Author: Enide Dear
Rating: NC -17 for violence. Complete AU
Pairing: Nothing explicit, KadajxYazooxLoz. Just cuddling
Summary: Growing up is hell
**
They ran for hours across the dead, dusty wastelands, tiny little pale ghosts amongst the cliffs and sand, constantly alert for the sound of engines or helicopters, but none came. Their rouse had worked. But they didn't dare to slow down, not yet, so when Kadaj got too tired to run, Loz hoisted him up on his back and carried him.
They reached a huge, sprawling city as the moon started to fall again, grimy, tired and agape at the sounds and smells and sights. So many people! And yet no one seemed to care about them; they saw lots of other children sitting in street corners or ambling listlessly around, poking at trashcans or begging. No one looked twice after the three brothers.
On Kadaj's command, they spent the night huddled together in between some empty crates in an abandoned warehouse. They had to beat up some other kids who held the place first, but that wasn't hard. Yazoo and Loz slept tired, but Kadaj stayed awake, keeping watch and plotting.
It was their first night in freedom.
**
"Give us food." Loz said to the man behind the stand that said 'hot dogs' on the side.
The man looked down on the boy, half his size and dressed in the tattered remains of an orange jumpsuit. He shook his head, sadly.
"Not unless you show me some money first, son."
Loz frowned and cast a glance to the side where his brothers stood patient, just as hungry as he was. They needed food. What was the man talking about? He thought of something the keepers used to insist on.
"Give us food…please?" he tried.
"Look, kid. I know you're hungry but…there's hundreds of orphans in Midgard these days. If I feed one, I have to feed all. And I got kids at home that I need to get money to, alright?"
The man seemed to believe he had a choice; it just didn't make *sense*.
Loz patience ran out.
He jumped up to the window and grabbed for the sausages; when the man screamed in anger and tried to push him out, Loz threw a punch at him that felled the bigger man to the ground, bleeding and unconscious. Surprised at the ease with which the man had fallen, Loz hesitated, until he heard Kadaj shouting:
"They're coming! Hurry, Loz!"
He grabbed handfuls of cold sausages and buns and jumped down as Yazoo came running past the kiosk with Kadaj in his arms; the youngest boy grabbed a couple of soda cans from the window as they passed by. Angry, screaming people ran after them and the Remnants ran for their freedom, scared beyond anything to have to go back, dodging smartly between legs and people, pushing over a few to make persecution harder. A blond guy in goggles and pilot gear called some truly awful names after them as he was almost run down by the pale children. Mother would not have been pleased with such a foul mouth.
Most of the screams died away very quickly, but some followed.
"In here. Over there." Kadaj ordered them into an alley, fenced off with metal wire. Yazoo dropped Kadaj and climbed over, quick as a cat, and caught Kadaj who'd been thrown over by Loz; Kadaj did a neat vault before landing. Loz scrambled over just as the outraged citizens reached the alley, ready to run again. But to their surprise the men didn't follow, didn't jump the fence or tear it down (as the Remnants knew they'd be able to do once they were grown ups) but just stood there, angry and shouting and uselessly shaking the fence.
"They can't." Kadaj mused surprised. "They're weak. Much weaker than the guards and the keepers."
"And they have no weapons." Yazoo added with a smirk.
"We are better than they are!" Loz cheered.
"Let's get out of here before any real soldiers come." Kadaj added prudently. The three brothers exchanged a triumphant look, stuck their tongues out at the crowd and ran away.
**
A little while later they sat on a roof top in the sun, eating cold sausages and buns, their first meal in freedom. They sat quiet, digesting the food and the events of the day. They'd learned a lot – that they were stronger than these people, faster, more skilled. But also that they wouldn't get anything but what they took for themselves, but that was alright, that made sense. They were predators, and everyone else…prey. At least they would be, once they grew up. Then they wouldn't have to be afraid of *anything*. Until then they still had to be careful, though, in case the keepers and soldiers came back. That was a lot to learn in just one day.
A few minutes later they learned why they shouldn't open soda cans that had been shook, thrown and carried on a very bumpy ride