Ohmtoonz - Endless Ambition
Ryan loved the kingdom outskirts, he loved comparing the vast and never sleeping town to the fresh and grassy fields that kept his home hidden from any other kingdom or rogue thieves. His home- The Todian Kingdom was safe and peaceful. He often remembered racing his older brother down the hills, seeing how far up he could go, before gravity forced him tumbling down to the city.
The hills surrounded the town almost perfectly, aside from the occasional smoke from a production line, the town was out of sight. Nobody new came in, not without the entire kingdom knowing. Especially the king.
The king was strict and calm, his two sons always tried to show off, trying to prove that they deserved to be the next rightful ruler to show that they were capable of leading the kingdom the same way as their father. The smaller prince, Prince Luke was agile, but also incredible at hand to hand combat, he often left those lucky to watch him spar, breathless. He had the looks and the brain, he was charming and friendly to all those around him. Ryan believed he would be the heir to the throne.
The other prince, Prince Tyler was larger, standing at 6’1 with incredible muscle, he had been able to punch through rocks and not even flinch. He constantly helped anyone in the town, showing off by lifting up any object that was considered moderately heavy. He loved showing off to everyone about how powerful he was, he was short tempered, but definitely a loveable guy.
“Ryan, stop getting distracted,” his older brother scolded, nudging the smaller boy in front of him.
His older brother was rather short, blue eyes, black scruffy hair and a very faint stubble, he wore a dark blue hoodie and some baggy cargo pants.
Ryan nodded quickly and followed him, pulling his own, stolen, grey hoodie up. His jeans were ripped to hell, but at least they kept him warm.
“Oi! stop drooling over the castle and get moving, we don't have all day.” His older brother- Jonathan reminded fimly, nudging his younger brother forward and out of the way to other townspeople.
Jonathan was a tall and muscular, he was taller than Ryan by a few feet and his muscles were noticeable in his rather tight shirt, at first glance, the brothers looked completely different, they had different skin tones, Ryan was as white as snow, while Jonathan had a type of olive skin. Ryan had soft hazel eyes while Jonathan had a set of piercing blue eyes. Jonathan was the better brother, Ryan knew that. His brother was going to leave a legacy that Ryan knew he wouldn’t be able to fulfill.
The two walked together quietly, the townspeople all rushed around besides them, but they didn’t mind. Jonathan stopped at an alley and headed down it, tossing a cloak at Ryan who caught it and put it on, immediately knowing what they were going to do.
The town often held public executions, trying to underline the fact that they would be punished. Yet, Ryan and Jonathan continued to steal, besides, it was only illegal if you were caught.
Ryan swiftly grabbed his brothers hand as the drew close to the gallows, he hated the idea of watching criminals reach for the thick rope crushing their windpipes, leaving permanent bruises that never got the chance to heal, the way they desperately squirmed and clawed at their necks was haunting. He could never understand which sadist thought that hanging people was a good idea. Especially with kids watching. It disgusted Ryan and he prayed that one of the princes would remove it once they got into power. “I hate this.” he muttered, hiding his head in his taller brothers shoulder as he heard choked breaths and the wooden frame creak, Jonathan just gave a curt nod, holding onto the smaller man’s hand and tugging him away from the gruesome scene, he knew a shortcut, but it meant they had to walk past the ‘chopping block’. Which was pretty self explanatory.
Jonathan knew his younger brother hated running past the guillotine, he hated it as well, but he knew he didn’t have the position to complain, it often came to survival to run past the guillotine, he even threw the decapitated heads at one of the guards so they were distracted and he could make it home.
The two continued to run, ignoring the cheer of the town people as the sharp blade sliced the man's head clean off, the head landed in the basket with a thud, which made Ryan flinch, his grip was impossibly tight on his older brothers hand, Jonathan kept tugging him along, forcing the smaller brother to keep running, they were almost out of the area, almost to their destination.
The crowd soon dispersed as Ryan and Jon made it out of the main city streets, the men panted and leaned against a wall. Ryan pressed two fingers to his neck, feeling his pulse, he sighed, his pulse was racing, yet stable, like his body was getting used to the sudden bursts of adrenaline. Jonathan smiled at his brother, pulling the hoodie way up over his eyes, “Come on Ohmie, Mask on,” He ordered, slipping his own mask on, which was just an old hockey mask.
Ryan stuck his tongue out and grabbed his blindfold from his pocket, before slipping it on over his eyes. Ryan was definitely more in touch with his sense, his hearing was incredible, so was his sense of touch and his ability to remain undetected. Jonathan was the best fighter he knew, he had troubles being quiet and often gave his position away, but that was a small price to pay when he could easily thrash anyone who got in his way. “Fuck you, Delirious,” He giggled.
Code names were often common around their friend group. Mainly because their tasks were incredibly illegal, as stealing tended to be. Delirious was a code name that the brother earned, it was for his “psychopathic laugh” but Ryan knew a different reason the name was given to him, it had something to do with his brother’s secret love life. Ryan didn't know how he got his nickname, but Ohm just suited him, yet whenever he asked anyone for a proper explanation, they just brushed him off and said, “You’ll know when you're older.”
Jonathan laughed and punched his brothers shoulder, “At least i know what my code name means,” He taunted, walking off without another word, leaving Ryan to whine and follow.
