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TyratheTyrant

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This is the land of torture. In a year unknown, a ruthless dictator rules over a war-torn and uncontrollable world. Demons are a common sight, and many animals have evolved to be quite dangerous. Anyone who still lives has either gone mad or has locked themselves in their homes, hopeless and broken. Every night, the dictator's guards will burn down another house. To lose a loved one is no small surprise.

Ariana closed her eyes, her whole body bruised and wounded. The guards had abused her once again. Just because she didn't have a market card. Every other day, guards would come into the broken down village, and drag people out of their homes. They would shove them into the coal mines, forcing them to work in the dark and dank. Then, as they left for their homes, they would hand each person a market card. The next day, they would allow everyone who still had one to pass into the "Market". It wasn't really a market, all you did was walk past the stalls and choose 3 items you could take home. The valuables weren't worth much; you couldn't eat them. Unless you knew where the Black Market was. Ariana looked down at her clenched fist. She unclenched it, revealing a sparkly jeweled necklace. "This must be my lucky day." she whispered, stuffing it into her pocket.
 
Randy was walking through the town his market card; gone... He'd already given it to another needing it more than he did, then the guards came and beat him, but during the practically daily beatings he received now, he managed to spot a girl next to him. Her fist was clenched as if she was in pain, he knew it wouldn't do any good to try and help her now though, the guards would just beat them both even more. After the beatings were over, he got up and started walking, glancing back over his shoulder at the girl, her fist was un-clenched now and something glinted in her hand; a rather pretty jeweled necklace. He sighed hoping she'd be able to hold onto that thing long enough to make some use out of it, but he figured he might try and talk to her later or something, for now he still needed to seek out the black market...
 
Ivan has just had it! He was a tall man, with no real muscles, but his constant work in the coal mines, almsot always doing ovetime, has forged him into quite a strong man. The reason he had been doing overtime in the first place was because then he was not watched and in the few prescious hours he would be able to practice swordplay. Yes, it was a forbidden art in that country, but by getting a giant beating more than ten days in a roll he had managed to save up to buy one of the few copies left from the scrolls that people had used to taught swordsmanship to themselves, before... before this all happened. Ivan had ben practicing for three years already, he had long ago sold the scrolls back on the black market as he had memorised evry single detail of them. Earlier today, as he pretended to be going to the toilet in the end of the city, he sat there in waiting, for one of the guards to go and obey nature's call. They were strong, trained and armoured men, but noone brings a sword in the toilet. Ivan smiled, as a fat, muscular man in plate armour laid down his sword next to the bushes in order to releive himself. Ivan ahd been waiting for quite some time, so he made his move. That was it: life or death, freedom or death in the coal mines without food! He jumped from his cover nearby and tried to gab the sword. The guard, with his hands still on his thing noticed him, through his trained eyesight. The guard ferociously stepped, with his armoured boot on Ivan's hand and kicked him in the stomach with the other.
what he could not even guess, however, was that Ivan would dodge, with a movement that only hte ancient swordmasters of the fallen Kingdom had practiced, his kick and take the other one without even fletching. After being beaten for such a long time, a singe kick couldn't even bother him. Ivan pulled the sword out and with immense pleasure saw the fear materalising in the quard's eyes.
- Help me!! - the man shouted
- Noone will hear you here, trash - Ivan laughed sinisterly and witha perfect move stabbed the guard under his shoulderplates, where the armour was weak.
- You will never make it away from here! - the man said, as his blood was flooding the grass around them
-I alredy have- said Ivan as he violently kicked the guard and started to take off the armor from the latter's still living body. The guard tried to make a move for Ivan's eyes or head, but all he got were two quick stabs into his limbs as payback.
- It's hell out there... you... you will die - the man said as he was drawing his last breath
- This is hell. Nothing can be worse. - said Ivan quietly, as he put his blade into the guard's eye, extrcting an agonising scream from him.
- J...just k...kill me - the guard said in an intense hatred
- No, I shall not be bothered finishing dogs like you - Ivan grinned as he was tearing the rest of the guard's armour down - you will die here, alone, with only your fellow mongrels keeping you company!
 
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Ariana stood up. She had to get to the black market before sundown. That was curfew. And anyone out past curfew would be in the stocks all night. And if you were in the stocks, the demons would find you. They came out at night, and they would either burn you alive or drive you insane. Even if they didn't harm you, they would scare the voice out of you. You couldn't talk, which made it much easier for the guards to question you. Anyone who went mad was taken down into a private place in the mine, where you either work or starve. Ariana had seen them, as she had passed by to the main mines, the entrance to the "Mad Dungeon" as they called it, was revealed. Bars had been placed there so none of the madmen could get through. They hardly seemed human. She shook her head, and walked off toward the old tower.

The door creaked loudly, causing Ariana to look back to see if any guards were there. Satisfied, she stepped down the nearly crumbling staircase, into a world of color and light. She was in the black market.
 
