This chapter is rated PG-13. Unbeta-ed, so there's bound to be mistakes.

When Eun Hwa came to, it was in a strange place. He was lying on his side, head still throbbing achingly. The sack had been removed from his head and his hands were bound behind his back. He groaned as he tried to sit up. He managed after some difficulties.

Huffing, he blinked his eyes a few times to get accustomed to the dark room and promptly gasped as he made out several shapes in the dark scattered around him.

“H-He-Hello?” he asked nervously. “Where am I?”

Only silence met him. None of the shapes moved or made any sound.

Gathering his courage he inched closer to one of the shape closest to him.

“Hello?” he asked again.

This time a moan was heard as the shapes moved a bit.

Emboldened, he inched even closer.

“Sir?” he whispered.

The shape suddenly muttered, “Not a sir.”

Eun Hwa jerked backward. The voice was definitely feminine, so no, not a sir at all.

“Ma’am?” he tried again.

The woman groaned before moving closer to Eun Hwa. He finally able to made out the form before him. He could make out a pair of eyes peering into his own.

“Don’t call me that. I’m not old enough to be anybody’s mother.” The women grumbled.

“Oh.” Eun Hwa was at a loss as to what to say to the woman (girl?) in front of him. Her voice was hoarse, so Eun Hwa couldn’t really guess her age.

“Where are we?” he tried again, forgoing any kind of salutation.

“I think we were kidnapped by slave traders.” She answered.

“What?! Slave traders?!” Eun Hwa couldn’t help but shrieked. His outburst was met with several groans and a loud shushing sound from around him..

“What do you mean slave traders?” he asked again, this time making sure to keep his voice down.

“Just that. Slave traders.” She answered seemingly nonchalant, although Eun Hwa could pick up a slight quiver to her voice.

“You mean we’re going to be sold as slaves? Those men took us so they could sell us as slaves?” Eun Hwas said incredulously, his mind still couldn’t catch up to his current state.

“Are you stupid or what?” The girl – Eun Hwa decided to call her that in his mind-, was obviously getting annoyed at Eun Hwa.

“So-sorry” Eun Hwa stuttered. “I, I just… I just can’t believe this.” He tried to explain.

The girl snorted. “Yeah, none of us can. Now if you can just shut up for a moment that would be great. Some of us are trying to sleep.” She added before letting herself fell sideway.

Not long after, Eun Hwa could make out her even breathing, signaling that the girl had fallen asleep. With no one to talk to, Eun Hwa’s attention returned back to the slight throbbing on the back of his head. He winced at the dull pain, hoping that it was nothing too serious.

He tried to make himself comfortable, but it was difficult since his hands were in an awkward position. He tested the rope only to found out that it was tied expertly. Not too tight to cut off his blood circulation, but not too loose to allow him any chance of wriggling his way out of it. But that didn’t stop him from trying.

He tried twisting and rotating his hand and shoulder to loosen the rope, flexing his fingers to tried to reach the knot. Finally he gave up when all he had out of all his efforts were rope burns on his wrists and a pulled shoulder. He considered transforming, but realized he lack he willpower and focus to adequately summon the Rage. He also very much doubted he had enough presence of mind to maintain his Calm.

A sudden ruckus jolted him awake. He tried to sit up but his protesting muscles only allowed him to flop back down on the floor in an ungraceful heap. He groaned as he struggled to regain his balance.

“Get up! Get up!” A hand suddenly jerked him upright.

His head spun a little as he was suddenly forced to stand on shaky legs. Before he had any time to register what’s happening, he was being roughly dragged and then shoved through a door. He blinked his eyes blearily, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. He shuffled forward blindly as the man behind him kept shoving him forward.

When he could see clearly again, he noticed that he was in some kind of compound. Small huts scattered here and there, most were windowless with at least two men standing guards at the door.

‘Holding cells’. His mind supplied.

But what really shocked him were the rows of cages of various sizes in a small clearing just before him. The cages were filled with human.

‘Slaves.’ Again his mind supplied.

He was being pushed to the clearing, and he could see that he wasn’t the only one. All around him, men, women even children were being pushed or dragged toward the clearing.

Once they reached the clearing, they were then shoved into a line, apparently for inspection. A burly man with bald head and thick moustache were standing with a horse whip not far from them. With slow menacing steps, he slowly began his inspection, two men trailing behind him. One was lanky while the other had bushy eyebrows.