“As if it isn’t obvious! You and your boyfriend are ‘deliriously’ in love.” Ryan teased, jogging to his brother’s side. “You do know you can get executed for that, dude.” he said quietly, looking down.
Jonathan went silent, “As if, I’m the only one who knows what my boyfriend looks like, You don’t even know his name,” He chuckled, keeping his voice low as he started to walk again, heading down the empty street towards some abandoned buildings, the city was empty here, aside from the few thieves and tourists that were drawn to the mystery of the place, Ryan dreaded this part of their daily commute, he knew that getting through the public punishment was bad, but compared to the endless amount of climbing he had to do now was a pain in his ass.
The first part of the climb was to scale a building, the building had been half knocked down, so the bricks were sticking out, they definitely weren’t stable enough to climb, but it had to be done.
Just as they turned into the final alley before the climbing began, Jonathan tensed, he pushed Ryan back behind him as he stared at the tall Irishman in front of him, the man was wearing some thick armour, he was one of the kings knights, it was obvious because of the crown symbol above his heart on the chest plate, a loaded gun in his hand, however, the gun was doubled as a sword, it was sharp enough to pierce through someone completely, the gun aspect came into play for long distance fights.
“Well if it isn't me favourite commonplace thieves,” The knight spoke, his Irish accent thick as he spoke, making Jonathan visibly relax.
“Oh thank fucking god, it’s just you,” Jonathan visibly relaxed, before hugging the taller man in a friendly gesture. “You had me scared for, half a second there, Daithi.” He laughed.
Daithi chuckled and precipitated the hug, rubbing the thief's back gently, before pulling away, “Ye should always be scared of me, especially since I got promoted,” He bragged.
“Really? That’s great! Good on you man!” Jonathan smiled brightly, pulling away, Ryan poked his head around the corner, just in time to watch Jonathan slip Daithi’s wallet into his pocket. “So whatcha doing here then?” He asked, trying to keep the kings-guard distracted.
Daithi smiled and waved at Ryan, “Oh, I’ve just gotta do some patrols,” He explained, “So. what are the thieves up to today?” he asked.
Jonathan grinned under his mask and pulled Daithi’s wallet out, “The usual.”
Daithi gasped, his hands latched to his pockets, “What, Wha-?!” he squealed, snatching the wallet back and holding it to his chest, “Ye need to stop that!” he pouted, pocketing his wallet and folding his arms childishly.
Jonathan laughed and stuck his tongue out, “Maybe you should be more alert, Mr King's’ Knight,” He grinned, slipping past the knight and looking to his younger brother, “Come on, Ohm, we’ve got work to do,” He said calmly.
The knight rolled his eyes, “Be careful you two, I’m probably the only nice knight you’ll see for a while.” He warned as Ryan slipped past him, standing at his brother's side.
Jonathan smiled and nodded, “Yeah yeah, but we’ll be fine, it’s not like we’ve been doing this since our parents were alive.” Jon jokes, walking off and heading towards the beginning of the climb, Ryan went quiet at the mention of his parents, when he was born, the birth killed his mother, he didn’t really know much about his dad, other than he was incredibly quiet, maybe he was quiet to mourn his wife. Ryan didn’t know. Jon did, but never told him.
The two climbed in moderate silence, gripping the bricks of the large, demolished wall, he glanced up at his brother, watching the more flexible man scale the wall effortlessly, he climbed to the top and sat on the more stable part of the wall, accidentally kicking dust in his brothers face.
Ryan cringed at the dust and held back a sneeze, his mask was good at hiding his facial features, but not good at protecting him from dust or sand. “Thanks,” he muttered, holding onto the bricks tighter and turning to wipe his face on his shoulder, shaking his head for good measure, before continuing to climb up the wall.
Jonathan grinned at him, he looked around the surrounding area to make sure nobody was following him, when he was certain they were safe, he looked over to their location, which was a large warehouse covered by trees, he could already see some of his friends head into the building, some with their familiars, some with just their large shiny weapons and the occasional magician, flaunting off their magic to the bored thieves next to them, he smiled warmly, the thieves knew each other incredibly well, it was like a huge supportive family.
He looked back down at his brother and grabbed his wrist, pulling him the final way up, “We’re almost there, but we can take a break if you want,” He suggested, watching his brother wipe his hands on his hood.
Ryan shook his head, he grinned at Jon, “Why? Are you tired or something? Does my big brother need another nap?” he asked, he was secretly kinda tired, but he didn’t want to slow his brother down because of it.
Jonathan laughed, “As if, i used to have to do this with you on my back because you were scared of heights,” He teased, grabbing a rope from nearby and hooking it along a suspended hook, it was designed to make it easier for them to get back up and down the building to the warehouse.
The two finally made their way down the rope, Jonathan whined and complained about the slight burn in his non-gloved hands, Ryan simple laughed and flicked his older brother’s nose gently, before heading to the warehouse, more commonly referred to as “Zero.”
Just past a large fence, was Zero, Zero was absolutely packed with thieves, all ranging from different skill sets, some had incredible agility like Jonathan, while other could tank hits and deliver lethal blows that could often end a fight, Right there and then. Some thieves were incredibly rich, helping to keep Zero nice and stable with their wealth, which also gave shelter to the lower level thieves that didn't have anywhere to safely live. However Zero wasn’t just a thieves only haven, the place often had warriors and medics that struggled to find a stable job, magician's and abandoned hybrids were also welcomed with open arms. Zero was different since it had variety.
