Hello, everybody! If you follow Broken Circle, then you know I'm a bit early for the Monday post, but I was super eager to get this out here!

This is somewhat of a character study of Morro, following him throughout his life. I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

"Morro, we shouldn't be here!"

Morro sighed as he finally reached the top of the monastery's humongous staircase. Planting his hands on his hips, he turned back to face the twins, Greg and Craig. "And, why not?"

At only eight years of age, Morro certainly wasn't considered one of the "big kids." He mostly hung around Greg and Craig because they were seven and small for their age, so they were some of the few street rats he could boss around.

Not without a fair amount of whining though.

"Because!" Greg yelped, as if that answered his question. His eyes glued themselves to the ginormous gates of the monastery, as if searching for the slightest hint that they would open.

"The guy who lives here!" Craig continued for his brother, copying his twin's terrified expression as he gesticulated wildly. "He's like a karate master or something!"

"Yeah, I heard he's killed every kid he's ever met!" Greg added fearfully. "That's why no one lives here but him!"

Morro rolled his eyes. "Oh, puh-lease. Next you're going to tell me you believe in ghosts or something."

"Morro, he'll at least give us a good beating if he catches us," Craig whimpered, his entire body quaking with fear.

"He's not going to catch us," Morro reassured, heading over to the garbage cans clustered at the right of the gate. Greg and Craig obediently trailed after him, though not without throwing more wary glances at the gates. "Look, no one else bothers to climb all those stairs. That means no one's been through these cans yet! Instead of picking off the big kids' scraps, we'll eat like kings! Now, are you going to help me or not?"

Reluctantly, the pair of twins began sifting through their respective garbage cans. Morro picked through his own, keeping up a running commentary as he went.

"Tea leaves, tea leaves, tea leaves. Sheesh, how much tea can one guy drink?" He muttered, tossing the pieces of garbage that were one hundred percent inedible over his shoulder as he went. His stomach rumbled loudly, echoing his failure in finding any food to eat. "Eh, I got mostly junk in here. What about you guys?"

Silence.

"Guys?"

Morro looked up.

And, met the eyes of the owner of the monastery.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Greg and Craig already halfway down the steps, still sprinting and not slowing down.

Traitors, Morro thought bitterly. He was standing stock still, as if the man wouldn't see him if he didn't move. The conversation from earlier returned unbidden to the forefront of his mind, and his heart thudded in his chest. Does he really kill kids…?

Morro was just about to make a break for the stairs-

When the blonde man set a plate of food down on the ground, just by the monastery's gate.

Morro looked down at the plate of food, and his stomach mewled, yearning for the delectable shrimp that lounged so tantalizingly upon the plate. All he had eaten for the past two days was half an apple, and it was because of that that he had dared to make the mile long journey up the forbidden monastery's steps in the first place. There was even still steam rising from them…

But, the man was still standing there, watching him.

Rule number one. Trust no one, he reminded himself. He had made rules for himself to help him survive on the streets. He couldn't exactly remember all of them all the time, and he wasn't quite sure how many there actually were, but rule number one was always rule number one. Trust no one. He had seen too many kids lured in by the promise of hot meals and warm beds, only to disappear into shadowy hovels and never come back out. Or if they did, they were different. Broken, in a way, and Morro had survived too long to be broken.

But, he was so, so hungry…

Seeming to sense the reason behind his hesitation, the man backed up several steps, leaving the food on the ground, trying to signal to Morro that this was not a trap.

The orphan squinted at the man, trying to gauge his sincerity. He seemed nice enough, and Morro considered himself a pretty good judge of character…, but what did he do in this monastery all day? He could be committing any number of atrocities inside, and no one down in the village would be any the wiser…

His stomach roared, snapping at him to make up his mind already.

Deciding to risk it, Morro dashed forward and grabbed the plate, quickly retreating a safe distance away from the monastery's doors in case the guy got it in his head to try anything. He didn't, only continued to watch the child with a mixture of curiosity and pity.

Not wanting to put himself in danger any longer than necessary, Morro stuffed the shrimp down his throat as fast as he could. His stomach groaned in appreciation even if he couldn't savor the taste of the warm, flaky, chewy, absolutely delicious food.

