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Well done everyone. Here’s my next part with Tawny, and introducing *insert drum-roll here* Altan! *cheering from the rest of my characters.*

@naiya-dyani @emberynus-the-dragonslayer @urwen-starial @esmeralda-gramilton @dakota @mayacat @kari-karast

Tawny walked down a muddy street. She scowled as the mud splashed the hem of her pants, so, with a sigh of hopelessness, she crouched down to roll her pants into a cuff. This city was dirty and smelly. It was no wonder that everyone felt so hopeless. They were hungry and scared of the bullies who were always just around the corner.

So they blamed the government, which wasn’t fair. The government hadn’t misused the resources, they had been destroyed. But the people on the streets didn’t care about the trade deals that were going on everyday. They didn’t know that the only thing allowing the farmers to provide food was the government. The people were uneducated. So they blamed the government.

And the government blamed the rebels. It wasn’t reasonable, but those up beyond the reach of this devastation, who weren’t politically inept, knew that the people needed someone other than the government to blame or there would be chaos. So a peaceable group took the fall, and yet the government still had to play bad guy.

Tawny stood up and looked at the street. No one cared. The rebels had been forced into hiding and the government was struggling to keep united and focused. And what did the common people do? Nothing. They stood there trying to survive while waiting for others to solve there problems. The apathy disgusted her. She kicked a crate. It rolled down the street, leaving a bare patch of cement beneath it.

Bare cement.

The cement under the crate was clean. Devoid of mud. Smooth gray cement.

It was beautiful, and Tawny needed more

Tawny ran over to grab the crate she’d kicked and started filling it with everything along the edge of the road. Waterlogged papers, dirty clothing, and all the other disgusting things were dumped into the crate. She worked her way down the street, grabbing another crate as soon as the first was filled. Her breath came faster. She needed this.

She heard someone come up behind her, but she kept working. She was mad at them. They hadn’t already done this. Someone should have done something. There were children starving in the streets, and while some tried to feed them no one really got food, they just went hungry too.

A crackle of flame drew Tawny’s attention. She turned to see a red-haired boy boiling water in the middle of the street. He was using the garbage she’d collected as fuel. Tawny’s anger ebbed, but she still didn’t speak to him. She just turned around and went back to work.

She kept picking up garbage and occasionally brought him more water to boil. He continued to boil water and then poured the scalding hot water across the cement, and scrubbed it clean. Tawny eventually started cleaning the walls of the buildings as he cleaned the cement. She didn’t know how long it took, time didn’t matter. Someone was finally doing something. She wasn’t useless. She could actually do something.

Her hands hurt, but it felt good. She could see the results of her labor and felt their effects in her bones. Tears began to mix with the mucky water dripping off the wall. A hand reached into her field of vision, and the bony fingers wrapped around her wrist. She let them pull her away.

“I think we’ve done enough for today,” a familiar voice echoed in her ear.

She choked and wiped her tears away. Now she had a clear view of the boy’s face. “Do I know you?”

She was wrapped in a hug. “No, you don’t.”

Tawny started to reply, but instead just buried her face into his shoulder and let the tears flow again. He held her. They just stood there in the one clean street, and he held her while she cried.

He walked her home in silence. She didn’t even look up unless she needed to tell him where to go. There was only so much one could take.

“Same place tomorrow?” he asked when they arrived.

She nodded.

He smiled and turned to walk away. Tawny watched as he disappeared into the city. There was something familiar about him. Something about a cat?