MutedBadger-

Hello and welcome to my very first story I have ever written and I mean the first ever story.

Before this, I had zero writing experience and probably still do.

That being siad I hope that you enjoy this story anyway.

It started off like any other day, living on the streets, waking up in the run-down house that has been abandoned for years, a biting breeze drifting through the many cracks of the broken window carrying with it the sound of the hustle and bustle of the city.

Cracking my eyes open, I let them focus on the same four walls that I see almost every day. The same walls that have stripped green paint so that it reveals the bricks underneath.

Getting up, I feel each kink in my back crack releasing the strain of sleeping on the hard cold ground. Stumbling to my feet I begin to search the room for any spare food I may have leftover from yesterday's lunch.

Looking in the opposite corner from my bed, I find a half-filled can of beans that looks to be around a couple of days old, but I guess it will have to do.

While I begin to nibble at my meal, I set in motion planning my day.

First I need to head out and scout the city for new scavenging areas as the ones I usually use have started to attract unwanted attention from some unsavory people. I then need to head to the more touristy area in town and start to relieve some tourists of their money.

I know, I know stealing is not all that good, and every time I do it I feel terribly guilty, but a guy got to do what he needs to survive. It doesn't help that I'm naturally gifted at pickpocketing, being unusually tiny and malnourished for my age made me nimble and fast, making it easy for me to make a hasty retreat if anything goes wrong.

It seems like a pretty packed day, I think to myself while finishing the meager food that I had.

I decide that if I want to get all the things I needed to get done today completed, I should probably get going soon.

Grabbing my bag, I make my way to a window in the next room over, being careful to avoid any loose floorboards, not wanting to fall through them.

Reaching the window, I slowly start to climb out avoiding any glass shards that still cling onto the window frame. Outside of the window, I plant my feet down onto a beam that balances over to the building across from my one.

You see, the stairs in my house are destroyed, and while you might think that is inconvenient, it actually provides a great defense barrier to any unwanted guests.

Once across, I make my way through the other house and out of its back door.

Taking one look at the morning sky, I inhale a deep breath of cold air before I start to make my way into the city.

Once I arrive at the outskirts of the city, I notice that there are a lot more people than I usually see walking around.

Oh shit, I totally forgot about the event that is taking place in Royal Woods this weekend. From what I could gather by eavesdropping on people, there is some kind of rock show that is happening with some up and coming rock girl from the suburbs of Royal Woods being the headline of the event.

Well, It looks like there will more people for me to borrow some items from.

Getting back on track, I put my plan into action. In the more built-up part of town, there are these large restaurants that order so much food that they never use it all, leading them to throw most of their food out.

I didn't want to go scavenge there but my usual food spot has started to run out and people have also started to notice it, so desperate times call for desperate measures.

Another reason why I haven't been there before is the amount of danger that lurks around the place, the amount of food present attracts all kind of weird and dangerous people, so I would have to be on my guard.

That's why I'm bringing my bag with me, which had an assortment of weaponry inside that I 'collected' over the years to be used in case of an emergency. Other than that, I have a few tricks up my sleeves to make sure that I can come out on top in most fights.

The further I got into the city the more I realized just how far away the restaurants are, judging by how long it will take me to get there, I may have to skip pickpocketing today. This means that I'm going to have to stuff my backpack with enough food to last me the week, so I do not have to do this trip every day.

Making my way through the back alleys, I try to make myself blend into the shadows as much as possible, doing my best not to draw attention on to myself because the last thing you want to do is get yourself into unnecessary situations that could lead to injury or death.

Coming up on the next left should be the alley that exits out onto the street, that's when I come upon a situation that I was trying so hard to avoid myself.

Up ahead I could a gruff voice saying something.

Against my better judgment, I slowly make my way towards the alley where the voice was coming from and take peek around the corner. Past the edge of the building, I could see three guys surrounding what seems to be a young girl holding a bag tightly to her chest.

"Please, I have no money or anything to give you guys, this makes no 'cents', h-a ha, please let me go." The girl laughs nervously, seemingly trying to plead for her to be let go.

At this I start to turn around to find another way to my destination, you see to survive out here you need to follow a couple of rules and one of those rules is 'don't get involved in situations that don't concern you to avoid making enemies.'

"If you don't have money, maybe there is something else we could take." My body suddenly stops at those words and a war breaks out in my conscious. What kind of person would I be if let this happen, I would be no better than those three assholes. I can't believe it, I'm actually going to get involved.

With a sigh, I turn around.

I slowly make my way back and begin to take in my future opponents. The three of them seemed to be lowly thugs and I see no indicators that they are a part of any known gangs which was a blessing, maybe I could get out of this without jeopardizing my life in the process.

A plan starts to form in my head, putting up my hood to cover my face I begin to set that plan in motion.

Turning to a nearby trash can, I tip it over and slightly wince at the clanging noise that it makes as it echos down the alleyway.

The reaction was immediate, "what the hell was that?" The gruff voice questions.

"I don't know, Gary go check it out while we keep this one company." Perfect, reaching into my bag, I pull out my penknife while pressing myself against a wall behind one of the dumpsters to lie in wait.

As soon as "Gary" comes around the corner, I plant my feet against the dumpster and push it out. The dumpster moves a little slower than I wanted it to, but the effect was still the same.

