《Allister Hale's Story Graveyard.》Black Ship 1/5
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Lark finished securing the last sigil to the tree trunk and climbed down. He filled his morning
quota an hour early today. Early enough to join Bramble in her last class of the morning. Mr. Timber, his
employer, didn't require the boys to attend the classes if they had free time. That said the orphans he hired
that did attend were given better servings of food at the end of the day. If you consider the fact that he
gave the boys quotas they could finish early if they just tried it was obvious he expected them to take the
lessons.
The class for the day turned out to be arithmetic Sparrow had finished earlier and Bramble was
already tutoring him. Willow, Bramble's roommate, waved him over. Lark gave her a polite smile and a
nod of the head. In contrast to Bramble's independent spirit and ambitious attitude, Willow was a
somewhat meek and subservient girl. As such she had trouble keeping up with the lessons, so Lark spent
his hour reinforcing the days lesson in her mind. Bramble was at least a week ahead of her and simply
wouldn't let 'her boys' fall behind the girls. Bramble and Sparrow as a result got the best food out of the
boys and better than some of the girls.
Willow was orphan at the oldest age among the four. Her parents died to disease when she was
ten. Her parents didn't have any real status, but her mother never needed to work and her family never had
any debts. Sparrow had been five. His mother worked in the home of some city noble. There he learned
the importance of etiquette and an education. Lark had been even younger. His only impression of family
was people looking down on his young mother and her broken spirit. He knew what his mother did to
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feed them, not while she was alive, but even when he learned about it later he simply chose not to think
about it.
Bramble was younger still. She became aware of the world on the street, alone. For a time she
was a member of a gang of orphans. Later that year Lark joined her. Two years passed in relative peace
before suddenly half the members were gone and the other half were fighting. Then without warning
Bramble grabbed his hand and that was the last Lark saw of that gang of kids. The next day Sparrow
showed up. That same week they first met Willow. Looking back Bramble leaving the gang and meeting
Sparrow were connected.
When Lark was eight they faced a particularly harsh winter. Two events happened that year
which saved the trio's lives. First Bramble decided to trust Lark with her deepest secret. Second Lark met
Willow. Bramble's secret was obviously enough her gender. The streets aren't kind to girls its a simple
fact. This was ultimately the reason he met Willow.
Willow's father was escorting his wife and daughter to the market. Lark happened to be out
shopping. Some kid trying to earn his way into a gang was out cutting purses. He ran into Lark and a
moment later Willow's father had his hand on Lark's shoulder. “Thank you for returning my coin purse.”
was all the man said. So all Lark did was reach into his shopping basket and pull out the purse in
question. Stealing from an armature thief is a simple enough task. Then seeing Willow Lark responded.
“It was a simple enough task, and for an orphan like myself earning the good will of a fine businessman
like yourself can be worth more than expected.” Then with a slight bow Lark slipped away into the
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crowd.
Later that same day as the market was winding down Lark encountered Willow a Second time.
She was being harassed by some boy and Lark stepped in. the boys looked to come from families of
decent means. Enough that Lark felt they would have a notable amount of money on them. One of the
earliest things he had learned growing up was how to lose a fight convincingly without getting injured.
Take a few hits fall a few times trying to retaliate or dodge and then run away, and if you should steal a
few purses during the event all the better.
The fight, like most fights ended with the arrival of the guards. Thankfully he managed to avoid
questioning this time, he had a reputation for trying to defend women and girls and Willow's father told
the guards that he had sent Lark to help find her when she had gone missing. He walked Willow home
that day. Exchanging small talk with Willow's father they came to an understood deal. Willow needed to
get out more. If she had some friends he wouldn't need to worry about her. If there was a responsible
group of kids to look out for her then he could send a fair amount of good will their way. Lark reminded
him that a single girl among a group of boys wasn't the best for that girl. If Willow's parents could
possibly house a girl close to Willow's age it would likely have a positive effect.
Bramble was furious with him when he told her about the deal and a week passed while she
refused to speak to him. Then one morning she came to him with a scared look on her face an asked to
meet Willow's family.
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