"Whew," Viveka breathed out a sigh, as she slowly slid down the brick wall she had propped her back against. Her hands slowly eased out from her ill-fitted sleeves and within them, a simple loaf of bread. It was a lucky stroke, too lucky some would say: managing to scrape together pocket change on the street and getting fortunate enough to find an Eldian-owned establishment with enough sympathy to knock a few pieces off the tab.

She looked down at the loaf in her hands - it almost seemed too good to be true. For the last week, she had been on survival mode, scrounging around for scraps and picking morsels out of garbage cans. It wasn't classy, but she couldn't afford to be picky. Every now and then she found herself particularly lucky, and managed to catch wind of a store pushing out their old inventory - then she could get her hands on some less rotted and discarded foods.

As for water, well rain was a blessing. It was the cleanest water one could get, and tasted much better than the poison they pushed through the Eldian water pipes. To be frank, any water that wasn't pooling on the road was usually better tasting than that, though.

Finally after a breather, she tore into the bread, taking a large chunk and stowing it in her mouth.

It was quiet in the alleyway - only the sounds of the wind creeping and the distant footsteps from the main roads reaching her there. At the moment, her own chewing was a part of that very limited noise.

'Not everyone can afford to have food on the table. Don't waste it, Viveka.'

Her pale green eyes stared at the opposite wall, but that was the furthest thing from what she was seeing. Her senses were overtaken by memories burning freshly into her mind; although so long ago, they felt as if they were from just moments ago.

She would often be scolded for making only the food she preferred, since she typically handled dinner. Her mother would do the cooking herself when she had the chance, but then came the little bits of bickering from her father claiming it 'wasn't as good as Viveka's'. Those little moments would always make her laugh, and even if they argued, it was always out of love.

Her lips quivered, the bread getting harder to chew through a tighten jaw, but it didn't stop her from cramming another piece of the loaf in.

'It's tasteless...'

She thought, stuffing another piece. It didn't matter if it tasted good or not, it would keep her alive and that was all that mattered.

'Slow down, Vivi, it ain't goin' anywhere.'

Tears brimmed in her eyes. Though she kept attempting to dry them, more took their place, streaking her cheeks and leaving bitter trails that cascaded from her chin. If she kept this up, her sleeves would be soaked, and that would make for a cold night. On top of that, forcing the bread down her gullet made for a right nauseous feeling. If she didn't want to waste it heaving it up, she figured she should relax, but her feelings made that near-impossible.

The thought of never hearing them speak to her again outside the confines of her own mind, or longing for a loving touch that wouldn't come. No one ever knew what became of those that went to paradise. All they were aware of was no one ever came back.

Viveka shook those invasive thoughts from her head, then tucked her long brown waves back into the collar of her shirt. She took the bread in her hands, stowing it away in a little makeshift pouch she had managed to make from the old cloth the bread was given to her in. She was in no mood to be eating it, and it would have been silly to eat so much at once anyhow, especially when that much could have been rationed out to last her a week or so.

She breathed in, sniffing hard to clear the obstructive, then returning to trying to chew all the bread she now had far too much of stuffed into her cheeks.

"Yeah, ain't it just a cryin' shame?"

The sound of another voice near the mouth of the alleyway caught Viveka by surprise. She flipped up the hood piece, wrapping it tightly under her chin and tugging it further over her eyes. Scrambling up to her feet, she stepped over the other junk that lied around and pressed firmly to the shadowed wall.

"We all should've seen it comin', if you ask me. They made themselves too noticeable."

"Yeah, but now with that kid o' theirs missin', we got the whole government on our backs. They're really thinkin' we're all in on it 'er somethin'."

"Well somebody's gotta be. People don't just go missin'."

She held her breath, eavesdropping on the conversation whilst her fingers anxiously grazed at the brick under them. They were talking about her - after so much time of being hidden, word was still on the rise? She could only guess it was another touch of luck that kept her from random brushes with Marleyan officers. If they saw some hooded figure breezing through the streets, there was no doubt their curiosity would force them to investigate or pursue. Then again, she usually kept her visibility low by avoiding heavily populated areas and traversing the streets at night.

She waited until they passed by. It should have been common knowledge that they wouldn't go snooping around the alley at that time of night, but the tension of being pursued made her skittish. They continued on her way, with her watching from the shadows, and once she was sure they had carried on, she returned to her perch.

A few more useful things she had gathered - a couple more old pillows, some more fabric, and a basket. By this point she had everything she needed to fashion a little makeshift bed for herself. It wasn't the most comfortable, and the torn spots were leaking the fluff that made the pillows soft, but it was better than the cold ground.

It was also true that most of the time she spent lying on it was spent watching her back, rather than sleeping.