If this Gary was a little more warier of his surroundings, then maybe he could have avoided being knocked over by the oversize trash can, but fortunately for me, he wasn't.

Seeing him go down, I jump into action.

Launching myself over the dumpster, I swiftly plant my back foot and swing with the other, making my foot connect with his head, causing a loud audible crack to emanate down the alley, knocking "Gary" out cold.

Admiring my handiwork, I fail to notice one of the other two thugs coming up behind me.

"looks like we got our selves a little hero." Shit, I guess he heard all the noise and decided to come to check on what was happening.

Turning to meet him I notice that he is holding a large knife, "Tell me kid, do you wanna die?" his gruff voice sending a chill down my spine.

Not giving him a response, I reach into my bag and wait for him to charge, knowing that he will.

A few seconds later, he charges quite recklessly just like I wanted him to do.

When he gets close enough, I whip out a can of bug spray and begin to spray it into his eyes. What followed was screams of pain and a wild swing that connected with my arm making me hiss in pain while I retreat slightly to avoid any more injuries.

I can't let this thug get his vision back, thinking fast I pick up some loose bricks and with a lot of effort, I fling it towards the thug's head.

It hits head on knocking him to the ground still moaning in pain, pulling rope out of my bag I quickly tie the two of them together and make my way towards the alley with the last thug.

Turning the corner, I'm greeted with the last thug holding the girl with a knife pressed against her neck. "Fucking useless the both of them." he mutters before turning to me "any closer and I cut her open."

Taking one look into his eyes, I could instantly tell he meant it, any movement I make will result in the girl dying. A plan comes to my head one that would be risky and would rely on a lot of chances, but it's the only one I got.

"Hey man, calm down just let her go and leave, we don't need to escalate this to anything more," I said trying to talk him down.

"Ha, fat chance, as soon as I let her go you'll just attack." He says bringing the girl closer to himself.

Shit, I'm going to need to do something and quick, but I need a distraction.

Looking at the girl I try to communicate to her that she needs to cause a distraction hoping she understands what I'm trying to do.

Nodding while glancing down at her bag, she quickly unclasps it, causing a dummy to fall out. The sudden motion causes the man to jump back and to push the girl forward harshly, making her trip forward.

Using this I push forward and swing my penknife at the leader thugs' leg just missing him.

As I get up, I prepare for a fight, but to my surprise, it seems that the leader thug decides that this wasn't worth his time, as he begins to turn heel and run.

The fight seems to be over.

I collapse to the ground finally feeling the strain of the whole fight flow through my body, but my work wasn't done yet.

Looking at the girl, she seems to be coming around looking up in a daze. Thinking quickly, I pick her up causing me to strain my muscles, lifting anything bigger than me is usually a hard task, and I begin to carry her towards the street.

As soon as I arrive on the street, I prop the girl up against a building and begin to think of a new plan of what to do with her.

Just as one was forming, my thoughts were interrupted by another girl's voice.

"Oi mate, what are you doing with my sister?" The raspy voice makes me jump and I turn to see another girl wearing a purple shirt with a skull design with matching boots and skirt.

Taking in the situation, I probably don't look good, having her sister knocked out up against a wall.

Thinking quickly, I start to run back down the alley I came from.

I stop as I see the dummy that fell out of the case that was nearby and without thinking I pick them both up and begin running again, making my way past the tied up thugs abandoned by their so-called boss.

As I get a couple of alleys away, I start to inspect the dummy, my first impression of it is that it looks creepy, it looks like it belongs in a horror movie. The cold dead eyes with the ginger hair really gave the doll a Chucky vibe. I could probably sell this for a couple of dollars to a pawn shop.

Feeling the cold, I look around and find that the sun is almost set, hues of colour lighting up the sky on its descent. I won't make it back to my hideout tonight, so I should probably set up a place to sleep.

Finding an alley beside a quiet side street that is illuminated by a lonely street lamp, I begin to set up shop using my backpack as a pillow. It was coming up in November, so the temperature has taken a plunge, trying to warm myself up I huddle into myself trying to ignore the outside world.

The case and the dummy were lying beside me, I probably have a closer look. I get up and open the case to have a look inside.

Inside I saw what seemed to be messages made out to the girl that I saved. I started to read through them, "Happy birthday to our favourite little comedian."- Dad and Mom, "Keep the jokes on coming little dude."- Luna, "Sigh, your comedy briefly fills the dark void in my heart."- Lucy, "Didn't we just celebrate this like a year ago?"-Leni, "Happy womb emigration day genetically similar older sibling. "- Lisa. The messages continue on, overall there seemed to be Ten messages in total.

It's obvious that the girl was well-loved by her family. It must be nice to know that many people actually care about you.

A weird sense of resolve sprung up inside of me. I have to return it to her, I can't sell this, the meaning and love put into it was too much just to be sold. If I'm going to return it to her I'm going to have to find her first which in a city as big as this, could be impossible.

Laying back, I decide to think of a way to get this back to her in the morning. With this, I suddenly realise how cold it is. It's going to be a long night, trying to fall asleep I think of about the girl I saved, the day didn't go as planned but at least someone didn't get hurt or worse, so that's something.

With that, I drifted off. The sounds of the city slowly drifting down the alley.

Well there you have it, the first chapter is done.

I am hoping to improve my writing so if you have any constructive criticism, please do tell me.

Catch you on the flip side - Muted