Disclaimer: Soul Eater is the property of Atsushi Okubo. I do not own the series nor its characters and am not making any sort of profit off of this fanfiction.


"Patty, run!"

"Don't let them escape! They mugged my brother! Whichever one of you boys catches those dirty bitches will be rewarded!" At this proclamation, the assorted group of men whooped and cheered as they gave chase to the two homeless girls.

The Thompson sisters Patty and Liz immediately fled in a state of terror, their makeshift home of abandoned wooden planks, soiled blankets and plastic bins knocked down and scattered behind them by their attackers. Liz's grasp on her sister's wrist tightened to painful extremes as she dragged the smaller girl along behind her. Immediately, Liz noticed that the girl's small stature was slowing them down considerably. They'd be caught in no time. The girls couldn't outrun these thugs forever, and Liz knew from experience that types like these don't back down easily. They needed a plan B, and fast.

Patty continued to sprint just behind her sister, gasping for air and wincing at the pull on her arm as her elder sister tried desperately to drag her to safety. "Sis wait, I have an idea!"

Liz glanced behind her as they continued their escape. "What is it? Hurry, they're catching up!"

"Transform!" Patty commanded. Liz's eyes widened at her little sister's plan.

"Are you crazy? You can't fight all of them by yourself! You'll be left wide open!" Liz yelled, completely unnerved by her sister's presumably wild intentions.

"No no, we're going to hide! Quickly!"

Knowing there was little time to be wasted, Liz did as she was told, her silver gun-form landing in Patty's sweating palm. Without hesitation, Patty threw herself into a hidden nook in the cracked and weather-worn wall beside a large dumpster, just big enough for her small form to fit in. Had Liz remained in her human state, neither of them would have been able to hide there. Patty huddled in the dark, silencing her breath and willing her pounding heart to slow down, lest her pursuers be able to somehow hear it. The young girl gripped the gun in her hand tightly, comforted by the closeness of her sister's soul and the cool trigger of her pistol. With a gun, she had power. With a gun, she was a threat. With a gun, she wouldn't be in danger any longer. Liz's very presence in her life was like angel wings enveloping her in a protective cocoon. Liz was safe. Liz was her home. Soon, the angry footsteps faded, and Patty quietly let out her breath, her tense stance slacking as the threat passed.

The sisters waited a bit longer in their newly discovered hiding spot before deeming the coast as clear. The alley was completely silent as Patty set down her weapon and Liz transformed back to her human body.

Liz sighed a breath of relief. "That was quick thinking Patty, thanks," she smiled down at her little sister, who returned it with a brilliant grin of her own. Suddenly there was a fist rubbing violently into her hair.

"But if you EVER put yourself in danger like that again, you'll be in BIG trouble!" Liz scolded her.

"Ow! Okay, I'm sorry!" Patty cried, rushing to cover her head with her hands.

Liz stopped her attack on her little sister to take a look at their surroundings. She crawled back into the hole in the wall and pushed at the debris, clearing up a wider space for the two of them to fit inside. This space Patty had discovered wasn't bad, and it was able to decently block out the bitter wind. It was a bit of a tight fit, and it wasn't as spacious as the makeshift home they had created in their last hideout, but in time they could turn it into what their previous "home" had been. It would do, at least until the next time they were discovered and chased out. The sisters had their work cut out for them, between building a new shelter and of course finding food before night fell.

"Hey, see if you can find anything to cover this hole with, will you? We'll set up here for now. I'm going out to find food for us," Liz said. "If anything happens, hide yourself immediately, understand?"

Patty nodded her head. "Yup! You can count on me, sis!"

Liz turned on her heel to start back the way they had originally ran from, towards the main street. "Be back soon. I'll get what I can."

Patty got to work collecting anything useful for building a shelter, gathering old newspapers and crumpled up paper towels and napkins to cushion the cold pavement. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of damp decomposing trash, but steeled herself to put up with it as she kept her frigid hands busy. After a successful string of muggings, the two of them could usually rent a room for the night, but it never lasted long. Once they ran out of money, they were back out on the streets, scraping for food, shelter and rich, unsuspecting businessmen who took a wrong turn into their territory.

Watching her sister jump into action, Liz hesitated before turning away from the alley where she had left her little sister, knowing she had a job to do as well. She didn't want to leave Patty vulnerable, but had little choice if they didn't want to starve. She only hoped that her younger sister was smart enough to keep herself hidden and not rush into conflict while she was unarmed and alone. She knew how impulsive the young girl could get when thinly strung and half-starved.

With that thought, Liz hardened her resolve in searching for their dinner for the night. She made a mental note of the nearby restaurants and bakeries, knowing they would be her go-to places for food after-hours. Her first stop was the coffee shop at the end of the block. By the time they closed at 6pm, the leftover pastries and sandwiches were either taken home by employees or thrown away. Liz had to time herself carefully so she could nab the scraps before anyone else living on the streets could get to it. Her pace quickened.