"Only a little longer, Vivi," She said to herself in a soft, questionable yet attempted-encouraging tone. "It's only 'till they give up the chase..." She has no idea how long that would be, but once it happened, going out would be a little easier.

She mused over the possibilities - when the heat was gone, she could get a job, maybe. Nothing major or attention grabbing... just sweeping up in a little shop, or collecting trash or something. She could stock shelves and help carry some of the crates. She wasn't the strongest, but she wasn't a slouch either. Plus, once she got some food and water in her belly, she would probably be a lot more capable.

The thought of that caused a faint smile to raise the corners of her lips, "That sounds... nice..."

Every time she said the same thing 'only a little longer'. She was never certain, but the idea that freedom was just around the corner gave her a glimmer of hope to hold on to. Every day, trying to remind herself that if she manages to hold on for just one day, or even just one more hour or minute, all of her suffering would be eased...

"It's in the paper!"

"Are you serious?"

"Aye, they found her dead today."

"Two years on the run and they find her out in a field."

The crowds bustled around the newspaper stands, taking note of the word that had been passed around throughout the morning. After two years of eluding capture, Viveka Tally was finally found.

"Apparently they found the body a little while ago, but they couldn't identify it. Had to wait for anyone filed missing."

"Was it... that gruesome? What happened to her?"

"You know they tend to keep the details to themselves. Sayin' it was prob'ly a mauling or something."

"Poor girl..."

As word spread through, the talk only continued - spreading from one end of the city to another. It was a rare feat that someone escaped officers, let alone for so long. They usually hid out with other family or tried to escape the city as a whole. Living under their noses seemed to be a questionable choice.

"They- ...Found her..?" The girl listened from the alleyway, her hands pressed against the brick and her head covered. She was nearly ready to head into town for the day, but the influx of people taking up the streets, she hesitated. Lucky that she did, or else she would have been going head-first into the conversation floating around about herself.

Still, she couldn't wrap her mind around how it was possible. How could they say that they found her, if she was right there? Was it a trap, or... some sort of substitute maybe..?

She kept her place, peeping around the edge of the wall until her eye caught sight of a paper discarded. It happened often, she soon found - so much so that she was able to make a softer portion of bedding out of all the ones that she found. She sank down slowly towards the ground, bunching the fabric of the hood in her fist and reaching out slowly with her other hand. Her fingertips dragged the print back to her, the page unfolding upon being lifted until she was looking at the appropriate column.

'Evasive Eldian Criminal 'Viveka Tally' Found Dead Outside Of Liberio.'

Her eyes swelled wide. It couldn't have been, could it? She clutched the paper close to her scurrying back deeper into the alleway until reaching the dead end that she would occasionally settle in. By this point she knew every back street and abandoned road, where it led, and how often it was traveled. She had even discovered a couple of tight systems of narrow passages that ran behind some of the buildings in the Eldian neighborhoods. She didn't always stay in the same place, for safety reasons, but it was nice to know she knew how to return to any of her safe spots when she needed to.

Plopping down against the frame of an old, broken fence, she took a closer look.

"Likely a victim of mauling..." She murmured aloud - this girl was found so terrible ruined that they didn't even know who she was. "So they thought..." She trailed, staring with glassy orbs that lit with disbelief, "...she was me..?"

She threw off her hood, clamoring on her knees and throwing around things in the alleyway. Over the time she had collected quite a few valuable materials, but she was looking for one thing in particular.

"Here!" She exclaimed, though quickly attempted to quiet down as she pulled up the large shard of glass. Propping it against the fence, she bent down slightly, squinting her eyes to get a closer look. Her hair had grown quite long, and her face had changed a bit over the past couple years. Still, she feared that even with that attention warding from her case in the coming days, there would be a chance familiarity could play against her.

She reached into the small box off to the side, lined with newspaper, and carefully rummaged until she could pull out the small metal razor she located. Tipping her head down, she threw her dark curls overtop, pulling them off to the side so that she can see and immediately beginning to take the razor to them.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long. Her name would be clear and she could finally begin living life again. She couldn't imagine what she would do first - the first thing that she'd say. It had been so long since she had even managed to hold a proper conversation, to really meet someone.

Her heart thundered in her chest so hard that she could feel it beating in her throat, and every inch of her began to take on a feeling of surrealism.

She could imagine how it would go - even something as simplistic as 'hi hello' and 'hello my name...'

She paused, looking up at the choppy job she had done on her hair, and easing back and forth through the glass shard to get a good look. All of that dark, wavy hair - now from her waist to barely her chin. "If someone asks me my name-..." She trailed quietly, narrowing her eyes in thought, "what will I tell them..?"

"What should I call myself..?"

A/N: A shorter chapter! But it's about to get rolling soon. This story is only about 6 chapters. So it moves a little quickly! I really hope you guys enjoy, and I look forward to seeing what you think!