We are writing the 528th year after the Broken Moon. In the run-down city of Rabanastre, the city of slums. Poverty and crime are present everywhere. It is home of the Thieves Guild and lots of other shady Characters. It's also the place where our Story begins.

A small boy, not older than 8, was running down the streets, running as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. After doing the deliveries that his Father send him out to do, he would be allowed to play with his best friend. He hadn't seen him in days, for he was grounded for staying out after his curfew, so naturally, he was very excited to play with him again.

His best friends Name was Kahun, he has known him for as long as he can remember and has been friends with him all the time. He is one year older than himself, being 9 years old. They share many similarities such as their black hair, light brown skin, and their exotic eye colors. He himself has golden eyes, while his friend has red ones.

The young boy's name is Chaybar and he is the Protagonist of this story of Hardships and Glory...

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(POV: Chaybar)

Okay, that was the last delivery.

„Finally“, I sighed

I've been doing deliveries since this morning and now its already afternoon. I'll only have a few hours to play with Kahun.

' Oh yeah this reminds me, he wanted to show me something special today'

Not wasting time I run back home. I run through the dirty streets of Rabanastre, my home town. Old Buildings fly by past me, as I make my way back home. Then thoughts filled my mind of how it came to me doing deliveries.

I come from a poor family. My father is a normal Factory Worker, working a lot to let our family just get by. He is a good man always kind and gentle, he made sure to integrate his morals deeply inside me when growing up. Be always kind, help the weak but do not let them fool you, don't wear your heart at your sleeve, try to find good friends and stick with them through to the end. It was rare to find a man with morals in this corrupt city. Most of the People here are poor, resorting to crime just to survive. Taxes are way too high for anyone to pay, and still, have enough money to live from. My Dad is against the corrupt Politicians of the City so he opened a black market, for all the poor people in Rabanastre, where they could trade Tax-free. It was a risky business but he did a lot of good with it. People could now actually live normal lives thanks to the black market which made a lot of the goods affordable.

My mom, on the other hand, is just an average housewife, but none-the-less I still deeply love her. The same goes for my two sisters, Res and Maddo.

My father, being the kind and gentle soul that he is, always donates some food, that was left over from the market to the poor. And as his final act of punishment, for me being late home that one day, he tasked me to deliver the food. And so I did, and unknowingly, he saved my life by doing so.

From a distance, I could already see black fumes rising. It came from the directions of my house, but I thought nothing of it. Probably another poor family getting raided by some corrupt policemen.

I ran further and further, coming nearer and nearer to my home. And once it was actually in sight, my insides turned cold.

It was MY home that was burning, MY family being probably raided.

I ran faster than ever before. The fire had spread to the houses nearby, including Kahuns' House.

There was a huge crowd around the entrance of my House. Being lined up before my home was my Family. In front of them guards that took aim at each one of them.

I feared the worst, my heart became heavier, as did my breathing. Then I heard what the, supposed, commanding officer had to say.

„.. and due to overwhelming evidence, that indicate of an illegal Black Market, I, Abahar le Jahro first Ranked Officer, sentence you and your family, herby to death!“

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I was like frozen, my family was about to be executed and I could do nothing about it. I am young but I know that I am not able to do anything like this, this WEAK.

I looked towards my sisters that were crying, my mom trying to shush them, telling them that everything is alright, and finally my father that look directly towards my direction, into my eyes and mouthed: ' Go, Go and live, for us'. And then it happened

.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

I could see the life leave their eyes as they fall down, lifeless. I was shook, I couldn't realize what happened. Yesterday everything seemed so nice. And today? Today everything went downhill.

I turned around and ran, ran just to get away from here. I ran until my legs could no more. And when I couldn't run anymore? I gave into my agony, I cried, I cried like I never did. And at that time I promised myself, I promised myself that I would become strong, strong enough that this would never happen again, strong enough to never have to cry again.

And never did I cry again.

