The forest, in a way, was like Dhulka. Baido had come to this realization while being chased by wolves. They were both communities of diverse individuals all with an agreed and identifiable niche. An inbalance has a butterfly effect that offsets the whole system, which was why when he, a newcomer, stumbled across the demon dogs they wasted no time making sure he knew his place.

Hurtling through bushes and past streams. Tripping and falling, almost to his last breath and step, Baido was just about the give up and give in when the a bark of the beast met him far too near from behind. Baido ran like he did when he had been caught breaking into a mansion in the capital. Like he did when the Quincies found him snooping around their base. Like he did when he had to get away from the men who took his home and into this forest.

Adrenaline flooded his veins, pushing him past his limits. He cut through the wind and threaded the forest floor, leaping over bushes and logs and barreling past giant trees and boulders. Until he fell. And he fell hard. Pain flared up his ankle like lightning. And even then he got to his feet and ran. Because if he had stayed down, he'd be as good as dead.

And ran he did. Till he fell again. But this time he tumbled down sticks and stone, taking a brutal beating as he descended. His body struck the ground. The wolves had enough sense to give up for their prey was no longer worth the struggle.

His chest ballooned and deflated, and every ache unknown introduced itself to Baido. His ankle howled in pain. Scratches and gashes and every wound imaginable aflame across his frame. But the worst had yet to dawn him, only because the clouds had seemed extra fluffy today.

His eyes sewn shut against the blinding white light from above as his blood simmered under his weeping skin while the earth under his back baked him alive. He clambered to his feet, stumbled and fell but even still he fled for safety into a dark den.

Baido swallowed the dank air of the cave only to fill his lungs. The sour taste of air a familiar mixture of bodily fluids and rot. Only when his eyes adjusted to the dark did he realize he wasn't alone. A dead man gazed back at him with hollowed out eye sockets. And not just any man, but a soldier of Dhulka. 

~~~

A hooded figure moved through the crowd. He stood out for being a head taller than most, but blended right in because the Underbelly wasn't known for conformity. He noticed that there were many more people than the first time he was here, but even now no one bothered to spare him a second glance.

The tall dark stranger strolled up to the gated compound he was once confined in. Camera's scanned his features. Gunmen aimed at the unknown man. Ting. The rusty gate screeched open. Gunmen dropped their aim but kept a close watch on their suspicious guest.

He stood in a room, crawling with plants, bursting up from between tiles and clinging to the walls as they climbed up the ceiling. For a moment he forgot that he was deep beneath the surface of the earth.

The echoing bark of a dog met him from the open door and a hand fell to the knife at his hip. But when the canine came tumbling in, all aggression melted into glee as she ran up to him.

"I'm glad to see you're alright." He dropped to a knee and took her in his arms. "You have to stay safe for her until she gets back." Huge brown eyes gazed into his, an understanding passing between the two.

"It's you."

Dog and man turned their attention to the intruder, a small old woman. The man bristled, stood to an awkward stance. He contemplated shaking her hands but decided against it when she wrapped her small arms around him. Stunned to stiffness, soon he was overcome with emotion. She, of all people, should've hated him most but instead she was the first to embrace him, to tell him it was alright.

"Thank you." She pulled away but held his hands tenderly. "You're a good young man, thank you."

He began to shake his head. "No, I—"

"Harran told me everything. I know you protected her, I trust you will." She smiled and he realized where she had gotten her smile. "I must be keeping Vaya waiting, you must go."

She led him out the door she came in from, to a hall that brought them to a set of large metal doors. Behind those doors was an office of sorts. Sat behind a table was the masked woman known as Vaya. Standing about the office was the bull and another man who looked awfully familiar.

"I do hope your journey here was uneventful." The red light of her mask fell across his frame.

"In the least."

The tension in the room was choking. The disgust and hatred equally potent. All three of these people at one point tried to kill him. But that mattered little to him now.

Vaya placed a gun on her desk and slid it forward. "I hope you know that I'm trusting you Lua. And that you will trust us as well?"

Lua laid out his knives on the desk. The familiar face retrieved his weapons and her gun.

"Now tell us, how exactly you plan to help us?" Vaya began.

"I am second in charge to this operation. Direct advisor to the leader. Movement in Dhulka is under my supervision, no one goes anywhere without my say so. I can also tell you things. I know that Dhulka's technogy far exceeds that of the surface world, and our understanding of it puts us at a great disadvantage. But I know we learn fast, and will adapt to the changes. I can be of help in many ways."

"Are there others who support you?" Said the familiar man, who Lua only then realized was the officer who had come to save the princess that day.

Lua nodded. "I retain the trust of many of my former warriors from Drait. Many of the Cadits hold suspicion over us but no one lays a hand on us unless the leader says so."

"Tell us more about this leader you mentioned," Vaya said.

Lua swallowed. He knew what would come next, but he had no other choice. "Huo, his name is Huo. He was a Drait warrior until he defected and joined the Cadits. Because unlike the people of Drait he couldn't wield fire but instead water. He came back with an army not long after, while I was still here in Dhulka, and ravaged all of Drait. Killed the chief, took control and led his army forth to Dhulka. He is my brother."

"Kill him then," the man said, his tone void of any emotion. "Kill your brother."

"Because he is my brother, I cannot harm him. Killing him would only make things worse. He is just another puppet to the Cadit Chief. If he dies, another replaces him and with how little the cadits trust my warriors and I, I can't be certain it will be someone I will hold any sway over."

Vaya sighed. "What can you do about the remaining people in Dhulka?"

"The men are being herded to the surface, used as slaves to till the land at night. The woman and children assist in cooking and cleaning. But they're barely fed, live in disgusting living conditions and there's not much I can do about it. They have to leave, they have to come down here."

"I wish I could take more, I really do, but there isn't enough space in the territory I control. What's left of the Underbelly is under the jurisdiction of the Quincy leader who hates Dhulka with a passion."

Lua thought a moment. "We've yet to set foot in the Underbelly because unlike Dhulka very little sunlight reaches the Underbelly. The original plan was to blow the ceiling open to rampage and reign with terror but more and more people kept filling the Underbelly. A rampage would be alot more difficult with little sunlight and more people. It'd be best that as many people fill the Underbelly as possible, which is why we have to convince the Quincy leader. I have an idea." He explained how it would work out and although they were skeptical they eventually agreed.

"The Underbelly might fill to the brim," the officer said, "but even then there will still be more in Dhulka. What about the prisons? The prisoners?"

"I've kept them in their cells. They're an uncertain bunch that I don't want to risk falling into my brother's hands or roaming free around Dhulka's halls."

"Let me take them."

"You have to be certain they will follow you, otherwise they'll just be another problem."

"You control men with fear but rage works well enough. I will have them by our side, but for those who can't be controlled I will handle them myself."

"Once we raise our numbers," Vaya said, "then, with your guidance we can take back Dhulka."

"It isn't that simple." Lua sighed. "Another reason we've yet to expand into the Underbelly is because my brother won't allow the slaughter of those already in it. He wants to merge our world, create one society for all people whether you walk the surface or below. He wants to gain the people's trust."

"That's absurd!" The officer let out a laugh of disbelief. "Who would dare place their trust in a man who killed their friends and families? No one! We aren't fools."

Realization struck the bull. "That's why he kept her alive. She's nothing but a tool."

Lua's next words pained him to say. "I'm sure you've all heard the announcment. My brother plans on marrying Princess Zemlya and she will agree to it because she believes that if she doesn't he will kill everyone, which is certainly possible. Once fear depletes all hope, people began to accept and adapt to this new way of life. Her presence will only fuel their disparity and acceptance."

"We have to get her back then." The bull looked about ready to tear Lua in two. Because he knew better than anyone that it destroyed her.  "We can't let her stay there."

"Not here. Not in Dhulka. She goes missing in Dhulka he turns Dhulka upside down to find her."

"What do you mean not in Dhulka?" The bull exploded, "Where else then?!"

"He plans to marry her on the surface."

The bull pulled Lua out his chair and threw him to the floor in one swift motion.

Vaya jumped to her feet. "Harran—"

"The princess goes nowhere near the surface," the bull sneered, his gun pressed against Lua's temple. "Do you understand?"

Lua was calm. "That's something even I have no control over."

"Harran let him go, let's talk through this. Trust me, I don't want her near the surface as much as you. But we have to trust him. Lua, do you swear to keep her safe until she is returned to our care?"

"If it means I lose my life trying I will."

"I'm gonna kill you one day," the bull spoke through gritted teeth. "You don't die until I say so."

The men returned to their feet. This meeting had come to its end. Except they were in the same position they were in when this meeting had begun. They didn't trust Lua, at least not fully.

"Your brother killed your father," the officer said, gaze swinging from Lua, to the bull to Vaya. "Why didn't he kill you? Why did he trust you?"

Lua explained how he had wound up in this predicament. And by the end, they understood his position better. In a way, they took on some of the weight of his guilt but even still Lua knew that once this was all over he couldn't simply go back to the way things were.

