{-Brenan-}

He was as ready as he was going to be, stepping into where he’d seen them, with Ouka trailing behind him and Mazel—who’d turned into a bird again—resting on a perch nearby. Or, at least, that’s what he told himself as he came out into the open.

But he soon realized that saying was much more different than doing, as nearly directly across from him was someone from the old group—someone he’d once looked up to… Someone who was practically beating up a kid for just a little bit of spare coins.

“I didn’t do anything to you!” the kid cried.

The thief from the group grabbed his arm. “No, but you’ve certainly got what I want! Come on and pay up—you’re not walking through our territory without a payment!”

Mazel made an enthusiastic chirp, which Brenan took to mean, Go! Do what I said! Now’s your chance to change something!

And he, quietly so then the kid and thief couldn’t hear him, responded as if she’d actually said it, “I—I think I might be having some second thoughts about how ready I was. Walking through their territory is one thing. Interrupting them from mugging somebody? I don’t want someone to get hurt…”

Another more defiant tweet, which he assumed meant, Someone’s getting hurt right now, only because you aren’t doing anything! You can change that!

Brenan looked back at the kid, hoping that maybe he’d be able to run away on his own. It didn’t look like it.

So, Brenan took a deep breath and, cautiously, moved a bit closer before calling, “Hey, keep your hands off that kid! He’s done nothing to you!”

The thief looked over her shoulder, though visibly eased to see it was him. “Oh, it’s you. I’d say I barely recognize you, but you’ve barely changed a bit, you know! Nice to see you’re not any smarter, though. I thought Boss told you to stay out of our way.” There was nothing friendly about her tone; it was menacing, as she must’ve truly felt that no shared past connected them now.

“Maybe, but at least I still have some kind of morals.” He dared to step a bit closer. “Just let the kid go.”

“Or what?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t think either of us would like it.” He glanced at where Mazel was, wondering if he was doing the right thing. She let out another chirp, which he assumed meant that he was. He turned to the thief and said, “Look, I… don’t really think you want to do this.”

The thief seemed more confused than anything. “And what the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“I remember you. You were one of the first kids to join. I think… you were there to try to help your parents, right? They didn’t have a lot, but you wanted to help them.”

“Yeah, and? Or is that it, you’re just trying to distract me?”

“I’m not trying to distract you. When he started ordering us to rob other kids—people who weren’t nobles, who really weren’t any different from us—you tried arguing with him. You pointed out how your parents, the same people you were trying to help, were the same as the people he made you steal from. But he didn’t listen and he knew that, no matter what, you’d stay. Because you didn’t think you’d have a chance without him—that he was the only reason you’d been able to feed your family. But you know the only one that ever said that? Him, right before he asked one of us to go against the reason we’d joined him to begin with.”

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The thief hesitated, but ultimately put her dagger closer to the kid. “What gives you the right to talk about any of this, anyway? What makes you qualified to say all that? Last I checked, you weren’t with us anymore.”

Brenan took a deep breath to remind himself to stay calm. “That’s exactly why. He told me the same things he’s telling you, and look where I am. Not dead. Not reliant on him. And you don’t have to be, either.”

“So you really never did change. I’d think by now you’d know that the world isn’t black and white. It isn’t as simple as ‘I did it, so you can too.’ You don’t have anyone. It’s about the only thing you have going for you.”

“But I’m not alone.”

She raised an eyebrow. Brenan gestured for Ouka to come out, even if she was clearly apprehensive about the whole thing.

“Wait, that kid you hung around with?” The thief looked between the two of them in disbelief. “You mean she didn’t ditch you for wherever she came from?”

“Unlike all of you, I don’t just abandon someone the moment they stop being useful,” Ouka remarked. “And I’m sure as hell a more reliable ally than any of you.”

Brenan brought them back on topic. “See? Things aren’t really that different between us. So just let the kid go. You don’t have to keep doing this.”

The thief looked between him, Ouka, and the kid… then let out a tsk, grabbed the kid’s pouch, and ran.

The kid was clearly confused, if not slightly afraid, for whatever was going to happen. He didn’t look any better when Brenan slowly approached him.

“Do you have a family?” Brenan asked. “Are you out here for them?”

Cautiously, the boy nodded. “My little sister’s back home. I was just out to buy medicine for her, but got a little lost, and ended up here…”

“If you take that street, just keep walking straight until you’re back in the main part of town. Stay out of the alleys and no one else is going to try to hurt you.” Brenan took out a couple of copper coins he’d acquired. “I don’t know if this will make up for what she stole from you, but… I hope it’s enough for something.”

“It definitely is. I’ll be able to get what I need with this.” The boy took one step to leave—likely planning to make a dash for it—before hesitating. He looked at Brenan, and briefly made eye contact with Ouka. “Thank you.”

Then the kid was running off, back to where he’d hopefully be able to stay out of trouble.

Brenan felt pretty good about himself, actually, before he noticed the look that Ouka had. “What’s that for? Come on, you heard what he said—he needed it.”

“And we could’ve used that, too,” she pointed out, apparently indifferent to the act of kindness.

“Don’t you think that giving is supposed to be a part of making a better life for ourselves?”

“Not when we’re just as hungry as they are.”

He sighed, mumbling some sort of agreement since he knew he wasn’t going to succeed in convincing her. Luckily, they didn’t have to be in silence for long, because Mazel flew over to them and transformed back into her human form.

“He’s right,” she said to Ouka. “You can’t stay in your old habits—it’s not going to lead to anything.”

Ouka muttered something, but it was impossible to tell if it was in protest or agreement.

Then Mazel turned to Brenan and smiled. “I think you’ve learned a lot—or, rather, let yourself experience what you’ve always believed. You did a great job.”

“But this… isn’t exactly the end, though, is it..?” Brenan prompted. She looked like she had more to say, more that she was planning.

She shrugged. “It could be, or there might still be a lot left to do. It’s all up to you, in the end, to make your own future.” She looked at both of them. “No matter what, there’s still some other things we need to do. Ouka needs to come to face her past, too.”

“Don’t know how you plan on making me do that,” Ouka remarked. It was hard to tell if she was nervous or just indifferent. “All my demons are far away.”

“You say that like you’re kept to one spot,” Mazel pointed out. “There’s no need to fear it—you saw how Brenan did. Even if you don’t want to, you’re going to need to face it like he did, too. I can’t say we’re completely done here, but we should start preparing like we are.”

“And that means..?”

“You two should start packing for a trip to Qizar.”