Fair warning to my usual readers and maybe-random first timers here:

If the tags didn't give it away, this one-shot is not exactly happy. In fact, 85% of this chapter is dark. Like…slavery and torture dark. Not as bad as some other stories that are on this site, but still. Dark.

If you do not wish to read anything like that, then I HIGHLY advise that you to NOT read this. I'm even putting the 'M' rating on it just as an extra precaution. Seriously, this isn't exactly meant for those that are light of heart.

If you choose to ignore my warning or just want to know the ending (this ends on a happy/bittersweet note), then just skip to the end. If you're on a computer, then you can [CTRL+F, "The girl perked up"] and go to the second one. If you're on the mobile app, then just scroll all the way to the bottom and slowly slide up until you see my usual divider/line break that isn't the author's note separation.

I'd like to say something like "Read and enjoy", but given the darker tone of the story, I can't really say that. I'll see you at the other A/N.

. . .

. . .

A small group of four were running through a wooded area. They moved silently through the darkness of the night and slowed to a stop just before a broken down fortress.

"Is this the place?"

A robed man with platinum colored hair crouched down behind a bush, hiding from the men that were patrolling the fort. Next to him, a large man with short, orange-red hair placed a hand over his heart.

"Gregor be wounded by young Robin's words. Is Gregor's source not trustworthy?"

"Never hurts to be sure," Robin replied, eyeing the patrols.

Gregor let out a sigh of mock pain and pulled out a sheet of paper. He unfolded it and placed it onto the ground by the moonlight. On the map was a rough outline of the fort that they were in front of.

"Fortress have two side entrance and one main entrance," he started, pointing at the sides of the fort. "All three will be guarded heavily, but Gregor know of one hidden entrance." He placed a finger on one corner of the fort. "Small hole in wall. Not easily visible unless looking for it."

"And you know about this…how?" a girl with red hair skeptically asked.

"Hole made by drunken Gregor two years back," Gregor proudly said. "Easily hidden, others not see hole, others will not repair hole. Put faith in Gregor, young Severa."

Severa looked at Robin. "You're the leader. What's the plan?"

Robin idly tapped his foot as he silently stared at the map. After nearly a full minute, he finalized his plan.

"Alright, here's what we'll do."

. . .

Drops of blood fell to the floor as Robin sliced the jugular of the man in front of him from behind. As the now-dead man fell, Robin quickly caught him and slowly placed him onto the ground so that there wouldn't be any noise from a collapsing body. Wiping the blood off his hands and knife, he pushed the body the shadows, leaning it against the mossy walls of the fort. Up ahead, he saw Severa do the same with the person that she just killed.

"We'll go through the hole Gregor mentioned. We don't want to take any chances of getting seen and if we are going to be caught, we want to make sure it's as late into our objective as possible. Once inside, we split into groups of two and search the fort for Rowen. If you come across any wandering patrols, you may dispose of them at your discretion, but make sure it's quiet.

"As for the groups…" Robin momentarily paused as he thought who he should pair up with who. "…Gregor and Gaius, you two search the top half. Severa and I will take the ground floor and basement."

Robin tapped Severa on the shoulder and motioned towards a set of stairs leading underground. With a quick nod, the two of them quietly started to descend the stairs. They moved slowly to avoid missing any steps. There was only one torch on the stairs, which was all the way down at what Robin assumed to be the bottom.

"Remember, these guys are human traffickers. Slavers. The less of them that there are in the world, the better," Robin reminded them. "Normally, I'd want you to spare whoever surrenders, but for people like them?"

He shook his head in disdain and the others got the message.

"No worries, Bubbles," Gaius said. "I know I'm not really one to talk, ex-thief and all, but slavers and human traffickers are definitely scum. My old friends and I made it a thing to mess with them whenever we could if we came across them during our jobs."

Robin nodded and stood to his feet. "Meet back here once you're done searching. If you find Rowen, kill him with extreme prejudice. If you don't, then leave as quickly and as discreetly as you can. No point in alerting every other soul in the area to our presence." He took in a deep breath. "Let's move."

The basement was devoid of all light. The single torch behind Robin did nothing to help him see anything.

"I'm going to make a small flame to help us see," Robin whispered to Severa. "Stay on your guard. We don't know if there's anyone lying in ambush."

The sound of Severa slowly drawing a dagger was all he got in acknowledgment. Tightly gripping his knife in one hand and channeling mana into the other, he snapped his fingers. A small flame sparked to life a foot in front of him and he and Severa immediately stood back to back in preparation for an ambush.

None came.

Robin lowered his arms but kept his knife in his hands. In the middle of enemy territory, staying alert was an unspoken rule.

Now that he wasn't looking for any movement, he took a few seconds to look around the room. Large crates and boxes were stacked up to the ceiling. Rusted, metal cages filled one corner of the room, each one large enough to hold five people. Dry blood could be seen on the bottom of each cage.

A sudden thunk drew Robin's attention. He turned and saw Severa stab her dagger into one of the wooden boxes and drag her blade downward.

"What are you doing?" Robin asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Severa snarked. "I'm opening one of these up to see what's inside."