~~~

Baido couldn't believe his eyes. But this man couldn't have been any other man, not with skin so pale, with the army issued belt clinging loosely to his bony hip, certainly not with the wires and screws beneath his rotting flesh.

Deadman don't speak but Baido had to ask. "Why are you here? How did you die? Why did you die?"

Was he Baido's fate? Death by the elements? But of course. He'd end up a deadman in a cave just like him. There was no point in trying. He'd never survive up here. But maybe that's where he got it all wrong.

All Baido's life he ran. From his parents. His country, his people, from her. And when the invaders came, he ran from them, and when he made it into the forest, he ran from the beasts who called it home. When things became too difficult, he ran. From everyone he loved, he ran. And when he looked back it was too late. 

The sun had gone to rest. And darkness masked the blue. Baido took the dead man's belt, secured his twisted ankle and forced himself to stand. He'd run no more.

He climbed the wall of rock and roots. Slipped and fell, and injured himself a dozen times more. But everytime he failed, he tried again. And when he reached the top, he found a predator waiting for him.

The wolf bared it's fangs and lowered its  body. The beast gnarled and sprang. Baido ducked. The wolf bit the air. Baido grabbed the nearest stick. The canine attacked again, but this time its jaws closed around the stick. Baido turned on his good foot, swung and let go. His attacker landed in the pit he was in moments ago and last he heard was the wolf whimpering.

This was what Onwa meant by living. Living isn't the same surviving, it's facing the beasts that keep you running. It's standing your ground against your fears, that's living.

A/n: ayo been a while since I last updated. No idea if anyone cares to read this but I love Thy Brilliance and imma keep writing.