I followed closely behind Gray as he did his best to dash across the rooftops, circling back towards the south.
The members of the tainted gang didn't bother chasing us. It seemed that their mission was to keep us away from their territory, rather than hunting us down.
The entire time that we travelled, Gray held a hand over his eye and swore to himself in pain.
"Fuck, fuck FUCK!"
The blood never stopped leaking from his wound.
Once we escaped the tainted territory and were reacquainted with the smooth air of the south, Gray finally slowed down to a stop.
The sun had begun to set above us, and with it rose the moon.
I managed to get a closer look at Gray's wound, as the man stomped his feet In pain.
"How bad is it, Red. Is it fucking over for me?"
He removed his hand from the wound, granting me a better look.
Where his eye once was, was now a bloody cavity. His caramel skin had peeled around the area, and now was a fleshy pink colour. The blood oozed from the wound and dripped from his chin, landing on his black jumper.
I hesitated before answering truthfully.
"It's bad. Real bad."
Gray swore again as he stomped off, continuing towards our location.
"We need to get back to the HQ and find a healer. I can't die... Not yet... I have things to do..." The man muttered from over his shoulder, as I continued to follow him back into our territory.
I can't die.
I was familiar with that feeling, though I'm sure we both felt that way for different reasons.
Gray must have had a story of his own. One that urged him to push through an event as tragic as losing an eye.
Perhaps he has family somewhere in StoneCity. Or maybe a goal that he had sworn that he would achieve.
Regardless, I respected his willingness to survive, which overshadowed the anger that I felt towards him for getting us in such a situation in the first place.
There was no reason for us to push so deep into their territory, was there? Especially when we were so under-prepared.
I saved the thought for later.
---
After a tiring journey, we finally made it back to the headquarters. The sun had since set, and our breaths were heavy from the journey.
Gray wasted no time pushing through the doors of the large mall.
The headquarters were much more packed with gang members now that it was nighttime, most likely having returned from missions. As soon as they spotted Gray's condition, he was swarmed and taken to a healer.
After he was taken, that left me alone. No one in the gang had come to me to ask what had happened or if I was okay.
It didn't bother me, but it was just something I had come to understand about the world of gangs.
Tier 1 members were overlooked, it seemed. If I wanted more respect, I would need to climb the ranks.
But how? How was I meant to rank up my Tiers and earn new abilities?
And just how high did the tiers go?
Before trying to find answers to any of those questions, I decided to search for Bleacher.
After all, he was the one who had asked us to go on the patrol. Gray was in no condition to report back to him, so it only made sense for me to do it for him.
---
After asking around, I managed to find Bleacher.
The HQ had a training area, which was really just another pit in the underground train station.
Inside, I found Bleacher.
The man's RPG was resting to the side, and he was practising martial arts forms with his army knife.
For a while, I simply watched from the side. The man's skill with the blade made me wonder if he was a Slasher as well, or at least a Fury within the Fighter category.
But the rocket launcher on the side told otherwise.
Suddenly, the man stopped training and looked up at me from the pit. He still wore a smile on his face and hardly looked like he was breaking a sweat.
"Red." He called, running towards the walls of the pit and climbing up them without using his hands. He landed in front of me gracefully.
"Back from your patrol with Gray?"
Unfortunately, he hadn't heard the news yet.
I would have to be the one to break it to him.
Before starting, I let out a deep sigh.
---
After explaining the events of the patrol to Bleacher, the man idly scratched at his chin as if in deep thought.
"Coming up against three Tier 2s was unfortunate for you both. There was no chance you could win." Bleacher said with a sigh, pointing out the obvious.
"However, it was Gray's fault for taking you so far into Tainted territory. You didn't even have masks to defend yourselves from the fumes. It was a poor decision from him."
As Bleacher continued, I noticed that he was growing frustrated at the situation. It made sense, after all. He had entrusted Gray to lead me, and the man had almost gotten both of us killed.
But there was still something about the patrol that bothered me.
"So why did he do it? What was Gray's reason for taking me into the enemy's territory?" I asked.
The question turned Bleacher's face grave.
Before answering, the man walked over to the RPG that lay on the side and strapped it to his back. I still struggled to believe that a gang member had access to such military equipment, but I guess it made sense in a world of magic.
I only hoped that I'd never have to fight a man armed like that.
"The gang life isn't cut out for everybody," Bleacher responded solemnly, as though his mind was drifting to distant memories. "Gray's childhood has been rough, and I believe it's troubled him. At the age of ten, he witnessed the death of his best friend at the hands of the defenders."
The Defenders.
That was a name that I hadn't heard mentioned yet. I didn't dare ask who they were, in case I exposed myself as a man foreign to this world.
Then, suddenly, Bleacher looked over at me, as if he was considering something.
He stayed silent for a few moments.
...
"Tskkk, there's no harm in telling you. Gray's best friend was my little brother, Roy." The man started, taking me by complete surprise.
"They were both involved in the Heartless Gang, after being recruited by one of the other Pains named Necro. Being young, they slipped up on a minor mission which led to Roy being killed by a Tier 1 Defender."
At that moment, I began to see things in a new light. Both Bleacher and Gray.
They had lost someone dear to them, all because they were involved in the gang.
I wondered why. Why did they subjugate themselves to a fate that carried such dangers?
And what I found even stranger, was that despite now being put in the same danger myself, a large part of me didn't want to leave.
It was as though I had some sort of purpose in the gang. More purpose than I ever had on earth.
Could the others feel like this too?
"I'm telling you this because it's important to understand how dangerous The Defenders are. The gangs might outnumber them, but don't be fooled, they have many in their forces that are above Tier 4."
From that explanation, I was able to gather that the defenders were most likely some sort of police force.
It seemed like the gangs weren't the only danger I had to worry about in StoneCity.
I nodded my head to Bleacher, acknowledging the man's words of advice. He flashed me a smile, the same friendly one that he often had.
"Good." He said, clapping a hand down on my back as he made his way towards the stairs leading to the mall. "Now get some rest. If you're lucky, you'll gain a new skill from your battle today."
A new skill?
I couldn't help but smile to myself.
According to Bleacher, I had a new chance at getting stronger.
After today's battle, i could do with a hundred new skills.