The sun was setting, slowly but surely... Randy could tell from the way the shadows on the ground were slowly shifting towards the opposite direction of the sunlight. He remembered a rather old woman telling him about the black market when he had sneaked off for a brief break in the dark mines tiring of the constant labor; contrary to it's name it was a whole new world down there in the black market, you were practically almost free for the time being. All he remembered in the way of directions she gave him was "find the old tower". "What old tower?" He thought to himself looking left and right, attempting to figure out exactly what that woman was referring to... Perhaps the Black Market was just some crazy delusion she had, it wouldn't surprise him if that was the case, it certainly would explain why her directions were so vague, right? Then, as if out of nowhere, he caught a glimpse of an ancient looking guard tower, it appeared to have been constructed far before the current dictator here came to power. He shuddered remembering the rumors that he had even locked away his own son to ensure that his position wouldn't be overthrown by him one day. Focusing on his goal of getting to the black market again though, he started walking at a faster pace towards the ruined old tower, finally reaching it after a while. He headed inside realizing the door had already been opened, perhaps by someone else? Randy didn't care at the moment, as there was a lengthy staircase before him, presumably leading towards the black market. Without another thought he descended them as fast as he could not caring if he was just heading off to a dusty old basement... Then, just as he saw the lights that confirmed this was the place the old woman had been talking about, he bumped into someone. Quickly sticking his hands out and attempting to steady the person in front of him he snapped back to reality and looked to see who it was. "Her again..." He thought noticing it was that girl he had seen before "Sorry." he said almost as if on instinct, it was the only thing he could think of to say at the moment.
 
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"Oh, it's alright!" Ariana replied after being bumped by a boy she believed she had seen before. "Umm... so, is it your first time here?" she said, reaching into her pocket and feeling the cold metal of the necklace.
 
May held her head low as she walked, little stands of ginger red hair poking out of the ragged hood over her head. The petite girl held a market card in her hands, holding onto it as if her life depended on it. The last time she had walked alone like this she was robbed and beaten by a few madmen. Her small and fragile body simply couldn't help in the situation and a scar now adorned the top of her right arm as evidence.
Her pace was fast as she walked towards the bathrooms, not wanting to experience the same pain as before, and it didn't take her long to arrive there. A gentle sigh escaped her lips as she finally released her hair from it's prison, or, in other words, the hood. Her curly red locks gently danced in the slight wind and she had to fight back the temptation to pull back up the hood of her cloak. She looked up and the sight below her made her face go pale, hands shooting up to her mouth and the market card fell onto the ground.
"W-what are you doing!?" The short girl squeaked, horror in her amber coloured eyes. Despite living in such a rough environment, violent acts still scared her. It was a curse of her timid personality. Seeing this man plunging a sword into the guard made her want to run and scream but her legs wouldn't move. She gulped, her eyes watering. There was so much blood...
 
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nivek was running from the guards once again being caught without a market card making niveks only choice to run though and then nivek jumped on a building not know what one or really caring just trying to get away runs on the roof with gaurds closly behind him. nivek jumped off into another building crashing through the window. he laid there for a moment in pain the he looked around to see if he could hide some where then he saw a open down to what look like a basement he got up as fast as he could hereing the gaurds getting close he ran into the basment and shut the door then backed up as far as he could only to to see light come from be hind him.
 
Randy nods at the girl's question, quietly taking note of the fact that one of her hands were in her pocket, he tried not to glance at it too much. "Glad this place is real after all." He said, figuring he'd leave out the details of how he came to know this place, that would take too long for his liking, he shook his head a little absent mindedly at that thought. However a sharp pain from a cut opening on his face made him regret it just a little, that guard definitely hit him hard this time, and whenever that sort of thing happens, the cut ends up being roughly in the same place... Despite the large amount of pain from the freshly re-opened wound, he didn't look too phased on the outside, but he was clenching his teeth behind his closed mouth trying not to react to the pain that should fade fairly soon.
 
Ivan looked up at the petite little girl, as she stood with her eyes wide open looking at him. That he had not expected. Normally hardly anyone would come to this particular bathroom at this time of the day. His plan was perfect, when it came to escaping and sneaking out of the city with a guard's armour. Never, in his wildest dreams, had he even thought of the situation like this or how to act in these circumstances. Surely he was prepared for the fact that someone may catch a glimpse of him doing the "deed" and he was prepared to cut them down too. However something in him adamantly prevented him from even laying a finger on that fragile creature before him.
- I guess I'm still human after all - he thought to himself
- H-help me - the guard managed to whisper, with his own blood choking him as he stretched his hand towards the little girl
-Quiet, pig - Ivan commanded as he drove his sword through the dying man's throat. He did not plan to give him such a merciful death, but the situation has apparently changed.
-You there - he said after taking a gasp of air - what do you plan on doing now? Let me outline you your options: if you go back and tell the guards of this, you will get beaten and probably killed, just because of their blind rage. Trust me, I know. If you turn back and pretend not to have seen anything... well I don't know who knows you're here, but you may as well survive. Just so you know, though, life in this city is gonna be a helluva lot worse after they find out about me. The way I see it - he made a large pause, not even being able to believe he was saying this - is to come with me. Outside. In the great world!
 
