"Not that way, Vaan!" yelled a 14-year-old boy with grayish hair. He saw his younger brother, Vaan, running up to where the imperial guards were. A month ago, their parents had died from a disease that prevents recovery.
Their parents' revenue stream originated from selling fiend spoils. Both his mother and his father battled monsters in Garamsythe Waterways, the sewer system in the royal city of Rabanastre. Trading in rat pelts for gil sufficed for their family.
One day, his parents encountered the rumored Wraith. The Wraith had cursed his parents with a rare disease. The disease prevents people from optimal recovery and required rare resources to be cured.
The beginning of the Arcadian Imperial regime prevented the import of goods and limited the inflow of people. Therefore, the required vaccine could not be obtained and the cleansing spell could not be learned.
Their parents were initially unaffected by the spell. But as they took more damage from Garamsythe Waterway's fiends, they had to stop battling. Vaan and his older brother Reks became orphans a few months later. With no more money, he and Vaan had lost their home. And with no food, they had to eat what Vaan could steal.
Vaan has just stolen a piece of bread from the market at the Muthru Bazaar. Between him and Reks, he lacked situational awareness skills. Reks, who was two years older than Vaan, was the only left who was able to watch over Vaan.
"Please Reks, promise me that you will take care of him. Help him grow. Help him learn." Said his mother, as she was about to die. She was talking in a hoarse voice with a low tone. Reks can hardly hear her.
"Mother? Don't go! We need you! I need you!" Reks cried.
"I can't live any longer. Just remember to take care of your brother. I love y…." She reminded him as she stopped speaking. Reks held onto her hand with both of his, and it suddenly felt cold. He saw her close her eyes.
"Mother?! Mother?! Come back!" Reks yelled. Tears spilled out of his eyes, but he couldn't stop them. The more he held onto his mother's hand, the colder it got. He didn't want the cold feeling, so he let go. He mourned over her body.
Reks's eyes started tearing as he thought about the memory, but he knew he had to protect Vaan. However, Vaan's stubbornness and lack of common sense made the job more difficult.
"Vaan! No!" Reks watched as his younger brother ran with a smile on his face and his head turned. Vaan had taken the loaf bread from one of the imperials back at the Muthru Bazaar. Obliviously, Vaan collided into another imperial. Only this time, Vaan was unaware of the imperial standing in front of him.
He snickered with the loot in his hands, and ran into the imperial guard. He fell down to the ground, with the loaf of bread tumbling out of his hands. Reks started running up to where Vaan was.
"Ah, what do we have here?" asked the imperial sinisterly. "A little dirty brat trying to touch my well polished mail?" The imperial was wiping the spot on his armor Vaan had run into.
"Well, I was just-"Vaan said, trying to think of a lie. He was still lying on the ground.
"Over there!" said an imperial from a distance. "That's the one! That dirty brat took my bread." Two more imperials were running up to the imperial Vaan had collided with.
"So you think you can just take whatever you one from us, huh?" questioned the imperial. "Well, let's show him what we can take from him." The three imperials were upon him. One lifted him up, holding onto his arms. Another started searching his pockets. He took out a bag of the remaining gil he and Reks had left.
"Hey! That's mine!" Vaan argued, trying to kick his way out of the imperial's grasp. "Give that back!" He demanded.
Reks ran up to the imperial. "That's right. He didn't know any better." Reks picked up the loaf of bread, and handed it to the imperial Vaan had taken it from. "No hard feelings."
Waiting for a reply, Reks stared at the imperial Vaan embezzled. The imperial scanned the soiled loaf of bread. He fixed his gaze on it, and spit on it. Next, he hurled it harshly at Reks, and then pushed him down to follow. The other imperial holding Vaan also threw him to the ground where Reks was thrown.
"This bread rots with peasant! I will no longer eat this dirty thing!" yelled the imperial.
"But we will be taking this for the bread" said another imperial, tossing the bag of gil up and down in his right hand. The all laughed together.
Vaan could no longer tolerate it. He stood up, and lunged towards the imperial holding the bag. He tried to reach for it. The other two imperials pulled him off, and threw him back on the ground. The three imperials kicked a cloud of dirt into Vaan and Reks. Both of the boys coughed and wiped their tearing eyes.
"That should teach them not to mess with their superiors." One of the imperials laughed. The other two joined him as they walked away.
After the imperials walked away, Reks turned over to look at Vaan, who was still wiping dirt out of his eyes. Reks leaned over to Vaan, and combed his blond hair with his fingers. Vaan slapped Reks's hand away.
"You shouldn't have been here! I could have handled those guys by myself!" Vaan yelled.
"But Vaan, I was just warning you that you were running into imp-"
"I know! I just wanted to show you I could take care of myself. You're always acting like our mom!" Vaan argued. He could see that Reks's eyes began to tear up. Vaan suddenly regret what he said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I just can't stand living like this. I miss having a house, good food, and money."
Reks pulled his brother into his arms. "I know Vaan, it's very hard, but we can get through this." He whispered. "Don't worry, I promised to take care of you with my life."
Vaan smiled. "Thanks a lot Reks. I'd don't know what I do if you weren't here."
Reks let go of Vaan and stood up. He helped Vaan up. "No problem. That's what brothers do." He nodded his head to try to shake off the remaining sand. He looked up at the sky and saw the sun was started to set. "Well Vaan, I think we should call it a day. We'll be fine without food for just one night."
Vaan nodded then smiled, "Yes, one night is just fine." The brothers then walked side-by-side back to their shelter. Their shelter was outdoors, at a dead end with crates. When they wanted to wash their faces, they would go to the big fountain in the Southern Plaza. Well when they wanted to eat food, they had to buy it with the Gil, or else, Vaan would steal some.
While they were walking to the fountain to wash their faces, they saw a woman at the East Gate. She was arguing with two imperials guarding the gate. Vaan and Reks crept closer to listen.
"But my daughter- She could be in the desert. Where all the wolves are!" The woman complained.
"Silence! It is now dusk and we won't let any peasants through!" yelled the imperial.
"But she's all alone! I let pet the chocobos at the stable, and she never came back! I just want to go find her!"
"We don't care. Now be gone!" demanded the imperial. "Guards!" Two more imperials came and started pulling the woman away. The woman continued yelling at the imperials as they dragged her away.
"I just about had it with these bucket heads!" said Vaan in disgust. He started trying to run towards the imperials to help the woman, but Reks held him back.
"No Vaan! Remember what they did to us?" Reks reminded.
Vaan settled down. "Yeah, but I hate it when they think they can do whatever they want with us." He noticed that Reks was no longer listening, but he was staring at the woman being carried away.
"What's wrong brother?" Vaan asked him.
"That looks like…mother!" Reks said wide-eyed.
Thanks to those who have taken the time to read this. If you notice anything that can be improved- whether it is based on content, structure, grammar, or anything really- feel free to let me know. I did not have other proofreaders.