The Red Lands

The morning was blanketed with snow. A light flurry fell, repainting all the colored patches that were uncovered white.

In the shack, a fire blazed with five children sitting around it cheerfully eating a breakfast of melted butter and bread. On the inside of the walls, draped, patched sheets that blocked the cold and kept the inside warm and comfortable.

In the slum district, this would be considered a lavish lifestyle. Even in the village, no household could afford this type of living while supporting three young girls.

Since girls ranked as a liability and burden, this kind of joy would only be seen on the faces of those young misses of nobles and well-to-do citizens in larger towns and cities.

Of course, this was until they were married off to better the houses and clans they belonged to.

One of the key words in this society, Chu was beginning to be familiar with, that relates to people, young or old: OWNERSHIP.

He had more pressing matters to deal with than studying and researching the social norms.

"Chu, pass me some more bread because I'm bigger."

"Lucy! Give me more butter. I'm bigger than you."

"Dyna, hot some more water for me cause I'm bigger."

"Sakura, gimme another blanket cause you're smaller. I'm bigger."

Bap, bap, bap.

"Stop being a bully."

After Chu intervened, he went back to thinking. Seeing him in that mood, the rest kept their bickering down so as not to disturb him.

After a while, he raised his head to them and spoke.

"Ming, I need you to find two boys who can handle a horse. Find me someone I can trust like Lucy, or else don't bother returning."

"AHHHHH Chu, do you know how hard that is? I knew it, Chu, YOU TRYING TO GET RID OF MEEEEEEEE!"

Chu turned to Lucy, ignoring the raving lunatic.

"Lucy, I need a girl who has more knowledge of housework. If she is willing to fight, it's a plus. Most importantly, she has to be able to cook!"

The last time he asked this question, they were all stumped. Other than preparing porridge, they were all lost in the kitchen. Chu didn't want to be stuck with the role of a cook in this world. His goal aimed at exploration.

The last thing he wanted was to be tied down in a new world, cooking food for children. He reiterated to them, not for the last time.

As for them being able to find someone reliable in the slums, Chu wasn't worried. Reliable and honest people tend to stick out like a sore thumb in places like these. A network of chattering, hungry children could rate a person's character better than any lie detector.

The big problem lay in the fact that such people were just as scarce as gold in these parts. Living too long in the slums tends to change people, and not for the better.

"Remember! No freeloaders, I need people who can work. Don't bring me any lazy, trouble-making bums."

With that instruction, Chu grabbed a book to continue his self-study. Dyna and Sakura cleared the few bowls and shifted to a corner to resume their sewing tasks. Bales of cloth filled the corner next to them, stacked until the ceiling.

Ming returned first in the evening. He knocked on the shack and waited for Chu to exit.

Chu rubbed his cloked arms and sucked in the spiteful cold air.

Ming introduced the boy who stood next to him, taller by a head.

"This is Clod. Don't be fooled by his size, he is actually only fifteen. He's been in the slums since the end of last winter. He is the only person I can vouch for now. He once lived on a farm."

Chu scanned the boy at the side. If not for the usual conditions caused by a lack of food, the boy would have a typical build of someone used to hard labor. His short brown hair and honest face were typical of those who preferred the simple life.

A farmer can always be recognized. Nature has a way of whittling them down into hardy forms.

"With your age and skills, how come you weren't scooped up by other farmers or a village tradesman?"

Chu asked.

"I got a lame foot. I can't do much walking on it. People ain't gonna waste time on a handicap."

"How do you live then?"

The only work Chu was familiar with that paid money was delivering firewood. Clod certainly would not be able to handle the long walks into the forest.

"I work tending horses at the Trading Post. I get firewood as payment and sometimes get food scraps from the merchants. I normally barter firewood for food from my neighbors."

Chu nodded and led the boys to the Trading Post. After talking to Griz for a minute, he went to the stables. Talking to the guard for a moment, he turned to Clod.

"Hitch that horse and cart for me."

Clod looked at Chu in amazement.

