This chapter is rated PG-13.

The first thing she did after being shoved into the cage was to scramble to her feet and slammed her body against the cage. The metal bars rattled a bit, but the force of the impact sent the girl staggering backward. The men who brought her didn’t bother with the rope, so she still had her hands tied behind her back. Undeterred by her bound state, she gave a loud cry as she threw herself against the cage once again. This time, the impact was harder and instead of staggering, she was sent sprawling on the floor.

Seeing the girl struggled to get up, Eun Hwa quickly went to her side.

“Stop.” He said firmly as she noticed the gleam in her eyes, one hand placed gently on her shoulder.

The girl shook herself free of Eun Hwa’s hand, but he was having none of it.

“Stop!” He said again, louder this time. Both of his hands firm on her shoulders.

His sharp tone seemed to startle the girl. She ceased her thrashing and slowly turned to look at Eun Hwa.

“It’s enough.” He said as their eyes met.

The girl’s mouth opened and closed without any sound coming out.

“Don’t hurt yourself anymore than this.” He added as he let his hands fell from her shoulders.

The girl suddenly wailed and Eun Hwa found himself with a handful of crying girl. She had launched herself at his smaller frame, and not expecting the sudden weight, he didn’t have enough time to brace himself. They both toppled over to the floor with Eun Hwa ended up crushed under the girl’s body.

“Sshh, it’s okay. It’s okay.” Eun Hwa awkwardly patted her arms, trying to calm the girl down.

He found this situation to be truly bizarre. Just last night he was the trembling mess while the girl was the strong one. Now in the light of the day, he found their role reversed. He continued patting the girl’s arms hoping she would stop crying soon.

Honestly, he was bemused by his own behavior. A day ago he was a kid who foolishly let himself got kidnapped. Last night was no better. He was a nervous wreck. The mere mention of the words ‘slave trader’ turned him into a blubbering weakling without an ounce of bravery. But when he was finally face to face with his captor his courage returned tenfold. What brought the sudden change?

And then it suddenly hit him. It was fear of the unknown.

When he was cornered by the men in that alley, he was scared because the place wasn’t familiar. He was being hunted on a foreign territory, a place he never set foot before. If he was being ambushed in the savannah, he would totally act differently. He wouldn’t hesitate to transform and fight back –or run away, whichever worked best to his advantage.

 Last night, he was in an unknown place, with unknown people. Moreover, he was bound. He had never been tied up before. Never. He may be weak, but he’s still his father’s son. No matter how much the clan member talked and ridiculed him behind his back, they still showed him some modicum of respect. Chances were they called him stupid when he wasn’t around to hear it. But they would never dare say it to his face.

He was a carefree child, not even his father could restrict him for too long. He’d always found a way to get out of his responsibilities, to do what he wanted to, instead of what other people told him to. To suddenly have his freedom taken away was a blow to him. Coupled with the possibility of being enslaved, to do whatever his master bid him, it was too much for him to handle.

And today, during the inspection, he was scared at the thought of meeting the person who made him feel powerless. He imagined the man to be someone terrible, someone with power strong enough to beat his father. Because then, it would be easier to cope, easier to understand where the fear came from.

Instead, the person he saw was so ridiculously plain. There was nothing special about the man. He didn’t feel the oppressing aura of a battle hardened warrior exuded by the Fangs. Nor the flaming charisma of a leader that he always felt every time he was around his father. Nothing at all. Thinking back, he could honestly say that he was disappointed.

That’s why it was easy for him to shed his fear and gain his courage.

He ended his musing when he realized the sobbing girl had stopped crying. He sighed in relief. He was getting uncomfortable with being squished under a crying girl.

With a final sniffle, the girl raised her head from where it rested against Eun Hwa’s chest.

“Thanks.” She mumbled.

“No problem.” Eun Hwa said as he offered a small smile to her. ‘Here, let me help you get up, then I’ll see what I can do about your rope.” He added as he wiggled from under the girl.

He then helped the girl to sit up and proceeded to take a look at her bound hands. After few minutes of tugging, the rope was finally untied. Once freed, she immediately wrapped her hands around herself. Eun Hwa noticed that she was slightly shaking.

“Are you okay?” He asked the girl.

She didn’t answer at once. Instead, she hugged herself tighter.

“My name is Eun Hwa. What’s yours?” He tried again, hoping to get a reaction from the girl.

She finally looked up at him. “I’m Ara.” She answered meekly.

Eun Hwa smiled at her. “Good to meet you Ara. Although I wish we could met under different situation.” He added with a shrug.

Ara gave him a small smile in return. “Yeah, I wish so too.”

“Does your cheek hurt?  I saw that man hit you.” Eun Hwa couldn’t help but notice the beginning of a swell on her left cheek.

She winced, hand raised to gingerly touch her cheek. “It hurts a bit, but nothing I can’t handle.”

