Origin Seeker

Chapter 23: Silent Scream

"Old Man, I told you this would happen."

"This is always gonna happen. But I'm not gonna go putting a mask on my girls."

"True."

Dream agreed as he also wouldn't make them do that.

After a little waiting, they were guided to a table by a host. As most of the tables were rather close together, so they couldn't expect much privacy. But they could also hear all the conversations going on.

"Dude, look at those girls over there! I tell you I've never seen such white hair!"

"That's what you're looking at? What about that ass of hers?! Both of them even!"

"Ass? You guys have no taste! Boobs all the way!"

"Hah! And you say we have no taste?! You can never beat a tight ass with boobs!"

"You looking to fight?"

Men all around the room first admired the sight of two stunning women before breaking out over heated debates.

Dream couldn't blame them though. Boobs vs ass was indeed one of the great questions of the universe. Even he couldn't decide!

The girls though were shocked, embarrassed, and also angry at the things they heard though. Never in their wildest dreams would they ever imagine being talked about like that in front of so many people!

Iris obviously got heated, even Luna had a bit of a crumpled face.

"Are men seriously so vulgar?! How could they say those things!" (Iris)

"Now you know why I mentioned wearing cloaks. And also why I gave you different clothes. Just imagine what they'd say if you were walking around in those shorts you like." (Dream)

"I-I guess. But still!" (Iris)

"This is just how men are. You'll learn to block it out." (Riddick)

"Oh? So you mean to say that you guys are the same?" (Iris)

Iris gave them a glare as she asked her question. Though the answer shocked her.

"Yup."

"Yup."

"..."

Both of them said the same thing at the same time. Iris was dumbfounded at how her dad and Dream apparently also thought like those vulgar men.

Luna, on the other hand, already had an idea. Especially with some of the... interesting ways Dream would describe her, which would only get weirder by the day. Never did she think she would get described as 'Thicker than a bowl of oatmeal'. She wasn't even totally sure about what oatmeal was!

Regardless, neither of the girls were happy with the situation.

"Whatever. When do we get our food?" (Iris)

"When a waiter comes." (Riddick

They didn't have to wait long before someone came to take their orders. Each of them got whatever looked good and the waiter left. They had appetizers like bread that they munched on while waiting.

20 minutes later they finally got their food. Each was a cut of meat but unlike what they ate in the forest, this meat was seasoned and cooked properly.

This surprised the girls when they first bit into it. The different spices and the medium-rare juicy meat made for a wonderful combination.

They instantly started cutting into their meat and ate quickly. It was good that the portion sizes were big otherwise dinner would be over fast.

"I guess I never really did make you guys meat or anything." (Dream)

"You had other foods with meat, but no it was never just meat like this." (Luna)

"I probably would've but I wasn't able to get many things until my skill evolved. Which was only like, a little while ago. Maybe I'll try a dish sometime." (Dream)

"You should. You're cooking is good." (Luna)

The group kept eating while making occasional conversation. Meanwhile, the men in the room still hadn't stopped talking about the girls.

Some guys got bored and talked about other things, but people came in and out so there was always someone to say something.

Everything was fine, until it got taken a step further.

"Hey ladies! I've never seen you around here before!"

A man who looked to be in his late 20s came walking up to the group's table. He was with a friend.

"I've never seen you two here either. You guys should come with us, we can show you around the city for a while."

Dream as well as the other three looked over and checked out who was talking to them.

There were two men who were burly enough to be NFL players back on Earth. Dream guessed they were about 6'5". They also had some gear on and looked to have come from a hunt recently. They weren't dirty though. Big muscles and a short-sleeve shirts showed just how strong they were.

Iris wasn't impressed, though.

"Check out the town? No thanks. Just go away and leave us alone." (Iris)

She spoke up in irritation. She had barely been dealing with the lecherous looks and the shameful comments for a while now. And now they were coming to her table! She didn't want to be mean, but she's also not really a nice person to begin with.

After Iris gave them such a blunt answer, them two men noticeably flinched. They weren't expecting such a response from such a beautiful girl.

They also didn't take so kindly to that either. But they didn't let that show

"Hey now, there's no need for such a harsh response. I actually happen to be one of the class 1 hunters in the guild. I know plenty of places. Me and my friend were just looking for some company. So how about it?" (Man 1)

As the man was saying that, he bent down and put his arm around Iris.

Iris totally wasn't expecting it either. She reddened a little at the unexpected contact. The man obviously didn't miss this and figured she was the type to play hard to get.

Man 2 also went up to Luna.

