Late at night inside of a small city contained by large stone walls.
Soldiers were standing on top of the walls, looking out into the vast expanse of land. They each had bows in their hands and large bundles of arrows not only over their shoulders, but every few feet were bundles of arrows sitting and ready to be used.
One soldier, dressed in a silver helmet and very thin silver armor covered in crests and crosses, paced back and forth due to boredom.
A figure was moving silently through the shadows. Dressed in a black robe that was tied so tightly to their body to prevent making noise from flattering or moving fabric.
The figure had somehow scaled the stone wall, without alerting anybody nearby. They made their way to sit in a tight ball next to a bundle of arrows. The moon was shining, but the bundles and elevated pieces of the wall every few feet casting large shadows all over the walkway. The figure was completely hidden, obscured by darkness.
One of the soldiers slowly made their way past, yawning before turning to stare out into the vast expanse of empty land. They began to hum to themselves, making noise to try and do something.
The figure’s hand slowly emerged from the shadows, covered in black fabric as a makeshift glove.
The gloved hand reached out and into a small bag that was hanging low from the waist of the soldier. It was tied around with rope, but the bag was down the thigh as the soldier was still humming.
Another hand emerged, wielding a very small blade.
The empty hand went under the bag as the blade expertly cut a very small and slim cut into the bag. The figure put a single finger inside the bag to feel around, doing so with such little energy that the soldier wasn’t feeling anything.
After figuring out how many coins were inside the bag, the blade came back out to increase the size of the cut ever so slightly, allowing the coins to slide out and right into the gloved hand in complete silence.
Once the bag was emptied, the hands were slowly drawn back into the shadows. The hands clutched the coins as tightly as possible, sitting still until the soldier began to pace over to another position.
As soon as the soldier passed the figure, the figure rolled a few feet to another space of darkness.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFuIC3dHVK
They very slowly and quietly placed the coins inside of another small bag. They sat and waited in the shadows when another soldier was passing by. The figure’s hand emerged again, doing the exact same thing with precision. Once the soldier walked away, they slid the coins back into the bag.
The figure waited for a few seconds, looking each direction to make sure that they were clear.
Once they figured out where every guard was, the figure rolled forward across the walkway and looked down the very tall wall and onto the ground below. The figure jumped down low, not adding more height than they needed. They stayed as close as they could to the wall, their hands and feet rubbing against it was a way to slow themselves down as they grew closer and closer to the bottom. The sound of scrapping was quiet, but even then the figure tried to make it silent.
About 10 feet away from the ground, they reached out and grabbed hold of a stone that was slightly sticking out, as if they had planned for it to be there. The figure was dangling above the ground as they held on with only their fingertips, which were strong enough to support their entire body.
The figure looked around for a few seconds before letting go, kicking off the wall to send themselves flying backwards away before landing in mud rather than hard dirt and grass.
The figure finally let out any sort of vocal noise, groaning as they got to their feet.
The figure looked over at a sleeping cow, staring at how peaceful and beautiful it was. It was almost majestic.
It made the figure’s stomach grumble, which they quickly grabbed and began to run off silently through the streets.
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The figure opened the front door of a small one story cottage, trying to be as quiet as possible.
They stepped through and shut the door as slowly and quietly as they could.
The figure removed the black fabric around their head, revealing a young boy who might just pass as a teenager.
He turned around as two large candles were suddenly lit.
He spotted a middle aged man and woman sitting at a table, the two candles large and bright enough to illuminate the entire small home.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaP3lBC0jt
The desk the candles sat on looked old and broken, one of the legs sitting on top of an old pan to be even. The chairs around it were all mismatched, like they had been taken from separate places.
The kitchen of the home was completely ripped apart, as if they had sold everything they had inside. The only other objects in the home were large blankets bundled on the floor.
“Where were you?” The Father asked in French, arms crossed with a stern look on his face.
The teenage boy removed more of the black fabric before dropping the bag of coins on the desk.
“The guards on the wall.” The boy replied.
The parents looked at each other, but then the Mother grabbed the bag and poured out the coins onto the table.
There were gold, silver, and bronze coins of varying sizes.
“Not bad.” The Mother replied as she counted the amount of money.
The boy had a proud smile on his face.
“But not as good as us.” The Father said when he pulled out a bag that was four times the size of the boy’s and dumped out a massive pile of stolen coins.
The boy looked shocked with wide eyes.
“Where did…” The boy started.
“The butcher. He leaves his money at his shop weeks at a time.” The Father replied.
The boy immediately began to look conflicted.
“You…you stole from an honest man?” The boy asked.
Both parents groaned and rolled their eyes.
“You only steal from the King’s Guards. They are paid nothing! If you listened to what we taught you, then you would know that the only thing you should worry about is the amount of money…not who you’re taking it from.” The Father sounded disapproving and angry.
The Mother stood up and walked over to the Son, almost looking apologetic and trying to comfort him. Before she said anything, her mouth smiled despite her eyes being disapproving.
“Emerson…you know what happens now.” She said.
Emerson, the teenage boy, nodded and sighed.
He gathered his black fabric and walked through the front door, taking a few steps around the front of the small cottage before laying down on the ground, curling up in a ball to try and stay warm.
