When I found her, only the sex-hungry mongrels that were molesting her could have known she was a girl. Her hair was short and frayed from being cut by a blunt object, as well as matted and gray with dirt. She had no figure, as was appropriate of a girl her age. She wore pants that were too short, and a loose shirt with torn off sleeves. Goggles were perched on her head, and she had no shoes. She looked, for all the world, like a young boy.
But there are certain people in the city of Tsiwo'k who make it their business to decipher male from female. And those were the type that were clawing at her clothes the moment I turned the corner that day. They were growling and giggling like mad, tearing off her shirt as she barely put up a fight.
I had stood there, fixated on how low we'd fallen that grown men would prey on little girls in such a manner. In broad daylight no less. But, what did they care? Who was going to stop them? I looked around, and saw the bustling streets not even glance her way let alone pause to help. No one was going to help her.
I turned to look back at the perverse scene.
It seemed as though she didn't care that she was being manhandled. She fought the mongrels weakly, without heart. Her screams barely above a normal tone of voice. Yes, it seemed as if she didn't mind. But I knew better.
Her wrists were rail thin, and now that her shirt was off you could see her ribs easily. Her cheeks were sunken, and her eyes dull. It was not that she didn't care, she didn't have the strength to fight. Most likely, she had been recently orphaned and didn't know how to survive yet. She was starving.
My hands then clenched into fists. I was furious with it all. The perverts attacking her, the city folk for simply walking past, the city itself for starving the poor girl. I was sick of it, and I wasn't going to take it anymore.
"Oi!" I said, my voice laced with anger. The men didn't even look up from the girl. She, however, glanced my way. Her eyes full of false hope, hope that I might be about to help her. I nodded slowly and stepped forward, taking a dagger, it's shape the symbol of Mars, from my belt with two fingers. The girl's eyes lit up ever so slightly at my nod. She knew I was going to help her. I brought the dagger up to my face.
"Oi!" I yelled, louder this time. The larger of the two thugs looked up just in time to catch my dagger in his forehead. Grunting, the brute fell away from the girl with a THUD onto the dirt. His cohort glanced up from their victim. His dull eyes traveled from the man in the dirt and cast about for the source of the trouble. Stepping forward, I leaned on my scythe.
"Oh don't worry about your friend," I stood straighter and twirled my weapon twice before planting it on the ground again. "He's alive..... for now."
The thug blinked stupidly at me for a moment then clutched at the girl, pulling her towards him.
"W-what do you want?" He glanced at my scythe. Ah yes, my scythe. It was a unique piece of work, for it was in the shape of a woman, her flowing hair was the blade and her body was part of the handle. It was my symbol, of sorts. People knew me by it.
And who was I? I was Dax; second in command of the Tsa'gi gang. Ja'k's right hand man. The men and few women of the gang listened to me as well as they listened to their leader Ja'k. Yes, I was in a seat of power. And this lowly brute recognized that from my weapon, Lady Vesna.
"I want you to leave this lady alone." Glowering down at this scum of life, I stepped close and poked at him with the toe of my boot. Whimpering and sniveling, the man let go of the girl and rolled away. The girl scrambled away once she was free, tripping over her pants that had been pulled around her ankles. Stooping low, I caught her arm and heaved her to her feet. She grabbed the waistband of her pants and tugged them up to where they were supposed to be. Scuttling behind me she peered defiantly from around my hip at her attacker.
I turned back to the thug on the ground and twirled Lady Vesna once, then angled her down so that her blade was against his neck. Eyes wide, the brute suddenly didn't seem so tough.
"Stay away from children." I pulled the scythe steadily across his neck, not enough to kill him, just enough to make him bleed. The thug froze. I could see the sweat dripping down his brow as he struggled not to move or scream. Behind me, the girl was tugging on my shirt.
"S-stop it!" The words seemed to suddenly burst from her. The words she hadn't said when the thugs were going to rape her now came from her lips like the cry of a distressed bird. They startled me so badly that I pulled Lady Vesna away from the man's neck, turning to look at the child with a lofted brow. The man, seeing his chance, crawled backwards away from my blade and scrambled away, leaving his chum behind without a backward look. I gave an irritated glance his way but decided he wasn't worth running after. Turning back to the girl, I leaned on my scythe and gave her a confused look.
She blushed and looked down, swirling her toe in the dirt.
"I just didn't want you to hurt him because of me." She peered up at me from amidst her dusty bangs. Her eyes were innocent and young, but there was something else there as well. Knowledge. Knowledge of other things, things that I could never even dream of. Sighing, I shucked off my vest-like shirt and handed it to her. For a moment, she seemed confused.
"Put it on." I said simply. She gave me a gentle smile and pulled it over her flat, bare chest.
"Thank you." She suddenly darted forward and hugged me, slipping her thin arms around my waist. I blinked stupidly for a moment, then pat her back and ruffled her short hair.
"What's your name, little one?"
"Ishaura." She pulled away from me and flashed a grin up at me. I smiled back and looked back over my shoulder where the Tsa'gi gang was waiting in the market place.
"C'mon, Ishaura," I wrapped an arm around her and led her towards her new family. "You're with me now."
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