"Hey, girl. I'm guessing the fiery one is your friend. It's a perfect match if both of you come with us. Come on, I know a great pub with delicious wine that we can check out."

Man 2 reached out and grabbed Luna's hand as he said that. As she was just as inexperienced as Iris, she forgot to fight it and was pulled up from her seat.

As the two men were trying to take the girls, both Riddick and Dream were glaring. At first they didn't do anything as they wanted the girls to know how to reject someone, but when the men started putting their hands on them, they understood that this wouldn't end as cleanly as they expected.

Dream was the first to speak up.

"Hey! I suppose you just hoped that we wouldn't notice you? Or are you so blind as to not see us?" (Dream)

"No we saw you, but I don't think we owe you any attention. You can just finish eating and move along." (Man 2)

"Oh, I think we both know that's not going to happen." (Dream)

"Are you challenging me? I don't know if you qualify too."

"Well then, we should find out, shouldn't we?."

Dream stood up from his seat as he said that. Both men looked at him and smirked. This was it?

Iris also wasn't idle while they were talking.

"Don't touch me with your dirty hand's asshole!"

She grabbed his arm and threw it away while also standing up.

"Come on little girl. You don't need to be so firey. Let's just take a walk outside."

The man went over to grab Iris, but she decided to respond with a jab to the throat.

"I said keep your hands off me!"

*Cough* Ow! Bitch! Don't dish what you can't take!"

*slap!* *thud*

The man responded with a slap to her face. As he had much more strength, it was enough to put her on the floor.

This, however, earned the unrepressed killing intent from both Dream and Luna.

Luna kicked the man grabbing her in the balls, which got him to back off and then pushed him away.

Dream also went to the man who slapped Iris and delivered a Sparta kick to the gut.

*boom*

A low thud rang out as the man was knocked back by the kick. Dream turned to pick up Iris.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"I...I'm gonna kill him..."

Dream thought she would be a little shocked, but nope. She was absolutely seething with hatred.

"Let me serve him to you then. They're strong. And I don't want you turning into a fox to fight him."

Dream had felt it when he kicked the man. That guy was indeed strong. As expected from a class 1 hunter.

After the two men were pushed back and Dream had picked up Iris, he squared up with them.

Riddick asked just in case.

"What do you think, Boy? You good?"

"Yup. No problems."

"Good. Go ahead and gut them like a fish."

Dream nodded after he heard the hatred in Riddick's voice. Dream was also surprised he didn't incinerate them on the spot considering his power.

Either way, looks like he has the green light. The two men also squared with Dream.

"That was a strong kick there. Surprising how it came from you. But you think I'm so weak to cave from that?" (Man 1)

"It won't end with just a kick. Get over here so I can make you squeal like a pig." (Dream)

"Punk! Watch that mouth of yours!" (Man 2)

"Fine. I'll go to you then." (Dream)

Dream stopped wasting words and activated the suit. This thing would allow him to grind their bones to dust.

He kicked off toward the first man and threw out a punch. The man responded with a simple arm block. But it wouldn't end so well with just that.

When the fist landed,

*thud*

*Snap*

"ARGHH. Fuck!"

A curse came out as the man's entire forearm was shattered. Dream wasted no time and threw out a right kick to the man's left thigh.

Another sound was heard.

*CRACK*

"AHHHH!!!

The man went to the floor while holding his leg. The femur bone was definitely the most painful bone to break.

Meanwhile, the other man had come over to support his friend after recovering from his balls being kicked. He took out an axe that he had across his back and chopped down diagonally.

[Axe from behind!]

'Yup.'

Dream had sensed the axe coming. Unfortunately, he couldn't completely move out of the way. So he decided to parry it.

'Let's hope this suit can take it!'

He turned around threw up his arm at the blade.

*Shhrringgg*

Sparks flew as the two made contact. The axe was diverted towards the floor safely, but Dream had taken more of a hit than he thought.

'Fuck! That's gonna leave a nasty bruise! My arm hurts!'

The axe carried a lot of weight and Dream had been knocked back a few feet onto his back.

"Damn! That armor is tough. Come on you piece of shit! I'll chop your leg off!" (Man 2)

The man came walking over and chopped down again. Dream didn't want to meet it head on and dove away.

After he dove, he got up and squared with the man again.

"I think I know enough. We can begin." (Dream)

*Shing*

As Dream said that, a blade was ejected from his arm. The blade was about a foot long. Dream had never tested how sharp this was. Now it would seem he has more experimenting to do.

He dashed over to the man again. The man responded with a horizontal slice, but Dream dodged.

Dream then responded with a slash to the leg.

