The croaks of seagulls could be heard as they flew in a circle over the docks located in the red-light district of Grayshore. The smell of seawater mixed with the air, creating a pleasant oceany aroma for many sailors who lived most of their lives at sea. An old man was facing the ocean while watching the sunrise. Light reflected from his bald head like a beacon. "What a pleasant morning" the old man thought. He turned around and started to limp back to his shop when a blur went past him, knocking him over. He hit the ground on his bottom with a thump and looked up to see who knocked him over. "Watch where you are going, fool." he yelled at the person. The person stopped and looked back at the old man. The person was wearing a hood that covered his face, but the old man knew that he was just a boy due to his small size. "Sorry old man, but I am in a hurry right now" the boy said. The boy gave the old man one last look before running away. "Ungrateful boy…" the old man thought. He slowly stood up and dusted off his clothes. That's when he saw more people coming his way. They were all wearing medium-sized armor with chainmail underneath. A griffin was engraved on their pauldrons signifying that they were a part of the city guard. "Boy, stop this instance!" the guards yelled. The guards ran past the old man. "Younglings these days...always making a ruckus." the old man thought.
***
Shika ran as fast as he could with the city guard in his trail. He expertly weaved through the crowd, avoiding people who would come in his way. He had done this many times before so this was no different. Except for the fact that he was getting chased by the so-called "best" trackers of Grayshore, the city guard. "Today isn't a good day." he thought as he was running. He could hear the city guards telling him to stop, but he knew better. If he got caught, he would get placed in jail and the jail isn't one of the best places to live . "If I didn't try to steal from the fat dude, none of this would be happening" he reminisced.
This all started when Shika was walking down one of the streets in the red-light district. The red-light district is a hotspot for criminal and illegal activity. Many rich people tend to visit the red-light district, making it the perfect place for Shika to get money. While he was walking down the street, he spotted a fat man arguing with one of the vendors. The man was wearing a robe made out of silk and a necklace made out of gold dangled from his neck. From a distance, you could tell that man held an air of superiority and arrogance. Shika knew right away that man might be a spoiled son of a merchant or nobleman. The man had no visible guards and was currently distracted. Shika thought it would be easy to steal from the nobleman, but he didn't account for the city guards who were walking in one of the many alleyways near the street. Shika approached the man and stole his money pouch while the man was arguing with the shopkeeper. Unfortunately, the man reached for his money pouch and noticed that it was missing. He turned around and saw Shika holding his money pouch. He tried to throw a punch at him, but Shika was nimble enough to dodge it and started to run. The man started to yell at him and his yelling caught the attention of the city guard who started to chase Shika.
His internal musing stopped when he almost ran into another person. He sidestepped to the left to avoid the person.He turned his head to look back at his pursuers. The guards were getting closer and closer, no matter what he did to shake them off. "I have to lose them. I am going to get caught at this rate!" he thought. He took a sharp left turn, leading him into an alleyway. "I hope this pathway will lead somewhere safe." he thought as he ran. All hopes were lost when he hit a deadend. Shika looked around for any possible escape routes, but there were none. He could hear the footsteps getting closer. "It's over, isn't it?" he thought. He could already imagine what they would do to him. They would put him in jail for stealing or maybe even place him in that horrid orphanage again. He shuddered at that thought. "There has to be a way out....there has too" he started to bite his lip, contemplating his possible options. "Wait a minute, I could hide in the sewers...no one will go in there" he thought. He started looking around for a manhole. He quickly spotted it due to the sunlight causing the metal to glisten in the darkness. Using both arms, Shika removed the metal lid and set it to the side. He used the bars to make his descent down into the sewer. When he was ¼ down, he grabbed the lid using his free arm and pushed it back into its place, plunging the sewer into darkness. He climbed down and his feet hit the cold, wet pavement. "Now I have to wait." he thought. A couple of seconds later, he could hear voices coming from above the sewer.
"Where did the brat go?" one of the guards asked.
"Drat! The boy somehow escaped, didn't he?" a guard with a gruff voice replied.
"Well, the fatso won't be that happy...he might even complain to the boss." the guard said with a hint of worry in his tone.
"There is nothing we can do now…time to move out, boys" the gruff voice said.
The voices started to die out as the guards went further and further away from the manhole. "That was a close one" he let out a sigh of relief. He slumped against the wall, propping her elbows up and covering his face. His chest felt tight and the muscles in legs felt strained due to the running. He looked around at his new surroundings, but couldn't see anything due to the dim lighting. His eyelids started to close and he fought the urge to close them and go to sleep. "I should just go to sleep and forget about everything that happened today" he yawned and stretched out his legs. Last thing he thought about was how he didn't want to go back to the orphanage as he drowsed off into a "peaceful slumber".