The sun had recently risen in a walled city with streets made of white stones, where an unusual traffic of people walking through the city could be noticed.
Many walked in flashy attire with various colors, while some carried scepters and others wands; the most conspicuous ones wore heavy armor of different colors.
Some wielded swords, others axes or spears as they walked in groups heading in one direction.
This scene went unnoticed by a small group of cats, focused on an alley where there was a large dumpster at its end. Beside the object stood a girl, watching anxiously as two stacked boxes were pushed into the dumpster while someone on top seemed to be rummaging through it.
It was Beatrice, her hair now longer and slightly disheveled, covering a new outfit with some patches that seemed to belong to the old one.
Her eyes darted quickly between the dumpster and a nearby wooden door, all the commotion making her nervously scratch her neck until a tickle in her throat made her cough.
The cough was dry and low, almost inaudible, but as soon as it ceased, a voice came from the dumpster.
"I told you it wasn't a good idea to come." The voice belonged to a boy with messy brown hair that almost reached his shoulders, his face almost completely buried in the garbage, yet he continued. "You look much better, sis, but if you keep pushing, you'll get worse again."
It was Sief speaking, still with his head practically buried in the dumpster, and upon hearing him, Beatrice furrowed her brow.
"Start by taking your face out of the trash to talk about health..." The girl turned her gaze back to the end of the alley and said. "Besides, with all these adventurers around, wouldn't it be better for us to leave?"
"Adventurers won't cause us trouble, Bea..." He smiled calmly and said. "Just that fat, bald baker who picks fights with us."
He gathered some pieces of bread bitten into a small cloth, nothing more than rags from his clothes, serving as an improvised backpack to carry what he could find there, but soon the sound of a door opening came, causing both of them to look up.
When they turned their eyes to the door, a man in white kitchen clothes, fitting Sief's description, stood staring at them, until his confused expression quickly turned to anger and then he shouted.
"You again?!"
Beatrice stepped back with a furrowed brow, and the man advanced, but at that moment Sief jumped back and kicked the crates, hitting the cook who, even protecting himself, was forced to retreat.
Sief dashed and Beatrice turned to leave, followed by Sief, who looked back to see the baker recomposing himself and shouting.
"COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE THIEVES!"
Sief laughed as he looked back, but Beatrice felt a pain in her head and groaned, feeling her surroundings darken and the ground come closer, but before she fell, Sief lunged forward and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and continuing to run as they saw the exit of the alley was near.
"Hey, are you alright?" Sief asked, focusing his eyes on Beatrice.
"Yeah... it just got dark again..." She continued to run with difficulty, practically being carried by Sief.
"Great, I need you to run a little more and don't stop, okay?" When she heard that, Beatrice looked confused at Sief, who maintained a light expression and a smile; there weren't many options, so she nodded.
The two quickly turned to leave the alley, startling the cats, who fled in a hurry. Beatrice was propelled forward and looked back to see Sief crouching almost in a fetal position.
In moments, the man emerged from the alley, seeing only Beatrice and returning to chase her, but as he advanced, he stumbled over Sief, who pushed and stood up, making the baker hit his face on the ground.
Sief lifted his head and saw the baker still on the ground, looking dazed from the fall. With a sharp smile and a low laugh, Sief advanced, stepping on the cook's back and using his head to jump, then resuming running towards Beatrice, who furrowed her brow at the sight, but continued running.
With hurried steps, Sief reached his sister's side, still with a slight smile on his face, and Beatrice continued to stare as they heard the baker's curses growing fainter, but making Sief laugh more calmly while Beatrice lowered her eyebrows.
"Did you have to step on him at the end?" She turned her face forward.
"I needed him to stay down, otherwise, we would have problems." His laughter ceased and turned into just a smile.
"Maybe you should smile less then..." Beatrice continued with her eyebrows lowered, but they both kept going.
Some time passed, and away from the street where the adventurers were passing, the two entered an alley between the houses, which led to an empty lot protected from the sun by the city wall, leaving the environment dark and hidden to those far away.
In that lot, something stood out: a small, crooked wooden shack with a handmade door. As they approached, they pulled the door and entered, revealing the interior illuminated by the glow passing through the door and cracks.
It was a small room with two woolen blankets over a pile of rags serving as two individual beds positioned on the floor. On one of them, Beatrice sat down, sighing as she rubbed her eyes and coughed slightly, seeming tired from the run.