*slice*

The blade went straight through the man's thigh, like a hot knife through butter.

"huh..."

As the body goes into shock from having a limb cut off, the man didn't feel any pain as he fell on his butt. Though it didn't last long.

"Ah..AHHHHH!!!!! AHHH!!!!"

He started screaming like mad when the pain finally set it. Dream didn't mind him though as he was no longer a threat, and started walking over to the first man.

"F-Fuck! You can't kill me!"

The man seemed to forget about the pain from his broken leg as he drew a sword from his back and started slashing in front of him.

As he slashed like a maniac, Dream moved in during an opening and cut the man's wrist off.

*slice*

*clang*

"AHHH!!! You son of a BIT-Ah!

Dream punched the man in the face to shut him up. As both were now incapacitated, he had them at his mercy.

Dream checked with the girls first.

"You wish to throw any punches?"

"Yes!" (Iris)

Iris was still heated from being smacked. She instantly dashed over.

She punched, slapped, and burned the first man all over. None of her attacks were weak either. She had been caught off guard by that slap, but that didn't mean she couldn't dish it out.

She went on for almost 10 minutes before her fire had died down and the man stopped screaming. The man was left weak and pitiful with cauterized wounds everywhere.

"I'm done."

"Alright. Luna?"

"No, thank you. Although..."

Luna got up from her seat and walked over to the man with his leg chopped off. She then delivered a swift kick to his face.

*thud*

"Argh!"

Luna's foot hit the man with a dull sound. The man grunted in pain, but not much considering his leg pains.

"I'm good." (Luna)

"Alright. Old man, maybe you should take them to get some fresh air. Keep watch for me too." (Dream)

Dream wasn't sure the girls would enjoy seeing the punishment he was about to hand out nor did he want them to see him doing it. So he gave Riddick a hint to take them out. Riddick didn't seem to think that way though.

"You know, I think we'll stay. And don't worry about being interrupted. I'm not as powerful as I am for nothing." (Riddick)

At first he was confused. What if the guards came? But when Dream thought about it, he understood. Wasn't Riddick as powerful as the king here? There was probably nothing he couldn't do!

And although Dream was conflicted about doing this in front of the girls, he wasn't about to let these men be turned in to the guards. He turned around to the two men after nodding to Riddick. Before he started though...

"Everyone! Leave."

Dream shouted to everyone in the restaurant that hadn't already left. He could spot some younger teenagers who he didn't need to scare like that.

When everyone had emptied out, Dream turned to the two men.

"There will be no interruptions while I handle you two."

The man turned to look at Dream, who no longer had his mask on, and felt killing intent that would give him nightmares. If he lived past tonight, that is.

The killing intent that he sensed wasn't overwhelming, but it was sadistic, fiendish. He could only imagine what this man was about to do to him.

Dream walked towards him and squatted down next to him.

"You know, a friend of mine once told me that sometimes you need a more artistic way to cut something, or someone. So they gave me this knife."

"Fuck you!"

*slice*

The first man threw out a punch with his remaining hand. But it was promptly cut off.

"AHHHH!!!!"

"Wow! You can get awfully loud. Let's fix that."

After the man basically screamed in his ear, he got annoyed.

'Sophia. Where do I cut the vocal cords?'

[I'll highlight it in your vision]

After a second, Dream saw a red line for where the man's vocal cords would be in his vision. He then grabbed the mans head and slammed it on the ground.

*thud*

"Stay still"

Dream took his knife and put it up to his throat. And right where the line was, he punctured the throat.

*pui*

"..."

The man opened his mouth to express his pain, but nothing came out.

"There we go."

The man kept opening and closing his mouth, and air could be heard coming from his lungs. But no sound.

Dream walked over and did the same to the other man. When he was done, there was silence.

"Boy? How did you do that?"

"There is a muscle in your throat that makes your voice. I just cut the muscle."

"Hmm."

Riddick was interested as it was something he didn't know. Biology probably wasn't advanced in this world. The girls though,

"Dream? You don't have to do anything. I'm fine you know?" (Iris)

Iris was worried as she could tell what was about to happen. She was a tough girl and a slap wasn't much. Dream though,

"Its not about being fine Iris. A man dare slap and humiliate you... You think I or your dad would ever allow such a thing to go unpunished? I apologize that your first day outside has ended in such a fashion. To make up for it, these pieces of horse shit that ruined our evening will be taught what it means to be broken. They will understand that walking in here tonight is a mistake that they will never be able to learn from."

After Dream finished talking to Iris, the men knew that their time had come.

Silent screams rang out in the night.