Caged and Confused

(Inside a stone building lined with cages, in the corner of the room there was one human who was quite emaciated. His body covered by rags that loosely hung from his bony figure. In contrast the shackles around his ankles dug into the skin which clung tightly to his bones. This was a man recently sold to Rebirth.)

Opening his eyes the first thing he could sense was the throbbing pain inside his skull. Feeling almost as if the force of the world wanted to split it in half. Moving to get up an intense soreness overtook his body. He felt the muscles throughout his body refusing to cooperate properly. Looking around he realized he was inside a cage not much bigger than himself, with room only for him to lay down with his knees tucked to his chest. Grasping the bars and struggling to pull himself up he finally had a chance to survey his surroundings.

As he looked around he noticed many cages filling the room he was in. At least 15 other cages filled the dark room, the only source of light coming from the moon as the roof had caged areas that allowed light into the building. The building itself seemed to be 100 square meters in total. Most of the other cages were empty. In the center of the room along the walls he was able to spot a few people within the cages.

"Hey! Hey! Where the hell am I?"

Still confused as to his current circumstances the man called out to the others within the cages for an explanation. Yet as he waited for a response, none came.

"Hey! You guys over there! What the hell is going on here? Where the hell am I!?"

Trying to get out of the cage the man tried pushing open the door, however it wouldn't budge. Pressing his face against the barred cage he looked down and noticed a keyhole next to a handle. Sliding his arm between the bars he tried turning and pulling the handle but to no avail.

Looking up the man again glimpsed at the others within the cages.

"Hey! Where am I? Why am I here!?"

Yelling and banging against the Cage door to get the attention of the fellow prisoners. The man suddenly realized those bodies haven't moved once since he laid eyes on them.

"So you're dead huh? Geez. Is that what my fate is? To die in rags in some prison?"

Lamenting his situation the man became solemn for a moment. However the moment quickly passed as pain surged through his body, forcing him to collapse against the cage. Collapsing against the cage he felt pain followed by something warm running down his shoulder. He realized his body was not just covered in rags, but a majority of his upper body was wrapped in bandages and was recently changed.

" I feel weak and I'm so fucking hungry. What happened?"

Despairing at the situation and the pain that currently wracked his body the man couldn't help but fall unconscious due to the shock.

Cold water washed over his bald head drenching the rags covering his body. The caged man was awoken to the yelling of a man.

" Hey! You alive yet there?"

Looking up at the sound of the voice the caged man saw a burly armored man. He was clad in sleeveless gray armor with a flame symbol emblazoned on the chest and grayish white baggy pants with armored boots. Looking at the symbol the caged man felt indignant yet he couldn't understand why.

"Aha, Okran yet has a purpose for you lost one."

The armored man spoke in a sympathetic tone.

"Where am I, who are you? Who is Okran?"

Confused as to what was happening and his current circumstances the caged man sought answers.

The armored man was visibly baffled at the last question as he took a step back and his eyes opened as wide as physically possible.

"WHO IS OKRAN?!"

After screaming this the caged man flinched, confused as to why this question offended the man so. Yet after a moment the armored man seemed to calm.

"Oh, forgive me. It is my duty as a sentinel to help my brothers who have strayed from the path of righteousness. Okran, brother, is the lord of light. The god who guides us in our humble lives. A guiding beacon in this dark treacherous world, the guardian who shields us from the influences of the vile demonness Narko..."

After listening to the man it became clear he was some kind of religious fanatic as he was zealously explaining everything about his god and their ways. Blocking out the rest the caged man simply nodded until the man finished his makeshift sermon.

"Now then as to who I am, I am simply a Sentinel stationed here at Rebirth, that's where you currently are you know. This is where you shall work towards the goal of personifying the glory of the Holy Phoenix! You, unfortunately are a lost one, a heretic, yet still a son of Okran. So here you will work until you've been purified of your sins through work."

"So are you going to let me out of here anytime soon? I mean I don't want to end up like those unfortunates over there."

Pointing towards the bodies of the others in the cages, the man lamented befalling the same fate. He didn't want to die yet! He doesn't even known who he is! How can he die like that not even knowing how he even got here? No he was going to get out of here and get to the bottom of things. Perhaps this man was his captor and would tell him his circumstances, so he wanted to win his favor.

"Ah yes, poor degenerates. They tried striking out against the foremen you know. So they exercised their rights, and beat them"

The Sentinel walked over to the area where the individuals were caged kneeled down and examined their bodies.

Hesitant to interrupt the armored man and tempt his wrath the caged man waited for him to continue.

"A little excessive if you ask me as they could have still preformed services to the Holy Phoenix and Okran. No you needn't worry you won't die like them if you're lucky, which you obviously are since you're still alive after what you supposedly experienced. Well you're alive if nothing else which is good if you're nothing other than useful. But, you're clearly too injured to be of any use yet, here's some food for the week. "

The Sentinel retrieved something from his pouch which was slung over his shoulder yet the straps were hidden underneath the armor so it was difficult to spot. Tossing it into the cage, the man looked at the cage floor seeing 2 slices of meat and what appeared to be a roasted chunk of gristle.

Giving a toothy smirk the Sentinel looked the caged man directly in the eyes. The sun from above shown down upon the man's face showing his yellowing teeth and his sun kissed face. Getting stared at the man in the cage couldn't help but feel itchy throughout his body. As if the wounds around his body were all being strained. Looking at the man before him the caged man couldn't help but feel uncomfortable and vaguely angry. Before it got too serious and caused injury the armored man broke the stare and walked towards the door.

"Wait! Why am I in here! I don't know who I am please! I don't know what I did!"

Standing up desperately and quickly despite the wounds that covered his body trying to prey upon the armored man's moral conscious the caged man desperately yelled hoping to elicit any reaction. Hearing the mans pleas the Sentinel stopped just before the door. Looking over his shoulder he spoke.

"Because you followed a master who bites at the hand of Okran and rejects his kind guidance."

With that final statement the Sentinel opened the door and left the caged man alone in the building.

After few moments of the door being shut the caged man could hear a clank at the front door. Assuming it to be the sound of a locking system. Collapsing once again despairing once again. Suddenly the man's stomach became grumbling violently.

"Shit so fucking hungry."

Grasping his stomach in pain the man's eyes darted to the floor where the Sentinel tossed the bread and gristle and immediately shoved the gristle into his mouth and began savoring it. The gristle itself was as expected tough and stringy, not something any reasonable human would enjoy eating. But considering the circumstances he was so hungry his body was glad to have something tangible.

Eyeing the bread the caged man couldn't help but immediately think shoving those slices of bread into his mouth and feeding the monster of hunger that was slowly overtaking his sanity. Yet he fought that instinct bitterly as he remembered the Sentinel's words.

"This is it for the week.... Ah. Fuck what happened. I don't remember anything, though I seem to have gotten into some trouble with these Sentinels, Okran, and that Holy Phoenix guy."

After stowing the bread between the crack that was between the wall and the cage the man felt comfortable knowing he had a hiding spot for food for emergencies while he was still here. Which was obvious for the moment since they weren't putting him to work right away despite it being daytime.

The man began running his fingers over his torso so he could feel the individual cuts that littered his chest underneath the bandage-wraps.

"1....3....5. Damn those are pretty deep too. What the hell did I get into? Who the hell am I?"