“Hehehe, that stupid merchant!” I laughed to myself as I ran through the back alleys of the capital, protecting the precious loot in my arms as I ran. I was going so fast that I could feel the wind pleasantly rushing past my face. That corrupt fool from the Dawn Guild liked to pick on us orphan brats whenever he was in the slums, so I decided to get another bit of payback. When he was looking the other way, I nabbed a bag off the back of cart and hightailed it out of there.

“Feels like bread in here. Wonderful, Chrissy and Apple will be pleased.” Muttering to myself as I ducked through the empty side roads and crowded main areas. I ignored the disgusted gazes of the adults as I passed, having grown used to the scorn of others in my 10 years of life.

Eventually, I came to the small, dirty market that all the slum residents of the district used to do their shopping. The raucous area was the perfect spot for our little gang of thieves to meet up without paying attention. They may call me dumb as a rock, but even I know it’s better to hide a tree in the forest.

“Big bro!” I could hear Apple calling for me off in a nondescript corner. Hidden in the shade, I could see the only two people I considered family. Crystal, a violet-haired girl sporting a bold grin, and Apple, an adorable blond child, both stared at the bag in my hands with sparkling eyes. Rock, Crystal, and Apple - other people laughed at our dumb names, but we cherished them. We had all named each other and, being the uneducated orphans we are, we all chose random items were familiar with.

“Did you bring us something to eat, Rock?” Crystal asked hopefully, taking furtive glances at the small Apple. She’d always had a soft spot for him and he looked awfully hungry. They must have been waiting in that spot for hours, just like I told them to.

“I sure did! Look at all the bread I got for us,” I said as I pulled out a loaf from the canvas bag.

“Yay!!!” Apple said as he danced around in glee, his golden hair somehow sparkling even in the shade.

Handing loaves out for all of us, we began eating as we walked. “Let’s go home, you two. No need to pick any pockets today.”

Scarfing down the soft bread as we navigated the forgotten and hidden paths, we headed towards the run-down, collapsed building that we called home. We had to be careful as we did, so nobody would find out where we lived. The unfortunate reality of living on the streets with nobody to depend on.

However, when we arrived at our usual haunt, numerous brawny thugs could be seen standing around it threateningly. Considering they were all looking towards the street, not the house, I got the sinking feeling they were waiting for us. Stopping in my tracks while knitting my brow, Crystal and I shared a worried glance.

“Stop right there, you thieving brat!”

A deep, intimidating voice resounded from behind. Apple grabbed my sleeve in fright as I looked towards the source of the voice, only to see another of those things in the alley behind us. He grinned cruelly as he drew a dagger from his belt, waving it in our direction as he padded forward.

Noticing the disgusting look he was giving us as he approached, he clearly meant no good. Knowing there were many more of those men behind us, I was determined to somehow deal with him and at least let Crystal and Apple get away.

Knocking Apple’s small hand away, I put all my weight onto my heels as I prepared to pounce forward. The thug just laughed at my determination, but I just ignored it as I jumped at him with all the strength I could muster.

“Crystal, take Apple and run! I’ll take care of this guy!”

Pulling my arm back as I threw the air, I prepared the land the best punch a ten-year old possibly could. The thug just stood there with his knife at the ready, positioning it so that I would just impale myself on it. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t planning to actually punch anything. Rather, once I got within range, I landed a solid kick right on his precious family jewels - causing him to collapse like a sack of bricks.

Grinning at my success, I moved to run away with Crystal and Apple. The two managed to get past him while he was seeing stars, but when I tried to do so the same, he managed to grab my wrist in a vice-like grip. Despite continuously kicking him while trying to yank my hand away, he just held on even tighter. He must have channeled some sort of physical strengthening, because eventually my wrist snapped with an ugly sound.

Doing my best to ignore the agonizing pain, I landed another kick on the thug’s family jewels, causing his grip to weaken enough to rip my hand away. Noticing I was about to get away, the thug swung his knife as one final parting gift - taking my right hand with it as revenge.