Chapter 2: Chapter-2: Arya and drunkard in sewage

Arya walked down the broken cobblestone path, a foot wide, besides it flowed the wastage of the whole city that stayed up. Only Arya was not allowed to go up there. Waste smelled so bad that even after years she still was not used to this smell, it made tears flow down her eyes. But, after years she was used to not taking a breath for minutes in which she found the ladders upward where she could take the scent of clear air. One hand covered her nose and mouth and the other held a torn fish. She was on her way out to the river; after a long and tiring search in the dump yard, she actually found a fish net. Today was the day she tasted a fish, she so heard from the drunkards that sometimes fell down into the sewage system. It was a lucky day. She smiled inwardly, maybe today she would finally be able to get her LIFE, a system that everyone had. 

After 15 minutes or so, and going through the stairs 3 times, she arrived at the last leg of her journey. A long giant tunnel through which all of the city’s waste drained into the river outside, there was no way to cross from it, one misstep and people would be crushed by the weight. Sound of waste flowing down was an indication of her goal was near. She took a deep breath and came down the stairs. And stared at the highspeed flow of waste that fell down like a waterfall.  From here she could not walk through the path, it too was submerged, only a single metal staircase, and a small path through which engineers inspected the tunnel led to outside, it was guarded by the guards. Sometimes, other times they would be busy gossiping about city things Arya did not understand of. 

Arya glanced upwards, seeing no one, and climbed up the rusted metal ladder, attached to the wall. It creaked, children of her age were afraid to come here, telling her it was dangerous. Of course, it was, she herself was caught one time, they beat her so bad she did not wake up for days until one of the other guards took pity and fed her a potion. Though her body still hurt sometimes when she slept, that did not mean it was something to be afraid of. After all, Beyond this was fresh air, trees, and clean water, from her standards at least. 

As she climbed she looked into the waste, it always felt surreal to watch it, like it would suck her in, She shook her head. And spotted a man, swimming through the waste, she wondered how could someone do that? Perhaps, High-level people were not affected by even smells, which made sense. She concluded. She watched in awe until the man's upper body sank and legs unmoving was the only thing visible. Hmm, That did not look like swimming or something, did he fall asleep while swimming in waste? Now, that sounded absurd. He was another drunkard who fell into the sewage system. 

Arya sighed and climbed down; She did not understand them, why drink so much that they had to bathe in this disgusting waste? Why was she climbing down, you ask? Of course, to save him. No, she did not have a hero complex, if she had a choice she would leave that man to die here. But guards would show up at her hideout for inspection like she was some kind of mass murderer. If they did it one more time, she might very well be. Not to mention, his family would be sad if he died, one time she saw one of the drunks drown and she ignored them. A day later guard's chief came to inspect her hideout, then they found the dead body which gave her nightmares, even sadder was to see that man’s mother cry right in front of her. So, to save herself from that situation again she saves any drunk that falls downs into the sewage. There goes her dream of eating fish. No, it has not, she is going to make this man get her fish or he’ll pay. 

Arya stood at the stone ledge as she tried to think how to get this man out, she had no intention of going into that waste, these clothes were the only ones she had which were not torn rags. Her eyes went to the fishing net in her hand, will it work? She did not have enough time to think if he was pushed into the giant tunnel it would end, without thinking she threw net. Net flew and dropped halfway across, never reaching him, she pulled it back. What now? It was too light to reach across.

She gritted her teeth and took off her shirt and pants, she hoped he was passed out or she would need to kill him with her hands. And jumped down the slimy, gross, and rancid-smelling waste, god knows how many people pooped in it. She swam across the waste, her hand burned but she ignored it and reached the man, just a few meters away from the fall, the pressure was very strong but it was not too deep for her to not manage, and she had experience under her belt. Something she was not proud of, there was nothing to brag about being able to swim in poop. Haah. She dragged the man across the waste to the cobblestone path. She had been down for quite a while and could not hold her breath, as she came out of the sewer, took a deep breath inhaled the rotten scent, and went into a coughing fit. After a few moments, it stopped. She took a deep breath again, but held down the cough, laying on the stone, coldness settled into her. 

