Akira traversed her way to the stairs, passing a few paintings of her grandfather and grandmother. She stopped before one of them and admired it. Her grandfather was standing behind a velvet cushioned chair, one arm draped across the top of it, and one resting on the blade of her grandmother's shoulder. Her grandfather was tense and stern, while her grandmother was grinning from ear to ear. Akira smiled softly as she averted her eyes to the next painting.
It was a picture of all three of them outside of their house, Akira was planted in the middle of her grandparents, a smile was plastered on all of their faces. Bringing up a single finger, Akira gently placed it on her grandmother's figure. She trailed it along her red hair and down to her heart. The feeling of old dry paint lingered on her fingertips. Her smile slowly faded and was replaced with a frown. "I promise I won't let anyone else suffer."
Akira tossed a few small loafs of day-old bread in a paper bag that had grease stains littering the bottom and sides. She looked around her tiny kitchen, trying to find something else to add to the bag. She spotted small grapes clinging to the dry vines and took them gratefully. She shifted towards the handle that led outside and gripped the small knob. She pried it open and was immediately greeted with a waft of chilly air- sending her red hair to fall across her forehead. She shrugged her head from side to side, pushing it away from her eyes. Other than the sudden gust of wind, being outside felt rather soothing. She didn't realize how much she missed breathing in fresh air until now. The sky was bleeding gray and blue, falling down to rest slightly above the worn-down homes. The tips of her ears began to go numb as she continued to walk away from her confided home.
She spotted kids with ragged clothes a few homes down and walked in that direction. She kicked a few rocks out of her path and picked up the pace. They didn't notice her for a while until they turned to face her directly. A small boy with chestnut brown hair jumped behind one of the taller ones and gripped his shirt that looked as if it would rip if it was gripped any tighter.
"We don't have any Temungs with us!" A dark-haired boy appeared from behind the smaller boy which almost startled Akira. His voice was shaky causing Akira to frown down at the three boys and held out the greasy bag filled with grapes and bread. "I don't want temungs."
The tall boy peered at the bag but didn't reach out to grab it. Instead, he looked back at the other two boys and gave them a worried look. "My mom says I shouldn't take things from strangers." The boy with dark hair softly said, shifting closer to the tallboy. He gripped the seams of his shirt and opened his mouth to speak, before closing it. Akira chuckled and held the bag closer to her body before looking down at them. She crouched down a little to their height with a soft smile. "My name is Akira." She held her hand out to them and wiggled her fingers, hoping it would make one of them take it. The dark-haired boy stepped in front of the other two and swiftly gripped Akira's hand tightly. "I'm Ren". He practically lept towards her, making direct eye contact.
Akira nodded her head before shifting her body to the side, past Ren. She made eye contact with the smaller boy who was still hidden slightly, although he had let go of the other boy's shirt. "Calix.." The tall boy with sandy blonde hair was introduced, not daring to make eye contact. Instead, he just directed his eyes to the homes behind Akira. She nodded her head again and stood up straight. "What about you?" The chestnut-haired boy let out a tiny squeak and buried his head behind Calix. Akira sighed and took out a small loaf from the bag and held it out to him.
"Try it, I promise it's good." She waited a minute before he finally peaked out his little head. He looked up at Calix who nodded his head, giving permission. "Lynx.. my- name- is Lynx." His nervous tone made Akira shoot him a reassuring smile. His little hands reached out from behind Calix and he swiped the bread into his hands and gave a thankful nod. Akira handed Calix the bag of food and both he and Ren quickly dug in.
They must have been starving, by the looks of their thin bodies, Akira had assumed it could have been either a day or two. She hid her sad expression by looking away quickly. This town truly was corrupted. And it was all Elestren and Lebberats fault.
Her grandfather's words echoed in her head, "there is no moving on." She had now realized he was right. There was nothing left in this town, the elders were getting sicker and sicker, the children were forced to starve, and there was no income. Akira balled her hands into fists and felt the anger return to her body. The sky turned dark and the air became heavy. Akira took a few deep breaths before taking one more glance in the young boy's direction. "I have to get going now."
They looked at her with disappointment in their eyes, "I'll leave you some more bread soon. How does that sound?" They nodded their heads and Akira waved them goodbye and watched as they faded from view. It was hard for Akira to see Trebond like this. Cold and lifeless. She was used to seeing vendors on the streets, and children running around. But now, it was a distant place that was becoming unrecognizable.