This boy, younger than him, just waltzed into the Trading Post and blatantly talked with the fiercesome master. He then had the gal to lead him to the stables and drop an order like he owned the place. Worse yet, the guard didn't even bother with him!

Clod wasn't aware that most of these guards held the shift when their comrades carted in the Snowbear and the Great Horned Deer. Within the Trading Post, only a few remained unaware of the relation between the Master and this young boy.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

A shout shook him out of his thoughts,

"Hey! You think we all don't have better things to do? Stop wasting time and show me what you can do!"

Clod hobbled across to the stable and got the horse. Chu noticed that he had a slight limp as if one leg was longer than the other. In the space of a few minutes, Clod hitched the cart and led the horse out into the open yard.

"Good job, you can return the animal to the stable."

Chu took a moment to politely thank the guard. Heading inside the store to speak to Griz, he returned to meet them.

They walked to a secluded spot not too far from the rickety huts.

"I am going to be straight with you. What we do is dangerous. It is very easy to lose your life, especially with your lame foot. If you don't want to risk it, tell me now. We won't bother you again."

Winter arrived with its troubles. Clod remained as one of the few children still living alone. The main reason centered around his foot, which made him a liability in the eyes of others. Associating with him provided no advantages. Worse yet, when the merchants left on their journey, his little job would come to an end. His option to survive revolved around begging for the entire winter.

Blinking his eyes, Clod turned to the smallest of the boys,

"What risk are you talking about?"

"We go into the forest at night for hunting. Are you willing to chance it?"

Clod stared with a stupid expression. He struggled to make a decision. One was a slow death, the other was a swift demise. Painful memories resurfaced in his mind, and an overwhelming fear shocked him into trembling.

He swallowed down the bile building in his throat.

"I...I will join, I will go with you, but I really don't know how useful I can be."

He looked down at his leg in grief.

Ming patted his shoulder,

"Hey, hey. You will be going with a company. If we end up in trouble, we can just use you as bait. hehehe"

When Chu finished smacking Ming behind the head, he told Clod to meet them at the Trading Post in three days. He also bought him a rock bread so he wouldn't starve. Sending him off amidst the numerous thank yous and sobs, Chu and Ming walked back to the shack.

"Can you do anything right? I send you the first time to find someone strong, you come back with a girl. I send you to get a fit and able boy, you come back with a lame duck. Gimme one good reason why I should keep you....heh, huh?"

Ming cast his teary eyes at Chu.

He knew the boy wasn't mad and just joking, but he had to try to defend himself. He was smart enough to realize this person was frank and straightforward.

"I'm sorry, Chu, it's just that there are really two reasons a boy ends up in the slums. One is if he has no value, and the other is if he has broken the law. Clod just happens to be one of the few from the first."

Chu understood where Ming was coming from. Both of them were here through family circumstances. Most of the boys and a couple of younger men were here because of some run-in with the law. They were simply biding their time until Spring when the bandits showed up for recruitment.

"Don't worry about it, if it wasn't for you, I would still have to hustle firewood. You did well."

A slum is where the lowest of society are pooled together. Harsh means of survival are obviously going to breed anarchy in some form.

This was also the reason why chaos descended on the slums so quickly. If Ming wasn't acting as a deterrent, Chu might have already been beaten into submission. A small child like him was ripe for easy pickings.

Now that the gangs were forming, such a deterrent would simply have no meaning. The young men would eventually use them as work dogs or destroy their shacks for firewood.

"Ming, take Clod into the forest tomorrow and bring back the four spears that we were using. I want you guys to keep hanging around the shack with them. Anyone asked, you're preparing for those wild beasts in winter. That should buy us some time until we can leave."

Chu wanted to make it known that they would be armed for trouble. Of course, within the shack, they had the machetes to use. He didn't want to display those on the outside, that would just be asking for a robbing.

Returning to the shack, they found Lucy pacing around in front.

"Hey, where were you? I brought someone ages ago. Wait here, I'll go find her again."

