Lying on the cold hard ground among the corpses of dogs he killed and bathing in their blood, Ray slept like he was dead. Anyone passing by would have thought that the kid had died after killing the dogs due to getting some fatal injuries seeing the blood on his clothes, dagger and ground.

Perhaps he had been able to attack the dogs without hesitation because of his desire for food due to his hunger and adrenaline rush. Now that the fight was over he lost to the tiredness of his body that hasn't slept properly for days. But of course, he wasn't the one to blame for that. What could one expect from a five year old naive child who have lost his only guardian just recently. In fact what was more surprising was that he hadn't died or gotten gravely injured due to his condition.

He kept lying there with a look of emptiness on his face and his eyes were hollow. Perhaps that was due to shock of killing being too big for a child who hadn't even learned the ways of the world. He kept lying there and eventually fell asleep.

By the time he came to it was a little late in the morning. The workers of the slums have left for their jobs. For a moment he sat there confused at the scenery around him. Then his attention changed from the houses surrounding him to the things lying on the ground.

⌈Hiiiiiii!⌋ (Ray)

At the moment he came to realise they were the dead bodies of dogs, he got frightened and scrambled back to get away from them. That was when it started coming back to him. The death of his mother Lunis, the guards throwing him in the slums and the hunger and tiredness and of course the action of killing he took because of that. Even if they were dogs, no child would do something like this unless he was cornered to an extreme.

⌈U-Uwaaaa, Mo-mommyyyy⌋ (Ray)

And he started crying the next moment remembering all that. Soon after he stopped crying, perhaps realising that it won't be any good to continue crying or having gotten used to it after four days.

He took the dagger lying nearby and stood up, but,

⌈A-AAaaaaa⌋

shrieked from the pain he felt in his right leg. Remembering that the dog bit his leg during the fight calmed him down but it still was painful for him to walk. He walked staggeringly outside of the alley and looked around on the streets. There was not much movement in the streets, the eyes of people were lifeless and their movements were languid. Among such people, one man was holding his head groaning while lying down on the street.

Perhaps he had drunk a little too much and collapsed on the street in the night and was suffering from a hangover now. Ray started walking towards no particular direction while paying no heed to his surroundings.

He kept walking languidly when a cry suddenly caught his attention,

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⌈HEEEY! Get your breakfast you lazy bums! We've got work to do as well! If big brother or boss found out you'll be beaten!⌋

From the voice, one could tell the owner was not much older. The cry filled ray with energy and expectation. He thought perhaps he could get some food as well if he asked and if luck was on his side, he will get some work to do as well.

He ran around looking for the owner of the voice and came out in a relatively wider area among the densely populated slums.

At that place a boy of around six to seven years of age was standing beside a crate of wood and distributing hard bread to other children who themselves were not much younger than him. If one looked carefully, he could see that there were some children who were same in age to Ray as well. The boy had brown hair with a blotted face and stood a little taller than Ray. He was wearing a pant only without anything on his upper body.

Having seen this spectacle, the expectations in Ray increased further, he walked to the boy distributing the bread and asked him timidly, in a small voice,

⌈H-Hey, can I get some bread too....?⌋ (Ray)

Perhaps not having paid attention to Ray getting close to him, the boy was momentarily surprised, but recovering from his surprise he spoke in an irritated tone

⌈What? Haven't seen you before. Don't tell me you're new to the slums? If you want food here from me, then you gotta be a member of our group. Now scram⌋ (Brown haired boy)

⌈T-Then, I'll be a member from today, so please give me some food.⌋ (Ray)

Hearing Ray reply instead of going away, the boy became even more irritated,

⌈Like I said, you're not a member of our group, and you can't just become one by saying. You're not getting any food.⌋ (Brown haired boy)

⌈B-But, I'm hungry.....I'll become a member of your group. You said you had work to do, I'll work too, so please give me food.⌋ (Ray)

⌈You're getting annoying! Like I said before, you can't just come and become a member! You need to be approved of by boss which you aren't! Now get lost!⌋ (Brown haired boy)

⌈T-Then! Take me to your boss, I'll talk to him and then I can get food!⌋ (Ray)

Ray was becoming desperate, but this in turn increased the boy's irritation as his next action was a more physical one. He pushed Ray back with enough force to make him fall,

⌈Heh, like any lame trash can become like us. You're just a trash so pick your food from garbage or something. I don't wanna waste my time on you, just get lost somewhere already.⌋ (Brown haired boy)

Hearing the words of the boy, Ray understood he was not going to give him food, therefore, blood rushed to his head in his desperation. He took out a dagger, pushed the brown haired boy on the crate and pointing the dagger on him, threatened him like the bald man,

⌈Give me food or I'll take it after your death!⌋ (Ray)

The kids present in the vicinity clamoured seeing the brown haired boy being pushed down and a dagger being pressed against him.

⌈What's going on?!⌋

Among the clamour one voice clearly resounded which quieted down all the clamouring kids. Ray's attention was taken by the voice, and hearing the voice, the face of the brown haired boy, which was showing fear having a dagger pressed against him suddenly brightened up. He pushed Ray away and ran in the direction the voice came from. When Ray looked in the direction the boy ran, he saw a boy of around twelve to thirteen years of age standing there. He had similar brown hair as the boy Ray was arguing against but he was about twice as tall as Ray and obviously looked considerably more powerful than him. And he was wearing a vest that showed his chest and stomach clearly with pants and boots. He was considerably well dressed than other kids.

The brown haired boy ran towards him and started complaining about Ray to him,

⌈Big Brother! This kid just came out of nowhere and tried to forcibly take the food!⌋ (Brown haired boy)

⌈Yeah, I saw how it all went down⌋ (Brother)

The boy, apparently the big brother of the brown haired boy, spoke in a low calm and menacing tone.