In a lively marketplace, a small, blonde girl squeezed in between bartering customers and chatting families.
"Ugh, just where the frick is this chicken vendor at?! The other kids said it was the best in the village.." She groaned.
Eventually, after another hour of searching, she gave up.
"Darn it, stupid vendor. The chicken probably tastes like crap anyways." She pouted, kicking a pebble as she walked leisurely through the street.
There was grass growing freely on the sides, with the path being laid with smooth stone. It was only around 12 o'clock, so there was a large quantity of people wandering the streets.
She turned the corner and was met with a particularly eerie looking alleyway. It looked abnormally dark and cramped, the looming shadows casting a gloomy feeling in the atmosphere.
It was near noon, yet the alleyway seemed to ooze darkness, like the night.
She stood there for a moment and blinked blankly, feeling.. oddly drawn towards it. She felt as though she HAD to go through it, like it was destiny.
'Momma always said not to go near shady places..' The girl thought rationally, torn between logic and desire.
Unfortunately, her seven year old mind was too weak, and she could no longer hold back the desire of exploring this dubious place.
Slowly, she carefully walked through the alleyway, eyes darting around and observing the discarded boxes and trash heaps laying around.
Suddenly, she tripped on something, being sent sprawling to the floor.
"Owch! What the hell.." The girl rubbed her backside, sitting up with a wince.
There, she saw him.
Wrapped in a ragged cloth, was a baby boy. He seemed to have been startled awake, looking at the girl with his wide, cobalt eyes and his mouth agape.
He seemed to be struggling for a moment, before eventually..
"Waaaahhh!"
"Shh! Stop crying, stop crying!"
The girl picked the baby up, her heart aching as she held him in her hands.
'Which monster left such a cute baby in the middle of nowhere?!' She fumed internally, her heart melting.
She hurriedly left the alleyway, reaching the middle of the village within minutes.
There was a large house erected there, at least three-times bigger than the others. It had a large oak door, and the walls were made out of brick, like the other houses.
Two men left the house, one short and bald, with the other being average and bald too.
"Village Chief! A few merchants came to the village an hour ago, what should we tell them?" The shorter man asked, itching his beard.
"Invite them to my house, I'll see if they have any wares the village needs to buy in bulk."
The blonde child stalked up to the two men, thrusting the baby in her arms towards the taller man.
"Dad, I found a baby! Can we keep him? Please?"
She mustered up her best puppy-eyes.
"..."
The two men looked wordlessly at each other, the village leader sighing.
"He's not a pet, Sarah. We have to find his parents." He said tiredly.
"He doesn't have any! Those.. those.. Can I say a bad word?"
The two men looked at each other again.
"..Sure."
"Those sons of bitches left him in some random alleyway! He'd be better off with us."
Once again, the two men looked at each other, the shorter man raising an eyebrow.
"I never taught her that!" The village head whispered hastily.
He turned back to his daughter, his face softening as he took the baby from her arms.
Immediately, the baby stopped wailing, relaxing in the village leader's arms.
"...I have always wanted a son."
A smile played on his lips.
He held the baby up to eye level, his dark orbs staring into blue.
"From now on, you are my son."
The baby seemed to nod.
"Your name shall be.."
"LANCELOT!"
A blonde woman stomped into Lancelot's room, slamming open his door.
"WHAT?!"
The baby, now 15, with cobalt eyes answered tiredly, running a hand through his similarly coloured hair as he sat up in his bed, half-covered by his blankets.
"WHERE DID YOU PUT MY NECKLACE?!"
The blonde woman shouted, taking a step closer to Lancelot with an angry expression.
"HOW WOULD I KNOW? ALSO, WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?!"
Lancelot replied with a frown, sliding out of his bed.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
She said frustratedly, tears pricking in the corner of her eyes.
"The necklace.. It was the last thing Dad gave to us before.. before.." She bit her lip, the water in her eyes threatening to spill.
Unconsciously, Lancelot gripped the necklace around his neck.
It was made out of an expensive-looking silk, attached to it was a crescent moon, carved out of an ancient-looking metal.
He wordlessly walked up to the woman, hugging her tightly as she buried her head into the crook of his neck.
"I'll find it for you, Sarah." Lancelot said softly, rubbing circles into her back.
She simply sniffled, nodding as she pulled back, a tinge of redness in her green eyes.
"You're the younger one, and yet.. the one who always needs help is me..."
She said, a hint of sadness in her hoarse voice.
"I'm the older sibling, I'm the village chief now! I'm supposed to protect you, provide for you! You're all I have left.."
Lancelot pressed a finger to her lips, smiling softly.
"Siblings are supposed to look out for each other, right? You don't have to do everything by yourself. It's okay if you feel weak, and want someone to talk to."
Lancelot reluctantly let her go, walking off.
"After I wash up, I'll find the necklace for you."
Now, alone in Lancelot's bedroom, Sarah nodded.
"..Thanks." She whispered to herself.
Now, in the bathroom and out of earshot, Lancelot whispered to himself.
"Ddraig Wen, can you find out where it is?"
"Of course." The voice in his head that sounded just like his snorted. "But it'll cost you a favour."
Lancelot groaned internally, clasping a hand over his cut and angular face.
The water in the bathtub rippled with each move, threatening to spill.
'I already owe him five..'
"Fine, where is it?" He scrubbed his arms and tone chest, whispering.
"It's that beggar that you saw yesterday at night, the one that you gave a copper coin to."
Lancelot sighed, nodding his head as drained the bathtub and dried off with a towel.
"Ddraig Wen, where is he right now?"
"Two streets down from the left, sleeping on the grass."
"S-Sir, have mercy, please! I just, just found it on the floor!"
The hazardously dressed beggar, quite aptly, begged as Lancelot threw him into a secluded alley.
"You think I'm that stupid?" Lancelot sneered, stepping onto the skinny, twig-like beggar's head.
"You think you can steal from my family? Steal from your own village chief?!"
He applied more pressure onto the beggar's head, a cracking sound being barely audible as drool and mucus seeped from the poor man's mouth and nose.
"I wouldn't dare! The village chief, she's your sister, right? I would never, ever do anything like that! Please, believe me sir..!" The man desperately pleaded, tears falling from his bloodshot eyes.
With a sickening crunch, the man's head was caved in, his skull being mostly crushed.
Slowly, Lancelot began to chuckle.
"Ah, I needed that." He grinned, fishing out a matching necklace from the beggar's corpse, grinding his foot into the corpse's brain, turning the mushy gray matter into sludge.
"Fucking trash."