Rogue. (IN REVISION)

15

"Dammit!" She kicked the fire, sending embers into the air in frustration. Meat was hard to come by and she wasn't about to hunt for another deer. It would take up too much time to replace what that mongrel stole. She had to find the wolf; she didn't care if she was being stubborn at this point, she wasn't going to let the men starve because of her stupid mistake. She gripped her knife and started tracking the huge wolf, following the massive paw prints in the dirt.

Nothing was going to stop her from taking back what was hers, not even the morning light. Hawk and Venner woke up from the heat accumulating in the Dune. Hawk was the first one out of the car and Venner took charge of reconstructing the vehicle. "Hey Fallon, it's time to-" He looked over at the smoldering fire and he paled. Where the hell was his sister? Where did she go?"

"Venner?" He called to the mayor who didn't seem to hear him, too busy with rebuilding the Dune. "Hey Venner?"

"Huh? What?" He got out of the car and looked at his friend. Hawk looked at him very distraught, "Do you have any idea where my idiot sister has run off to?"

"No. I left her by the fire before I went to bed."

"Hawk observed the campsite again and noticed the ripped knapsack, the missing meat and a patch of whitish grey fur. "Wolves infiltrated the camp last night. How? I didn't even hear them."

"Oh my God."

"And I know Fallon, she will do anything to make sure that the food that was stolen gets retrieved.

"But from a wolf?" Venner asked horrified.

"My sister isn't afraid of wolves. She would gut that thing and wear it as a coat." hawk shook his head. "We have to find her."

"Okay, I'll drive." Venner hopped in the front while Hawk looked and searched for any clues of where she had gone.

"OOF!" Fallon was thrown into a cinder block room, blindfolded, and bound. She had followed the wolf oddly to a building, she stepped inside the massive place, the darkness too hard for her to make anything out. She remembered being caught, dragged, and tied up. She didn't hear any voices, just the footsteps of three people. She lifted her tied up hands and managed to take the blind fold off her eyes.

She looked around the room to see bloodstains on the walls. Where the hell was, she? Was that wolf a lure? She heard footsteps in the distance, coming towards the room and she yanked the ropes off her until she was finally free. The door was opened, and the man's face was met with a thick boot to his jaw. "AH!" He cried out, clenching his chin in agony.

"Oh, you'll be good to bet on tonight." He teased. The man had dark hair and eyes to match, he had a robotic arm from his shoulder to fingertips and his beard was dark with greying hairs upon his chin. He sneered, looking her up and down as if he were lustfully admiring her body.

"Where the hell am I? and what do you want with me?" she demanded. She went to reach for her knife but there was nothing there on her belt.

"Your weapons were taken from you, my sweet. You'll get it back when you earn it yeah?" His accent was distinctively from Ilafal. What was he doing so far from home? Fallon looked at him curiously, not letting her guarded eyes fall. "What do you mean I have to earn it?"

"You have no idea what you've stumbled into, have you?" He asked, crossing his arms. "You have stepped into the gaming arena of lonely old Derelict." He held out his hand so he could show her around. She slapped it away and let him lead the way, "See, we Derelictonians get bored easily and what we do to ease that boredom is everything you see before you." He motioned his hand to show the various games that were available. "See, we don't always gamble with Crowns. Those who have anything...and I mean anything to gamble away, we accept." He looked at her. "The name's Angus."She looked at him blankly, as if she were going to tell him her name.

"Fine then, I'll just keep calling you sweetheart."

What else do you gamble with if not Crowns?" She asked, looking around at the men and women at various tables, rolling dice, playing cards, some members didn't belong.

"Among other things, their belongings, services...you'd be surprised what can be bought and sold here." The man reached a hand towards Fallon menacingly. "Here in Derelict, nothing is of worth to us anymore...we just do what it takes to numb the pain." He smiled. Fallon was appalled. She immediately started looking around the makeshift casino.

"No use looking for a way out, sweetheart. You're stuck here."

"Call me sweetheart one more time, see what happens." she warned, glancing at something in the corner of her eye.The man leaned in, unafraid of the small woman before him, "Sweetheart."

Fallon reached over to the table she was next to, grabbing a bottle of booze and breaking it over the large man's head. The man stumbled back and felt his head, blood dripping down the side of his temple, he laughed heartily. "ohoho! you're so feisty!" He grabbed her by the neck, forcing her back into the hallway and into the room where she came from. "Save that fighting spirit for the ring, darling! You'll need it." He slammed the door shut.

Hawk and Venner had walked into the building, witnessing the charades happening before them, "What is this? Some sort of gambling den?" Hawk asked.

"Yeah." Venner's mannerisms vanished the minute he laid eyes upon young women and children inside the large room, crying and pleading with their family members to stay with them. "Please, Papa. Don't let them take me!" A child cried out.

"Get her out of my sight. She made me lose." Venner looked over at the man who he assumed was her father. His hair was a mess, eyes red from staying awake...a true addict. The girl was dragged away from him kicking and screaming, "Papa, NO!"

Venner's righteous anger fueled him to take a step towards the scene, but Hawk stopped him from doing anything. He looked at the tall raven-haired man, "It won't make any difference."

Venner shook his head, watching the man who had just sold his daughter walk to the bar. He sighed angrily, "Then let me create a distraction." He told Hawk, walking over to the bar. Hawk couldn't stop him; he left it and went looking for Fallon.