It was time to move to another city. Julien always did this at irregular intervals so that nobody would ever know when he was leaving town again. The few belongings he owned were quickly packed together. Actually, it was just a few blankets that he used as a place to sleep. The rest, which was valuable to him, he wore on his body. Slowly, he put the blanket in a sack and tied it. He threw this over his back and left the ruins that he called home for a short while. The nearest town was a 3 day march away.

Without looking back, he headed towards the village. When he got there, an old man was standing in the village square. Not only children sat around him, but also some elderly people. They watched the magic tricks he was performing with excitement. That made him smile. He walked over, put the sack down, and sat down with the villagers. Everything he saw reminded him of his childhood and how his father and grandfather used to perform little magic tricks for him to make him laugh when he was sad or lonely.

It were good memories, which also made him a little sad. After the old man had finished his performance, he of course applauded. While most of the tricks were sleight of hand and not really well executed, the show wasn't bad. As he got up, he looked in his pocket for a coin as payment.

He grabbed his things. As he passed the old man, he put a gold coin in his hand. Then he left the village and headed for the forest.
The air was oppressive. Even in the shade of the trees you could feel the sun beating down mercilessly. What benefited him was a small stream that ran alongside the road. That meant he had fresh water.


Julien wasn't sure how long he had been on the road, but it was slowly getting cooler. The light also slowly began to dim. So it was time to gather some wood and find a good place to sleep. So he went off the path deeper into the forest. He gathered up some dry branches and then looked for a place to sleep.
After a short time he found a small chain of stones. He piled up half of the twigs and lit them, the rest he put aside to keep adding more in the dark so that it didn't go out.

Then he took out the blankets and prepared his bed. He sat down on the blankets. He wrapped one around himself and then leaned his back against the rocks behind him. He stared into the fire and lost himself in the memories the old one had brought out in him.

The flames of the fire danced in the dark. Jun was mesmerized. The longer he stared at the dancing flames, the heavier his eyelids became. At some point, it was probably midnight, he fell over and fell asleep. The air cooled down more and more and slowly a stronger wind came up. The rustling of the trees was only weak at first, but slowly grew stronger. But Jun didn't notice any of that anymore. He lay safe and protected behind the rocks as the wind blew over him, bringing heavy rain-laden clouds over the area.

The day was already breaking, but because of the heavy rain clouds it just didn't get light. Jun still lay, cuddled deep in his thin blanket, sleeping in front of the slowly dwindling fire. Here and there it began to hiss as stray raindrops landed in the dying fire. But some of them also hit the sleeping boy.

Only very reluctantly and also in a very bad mood, because of the ugly wake-up call, he opened his eyes. More and more drops landed on his face and put the fire out. Suddenly it was not only wet but also terribly cold. He really wasn't lucky. He hastily packed his things together to protect the blankets from the wet. He quickly pulled the sack over his shoulders and a long coat over it to protect the things and him from the pouring rain that was getting heavier and heavier.

Less than 3 hours away was a burned down old farm. Jun ran. Three hours running in the pouring rain wasn't easy. Even if he was in good condition, his strength would eventually dwindle. It was 4.5 hours before he reached the derelict burned farm. Julien was wet and his clothes too.

In the dilapidated building he looked for a dry place. This was very cheap. It was close to the chimney and there was a small roof above it. Just before the ceiling was a small hidden ledge. He was lying near the fireplace. For him that meant a small, dry, warm ledge with a good view of the whole room. He dropped the sack from his shoulders and took out all the blankets. All but one were wet. He trampled the wet ones in front of the still cold fireplace like a sleeping place in which someone was lying. But he was already throwing the dry blanket up onto the ledge, as well as a bottle of the water. Then he went out to find some wood to make a fire.

He didn't find much. Most of the wood was already too wet from the rain. What he found and a few small pieces of wood from some furniture, he quickly brought to the fireplace and lit it. Then he went out again to bring in wood that was not quite so damp, to dry it a little before the fire. Then he climbed up the ledge. Again he snuggled into the blanket. Leaned his back against the slowly warming fireplace wall and drank some of the water.