Deciding to leave Severa to her own devices, Robin began walking around the room to check the corners. He created another flame in his hand as he walked around. When he arrived at the third corner, there was the sound of wood breaking as Severa lost her temper and kicked the side of her box. Robin watched with raised eyebrows as she grabbed the edges of the hole she made and ripped the wood apart with her gloved hands.

"What the - " Severa managed to catch herself before she shouted loud enough for any nearby slaver to hear. "This thing's empty!"

Quietly laughing to himself, Robin went back to checking the corners.

"Find anything?" Severa asked.

"No, nothing," Robin replied as he turned to the last wall. "Just empty walls and - wait a sec…"

Severa quickly made her way over to Robin and saw what caught his attention.

"Is that…?" she started.

Robin simply nodded. "A trap door."

The two of them slowly approached the metal doors that were nearly six feet wide on the floor. A large, iron lock was fastened over the latch with chains.

"…Where do you think this leads?" Severa asked.

Robin didn't miss the hint of trepidation in her voice. He wisely chose to not comment on it.

"I don't think this leads anywhere; I think it's here to hide something," Robin said. "If it was a secret entrance or exit, I don't think they would've placed a heavy lock on it."

Flicking his wrist, Robin created another flame in his hand. He placed the magical fire over one of the links in the chain and slowly added more mana into the flame, causing it to glow brighter and grow stronger. After what seemed like an eternity, the chain melted away, and Robin pulled the rest of it free of the latch and pulled the doors open. Not a second later, Robin covered his nose with his sleeve.

Severa let out a muffled curse as she quickly backed away from the open door and Robin couldn't blame her. The stench that assaulted their noses was almost enough to make him vomit on the spot.

Taking another look he noticed that the doors revealed another set of steps leading further underground. He was able to make out four steps before the darkness consumed the rest of what he could see.

"I'm going to check inside. Stay out here and keep watch," he ordered.

Severa didn't even argue as she gladly took another few steps away.

As he descended, Robin created another flame in free hand and held it up in front of him. He had hoped that his fire would've been able to burn away the smell a little, but the stench only got worse as the continued to walk down the steps, much to his vexation.

"Can't see anything here…" he mumbled.

Robin strengthened his flame, lighting up the area around him, and immediately found the source of the smell. All around him were large cages like the ones in the basement above him, but unlike the ones from before, these had rotting corpses strewn about. The bodies varied in sizes, some being the size of children while others were the size of young adults.

"Rowen, you sick bastard," Robin cursed.

There was the familiar clink of metal hitting metal from just beyond the extent of his light and Robin immediately drew his knife. He slowly moved forward with his body ready to move backward at a moment's notice. He stopped when he saw a silhouette of a body.

Taking a deep breath and doing his best not to hurl up the remains of his dinner, Robin pumped a chunk of mana into his flame. The flame's brightness increased at such a sudden rate that it was the equivalent of staring at the sun. Even though he was expecting it and was looking away, the drastic change in brightness hurt his eyes, but Robin knew that if he was having difficulty with the brightness, whoever it was beyond his vision was most likely blinded for a few seconds. With that in mind, Robin lunged forward with the intent to run his knife through whoever it was in the darkness. What he didn't expect was to come face to face with the bars of another metal cage. He slammed his feet into the ground just in time to not smash his face against the rusted iron.

Robin lessened the mana that he was pouring into his flame. Once the light was dim enough for him to stop straining his eyes, he blinked away the spots and looked at who it was that he tried to kill.

"What…?" Robin's voice got caught in his throat and he nearly dropped his knife.

Inside the cage was a young girl. She was dressed in rags that couldn't even pass as clothes. The rags were wrapped around her chest and waist to give her the slightest ounce of modesty. Her black hair was caked in dirt and her body was covered in dry blood. Bruises and cuts could be seen all around her body, and a heavy, iron ball was chained to her ankle. The only tell that she was still alive was the slight movements of her shoulders.

The girl looked up at Robin. For a second, she looked as if she was dreaming, but then her eyes widened in fear and she pushed herself into the farthest corner of the cage. At least, she would've if it wasn't for the weighted ball that stopped her from doing so.

"S-Stop! Please, n-no more!" the girl cried.

Robin felt as if someone rammed an iron rod into his heart as he watched the girl force the ball to move so that she could back herself into the corner. The action caused the crude shackle around her ankle to tear at her skin, causing fresh blood to pour from the wound.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he gently said. "I'm here to help."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" The girl wrapped her arms tightly around herself. "I won't do it again! I won't fight back! I promise! Please, don't hurt me anymore!"

Anger welled up in his chest at the girl's broken voice.

'Rowen, what the hell did you do to her?!' he seethed.

"I promise that I will not hurt you," Robin coaxed. "My name is Robin Alius, a Shepherd of Ylisse."

The girl frantically shook her head. "Lies! You're just saying that to fool me! Why would someone from Ylisse be all the way out here in Chon'sin?!"

"My friends and I have been tracking Rowen and his group for just over a month now. We just arrived at this location where he was last seen. We want to put an end to both him and his work."