Lucy ran of into the slums. Chu and Ming remained outside chatting while waiting. Soon Lucy returned with a girl. The girl was younger than Lucy suffering from food deprivation. She looked like a thin stick that seemed on the verge of toppling over. Chu fired out some questions on the spot.

He was THAT much afraid of her fainting.

"Can you cook?"

"Ammmm, yes, I worked at an inn before."

"What we do is dangerous. You would be risking your life with us, you still want to join?"

The girl gave a soft chuckle out of self-pity.

"What does it matter? I would be lucky to even last half the winter."

Chu opened the door to the shack and had Sakura take her inside.

"Make some porridge for her, only a little at a time, or she will get sick."

He shut the door and turned to Lucy.

"I still need one more person. Can you find a girl to help fight?"

"Yes, I have a friend I wanted to ask you about. She helped us out when I was taking care of the others. Please take her in, I think some boys are starting to pick on her. I was going to ask you later about it."

Chu knocked her on the head. This girl would rather fulfill his requirements than bring her friend into the group. These guys didn't bother to know that they ranked among the richest in the village in terms of cash. What better companions could he find?

"Get her then and bring her back."

Chu entered the shack and crawled to a corner to read. The three girls sat near the fire. The thought crossed his mind when he realized he didn't know her name. He decided to talk to her while Sakura heated the porridge. Dyna had already handed over a bowl of recently boiled water.

Chu talked as she sipped the warm water.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Sue."

"Where did you learn to cook?"

Sue worked in a farm Inn. These were normally found on the outskirts of the villages and catered to travelers. During an attack by bandits, the inn was burned to the ground. Sue escaped with another worker. Reaching this village, the man she had trusted tried to sell her into slavery.

He had her imprinted and became excited to have her sold. Being a drunk, he ended up picking a fight with a merchant and ended up killed by his guards. Sue escaped to a life in the slums, having no choice but to eke out a living.

"Why didn't you try working at the tavern?"

She gave him a wry smile. Rolling up the large sleeve on her robe, a burn mark the shape of a T was imprinted on her arm.

"The worker I was with had me branded. No business would take the chance to hire a runaway slave. The penalties are severe. Although he is dead, I have been cursed forever."

He looked at Sue now, in tears, with sympathy.

It made no sense for the girl to spew lies; the background of the characters living here could easily be investigated.

To reside in the slums meant a harsh story following behind it. With the drunk 'master' dead, she had no papers and was considered free for all as a runaway slave. Who knows if someone already had plans to turn her in during the winter for a few coins?

"Well, we are all together here. For better or worse."

"Chu, I'm back!"

Came a call from outside.

"Come in."

Lucy brought in her friend without even waiting outside. She quickly introduced the black-haired girl named Miki.

Miki and Lucy appeared quite close. Chu figured this out while questioning the girl.

Miki wasted no time in spewing out her skills. She possessed excellent climbing skills, not afraid of hard work, had no problems spending nights out in the wild, and stood ready to fight when directed.

He twisted his mouth and shot a glare at the blue-eyed girl sitting next to him..

"Looks like you're closer than I thought?"

"Miki saved us from starving once. I borrowed some coppers from Ming when we joined to help her buy a rock bread."

Chu nodded, forgetting the leaked answers to the recent interview.

Miki explained her situation as Sakura poured her a bowl of porridge.

She had joined a group within the last few days to avoid being bullied by others. Only to overhear that her new friends waited like hungry wolves for a chance to devour her.

Lucy's approaching her was like giving a lump of coal during winter.

Chu felt a new headache coming on. This group now consisted mostly of young girls. In all the villages and towns in the Empire, a poor gender selection like this would have been avoided like a plague.

For him, however, this presented an opportunity instead of a problem. He didn't conform to this population's mindset and ideals.

His headache stemmed from the fact that he now stood as the proud leader of a bunch of kids like himself. Together, they would stand out in a crowd like a sore thumb. Besides being a target for bullying, they would have to avoid the eyes of unscrupulous people who may try to take advantage of them.

In a world where the strong survive, who helped whom when all were weak?