The streets were never suppose to be easy, but it shouldn’t have had to raise two young boys. An 11 year old purple eyed boy named  Zacurbal. The older of two brothers he took it upon himself to raise his 3 year old brother alone. The younger boy, Ruvyn, had more brilliant eyes than his brother. The boys moved with their parents from a trading town formerly known as Boucon, Preasia. The war tore their city apart. It left many without a home, a job, and a family. They were not the cause of this. They weren’t trying to get out of a dictatorship. They were a nation in between two warring countries, and where better to fight their battle than a country that wasn’t either of theirs. They wouldn’t be the ones picking up the pieces in the end, the Preasians would be.  Elias, the boy’s father, decided that he was going to pack up his family and move them to a place where his boys and wife could be safer from the war. Where the fire and death couldn’t touch them. They came into Whoylande with only the clothes on their backs and a purse full of whatever coin they could find.

Now their mother dead and their father a newly found alcoholic, Zacurbal knew that anywhere was better than the house his father was in. The streets welcomed the boys with not open arms, but rather with a punch to the stomach and a slap to the face. They truly fought to stay alive in the cold and dangerous streets. Gangs, wars, and starvation caused many deaths. However, the boys weren’t about to give up. That is Zacurbal wouldn’t let Ruvyn go. 

Their survival would through another hoop, as the Wholande military observed Zacurbal for a few days. After seeing how fit he was for their ranks they took him from his brother. Ruvyn, at age 5, left to wander the streets alone, begging in broken Whoylandean, barely survived the week. It wasn’t until a group of fellow Preasian boys had found him hiding in an alley that he was saved, or so he thought. The boys gave him his own portions of food and offered him the work that came with it. The gang pushed Ruvyn into crime and made him do things that haunted his dreams.

Today would be no different. The group had been making rounds, stalking certain peoples in interest to them. One had been a small, blonde, girl. Excellent at getting them goods that no one had been able to obtain in a while. Today she had scored, and scored big. Whatever had been wrapped in the cloth when a smaller member of their group had witnessed her hide it and run off.

“Boss!!!” The boy had come running back, shouting in Preasian. “The blonde had got something good!” He puffed out in small breaths when he got close enough to tell the rest of his ‘family’ as well.

“What are we waiting for boys? Lets get us something good” The oldest of the boys smurked. All the boys shared eye color, courtesy of their heritage, and they all sparked with delight at the thought of good food. All but one, Ruvyn. He didn’t like hunting down others. To take what others had earned, it seemed wrong to the small boy. Now at age 12, Ruvyn had spoke out many times against the other boys actions. No one listened, they had all learned to tune him out, and if he wanted any at the end of the day he would help. 

The group hit the streets and fanned out to attempt to find where the girl had gone. Looking down every alley, and when one of them found her he went rushing back and called the rest of the boys back with him. It took a bit of explaining, planning, and listening to Ruvyn talk about morals before the boys decided on a course of action. The older, a blonde, tanned boy, stepped up into the entrance of the alleyway and was calling out the girl.

“[color=#0B614B]No![/color]” Ruvyn shouted, which had come out of him a lot more aggressively than he had intended. IT didn’t matter now, he had said it, and now he found himself acting even more foolish. His body blocked the cave, facing the older boy with narrowing eyes. Ruvyn was trying to act braver than he thought he was on the inside. “[color=#0B614B]This isn’t right. She is just like us! On the streets and starving and getting food anyway she can. We can’t just take it from her![/color]” He said, in Preaisan, now extending his arms out as well, fully committing to his actions. His actions weren’t in vain, the boss would stop, he would leave the girl alone. 

“Now that all your noise has scared her away, I should get my frustration out on someone who is like a human punching bag.” The older boy replied, turning his head back towards the rest of the gang. They returned his thoughts with wide grins and all the gang turned their grins, and their gaze to little Ruvyn who had let their supper get away. The oldest grabbed him by the throat and threw him to the ground. Another two were kicking him from either side. The small boy heard a few of his ribs crack under the force of the other boys kicked. The older boy sent a bare-footed kick to Ruvyn’s face, and although he did attempt to dodge the blow, the boy’s foot still made contact with his nose.

 Another crack was heard in his head as his nose broke. Ruvyn was at their mercy, and when they had all finally stopped, he thought he was going to die. Of course it looked and felt a lot worse than what it was. The boys has only bruised a few ribs, broke his nose, and he had some bruises and scrapes all over him between the road burn and jagged toenails that had struck him. Ruvyn rolled into his back, made a grunt of pain and stared at the sky, a cloud was rolling by slowly over the rooftops.