"Maybe, but all I care about is food tonight."
"Oh come on man! Think bigger! You can definitely be something once we get out of this cursed place!"
"I don't know man? I haven't eaten in days so food!"
The older boy's expression changed slightly, showing a hint of disappointment and despair.
"I'm being serious."
The younger boy's eyes were filled with shock. He looked down. Hesitating for a few moments while his blue eyes stared at some black dust levitating above the charred surface of the cave.
"Um… You ever heard of… nevermind. I don't know what I want to do, if I escape someday."
"Well, that's the biggest lie I've ever heard! Do you not trust me with your dreams? Do you think I will laugh? Fine, I'll tell you my dream. I want to own a bakery…"
The smaller boy starts laughing.
The older boy looks down.
"What's so funny?"
"Sorry, sorry, just I never could have predicted that. You're like two meters tall and made of pure muscle. Imagining you in a little baker's gown is something."
The older boy poked him on the shoulder. With enough force to hurt. Then he spoke with a serious voice once again.
"You laughed at my dreams, so I get to laugh at yours."
The younger boy once again stares at the floor.
"Well I guess I have a couple goals… I want to reunite with my younger brother and sister one day. Though, that's not a dream to laugh about… When I was younger… My mom would read me a lot of stories. One of such stories… was about a hero. The hero traveled from land to land. Saving people and helping anywhere he could. Alto the dragon slayer. He started alone, but he would make lots of friends as he traveled. Some even stayed by his side. He fought a powerful man. Detric the ghoul. He ended up dying because Detric used a child as a hostage. Anyways I always looked up to him… and wanted to be like him someday."
It was only fair. Orio laughed at Bear's dream after all. It was something personal though. He had only told his mother and father of this dream. Bear's dream must have been important to him. Plus he was a good friend.
Though the laugh Orio expected, never came. Instead, Bear simply patted him on the back. Orio looked up at his large friend to see a wide grin on his beastie face.
"I took you for a Leo dude!"
"The guy who single handedly banished the Crimson king and his armies? Yeah right, everyone and their mom is a Leo dude. I'm different, I don't…"
A bright crimson light appears behind a tunnel. The light slowly gets brighter as a humanoid shadow appears on the wall.
The boys begin to shuffle and move towards another tunnel. Their chains rattling on the floor. Orio quickly reaches for him while he's moving.
A loud man yells.
"There here!"
"Kill the bastards!"
The two boys hide in a small tunnel. Barely peering their eyes out. Watching the stone ignite from a crimson light.
A group of five men appear from the tunnel. One holding a lantern. They quickly spot torn rags leading to another cave system.
"This way!"
The men hurriedly approach the entrance to the tunnel and continue inside.
The boys watch as they leave. Bear speaks up.
"Good thinking."
"Can't believe they actually fell for it."
They grabbed their broken chains and swiftly moved through the tunnels. Eventually they have to find an exit. Even if they didn't. Being dead might have led to a better life.
As they moved they encountered glowing blue moss along the walls of the dark cave. Their bruises were made apparent by their pale blue glow. Covering their body from head to toe. The top of Orio's shirt was torn and looked to appear like rags tied together. Bear's was only in a slightly better condition.
The lights made it easier to move in the tunnels. Without them they would sustain more bruises while bumping into walls blindly. Of course, very few of the ones littering their bodies were caused by such incidents.
'I'm going to be free. What has it been? Two, three years now? I can't believe it!'
A menacing grin appeared on Orio's face. Though, it was not meant to convey menace. This was just what he looked like when he was happy.
The chances of them escaping were supposed to have been very low. Some have tried. Only to get lost in the endless amount of twisting tunnels. They had an advantage though. Simple experience. They have both been here for a long time. Bear for around six years in fact.
It was hard to keep track of time, so maybe it was longer.
"Gruhh."
Bear moved slightly back while covering the top of his head.
"Stupid rock."
Orio lookes down at dried blackened blood. It has been here for a while. A few red drops fall on the same spot from Bear's head. Orio looks up.
"We're close."
Bears face shifts, going from a foul mood to a more excited one.
He turns around and continues forward. Eventually the cave gets so narrow to the point where both of them have to crawl. That doesn't stop them. Merely slows them down, slightly.
Soon the cave grows slightly brother with a pale light. One that only differs slightly from the moss.
Moonlight.
Bear crawls out of a small crack in a vast rocky mountain. Falling face first onto a pile of dirt.
"Dirt!"
Orio looks down at his large friend through the small crack. He then braces himself as he pulls himself out. Falling face first into the same beautiful, soft, squishy, dirt.
It actually went down when he hit it. Slightly.
The two boys slowly got to their feet and stared at the vast expanse of stars. A large moon can be seen just over the horizon.
Raising their hands above their heads. As their broken chains swing. They both shout.
"We made it!"
"We're free!"