Hello peeps! This is a story that had been revolving in my mind for quite some time now. It's a 3 chapter deal, and shall be updated on a weekly basis.

Hope you'll like it. :)

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Chapter 1 : The Dirt-Ridden Slave

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"Behave yourself!"

I whipped around my head to glare at the old, pot-bellied man holding me by the chains. His wrinkled face gleamed with sweat in the blistering heat, and I hoped the heat would give him sunstroke strong enough to kill. "I obey no one, imbecile."

Oh, the pleasure I felt on seeing those ugly creases on his face sink in deeper.

The next thing I knew, the chains cuffing my wrists were yanked and I stumbled backwards, on the unwelcoming clothed chest of the bastard. The stench of liquor and stale onions and god-knows-what-else infiltrated my nostrils as he leaned in more than necessarily. As much as I wanted to push away, the increasing bite of the chains held me back and all I could do was scrunch up my face. "Careful there, girl. I could sell you to the Ruthless Emperor any moment."

Before I could tell him to screw himself over, a lanky figure intervened, blocking his unpleasant face from my sight. "P-please forgive us sir! It won't happen again!"

"Inou-"

There it was. That dangerous gleam in the geezer's eyes. To be honest I wasn't one bit intimidated by it. He could wear his eyes out giving me that look all eternity and I wouldn't as much as flinch. However, at the moment, that gleam was directed at not only me, but also the strawberry-haired woman separating us.

Inoue Orihime.

The only good thing in my life.

Her soft eyes were pleadingly beguiling him. "Please l-let it go sir. I-it won't happen again…"

The old man gave us- to be more specific, me- a dirty look before letting out an indignant 'hmph' and stalking away. Off to harass a new girl, in all probability. I shook my head a little before trying to loosen the chains.

Sniff.

My body froze. No. Not again!

Gulping nervously I looked up to see what I feared. Big, watery brown eyes looking back at me, with only sadness and disappointment swimming in them.

I tried mustering a smile. "Inoue. I'm good-"

"He would have sold you for sure today," she spoke between sniffs, face growing sadder with every word. "Why did you have to kick him? What would have I done if you were gone?!"

I looked at the girl before me. At the voluptuous chest and otherwise lanky body in those tattered rags, that trembled like a leaf with every sob that wracked her body. At the long, somewhat choppy ginger tresses flowing down her back; at the pale skin marred with dirt and bruises. I took a step towards her, pulling her hands in mine.

Such a waste of a beauty.

And then I looked down at my attire, much similar to hers. Blistered feet, tattered rags, bruised hands, dirty hair. Not even half the beauty that she was. Not even half the angel she was either. She was the bright sun, radiating happiness and optimism all around with that heart-warming smile… like an oasis in this parched desert of a life we had. And here I was, a snarling, pessimistic and cold woman with only glares to spare.

Like the aloof moon that thrived on the radiance of the sun.

The only thing that connected us was our misery.

We were the same, girls plucked from poor villages for sale in the market.

Once again I thought of how everything would have been different, had we not been born in this land of poverty and corruption. Inoue would have been the beauty of those fairy tales, the princess of our village who would have had countless suitors at her feet. But it would have been the Prince of our land, who would have ultimately swept her off her feet. And I would have been the one to give her off at the wedding, with possibly the biggest smile on my face.

But this was our reality. She was no princess, and there was no prince. There were only corrupt men, greedy merchants and frivolous rulers.

"Kuchiki-san!"

I flinched, blinking out of my thoughts. Inoue was still sniffing and looking at me, albeit expectantly. Her arms were by her side, fisted palms trembling.

Something in my chest lurched. To have someone like her by my side meant God had to exist.

The person who kept me alive was someone I disheartened, scared and hurt so much. Grrr. I was so terrible!

I managed to crack a grin, still holding her arm. "But I'm still here, aren't I?"

Her face filled with anger, offering a rare sight. "Kuchiki-san! How can you say that so easily! If he had sold you to the Ruthless Emperor-"

"Ruthless Emperor?"

Come to think of it, even the old geezer had mentioned this name.

"You don't know him?" Inoue exclaimed, gasping loud enough for the women in our troupe to turn their attention towards us.

I held in a wince. Inoue could be so bubbly sometimes.