“He needs to learn. How will he survive if he isn’t willing to get his hands dirty?” The Father asked, loud enough for Emerson to hear him through the walls.
“Oh just give him time. Neither of us could steal from people when we were his age.” The Mother replied just as loud.
Emerson wiped his eyes as he shivered, trying to curl up even tighter.
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Emerson woke up slowly, his eyes heavy after a long and painful night of cold suffering.
He very slowly got to his feet, looking around to see mostly empty streets, only a few people walking about.
The sun was just barely peeking above the horizon, but due to the large castle walls everything was still shrouded in shadow.
Emerson made his way back around the small home, opening the front door and making his way inside.
His parents were asleep wrapped tightly in multiple blankets, laying on the floor as close to each other as they could be.
Emerson went to the table, which held multiple bags full of coins.
He grabbed the smallest one, looking inside to see how many coins there were.
He put on his black fabric to look more like a normal outfit, covering his torso and arms in a way that resembled a thin and flowing robe.
He quietly went through the door, walking down the cold and mostly empty streets of dirt and dead grass.
Emerson began to walk, hands buried into his robes as he stared down at the ground.
He noticed a rather rich looking man walking and not really paying attention.
Emerson sighed quietly before changing his path, bumping right into the man.
“Oh my apologies. I didn’t see you there.” Emerson sounded very sincere while the man just looked angry.
Emerson continued to walk, looking down at his hand to look over the golden rings he stole from the man’s hand.
“My rings!” Emerson could hear the man shout.
“Damn…he’s smarter than he looks.” Emerson said to himself before he lifted the fabric up to cover his face, sprinting quickly to the side and in between two homes.
“Guards! We have a thief!” The man shouted.
Emerson was confused, but he quickly jumped from wall to wall off the outside of the homes, scaling quickly up until he made it to the roof of one of them, sitting on top and waiting for the guards to run past.
He didn’t get to wait long when an arrow pierced the roof right between his index and middle finger.
Emerson jumped and turned around.
The guards on the wall saw him, and were preparing more arrows.
“Uh oh.” He said before he quickly began to run, jumping from one building to the next.
Arrows were flying rapidly, nearly missing him. His black fabric flowed behind him, with arrows piercing right through and sending it falling to the ground like flower petals.
Emerson looked over the side and could see more guards wearing armor chasing after him with their pikes and shields ready. Emerson groaned and realized that the stretch of homes was about to end, he would have to jump across the wide street for more.
Emerson stopped, looking down at the streets to see the guards drawing closer but with quite a distance to cover.
Emerson took a few steps back, but didn’t have much time to think before running and jumping off the roof.\
While he was in midair, an arrow pierced him in the calf of his leg, causing him to lose control and fall to the ground in an uncontrolled manner. Emerson screamed and clutched his leg, laying on the ground when the guards caught up. They forced Emerson to stand before one of the guards bashed him with their shield, breaking his nose and jaw. Emerson laid on the ground unable to do anything as the guards felt around his body, stealing all of the riches he had. They returned the rings to the man, but they also stole the coins that Emerson had on him.
“Arrest this man!” The rich man shouted.
Emerson was forced to his feet again, but as he was he could see his parents walking down the street. They looked like a normal couple, but Emerson watched them as they pick pocketed a blind man walking down the street with a large stick hitting the ground in front of him.
They both seemed to turn and notice Emerson at the same time.
Emerson broke free of the guard’s grasp, limping very quickly towards his parents.
They both looked shocked, standing still as Emerson kept limping with the arrow still sticking out of his leg.
The guards ran over to grab him, but Emerson shoved them back.
Emerson fell to the ground, grabbing the feet of his parents when the guards pulled him back. Emerson tried to speak, but with his broken jaw he could barely make any noise.
“Do you know this young boy?” The guard asked.
The parents looked at each other, then at Emerson.
Emerson looked up at them with tear filled eyes, blood pouring from his nose while he clutched his misaligned jaw.
“I’m sorry, we don’t know him.” The Mother said as she tried her best to sound innocent.
Emerson froze, giving up any and all fighting as the guards dragged him across the dirt ground towards the castle.
Emerson’s eyes were locked on his parents the entire time, staring at them as they grew smaller and smaller.
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Emerson was forced down into the dungeon, thrown into a small cage with rusty iron bars for a wall.
Emerson tried to get up, but the guard punched him hard in the chest, making him gasp and groan before dropping down to the ground in pain.
Emerson was struggling to breathe as the iron bar door slammed shut.
Emerson struggled to pull himself up to his knees, staring across the dim hall where he could see another person in a cell like his,
The person walked forward.
A young boy with dark skin, looking the same age as Emerson.
Emerson tried to speak, but his jaw was in so much pain he couldn’t do anything but weird screams.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrniIaj7B7P
Emerson could hear something being said, but then he felt his jaw suddenly be snapped back into position on its own.
It didn’t hurt at all.
Emerson grabbed his jaw, feeling it in his hand.
He looked forward at the young boy, whose mouth was moving with only whispers heard by Emerson.
Emerson suddenly felt his nose be snapped back as well, no pain shooting through at all.
“I…how did…” Emerson started, but was breathing too quick and short to finish his sentence.
The boy just gave a soft smile, waving.
Emerson hesitated, but then waved back.
“I’m Emerson…what’s your name?” He asked.
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