Just before the sky was covered completely by darkness, with not much in sight except for the waning crescent, the two young travelers managed to find a place to settle for the night. It was one of the back alleys, not particularly nice as it was crowded with other homeless folks and children, a commonplace as a result of the recent on-going war. Initially, one of long-time residents in this alley, a boy slightly older than Talu, wanted to show the two newcomers the pecking order in this territory. However, he soon gave up the idea when he saw the way Talu glared at him – the younger boy’s eyes had the kind of aura that commanded absolute deference. He felt his hair standing on end, further making him conclude the younger boy was a harbinger of something that was beyond his comprehension.

Talu, on the other hand, had cold sweat running down his back, secretly relieved but still somewhat scared. In this dog-eat-dog world, he had learned from early on that he would have to act bigger than himself if he wanted to survive another day. Luckily, he won this round, meaning that he and Yun’er could stay here safely for as long as they needed to until they decided to leave for their next destination. He snapped out of the moment when he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve.

“Talu gege…” the young girl looked at him, worried.

He broke into a reassuring smile and patted her head.

Outside of the optics of the children, a shadowy figure let out a cackle at the staring off scene from earlier.

Over the next few days, Talu visited almost every store, trying to find one that would hire him, even if it was for odd jobs here and there. Ever since Yun’er started travelling with him, he knew his old ways would not be enough to sustain the both of them in the long run. Especially now, it seemed the young girl was getting thinner. Even her face did not seem as pinchable as before.

“Do you want to rest?” Talu asked, concerned that Yun’er was pushing herself to keep up with his pace.

“No!” she responded back stubbornly, even though the way her brows furrowed already gave away that she was indeed pushing herself. She then nodded at him, “I can keep going!”

“Hmm…I think it’s time for your nap,” he suggested. Then, he deliberately stretched his arms and yawned.

As if it was contagious, she also yawned. When she realized what was going on, she pouted. However, she relented at last and sat on the side of the road next to him. She reckoned that it was probably a good idea to rest a bit so that she won’t feel hungry so soon.

Suddenly, an old man with a wide grin of broken teeth plastered on his face jumped out in front of them, giving the two a jolt. He was giggling with eyes shone so insanely bright, as if he had just struck gold.

With a scream, Yun’er shut her eyes and hugged Talu tightly. Meanwhile, the latter held firmly onto the handle of the small dragger tucked stealthily behind him.

Realizing what the boy had in mind, the strange old man’s expression brightened up even more, as if anticipating eagerly at what he was going to do next.

Uncertain what the man was planning to do, Talu did not want to make any hasty action that could potentially trigger something regrettable.

The old man abruptly pulled back with impatience lined his face after what he thought was a long time. It baffled him that the boy did try to stab him. Was he mistaken in his judgement about this boy last night?

As if Yun’er could sense Talu’s confusion, she peered meekly over her shoulder. Feeling a light pinch on her inner arm, she turned to Talu and found him signaling her with his eyes. Understanding what he wanted to do, she nodded carefully to not alert the strange man in front of them.

Both of them got up as quietly and calmly as they could while the strange old man appeared to be debating with himself intensely, walking back and forth and making hand gestures in an exaggerated manner. Then, on a count of three, they made a run for it.

“Hey!” the old man shouted, after breaking away from his internal battle. “Where are you running off to?!”

“Hurry!” Talu grabbed Yun’er’s hand, practically dragging her along to keep up with his speed.

“Aaaahhhh!” Yun’er screamed as she ran when she heard the old man yelling after them and the voice seemingly closing in.

Thud!

The two fell back on the ground and completely shocked to see the crazy old man was standing in front of them.

The old man puffed a hot breath of air and put his hands in fists on his waist, clearly irritated. “Why did you run away?” he demanded to know. Then, hitting the back of one hand into the other, he vented, ambiguous if it was to himself or them, “you think I would just let rare treasure run away like that? You must think I’m easy to bully!”

The two children exchanged looks, completely confused at where this old man was going.

The old man crouched down and grinned, unaware that he did not have prettiest nor the most comforting smile in the world. “You have a rare fire essence in you, boy. It would be a shame not to make use of it.” Then, before the boy could even protest, he held the boy’s jaw open and popped in a red pill into his mouth. He pushed an air of pressure with the palm on his hand onto the boy’s throat, forcing the latter to swallow down the pill.

Alarmed, Yun’er completely forgot her fears and anger took over instead. She started punching and kicking the old man. “What did you to Talu, you crazy old man?!”

Originally thought that he was done for the day, the excitement in the old man’s eyes renewed once again when he observed the little girl carefully for the first time. “Oh my,” he said, “I almost pass another rare treasure…this one with a water essence. How strange.” Then, he grimaced when he remembered, “but I don’t have anything suitable for you today. Maybe next time!”

With that, he gave an unnerving chuckle and distanced himself quickly from the two youngsters with an unparallel light-speed martial arts that they have ever seen so far in their lifetime. Soon, the chuckle became a faraway echo.

“Ah!” a sharp pain pierced through Talu’s heart suddenly.

“Talu gege!” she cried, and ran back to his side.

His lips were now paled and he was sweating profusely. Frantic and unsure what to do, she broke out in tears. She begged anyone passing by to help, but many just pushed her away. For the first time in her life, she wished that she was older and stronger. She hated the way she was right now, unable to protect the one person who had been protecting her all this time.

“Y-yun’er…” he mustered weakly. He tried to reach his hand to her, telling her not to cry, just before the world before him darkened.