The sun cast its afternoon rays upon the winding streets of the city of Denim Dale as Rustler roamed through its local marketplace, today more than ever the place was bustling with life, but amidst the hustle and bustle, Rustler found himself wrestling with an unexpected challenge. Cradled in his arms, his small frame strained under the weight of a wriggling infant, whose cries pierced through the commotion like a siren's call.

The baby, swathed in a colorful blanket, wailed with a fervor that seemed to capture the attention of every passerby. Heads turned, and curious onlookers paused their transactions, their gazes drawn to the spectacle unfolding before them. The noise reached a crescendo, drowning out the ambient sounds of haggling and chatter.

While initially, the Rustler tried to make abstractions of how much attraction was drawn to him because of that baby, he nonetheless focused on trying to calm it down.

“Come on, can’t you stop crying?”

Surprisingly. It didn’t. In fact, the baby's cries only grew louder, echoing through the bustling streets and attracting even more attention.

“Ah crap,” growing increasingly bothered by the attention brought onto him, the Rustler rushed and left the marketplace for somewhere else the baby cry would attract less attention.

As walked, his mind raced with questions he didn't have the answers to. How does one quiet a crying baby? Just how? And just what am I even doing with this? What am I stupid? I should’ve left this with her family.

“Come on help me, you, instead of just watching me struggle.”

“Anytime but just how would you want me to help you? I can’t help you physically, and my advice will most likely be as useless —valid as yours.”

He couldn’t refute that.

Coming up with another attempt, he bounced on his tiptoes, swayed back and forth, and even attempted a lullaby he had once heard.

Despite their best efforts, the situation proved futile. The baby's cries grew increasingly louder, drawing more attention to them as they ventured into a quieter, less populated corner of the city.

“What do you want? Why are you crying?”

Were babies always this loud?

In the midst of her anguished cries, the Rustler's attention was suddenly captivated by an intriguing sound. Following the melodic tune, he found himself standing upon a bridge, where the rhythmic running and splashing of river below resonated through the air.

"Do you know how to swim? Because I don’t."

The Rustler turned his gaze towards the baby, and in that moment, he noticed a subtle decrease in the intensity of the cries, perhaps due to the soothing presence of the nearby river or simply a natural easing of the distress.

Taking notice of that, he fully intended to take advantage of it. “Let’s go,” he declared, as went to follow the river to somewhere he could get close to its shore.

Walking for a short while he soon arrived somewhere he could access one of the river’s shores, it was at the exit of a large sewer entrance.

Since there wasn't no one around, it was just the perfect spot, so the Rustler went to take a seat in a corner of the wall, just close enough for the sound of splashing water to do its thing. But just as he sat the baby who finally felt like calming down suddenly came to cry again.

Oh, crap, what am I doing seriously?

“What am I going to do with you?”

Raising his hand up above the baby's face, the Rustler using Odoe allowed shapeshifted his arm, while initially not what he was coming with he soon realized that the sight amused so he went on to shapeshift his arm into different forms, the baby's cries momentarily paused, replaced by a curious gurgle. The transformation seemed to captivate the infant's attention, and a spark of delight lit up its eyes. Encouraged by the reaction, the Rustler continued his playful shapeshifting display, creating various shapes and objects with his arm.

It didn't take long before the baby's eyes closed, and its tiny body relaxed in the Rustler's arms.

With a relieved sigh, the Rustler carefully adjusted his hold on the sleeping infant, ensuring that it was comfortable and secure. The river's gentle splashing continued to provide a peaceful backdrop as the baby entered into a deep slumber.

Grateful for the respite and the newfound silence, the Rustler took a moment to rest as well, leaning against the shaded corner of the wall.

“Hm?”

“I only woke up this morning after a month-long sleep and I already feel like sleeping again for a full lunar cycle.”

“Another name was taken off the list but today…

“We messed up.”

Much more than words could simply describe.

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Looking down at the sleeping baby in his hands, its soft breaths creating a harmonious rhythm with the surrounding sounds, the Rustler closed his eyes to commune with himself, contemplating what to do next with the baby.

Several hours passed as the Rustler immersed himself in deep contemplation, searching for a solution. However, before he could come to a definitive decision, he was interrupted by the baby waking up and letting out another piercing scream.

"Oh, come on, not again," he muttered groggily.

He attempted to replicate the same tricks that had initially calmed the baby, but this time, they had no effect. The cries persisted, growing louder and more desperate.

Just as the Rustler struggled to calm the baby down, a muffled voice reached the Rustler's ears, echoing from inside the large sewer entrance nearby. Curiosity piqued, he turned his attention in that direction. Soon, three silhouettes emerged from the darkness of the sewer. There were two girls and one boy. The Rustler immediately shapeshifted his arm back to normal. One of the girls, an odoe, appeared to be around 13 years old. The other girl seemed considerably younger, also an Odoe roughly the same age as the Rustler himself. On the other hand, the boy, an Arbian, appeared slightly younger than the older girl.

