Eros

The Blackrose Legacy - 52

Other than the Headmaster, who was already dead, the streets proved worse than the orphanage.

They stayed at Veramora's outskirts, where the sand was never swiped from the streets, the alleys narrow, and the houses haggard and crammed. Begging was useless in streets ruled by poverty, where they were just another pair of abandoned children, worth less than scrap.

A week had passed since they fled. They never separated, but they never exchanged a word. He tried to talk to her the first day, but gave it up when she didn't answer. Most of the time now, he shared her silence, only speaking for the sake of their survival.

The way she looked at him changed. Fear grasped where there was once warmth. But it wasn't all there was. There was a twinkle in the blue of her eyes that wasn't there before. Admiration. She always did as he said, and not once left his side. A distance of mere steps between them was insufferable to her. He still had hope.

The desert chill of the night crept into the alley, biting at Kaido's bare feet and torso. He was yet to find a replacement for the shirt he gave Siera. She sat against the wall beside him, tattered, dirty, and hungry as he.

A man entered the alley, the pale moonlight behind him casting out his shadow. His hands were buried in his pocket, and a cigarette dangled from his lips. He hummed a sad melody as he sauntered.

Finally. It wasn't by chance that they waited in the alley beside the tavern; drunks made good targets for pickpocketing. He nodded to Siera, and they both rose. She walked towards the man, while Kaido stalked the shadow along the wall.

Siera started crying.

"Oi," The man blinked down at her, tilting his head to one side. "What's wrong, kid?"

"I-I-" She looked to the floor, stuttering in her whimpering. "I lost my mother."

"Hmm'," The man pouted in thought, sucking a breath through his cigarette. "Where have you last seen her?"

Kaido left the wall's shadow behind the man, and tip-toed to his back. The man's loose trousers were belted around a slender waist, and his shoulders spread broad in a washed-out button shirt.

Not good. Kaido thought as he drew near. If things go wrong, a man built like that could outrun them. But the hunger wrenched his gut harder than the fear, and he went on.

Siera kept smudging her own speech with gasps, and weeps. The stranger rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he struggled to understand her. Kaido used the distraction to make the final step behind him.

Kaido's eyes opened wide as he saw a sheathed dagger at the man's belt. He reached out, hesitant if he should grab for the hilt, or for the man's pocket. The decision was spared to him as the man spun around.

The man kicked out his leg as he turned on his heel, swiping one of Kaido's feet from beneath him. His leg stretched after the man's, and before he realized what happened, his back hit the ground.

"Siera the knife-" Kaido called out, but the man already moved. He stepped to her side, one hand grabbing her shoulder, and the other drawing his dagger from the scabbard to her throat. His movements were fluent and effortless. Like a practiced dancer to the sound of a familiar tune.

Ironically, Siera stopped crying as the blade touched her neck. The man led her before him with surprising gentleness. He crouched over her shoulder, peering down at Kaido. The moonlight reflected his long, jet black hair, the three golden rings in his earlobe, and the silvery scar that sliced his tanned cheek from ear to jaw.

"I am going to kill one of you, boy." He said, smoke trailing from his lips. "You get to choose who it shall be."

Fear crawled in Kaido's chest and clawed at his nape with icy fingers. The thought of that dagger piercing in Siera's neck terrified him like no threat to his life ever did. "Kill me."