Sief sat on the floor in front of her, opening the small bag under his chest, seeing three pieces of bitten bread and a portion of slightly aged fruits, which made him thoughtful.
'He's leaving the dumpster at the back of the alley now, he won't even use this crap, disgusting old man...'
But Sief's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Beatrice coughing a bit louder while covering her mouth, prompting Sief to go to her, putting his hand on her back as he said.
"Damn, I told you it was a bad idea." He furrowed his brow slightly while massaging Beatrice's back.
"Yeah, but I won't let you do everything forever." She wiped her hand on her clothes, taking a long sigh as she tried to relax with the massage. "I won't be a burden forever."
"It's not about being a burden, stubborn." Sief tousled Beatrice's hair and got up, going to the front of the girl and then taking the bag from his chest. "I just want you to be okay, it's easy to get food here even without hunting. There's no need to push hard in a place like this."
He placed a piece of cloth on the floor and placed two pieces of bread and all the fruits he had found on it, biting into the remaining piece and then standing up, turning his back to Beatrice, who again furrowed her brow at seeing her brother going to a board on the floor that, when lifted, revealed a cardboard box.
"Do you want to go hunting with the energy of a bread?" Bea said as she got up, folding the cloth and going to Sief, watching him take out of that box a sword broken in half. "Are you really not going to, we always agreed to share everything."
"I better use hunger as motivation, I'm dying to eat meat tonight." He spoke with his mouth full as he chewed and removed the sword from the chest. "Besides, I heard somewhere that fruit is better than bread. Some wise guy said that..."
"But if you get sick, you might get hurt... even if they're weak monsters... still..." Beatrice lowered her head and said. "You say I'm not a burden, but then you do this..."
Hearing that made Sief stop what he was doing and look at Beatrice, seeing his sister with her head down and concern evident on her face, causing the boy to sigh, getting up and grabbing another piece of bread.
"You're annoying, you know." With the final word, he swallowed the bread in his mouth and stored the other piece, turning around and walking towards the door. "I'm leaving now, go eat and rest."
"I think..." Beatrice turned her body to Sief and clasped her hands. "I should go with you, even if it's just to carry things..."
"I couldn't disagree more, sis." Sief spoke with a smile as he opened the door, watching the movement of the adventurers through the alley entrance. "I have to run quite a bit until I find a monster around here; we can talk better when you're feeling better."
"But I need to learn too!" She insisted, clenching her fists and stepping in front of Sief, stopping outside with an excited smile and the slightly obscured blue glow from her messy hair. "You started hunting at 14, I can too-"
"I don't negotiate on that, Bea." Sief concluded with a humorous smile and passed by his sister still smiling slightly, saying. "Don't rush, things will get better gradually, when you're feeling better, we'll be able to work together, then I'll think about taking you hunting, okay? Wow... time flies, suddenly you're 14..."
Beatrice was left behind as Sief walked away with a light smile on his face, slowly the girl lowered her fists and head, while following, Sief heard her.
"You're not my dad..." Beatrice remained with her head down, staring at her own hands, with her pale skin almost translucent enough to see her veins well defined, she clenched her fists slightly and furrowed her eyebrows in frustration, but soon heard.
"But I'm the older brother, so obey." The tone was sharp and made Beatrice frown as she turned, but as she did, she saw Sief in front of her with a slight smile, again bringing his hand to Beatrice's hair, gently forcing her head down. "Besides, you won't gain anything by hurting me."
"I..." Beatrice remained with her head down and closed her eyes, saying. "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, just don't say that again." Sief continued to smile and then turned again, returning to follow towards the alley. "Wait for me, I'll be back soon. And don't follow me!"
Sief distanced himself and Beatrice watched as he was left behind, in the distance she saw him saying goodbye with a wave, which was returned by a low wave from Beatrice, who slowly turned around and returned to the shack.
She walked to her bed and sat down, bringing her hands to the rags which were moved so that a book with a cover full of tears could come out, but she still blew on the cover to remove the dust.
Beatrice furrowed her brow as she saw that book and this time she sat on Sief's bed still looking upset, but still she sighed and returned her eyes to the book, skipping some destroyed pages and reaching the first legible page, where she spoke amidst the silence.
"In the beginning... there was nothing and darkness hovered over the void... and hidden in the void..." Beatrice took a deep breath and sighed afterwards. "There were monsters..."