"So that's the whining I heard. See, I told you both there was something," the boy boasted.

"Yeah, but still, learn to mind your tongue, Benji," the older girl remarked as they walked past the Rustler and the baby. The last thing the Rustler wished was attracting attention upon himself, so almost instinctively he immediately proceeded to hide his arm.

The Rustler felt relieved that instead of paying them any further attention, the trio simply continued walking. However, that relief was swiftly shattered when, as he stopped paying them any mind, he heard the older girl ask, "You okay there, friend?"

Looking her way, the Rustler and the girl's eyes met.

“... I couldn’t help, but notice you’re having trouble with… is it a boy or a girl?” She asked as she approached. “I see a girl.”

The Rustler nodded. "Yes, it's a girl," he confirmed, his voice tinged with weariness.

“Oh, and what’s her name?”

That was, differently from the previous one, a question the Rustler didn’t have an answer for. So instinctively he found himself asking, "I've been trying to calm her down, but she just won't settle."

The older girl smiled sympathetically. "I might be able to help. My name is Kae, by the way," she introduced herself. "I have some experience with soothing babies. Mind if I give it a try?"

Kae gently extended her arms, signaling for the Rustler to hand over the baby. He carefully transferred the fussy infant into Kae's capable embrace, watching as she cradled the child with a gentle touch.

With a soothing voice, Kae began to hum a melodic lullaby, rocking the baby back and forth.

Though she calmed down, the baby's cries didn't seem entirely subsided despite Kae’s efforts to soothe her.

"I think she might be hungry," Kae suggested, her voice filled with compassion. "Babies often cry when they're hungry. It's worth a try to feed her. Where is her mother?"

At that question the Rustler’s back awkwardly straightened. “She… isn’t here anymore.” He replied to the hanging question.

“Huh?”

“Not here anymore?” She mumbled seemingly confused by his answer. “What do y—”

“Yes. Not here anymore,” the Rustler cut.

“I see… Well, this baby has to be fed somehow. She’s clearly hungry,” she explained, her words sounding protective and even reproaching.

To these words, the Rustler's face lit up with a spark of remembrance. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something that he had set aside for–well, certainly not a moment like this. With a hopeful expression, he presented it to Kae and the rest of the trio. Their eyes fell upon the object in his hand - a loaf of bread with a single bite taken from it.

Their eyes shifted from the loaf of bread and settled on the Rustler, their faces bearing expressions of serious concern.

“What are you, dumb or something?” Immediately retorted the boy.

“That’s a baby that can’t eat bread yet,” also intervened the younger girl.

“So… she can’t.”

“Obviously, what were you thinking?”

“That’s enough, Benji. Leave him alone,” Kae ordered

“But look at him, he’s completely clueless. On top of that’s not even an arbian like you but an Odoe. That baby is clearly not anyone from his family.”

“Benji,” Kae sighed.

“Okay, I shut up.”

“And you, did you pick this poor child on the street or something, you don’t seem to know anything about her or babies at all in general?”

The Rustler couldn't agree more with the latter part of her statement. He admitted to himself that he knew nothing about babies, let alone anything about this particular child. Although he didn't regret the decision to rescue her from that desolate basement, he understood that, for both his own sanity and the child's safety, it was necessary to hand her over to more competent caregivers.

"Could you please answer the questions people are asking you? We're genuinely trying to figure out how we can help here," Kae implored, her frustration evident in her tone. She let out a sigh, realizing the futility of her request. "But I guess that doesn't matter now. What matters is finding something suitable to feed the baby. That loaf of bread won't suffice. Fortunately, she already has some teeth, so she should be able to consume something like soup."

At that moment, Kae seemed to have mention of something that while eluding the Rustler prompted a surprised reaction from both the boy and the girl accompanying her.

"Kae..." the girl began, her voice filled with disbelief.

"You can't be serious?! Are you really planning to take them with us?" the boy interjected, his tone laced with skepticism.

"Just this once, to provide the baby with a meal. Just for this one time," Kae responded, determined.

"There's no way he's going to agree to that. You know how stubborn and unreasonable he can be," the boy countered.

“I know but we can’t simply hand this child back to him and proceed with our lives just like that.”

"I mean, technically, we could," the boy responded, his tone faltering under Kae's piercing stare. Immediately, his back straightened as he realized the weight of his words. "But we're not doing that, I suppose." He let out a sigh. "I'm telling you, this is a very bad idea."

Feeling left out of the loop, the Rustler eventually gathered the courage to ask, "I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure I understand what's happening."

Kae glanced down at the baby and then looked back up at the Rustler. "I think we might know a place where we can get her proper food, food that she can eat. Not just bread, but actual food that might be fitting for a baby her age," Her voice trailed off as a momentary realization crossed her face.

"Actually, before we proceed, I just realized something," she began, her tone tinged with slight embarrassment. "I don't even know your name."

“My name?”

“Yes, what are you called?”