---
Rain poured on his black fur, on the first days of his freedom from his noble life he wasn't eating at all. The people were having a good time.
But hunger. Hunger came.
It destroyed his small body. He barely had any strength left.
A young black cat scurried around the streets, he had stolen an orange because he was getting hungrier and hungrier. He was in Corpse Lake, a popular place among the unlawful, the three rivers lead into this lake and all the waste with it. Over time this place became a hazard.
There he might be someone or so he thought at first.
He remembered hitting something bulky with his soft head. He cried while holding his head after as the stranger stood there perplexed. "Ow...!" That stranger would later help him survive and thrive as a thief.
The stranger saw his weakened state and He gave him an apple with a smile.
...
In the present day, approximately hours ago from Dragon's Tail. Two strange creatures walked all day.
The grey clouds and the salty air with smellable toxins weren't enjoyable.
"Urgh... The smell is terrible." Said the red-pinkish dragon, her nose felt itchy from the air.
He was back in Corpse Lake with his new acquaintance Agnar this time, it was... a long ago that he was in this place. The foul air made both wear a scarf over their snouts. It usually stank after death and rats, some parts were even toxic to your lungs.
It happens when all of the waste ends up in the rivers...
No one cleans it, Katten wouldn't clean it. Agnar would fall over dead if she even came near the source.
"About this job... What are we doing in Corpse Lake?" asked Agnar with raised eyebrows. The black cat shrugged with a small smile.
Then he could only giggle at this question. "The only way a loser gets a job is to ask the biggest losers in town." Agnar was even more bewildered at his comment about losers. He did not mean them, right?
Katten giggled at Agnar while the toxic air made him almost wanna throw up.
"I don't get it, how do people survive this?" Katten's expression darkened at this question, how much did they temper with this girl? Had she never seen the outside?
"They survive because they have to feed their family." The black thief gritted his teeth.
"How did you survive then? I mean-" For a moment, Katten remembered.
"Stop- Lay it down, will you?" He had a family still but they think he was probably dead.
"Bad topic? Okay, You don't have to tell me." Agnar shrunk at her companion's reaction.
Katten thought at this moment that this dragon was perfect for cleaning the lake, her brain wouldn't register the waste. "We are near, finally. I hope the old man remembers me."
They stood before a shack.
A big... grey tin shack?
Katten knocked on the door. "Old man, old man."
A scream was heard and Agnar hid behind the cat. Loud, clear footsteps and an opened door with a smiling stranger inside the shack. "Katten... Is that you? It must have been years."
"Three." It was a pig. A pig. Agnar blinked and unhid herself.
"...You're not here for the old times, huh." The old pig, himself pondered on the dragon. "Is she the reason why the visit?"
Katten wanted to say that Agnar should clean the lake but that would be mean, wouldn't it be?
"Eh. It's gonna be a mouthful. We need a job and potentially a permanent hiding place." Katten commented with a fading smile.
"You didn't kill any royals, did you Katten?" At that, the cat almost jumped. He had enough of royal guards.
"Haha, me? Never. I am a small scared cat. Maybe in another life. It's more like...-" He playfully adjusted himself back on his feet.
"Her family is on their list." Agnar's head hung low.
"Katten, I never realized you changed so much." The pink pig man said with a soft smile.
"What do you mean by that?" oddly Katten felt taken aback by this.
"You aren't the same baby boy cat as back then, you've grown into a man." Agnar looked at Katten with a raised eyebrow. How was that pig gonna help them?
"-I never was. Forget it. Can you help us?"
"Come in first, let's-... Come in. I have green tea leaves ready." The pig said and the two companions gave each other a small and entered the tin shack.