Chapter Text
First Blood
----------------
A murder of crows pecked through the rubble to find any scraps of food to eat. They were unaware that they were being hunted. Uvogin was crouched on bare feet; it was easier to be silent that way. His eyes never strayed from the murder as he approached from downwind. He had managed to completely erase his presence. He silently hoped his stomach wouldn’t growl and ruin another hunt. Once he was close enough, Uvogin pounced. The murder immediately took to the skies. With practiced precision, Uvo swiped his hand and knocked down two birds. He wasn’t as lucky the second time and the rest of the crows flew away. While his prey was stunned, Uvo quickly grabbed them and wrung their necks. He tied their feet with the other bird he caught. Three birds; it wasn’t a bad haul.
It was then that Uvogin’s stomach growled loudly. He patted it with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll feed you in a bit." He slung his catch over his shoulder and headed back home. Uvogin circled around the back way. He hopped over fences and checked around corners. There was no one out on the streets. Good.
Normally, Uvogin wouldn’t have to do any of this. Meteor City may have been a trash city, but it was able to sustain its population. The people looked out for each other. ‘I shouldn’t have to be doing this…’ Uvo thought bitterly, a scowl crossed his face. ‘If not for –‘
“Well now. You’re up late.” A snide voice cut into his thoughts. Uvogin looked up to see three men blocking his path. Damn. He had gone out of his way to avoid this.
“Whatcha doing, big boy?” Another one asked.
“I’m taking a relaxing walk.” Uvo snapped back. The men laughed in response. They only felt confident enough to approach him because they outnumbered him. Uvo has always been big for his age. At fourteen, he towered over the fully grown men easily.
“And what’s that on your shoulder, Uvo?” They asked him. Uvo bared his teeth.
“You don’t get to call me that!” Uvo growled. Only a few select people could call him Uvo.
“You’re not answering the question, kid.”
“It’s called ‘none of your damn business’. Now get out of my way!”
“That wouldn’t be food, would it?” They asked, even though they already knew. Uvo tensed, knowing a fight was about to happen. “How much food you got there, bud?”
“Looks like three birds.” Uvo whipped his head around to see two other men come up behind him. The situation was turning from bad to worse.
“Hmm… Jackal’s cut is 50%... Gonna be hard to split three birds evenly…” One of the men from the front drawled.
“We’ll take two birds off your hands and call it square.” They chuckled at the boy’s reaction to their demands. He needed these birds. They slowly started to close in on Uvogin. The boy kept circling to try and keep all of them in his sight. He took the birds from his back and held them close to his chest to keep them out of reach. The men laughed again.
“Those are the rules, kid. You know that.”
“It must be hard. A growing boy’s gotta eat.”
“Jackal is more than willing to give you all the food you need if you joined the gang."
Uvo let out a bark of a laugh. “In your dreams!” He spat. Jackal really wanted to get Uvogin to join his pack of scum for a while now. He knew Uvogin would become a force to be reckoned with and wanted him under his thumb. It’s why the group went out of their way to harass the boy. But Uvo turned them down every time.
“Well then. We’ll just take our cut and be off.” One of them approached Uvogin with his hand extended. The boy narrowed his eyes. ‘Not this time.’ He threw out a right hook into the man’s gut. Everything in his lungs and stomach were expelled before he collapsed on the ground in a quivering heap. The others took a step back in surprise. Until now, Uvogin had reluctantly acquiesced to their demands. He only did it because he respected the laws of Meteor City, unlike them. But now, Uvogin was too desperate to let them have their way.
The boy held out his free fist with a grin on his face. “You want your cut? Come and take it!” That snapped the rest out of their surprise. They all charged the boy with ferocious yells.
----------------
Had Uvogin had use of both arms, he was certain the fight would have been easy. As it was, protecting his catch with his left arm put him at a great disadvantage. A nasty bruise was forming on Uvo’s cheek, and his back was aching from all the blows he received. Despite the pain though, Uvogin was ecstatic. It’s been a while since he had been in a good fight. Even if Jackal’s goons were a bunch of lowlifes, they were fully grown men who fought for a living.
And Uvogin beat them all with one arm.
Despite his excitement, he couldn’t let it go to his head. Jackal still had a whole gang at his back. No doubt those bastards Uvo beat up were scurrying back to Jackal, telling him how Uvo was defying his rule. As much as he hated to admit it, Uvo couldn’t fight an entire gang on his own. Especially not on an empty stomach.
Once again, Uvo scowled at the necessity of all this. Jackal shouldn’t be allowed to control the food supply. The council was supposed to do something about it, but so far nothing has happened. He suspected the council was debating on some unimportant subject before making a move. How stupid: while they talk, people starved. It pissed Uvo off to no end.
Even by Meteor City standards, Uvogin’s home was a dump on the outskirts of the city. The walls were made of old wood instead of clay other buildings were made of. A tin roof was barely bolted down on the top. As Uvogin grew older, the tiny hut started to become cramped. He lost count of how many times he hit his head on the ceiling.
Well now there was a good reason to move.
