The Heavenly Crystal

Inside a dilapidated house which was dimly lit by a candle, a young man in his teens was busy admiring the "rare rocks" he found after scavenging around his neighborhood.

"This stone is so shiny that it looks like a gem, and it's so smooth to touch as well" said the young man while c.a.r.e.s.sing the near perfectly spherical stone that was about as big as his fist. He looked at the stone with great fascination and care while gently wiping it using the edge of his dirty shirt. He then placed it inside a big box where he always kept the beautiful rocks he found.

"All good! Hehe" said the young man with a silly smile on his face while looking at his collection. All sorts of rocks with different shapes and colors were placed neatly on the old wooden box.

He closed the wooden box with great care and placed it on a table near his bed. He then took off his dirty shirt and threw it on a basket at the corner of his dilapitated house. He went outside his house and headed towards a rusty metal container around a meter and a half in height. He washed his face in a rough manner with the water from it.

"How cold" the young man said while shivering.

"I should get some sleep after washing my face" he added.

After washing his face, he headed back home while hugging himself because of the cold night wind. He locked the wooden door that is close to breaking and then opened a wooden cabinet where he place his clean clothes. He grabbed a newly washed shirt then he hurriedly went to bed.

After a little more than minute, a loud snoring sound can be heard within the house.

The next morning, a loud shout woke up the young man from his deep sleep. "Roan! You dumbass! You said you will wake up at six in the morning to go scavenging with me! But it's already seven and you still dare to f.u.c.k.i.n.g sleep? Wake up you stupid kid!"

"Give me five more minutes" Roan mumbled in a quiet voice with his eyes still closed. A line of saliva can be seen trickling down his lips.

"Baaang!" the aged wooden door met its end after receiving a kick from a buff and strong looking guy with shabby clothes. The buff guy glared at the still sleeping Roan and walked towards his direction with heavy strides.

He arrived at edge of Roan's bed in a blink of an eye. Anger and annoyance was evident in his face. He clenched his fist and was about to punch Roan, when he saw an old wooden box.

He smiled evilly and was about to grabbed the box when the sleeping Roan immediately opened his eyes and hurriedly grabbed the ripped arms of the buff guy. Roan put strength on his grip and glared at the intruder with chilly eyes. He then spoke in a cold voice "I said give me five more minutes."

The buff guy's scalp tingled after seeing Roan's glare who was was a head shorter than him.

He swatted away Roan's hands and followed it after with a strong punch straight to his face. Roan evaded the punch with great ease and returned with a fast and fierce punch towards the larger guys c.h.e.s.t. The buff guy blocked the punch with his thick arms. Roan proceeded with a low kick but then abandoned his plan after seeing his opponent clench his fists tighter.

"Your senses are as sharp as always Roan" said the buff guy while smiling at him.

"Still as strong as a bull Terrius" answered Roan while smiling back at the buff guy.

Both of them then laughed at the same time.

"Let's head out, Taylor and his crew might steal in our territory again" said Terrius in anger as we walked out of Roan's house.

Roan just smiled in response and followed after his friend.

They both strapped a wooden basket on their backs, then they both nodded at each other and headed to where they will scavenge resources and sell it after. This is how the both of them lived the moment they lost their parents from an "incident" that happened ten years ago.

They were still seven years old at that time, but they live through the pain, together. They learned how to live like rats that survived the rough environment in the sewers. They scavenged resources from the Scrap Mountain where tons of useless and used metal equipments where thrown and sold it at a junkshop in the city.

"Looks like they are not here yet, but still be wary. We don't know when they will strike" said Roan while looking for the traces of Taylor and his cronies.

"Let's go and move fast. It will be hard for us without our 'artillery' since he said he is still sick" said Terrius while thinking about their other friend.

"Right, let's go visit his place after selling all our scraps" said Roan while smiling.

"Of course, let's buy him some meatbuns as well. He love eating those" said Terrius while laughing lightly.

They proceeded to pick up scrap metals and put it inside their wooden baskets. They did this all in a well practiced manner. They only collected the once that will sell more and did not even bother to pick up the other scraps.

After a few hours of scavenging, their basket was finally full of metal scraps.

"We're finally done here" said Terrius while stretching his sore muscles.

Roan smiled and told his friend "Lets go, it's time to sell the scraps we collected. And we might as well buy some food in the city because we haven't eaten anything since morning."

Terrius laughed while rubbing his rumbling belly.

They both laughed at the same time. Then they descended the Scrap Mountain with little to no effort at all.

At the foot of the mountain, they saw more than a dozen teens armed with wooden bats and wooden planks. They all have evil smiles on their faces while looking at the two who were descending towards them.

"We meet again losers" said a teen in the lead while smiling. He has a spiky golden hair and piercings on his nose and lips. He was tall and lean, and look like a typical teen gangster.