This watchtower had long since been abandoned, towering over DongZhou's slums it was the ideal vantage point to get a proper view over the city! Tiny arms and feet carried her upwards further and further until she reached the top. Standing there for a moment she took in the fresh air before sitting down to let feet dangle over the edge. Breathing out made small clouds in the air, this was DongZhou after all, the fortress city of the north!

Not that she was bothered by it unless it got really cold! With her dirty hand, she reached up to rub her nose while glancing down at the city with dim but predatory yellow eyes!

She could see the soldiers - getting ready to fight the savage Barbarians, Merchants and Mercenaries entering the city to sell their wares or lives. There were a few fights going on, drunken men fighting each other. DongZhou was a rough place - aside from whores she could barely see females or other children as these were safely tucked away at home, well... aside from those inside the slums.

Her eyes wandered over to the market area, and she found her goal for today! A young snobbish looking boy wearing expensive robes with a phoenix symbol somewhere between 7 or 9. He had only one guard! An anxious-looking guy - that was not quite a man but also not a child anymore, probably around 15 or 16. He ushered the boy along carefully but his charge was not having it! The young Master was not having it whatsoever - he very much forced his own pace on the servant, taking a relaxed stroll over the market! He held her actual goal in his hand but would place it down whenever he wanted to look at something, a high-quality backpack!

A rare grin appeared on her lips as she quickly climbed back down, she could outrun grown men if she wanted to, those two were not a threat to her at all!

Quickly she found them! Ha... The boy was staring at a Sugar painter making a picture of the boy riding on a mythical tiger, she found herself distracted as well for a moment, the way the strands of sugar formed into a picture... it looked very tasty... But she had to stay concentrated! Shaking her head a few times she collected herself swallowing down her saliva.

Her goal, the backpack was placed on the ground - unattended, the boy was engrossed in his own sugar painting fantasy while his near-adult caretaker tried to get him to move again. That was the best chance she would get! Her tiny feet kicked the ground and she dashed forward - grabbing the backpack - and glancing to the side, her eyes and the boys meet for a moment then she was gone.

The boy was left flabbergasted his mouth wide open, the caretaker was just as shocked!

"What are you doing you OAF! GO after that thing!" The boy was livid but he would not sink so low as to chase after such a thing!

"But young Master, I can't leave you al-" That was all he got to say and the boy jumped up and slapped his face! "AFTER IT!" he commanded - the servant had no other choice and quickly turned around to chase after the girl.

Minutes later.

What the heck! Why could this tiny sickly creature run so fast! So nimble and agile! She avoided his grasp many times and while he was not exhausted at all, he was barely able to catch up to her! His cheeks burned with embarrassment!

She made twists and turns squeezed through tight packs of people without any problems, dashed behind corners! But, after many minutes of chasing he could see her slowly slowing down, of course - she was just a mere girl while fast she would exhaust at some point, his eyes were focused on her and he stretched his left hand out while running almost grabbing the scruff of her neck.

BOOM!

They crossed a road at this moment and he had not paid attention whatsoever fully focused on grabbing the girl - so he did not see the loose cart that speed in their direction, the girl narrowly avoided it but he.. was crashed against a wall.

Quickly he jumped up after shaking his head a few times... She was gone! "Arrgh! WHO LET THAT CART LOOSE!" yelling - his fist slamming down on the wood breaking it. "You will have to pay for this!" He growled... how would he explain THIS?!

Exhausted, her limbs moving mechanically she could fell her heart hammering against her chest! She got away - she had not bothered to look back but something must've crashed into the man that was chasing her! Lucky... But she would not stop now! Running for almost another half an hour until she felt it was safe to go home, well that and she was pretty sure she would die if she continued to run like this.

She was proud of her home, she had found it while running around on the roofs of the slum, it was a small space between houses and the back wall of an alley. Pushing away the pile of garbage she used to hide the crack in the wall she slipped through. Being small was very advantageous sometimes!

There was not much space here, her "House" was a large crate that had been here already when she came, pushed on its side with a dirty tarp pushed over it to keep the rain out... Pushing it to the side she stumbled into her home - for her it was spacious enough, a pile of blankets and dirty rags made up her bed in one corner. Next to it was a box that held some copper coins and another one for food and water, dreadfully empty to her resignation.

She wanted to check the bag but her body was having none of that. Collapsing on her bet while coughs riddled her body she felt like she was about to die! Feeling the throbbing pain assaulting her body all over the place. She had not eaten in a few days and only got water in her belly - she clearly overexerted herself tremendously - after a few more coughs she groaned and drifted into unconsciousness.

"Urg....Cold... sticky." Hearing the strange and hoarse voice she needed a moment to realize it was her own. She felt frozen stiff, lifting her tried eyelids she let out a groan "Oh.. No.." .. she could hear it already pit pat.. pit pat, rain hitting the create and the still open tarp... it had rained in so she was soaked. Dim eyes moved to the tarp and she silently cursed herself while struggling to get up - almost falling over in the process, everything hurts...