One by one he checked the captives, turning them this way and that using the tip of his whip. After each inspection, he’d hummed, occasionally spat, once he even let out loud curse. As the bald man getting closer to him, Eun Hwa felt nervous bile rising up on his throat. He tried his hardest to keep it down. The last thing he needed was to throw up all over the man.

The man finally stood in front of him, and against his better judgment, Eun Hwa raised his head and look at the looming figure in front of him straight in the eyes.

He couldn’t help but felt grateful that he grew up among Fangs. The sight that greeted him as he looked at the man wasn’t as terrifying as he thought. From afar, the man seemed intimidating, but up close, he wasn’t all that impressive.

Yes, the man was burly, but his stature was puny compared to his father’s giant presence. The bald head had nothing on his father’s coarse mane. The moustache was pitiful against his father’s thick beard. All in all, seeing this man after growing up around his father was like seeing a molehill after spending the rest of his life in a mountain.

Realizing that, Eun Hwa felt his nervousness bleed away. He wasn’t so cared anymore.

‘Yes I am a 10 year old boy, being held by a band of slave traders. But I’m a Fang for heaven’s sake. My father is the chief of the Blood Beast clan. I grew up around warriors. Why should I fear this? Why should I cower before this man?” he thought to himself.

A sudden surge of pride and bravery shot up his spine as he straightened himself. He pulled his hunched shoulders back, even puffed his chest out a bit. The defiance must have shown on his eyes, because the bald man suddenly grinned wickedly.

“This kid is a fiery one! I like him!” He shouted. Tapping his whip against Eun Hwa’s shoulder, the man called out to the men behind him. “Bring this kid to my cage. I’ll have so much fun breaking him down.” He added gleefully.

At the man’s words, Eun Hwa felt the fear slowly crept back in. But with determination he didn’t know he had, he stomped down on it and kept his cool. Nope, he was not going to be scared.

The burly man went on to inspect the next prisoner while his henchmen stepped up and took Eun Hwa out of the line. The lanky one put a hand on Eun Hwa shoulder and with surprising gentleness nudged him toward one of the smaller cage situated near.

The man with the bushy eyebrows fumbled around his belt for a ring of keys, picked out the right one then proceeded to open the lock on the cage. He motion for Eun Hwa to enter, which he obeyed albeit grudgingly. The lanky man followed behind and wordlessly began untying the rope that bound Eun Hwa’s hands together.

Eun Hwa gave a relief sigh as his hands were finally freed, and promptly winced as the stings of the rope burns made themselves known. He slowly rotated his shoulders, trying to get them to loosen after being pulled behind his back for so long. He turned at the unmistakable sound of lock clicking shut, only noticing that the lanky man had stepped out of the cage.

The lanky man looked at him with an unreadable expression then gave him an almost imperceptible nod. Eun Hae watched as the men returned to their place behind the bald man.

Emboldened by his previous revelation, Eun Hwa took stock of his current situation. The cage he was being held at was smaller than other he’d seen before. He tried to tug on one of the bars, testing its strength. To his disappointment, the cage was sturdy and the bars were closely spaced and pretty solid. Even If he transformed, he won’t be able to bend it. Seeing no way to escape, his eyes riveted to the scene outside his cage.

The burly man was almost done inspecting the line, he was currently standing in front of a girl Eun Hwa guessed to be no older than 16. The girl suddenly yelled and kicked the burly man on the shin. The man was caught off guard. After the initial yelp of pain, he backhanded the girl, hard enough to send her toppling to the ground.

From his position, Eun Hwa could see that instead of cowering, the girl only raised her head and spat at the burly man. Just like with Eun Hwa, the bald man found the girl’s defiance to be entertaining, and soon the lanky man was helping the girl to rise up from the ground and took her to the same cage as Eun Hwa.

The girl wasn’t one to stay silent. She shouted a string of profanities at the bald man while trying to shake free from the lanky man’s grip. Sensing that the girl won’t be as docile as their previous charge, the lanky man grip one of her forearm while the one with bushy eyebrows gripped the other and together they half dragged half pushed her to the cage.

As they neared the cage, Eun Hwa finally recognized the girl’s voice. She was the one he talked to last night. 

There goes the 2nd chapter. Next one will be posted tomorrow. Critics and comments are appreciated. Thank you for reading. :)