She swiftly scaled a chain-link fence at the end of the city block that surrounded the back of her targeted shop and rushed over to the dumpster against the wall, holding her breath to avoid the stench as she opened the lid. Her heart fluttered with joy when she noticed a large paper bag full of food still untouched by the trash surrounding it. She eagerly reached her hand into the dumpster and pulled out her prize, brushing away dirtied napkins and debris that stuck to the paper. She peered into the bag, counting 5 croissants, 1 muffin and half a sandwich. If they rationed carefully, this could provide them with a few meals before they came upon money again.

Liz glanced over her shoulder, checking for any would-be assailants as she stole away with the food that would keep her sister alive for another night. Noting that the coast was clear, she hopped the fence and started back towards the alley she left Patty in. It had been a quick haul that night, so she was sure that Patty was doing fine without her. She bowed her head down against the wind and headed back to her hideout, embarrassed by the disgusted looks of people passing by. She hadn't taken a bath in almost a week now and though she tried to keep herself clean with nothing but rain water, her disheveled state was obvious to anyone looking at her.

Digging through the trash wrought more rewards, as Patty roughly pulled out a dirty sweatshirt, which she set next to a child's blanket and a few mismatched socks that she had recovered. Even if neither sister would dare put it on, it would make for softer bedding. She sorted her found materials on the ground in front of her, examining the crawl space she was tasked with turning into a new home for herself and her sister. The newspapers were already spread out inside, but the hole needed to be covered at all time to avoid detection. There were two trash barrels beside the opening, which could be slid away as needed, but they surely belonged to tenants in the apartment building they were next to. They would do as temporary doors, but Patty made a quick mental note to find something more permanent that could be hung over the entrance. With a shrug, she shoved the barrels into place, noticing with satisfaction that they hid the opening adequately.

Before she could pat herself on the back and continue her work, Patty heard a loud clattering and rowdy masculine shouts at the end of the narrow street. Her heart jolted in panic. If it was the same gang as before, they greatly outnumbered her and she was unarmed, with Liz off in search of food.

What do I do? Think, think!

Liz finally reached the unfamiliar alleyway where Patty was hopefully working on their new shelter. She soon found the hole in the brick wall that led to a crawl space where they had hidden earlier, and was pleased to find that Patty had made quick work of the place. Already there were makings for a bed and some barrels that could be used to conceal the opening. What chilled her heart was that Patty was nowhere in immediate sight. A quick glance up and down the alley told her that Patty wasn't even on the block anymore.

Suddenly, Liz's worst fear had been realized. Patty was gone.

Liz dropped her bag and broke out into a run towards the other end of the alley, praying that her sister had merely gone to find more material for their shelter. "Patty? Dammit Patty, where are you?!"

Liz splashed through the stagnant puddles remaining on the dark pavement, circling the area she had last seen her little sister in. She had only been gone for 15 minutes, just long enough to find food to hold them over for the night, and she came back to a nightmare. Her little sister was gone. Wandered off? Kidnapped? Worse?

"Patty!" Liz shrieked hoarsely. "Patty, where are you? Hello?"

"Sis!"

Liz screeched to a halt at the sound of her sister's small voice, coming from just behind her amongst the trash that littered the alleyway. She faltered, not seeing anyone nearby.

"Down here, sis!" Liz heard Patty call once more. Desperate, Liz fell to her knees, pushing bits of garbage aside to find a gleaming pistol amongst the rubble.

"Patty!" Liz cried, picking up her sister's weapon form gingerly. "Thank goodness, I thought someone had taken you! Why did you transform?"

"Those guys came back," Patty replied, still within her weapon form. "You weren't around and I wasn't close enough to reach the hideout in time, so I hid myself this way."

"That was a reckless thing to do. As a gun, you're much more likely to be stolen, you know. Weapons sell for a pretty penny on the black market," Liz sighed, inwardly relieved that Patty was safe from harm and was alive and well in her hands.

Patty giggled before her form glowed brightly, as she returned herself to her human body. "But if I'm really a human, how could they sell me?" She asked innocently.

Liz grimaced at her. "You don't want to know, Patty… Stay close to me tonight, okay?" The two of them made their way to their new shelter and Liz pulled the paper bag inside with them, showing Patty her haul. Patty settled into her elder sister's embrace as they unwrapped some slightly stale pastries together.

"Tomorrow we're on the hunt again, okay? We need more money," Liz stated, frowning at their meager dinner.

"Can we have cake too? This pastry is kinda boring~" Patty asked.

"We'll have anything you want once we collect enough cash," Liz agreed. She tightened her arms around her sister, passing her the remnants of her own dinner. "Eat up, it's gonna be cold tonight."


A/N: Over one month later… whoops! Sorry for the long wait!

I was actually working on a different drabble for this series, but it refused to write itself and this one wrote itself instead. So the other one I had planned will have to wait~ We got a little serious in this story, but I'll try to keep to their lighthearted personalities as much as possible in future chapters!