The Arks

The little session continued for the next few weeks. Begging for scraps and digging for food to eat. Moldy bread was the only thing they could get, Yan had just about enough. Day by day, eating rotten food, starving in the cold.

The last straw came when Cordelia started throwing up the moldy she had been eating. A loaf of bread that was left out in the rain for a few days. With the horrid conditions they had to live, it did not help that the poor girl's stomach was starting to fail. Even drinking clear water was painful.

They endured this for about a few more weeks until Yan tried to follow what his father did. But this time, he wasn't going to allow himself to get hurt. Arming himself with a flint and steel and a bag of sand, he went straight for the kill.

Yan robbed the nearby shop for a couple of bread and managed to get away with a baguette and some cookies. While running, he managed to pick up a random sack of potatoes. A few village folks started shouting at him, baring their pitchforks at him.

When he ran towards their usual hiding spot, the chef came out and started chasing Yan down. Without missing a beat, Yan threw the goods towards Ciel and held his ground against the chef.

"Go! Run! I'll handle him," shouted Yan as he cracked his knuckles.

Ciel nodded as he passed the goods to Cordelia who had been hiding beside him. The male twin took off while the female stayed behind with all the goodies. This led the others to give chase, running only after Ciel.

When the coast was clear, she ran off in the opposite direction. But as she tried getting away, another pesky guy followed. Noticing that she had been tailed, Cordelia rounded a corner and pulled out her weapon.

She pretended to dash away after rounding the corner, baiting the man to run right into her machete. She pulled it out, albeit hesitantly. She nearly gagged at the sight of the bloody corpse. But she steeled herself back and continued to make her way to their rendezvous position.

Meanwhile, Ciel had no trouble zipping through the streets with an oversized gummy sack. When one of them took hold of the sack, Ciel willingly tossed it away and leaped onto the rooftops. He then continued running towards the outskirts of the town.

The villages quickly opened the bag to discover the trash they had been throwing at the three. They started cursing the boy. Ciel smiled as he continuing heading south.

"You reap what you sow. Feed us trash and we'll give it back," smirked Ciel, as he jumped from roof to roof.

Yan's memory of Silat kicked in and could provide him with ample time for the twins to run far. At least, towards their actual spot. After running out of gas, he needed to devise another escape. He quickly took out a handful of sand from a little pouch and threw it right into the man's eyes.

The chef howled in pain as Yan dashed through the busy district. With an angry mob on his tail, Yan finally managed to reach the domain's borders. When he reached, he was met by the twins.

The twins quickly found their hiding spots, deep trenches, and hid their food source. They quickly moved the large rocks and stockpiled into the mini cave they had made. Meanwhile, Yan stood guard.

As predicted, the angry mob was starting to form right in front of the three kids.

"We ain't gonna hurt you, just give us back those things!" shouted one of them.

But the three kids weren't born yesterday. They'd rather sacrifice themselves and let the remaining eat than to hand the goods over. This wasn't their first robbery, but it was their biggest. Earlier, when Yan had just met the twins, he taught them how to use weaponry and tactics for a quick getaway.

They spent a week of nights digging out the trenches to store their inventory. They used their hands for the first night and used a shovel when Yan managed to steal one for the following night. And they had makeshift one when Ciel made that out of some old, driftwood.

They chose to eat half-eaten, moldy pieces of bread and the scraps of whatever they could find first. And in secret, Ciel would steal extra fresh food for Cordelia to eat, so that she shouldn't have to eat those expired foods. Yan could still remember Ciel's words on getting food.

"My kidney's already failed, I've got no hope. At the very least, she still got a chance to live. She's my sister, I'd give up anything for her to be safe and sound."