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Warriors wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been in that room for, but it had to have been less than a day. The tiles beneath him were so cold that his clothes did nothing to aid him, sending the chill straight into his skin. He had been stripped of his scarf and green hero’s tunic hours ago, and the cold metal of the manacles bit into his wrists from where they were constrained behind his back.
Wind wasn’t doing much better, the thin of his tunic and undershirt combined with his shorts doing nothing to stop the shivers wracking his body. He looked so much smaller from where he was sitting on the other side of the room, knees drawn up to his chest. If he could, Warriors would have scooped the kid into his arms, but he had already tried. The chains binding him to the wall only stretched so far, and Wind refused to move from his corner.
He supposed that made sense. Wind was already awake when he first gained consciousness. He didn’t know what had happened between the time they were taken and now. His stomach churned thinking about it.
He heard the footsteps coming before Wind did, if the way the boy jumped when the door opened and slammed against the wall was any indication. The figure was tall, wearing all black with a hood and a mask that covered their mouth and noise - because of course, they would be. They never did have the courage to show more than half of their face.
Then again, he shouldn’t have expected a shred of bravery from any of them considering that they stole his kid brother for leverage, most likely.
The figure tilted their head dangerously, their eyes sparkling in the dim light. “You’re finally awake, hero. That’s good - we were worried that we hit you on the head too hard. It wouldn’t be any fun if that was how it ended, now, would it?”
Warriors kept his expression even. “Enough of the pleasantries. What is your end goal?”
They tutted, shaking their head. “Surely you’re not that blind to the plight you’ve laid upon this kingdom, are you, Captain Lawson? Is that truly how little they all meant to you?” Their voice was low yet eloquent, their words neatly enunciated - from the richer part of Castletown, if Warriors had to guess. Perhaps suggesting a noble background? They certainly spoke like one, but he couldn’t be sure if they had grown up in the higher class or had simply learned from being around royalty.
“That’s not an answer to my question. What do you plan to achieve?”
“My goal, dear captain, is to gain justice. To tip the scale. To finally set all of the poor souls that you killed to rest.”
Warriors clenched his jaw. “And how exactly do you intend to do so?” Surely, the plan wasn’t just to kill him. If that truly were the case, he wouldn’t have woken up chained to a wall.
“Oh, you haven’t figured it out yet? I thought it would be quite obvious.” The corners of their eyes creased with a smile. “I want to break your spirit. I want to crush whatever lies in that chest of yours instead of a heart.”
How predictable.
Unfortunately, Warriors had an idea of where this was going to go next.
They reached out, grabbing Wind with one hand and wrenching him out of his stone corner. The boy let out a strangled yelp, kicking and scratching at their larger hand, but he was ultimately pinned against their chest as their captor pulled out a dagger.
“Let’s see here… There are so many options. I could cut off his hand… Hm, perhaps that should wait until later…” They traced the blade slowly up the side of Wind’s face, leaving a thin slice in the skin that welled up with blood. Wind thrashed, and Warriors noticed that he had never even been tied up - they must have assumed him too weak. The arm of their captor squeezed him tighter, lifting his legs off the ground a little.
“Maybe I could make him match that big guy in armour that I saw trailing you like a little dog, captain. What do you think? Wouldn’t they look like quite a pair?” They looked to Warriors, moving the dagger just below Wind’s right eye, dangerously close to piercing his eyelid. Wind trembled as though any slight move would render him blind, and Warriors flexed his wrists in their constraints, the chains clanking as they were pulled taught.
They moved their hand just a little, and Wind lunged forwards, biting down on their arm. They made a noise, their eyes twitching down into a frown as they ripped their arm (which must have been padded under the thick black clothing they were wearing) out of his mouth and gripped at his bottom jaw with the arm that was squeezing around Wind’s chest. They pulled down, forcing Wind’s jaw to open uncomfortably as the boy squirmed.
“On second thoughts,” they hissed, raising the dagger to Wind’s face once more, “I should take all your teeth out. Maybe that’ll stop you from biting like a feral fucking animal.” They turned back to Warriors again. “What say you, Captain Lawson? His teeth or his eye first?”
Warriors steeled his glare despite the dread in his stomach. He thought he had been prepared. When he first joined the Chain, when they had coined each other brothers, he had told himself that this would be a possibility. He had run through this scenario countless times in his head, assured himself that he knew what to do.
It was so different now that it was actually happening right in front of his very eyes.
“Your silence isn’t an acceptable answer here, captain, there’s no one to speak for you this time.” They rolled their eyes.
“And if I don’t choose?” Warriors asked, but he already knew the answer.