The girl didn't say anything. It was then Robin noticed that she was shivering.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

She hesitantly nodded.

"I'm going to make a small flame and put it near you, is that okay? I promise that I won't burn you."

Another nod.

Creating a gentle flame in his other hand, Robin put his hand out. The flame slowly drifted across the cage and stopped just an arm's reach away from where the girl positioned herself. And then, he waited.

After what seemed like an eternity, the girl slowly stopped shivering.

"…It's warm…"

The girl's voice was so quiet that Robin almost missed it. A smile rose to his face, but he continued to remain silent. He didn't want to push the girl or scare her, so he'd wait until she was ready to talk. If she wanted to, that is.

"…Who are you?" the girl finally asked.

"I am Robin Alius of Ylisse," Robin repeated. "I'm one of Exalt Chrom's Shepherds."

"Liar. Emmeryn is the exalt."

Robin shook his head and guilt filled his heart. "Exalt Emmeryn passed away nearly three months ago during the war between Ylisse and Plegia. Her younger brother, Chrom, took up her mantle after the death of the late king of Plegia, Gangrel."

"…How do I know you're telling the truth?" the girl asked.

"You don't," Robin said. "There is nothing that I can do or say to make you believe me. That decision is yours and yours alone. Trust is something that is earned, not given or forced."

"…" The girl raised her head and looked at Robin. "…I believe you."

'Just like that?' Robin wanted to say but held his tongue.

"Why do you believe me?" Robin asked instead.

The girl stared at Robin for nearly a minute before answering, "No one from R-Rowen's group would say something like that." Robin made a mental note that she had difficulty saying Rowen's name. "They'd never give me a choice. Never let me do anything." Tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. "A-And…" Her breath hitched as her lips quivered. "And th-they'd never look at m-me with such k-kind eyes."

Robin felt as if his heart shattered on the spot when the first teardrop rolled down the girl's cheek. He clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and were it not for the gloves that he was wearing, he had no doubt that he would have torn his skin open.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through such pain."

More tears fell from the girl's eyes as she cradled her head in her arms. Robin wanted nothing more than to tear the metal bars from the cage and comfort the girl, but he knew that doing so would most likely cause her to panic. And if she panicked, what little trust that he built up would be broken in an instant.

He'd have to do this carefully.

"May I ask you something?" Robin asked.

The girl looked up and nodded.

Robin took in a deep breath before speaking. "What is your wish?"

Confusion settled in the girl's eyes as she stared at Robin.

"May I tell you my wish?" Robin asked, and the girl nodded again. "My wish is to release you from this cage."

The girl's eyes widened ever so slightly upon hearing his words.

"However," he continued, "As much as I wish to free you from this cage, I cannot help someone who does not wish for help, nor can I help one who does not need help. A doctor does not go to the healthy, but the sick. So tell me, what is your wish?"

The girl's mouth slowly opened but no voice came out. Her hands balled into fists and another tear rolled down her cheek.

"…free…"

Her voice is nothing more than a whisper. Rather, a whisper would've been louder.

"What is your wish?" Robin repeated in a slightly firmer tone.

"I…" the girl started as she gathered whatever strength she had left. "My wish…is…is…" She took in a deep breath. "I wish to be free!"

Pride welled up in Robin's chest. "Then do I have your permission to grant both of our wishes?"

The girl looked to be fighting back tears as she nodded once more with a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes.

Without wasting another second, Robin grabbed onto two of the bars. He channeled mana into his hands and covered his hands in a powerful flame. The bars quickly turned orange and then red from the heat, and he easily wrenched the bars apart. Once the bars were wide enough for him to step inside, Robin slowly walked over to the girl. Despite everything that the two of them said, the girl visibly flinched as she approached. She narrowed her shoulders in reflex to make herself appear as small as possible.

Crouching down in front of her, Robin gently spoke.

"I'm going to break the chain that's on your ankle now. Is that alright?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation before the girl nodded.

Robin placed his hand on the chain. He picked a link that was close to her ankle's cuff but not close enough that the heat would hurt her. Just like he did before, a flame appeared in his hand and heated the chains to the point that they easily broke apart.

He looked back at the girl and noticed that her eyes were shut tight as if she was expecting to get hit. Robin didn't even realize that his arm was reaching out to hold the girl and quickly retracted his arm.

"The chain is broken. The ball is no longer tied to you," he said.

Slowly, the girl opened her eyes. She eyes moved from her ankle, to the broken chain, to the weighted ball, back to her ankle, and then to Robin.

Then she surprised Robin by lunging forward and wrapping her arms around him. She buried her head into his chest and began to weep.

Robin wasn't sure what shocked him more, the fact that the girl was holding onto him despite her trauma or the fact that she had enough strength to move so quickly. He decided that neither of those mattered, nor did the fact that his shirt was becoming soaked with her tears.

The girl's heartbroken sobs filled the basement. Robin hesitantly brought his arms up and gently hugged the girl. Her entire body stiffened from the contact, but she then seemed to melt at his touch and sobbed even harder.

