reply to Bruno.

“Well I’m glad you seem so confident, Mr. Nehman. That man right there…was a famous mixed martial art champion, hailing from the rough streets of Brazil. He also went undefeated by having all of his thirty-five professional fights end in knockouts...but I’m now at ease knowing you still feel confident.” Christoph ends with a bright smile.

I turn my head slowly, and face Christoph with a blank stare, dumbfounded and slightly frightened by what I just heard.

“...huh?”