Mikale ran quickly across the dark market square. The nights cool breeze licking his sweaty skin. He panted heavily and took a quick glance around. If I don't get home soon, they'll lock me out! He thought to himself in panic.
He skidded to a stop in front of the orphanage and gently pushed the door open, careful not to make too much of a noise. He bustled softly to the living quarters. He past all the other orphans sleeping quietly in their beds, and found his at the end. Mikale slid himself in and placed his head on the hard pillow. Made it. He thought as dreams began to spill into his head.
Mikale woke up the next day to the sound of the other orphans screaming as they played. He shot up into sitting position and took a breath in. Another day, was all he thought as he made his way to the bathroom.
He quickly showered and got dressed in the ratty donated clothes, a hole-filled pair of pants and a ratty blue shirt. He reached into the chest beside his bed and rummaged through all the small things he had collected over the years, and pulled out a dull and poorly made knife, tucked it into the pocket of his pants and felt the comfort of having a weapon close to him.
He stepped out of the orphanage and marinated in the noises of the city. Kefare. He thought. Kefare was the main village in Fetarn, the country it resided in, and ran of its own accord. It was pretty much a country of its own. In fact every one in town figured a war was going to start soon, as the army of the village was just about the strength of the country's army.
The city was quite large, and always crowded with people during the day. The sounds echoed in his ears. People talking or yelling, trying to haggle merchandise or just conversing with friends. Mikale smiled and stepped off the door step into the great city of Kefare.
The smell wafted into his nose and he took a deep breath. Beef, Mikale thought to himself, as his stomach growled. The orphanage didn't have enough money to give all the kids three meals a day so they had to make do with only one. Mikale's stomach growled again. "Time to get something to eat." He decided and began walking towards the town square.
He arrived and scanned the area quickly, taking a hiding place behind some barrels. There were several guards positioned around the perimeter of the square, but there was a guard standing next to almost every stand. The penalty for getting caught stealing was whatever the vendor decided, even if he decided death. You did not want to get caught stealing in this village.
Mikale took a deep breath and darted out from behind the barrels and grabbed a pear from one of the stands and bolted into the crowd. Mikale pushed and shoved into people's backs and fronts, making a hole for himself. The guard beside the table sprinted after Mikale and found he was too large to get through the crowd of people.
In fact that was the reason Mikale picked that stand. The guard was overly muscular. That and pears were his favorite. The guard whistled loudly and signaled the other guards toward the boy running though the square. The other guards knew exactly what was happening. There was several attempted robberies every day from the kids at the orphanage, as they were all basically starved.
Mikale heard the whistle and cut through an alley not too far from where he had entered the square. Bad decision. A guard was waiting for him at the end. Apparently someone else had tried this route.
Mikale faked going to the right and spun out left, avoiding the guard's grasping hands. He leapt up and grabbed onto the wall separating the alley to a street on the other side. He heaved himself up and flipped over, landing on his feet. He sprinted away from the market taking his usual route through alley ways and short cuts.
Finally Mikale found his way to his secret spot. He had made a small roofed tent looking thing on the roof of an unsuspecting house. He had filled it with things he didn't want the other orphans to get their hands on and regularly ate food there. It was an excellent hiding spot since you couldn't see it from anywhere except if you were on the roof, but at the same time if you walked to the far side of it you could see over the wall the village had built around it to protect it from any enemies that might assault the city, which wouldn't be too farfetched as the village was mostly a military city.
The gap between the two was only two feet. Large enough for someone to slip through on the ground, and leap to from the wall, but small enough not to get noticed, and thanks to the building's height one could easily jump to the wall and climb over from either side, granted if you were on the outside he would have to climb the tree across from the wall, leap onto it, then walk twenty feet and the top of it and then leap to the roof of Mikale's hide out, and the wall was decently thin, only measuring two feet thick. Not an easy feat.
Mikale smiled at his brilliance of finding such a good hide out. He had snuck into and out of the city several times before and could do so again without anyone being the wiser. Mikale lied down on the floor in the shade of his hide out and began to relax, eating the pear slowly, making sure to enjoy the literal fruit of his conquest.