"It's alright. You're safe now," Robin whispered. "I promise that no more harm will come to you."

The two stayed in that position for gods know how long. After a while, Robin felt the girl's arms relax and he realized that she had fallen asleep.

Robin slowly removed the girl's arms from his waist. He then removed this coat and wrapped it around the girl's shoulders before tenderly picking her up in his arms. When he did, the girl shifted around and tightly grabbed onto his shirt as a lone tear rolled down her cheek. He stood to his feet and made his way out of the cage and towards the stairs.

The moment his head was above ground, so to speak, Severa glared at him.

"About time you got out of there. What in the world took you so long - " Her voice got caught in her throat when she noticed the girl. Her eyes immediately lost the harsh look. "Oh."

"Grab onto my shoulder," Robin said. "I'm going to warp us out of here."

"Won't that wake the girl?" Severa worriedly asked.

Robin shook his head. "She's been through...she's been through things that no one should've experienced. And even if she does wake, it'll be better than us accidentally getting caught and running from the slavers."

No more words were spoken after that. Severa took a step forward and placed her hand on Robin's shoulder. A second later, the world around them spun and they landed on soft grass.

"Holy Naga's balls, you guys smell like crap!" Gaius retched. "The hell did you guys walk into that smelled - oof!"

The thief was silenced by Severa punching his arm.

"Would you shut it!" she hissed. "You're going to make everyone at the fort know that we're here and wake the girl up!"

"What girl - oh." Gaius' eyes softened as he saw the girl resting in Robin's arms. "Damn, Bubbles. The hell happened in there?"

Robin shook his head. "Not here. I'll explain back at the town once the girl is treated."

"Gregor must agree with young Robin." Gregor nodded. "This no place to converse."

Without another word, the four of them made their way through the woods and trekked the mile-long road back to the nearest town.

. . .

The second they arrived back at the house that they rented out, Robin handed the girl to Cherche, who immediately took her inside to her room. Leaving the girl in Cherche's hands, Robin walked out of the room.

After taking a cold shower to clear his head, he made his way through the house to the lounge. Gregor, Gaius, and Severa were already there, seated in various chairs around the room. Judging from the damp hair, the others must've washed up as well.

"So…" Gaius spun a stick of candy in his hands, a telltale sign that he was on edge. Normally that candy would be in his mouth. "Bubbles, Red Junior, what happened in there?"

Robin collapsed onto the nearest couch. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth to speak and recalled what happened earlier in the night. Of how he and Severa found the trap door. Of how he walked inside and saw the dozens of corpses in the room. Of how he found the girl chained up in an empty cage. Of how terrified she was of him, and how he managed to free her.

When he was done speaking, everyone's gazes was toward the ground.

"…Shit…" Gaius cursed, snapping the stick of candy in his hands. "First, we don't find Rowen and now this?"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Rowen wasn't there?"

"Naw. He was out for the night." Gaius pointed at a few papers on the table in front of him. "That's a letter from one of his little buddies, wanting him to go up to Loxanne for "fresh merchandise". Knowing their business, it's more slaves. Papers said that he'd be back around midnight."

Robin's hand curled into a fist, crumpling the papers in his hand. He silently vowed to make Rowen suffer for what he did to the girl and countless others. Anger clouded his vision and he didn't notice the others leave the room.

"Robin?"

Cherche's soft voice shook him out of his rage. He looked up and saw her staring at him with worry evident in her eyes.

"The girl's awake," she informed him.

Robin shot up to his feet. "How is she?"

His heart dropped when she shook her head. "Multiple lacerations on her body, thirteen broken bones, torn muscles, ruptured organs… The fact that she's still alive is nothing short of a miracle. Given enough time, she will heal, but the chances of everything healing back to how they were is…low. And that's just physically."

"'Physically'?" Robin's brow furrowed. Then it dawned on him. "You mean…"

"Yes." Cherche sadly nodded. "I do not know what exactly they did to this girl aside from physically abusing her. But for a girl her age, and the unknown amount of time that she's been kept captive, there will most likely be severe damage to her mental state. The trauma…what she experienced… Her mind could potentially repress her memories. Depending on how severe it is, she could suffer from total amnesia."

Robin cursed. He should've expected this much but his optimism got the better of him and he berated himself for that.

"She's eating, which is good, but that's pretty much it," Cherche continued. "She wouldn't respond when I tried talking to her. Not even a yes or a no, nor a nod or a shake of her head."

"I see…"

"She did say something though," Cherche added, and a flicker of hope sparked to life in Robin's heart. "She said that she wanted to see you."

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank you, Cherche."

"I didn't train for years as a healer before befriending Minerva for nothing, you know," Cherche jokingly said, raising his mood a little. Her eyes then softened and she tenderly cupped his cheek. "Go on. Talk to the girl."

Planting a soft kiss on her forehead, Robin quickly walked towards the room that the girl was resting in. He stood outside the door for a while before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

The girl was looking much better than before. She was sitting upright against the bedpost, and given that her hair was clean, Cherche must've washed it somehow. She was no longer in rags, but was dressed in a navy blue shirt. He recognized it as Cherche's. His coat was still wrapped around the girl's shoulders.

