When Ryu emerged from the narrow streets of Blight and stepped into the square, the scene before him was a chaotic painting. The slanting sunlight enveloped the statue of a praying woman at the center of the square, bathing the bronze figure in a sacred aura. The statue's hands were clasped in the familiar surrender of those praying; the serene expression on its face contrasted with the chaos of the surrounding crowd.
Vendors lined up in a circle around the statue, standing behind their stalls displaying their wares. Bright fabrics, fresh fruit, exotic spices, and ancient weapons of war… Everything added a voice, a color to the din of the square. Their footsteps and voices transformed the square into a symphony.
Ryu paused briefly. His yellow eyes scanned the square, a thoughtful expression on his face. The wind gently ruffled his hair, and the echoing voices in his ears grew louder and clearer. The voices swirling in his head were reminiscent of the noise that had once been so disturbing to him, but now it was as if they had become a part of him.
He closed his eyes briefly. The scents of spices and fruit carried on the wind filled the air he breathed. He took a deep breath, then murmured:
"Today… I'd better play at least something," he told himself. His voice was low and determined. "At least I won't go to bed hungry tonight." He paused for a few seconds, collecting his thoughts, then added, "And those silhouettes… Maybe I can find something about them in the library."
With these thoughts, he stepped towards the crowd in the square. The wind billowed his shirt slightly, and the voices grew clearer. The murmurs of people, their anger and joy, flowed through his mind like a stream:
"How come this worth 50 bronze coins?!"
"Mom, please! Can we have some candy?"
"Did you hear? They caught the guy from yesterday and executed him immediately!"
Ryu felt a sense of unease within him as he slowly walked into the chaos of the square. He realized he wasn't just hearing people's voices; he was beginning to understand them. He couldn't just hear the words, but also the emotions behind their tones. Anger, happiness, fear… All of these emotions clashed in his mind like echoes off the echoing walls of the square.
"After that incident, my vision and senses changed completely. My eyes see more clearly than before, and my senses move like the senses of a wild animal. If I had to give it a name, it would probably be Panther, and for some reason, it just feels so cool," Ryu continued to speak to himself with a small smile. "But my head still hurts; that damn pain just won't go away."
Ryu put his hand to his temples, trying to ease the pain in his head. The roar of the crowd was growing louder and louder, like a drum echoing in his mind. Just as he had given up trying to understand what people were saying, a shout from a corner of the square caught his attention.
"Thief! Catch that kid!"
A vendor's angry voice reached his ears, pierced by the chaotic sounds in the square. The crowd instantly stirred, people turning in the direction of the sound. Ryu's eyes searched for the source of the scream, when he spotted a small boy scuttling across the square. The boy's thin frame and tattered clothing were enough for Ryu to recognize him; he was from the slums of the Blight, a survivor just like himself.
"I wonder when these vendors will learn not to take things so seriously?" Ryu sighed.
The boy maneuvered his way through the crowd, heading down a narrow alleyway, several burly men chasing after him. Ryu hesitated for a moment. "This isn't my job," he thought, but something deep in his heart stopped him. He remembered that he had once been in that boy's shoes.
"Oh, fuck," he muttered, and with a sigh, he began to push his way through the crowd.
Ryu took a deep breath, trying to quiet his thoughts, and instinctively moved to follow the boy. He glided through the crowd, his eyes still following the boy as he ran into the darkness of the alley. When the wind blew again, tossing his hair, he muttered to himself:
"I know this won't do me any good. But I can't just leave that boy... Ha! Wait, when did I become so soft-hearted?!"
Shaking his head, Ryu pushed those thoughts aside for now and continued onward. The shouts and heavy footsteps behind him eclipsed the din of the square.
As one of the men chasing the boy pushed through the crowd, a few fruit stalls fell, prompting angrily roars. But Ryu refused to be a part of the chaos, striding briskly along the edge. The boy had entered the darkness of the alley. Ryu followed him into this narrow passageway, impenetrable even by the dim light of the streetlights. The alley carried a strong odor of dampness and decay. The stone walls were buried in plaster, and the dark corners were filled with a menacing silence. As he followed the boy's rapidly receding footsteps, the pain in Ryu's head returned.
"That damn feeling again," he grumbled. The pain in his temples made the sounds and smells around him seem even more acute. The footsteps echoing off the walls had stopped abruptly. Ryu paused, trying to concentrate as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was then that he realized someone was moving to cut off the boy's escape. The darkness ahead seemed to suddenly thicken. A thin, anxious breathing coming from the street made Ryu's skin crawl.
The boy must have been trapped in a tight corner. But that wasn't the only problem. Leaning over the boy, Ryu spotted a silhouette, almost entirely shrouded in black. His eyes suddenly widened, for no apparent reason.
The dark street was filled with a heaviness that almost made breathing difficult. The air seemed to settle in his chest like a silent threat. The dim light of the streetlights cast long shadows on the stone walls, shrouding every corner in the darkness of the unknown. Ryu's eyes focused on the figure moving beneath the dim light.