“Mom?” He called out as he entered the hut. “Pack whatever we have. I’m going to cook this food and then we have to go.” There was no answer; she was probably sleeping.
Uvo tried again. “You need to wake up, mom! We need to move! I’m thinking we should move to the town center.” Once again, no response. Uvo furrowed his brow. He put the birds on the table and went to the bedroom. The door was a rotting plank of wood. The boy opened it and ducked his head to enter the bedroom. His eyes immediately found the hand that poked out from behind the moth eaten blanket. Instantly, Uvo was across the room. He pushed the blanket aside to reveal his mother. She had gotten out of her bed and seemed to have crawled her way to this spot.
The boy felt like he was sucker punched in the gut. He couldn’t breathe. Wordlessly, he crouched down and flipped over his mother. Her eyes were empty. Unable to look at her eyes, Uvogin turned to her belly. It was sunken in from malnutrition. Uvogin stared at her torso, searching for the telltale signs of breathing.
Even though he already knew he’d find none.
After a minute, Uvogin accepted reality: his mother was dead. Everything went numb at the realization. Gently, Uvo lifted his mother into his arms. She was so light, Uvo felt as if she would fade away at any moment. He turned and exited the hut. Uvo worked without thought. He had found a shovel and dug a hole beside their home. Time blurred and the next thing Uvogin could remember, it was dawn and he was sitting in front of his mother’s grave; a rock placed on top as a marker.
A growl came from his stomach. It seemed to jumpstart Uvogin’s senses as all his emotions came flooding back. He let out an anguished howl. He had been too late: he couldn’t get enough food to his mother in time. Uvogin’s thoughts raced through his head as he glared at nothing. This shouldn't have happened! This shouldn’t have happened! Uvogin clenched his fists until his nails cut into his palm. Everyone had failed his mother: The people who knew of her situation and ignored it. The council for bickering over nothing. Himself for not getting enough food. Jackal for starting this whole stupid food tax to begin with.
His jaw was starting to ache at how tightly he clenched it with anger. Uvo needed something to unleash his rage on. And he knew exactly who. Until now, his mother reminded him of the laws of Meteor City. But Uvogin no longer cared. Jackal had no respect for the laws, so in Uvo’s eyes, he no longer had the protection of Meteor City.
With a plan in mind, Uvogin stood up. He needed to eat something before he did anything.
----------------
Jackal’s base was near the junk piles outside the city. Usually, the area was covered with carrion birds, but the area was disturbingly silent. They felt the bloodlust coming from the fourteen-year-old boy who slowly walked towards the building and fled. Uvo saw the guardsman leaning against the door and glared at him with determined eyes.
The man wasn’t aware of Uvogin yet. His eyes were unfocused from tiredness. He felt Uvogin before he saw him. Suddenly, a heavy pressure surrounded the man and he jolted up to see Uvo stalking his way towards him.
“I’m here to see Jackal.” Uvogin stated simply as he approached the man.
“Jackal’s not seeing anyone, boy. Though he said that you were –“ The man was cut off as Uvogin pushed him against the doorframe. His forearm pinned the man’s throat and cut off his air.
“I’m here to see Jackal. Take me to him.” Uvogin growled in the man’s face. He did his best to nod against Uvogin’s arm and the boy dropped him. The man nervously pawed for the door handle without tearing his eyes away from Uvo before all but falling in when the door opened. The boy followed silently. The commotion from outside was heard and other gang members poked their heads out to see what was going on. Uvogin ignored them as murmurs rose around him.
Jackal was sitting on a pillow, eating a fresh fruit. The sight further enraged Uvo. His escort quickly ran up towards Jackal and whispered something in his ear. The man finally turned his attention to the teenager in the doorway. A nasty grin appeared on Jackal’s face.
“Welcome, Uvogin! I take it you came to join our little family.” Jackal didn’t state it as a question. The boy straightened up and glared at the man.
“Actually, I’m here to kick your ass.” Uvo replied. The building went quiet in disbelief. Even Jackal’s grin fell at the statement. The two studied each other for a moment before…
Jackal burst into laughter. The others followed their leader and join in the ruckus. Uvo continued glaring at Jackal as he waited for him to stop laughing. Eventually, Jackal reined in his laughter. He wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m sorry, could you say that again?”
“I’m here to kick your ass.” Uvogin repeated. This time, Jackal didn’t find the statement funny. He studied the boy with a critical eye. “I’m challenging you to a duel, Jackal.”
“And why would I accept?” Jackal asked with a raised eyebrow.
Uvogin figured he would be too much of a coward to accept. Luckily, he had a plan for that. “Because if you win, you get what you wanted.” Uvo jerked his thumb at his chest. “I’ll join your stupid gang. And if I win, you get the hell out of my city.”
Suddenly serious, Jackal stood up and tossed the unfinished fruit over his shoulder. The thoughtless action made Uvogin bare his teeth in anger. Jackal studied the teenager in front of him. “You have a pretty serious advantage over me in this situation.”
“If you want to use weapons, go ahead. I don’t care.” Uvo said, waving his hand dismissively.