"Hey," Robin gently smiled, taking a seat next to her. "I was told that you wanted to speak to me?"

If the girl noticed that he was there, she didn't show it. Her gaze was fixated on the blank wall in front of her.

Just like before, Robin opted to remain silent until the girl was ready to speak. And after a few minutes, speak she did.

"Why?"

Robin furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Why did you save me?"

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

The girl shook her head. "The woman from earlier… She said that your original goal was to find Rowen. You even said it yourself back...back there."

Robin slowly nodded, not entirely sure where the girl was headed with this.

"If you were supposed to look for Rowen, why did you come to rescue me?" she asked again.

'Ah, so that's how it is,' Robin realized.

"While it is true that our original goal was to find and stop Rowen, that doesn't mean that we can't help others when we come across them," Robin calmly said. "When my team and I went into the fort to search for Rowen, we split into two groups. One would search the top while the other would search the ground floor and basements. As I'm sure you've figured out by now, I was part of the basement group.

"When I was in the basement, I saw a trap door that was heavily chained. I was wondering what could be so important that Rowen would lock up a door in the basement, so I ventured inside and found you."

The girl was silent again for a few more seconds.

"…Why would you go out of your way to do something that wasn't even your job? To rescue someone when you were supposed to hunt someone? Why'd you rescue me?"

"I do not need a reason to help someone," Robin firmly said. "If you truly wish to know, I helped you because I wanted to. Nothing more, nothing less."

The girl slowly raised her head to stare at Robin. Only now did he notice the color of her eyes; a striking silver.

The same as his.

"What is it?" he asked after a few seconds of her staring at him.

She averted her gaze and stared at her lap. "…N-Nothing…"

Silence fell upon the two again. Robin was starting to think that silence was going to become the norm when talking to the girl. Then the girl's shoulders started to tremble.

"Wh-Why…" Her hands balled into fists and tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. "Why didn't anyone else want to come help any sooner? Why didn't anyone else come and save me sooner?"

The tears rolled down her cheek and fell onto her hands. As silent as it was, Robin was able to hear her teardrops as they quietly pattered against her skin. His hand moved on its own, gently grabbing onto the girl's shoulders. And then, she did something that took him completely by surprise again.

The girl reached out pulled him close. Her fingers clenched the front of his shirt as she started to weep into his chest once more.

Robin lost track of how much time passed. His only focus was to comfort the girl to the best of his ability, and even then, he wasn't sure on what to do. All he did was hold her in his arms while rubbing her back and said nothing as the girl let out her tears. Even after the girl's shoulders stopped shaking and her breaths were no longer erratic, he held her.

And then he realized that she was asleep.

'What a strange feeling of deja vu,' Robin thought to himself.

Gently lowering her back onto the bed, Robin rose to his feet. He pulled up the blanket up to her shoulders and started to leave the room.

"Mom…Dad…"

Robin froze at the girl's voice.

"…Where…are you… Don't leave me alone..."

. . .

Robin made his way back into the lounge. Cherche was still there, patiently waiting for him.

"How did it go?" Cherche asked.

"It went…" Robin let out a tired sigh. "She's resting now."

"I see…" Cherche depressingly said.

Robin walked across the room and picked up one of his spare coats. It wasn't fancy like his Plegian coat that the girl was currently wearing; it was solid charcoal in color with nothing else on it. Throwing it over his shoulders, he picked up two daggers, each one a little over two feet in length, and placed them on his back, one vertically on his left shoulder and the other horizontally near the small of his back.

"I'm going to step out for a little while," he told Cherche as he walked towards the door. "Take a walk. Clear my head."

As if she knew what he was planning on doing, she replied, "Be careful. Stay safe, Robin."

Robin turned his head and gave her a small smile. It was all he could muster. "I will."

. . .

The moon was still high in the sky when Robin was back at the fort. As he expected, the four Shepherds' visit did not go unnoticed, evident by the large number of patrols and how every torch on the wall was lit.

Not even bothering to hide, Robin started walking over towards the main gate. He didn't even make it halfway before he was surrounded by over a dozen slavers.

"Oh? And who might you be?" one of the slavers asked.

Robin stared at the one that spoke. He had an animal's skull on his shoulder and quickly dubbed him as 'Bone'.

"Hey now, we asked you a question there, friend," another slaver sneered.

With mana rushing throughout his body, Robin calmly asked, "I'm looking for a man named 'Rowen'. Have you heard of him?"

The entire group of slavers traded looks.

"Maybe. What's he to you?" Bone asked.

"I'm here on the behalf of another who…" Robin paused as he searched for a suitable word. "…owes Rowen a great deal."

"Do you now?" Bone stepped up and peered at Robin's face. "You say that, but I don't recognize you from around here."

Robin returned the stare. He then looked around him at all the slavers surrounding him. "Are you all in the same business as Rowen?"

One of the slavers laughed from behind him. "Damn right! That's one'uv our bosses that you wanta see!"

"I see." Robin focused his mana onto his fingertips. "Then, perhaps all of you could help me out a bit."

