In a dark alleyway in the town of Boreshire, a young man quickly opened a rickety old door and stepped into the rain. The man was tall for his age and had bright brown hair. His hands were as rough and broken as the hands of a careered man, yet his smile was youthful and full of energy. He pulled his coat, a thick woolen jacket that dropped down to his knees, over his chest, and waved his hand toward the inside of the building.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Jeremy!" The man said with cheer before he closed the door. Then he turned around and pulled the collar of his coat over his nape. The rain fell hard on top of the crest of his hair, flattening it and pushing his wet bangs over his eyes. The boy turned toward the street and then hopped over the small puddle just outside the door. The walk home was quick, yet the rain did him no favors. By the time he arrived at his small apartment complex, his coat was completely soaked. He felt the weight of it push against his shoulders like the weight of a full suit of armor, but the boy did not falter his smile.
"Hello, Derek!" an old man smiled as the young boy arrived at the complex. Derek smiled as he saw the man. The old man waved to him from his favorite chair on the porch, then returned to his hobby of watching the street with a stern gaze.
"Good night, Mr. Phan," The boy said. He walked up the rickety old steps as he reached the second floor. Then, he walked forward another twelve steps until he arrived at his apartment door.
In the same dark alley in the town of Boreshire, the next day, Derek quickly opened the rickety door and stepped out. He wore similar clothes as the day before- though the coat was the same. Before he closed the door, he turned around and waved his hand.
"Goodnight, Miss Jeremy!" Derek yelled into the building. Then, he turned around, hopped over the puddle, and returned home. The walk home was as cold as it always was, as Boreshire was a town that rarely didn't rain, but Derek kept his smile strong as he always did. As he walked down the old streets of his childhood town, he stumbled upon a cat on the side of the road. Derek stopped as he saw the cat, but continued on a moment later.
"Hello, Derek!" the old man yelled. However, before he could wave his hand
"Hello again, Mr. Phan!"
In the dark alley of Boreshire, the following day, and the following day after that. Derek followed his strict routine. He waved his farewell to Miss Jeremy, then hopped over the puddle of rainwater that always gathered outside the door. Then, he walked home and found the stray cat on the side of the road. Sometimes, he would say hello to the cat and give it some food he had bought from his workplace, but often he only rubbed his palm over the cat's back before he stood up and returned to his apartment.
His life continued this way for months. Finally, one night, he closed the door to his workplace and looked up. Before he could even bid his farewells to Miss Jeremy, he noticed a peculiarity with the sky.
"Hmm? It's not raining?" Derek muttered. Then, a wide smile formed on his face. He looked back into the building with the widest smile he had on his face in months. His eyes gleamed with a sparkle rarely seen. He waved his hand, "Goodnight to you! Miss Jeremy!"
Then, with a skip, he turned around and began to walk home. He stopped by the stray cat, which he had named Benny, and gave it some of his dinner. The cat was easy to find, as it had been for the last few months. Over the time that Derek had taken to know the cat, the cat had also known him. So, when it saw Derek approach, the cat let out a quick meow before rushing over to his side.
The cat also appeared to be overjoyed by the weather, so the two of them shared a moment of silence. A few moments turned into several minutes as Derek remained on the street with his favorite stray cat. As he did so, his mind began to wander.
"Ahhhh, Miss Jeremy continues to ignore me," Derek sighed, almost to himself. The cat meowed, then rubbed its neck across Derek's knee. Derek smiled, then ran his hand across the cat's nape. Derek sat for another few minutes until he saw a pair of guards walk up from the other side of the street.
They weren't walking to him, much to Derek's relief, but were instead on their way home. As they came closer, Derek managed to hear a part of their conversation.
"She brought them to Dimos," The first guard told the other. The second guard, the taller of the two, shook his head.
"Artists should just be executed," the second guard muttered, "But two of them? Now? What does that mean?"
"I think it means we should start patrolling the city," the first guard answered, "And if we find the two Artists acting menacingly, we kill them. No questions asked."
"I agree," The other guard nodded. The two of them continued their way down the road, neither of them having noticed Derek and the cat. Silence passed as Derek watched the guards disappear from his view.
Then, out of nowhere, Derek began to laugh. The cat meowed and ran into the alleyway out of surprise.
"Artists? Amazing!" Derek smiled as he stood on his feet. He looked into the alleyway, his eyes searching for the cat that had disappeared, "Sorry! See you tomorrow, Benny!"
Derek was not one of those people who regarded all Artists as menacing and cruel. He had grown up with the tales of legendary Artists from history. He had read about knights in shining armor, powerful wizards, and kings as strong as a hundred men. To him, Artists were heroes.
As Derek ran home, he laughed the whole way. When he finally arrived at his home, Mr. Phan had already gone to sleep, but Derek failed to notice. He ran up the stairs, quickly opened his door, and went to sleep as fast as he could.
When Derek got off his shift the following night, he did so with a wide smile. He waved his goodbyes to Miss Jeremy, then turned around and inhaled with a smile.
"She said yes!" Derek muttered with glee. Then, he stepped forward. His boots, having pushed their luck for the past few months, finally stepped into the puddle just outside the door. Derek looked down in surprise as he felt the soles of his feet grow cold. Then, with a sigh, he carefully stepped aside and lifted his foot, "Of all things to happen. Oh well,"
Derek spent the next few minutes waving his boot in the air, hoping to make it dry by the time he would continue his walk home. The stray cat, Benny, had managed to find its way to Derek after a few minutes.
"Hey, little guy," Derek smiled. The cat meowed and began to move forward. However, before the cat could find its way to Derek's side, it suddenly hissed and ran back into the street. Derek looked at the cat run away, confused, before he turned his attention to the alleyway.
"Does he work?" A voice asked. Derek looked to the source and found a woman with jet-black hair watching him. She wore peculiar clothing, that of which Derek had never seen. She wore pants, which were unusual for women in his city, that were as red as a blood moon. Her jacket was shiny and black, like the street after a rainy day. As he looked into her eyes, however, he gasped as he saw red irises staring back at him. There was a cruel smile on her face like she was only staring at food.
"He'll do," Another voice replied. Derek turned to the man by the woman's side and saw a man of similar build to his own. The man wore a strange black robe that covered only the top half of his body, as well as pants the color of the ocean. His hair was as black as the woman's and his eyes were the color of blood. His smile, however, was not there. Instead, he stared at Derek with an expression of indifference.
"Sorry, man. You just got unlucky," the woman said with a chuckle.