“Oh? And are you going to use any weapons?” Jackal asked. Uvo just shrugged. That seemed to placate the man whose grin once again appeared. “Alright then I accept. Apologies if I break any bones, kid.”
Uvo grinned back at the man. “That’s what I was going to say."
----------------
Their fight was to take place behind the building. It was a small area that was fenced off by piles of trash. The men had set up makeshift stands on either side so they could watch. Jackal was confident in his victory. He raised his arms up to his men as he waved around a sledgehammer. Uvo watched the display with frustration as he stretched his arms. Uvogin would make sure the man would pay.
Jackal put his arms down and wielded his hammer with a confident stance. “This is your last chance to back out, kid. I’d prefer not to hurt you too much.” He drawled lazily.
Uvogin grinned as he cracked his knuckles. “You’re not squirming out of this one. Now shut up and fight!” Uvo roared and charged at the man. Jackal took a step back, surprised at Uvo’s speed, and swung his hammer out. The boy had to change direction to avoid the hammer. He flanked Jackal and threw out his fist. With a surprising amount of control, Jackal turned to Uvo and held out the shaft of the pole to block. Uvo’s fist hit metal, jarring his arm. Grinning, Jackal let go with his right arm and hit Uvo in the gut.
Uvo tensed his muscles to lessen the blow. It still hurt and caused Uvo to stumble back onto one knee. Jackal was stronger than Uvo anticipated. He heard the man laughing above him. Jackal held his hammer over his shoulder.
“What do you say, Uvo? Give up yet?”
“You don’t get to call me that!” Uvo snarled and lunged at the man. The boy was too close to block with his sledgehammer in time. Uvo threw all his weight into his shoulder and bowled into his opponent. Jackal swung his hammer into Uvogin’s back. It wasn’t a strong swing, but the weight of the hammer still hurt as it slammed into Uvo’s shoulder. While Uvo was distracted, Jackal punched the boy in the still healing bruise on his cheek. Uvo shouted in pain and backed off.
It gave Jackal enough time to recover and he was on the offensive again. He kept the boy at a distance, swinging the hammer in wide arcs. It also forced Uvo to stay on the defensive. Uvo couldn’t block, so he could only dodge the weapon. Slowly, Jackal forced him into the wall of trash. Uvo growled as he felt something stick into his back.
“It’s over, boy. You’re mine now.” Jackal leered.
Uvo spat in front of the man. “It’s not over yet!”
The man scowled at the insulting gesture before he prepared to swing his hammer again. “Very well. Guess it will have to take some broken bones to put you in your place!” Jack swung the hammer down, only to be stopped by a piece of pipe Uvo had pulled out from the trash pile. Too stunned to react, Jackal was helpless as Uvogin wrestled the hammer from his hands and threw it in a random direction. “But –“The man was cut off as Uvo shoved him to the ground. His hands easily encircled his neck.
“I never said I wouldn’t use weapons, idiot!” Uvo said with a wicked grin as he started to squeeze.
Uvo was still not strong enough to snap the man’s neck, so he settled for strangling him. Jackal writhed underneath him in an attempt to free himself. His hands scratched at Uvogin’s arms, leaving bloody marks. Uvo shrugged off his efforts and watched Jackal’s face with morbid fascination. It was turning red from the lack of oxygen. His eyes bulged from their sockets and his mouth hung open. A small amount of drool dribbled to the side.
It was slower than Uvogin liked, but then he remembered his mom. The weeks spent wasting away; her body eating itself in a last, desperate attempt to get nutrients. How she slowly died right in front of Uvo and he didn’t even realize it until it was too late. No. This man deserved worse. But if Uvo can give him even a fraction of his mother’s agony, it would be worth it.
Jackal’s face turned purple, then blue. His struggles slowly weakened. The drool turned into foam as Jackal pleaded for mercy with his eyes. Several minutes passed until finally, Jackal’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp. Jackal was dead. With trembling knees, Uvogin stood up and looked at his hands. The adrenaline rush slowly faded as he realized that he had just killed a person, with nothing but his bare hands.
It felt amazing.
A wide grin stretched across his face, and he clenched his hands. Uvo always wanted to be strong, but this was the ultimate proof of it. He had the power to take someone’s life and they couldn’t do anything to stop him. If this is what he could do now, Uvo wanted to know what he could do when he grew up. He had to grow stronger.
Uvo then realized Jackal’s gang was staring at him in shock. “Well?” He asked them. They flinched away. He was still on a high and he didn’t want it to stop yet. Uvo held out his arms. “Anyone else wanna go? I just killed your boss! Isn’t anyone going to come down here and avenge him?” On the word ‘avenge’, Uvogin kicked Jackal’s body. The men gasped in shock, but no one moved. The teenager was disappointed. “I guess that makes me your new leader. Alright then. My first order is to get the hell out of Meteor City. If I see your pathetic faces ever again, I will kill you!”
They scattered like sheep, leaving Uvogin alone with Jackal’s body. His body was brimming with excitement. Uvo raised his fists above his head and roared with delight.