"And wuzzat gonna be, friend - "

Bone never got to finish his sentence as Robin flooded the man's head with pure mana. Unable to withstand the sudden influx of mana, Bone's head popped like a melon.

"You can all die here along with Rowen," Robin emotionlessly said as the bloody remains of Bone's head showered the group, himself included.

"Kill him!" one of the slavers roared and the entire group charged him at once.

It was nothing short of a massacre. While numerous, the slavers were hardly trained at all. Compared to Robin, who endured Frederick's hellish training and survived multiple skirmishes and a war on the frontlines, these slavers were nothing.

He drew his twin daggers and moved like a blur. He effortlessly weaved in and out of the slavers' attacks before killing them with a single blow each. Not once did he get hit. Not once did his daggers come into contact with their weapons. Not once did he even have to resort to using an ounce of mana to assist him.

Not even two minutes later, almost twenty slavers were on the ground. The last one was shaking in his boots as he threw his weapon onto the ground in surrender.

"S-S-Spare m-me! P-Please!" he cried. "H-Have mercy!"

Robin walked up to the man, who was now on his knees, and placed a dagger to his throat.

"I'm only going to ask you this once," Robin coldly said. "Where. Is. Rowen."

"I-I-Inside! C-Came back not thirty minutes ago!" The man pointed at the fort. "T-Top f-f-f-floor, f-follow the r-red c-c-carpet! Y-You can't miss it!"

Robin took his dagger's edge away from the man's neck. He reached down to the weeping man's shirt and wiped his blade and gloves free of blood. Most of it, anyway. As he wiped his blades clean, the man continued to sob. When he was done, Robin sheathed his blades.

"I see. Thank you for your cooperation."

The man's face broke into a wide grin. "Th-Thank you! I-I'll just be going now."

Before the man could even get up, a bolt of lightning tore through his chest.

"I never said that I would let you live," Robin growled, electricity coursing through his veins. He placed his index finger on the man's forehead. "If all else, blame yourself for putting that naive thought into your own head."

A look of horror and confusion would be forever imprinted on the man's face once Robin's lightning ripped through his skull.

Robin walked away from the pile of corpses without a look back. He made his way into the fort and was immediately met by a dozen slavers. A sweeping wave of fire took care of that problem within a second. As he stepped over the burnt bodies, he subconsciously compared the smell of burning bodies to the smell of rotting corpses.

They were equally as bad.

He continued to walk through the fort. At every corner, he was attacked by a few men. They were all disposed of quickly within seconds. By the time he got to the top floor, the slavers were either all dead or were smart enough to run away.

The red carpet wasn't difficult to miss. It was laid out in the center of the hallway with a golden trim and Robin followed the carpet. Just as the crying man said, the door to Rowen's room wasn't difficult to spot. No other door was as extravagant as his.

He felt like tearing it apart. Since that would cause him to exert a little more effort than he was willing to put in, he opted for blasting it open with a fireball.

Just as he expected, Rowen's room was filled with lavish items: statues of gold were clustered in one corner, large, intricate paintings were pinned everywhere, walls made of what looked to be silver, and hundreds of other items that Robin would see at an auction. He wanted to burn it all to nothing.

At the center of the room was Rowen himself, in all of his pudgy and oil haired glory, sitting in his king-sized bed with a gilded bedframe and velvet drapes. He was either an idiot who foolishly chose not to run from the sounds of fighting or was overconfident that his men would be able to fight back any intruder. Robin decided that it was both.

"Wh-Who are you?! How did you get in here?" Rowen shrieked, pointing a finger at Robin.

Robin didn't say anything. All he did was reach behind him and pull out his daggers.

"D-Do you know who I-I am? I'm one of the high seats of the underworld!" Rowen threatened.

"I know," Robin simply replied.

A figure stirred from beneath the blankets. A woman appeared from underneath the sheets without a shred of clothing on her body. She blinked a few times as her mind figured out a general gist of what was going on. She then saw Robin and hastily pulled the blanket to cover her ample chest.

"You." Robin looked at the woman and she froze. "Which are you, his lover or a whore?"

The woman was petrified to the point she couldn't speak.

"If you are the latter, I'm going to give you ten seconds to leave this room," Robin warned.

The woman didn't waste a single second as she jumped out of Rowen's bed, despite Rowen's angry yells for her to stay. She quickly grabbed whatever clothing she could find and rushed out of the room without bothering to give either men another look, nor did she bother to cover herself as she left.

At the ninth second, it was just Robin and Rowen in the room.

Robin twirled his blades once before slowly walking over to Rowen. The pudgy man scampered away from Robin and ungracefully fell backward onto the floor.

"G-Gold! I-I-I'll give you gold!" Rowen desperately offered. "So much of it that you'll be drowning in it!"

Robin continued to advance with his blades until Rowen was up against the wall.

"P-Power! Y-Yeah! I-I hold one of the h-high seats, s-s-so w-with my recommendation, you can quickly rise to the top!"