Slowly he realized that time was against him. He actually wanted to reach the next village within three days, but he hadn't even gotten halfway there. It was also questionable whether the rain would stop anytime soon. He only had 3 bottles of water and some tea leaves in his backpack. Three days without food, only water or tea was no problem for him. Even under more or less great effort. But he hadn't eaten anything for 2 days. He was hungry and finding something to eat in this rain just wasn't easy. So all he could do was sleep and drink water until the rain stopped.
Jun took one last sip, since he didn't know how long he was stuck here, he had to save water. He drew his knees as close to his body as possible and wrapped himself in the blanket as tightly as possible. Then he closed his eyes. He didn't sleep but listened to the rain and everything that was going on out there. Even the screams of death that could be heard muffled in the distance.
The screams grew louder. And slowly it was heard that someone was being hunted. Jun sat up. The mob came closer and closer. He quickly jumped out of his hiding place and put out the fire in the fireplace. He hides his bag in a corner, more or less. It was getting dark outside. He slowly crept around the ruined farm to see how far away the angry villagers were. It was clear that there had to be farmers from the village who wanted to go into it. The way they cursed was clearly recognizable.

Now he started cursing. Someone, it looked like another thief, had already visited the village. That's why the farmers were so upset and if strangers continued to visit the village, they would be watched closely. The first torches could already be seen at the edge of the forest. He sighed and at that moment he caught a shadow hobbling past him out of the corner of his eye.

He followed the shadows with his eyes. This figure, he knew this person from somewhere. It was a tall, slender figure with very elegant movements. Jun started swearing even more to himself. That couldn't be. It had been weeks since he had met him on one of his last raids. But both had a longer history and often kept an eye on one and the same stolen goods. The two had met each other several times. They were rivals and at the moment there was a tie between the two. Several times he used to be faster than Jun and then the other way around and Jun emerged victorious.

He didn't know his real name. Once he had heard that he was called Sin and that there was a large bounty on his head. He probably didn't just get his name because he was good-looking, but because he was known for having a simple game with lonely naive hearts. Mostly women he could rob so easily and have fun doing it.

Jun was disgusted. A married farmer's wife or one of the daughters had probably seduced them and then deprived them of their jewelry and money. That's probably why the peasants were so upset. The thought of seeing that bastard slain by the angry crowd surprised even him. Actually, Julien was more of the calm and relaxed type, but when Sin was around he just wanted to kill him. It's been like this since they first met.

Just like Jun earlier that day, Sin was looking for a good hiding place. But the farm was far too damaged to really find anything good. Also, it was dark, and the spot Jun had found earlier was not visible. The young man followed Sin into the building. Sin didn't notice him as Jun stayed under the cover of darkness the whole time. Also, he was busy hiding from the angry pawns and unprepared to meet his rival. It was Jun's chance and he crept past him quietly and climbed back onto the ledge without making a sound.
From there he got a good look and saw Sin getting more and more nervous. For Jun it was satisfaction. Now the bastard would get what he created. Nevertheless, the gloating became less and less as the peasants approached. On the one hand he wanted to see him hang, on the other hand he wouldn't have anyone to compete with. With a loud sigh, he reached out his hand to Sin and cursed loudly, "You bastard."

Jun saw the startled expression on his face that he wasn't alone. He grabbed Sin's hand and pulled him onto the ledge. When he saw the other thief start grinning, he just rolled his eyes. He quickly pulled the dark blanket over both of them to become one with the darkness and the wall. Sin lay directly on top of Jun and as the peasants entered the farmhouse, he felt Sin press his body more against him. Through a small hole Jun tried to find out where the pawns were, feeling Sin's breath on his neck just below his ear.

Julien tried to hold her breath while the peasants searched the room and then left. Angry and screaming loudly, they moved on. Jun held his breath for as long as he could until he was sure that the two of them were alone. He pulled the blanket off himself and pushed Sin away so that he fell onto the floor. "Damn bastard." He cursed again and then sat up on the ledge.