{-Brenan-}
He was the kind of person that nobles—most people, probably—liked to pretend didn’t exist.
The one with hardly a recollection of his birth parents. The one who became a street urchin, the one or two copper coins to his name gone by the evening for food. The one who had never had formal education, who couldn’t write at all, and who could barely understand what letters made up his name.
He’d heard conversations from adults, and they never quite seemed to get it. They thought he was like this because of some fault of his parents; sometimes, they might claim it a fault of the region’s policies. But they said it, they’d look at him, and they’d do nothing. In the end, it didn’t matter what had brought him there. He was there now and, in their eyes, that was where he’d stay.
Wasn’t exactly like anything else made it easier for him to change.
Given his young age, he’d bounced between a lot of different groups—mostly between slightly-older boys, who’d use him to get a couple of coins, then give him a piece of bread for his efforts. He didn’t really think one would stick, until he found the last one he ultimately went to.
The group seemed to have traveled, since he heard some of the kids—there was a variety of them—talking about their distant birthplaces. Or, at least, he assumed they were distant. Everything seemed so big, so vast, to him back then.
But none of that compared to the leader.
He was tall for someone his age and was just as confident as some of the older teens. Maybe that’s why everyone was so willing to follow him; he promised to understand their troubles and he looked like someone who’d keep his promises. At first, Brenan thought he was mean to the others—soon, though, he began to associate that part of the leader’s personality with care. That’s what it was: his care for the others, his wish to see them all survive in a hostile environment.
It wasn’t too long after he welcomed Brenan that he gathered everyone together.
“I’m happy to announce that we’ve finally done it!” the leader said once everyone had gathered together. “We’ve gained enough members that I think it’s time we can make a real difference! We were just getting day to day before, but I have a new idea. All those nobles and rich guys… we’re going to even the playing fields a little. We steal from them, we help each other, then we can help the others, too. Together, we can make things better for everyone!”
Brenan should’ve known it sounded a little too good to be true.
…
“Hey, Brenan!” The leader walked up to him. “I’ve got a mission for you.”
As soon as he heard those words, Brenan was up in an instant. He’d seen what the older kids had done. He wanted to be a part of the good that they were doing. Excitedly, he asked, “What is it?”
The leader gestured towards the street, where several people were walking around. “See that kid over there? The short and chubby one. I want you to see how many coins he has on him—you’re the smallest out of all of us, a little bit of pickpocketing should be no problem for you.”
Brenan, suddenly finding himself more cautious than happy, pointed to who he feared the leader was talking about. “That one..?”
“Yeah.”
“He looks like us…”
“But he’s not.”
“Why? I think I saw him with his family. They didn’t look noble…”
“That’s because they aren’t.”
“You said—”
“I said that we took care of each other first.” The leader was rather casual when he said it. “I don’t care what else that kid’s going through, the fact of the matter is, he has what we need. And you’re either going to get out there and do what I asked, or you’re getting out there and not coming back. It's up to you whether or not you want to not go hungry.”
Brenan knew he didn’t really have a choice, so he nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it…”
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…
Things only got worse from there.
At first, he was able to justify it to himself. After all, the leader still did make sure that all of the kids in the group were taken care of. Another kid could join if their situation ended up being similar to one of the others, right? So there wasn’t really any harm done. He told himself he was only doing this to help his friends—the closest thing to a family that he had. He had to stick with them.
Until…
“I’m not doing it,” Brenan said, mustering a surprising amount of confidence. “I’m not taking anything from that kid.”
The leader’s frown deepened. “And why not?”
“I talked with him earlier. His parents are dead, he’s looking out for his little sister all on his own. I’m not going to take anything from them. I think they need it more than I do.”
The leader sighed. “Gods, you should know by now that all of that’s just a sob story. You’re falling for it.”
“For what?”
“The tricks. Whatever that kid will say that will keep you from doing anything. He’s just lying to you.”
“Then prove it to me.”
“Do you really need proof? What about the proof that we need it?”
“The past three times you’ve asked me to do this, when I gave it to you, you acted like it never existed. As far as I can tell, no one saw that money—or anything bought with it—aside from you.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
The leader didn’t give Brenan time to answer—he grabbed the edge of Brenan’s shirt and tugged him closer.
“Look,” the leader hissed in his ear, “you’re still the runt. Need I remind you I’m the only reason you’re even alive right now? Go on and try to live on your own if you want. I’m not going to stop you if you want to make the worst decision of your life.” He shoved Brenan back to the ground. “So? What’ll it be?”
Brenan kept his eyes fixed on the ground. “I’ll do it.”
“Good, there’s still something left in that brain of yours. Now get going, we don’t have all day.”
…
When their names—or, at least, what he assumed were their names—got plastered on wanted posters around town, that was their sign to move. That was how they found themselves in a large city that must’ve been a day away from the border.
It was also one of the harshest winters he could remember. Yet, on his way back from something in another town, he came across a girl in the snow.
A girl that, though wrapped in a coat better than what he could’ve gotten, almost seemed cold to the touch and didn’t respond to a single word he said.
So he carried her back to the others, hoping he could come up with some excuse of why he brought her in, instead of just robbing and leaving her.
He wasn’t the best at knowing exactly what to do, but another kid—one of the nicer ones, and who was often called their medic—was willing to help him. Together, they figured the girl would be alright so long as she stayed warm and woke up soon.
As he stayed with her—too afraid to leave her, given she’d be waking up in an unfamiliar place—he heard arguments between the medic and the leader. He just tried his best to ignore them.
He decided he was going to help this girl, as much as he was able to, for as long as he could. Maybe that could make up for all of the bad things he’d done over the past couple of years…
…
The girl’s name was Ouka. Her green hair was about shoulder length and looked like a mess. Underneath that coat—which was taken as “payment” for helping her—was nothing more than simple servant’s clothes. The leader was upset when he saw it; he’d been hoping she was a nobleman’s daughter, or someone else they could hold ransom for. She proved from the moment she woke up, though, that she wasn’t worth even a fragment of that.
That she’d been abandoned.
But that was the only information Brenan could get from her about her past, even years later.
And even though she proved to be a pretty good pickpocket, it wasn’t long until the leader came up to them both and tossed a map at them.
“I want both of you gone in an hour,” he announced. “And I don’t want to see your faces here again.”
Brenan couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “Wait, why? What did we do?”
“What haven’t you done? You’ve been opposing me for years, and this damn kid’s nothing more than a dead weight.” The leader didn’t have even a drop of sympathy in his tone. “You’re lucky I waited this long, really. You’re both going to go, and we’re never going to see each other again.”
Ouka, always braver than Brenan in the face of authority, questioned, “Or else?”
The leader casually slipped out a dagger from somewhere. “The both of you can see if Vriuh really does exist, and I’m sure you’re both smarter than to try to risk that. I know Brenan, at least, understands I’m not a person of empty threats.”
Slowly, Brenan nodded. “Right. We’ll leave as soon as possible.”
“Good. I hope for your sake you never come around here again—and that no one from here sees you out there.” The leader laughed. “Hell, I hope that you realize exactly how right we were… as you’re both starving in some gods-forsaken back alley.”