Objective: Fire

Chapter four

The room was dark.
Completely dark.
Slowly, his eyes opened. More darkness...His hands were tied and there didn't seem to be anymore in the room with him, at least not at the moment. The sound of dripping water could be heard and that could only mean one thing, there was water above them... witch could mean they were under water... in a mountain, or it could simply be raining outside, but Brine was sure they're weren't in a big stone cold house made out of rock. No, this place was not above ground.
He took a deep breath, trying to think straight. What had happened? He couldn't remember clearly.
He remembered the village... and the trip he had been on with the clan leader... he reached getting very ill... but why? Or how? He couldn't remember. Neither could he remember how he ended up here in this cold and sad place, with his hands tied and the cold tearing him apart, nor did he know who was holding him captive... or at Brine he couldn't remember.
He thought for a second to call out for help, but to be honest, that only sounded ridiculous. Who in the world would help him? and did he really need help?
It didn't take long until someone came around. A door opened to his left and two masked guards enters the room. at first, the light was to bright for his eyes to see clearly, but it didn't take long until he got his sight back and noticed the guards. They seemed familiar somehow....
" he's awake, good." The guard to the right spoke and gently grabbed Brines left arm to pull him up from the ground. They were being gentle, something Brine took notice off.
So far, they were treating him nicely, witch probably meant he wouldn't be dead in five minutes. But they were keeping an eye on him, witch also meant he was a prisoner. At least for now.
Brine took in every detail of the place. He studied every corner of it, already preparing a plan if it turns out to be necessary. All his life, for as long as he could remember, he had been trained to do exactly this. Strategy. He was trained to be prepared for anything, and to expect anything, because one day, something was going to happen, and to his big mistake, he had lowered his guard back up with the Mountain people. He had thought he was safe there, and he had been for about 4-5 years. But of course the day would come. He couldn't remember much, but he knew he had lost because of his guard being down. He wasn't prepared for what would come and this lead him here. Still, he wasn't in to much danger yet. His master had trained him well...

After walking through a hallway, they finally reached a door. The room inside was empty, except a table and two chairs. The guards lead him inside the room and forced him into one of the chairs while tying his hands to some metal bars that were connected to the table. After they had finished their work, the guards left the room quietly.
The room went quiet. As he had been trained to do, he studied the room and the handcuffs. Not much to say except that they're of good quality. These people were professionals, that he could tell.
It didn't take long until the door behind him opened, and he could hear footsteps. The pattern in his walking was unusual.. witch told Brine that the man most likely had an injured foot. As soon as the man walked past him and towards the other chair, his suspensions were confirmed. What he didn't expect though was that the man wasn't really a man, but more at the age of a kid. Younger than him by maybe 3 years?
" it's been a while hasn't it, Brine or should I call you 01?" This caught him off guard. But Brine didn't reply. Of course they knew who he was... why in the world would they kidnap him otherwise.
" I don't recall who you are" Brine replies coldly, not showing any emotion.
" well I can't say we really knew each other, but I used to look up to you." The dark haired boy replied.
" but you probably didn't even know I existed back then and I don't blame you. I'm 45, or you can call my Morro, that being my actual name." Morro grins at the older youth and reaches out a hand to greet him him. But brine didn't move. In fact he seemed bored.
" why am I here" Brine spoke coldly, ignoring Morro's hand.
" you know, it's such an honor to actually meet you" Morro continues.
" why am I here" Brine replies, not showing any interest in hearing how honored Morro felt to be in his presence.
Morro took his hand back and now got more serious. He sat down at his chair and leaned forward, his face close to Brine's face.
" I know who you are. Who you truly are. There's no need to hide that. In fact, we're both more alike than you think."
Brine narrows his eyes at the younger boy.
" then you probably know why I left the league in the first place" this caught Morro's interest.
" from what I've heard, you died."
This brought a small grin on Brines face.
" that's right, and it worked. What blew my cover? My master beloved me to be dead, and so did the whole league." Brine spoke, slowly leaning backwards in this seat, his hands still tied to the table.
" what can I say? We would still have believed you to be dead if one of our agents hadn't spotted you in Sticks not to long ago. He followed you and your Leader friend to the mountains." Morro replies, grinning evilly at Brine who didn't give any sign of care in return.
" get to the point kid" Brine was starting to get bored. The Morro kid had been avoiding his questions.
" Brine, I know who you truly are... and there's no reason to hide from that anymore. I know you were the first Renegade. The original Renegade. I know you have served the league your whole life, killing for them, destroying lives for them. You were his apprentice, and you were like a son to him. Now that he's gone... you're his rightful successor. You're the rightful leader of the League."
Brine stared at him. Unsure of what to say or feel. So this was the reason to why they had been treating him nicely. They were looking up at him as their rightful leader...
" to bad. I'm not interested" with that, the chains that held brine captive suddenly falls off and he stands up from the chairs, turning away from a shocked Morro and walked towards the door. As he reached it, the same two guards entered, holding up their hands to stop him.
" you are not allowed to leave sir" they spoke, preventing Brine from leaving the room.
" you know... we kind of expected you to not accept our offer, and that's all your choice, but, think about those poor people living in that snowy mountain. What would happen to them? Perhaps... a very bad accident?" Morro interrupted Brine, catching his attention.
" don't you dare hurt them.." Brine warned, clutching his fists in anger. A dark smirk grew on Morro's face as he quietly pulls out a small box.
" well, I guess you don't have any choice but join us then. If you want to keep your people safe of course. Join me, and we will destroy the ninja together Brine, the world needs to be fixed. And the two of us can do it together!" Morro places the box onto the table in front of them.
" you're insane..." Brine mumbled, not liking this sick situation. Whoever these ninja were, he had nothing to do with them.
" I don't want to be your leader." Brine groans angrily, not moving his eyes off the boy.
" oh, that won't be necessary, leave that to me" a dark voice suddenly spoke from behind Brine. A tall man walked into the room, wearing a suit in back and blue, covering his face with a mask.
For some strange reason, this man seemed familiar, But Brine couldn't recall to who this could be.
" it's been a while Brine, I don't expect you to remember me, neither is that important at all, take a seat please. We don't want something bad to happen to your little village do we now?"  A strong arm grabbed Brines shoulder and forced him down into his chair.
" don't... don't hurt them.." brine mumbled. He hated to be overpowered like this. This guy... he couldn't put the pieces together to who he was! Why couldn't he!?
" we won't, as long as you work with us, there's no need to fight back Renegade, obey and you will be rewarded. Disobey and you will pay"
He hated this... he hated them.
" fine...."
Even through he couldn't see it, he knew that the masked man was grinning underneath his mask.
" good to have you on the team, Renegade" the dark figure spoke, laying a hand on Brines shoulder. He felt the urge to knock it off, but resisted the temptation.
" one more thing." The dark figure gave Morro a short nod, and Morro quietly nods, opening the box before them.
" after the league fell, I was caught underneath tons of boulders, but it was thanks to my new master, who saved me from a crushing fate, he gave me a home and a purpose to live. Together we searched through the ruins of the league and stumbled across these." Morro smirks and holds up the box for Brine to see.
He quietly lifts his head to look at whatever the box contained, and was confused at what he saw.
" two snake bracelets...?"