Eun Hwa was glad to see some spirit returned to the girl. He preferred the fierce Ara who snapped at him last night, rather than the sobbing girl from earlier.

“I hope you kicked him hard. Too bad you didn’t aim for his groin.” He said.

She barked a surprised laugh at his words. “Yeah, I should’ve kicked him in the nuts.”

Eun Hwa tilted his head. “Nope, I take it back. It was lucky you only kicked him in the shin. Otherwise, he’d done worse than just hit you.”

She visibly paled. “Ye-Yeah. You’re right.” She mumbled.

Eun Hwa sighed. “Come on. Where are your spirits? Just last night you were snapping at me. I’d like to meet that fierce girl again.”

“That was you? Huh, I barely recognized your voice. Last night you screeched so much I could’ve mistaken you for a rat!” She retorted.

Glad that his diversion worked, Eun Hwa pretended to pout. “I wasn’t screeching. I was merely surprised.”

“Yeah, right.“ She rolled her eyes.

“You can’t hold that against me. I was entitled to be screechy as you put it. I was hit and kidnapped!” He said in mock offence.

“I was too. But did you see me annoy anyone with my screeching?” She huffed.

“You didn’t. You were brave last night. I’m sure you can be brave now too.” He said, staring into her eyes.

Hearing him utter those words, she sat up straighter, eyes locked on Eun Hwa’s. “I was brave, wasn’t I?”

Eun Hwa nodded. “Very.”

She smiled at him. “You’re not bad yourself. If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t know that it was you who interrupted my sleep last night. With your screech and constant nagging, I barely had any sleep at all!” She harrumphed.

“Enough with the screech already! I wasn’t that bad. I merely asked you few questions, not nagging you all night!” Eun Hwa replied indignantly.

She laughed again, longer this time. When she’s finished, she raised a hand to ruffle his hair. “Thank you Eun Hwa. I feel so much better now.”

Eun Hwa gave her a smile. “I’m glad that you do.”

She sighed and retracted her hand. “I didn’t know what came over me. I think it just dawned on me while standing on that line that I’m about to become a slave. Until last night, I could pretend that it was all a nightmare. That I’ll wake up in the morning and everything will be okay. I’ll be free. I’ll be with my family again. So imagine my shock when I was rudely woken and then dragged there.”

Eun Hwa snorted. “Yeah, I can hear your shock just fine. I felt like I should have a bucket of soap water ready.”

Ara hit his shoulder, a slight blush painted her cheeks. “Smartass.”

Eun Hwa snickered. “So, kicking him. Was that you being surprised?” he teased.

Ara glared at him and scoffed. “I like it better when you screeched.”

“Nah. I’m passed the screeching stage. I’m more on the ‘pretend to be docile and observe everything’ stage.”

Ara looked at him, surprise evident in her eyes. “Who are you?” She asked. “Where is that nagging kid I yelled at last night?”

“I told you. I’m pass that.” Eun Hwa shrugged.

“Aren’t you scared?” Ara asked timidly, fingers playing with the hem of her skirt. “I mean, I thought I was brave, but seeing that man….” She shuddered. “He was so terrifying, so big and strong. I thought I was going to die when he hit me.”

“We just reacted differently I guess. You were brave but seeing him made you scared. But for me it was the contrary. I was scared, but seeing him made me brave.”

“Seeing him made you brave? Kid, you turned out to be more stupid than I thought.” Ara said incredulously. “Didn’t you see his body? How big it was? His moustache? His whip? Who in their right mind would feel brave after seeing that?”

Eun Hwa smiled at her. “But that’s just it Ara. For me, he’s not scary. That’s why I can be brave. He’s not someone I should be scared of."

“Are you serious? He’s not scary? Is there something wrong with your eyes?”

Eun Hwa snorted. “My father is hundreds, no –thousands-, time scarier than him.”

Ara regarded him silently. “I’m so conflicted right now.” She finally admitted. “Either you’re very brave, or a stupid liar kid with bad eyesight.”

Eun Hwa smirked. “What I am is not important. What’s important is for us to be brave and strong. We can’t have you breaking down in a sobbing mess again or for me to return back to my screeching self. So we need to stick together. We’ll be okay. We’re going to get through this. I know we can.”

 “For a squirt, you sure talk a lot.” She giggled. “Okay Eun Hwa, I’ll stick with you. Can’t have you revert back to rat form now, can we?”

He was about to retort when the sound of the cage door being opened was heard. In unison they turned to look. Ara gasped and moved closer to Eun Hwa’s side, while the boy gritted his teeth and leaned forward to shield Ara from the newcomer with his small body.

It was the burly man from earlier, along with his two lackeys. He smiled crookedly, his eyes sparkled with unholy gleam. And in his hand, he held a red hot branding iron.

Can the ending be considered a cliffhanger? Anyway, next chapter will be up soon. Thank you for reading. Critics and comments are always welcome.