"Gotta get rid of the wet stuff..." Pulling the dirty rags she wore over her head and threw them into a corner was her first step - following them she threw the upper layer of her bed before picking up a still dry blanket to wrap herself up in while closing the tarp. " Just have to dry that later.." She mumbled to herself while rubbing against the blanket to warm herself up again. She was usually fine with cold, but being exhausted and wet in an almost freezing temperature was too much for her and she could not afford to get sick, getting sick would mean her death.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a ferocious growl! It was her tummy imitating what a bear would sound like."Urg..." She had nothing to eat.. Oh wait! Backpack! Quickly she leaned forward and grabbed the backpack - opening it up and simply turning it over to dump all that was inside on the ground.

"Ha...H...ahaha.." tears welled up in her dim yellow eyes, the happiness she felt in this moment made all of her effort worth it. Food! Much food! Rations of Cheese - breed, jerky - even potatoes and some candies! There was even a silvery canteen full of fresh Water! She would not go hungry for weeks! She could not contain her tears anymore, with a silly grin while crying she grabbed one of the jerky pieces and pushed the whole thing into her mouth! While chewing she started to fill all the food into her small box - filling it up to the brim!

Seeing it so full made her grin wider, she almost forgot the pain for a moment, before she dropped down on her bed again stretching her limbs out while chewing. "Wonder what those are.." She mumbled while looking to the rest that had spilled out. A weird looking green rock - probably expensive? It glowed slightly but biting and sniffing it brought no other results so she chucked it into a corner. Next there was a coin purse opening it startled her - SILVER coins and GOLD coins! Shiny and all! There was not a single copper coin in it!

Her excitement died down quickly... nobody would let her buy anything with these with how she looked like, a child with silver coins? Ha.. they just gonna beat her up. With that, she chucked the purse into a corner as well and directed her attention to the rest - two sets of robes! White fabric with green endorsements here and there, wide and long sleeves and each had a belt, they looked like things scholars would wear...Brushing over the fabric with one hand she looked down wide eyes - thick and soft, it actually had multiple layers!

Quickly she threw away her blanket and weaseled her way into one of these robes, of course, she had no idea how to actually put it on, so she looked very silly in it but... it was so comfy... and warm! She felt like in heaven, even her bed felt a lot softer when she wore these robes! She rolled back and forth a little marveling in the comfortable feeling before her attention fell back to the last items.

Books - two of them, well - rather booklets? They were not very thick - Kou sniffed them first before opening on. She couldn't read but had hoped for pretty pictures to look at! Quickly she was disappointed, the first small book was densely packed with text that made no sense to her whatsoever! So... she chucked it into a corner grabbing the next.

Her eyes went wide and she clapped her hands happily - there were indeed pictures here! She could look at those when she was bored. She felt joy at that, having pretty things to look at always cheered her up. It was a person sitting cross-legged doing many weird things, breathing in and out in strange ways - surrounded by symbols. She froze, the pictures almost seemed like they were moving towards her, she could clearly understand what the book was trying to reach her, it startled her so she quickly put it away again, feeling a little sad.

"Mh...scary book.." Mumbling to herself she grabbed the canteen. She was thirsty so she took a few deep gulps of fresh water. It tasted like water but a moment after drinking she felt her body heat up, the aching pain in her muscles slowly subsided - she has not tired any more ether, she felt as if she had just slept for a long time! This...was not water at all, it was probably some kind of medicine!

Suspiciously she glanced at the canteen before carefully closing it up again - she would have to use this with care...grabbing another piece of jerky she started to absentmindedly chew on it while her attention drifted back to the picture book, once more picking it up, looking inside made her feel weird again, it was a creeping sensation as if her body was excited but her mind did not know why she clearly felt like she knew what she was supposed to do! Scratching her nose she looked around her small house before biting her lower lip.

"No harm in trying it out... yes?" She convinced herself and shifted her position to the one in the book, crosslegged with her back straight and eyes closed just like in the picture, both of her hands resting on her belly. She mimicked it perfectly. Breathing in slowly and do short but powerful exhales. Nothing happened! After a few minutes, she was about to stop feeling silly about herself when she suddenly felt something

Her body stiffened, she felt overwhelmed all of a sudden, there was something inside her! A deep and empty void that was not her stomach for once! Each breath she took filled the void just a little bit. She was almost consumed by the desire to fill it. Panicking she stopped quickly, curling up on her bed, still faintly feeling that void inside of her.

"I shouldn't have done that, I can't ... shake off this emptiness.." hugging her legs she stared at the book in worry, was this some weird curse? It... did not feel bad, but the void scared her...It was also the first time her body and mind seemed to be in a disagreement, as every fiber of her body edged her forward to continue.

She relaxed after a while listening to the rain falling down around her. She won't be able to leave for a few days, that guard would probably look around for her in the slums. Rolling around again she found her eyes drifting to the book all too often... "I .. might as well try and fill it... when I'm stuck here... right?" Just speaking these words out somehow filled her with determination, like her body was telling her this was the right choice!