That silhouette emerged from the shadows and appeared defiantly. He wore a long, floor-length black coat; the hem of it billowed with each step, moving as if the darkness were a part of him. His wide-brimmed hat cast a shadow over his face, but even the shadows couldn't hide those eyes. Yellow eyes.
These eyes weren't human. They were so bright, so intense, it was almost impossible to believe, for a moment, that they weren't of this world. That gaze, penetrating deep within, probing the soul like a judge, was both hypnotic and terrifying.
Ryu's breath quickened. "Yellow eyes?" he murmured, his voice fading into the whisper of the wind. Those eyes... evoked a familiar terror. But what was it? This feeling, lingering in the back of his mind, was like a foggy memory. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't clear the image.
The aura emanating from the silhouette had altered the air in the street. An invisible pressure was spreading everywhere, and even the walls were trembling, as if struggling to bear the weight. The small child, leaning against the wall, slumped to the ground in tears, felt that pressure most acutely. The child's thin frame seemed even smaller with trembling shoulders. His eyes were blank, his body set in stone; it was as if his soul had abandoned his body before this presence.
The silhouette paused. He bowed his head slightly and spoke in a deep, sinister voice.
"Where is that clock?"
This voice... wasn't just words; it was a wave of destruction. The words echoed off the stone walls, scattering like cold knives. The silhouette's voice was filled with a coldness that cut into one's bones. It was more than a threat; it was a verdict, an inevitable conclusion.
The boy tried to say something through trembling lips. "W-watch?" he mumbled, but there was not a shred of life in his voice. Fear had seized his entire being. The darkness the silhouette emanated was like a vortex about to swallow him.
Ryu leaned back against the wall, trying to conceal himself as much as possible in the shadows. But even standing there, the pressure on him was palpable. The air had thickened, almost tangible. The silence was as suffocating as the shadows. All he heard was the breath of a child gasping in fear just a few feet away.
The silhouette took another step forward and stood before the boy. As his long coat moved, the darkness seemed to flow with him. Yellow eyes gleamed from the shadows beneath his hat—cold, merciless, and menacing.
"Where is that watch?" the silhouette repeated, this time lower but sharper. The sound was as jarring as if someone had held a knife to his throat.
The boy wheezed in his throat, unable to form the words. His eyes stared at the Silhouette, but his willpower had completely collapsed. "I-I… don't know… what time it is," he finally managed to groan.
The Silhouette slowly lowered his head, moving closer to the boy's face. His voice came out as a whisper, but it echoed:
"Unaware? Don't lie. I can smell a lie, boy."
The boy's trembling intensified. The Silhouette reached out and touched the boy's shoulder. But it wasn't a gesture of comfort; on the contrary, the touch felt like the cold hand of death. As tears welled up in the boy's eyes, the Silhouette tilted his head and laughed softly. This laugh resembled a hunter toying with his prey rather than human amusement.
"If you were unaware of the watch, what are you afraid of? Perhaps you should explain," the Silhouette said, his voice filled with deep sarcasm. He removed his hand from the boy's shoulder and let it fall to the ground, but the aura lingered on the boy.
Breathing heavily, the boy stammered, "M-maybe someone else took it... M-maybe we can find him, I'll help you! Please don't kill me, sir!"
The silhouette was silent for a moment. Then, with a sudden movement, it leaned towards the boy's face. The yellow eyes were right in front of him. "Oh, do I scare you that much? And are you going to help me find her?" he said, each word deepening the boy's fear like a knife. "Hey, kid..." he continued, and suddenly, his grip on the boy's throat was tight, "Why would I care?" The pain in his throat made it impossible to stop his painful tears. "Let's say you didn't steal the watch, why should I release you? Why should I keep a bug like you alive? The light in his eyes grew even sharper. "Your very existence is a problem for me, do you understand?" he spoke in a mocking tone.
The boy was practically in a trance, practically face to face with death. While the silhouette was still holding the boy's throat, the boy could barely scream out in his pained voice. "Save me! Please, someone save me!" He couldn't stop his fearful cries as he cried, his words coming out in a muffled tone as his tears appeared on his face.
These words made Ryu tremble inside.He was out of breath, he didn't want to leave the boy like that, but the thought of risking his life if he helped him started to tremble in his body. The Silhouette's cold-blooded and decisiveness made it seem impossible to resist him.
"One watch... how can one watch inflict so much fear on a child?" His thoughts began to spin rapidly. "If this watch is what I think it is..." But before he could finish his words, a wave of fear rising inside him overwhelmed everything else.
Suddenly, an image appeared in his mind. A chaotic moment in the marketplace. That silhouette he had seen in the crowd a few days ago. A long black coat. A flirty hat. And most importantly, those eyes. Yellow eyes, those eyes that glowed and seemed to get to one's soul.
The conversation he had heard when he teleported next to those silhouettes.
"Did this kid really steal Black Panther's watch?"
It all suddenly flashed before his eyes. His heart began to beat rapidly, cold sweat began to run down his body, and he began to stutter in his speech, fearing the death that surrounded him.
"B-Black Panther?"