Quinn had no idea how things could have gone from bad to worse.
Sure the Duchess was assassinated, that's just part of the hazards of being a nobb, but somehow Quinn's fence was killed? Of course now the City guards were going to be after them, and possibly worse. There was some weird feeling following Quinn, as if they were being watched.
They had dealt with the guards before, when you are living on the street you don't have much choice. Quinn had always been able to duck any long term interactions though.
Murder though? Oh hell no! If the city wasn't locked down, instead of hiding under some crates in the sewers, Quinn would be on the next caravan to. . .
Quinn stopped.
Why didn't Quinn know of any other places? How long had they been in Kardoc?
They started counting the summers on their hands and gave up. It was a lot and that was enough for Quinn. Much like what they were, where they came from was a mystery to Quinn, but they couldn't have been from around here, could they have been?
Quinn's head started hurting, like an old toothache in their skull. Something didn't want Quinn to remember. That something was an asshole. Quinn thought. This wasn't over!
Quinn then promptly forgot about the entire matter, there was more important things to worry about, like the lockdowns. Right. . . The lockdowns.
Quinn frowned, thinking so hard that anyone could see the gears turning in their head, metaphorically speaking. Quinn didn't know if they actually had gears in their head, but they sure hoped not.
It just all seemed hard to focus.
Maybe that was the sewers? There wasn't any light down here, the other Urchins said it smelled, but Quinn didn't mind. It just made it hard to track time.
Oh, and it was a pain getting everything back when the occasional rainstorm washed through.
That ominous feeling was back, damn it! Quinn would need to find a new hiding spot, again.
At least Quinn didn't have to sleep, they had no idea why so many people wasted so much of their lives doing that.
It was actually kinda scary. They'd be up and about during the day, and then they'd go to a bed and just be. . . Not there but there? Like they were turned off. It was almost as scary as the thought of death, probably because they looked like corpses when they did it.
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Quinn shuddered, you'd never catch Quinn sleeping!
Dreams though, those sounded nice sometimes. They heard some of the other urchins talking about dreams.
The feeling was getting stronger.
The rats had stopped squeaking.
Nope, Quinn was leaving now, no more waiting.
They peaked out between the crates, it seemed like the coast was clear.
They reached to the edge of a crate to pull themselves out, no, that feeling was screaming now.
Quinn booked it.
They felt something scrape at the cloak on their back.
Damn that was close!
Maybe the sewers weren't safe anymore.
Quinn could hear soft footsteps behind them.
A quick look behind held only darkness within a deeper darkness.
That was terrifying. Quinn never had problems seeing in the dark before.
Up ahead! There was an old manhole past some turns!
The light was just pinpricks in the distance.
Just a little farther!
The sound of footsteps faded behind Quinn.
Maybe they'd lost whatever that was?
They scrambled out of the steps formed from the brickwork and heaved the manhole open.
Something grabbed their foot.
No, no, no, no, no!
Quinn kicked, they were being pulled back in.
“Help!” They screamed. They sounded like a girl this time.
Someone grabbed their arms and pulled them out.
Were they safe?
Quinn didn't want to look up. They backed away from the open manhole. The darkness within seemed to be stewing.
“Are you ok? I'm Amelia, what's your name?”
Quinn kept their head, and their hood down.
They had to play this smart.
“I'm. . . Emily, thank you! Something in there grabbed me!” Quinn said, no use giving a real name, even if Quinn had a real name.
Quinn looked at their savior's boots, they were armored and had an embossed insignia of an eye inside a flame. Well crap, out of the pan and into the fire.
“Don't worry, the Flame of Allumbra will make sure that whatever monsters is in there will be taken care of.” the knight, Amelia was it? Kneeled down and hugged Quinn. Not much time now. . . Somehow Quinn had to run.
Their gauntleted hand went towards Quinn's hood. No, there had to be a way. . .
Quinn dropped to the ground, slipping out of their cloak.
“What the hells?” The knight gasped in surprise. That didn't seem very churchy of them.
They didn't have any other options, and it was dirty anyway.
They got a short glimpse of a red haired knight holding their old cloak, a bad gash through the back of it, before getting out of the alley.
Ok, new cloak and new hideout.
Quinn would be moving to the Tailors Ward it seemed.
A man in black rags stopped them. The street was deserted.
“Come here child of mana and metal.” He called with a soft voice.
Nope! Quinn had had enough of creepy today, but for some reason their legs wouldn't obey them as they slowly walked to the strange man.
“Don't worry, I have a role for you to play.” He said, throwing a black robe over Quinn.
“You old man, have you seen a metal girl run past here?” Quinn could hear the knight that rescued them ask. It was over.
“No, I'm sorry, I didn't see any girl.” The man said, pulling Quin into his rags, great, if Quinn was going to be captured, they'd rather be captured by the nice knight over this creep.
“Ok, have a good day then.” Quinn heard the footsteps fade away.
What had Quinn gotten roped into now?
“Don't worry, I have just a simple task for you, and in exchange, I promise answers.” The old man rambled.
“Answers?” Quinn asked, might as well buy in a little while looking for a way to escape.
“You don't remember me or where you came from do you? I am your father.”
What character do you think is the first character I wrote?