"He is the infamous emperor of our land!" another from the crowd exclaimed. I cocked my head to figure out the brunette. What was her name again? Michiru something… she was a new recruit. Just a notch below Inoue in the bubbliness forte. "It is said that he has a harem of female slaves….every night, he calls one of them to his room…and then-" she paused.

I waited for a few seconds before asking the much anticipated "And then?"

"And they never return!" Inoue interrupted, eyes wide and tears no longer in sight.

I looked at her, deadpan. What happened to the dam that was about to burst? "What?"

"Seems like they get executed." This time a tall raven-head spoke up. Ryo. Always quiet. I kind of liked her. "It's probably entertainment for the emperor."

"How do you-"

"The emperor's own advisor has seen this happen. He has been trying to warn women to steer clear of public places."

There was a terse silence.

I could feel bile rising in the back of my throat. The king was sick. The people were sick. Hell, this place was sick. Why? Why did any of us have to be born here? I'd much rather be born someplace where I could live with the dignity of a human, if not even a woman.

"We couldn't possibly get any unluckier than this." Ryo broke the silence, pointedly looking at the old bastard standing some distance away, wolfing down the trunk of water.

I knew I liked that girl.

A few giggles erupted, followed by full blown laughs. The collectively coarse laughter didn't sound like the pretty, sugar coated laugh of all the Arabic princesses and nobles, but it was a beautiful sound to our ears and a welcome break in this bleak atmosphere. I managed a quirky smile of my own, all those negative thoughts retreating.

Yeah, if we could handle that geezer, we could handle anyone.

It was another mundane day. The old geezer had herded us to the market, shouting all sorts of obscene prices for buying us. The sun was overhead, and for once I was grateful for my barely-there clothing. It offered some much needed ventilation in this heat.

"Hey lady."

I scrunched my eyes to look straight ahead at the frolicsome looking man staring at us. He seemed to be in his early 20s, dressed in pretty clothes.

Tch. Another spoilt brat from some noble family. The best way to deal with such brats was to ignore them and look about in a disinterested manner. That was a definite way of putting them off.

And I was doing a pretty good job of that till he walked past me. Dread filled me and I immediately did a 180 degrees. Inoue stood there, reluctance written all over her face as the man held her thin wrist, smiling obnoxiously.

Shit.

"Come with me. I'll shower you with riches, jewels and gifts you have never known of. A meaty-" his eyes pointedly travelled down to settle on her bosom before meeting her eyes "- woman like you belongs in my harem."

My blood boiled on seeing his tightening grip as Inoue squirmed uncomfortably, trying to tug free her arm. "Let me go! Please! Just let me go!"

The brat laughed a laugh so devoid of anything save malice that Inoue's eyes turned terrified. "As if." He gave her wrist a forceful tug, trying to pull her to him. "Come with me! I am buying you!"

The next second he was on the ground, hands cradling his stomach. Everyone stared at me, some in shock, and others in awe. Inoue, however, looked nothing short of horrified.

I looked at her. "I know what follows. But I am not letting this lecher get away so easily. In fact," I looked at the now furious brat, anger welling up. "That kick was too sweet a punishment for you!"

"You…!" he bellowed, getting up indignantly, glaring daggers at me. I got ready to deliver another kick when suddenly the chains cuffing me tightened, harshly pulling me back. That's when I remembered that the old geezer was still there, and my hands were cuffed.

Damn. I was done for.

The brat approached me slowly, stalking like a predator towards a cornered prey. His face held a very ugly, anticipating smile. For some reason, the anger within me just multiplied on seeing him. I just didn't give a damn anymore. To hell with the geezer and the ass of a noble. If I was going down, it wasn't going to be without a fight. These two would be going down with me.

As he raised his hand to swing my way, I raised my knee to deliver another kick. However, before either of us could do anything, a strong, tanned hand interrupted, holding the brat's hand in place.

My eyes must have mirrored the brat's, surprise written in them, as we both cocked our heads to see the stranger who had dared to interrupt us.

The first thing I saw was amber eyes. Strong, clear amber eyes.

Their intensity startled me for a moment, effectively bringing down that raised knee. Those eyes were all I could focus on, but maybe that was because of the fact that the rest of the stranger's face and head were covered with a cloth. He held gazes with me for a moment longer before turning to face the brat. "Leave her." Then he looked past me at the old geezer. "We'll be taking all of them."

