“Shit, shit, shit!” screamed the girl, dashing between barrels and sacks of grain in the alleyway.

“Don’t let her get away!” screamed the guards, promptly pushing the newly amassing crowd making their way to watch the sudden event.

The girl bolted out in a street, attracting the eyes of a few merchants and passersby with to the frantic panicked glare in her green eyes that darted around, looking for an opportunity to make a quick exit. Eyeing another patrol turning the corner to the north of her position, she took a turn west. After a few hundred meters of sprinting, she noticed a hay cart making its way along the street, piloted by a man in his advanced years in a straw hat and peasant clothes, mosing ahead pulled by a single sickly looking horse. Without hesitation, she leaped inside the pile of hay, making sure the guards were out of view. She smirked to herself and waited as the minutes passed. After a few cautious minutes of breath holding, she let out a heavy sigh, convinced the guards had lost her. At that precise moment, she was lifted by her hood, letting her mid-shoulder brown hair flow down onto her dirty cape covered shoulders.

“There you are, you little snot-nosed brat”, said the guard, holding her at eye level.

“I’m not a kid!” she yelled at the guard, trying to kick him.

“Now that I look at you…”

The guard’s eyes followed the shape of her body, sending shivers down her spine from sheer disgust. Out of adrenaline, she spat straight into the fellow’s eye, making him drop her.

“You little…” started the guard, holding his eye.

When he regained his full senses, she was already running for it. She didn’t make it far as two other soldiers blocked her path. The group of guards gathered around her, bringing her into an alleyway as she kicked and screamed in protest.

--

Limping down a street a few hours later, the girl painfully made her way to a small shabby wooden door in the slums’ dirty walls. Opening it and heading inside, she was met with a warm interior and a scream of surprise.

“Keela! What have you done!” screamed a woman, dropping the potato she was peeling and hurrying to her side.

“Just tryna keep our bellies full, same as usual Velka”, replied Keela, slumping down in a chair that creaked painfully under her not-so-imposing bodyweight.

“I told you this stuff would get you killed one day.”

“Yeah, well, I ain’t dead yet, am I?”

Removing her cloak, Keela revealed a simple crop top and shorts, an attire fitted to moving fast, but mostly revealed all the bruises on her body.

“Holy…” started Velka, eyeing the marks.

“I know, they got me pretty bad this time”, replied Keela quickly, cutting her off.

Velka came closer, bringing along some ointment and bandages, motioning to take care of the cuts and bruises. Keela grabbed her hand and looked her straight in the eye, causing Velka’s ears to perk up.

“I got it Velka”, she said firmly but reassuringly.

Velka sighed and set the ointment aside, getting back up from her crouching position. She wiped her hands on her tattered dress and headed back to her potatoes, her bunny ears slumping sadly from the rejection.

“Oh don’t make that face. You know I don’t mean no harm by it…” said Keela, grabbing the ointment and applying it firmly, wincing from the slight burn.

Velka eyed her sideways, peeling the potato with expert hands even whilst not looking at it. As Keela finished applying the ointment and bandaging up, including one over her bruised eye, some childish chatter could be heard outside.

“Keela”, firmly said Velka, looking at the door.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll put on the cloak”, replied Keela, obeying the authoritative tone.

A few seconds after Keela had finished donning her cloak, the door opened energetically, letting three kids in, followed by a middle aged man with brown hair and hyperactive weary blue eyes.

“Sup Murph”, said Keela, with a nod towards the man.

“Hello, Keela”, he replied in a proper tone, same as always.

The kids followed suit in the greetings, in all types squealing. Keela grabbed her head and motioned them to tone it down.

“What happened?” asked Murph, looking at the bandages.

“Something at the job”, she replied, avoiding eye contact.

Murph sighed the exact same way Velka had and motioned the kids to go upstairs. When the three kids vanished upstairs, Murph turned towards Keela and frowned.

“So?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“The guards caught me, what do you want me to say?” she replied, still not making eye contact.

“You have to stop this, it clearly isn’t working!”

“I’m not so sure.”

She pointed towards a bag next to the entrance; something she had managed to hide from the guards in time. Murph got to it and opened it, revealing a full chicken and a few vegetables.

“Check the front pocket too”, she said, smiling coyly.

Following the instructions, Murph opened the front pocket and a dozen silver coins fell out, making both his and Velka’s eyes go wide.

“One of those guards had mighty loose pockets”, she said, winking with her only good eye.

“I still don’t like it”, replied Murph, getting Velka's approval.

“I don’t have any expertise and I ain’t about to sell my body. This is the only thing I’m good at and it keeps the kids fed.”

The two others looked away, avoiding her gaze now that the kids had been mentioned.

“And no matter how much we’re in the gutter, I ain’t boutta leave these kids to the wolves. They lost their parents once, let’s not make that a two-timer”, she added, getting the silver coins from the ground and putting them in Murph’s hand, keeping one for herself.

Throwing her hood up, she headed for the door.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, everything hurts and I need a drink”, she said, opening the door.

“Keela!” shouted, Velka as she was getting out of the door.

“What?” asked Keela, looking back with half a glare.

“Thank you for looking out for them.”

Without saying anything else, Keela vanished into the dark.