Crane leaned against the alley wall and slowly slid down.
"I shouldn't be here," he muttered to himself. He was just going to celebrate his grandmother's death—he had food ready at home for himself.
Crane took a deep breath before pushing himself back up.
"I have to see the good. I can't always think negatively."
He touched his face.
"Both eyes… check. Okay, that's good."
Checking his pockets, he actually found some change! With renewed energy, he walked to a food stall and eyed the food. Is that… an apple?
"Hey, kid, you buying? 'Cause I don't do charity," the Zaunite vendor said, giving Crane an annoyed look.
"Um… hey, guy—ma'am—whatever you are, how much can this get me?"
Crane pulled out all of his change and showed it to the vendor.
The Zaunite took all of it and handed him one apple.
As Crane walked away, he heard snickering behind him. Safe to say I just got scammed.
Back in the alley, he hesitated before bringing the apple to his mouth. But eventually, he took a bite.
Hmm… not bad. Unusual texture, but pretty good.
With his hunger handled for now, Crane returned to the spot where he had woken up, hoping to figure out what had happened.
The ground had a small crater—with blood.
How did that get there? Is it mine?
He checked his clothes—an oversized brown jacket, tattered and dirty, along with equally filthy pants.
Huh. No blood at all. Just dirt.
No point in wasting time. He had a list of things to do:
1. Get money.
2. Control his tail.
Why? Because it was the perfect sneak attack if an opponent had his hands restrained.
So, he decided to train it.
How hard can it be?
————————————
After hours upon hours of training, Crane could now move his tail properly.
He couldn't lift objects with it yet, but he could thrust it forward and wrap it around his back. Progress.
He took the last bite of the apple—yes, including the core—when he heard something.
Voices.
Getting closer.
He clenched his fists and hid his tail beneath his jacket.
"See? Told you we'd find a kid alone."
Crane took a deep breath.
"That kid is red. Is he injured?" another man asked.
"Eh, he might not fetch a high price, but easy money is easy money."
Crane's heart started pounding.
"Hey, guys, I'm practically dead. I think you'd be wasting your time and energy trying to get me. I can't even do heavy lifting." He tried to sound weak.
"It's fine, kid. Smeech just needs a dummy to test his new weapons on."
Crane let out a dramatic gasp and collapsed onto his stomach.
"Oh no… I think I just died of shock."
"Pick up the kid. He's obviously faking."
As one of the thugs bent down to grab him—
SHLK!
Crane's tail shot forward, piercing the man's neck.
"Guhhkk… ggrkk…"
The thug struggled, choking on his own blood before dropping dead.
Crane's mind raced. I just killed someone.
He tried to pull his tail out, but it wasn't moving.
The other thug quickly pulled out a gun—
BANG!
And shot Crane in the neck.
—————————————-
I was going to do first person but I'm not good at that yet so I'll just stick to third person.
I don't know any league of legends lore so I won't include that