“Then I slit his little throat right here,” they said like it was simple, moving the dagger down and pressing it against Wind’s neck. The sharp metal bit into Wind’s flesh, and the sailor’s eyes widened as a drop of blood ran down his neck. “He’ll bleed out all over this stone floor before any of your comrades can find either of you.”
As if on cue, Warriors felt his earring ping - he couldn’t respond in a way that mattered, but he was certain Legend was nearby if the strength of the magic signature was anything to go by. They couldn’t have known it was magic, considering they had let him keep it in the first place.
“Well? Time’s ticking. The boy has to lose something. Will it be his eye, his teeth or his life?” Their captor sounded almost bored, tilting their head.
Wind was still, the dagger still pressing against his neck. He didn’t make eye contact, but Warriors could see the firm resolve in his eyes.
Before Warriors could say anything else, a tremor ran through the room, sending dust down from the ceiling as a muffled howl filled the air.
“What the hell was that?” Their captor muttered, turning to the closed door for just a second. Wind was lowered down only an inch or two, but that was enough for the sailor. Wind stomped on the figure’s foot hard, causing them to grunt. Their arms released him, and he barely managed to get out of their grasp, and for a moment, Warriors was so proud.
Then, Warriors saw big arms grab Wind as he was pinned against a wall, his desperate hands the only thing stopping the dagger from plunging into his chest.
“Sailor!” Warriors called, moving forwards but grunting as the chains pulled against his arms uncomfortably. Wind’s hands were shaking from the strain, the taller figure looming over him. Wind’s hands gripped theirs, his knuckles white and his eyes wide with adrenaline as Warriors could only watch.
Then, Wind kicked at their stomach, wrenching the dagger out of their hands before plunging it into the side of their neck.
They froze for a second, eyes wide, and nothing happened. And then Wind yanked it out, eyes blazing with a mix of rage and terror as he stabbed forwards again with a strangled shout, cutting across their throat and sending blood spraying across his hands, chest and face. The red liquid spurted out for what felt like an eternity but was probably only a second before the masked person fell to the floor with a sickening thud, making visceral, wet choking noises as a pool of blood bloomed beneath them.
The stench of iron hit Warriors, and he looked back at Wind. Wind still held the dagger tightly in both hands as though he had just swung, a drop slipping off the dagger’s sharp blade with a splash against the stone ground. The boy just stared, panting. Then Warriors could see the moment that everything clicked in Wind’s eyes, and his heart sank.
“Sailor,” Warriors said as evenly as he could. “Sailor, don’t look at that. Look at me. You need to flag down the others.”
“I… I didn’t-!”
“Link. Look at me.”
Wind didn’t. He doubled over, raising his hands to his mouth to cover it before he paused, staring at the blood on his hands. His eyes were wide and frenzied, his chest heaving as he struggled. “I-I didn’t want- I- I didn’t- Oh, fuck, they…”
“Sailor,” Warriors was pleading at this point. “Sailor, come on. Look at me. Don’t look at that, look at me.”
The boy finally looked at him, splatters of blood staining his face as tears fell down his cheeks. His hands shook as the dagger clattered to the ground beside him, his bold, blue tunic covered in splotches of red that would likely end up purple later.
Without a word, Wind walked over to the now silent corpse, ignoring how his boots squelched in the puddle as he reached into their pocket and yanked off a ring of keys.
“Sailor, you don’t… You don’t have to do that, we can wait for the others,” Warriors said quietly, but Wind was already unlocking the chains at his wrists, his eyes wide and yet unsettlingly blank. When his wrists were freed, Wind still stayed there, staring like he didn’t quite know what to do next.
Warriors didn’t quite know either.
He reached out, taking Wind’s shaking hand gently in his own, ignoring the blood that was beginning to dry and crust. Wind blinked like he was just registering his surroundings.
“...Captain?”
“Yeah,” Warriors nodded, trying to be calm. “Yeah, it’s me. You’re okay, kid.”
Wind’s breath hitched as he started turning back, but Warriors gently stopped him with one hand, turning his head back to him. “No, don’t- Just… Stay with me, okay? The others are going to find us soon.”
For a moment, Wind was silent. Then, he shuddered, making a sound that sounded a little like a retch. “I-I… Fuck, I actually killed them, I didn’t…” Wind laughed almost hysterically, tears streaking down his cheeks again. “I-I didn’t- I didn’t want to, they- they had a knife, and they were gonna hurt you and me, and I- I-!”
“You’re okay,” Warriors tried to comfort Wind gently as the boy crumpled against him, taking in huge gasping sobs that wracked his entire body, “You’re alright now. It’s okay, you’re gonna be just fine. I’ve got you now, you’re okay,” He wrapped his arms around the younger hero like he could shield him from the past as he heard loud footsteps and familiar shouts from the corridor. “We’re gonna be just fine, alright? We’ve got you- I’ve got you.”