Eros

Men of Light and Shadow - 18

The three other bandits silenced their chatter, and William began speaking in a solemn tone.

"Kaido is something... Probably the only man who could make outlaw street rats from Vitroz's worst neighborhood to feel like they are worth something." William grinned to himself, and peered to Alora.

"Do you know of Vitroz?" He asked, and she shook her head. His grin twisted bitter.

"The worst city imaginable. The vile minister who was responsible for it stole all of the funds to build himself a fucking palace. And the city guard... It wouldn't show up unless there were valuable goods they could seize for themselves, but never from the big names – they wouldn't dare mess with sharks, only with the small fish. A fucking guard could see you get beaten to pulp in the center of the city and not lift a finger, maybe cracked a laugh and spat at and you as he passed."

She noticed some bandit fists clenching. The words must've woken memories.

"These three fucks and I met when we were about eight. We all wound up at the same orphanage right before its Ouzei-addicted caretaker died from an overdose. So we ended up in the streets, like many other children in Vitroz.

"Begging was no use. There are too many worthless street rats, so even the few who could spare the coin saw no point to throw it to some random kid. Forced to steal to exist, during the days we split to pairs and roamed the city's markets and center.

"The trick was to find someone who didn't look like he could kill or outrun you with an accessible purse. One would distract him – bumping into him then falling to the ground in tears was usually a solid move – and the other would snatch his pouch, preferably without him noticing. We got roughened up a lot at the start, but the more practice we got, the smoother things went. Here and there we would try to lift some goods from the stands, but their keepers were the hardest beaters. If you got caught, getting beaten to death wasn't unlikely."

William pointed his thumb up to his crooked nose. They all bore old scars.

"The nights were the most dangerous. That's when the drunks, the druggeds, and the gangsters roamed the street. Not to mention most deals and territory wars between gangs tended to occur after sundown. We spent most of our nights in inns' stables, sleeping hidden, and fleeing before dawn."

Alora received a minute to process all William had said so far when he paused to light himself a cigarette.

"When we grew up, we added a nightly income to the daily pickpocketing. As long as we avoided the named gangs, the four of us could take on most of those who might've messed with us.

"It was a nasty business, though. One of us, usually me or Rock, would grab something heavy, sneak up behind a hapless drunk, and smash the back of his head. If he'd fall, the other three'd jump on him too. Kick him a bit to make sure he's passed out before we would strip him from anything of value. If the smash didn't drop him then he's surely a bull of a man, so we ran for our miserable lives."

The bandits laughed and William took a puff from his cigarette. Smoke rose from his lips as he continued.

"The years passed and our routine continued until one rainy night. We were about to call it a night; not even drunks stayed out in that heavy rain. But then we see this guy sitting up against a wall. He was just slouching there, staring at a jewel of silver and gold in his hand, letting the rain soak him to the marrow of his bones.

"Not only that he seemed drunk beyond recognition, and that he also looked about nineteen – definitely not older than us – a perfect target. So the four of us walk up to him, surround him, and he doesn't even look up at us.