Currently on hiatus; exam weeks! Updates will take longer 'cause I'm trying to finish all chappies before posting them. Just bear with me and there will be no waits. And I'm revising all previous chapters for more length. Read on !:)

An ear piercing scream of a woman, the thud and squash of falling vegetables, the fierce shining of midday sunlight, and moving cobbles was all that Hansel Arvon could take in as he was dashing through the streets of the Solvaren slums. People were beginning to pound after him. One he thought, was the son of the woman he nicked the gold from, but the others were from the militia. The guards were raising their voices and swords high in the air so that others could join them. Hansel couldn't see how many were following though.

He jumped a crate to a balcony just above and pulled himself up. He quickly looked around to see if there was anyone there, sure enough the guards were pummeling through the streets right towards him. Worse, there were 6 of then. He breathed in for a few moments and jumped off the balcony to a nearby crate of hay and ran along the alley.

'The river must be near',. The sound of flowing water was very audible and it was getting more audible as he was getting closer to the end of the alley. Now he had a choice, to swim in the river, the less risky one but the money might be swept away by the current, or to continue on to Garnz Square, the more risky one since it was farther away but at least he could blend with the crowds there.

Hansel didn't want to lose the money, and he'd still want fresh clothes for the day , so when he got to the end of the alley he turned hard to the right. He dashed through the riverside's many ropes, crates, barrels, and the occasional fist of an angry fisherman. The blessing of the guards having armor on them was enough to make Hansel slow his pace a little, because of this he noticed a lanky youth with unkempt black hair was running with the wind.

The youth outran Hansel leaving him widemouth with shock, even the guards chasing him paused.

"Hey isn't he the one we're looking for?" one guard pointed at Hansel.

"Yeah", replied another

"Then why?- ", the other guard, cut him off with "Get him!"

Hansel was the first to react and ducked to a nearby alleyway. 'Well that screws up the plan'

He scanned the alleway and grinned. 'Maybe not'. There were barrels stacked on one side and a wall directly besde it with a reachable top. After that a strong jump to the roof would be an easy escape.

'All right then.' He runs, 'I have to get the gold to mother now', then jumps onto the first barrel. 'If I don't get there in time Millie might die this week'. The second and the third were easy steps. The leap to the top of the wall was a piece of cake.

'To see Millie laughing and smiling again, that'd make my day' The jump to the roof was nothing when that thought was with him. 'To play with her again, to eat with her again, to be her brother again'.

He rested on the roof for a while and stayed there for a moment. Then he stood up, 'to be her brother again, now that's a good thought'

He started to run, but a blinding pain hit his leg, draping his vision in red, he tried to look down but another one hit his stomach, then his side. "NO! Stop!", he screamed but the beatings only beame stronger and fiercer. "Amidst his whimpering and the darkness enveloping his vision, all he could think about was 'to be her brother again'.