Whatever spell I was under broke, and suspicion welled up within me. Was this brat an accomplice of his?

He walked past me, stopping for a moment.

"You don't die on people who care for you."

My eyes widened and I felt my heart give a leap.

But the feeling disappeared as soon as he stalked away and Inoue ran towards me, enveloping me in a bone-crushing hug.

It had been a week since the day our freedom had been bought by the mysterious stranger. Well, to be honest, our freedom had been bought the day we had been forcibly dragged into this human trafficking business, all those years ago.

It had been a week since I had been living in a dream.

For the first time in years I had polished tiles and not coarse sand beneath my feet. The afternoons were no longer relentless rounds in the blistering heat but relaxed lounging indoors. My skin looked so clean, so fresh that I had to pinch it to check if it was indeed my skin. For the first time in life I had jewels and rich clothes adorning my body. Inoue's happy face, our comfortable living conditions were so surreal that I had been unable to accept any of it. For some reason it felt like we were animals herded in for a sacrifice.

I had tried to not think too much of it, instead choosing to invest my time in searching for that mysterious amber eyed man at the market. Who, for the record, had vanished like a mirage in the desert. Nobody seemed to know of him or his whereabouts. So to be honest, I had just been making the most of the luxury we were being offered, occasionally keeping an eye out for any suspicious happenings.

Survival mattered, after all.

Till the night the first woman from our troupe was summoned. It was Rio.

None of us knew how to react. The guard who had come to escort was a quiet fellow, choosing to oblige us with an unhelpful 'To His Highness' on our questioning. His Highness? There were so many nobles. We did not even know where exactly we were. The bulky frame of the guard stopped us from questioning him further.

So we bade good luck to an indifferent looking Rio, who wasn't looking all that indifferent for a change. Apprehension showed on her face.

Which, as we found later, was not mis-founded.

She didn't return the next morning. A new girl was summoned from the Harem, someone I didn't know. She didn't return either. One day. Two days. Five days. At the end of which we were down by five girls, none having shown any traces.

The women gossiped. They were now sure that we were in the Capitol, Karakura which was under the rule of the Ruthless Emperor. Why else would no female-slave return after the night? He must have used them through the night and executed them in the morning, they decided.

It was a horrible thought, but I didn't know what else to make of it. Rio was probably gone for good.

My heart sank as I saw the girl struggle and cry with the guard on the sixth night. It was such a waste. These beautiful clothes, expensive jewellery, royal living conditions…. Such a waste. All showered on the innocent woman only for her to be sacrificed for the sick pleasure of some twisted noble.

The girl was crying. She wanted to live. Everyone here wanted to live. Maybe I could take her place-

Frustrated with the girl, the guard turned to Inoue and beckoned to her.

That sealed the deal for me. I was going tonight.

"NO!" she protested strongly, holding my hands firmly.

I shook my head and gently grasped her hands, prying them off. "I'll be fine Inoue. Besides," I looked about cautiously, ensuring no soul was in sight, before revealing the slit of my lower garment to show a dagger. "I'll end this today."

Her face grew stern from shocked, eyes filled with reluctance. "This will put you in danger-"

"I have to go Inoue." I interrupted her, casting a surreptitious glance at the guard standing some distance away, waiting to escort me before looking back at Inoue. "Someone has to do this. And you know I can."

Her teeth were digging into her lower lip, and her eyes were shadowed with anxiety, but she let go of my hand. That doleful face looked at me for a few minutes before she pulled me in for a hug, encasing my entire frame in a tight hug.

I knew that must have taken a huge toll on her, letting me walk into possibly death's mouth- but of the two of us, if there was anyone who could do this, it was her. I didn't have the strength and courage to let her walk towards danger, and bear the angst of losing her. Maybe I was a coward for thinking that way, but I had done it once too many times before, and now… I just didn't have anything left in me to go down that path again.

We parted, equally reluctant, exchanging tensed smiles before I waved at her and turned around, inhaling deeply before meeting the vigil guard's eyes.

It was time.

So how are you all finding it so far? All opinions are welcome and appreciated!

Till next week. Signing off.