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Ariana smiled. "If you need any help finding stuff, I can show you." she pointed toward a circle of stalls. "That's where you can buy food." then she pointed at the next circle of stalls-"that's where you buy clothes." then she pointed at a shady spot, where only a few stalls sat- "And that's where you buy weapons. I don't ever go over there, it's really expensive to buy one."
 
slowing walking twords the lights seeing that he was not alone just stays back not knowing where he ws or if the poeple around him were friend or foe so he just stayed trying to keep out of site but with no where to hide just stayed back.
 
May couldn't help but let out a little whimper as she witnessed the life draiing out of the guard pinned. Instinctively she looked away, her eyes tightly shut to prevent from gazing at the murderer in front of her. He actually killed someone, a guard at that... Something... Something like that shouldn't be able to happen... Right?
However, instead of remaining adamant and keep her eyes away from the other, she couldn't help but turn her attention on him as she spook. A shiver shook through her body at the mention of another beating, and her breath hitched in her throat. Memories flooded through her mind; the unbearable pain, screams of agony, almost unhuman sounding as they escsped from her mouth... And more and more blood... She never wanted to experience that again. Which is why his last statement intrigued her.
"G-go outside?" Sure questioned, dumbfounded. It sounded far too bizarre, even falling from her own lips. She did want to go outside with him, but what if he was just gaining her trust to stab her in the back, literally? She shook her head, almost stubbornly, her legs finally allowing her to take a step back. "Y-you're lying... You just want to kill me too, don't you...? You wouldn't let me leave..."
 
Randy glanced over to the few stalls that sold weapons, they looked quite worn and old but useful. "Well... I admit I'd try and buy one of those, even if it's just to help me get out of this hell-hole, but I hear it's actually much worse outside this city." he said with an exasperated sigh, but on the other hand he did have a few coins, even two gold ones... So perhaps he could buy something useful from the other stalls "At any rate... Do you have anything you want to buy from here?" he asked the girl gesturing around to the food and clothing stalls in a more gentle manner than he usually did so, most of the time he was gesturing at just how bad his environment was during one of his rants when he was working in the mines.
 
She nodded. "Just a couple of jackets and some food." she shrugged. "We'd better hurry. The the sun is close to setting." she began to walk toward the nearest stalls.
 
looks around not knowing what this place is just stays close to where he entered.
 
Seeing the girl had already gone off to look for her own items, Randy shrugged figuring he'd go looking for something useful he could buy himself and began glancing at each of the stalls. Each had either rather ragged looking clothes that were actually quite stylish if one ignored the few patches here and there, and some food that seemed just a little past their "due dates" but still good enough to eat. Nothing seemed to catch his eye quite yet to his disappointment, but he kept on looking, still a little hopefully he might find something eventually.
 
Ariana looked through the hundreds of weathered and colorless coats and jackets, always finding a flaw in each one. She pulled out her jeweled necklace, attempting to pry off one of the jewels. Finally, after several minute's work, it came off cleanly. "Perfect." she whispered, shoving the necklace back into her pocket. She glanced around at the jackets again. He eyes widened. Only a few feet away was a faded camo jacket. She joyfully pulled it off it's hanger. She looked around again and found a dull pink coat. She took both of them to the stall. "Alright, I want these two." The man at the stall looked astonished. "Those two cost a ton, miss. What do you have to offer?" Ariana smiled and revealed the jewel. The man's eyes glinted with surprise. "That'll about do it, miss. Thank you." he took the jewel greedily.

Ariana came to the food stalls next. At one stall there was a trough full of massive limes. She always enjoyed sour things. Ariana pulled off one of the tinier jewels and handed it to the startled woman at the stall. She then grabbed two of the biggest limes and shoved them into her pockets. And with that, she began to head home.
 
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shrugs and walks around to see what he walked into.
 
Ariana collapsed onto her bed. She rose from the bed to hear the wailing of her little sister. It had been several months since her mother was taken to the stocks, and she had not survived the demons. The very next day, the guards had come to burn down her mother's house. Her sister, Janet, and her brother, Tobias, were staying at her house, so they were well away from harm.
"Ana!" she heard her brother's cry. Ariana turned around to see him running up to her. "Tobias! How are you?" she said, embracing him. Tobias smiled. "They didn't get ya today sis! I knew you were gonna come back, I knew it!"
"Toby, you need to stay quiet. If the guards find out you're here, remember what happens?"
"Yeah. I know." any child found motherless below the age of fourteen were taken to the dictator to be turned into guards. Or worse.
"Good, now, how is Janie?"
"In 'er crib, as usual. I fed 'er the goat milk you got from the market."
"Great. Can you take these-" she pulled out the limes-"to the pantry?"
"Yes, Ana." he scurried away to the pantry. Ariana took out the two jackets. She stuffed them under the bed. If the guards found them, she would be in big trouble.
 
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