Makeshift Hearts

District 58

"Wake up boy" said a man with a gruff voice. "This is as far as I'll take you". The sailor woke up Rei and kicked him off the ship. 

"Where am I?" asked Rei oblivious to the sign that read, "District 58: Pier 6". He was on the docks of District 58. District 58 is in the Upper Neptune Partial. It is in the greater half of the districts and has seasonal temperatures. District 58 had a large port with ships constantly coming and going. This particular District had a Port Captain watching over it. "I guess this is where my journey begins. I should probably get moving. It's already late too, ugh," groaned Rei. He strolled across the board walk towards the city. There were containers full of cargo on the pier and in large warehouses. The smell of The Great River Rei had sailed on dispersed and the smell of the city streets filled the air. It had rained recently as the pavement was wet and raindrops littered the storefronts. The murky smell of sewage also ran through his nose and he winced at the stench. 

Most of the stores were closed and if they weren't, the shutters were down and people weren't allowed inside. "Gosh darn it what do I do now? I was hoping to at least find some place to stay for the night." Rei walked down a few more blocks before he started thinking again. "I guess I should just lay low for now and wait till tomorrow to find a place to stay," thought Rei to himself. He walked across the street and into an alley between a bar and department building. He was used to working by himself but he wasn't familiar with this landscape in the least. There was an old couch in the alleyway next to a large cardboard box. The box was newly tossed and  the couch was relatively clean. "I wonder if I can use my ring to clean this thing up," said Rei. He took out his ring and put it on. The rough metal scraped his finger and gave him a small cut. He tried to ignore the pain and did what he could to try and conjure magic. He groaned and whispered gibberish. He pointed at the couch and yelled, to which he was scolded by an old lady who lived on top of the department store.

"This thing's a phony!" yelled Rei. He took off the ring and threw it on the ground. It miraculously didn't break, but Rei's little heart did. He slumped onto the couch and put his head down. "I thought Uncle Ferdi was cool but he just gave me a lousy ring with a dumb old yellow rock in it. That's no gem." Rei 's face scrunched up and the blood rushed to his head. He had never been angry at his uncle before but now that he was, he felt lost. The only person that he had confided in had cheated him. He recollected all the memories of Uncle Ferdi teaching him about the other districts. The stories of central and the magic that was in the world. None of it was real. The adventure he longed for was not real. "Ugh I give up," moaned Rei with his head in his hands.

"Ay dude. Looks like we got a straggler over here. And she ain't lookin so cute but we can doll her up ya know what I'm sayin'?" said a man from down the alley. 

"That ain't no dame you pinhead," said another voice. "It's a runt and he ain't gon sell on the market."

"Oh..." said the first voice. "Ay ay ay now. The kid don't gotta be on the same market ya feel?" A chill ran down Rei's spine as he realized that they were talking about him. He got up off the couch and planted his feet on the ground when he heard footsteps. They were coming from the direction of the voices and the two men came to light. They were both large with big frames. One wore a pair of boots and a trench coat while the other had on sweatpants, sneakers, and a hoodie that was clearly way too small on him. "Come here you brat!" The two men lunged for him but Rei was already scrambling away constantly tripping and picking himself up. Although he was fast, he was still just a kid and the two men caught up to him in no time. He was only able to run for about half a block to a streetlight where he was pinned against the pole.

"Where ya runnin' to brat? Your mom and dad aren't round here so where ya goin'?" said the man in the trench coat as he held Rei by neck against the lamppost. "You better not be lookin' for Gale. We made sure he was outta town." Rei's screams were weak and pathetic. His vocal cords were being crushed by the man's calloused hands. He squirmed and tried to break free but he was still just a boy. These adults were almost three times his size.