The heir of the trickster

by Equestriasservant

Chapter 3: Ben

Dayton/Ohio/Riverscape Park

The Riverscape orphanage was an old building, covered in peeling yellow paint, with a hanging sign with old, rotting wood. There was several chips and bricks missing from the walls and the roof was missing several tiles, revealing the skeletal outline of rotten wood supports. It was perched upon a platform, overlooking the Miami river. Just like the orphanage, the river was overshadowed and scummy, with a thick layer of green algae covering it. The sky over Ohio seemed to match this depressing mood. Black clouds hung over the city, bloated but seemingly unable to release their payloads. Icy blades of wind scythed across the river, teasing the patches of grass. The atmosphere was damp, cold and miserable. But not even the threat of a rainstorm could deter the fourteen-year-old boy sitting on the front steps of the orphanage.

The boy had chocolate-brown skin, with short curly black hair and brown eyes. His clothes consisted of a pair of torn, navy blue jeans, a pair of scuffed brown boots and short-sleeved black shirt. A patched leather jacket was folded at the boys side on the cracked steps. The boy groaned as he slumped backwards onto the damp step, his brown eyes glaring angrily at the black clouds. His long arms pulled back behind his head, his hands curled into fists, supporting his head. Thunder boomed loudly in the distance, matching the grim expression on the boys face. The thin light dribbling through the clouds reflected off the dog-tags hanging around the boys neck. One of the rectangular tags was stamped with the name, "Ben."

Ben sighed grumpily, feeling as though hot fire was coursing through his veins. Another adoption day and he'd been passed up by the other children. Ben could not believe that he'd been stuck here for years and still nothing. Fourteen years of living in this hellhole and he'd been passed up again. The boy closed his eyes, thinking. Ben sometimes wondered if some godly being despised his existence. Fourteen years ago, his parents had dumped him on this orphanage's doorstep. According to the orphanage's staff, his parents were caught up in something important to do and that they would return after a few days. But they never had. He'd been stuck here for years. So long, that he'd been put up as one of the kids in need of adoption. But nobody seemed to want him. And the staff seemed to treat him more as interloper or annoyance, rather than one of the kids they were supposed to be taking care of.

Ben felt another stab of anger at the thought of his parents. He cursed his luck for about the hundredth time. He supposed it was selfish but he couldn't understand for the life of him, why his parents had left him in this god-forsaken place, where every single person hated the sight of him. Why had his parents abandoned him to fourteen years of pain and wishing for them to come home. Ben gritted his teeth so hard, he thought that he'd cracked a molar. Continuously thinking about his past was a sure-fire way of ruining his day. The boy sat back up again, slipping on his jacket. It was the only thing his parents had left him. Made of thick, black leather, though with several tears across the arms and chest, the jacket made him think of security and...strength. Ben wasn't sure whether this was because it was his fathers but he loved the feeling it gave whenever he wore it. He liked his image as well. A tough guy who didn't have time for any nonsense.

Something whooshed over his head. Ben looked up just in time to see a gigantic, winged, crimson scaly thing flying towards the local college. A dragon. Nobody knew exactly where these gigantic creatures had come. According to legends and research, these creatures had simply appeared on a remote island. At first there'd been years of warfare between humans and dragons, before a group of brave humans had created a peace treaty between humanity and the dragons. Since then the dragons had become a part of everyday life. They were useful but they were only given to high ranking officials of the government or the extremely rich. Anybody of value to society really. Ben supposed that kids from an orphanage didn't count as people valuable to society. Ben had occasionally seen other people who owned dragons come by the orphanage though they only stayed for a few hours, sometimes taking a few kids with them. They never chose Ben though.

"BEN! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE BRAT!?" Ben groaned, his head falling onto his knees. He knew that voice. It was the voice of the manager and head matron of the orphanage, Victoria Bull-strode. Bull-strode was a vicious old woman, that delighted in terrifying some of the children that she was supposed to be taking care of, often punishing them for crimes such as breathing to loudly, laughing or eating nosily. Ben looked up as one of the windows above the doorway swung open. Bull-strode poked her head out. She was a horrible looking woman, with two curtains of greasy gray hair covering the sides of her wrinkled, veined face. A large, crooked nose curved down over puckered gray lips. Ben rather thought the woman looked like a vulture or a particularly ugly, badger. "BEN, YOU BETTER..." Bull-strode suddenly looked down, directly at Ben, who smiled coldly back up her. "GET UP HERE!" The manager shrieked. "SOMEONE'S HERE FOR YOU!"

Ben waited until Bull-strode had pulled her head back inside, before getting up and dusting of his backside. He'd been sitting upon the steps for what seemed like an eternity and his muscles were sore. Ben stretched, pulling his arms up above his head. There were several loud cracks as his bones reinstated themselves. Ben was about to open the door to go back inside when he stopped. For the last fourteen years, Bull-strode had insisted that nobody had come for him because he was unwanted and a waste of space. Anytime someone would come along to the orphanage who showed the slightest interest in adopting Ben, Bull-strode had told them he was a trouble-maker and a vandal. Nobody believed him if he tried to explain the manager was lying. So why was she now letting him know that someone was here to see him? He supposed it was some sort of sick joke, conjured up by the staff. He considered ignoring the order but thought better of it. He might as well see what she wanted.

