Click.. Chop chop chop chop. Click..
" How did you survive the Star fall?" Relen asked as if it was a simple question.
Swosh. Sizzle. Swosh. James' hearing was drowned out by the sounds of the pan, he almost thought he heard wrong but Relen repeated.
" How did you survive the Star fall?"
James sighed and shrugged. " I'm not sure. The most I remember is waking up in the kiln. "
Relen's shoulders relaxed a bit before shaking his head. " You're one lucky guy"
James sat down for a few more minutes and let the food settle in his stomach. He patted his belly and cupped his fist around his mouth before letting out a light burp.
Relen seemed to be engrossed in cooking and Xchitzo cat had also just finished his meal before turning to James and hissing at him.
James frowned but didn't follow up, instead he stood up and turned to exit the Lodge.
Relen looked over his shoulder slightly before returning to his dish.
Sizzle.. Sizzle.. Vwosh… Relen expertly handled the pot and left it to simmer before heading out of view.
James made his way to the entrance of the lodge and stepped outside. Once again he was greeted by the smell of coal and ash but his nostrils were finally getting used to it.
Stepping out he made his way onto independence street and looked toward the kiln at the top of the hill to his left and decided to head the opposite direction.
'I'll go back to Ziggy's later. I want to look around for a bit'
James spent the next half an hour wandering around the Garden. The garden's structure was maze-like. Some streets were filled with foot traffic while others were reserved for carriages and other transport. Alleyways and side streets even remained in a constant emptiness. Sometimes figures could be seen hunched to themselves within the corners of the darkness.
From the centre of the Garden heading out the city was structured with the residential area being closest to the kiln, followed by the commercial district including places like the Lodge and Ziggy's store. However, industrial presence could be felt the most with thick smoke stacks pumping out grey coal ash.
James determined that these stacks were purposefully spread around to allow for a blanketing effect of the ash over the garden. The cycle could be concluded as such:
The kiln produced coal.
The coal is then transported to the industrial sector that is both surrounding and scattered within the commercial and residential area.
The coal is then used in furnaces to smelt materials, in the commercial area the coal may be used to heat cooking ovens and make bread, roast meats, dry leather and other materials. Some of the coal was even used in homes for heating and boiling of water.
This system provides a relatively comprehensive culture within the garden and also keeps society relatively peaceful.
James couldn't help but glance upwards at the hill that housed the kiln's structure. The lilac flame remained everpresent. His gaze climbed even higher towards the seven spoked star that dangled in the heavens. The star still cast its dim glow upon the world but it had slowly begun to drift below the horizon.
From James' perspective the star drifted slowly behind the Kiln ushering in the beautiful amber of twilight.
James' gaze grew distant as he began to think about Gasper and Hazel and wondered if they were also looking up at the same sunset. 'I miss them...I wonder how they are doing?'
James let out a tired exhale and shook his head. 'I'll find them eventually'. James continued to make his way around the Garden and happened to wander into a particular industrial district within the southern quadrant of the Garden.
Buildings branded with the symbol 'VVV' puffed out smoke and young men hauled concrete and slag to and from erected structures. Carriages marked with the three V's were loaded with supplies.
The cries of horse-cockle's stamping the ground as they sped off were everywhere.
James in his distraction walked into the way of an incoming carriage.
GOBBLE! GOBBLE! BOKK! BOK! BOOOKKKKK
James, hearing the sound of the horse-cockle, froze in complete awe. Luckily he was quickly pulled to safety.
" Kid, What are you doing? Do you not see you're on a supply road?"
James stared at the man who just grabbed him, he was dressed in similar overalls and slacks. The slacks were coated in concrete dust and his armpits were drenched with sweat. His hands were also covered in a leather-like gloving material. His hair was cut low and the tips of his scruffy beard seemed to be seared off and curled due to high heat.
His bloodshot eyes gave James a good glance up and down. The man began to scream at the top of his lungs " You don't work here? What are you doing in Victor Vivian and Veance's turf?"
"Who?" James furrowed his brows.
Seeing the genuine confusion on James' brows and his lack of self awareness something clicked in this worker's head. " Ohhh, get a load of this boys!"
The worker pulled James into a sheltered alleyway
Suddenly James was surrounded by two more people.
" You don't have concrete to be pouring Groud? " said a large chubby fellow, whose white top did not cover his stomach properly. His face was round and sweaty even standing still beads of sweat continued to build up along his forehead
The third was a similarly burly fellow to Groud. However he had a set of deepset eyes, he seemed to be lacking sleep. He replied to the chubby man. " Steel from the Buddhist temple's not coming through with the outposts overrun. We're just playing in wet mud at this point."
Groud looked at his fellows and pointed toward James " Tick, Bugger, It's that boy that those Firekeepers died trying to save. Sucks to be those fucks am i right kid? They think they're better than us laborers because they can use their karma? Well I got some karma for them right here" Groud grabbed his crotch and jiggled it up and down.
James' expression turned grim as he felt his karma lake bubbling slightly. However he didn't immediately retaliate to their provocation as he had no real attachment to the firekeepers that died but he still felt a genuine disgust for what they said. ' I guess Relen wasn't telling the truth, life's not so valued here after all. '
Bugger the chubby one laughed out loud and began to wheeze. Tick laughed as well but kept sizing up James.
Tick gripped James' shoulder with an unnatural strength. James looked at Tick's hand covered in soot, dirty his shirt and frowned even further.