Arya sat back, the man beside her covered in slate waste. Now, she needed to get him back to her hideout, god knows how fragile drunkards were, dying from just this. And she would also need to wash, she did not want to ruin her clothes but how was she supposed to get back like this? Now, this day was turning from great to super bad in a few minutes. She ‘haah’ed and stood up. She raised her hand to see why it stung so much, there was a long cut on her right arm. Well, that was not good, she had seen a few whose injuries were not cleaned they got bad to worse in matter of days. Okay, now this was one of the most bad days she had. 

Arya ignored it, for now, she need to find a pipeline that was broken to clean herself as well as this guy. She searched through her memories, and she found none. She sighed again, at this point she was sighing like that old lady waiting for her runway lover boy. Fortunately, there was a pipe close to her hideout, she was going to break it. She had no intention to wait for rain, there was no guarantee there would be one. It would be problematic if it connected to someone important but she had no choice, she was not going to lose her arm over something like that. 

Now, how would she get this man there? She scratched her head, there was no way she could carry him. Her eyes went to her net, well this might very well be why god gave her this. She folded the net and tied one end to both his leg and with the other, she was going to drag this man back to her hideout. She prayed for him, that he would not die while going there. And started to drag him on the stone path, he was heavy, and it was going to be a long and tiring walk back. She prepared herself, she cannot go up the ladders to breathe, she was going to suffer. It was not like she did not have thoughts of leaving him behind but after this much effort, she would beat even the guard’s chief if got in her way.

—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—x—

Arya stood in front of a pipe that had clean water, it most likely went to a nobleman. She had no idea how bad this was going to come biting back but she had no better idea. Who knows? This guy might very well be a nobleman himself and she would be off the hook. The man lay behind her lifelessly. She tightly held the iron rod she had, her lifeguard. With this rod, she had saved invasion on her hideout more than twice. She swung it on the pipe, and the metal clanged but failed to break the pipe, hardly a bend, no way the pipe leading clean water would be this easy to break. Her heart pounded as she swung the rod, creating a clattering sound throughout the tunnel. Hoping no one would come this way, or her life very well be over. And pipe finely broke, water pressure hitting directly in her face, she stumbled and fell on her back. Okay, now she could wash and get clothed. 

After washing and cleaning the large cut, most likely from a mirror or something in the sewage, she rolled on her clothes. After bathing, it felt like she was in heaven but now she needed to pour water on this man. She dragged him in the middle and went over to the broken pipe. And used her hand to direct water at him. The pressure was very high, she hoped he would wake up from this. Or else she would need to drag him over to her hideout after this. 

And he did not wake up, no, he slept like a log. Was he alive? She checked her breathing and there was some, very shallow but he was alive and now washed and clean. Red hair, which was awesome compared to her unimpressive brown. A scar on his face, something she too had but hers a like very ugly, right beside her upper lips on her left side, it was from the beating she got on the bridge. His was three claws like which looked so cool, why did she not get something like this? And he was missing one of his arms. Left hand accurately. And he had a Sword which did not get lost in a sea of waste, still attached to his hips. Well, She now needed to drag him to her very spacious and cozy hideout, she thought bitterly. 

 

And now both of them were in her hideout, today too, she was going to have a rotten fruit salad and water soup. YAY. She thought to herself. She untied his legs from the fish net and brought him over inside, It was made out of cardboard and rusted metal boards as a roof, and she had no problem with rain as it was in a hidden nook of the tunnel. Even most tunnel urchins did not know of this. A bed, with a broken mattress, a green flame that burned eternally, and a cooking pot that ran on mana stone which was going to run out by end of the week. She also took off his sandal along with untying the net. And noticed he was freezing cold, and sighed again. She had to now wrap him in her bed. But what can she do? She unhooked the lamp and opened its case. And turned it down side letting the flame fall on the man’s body. green flames burned upon contact turning red. Somehow this flame did not burn anythings but water, it would die out after burning away the moisture from his body. It died after a minute, Leaving behind a completely dry man. She huffed and dragged him onto the bed. Now, she was done with her part, will he wake or not was up to the gods. She was going to cook herself some rotten vegetable fruit with some rat. Although they tasted alright, she had been advised not to eat them but today had not caught anything else. But first, wrapping clothes on her cut. She rummaged through her box of worn rags and found the somewhat clean cloth to wrap around her hand. And went to her cooking.