Chapter 5

In a small, dilapidated shed, a group of orphaned street kids were sitting in a circle with an assortment of coins in front of the oldest looking of the bunch. 

The older-looking boy sighed heavily, "With this much, some of us won't eat tonight," he looked around, "Hey Bao!"

A small 12 year old boy who was laying down away from the circle sat up, "What is it?"

"Could ya work your magic and get us a bit more money from the market today? We've got quite a few mouths to feed tonight."

Bao gave a sly smile and said, "No problem, I'm on it."

A wave of relief washed over the older boy, "Much appreciated."

As soon as Bao left, one of the kids in the room commented, "Wonder why he wanted to help today, he usually never wants to help and when he does, he leaves in a bad mood.".

The other boy stated, "Stop thinking about it, we are getting food that's all that really matters."

They all nodded in agreement. 

The market was alive with the chatter of merchants and villagers and the sight of people moving from stall to stall. With all the hustle and bustle, no one paid any mind to a lonely young boy moving through the crowd while carrying a small pouch that grew fuller as he walked right through the market. A wave of confused voices rang out as people began to notice some of their valuables were missing. As Bao was pocketing a small bit of coins, he looked up to see a slightly older and battered boy staggering towards the stalls. As he notices the bundle of coins in the other boy's possession, an idea formed in Bao's head to steal them.

 As the two passed each other, Bao quickly lunged towards the bruised boy, grabbing the coin pouch. The other boy was startled at the sudden movement, it made him stagger backward causing him to fall on his back, sending a sharp pain down his spine. With the coin pouch in Bao's hands, he turned to leave. The battered boy laying on his side, tears began to flow down his cheeks as he saw Bao begin to walk away. Jin watched as his last bit of hope was walking away from him in the form of a small thief, leaving him in a deep despair. "How will I get the herbs to heal my mother now?" Jin thought aloud, the young thief heard this and froze in his tracks. 

 In his mind, Bao remembered a scene from his past; the skies dark and gray, the body of a fragile woman lay in the cover of a cartbed with only a curtain to act as a door, and a little boy no older than 8 years old is next to the woman's body bawling to someone who can no longer respond to him despite his loud cries. Bao snapped out of his dream-like state and back to reality, unaware of when he started crying as he felt the warm tears drip onto his feet. He took a quick look at the coin pouch and reluctantly threw it near the bruised boy. Bao was about to say something to Jin, but was cut off by the shouts of the townguard, "THERE'S THE THIEF, SEIZE HIM!!!!" Without a moment's hesitation, Bao took off running to get away from the scene before he was caught.

 JIn was left in a state of shock as he looked at the pouch of coins that were returned to him by the thief with tears in his eyes. However, he didn't have time to dwell on that for too long since he still had to finish what he was there to do. JIn gathered the loose coins that had fallen out of the bag when it landed and he hurried to get the herbs. With the herbs in hand, JIn left the marketplace and headed back to the healer's hut, but he ran into a little detour along the way. From behind him, JIn heard a commotion and turned to see the small boy from earlier running his way with the shouts of guards trying to locate the thief. As Jin remembered the boy's face, he looked to a stack of crates and had an idea. He motioned to the boy to get his attention and said, "Quick, hide in here," the young boy didn't have time to ask why and he definitely didn't have much energy left to ignore the offer, so he instinctively hid in the small opening in the stack of crates. JIn placed a crate in front of the opening to conceal the boy from sight, leaving a small crack in between the boxes so the boy can peer out. Two guards came up to Jin and asked if he had seen the thief and he replied with, "Yes, he ran towards the west gate, it seems like he plans to make an escape out of the village." The guards quickly left and as they turned the corner to head to the gate, Jin moved the crate so the boy can get out and said, "There we go, that should keep them busy for a while." The young boy was left speechless until he finally managed to get out the words, "Why did you help me? You do remember that I tried to rob you earlier, right?" JIn gave him a slight smile and said, "True, you easily could've but you didn't. That showed me that you're not that bad of a person."