The Red Ribbon {Kaz Brekker X Reader}

Dirtyhands

~ Y/N ~
*the present*

And...another item successfully stolen from an unknowing person. People are really making it easy at this point. Just outside of the financial district, people's wallets are as big as their egos, so it isn't hard to see it weighing down a specific pocket on their jacket. From there I just have to bump into them "accidentally" and trust myself that I'll grab my item of desire out of their coat by the time we walk away from each other. It works most of the time.

I know that stealing from people who are much better off than me is not a good thing to do. But it is how I survive in this wretched city. Alone.

The past 7 years have been a complete and utter nightmare. Turns out, the rumors about a plague were true. It raged through the slums of Ketterdam, where, unfortunately, me and my mother were seeking refuge. My mother caught it and would cough all day. She looked absolutely terrible. There was no one we could go to for medicine or help, so we just stayed in the slums day and night. One thing led to another, and one morning, she never woke up. They put her on Reaper's Barge and dumped her in the harbor. It was haunting seeing how many young children were on that boat. Some still had a look of life in their eyes, as if they were frozen in between life and death. I was one of the few lucky ones that survived.

After that experience, I quickly had to take initiative for my own survival. While others were sleeping in the slums, I would steal some of their items. The next day, I would go around the city and find anyone willing to buy the items off of me. It payed little, but over time, I saved up a good amount of Kruge. Instead of spending it on an apartment, I saved up to get my father out of Hellgate, like I had originally planned.

On the day that I presented my money to the personnel in charge of the Hellgate prisoners, after a couple years of stealing items and selling them off, I got hit with questionable looks. I reiterated to them that I wanted to release my father from the prison. They informed me that my father had died in a fighting match against two wolves about a year before I came to request his release. I was devastated. All that time I was saving up money for absolutely nothing.

I was an orphan. And I was pissed about it, too. But, I was a pissed off orphan with a shit ton of money. And I vowed to make whoever fooled me out of my money that fateful spring day pay for what they had done to me. And to Kaz and Jordie. I always assumed that they were fine, they were smart boys. But they got scammed just like me. So, I decided to put my saved up money to good use. And after some digging and interrogations, I found out his name.

Pekka Rollins.

I hate this douchebag with every fiber of my being. So, for the past few years up to now, I've been stealing and selling items that aren't mine, purchasing weapons and tools, and making Rollins days a living hell. In that order. Except, he doesn't know that it's me. I haven't ever physically hurt him directly, but I do love to sabotage him.

I have never stepped foot in the Barrel. And I really don't plan to, unless absolutely necessary. I can defend myself, not extremely well, but enough to get the job done. Though "enough" is not enough in the Barrel. So, I steer clear, and instead pay other people to do the dirty work for me. Everyone is desperate for Kruge, so they'll do whatever to get it. That includes causing damage to the Emerald Palace and the Kaelish Prince, and directing the customers literally anywhere else. And, my personal favorite, vandalizing Rollins house with colorful language <3.

Like I said before, Rollins does not know I am behind this. Which means that today is the perfect day to end his career, once and for all, so that nobody else gets scammed the way I did. I paid two boys earlier this morning to go to Pekka's house and find a way to unlock his door, and make it easy for me to enter at night and slip some poison into his beverages. They haven't come back yet, but I am expecting them to be here soon.