All too soon, it was gone. He resisted the urge to lick the plate.

He gasped as he slammed the plate down, realizing he had forgotten all about the man watching him. He was probably sneaking up right behind, about to grab him and drag him inside those impossibly thick walls, where he would kill him or worse-

But, the man hadn't moved. With the distraction of the food, he had every opportunity to do anything he wanted to Morro, especially if he was a karate master like Greg and Craig claimed, but he hadn't. His expression was more concerned than anything else.

Morro, just beginning to believe this man had just shown him kindness out of the goodness of his heart (something that was becoming increasingly scarce nowadays if the pennies he got from begging were anything to go off of), realized he should do… something to express his gratitude.

Suddenly shy, he didn't want to speak lest his voice break this tentative balance they had struck during this silent exchange. Instead, he offered an awkward, half smile.

The man smiled back.

And that was that.

Morro left the plate on the ground and began the long descent down the staircase, a little bounce in his step that wasn't there before.

It was the next day, and Morro was thinking about going back.

He knew he shouldn't count on a stranger (that was rule number six or seven (or maybe eight)), and he also knew shouldn't push his luck by asking for more (rule… fifteen? Yeah, fifteen), but once again, the food situation wasn't looking too good and Morro was starving.

And, it had been a long time since anyone had smiled at him…

Despite Greg and Craig's warnings (the little jerks), Morro found himself climbing the monastery's steps once again.

Halfway up, he realized what a dumb idea it was.

It's a trap, his mind suggested. He just wants you to let your guard down.

He took another step. Besides, even if it's not, is he just going to magically know you're out here?

Another step. Or, what, you're going to knock on the door? He gives you food and then you come back expecting more like you deserve it? Some nerve.

Another step. I bet this is how he lured his last victims in…

Round and round and round.

By the time he had finally made up his mind to turn around, he was at the top of the steps- and his eyes bugged out of his head when he saw a plate of food waiting patiently at the foot of the gate, right where he'd left it yesterday.

The man had expected him to come back. Maybe… hoped he would come back? He was nowhere in sight, so Morro didn't think it was a trap…

Still glancing about warily, he knelt down beside the food- chicken this time- and sniffed it. Not that he knew what poison smelled like, but it seemed like the right thing to do. It smelled fine- make that, sooooo good- so he ate it, scarfing it down as fast as he'd eaten the shrimp the day before.

And, then he left, resolving never to come back.

He came back.

Every day, there was a plate of food waiting for him. No matter how many warnings went off in his head, no matter how many times he told himself that trusting a stranger like this was reckless and dangerous, no matter how many times he listed all of the other kids who made the same mistakes and paid dearly for them… Morro just couldn't resist a steady supply of food.

And, yeah, maybe he kind of liked going to the monastery. Sure, climbing the stairs was a pain, but he liked seeing the entire village laid out before him like a map when got so high up on the mountain.

(And, he liked how windy it was that high up. He always felt right at home in the wind; when it tickled his skin and brushed back his hair, it was almost like he could hear it whispering his name, Morro, Morro, Morro. He never told anyone, because they'd make fun of him, but sometimes he liked to believe that he didn't have parents because the wind had created him. He knew it was dumb, but sometimes he thought about it at night to help him fall asleep without getting any nightmares.)

This time was different, though.

This time, the man was waiting for him.

Morro hadn't seen him again since that first day, though he always knew he must have been nearby. But, there he was, sitting on the top step and waving at him like they were old friends.

Morro hesitated. There was still time to turn back…

But, there was a bowl of noodles sitting right there beside him…

And, besides, the man had had plenty of times to kidnap him if that had been his goal. Surely, if he fed some random orphan, he couldn't be that bad, right?

Feeling brave, he mounted the last few steps and sat on the top one beside the man. He hesitantly reached for the bowl of noodles and took it when the man made no move to stop him.

"I thought it was about time we formally met."

Morro glanced shyly at the man as he stuffed a forkful of noodles in his mouth.

"What's your name, little one?"

Morro looked away. He had used up all his bravery on getting himself to sit here, and suddenly sharing information as essential to him as his name seemed like too great a task.