One of the daggers sliced the air and one of Rowen's hand fell to the floor. The man pitifully squealed in pain as he clutched the stump of a wrist. A finger snap later, a harsh flame covered the wrist for a few seconds before vanishing, which crudely cauterized the wound.

"Clearly, every single person that you met must've been just as shallow of a human being like you," Robin hissed. "Actually, scratch that. To call you a human being would be an insult to everyone in the world, myself included. I'd like to spend the time to find a suitable word that would describe you, but right now, I don't have the patience for it. Not that I think there would be a word that'd match your description."

"Why are you here?!" Rowen sobbed. "Who are you?!"

"I'm merely a wanderer who happened to take up a job to clear this place out not too long ago." It wasn't exactly a lie.

"So, your job's done, right?"

Robin nodded. "That's correct. I finished my job with my friends without a hitch."

"Th-Then…"

"But when I was searching the area, I discovered a little basement that was hidden behind a bunch of crates. It was heavily chained up, so naturally, it nipped at my curiosity. With my curiosity nipped, I decided to venture down there."

"Curiosity killed th-the cat, d-don't you know - GYAAH!"

One of Robin's daggers impaled Rowen's shoulder and embedded itself in the wall, causing the man to let out another squeal.

"But satisfaction brought it back," Robin growled, twisting the blade in Rowen's shoulder. "Don't interrupt me again." He roughly pulled his blade out, causing blood to splatter onto the ground. "As I was saying, I went down there and saw rows upon rows of human-sized cages. Most of them were filled with corpses of children and in the very back of the room, so far back that no light reached, do you know what I found?"

Rowen merely whimpered as his fear and pain sewed his mouth shut. His mouth was torn open with another scream of pain as Robin's dagger found itself in his thigh.

"Go ahead, ask me what I found," Robin snarled.

"Wh-What did y-you f-f-find?" Rowen sniveled.

"Well, funny you should ask." Robin crudely wrenched his dagger out and wiped the blade on the blanket. "It was a girl. No older than fifteen or sixteen years old, bruises and wounds on every inch of her body. Scared to the point that she shrank at the sight of another person, and to the point that she had to spend time to find her voice once more. And even then, it was very, very, quiet. Does any of this ring a bell in that pathetic little skull of yours?"

Rowen nodded so quickly that the layers of fat on his chin jiggled, much to Robin's displeasure.

"Good. Now, tell me." Robin crouched to meet Rowen at eye level. "Who is that girl? Where did you find her? And what did you do to her?"

There was no answer. A dagger found itself imbedded in Rowen's other knee.

"Speak."

"W-We found the g-girl on the outskirts of Ferox Harbor f-five months ago," Rowen whimpered. "M-My group was p-p-passing b-by one of N-Naga's shrines when she stumbled out of it. Don't kn-know who she w-was. We c-captured her and p-put her on a boat with the other slaves we captured."

"Go on," Robin ordered. "You merely answered two of my questions. There's a third."

Rowen took in a shaky breath. "I-I was g-going to sell her at a slave auction at the city of Imreire, two leagues south of V-Valm. But on the trip overseas, some of my men got restless, s-so they turned to the female slaves for relief."

Robin's mind went blank for a second. He didn't even know what he did. All he knew was that Rowen was screaming in pain once more and he was now missing an organ between his legs. The wound was already cauterized and flames licked the blade of his dagger.

"W-W-Wait! P-Please l-let me finish!" Rowen wailed. "The m-men c-c-couldn't t-touch her l-like that! Whenever they tried, the m-men would get thrown back f-from an unseen f-force! L-Like she was possessed or something!"

"Then explain how she was wounded so badly! Explain how she was tortured!" Robin roared.

"I-I-I don't know! I s-swear!" Rowen hysterically said. "We could hurt her just fine with whips and metal rods, b-but we could never physically touch her ourselves! She's still pure! I swear!"

Robin was fuming. Why was he getting so angry over a girl he just met? He never got this attached to any other stranger that he randomly came across, not even most of the Shepherds. So what made this girl so special?

Figuring that the reason didn't matter, Robin tossed the thought into the depths of his mind.

"Wh-When we arrived in Valm, my men beat her so badly that she wouldn't sell," Rowen continued. "S-So we k-kept her here, using her as an outlet for our boredom. When we grew tired of her, we tossed her in the basement with the others that didn't sell."

"And then I came along," Robin guessed, breathing heavily.

Rowen frantically nodded. "S-So, a-are we done?"

A few seconds passed as he steadied his breath. "…Yeah, I'm done." Robin stood to his feet and twirled his daggers once more.

"Please! S-Spare my life!" Rowen begged. "Have mercy!"

"Mercy?" Robin murderously glared down at the cowering man. "Did you give the girl mercy when you and your men were beating her? Did you show mercy to all those slaves you sold off when they begged to be released? Did you show mercy to all those children who starved to death in that basement? No, you didn't. So tell me, why should I show you any mercy? 'You reap what you sow,' haven't you heard that saying?"

Rowen managed to move his limbs enough to prostrate himself in front of Robin. "I beg of you! Please!"

"But…" Robin took in a deep breath and sheathed his blades. "I'm not like you. I'm not like your men. Unlike you, I will show mercy."

