Where to Go?

But after entering the alleyway, Ava soon found a difference, she didn't know where to go! The alleyways were indeed much more winding, but that wasn't the problem. Although Ava had planned to leave the village at some point, she hadn't intended to leave so early, but had been forced to due to the circumstances with the Rat and Bosbody. Now that she was at the town, she wasn't sure what to do anymore.

Coming to a stop, Ava slowed down and ended up in front of an intersection. Considering the Rat's savings, while it wasn't enough for Ava to outright buy a house, it was more then enough for her to rent out a piece of property for a couple years and slowly figure things out, but no matter how well she scrounged, eventually the money would run out, and then what? Could she find a job or would she go back to being a street rat? No matter how unwilling to admit it she was, she was only nine, and even in three years she would only be twelve. In addition, she had always been smaller, not bigger then her peers, who would be willing to hire her for any half-decent work?

Hell, if she went to go rent a place, who would take her seriously? There was a much higher likelihood that she would be reported or robbed. Looking down the path to her right, Ava knew that it would roughly lead her back to the main avenue of the town, where she could find a nice inn, rent a room for the night under some questioning gazes, and enjoy a nice and hot steaming bowl of soup with bread that didn't taste like dirt, but then what?

To the left, and technically to the front as well, she would lead herself further into the slums and gray zone of the town, a familiar yet disgusting place. With any luck she'd find an empty shack, it's owner having met an unfortunate demise some time ago, and could claim it for herself and make a killing pickpocketing and thieving in as she always had in the much more prosperous town.

In a few years when she was older, perhaps she could try to wipe her identity and start anew or just try to fight for power and territory like the Rat had. In all aspects it could be considered a slight improvement to her previous life but feeling the weight of the small pouch of goods hidden under her shirt, she couldn't help but feel unwilling.

Of course, she could also turn back and find Ruth and Elly again and continue pretending to be a family with them. Over the course a few years perhaps she would grow some actual attachment for the two, and in a way she would find herself a family and home but this wasn't really an option she would ever consider.

In the end, looking left and right, Ava felt a little torn. Of course, no matter what, as long as she was alive she could always reverse her decision. It wasn't like the other paths would simply become walled off, but a day that passed was a day wasted. Having been forced to live on the fringes of society for so long, now that she had a chance to change her life, she wasn't quite willing to let it waste away.

In the end, after a moment of hesitation, Ava decided to keep walking forward. Although it would lead slightly further into the 'darker' part of town, it was more on the fringe area between the slums and the town collectively known as the gray zone and a delicate balance had been formed there, so it wasn't as chaotic or unruly as the slums. There had been something similar back in the village in the area ruled by the Rat, but as the Rat was the only local power around, if you happened to get on his bad side you were as good as done for.

Based off Ava's estimation and the its and bits of information she had gathered from the Rat's lair, he had once been middling power in Yarnold Town's gray zone but somehow had managed to offend all three of the major powers here and had been forced to leave. To be honest, in a way it was quite impressive, in most situations if you pissed off one of the three powers the other two would applaud you, to offend all three at once… One really had to be quite vile. Unfortunately, the Rat had never specifically mentioned what he had done to cause such a commotion.

Of course with Ava's personality it was possible that she would offend a power or two, but it should be fine right? In the end she was just one person, and a child at that, how much trouble could she cause? Even if she inadvertently offended a party or two, she could always move to someone else's territory right?

If nothing else, she could simply treat it as a sightseeing trip and enjoy it while it lasted while getting some purchases done. Although some things might be more pricey in the gray zone, you could get just about anything with enough coin, and no one would question her background. There, although she would still get a few weird looks, at the very least she should be able to complete a purchase successfully.

With this thought in mind, Ava confirmed to check that all of her belongings and items of worth weren't visible and sped up her pace, a small smile hanging off of her face.

The first objective, to find somewhere to take a bath and cut her hair! It had been such a long time since she had last felt the feeling of being clean. In the past as a pickpocket the dust and grime had served as her cover, and with her situation where she could barely ensure that she was well fed, bathing and the such were never at the forefront of her thoughts. But now that she was moving onto a new phase of her life, it would be a good way to start anew.