But, the man only chuckled. "You're very wise. A name is a very precious thing, and not something to be given away lightly." He held his hand out. "I'm Wu."

Morro balked. "But you just said-" He cut himself off, realizing he had broken his unofficial vow of silence. Ploughing ahead, he began again. "But, you just said you shouldn't give your name away."

Wu laughed again. "Ah, yes, but I trust you with it, little one. I think you will take good care of it, won't you?"

Not fully understanding what they were talking about but deciding he liked it very much, Morro nodded. Seeing that Wu's hand was still extended, he reached out his own small hand and grasped the much larger one, giving it a little shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Wu said. Morro looked away bashfully and stuffed more noodles in his mouth. "I don't get very many visitors up here. Now that my brother's gone, the monastery seems so empty."

Morro chewed thoughtfully, pondering this newest piece of information. When Wu didn't say anything else, the orphan panicked, not wanting to let the conversation trail off into awkward silence. Swallowing painfully before he was fully finished chewing, he offered, "I don't have a brother. Is it… do you like it?"

Morro cursed his severely underdeveloped social skills, but Wu only smiled. "Well, I don't have what one could call a normal relationship with my brother. He is a… difficult person to get along with." Wu sighed. "We also had an argument right before he left."

Morro slurped up a noodle, intrigued by the story. "About what?"

"He left to train under a very bad man. I tried to convince him not to go, but he would not listen to reason," Wu sighed again, shaking his head. "But, I don't mean to bore you with my problems. They are of no concern of yours."

Morro pressed his lips together, stirring the few noodles in his bowl absentmindedly. "Sorry about your brother. But, you know, maybe he had to go off on his own. It's kind of better if you're alone; that way, if it turns out you were wrong, there's no one there to say 'I told you so.'"

Wu quirked his lips, and Morro thought he was trying to stop himself from laughing at him. But not laughing in a mocking way, like the big kids did when they decided to chase him just to scare him. Laughing in like a… friendly way. "I will say it again, you are very wise, little one."

Morro ducked his head to hide the immensely pleased smile on his face at the compliment.

Wu continued. "Either way, seeing that he's gone now, I find myself getting very lonely up here." He smiled down at the orphan. "Would you do me the honor of being my friend, little one? How about we trade food for conversation so that I don't get so terribly bored with no one to talk to? Deal?"

Morro gaped up at him. A meal every day and all he had to do was talk to the guy? Besides, it wasn't even a chore; he liked talking to Wu, especially since Wu actually seemed interested in what he had to say, rather than Greg and Craig who only listened when he was telling them what to do.

They would be friends.

Realizing he had let a long silence pass, Morro nodded rapidly to make up for his hesitation, as if afraid the opportunity had slipped through his fingers. "Deal."

"Wonderful!" Wu grinned, and Morro found himself grinning back. "What would you like to eat tomorrow? I'm sorry, I've just been guessing at what you like these past few days."

Morro looked down at the now empty bowl before holding it out to the man. "Can you make these again? They were really good."

Wu nodded. "Of course. I will be waiting here for you at the same time tomorrow."

Morro stood, getting ready to bound down the steps… when he remembered something. Turning back to Wu, he directed his gaze to the ground and scuffed his foot against the step.

"Um… thank you."

He couldn't remember the last time he had said it.

"No, little one. Thank you."

Morro couldn't stop smiling as he all but skipped down the stairs (boys didn't skip, so he wasn't skipping. He was running, just in a kind of… skippy way.) That is, until he noticed a weird feeling in his stomach, some foreign sensation that spread throughout his belly. For a split second, he was terrified that Wu really had been evil the whole time and had poisoned the noodles, and he was going to die at any second…

Then, he realized what the feeling was, and he laughed.

He hadn't stopped laughing by the time he reached Greg and Craig, and they seemed to be off put by his chipper demeanor.

"What are you laughing for?" Craig snapped, obviously in a mood as bad as Morro's was good.

Morro placed a hand on his belly, still laughing out of awe, because for the first time in his life he could say...

"I'm full."

So, let me know what you guys think! :D

The next chapter will be out on Thursday! :D