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( 8 Months Later)

Its been 8 Months since that fateful day. After that day I had to live on my own in the streets. None of the former acquaintances of my Father would help me out, fearing the consequences that could follow by taking me in, but also because they probably didn't have the resources to feed another mouth.

But I did find a couple of street kids just like me. Alone.

We created a little group of about 8 of us children. We were all orphans. They found me one day in one of the many back-allies that this city has to offer. They saw that I was just like them, so they decided to help me out. They showed me their home, an abandoned House. Once there was a fire around that area and the city hasn't bothered to restore anything and now we use as our home.

We make a living by stealing and begging. Many People are against us begging, trying to scare us away or even going as far as beating us so we wouldn't bother anyone.

But now one day one of my acquaintances had an idea.

„Let's try mugging someone. This way we probably get way more than if we beg or steal“ said Abdul, he is 8 years old like me but a lot smaller. He's really energetic but is also kinda dumb. But he has a huge heart and a goofy smile that makes him really likable. He has blonde Hair and blue eyes, which looks really mismatched with his really dark toned skin.

„ I think that's a bad idea. We don't have any weapons, any combat experience and we don't look intimidating. We are all just scrawny little kids. Besides, why should we get more if we mug? Everyone dirt poor here so it doesn't even give us any benefits“ said Anna, shes always been the smart one in our group, but she's really shy. She most of the time has the best ideas but doesn't want to say it out loud. It had to do with her past. She came from an abusive family, always beating her and making her submissive. Her father was a heavy drinker, with a lot of mental problems and her mother had, most of the time, no spine to even try to help or protect her daughter. Then one day the abuse got so bad that her elder sister took her and they both ran away.

They both lived on the streets for a few months, back when she was only 5 years old and her sister 14. She described her as a beautiful and kind older sister. She would always put her little sister before her. They loved each other deeply. They also shared a lot of similarities. Both of them have red hair and brown eyes and were quite intelligent, despite having no formal education.

One day her sister went to her job again, she didn't know what her sister did. She only knew that she would go before dawn and would come back again the next morning. They could live from her earnings and were quite happy together until one day she didn't come back home.

She went around and searched for her sister only to stumble across her corpse. Then she started hearing of the rumors. Of the red-headed whore, that got unlucky with one of her clients. She cried days on end, but in the end, hunger overtook her and she went out again trying to get something to eat. That's when she met Abdul and the rest of the crew. And now she's already 3 years in this group.

„Well, we're not going to mug someone here in this area. We're going to the Zen District“ replied Abdul

The city of Rabanastre consists of many districts and many of them are very poor. But one of the few rich areas is the Zen District, which is the area with the richest families.

„Zen District?!?! Have you gone insane?“ I said

„Hear me out. We are not going there just like this. We are going to get ourselves some weapons and experience in the middle districts and then we'll go to the Zen district. I also already know where to get some weapons.“ Abdul said with utmost Confidence

„And where is that magical Weapon spot?“ asked Sarah, another one of us Oprhans

„Do you guys know old man Reed?“

„Do you mean the crazy old watchman? That's insane Abdul.“ said Anna

„No trust me, we can do this. And besides, if we succeed then we are going to score big time. Maybe even enough to get us out of here.“ That thought sparked the increased from all of us. To have the chance to get out of this hell hole? You bet I was really tempted.

„Okay, what's the plan?“ I asked

„Uhm, well I don't really have a Plan. But; hey that's what you're here for“ he laughingly told me

After some minutes of thinking this though, I came up with a rough plan.

„Okay.. so first I think we should scout the area around old Reeds house. Check for entrances and possible escape routes. Then some should stalk Old man reed. It's good that he lives alone or this would be way harder. Check when he's home, when he's not and what he does when home.“ I said

„And then?“ asked Sarah

„And then we'll plan the heist“

AN:

Hey there, its been a long time since I wrote a story, so sorry if my writing abilities are a bit rusty. But do tell me if you liked the start of this book. Cya