Just like the weeping man from earlier, a hopeful look spread across Rowen's features.

"I'm going to end your life right here, right now," Robin venomously spat.

Any last dregs of hope that Rowen was clinging onto vanished at that moment.

"Either die here or be left to die on your own," Robin coldly said, placing his thumb against his middle finger. "You can't even walk anywhere the way you are and I doubt anyone will take you in. The underworld's high table will send men after you to torture and then kill you, so what I'm doing now is a mercy kill. Be grateful."

He snapped his fingers once and Rowen's body was engulfed in flames. The fat and oil in the man's body only acted as fuel, and Robin warped himself out of the room just as the velvet drapes caught fire. From the safety of open air, he watched as the fire spread throughout the entirety of the top floor.

Robin held out his hand and funneled a large portion of his mana into it. A ball of flame appeared, growing in size by the second as it started to change color from red to blue to white. He felt the strain of mana almost instantly and his legs almost gave out on him. When the fireball was almost five time the size of his head, Robin threw it at the fortress.

When it detonated, violent winds and blistering heat washed over Robin in tandem. The fort was reduced to nothing, leaving behind a giant crater. There wasn't even a trace of the basement for it was burnt to nothing along with the corpses that were trapped in there.

'I was not able to save you, but I hope I was able to grant you peace,' Robin prayed.

Turning on his heels, Robin took a single step before warping away.

. . .

The girl perked up when Robin entered the room. His bloodstained clothes were thrown away and burned and he took another shower to rid himself of the smell of blood.

"The others said that you went to take a walk. To clear your head," the girl said. It wasn't a question.

"I did take a walk," Robin replied. "And before you ask, nothing of much importance happened. I managed to clear my head, got rid of a bit of stress, and took out a pesky little thorn."

"A 'thorn'?" The girl's brow furrowed. A few seconds later, her eyes widened as she put two and two together. "You mean - !"

Robin nodded. "You'll never see or hear from Rowen again."

Silence fell upon the two again.

'Yup. Definitely going to have to get used to silence around this girl.'

The girl's eyes started to water and she put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stem the tears. The action was in vain as she pulled Robin and cried into his chest for the third time. However, this was the first time that the girl's tears were tears of happiness.

"Th-Thank you…" the girl whispered, her voice muffled by Robin's shirt. "Th-Thank you so much…"

And for the third time, Robin opted to remain silent and gently wrapped his arms around the girl's lithe frame. Once the girl managed to let out all of her feelings into his chest, she sat up straight and wiped away the lingering tears from her eyes.

"It occured to me that I never introduced myself," the girl said.

"It is quite alright. You do not need to tell me anything that you do not want to reveal."

The girl weakly laughed. Despite its delicate sound, her laughter caused warmth to spread throughout Robin's chest.

"You're oddly formal to one that owes you so much," she said.

He shrugged. "I try."

She laughed again, but this time it was stronger than before. "Sadly, I can't remember a lot of my past. I don't know why. Everything from before I woke up here the first time is…murky. Like I'm trying to remember a dream I had."

Robin nodded while inwardly frowning.

'Looks like she did suffer from amnesia after all,' he thought to himself. 'Perhaps this is for the best. No one should have to live with such painful memories.'

"But I do remember you rescuing me!" she quickly added. "I don't know where I was; I just remember it being really dark. Then you appeared and took me away from that place and woke up here. I remember talking to a pretty woman with pink hair, and when you came in, I remembered my name."

Robin slightly leaned forward, eager to learn the first thing about this girl that wouldn't cause her any form of pain.

"My name is Morgan. Pleased to meet you."

. . .

. . .

Honestly, I have no idea why I even wrote this, nor do I know why I'm posting this up. Guess that just goes to show how smart of an individual I am.

I just sifted to one of my notebooks that held a bunch of random thoughts and ideas, came across one outline that had a similar 'story' to what you just read, and nearly 8 hours later (it's past 7 am at the time of writing this A/N. Started around 11:30ish pm) this is on my screen. If only I could write my other stories' chapters this quickly. Wouldn't that be great.

And I never thought that I'd write a tragedy/hurt sort of story, and I hated myself for putting Morgan through this.

Speaking of, human trafficking is an actual thing that still happens today. Same goes for beatings (bullying and home violence included) and any traumatizing events. Please do not make light of it. Anyone can be a victim to it, a few of my personal friends included. I know that this site isn't really the place to promote anything, so I'll just leave it at that.

…Anyway, I honestly don't know what else to put here after all…this (gestures to the some 8k words above). So…to all those that follow any of my other stories, I'll see you there sometime. To you first timers to read one of my works on this site…I deeply apologize that this happened to be the first one that you read. I assure you that this is the only story that's a darker genre.

If you want a story that has a much happier premise, then I'd suggest (shameless self-promotion here) reading "A Shepherd's Rest". It's a post-game!Robin that ended up in RWBY's Remnant. It's practically all fluff with a couple of bittersweet moments.

Liked the story, hated the story, lemme know. I'll take it all and possibly end up crying in some corner for what I did to Morgan.