Wrapped in a cloak to conceal his face, a boy hurried through the crowded streets of the city. He hugged the walls of the buildings, keeping out of the way of passing carriages, and wove through the crowd. With his kept his eyes down, and his hood up it was easy to assume the boy was not minding his surroundings. However, when a hand reached for his coin purse he caught the thief by the wrist.
In one quick movement he shoved his assailant against the wall of a nearby alleyway. In this part of the city people minded their own business. No one stopped to look as the boy pressed a dagger to the would-be thief's throat.
"Hey now," said the thief, "no need for that, didn't mean nothing by it, yo. Kid's gotta eat don't he?" The thief looked to be no older than boy, thirteen, maybe fourteen. His hair was the reddest the boy had ever seen and his green-blue eyes were stunning. Everything about him was striking; from the pair of red tattoos like streaks of blood or claw marks that framed his eyes to the whiteness of his teeth as he gave the boy a sheepish grin.
"You don't seem afraid," the boy remarked.
The thief did not reply except to smirk, and before the boy could react his legs were pulled out from under him, as the thief hooked a leg behind his knees . He fell backward, landing flat on his back in the streets. His hood slipped, revealing the boy's face, light blond hair and bright blue eyes. The thief was on his feet quick as a cat, straddling the boy, snatching the knife from his hand and pressing it to his throat.
"I'm not afraid - are you?" asked the thief.
The thief did not seem to recognize him. For a moment it seemed that Rufus Shinra, crown prince of Midgard and future king of the Eastern Realms, was going to die on his back in a filthy slum alleyway at the hands of a common cut-purse, but in that moment the Prince's face held more indignation than fear.
The thief gave him a smile, more playful than predatory. "You don't have to be afraid, don't want to kill ya. I may be hungry but that's not worth takin' your life." The red haired thief stood. "Honestly, might not even have to rob ya if you, say, buy me lunch?" The thief offered his hand to the prince, grinning all the while.