He pushed open the door and walked inside. The place didn't look like an orphanage inside or out. Every inch of the inside was covered in either dust or grease. There were large holes in every wall, some exposing wires or wooden supports. Ben looked up just as he stepped onto the wet patch of the carpet. The roof was so full of holes, that whenever it rained, the bottom floors were often flooded with rainwater. Some of the other kids, each dressed in tattered clothing, glared at him. Most kids in the orphanage kept to themselves and were openly hostile to each other. The managers didn't care if fights broke out between the children, they only cared if the kids weren't to badly hurt. If they were badly hurt, then they weren't good for adoption. Ben ignored the glares and began to climb the creaky stairs. The managers didn't care about the upkeep of the orphanage. Ben jumped several of the missing steps, and stood outside the door to the head matrons office. He knocked.

"Ah you're here at last then are you?" Demanded Bull-strode coldly as Ben opened the door. Sitting behind the desk, Bull-strode looked even more like an overgrown bat or raven than before. She was wearing a thick, dressing gown, covering thick dress that made it look like she was dressed for a party, instead of managing an orphanage. Ben was used to this by now, as he'd been summoned to this office for a talking to almost everyday. Instead, Ben focused on the other person sitting in front of the desk. The man was dressed in a pair of jeans, with a pair of high-rise boots with rusted spurs. A thick black jacket covered a thin cotton shirt, embossed with strange symbol. It was of a five pointed star, with a circle at each point. The circles were colored differently. One was red, another pink. One was yellow and the other two were colored blue and green. There was a center circle colored a purplish. The man was carrying a large acoustic guitar. A pair of bright yellow eyes stared at Ben from under a patched, wide-brimmed stetson. Streaks of grayish-black hair stuck out from under the large hat.

"Yeah. I'm here." Said Ben coolly, glaring at Bull-strode, trying to ignore the continued stare of the man carrying the guitar. It was unnerving how the man did not seem to blink or even move his body. "So what d'you want Matron?" Ben demanded and Bull-strode's eyes narrowed slightly. A thin smile had appeared on the old woman's face and the wrinkles surrounding her face tightened, making her face look even more disfigured. She pointed with a bony finger at the empty seat next to the guitar carrying man. Ben sat down at the unspoken order, still determinately avoiding the gaze of the man. Those strange yellow eyes were scary. Bull-strode was looking up and down a small clipboard, a pencil sticking out between her teeth. Ben froze in surprise. Bull-strode only used those small clipboards for one things. Adoption forms. "So what's up?" Ben demanded, growing tired of the silence. "You finally letting me get out of this dump?" Bull-strode looked up.

"This is Rick, Ben" The old woman said coolly, motioning towards the other man. Ben turned to look at the other man. Rick's gaze had not faltered in it's examination of him. Those piercing yellow eyes had widened slightly and Rick's pale skinned hands were moving slightly across the strings of the guitar as though they were yearning to play as song. "Rick was a friend of your dad." Ben stared at Rick, completely non-plussed. Rick was smiling now, showing pearly-white teeth. "He has been abroad for the past couple of years and has only just returned." Bull-strode said, ignoring the look of surprise on Ben's face. "It was written in your father's will that Rick is to take care of you until you come of age." Bull-strode said shaking her head as though the idea was not believable. "So if you will get packed, you can leave us in a few minutes." Bull-strode sounded ecstatic. Ben couldn't exactly blame her though. He too felt ecstatic about the fact that he was finally leaving the orphanage. At last, someone was adopting him.

---

Ben smiled widely as he stuffed what little he owned in the sports bag he used to carry what little possessions he had. He stuffed in the tatty, second-hand clothes that the orphanage had supplied him with. Depressingly, there were only a few outfits. Ben smiled as he stuffed in the small bedside lamp he'd bought using what little money he had earned from part-time jobs. A noise behind him made Ben whirl round. Rick was standing in the doorway, his guitar slung over his shoulder. His glowing yellow gaze was fixed on the small bag that Ben had been packing. The glowing gaze had narrowed slightly and Rick's lips were curled indignantly. Ben shifted to the side, trying to screen the bag from view. He wasn't sure why but he felt like Rick's gaze was judging him. Ben frowned and attempted to start up a conversation. He couldn't stand the strange, silent examination that Rick was giving him.

"S-S-Sorry about this." Ben stammered, finding it hard to continue staring at the bright yellow eyes. "I shouldn't be to much longer." Rick smiled calmly but did not reply. "So...you're a friend of my dads then?" Ben mumbled quietly, turning away in the hopes that this would prompt Rick into a more conversational mood. Rick did not reply. "Er...that is true isn't Rick?" Ben demanded. Rick's silence had begun to really unnerve him. Silence. But something moved behind him. Ben whirled round just as something whistled through the air. Something hard collided with the back of Ben's head with a loud, sickening crunch. Stars danced in front of Ben's vision and the boy stumbled, attempting to clutch the bed for support. Once again, something hard crashed into the back of his head. Ben fell to the floor, his vision fading rapidly. As he crashed to the floor, Ben heard a voice, deep and full of triumphant glee speaking over him.

"Found at last didn't I?" The voice said, growing slower and harder to hear as Ben's vision faded. "At least I found you before the council of chaos did. And I thought the council could stoop no lower, using Bull-strode's orphanage to suppress your powers." Ben groaned, trying weakly to raise his head. He caught one last glimpse of Rick standing over him, his glowing yellow eyes widening slightly in happiness. The guitar carrying human was holding a small piece of lead piping. "Shame it had to be this way really Ben," Rick mumbled bending down and raising the pipe again. "I regret the pain but...meh..." The pipe fell. "I'M SURE LUNA WON'T MIND AN UNCONSCIOUS GUEST!" Ben opened his mouth to cry out. But too late. The last thing the boy saw was the pipe falling. There was a blinding, sickening pain. A flash of light. The sensation of falling down a long tunnel. Then, silence.