Luke's eyes slowly opened as the sound of rummaging reached him. Groggy and disoriented, he tried to piece together his surroundings when a scarred young boy—no older than himself—abruptly barked, “Where is it?” His voice trembled with panic.
Before Luke could comprehend what was happening, the boy lunged at him. Instinctively, Luke tensed for impact when a burly man intervened, seizing the boy by the neck. “Lair, for the love of everything—what did I tell you? It wasn’t that body you swiped; you were practically embracing it st night while groveling! It fell somewhere, so look around and find it.” With that, the man roughly tossed the boy back onto a creaking bed, the sharp sp of his nding punctuating the chaos.
Luke exhaled a silent relief—at least he wouldn’t have to fight right now. He slowly rose from the bed, still trying to steady his racing heart. “Oi, lil kid, what's your name?” the man demanded, his tone gruff yet carrying an unexpected note of care.
For a long moment, Luke hesitated, gathering his scattered thoughts before replying in a soft, uncertain tone, “Lance.”
The man nodded, extending a calloused arm in a gesture of both introduction and command. “Lance, I’m Egor—the leader around here. Sis sent word that you needed to be taken in. But listen up: if you want a roof over your head and a decent meal, you’ve got to earn your keep. Be helpful, or you’ll be back on the streets before you know it. Got it?”
Luke managed a slow nod. Even in his confusion and loss, he recognized that safety now came with strings attached.
Egor guided him toward the exit of the dim, dipidated building. As they stepped into a more open area, Luke’s gaze fell upon a ragtag group of older kids—each barely reaching the shoulders of the adult figures they trailed. One of them, lean and alert with a confident smirk, called out, “WAYNE!” Almost immediately, another child dashed over to Egor. “Yes, Boss?” he asked, his tone respectful yet brisk.
Egor jerked his thumb toward Luke. “This one’s new. Make sure he learns the ropes.”
Wayne eyed Luke critically. “What’s your skill, kid?” he asked, folding his arms as if measuring Luke’s worth by his silence.
“Not much,” Luke admitted quietly, his voice betraying both uncertainty and a lingering pride from his lost noble upbringing.
Wayne scoffed. “Great. Another useless brat.” He turned to Egor. “You sure about this one, boss?”
Egor smirked dismissively. “Not my problem. Sis wants him here, so he’s here. Your problem now.”
With a resigned groan, Wayne gestured for Luke to follow. “Come on, Lance. You want to eat? Then you work.”
As they moved deeper into the hideout—a ramshackle refuge in a ruined building with cracked walls and a ceiling riddled with holes that let in thin shafts of light—Luke absorbed every detail of this new, uninviting world. Kids scurried about; some sorted through pilfered goods, others sharpened knives on worn stones, and a few huddled over makeshift repair jobs on their tattered clothes.
Passing a corner, Luke’s eyes nded on Lair once more. The boy, still muttering bitter curses, rifled desperately through a jumble of belongings. “Lair’s got a bad temper, but he’s alright,” Wayne muttered as they walked past, “just don’t mess with his stuff. That heirloom he’s chasing? It’s all he’s got left of his old man.”
Luke nodded silently, the weight of that statement settling in his chest. This pce wasn’t a home; it was a constant fight for survival.
Their path eventually led them to a rough-hewn table where a burly teenager named Aiden counted a meager stash of coins. “Aiden, we got a new one. Boss says he needs to earn his keep,” Wayne announced with a dismissive wave.
Aiden gnced up, unimpressed. “He looks weak,” he commented, his tone ced with skepticism.
Wayne grinned, eyes glinting with a challenge. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough. So, Lance, you wanna prove you're not just dead weight?”
Clenching his fists, Luke recalled every loss—the family, the home, the honor—and steeled himself. “What do I have to do?” he asked, determination flickering behind his uncertainty.
Wayne’s grin widened into something almost approving. “Good answer,” he said. In that moment, amid the ragged remnants of a shattered world, Luke realized that survival here meant fighting for every scrap of dignity—and that, despite everything, he was ready to try.