Tick scowled. " Fix your face boy, Were just fucking around. But hey, I heard you're from earth right? Tell me is it true that the girls are tighter over there? I heard from one of my boys they couldn't even go outside without a man? Is that true?"
Tick's expression drifted away from James and he didn't even notice the drool trickling down the sides of his mouth for a second before he regained his composure and wiped his mouth. His eyes seemed to focus once again as if he just woke up from the most beautiful fantasy.
James heard enough and sighed. "I don't know-"
"Aw? Really- Shit man. That fucker Frogo lied to me." Tick released his grip from James seemingly losing interest. He wiped the rest off the grime off his hands onto James' shirt and patted him once again.
" Hey, welcome to the Wilds kid. Don't die too soon. Maybe you'll build up enough karma to become one of those firekeepers."
Tick was about to turn away when he felt something grab his wrist. He looked at James whose expressions were filled with a deep disappointment and sadness. He even seemed to be tearing up. His platinum karma had begun to evaporate from his karma lake. However this time the hue had shifted to a deep yellow as it flowed out from his pores.
" Huh? What? You didn't like what I said? You don't have to cry about it you-"
The yellow karma buldged near his palm as he clenched his fist.
" Hmm?" Tick frowned feeling a chill run down his spine. " Hey let me go you little shit"
Tick cocked his fist back and lunged it at James head.
James did not react. Time seemed to slow down for him in that split second as things ran through his mind. ' Damn…I guess this place isn't much different from Earth…People like this exist everywhere. Even in a world where there is something as amazing as this…why? I hate it. I hate it. This isn't what I wanted to see. '
James looked up a split second before the fist connected with his face.
Weave.
James crouched down and his fist collided with Tick's Face. Tick's eyes widened and bulged out of his skull as he felt a strange impact force. His face felt extremely heavy as if his head gained 100 pounds and his face accelerated towards James' fist.
It was almost instant, all of the energy was compressed against his face, like it was colliding with a stationary pillar. That's the last thing Tick felt before his head cocked back and he fell to the ground and a portion of his skull caved in
Groud who saw this blanked out. " What? Tick?"
James did not process what he had done yet but he quickly used his spring steps to close the distance between him and Groud in half a second. Once again, James applied a fixed force to his fist accelerating it towards Groud's chin.
Groud felt his head rattle before his clenched upper and lower mandible slipped past eachother, tearing his teeth like a tectonic shift, ripping canine and molars from their roots as he fell to the floor.
Bugger noticing that they were alone on the street immediately wanted to scream for help but James landed a flurry of punches to his rotund body. Each punch felt like there was an unnatural weight behind it, like being hit with a battering ram. The force travelled through his gut rupturing a few of his internal organs.
Bugger coughed up a mouthful of blood and covered James in red.
James blinked and stared at his fist which had made an indent into Bugger's abdominal sheet. James stared at his hands.
"Oh."
Without waiting to be seen James' karma lake once again began to boil as the the shade of his karma shifted back to its original platinum hue.
Using his spring steps James sped further away from the Lodge, entering the outskirts of the Fire Garden. Covered in blood James sped past most people faster than they could process.
He turned in a secluded gully and rolled down to the water and began washing himself off. In the water. He didn't seem to care about the quality as long as what was on him was coming off.
" What did I just do? Damn it, I fuck- I have to go back" James resolved himself to go back. " I can't just leave, I just killed those men. I have to take responsibility. I have to call the police…Police?"
James caught himself. This wasn't Earth…Those guys were scum. ' Yeah…I don't have to be afraid…I did this place a favor.'
Something in the back of James' brain said that wasn't right but he needed to feel right in this moment so the lie became the truth. 'I did the right thing.'
Unbeknownst to James at the base of his karma lake three black pebbles slowly drifted towards its depths.
Simultaneously at the scene, from the shadow of the alley way a man in a bright pink suit twirling a cane stepped closer and closer to the bodies. His every step seemed to be soaked in suave and style. His eyes were covered in green tinted rimmed glasses and a wooden pipe filled with smoke billowed from his lips
Half of his upper row of teeth were lined with platinum and half of his lower teeth were lined with gold as he flashed a wide grin, his dental crowns glittering even in the shadows.
He poked the Fat body of Bugger and shook his head.
He then circled around and poked Tick in the crater of his skull with his cane, mixing his cranial fluid and grey matter into a soup, nodding his head at the wet messy sounds it made before flicking a piece of his brain off the cane. Finally settling his eyes on Groud who was still conscious.
Groud's Jaw was broken and he was wailing in pain but he still did his best to retreat from what was in front of him. He knew what he was looking at and was afraid. His misaligned lower jaw dragged into the dirt as he tried to mouth with his tongue.
" Nuh, Nuh Plue , nuh nuh"
Groud did his best to inch backwards through the pain as the figure approached him twirling his cane.
Tap. The base of the wooden cane that was soaked red in the blood of the tick stopped an inch below his face.
Groud looked up and the sun seemed to be swallowed behind the visage of this man, casting a wholesome shadow over his face.
" Nuh, Nuh Plue" Groud cried and cried and cried.
The man lowered the rim of his glasses revealing glittering eye sockets with Circular Diamonds. His eyes glittered in the light as he smiled even wider after lightly tapping Groud's stomach.
Instantly the three bodies began to swell and swell before popping like a firecraker and scattering into common rocks and stones.
"How Dandy!"
The figure glanced at the stones and laughed before strolling back into the shadows.