Changes

It had been three days already, three days where Alice didn't do anything but rest. On the first day, she had still been furious at the thief, Dick, and was tempted to leave the hideout and search for him. The only reason she didn't do as her feeling dictated was that she didn't have the slightest idea where in Harborton she was.

Only after a good meal and a night of sleep did she finally calm down. She hadn't felt that good ever since she had left the old grandma, and the evening before had been the first time in a long time that she had been able to eat until her hunger was sated. Though it seemed to be an exception to normal times because it didn't make much of a difference if they took more for themselves with someone already intentionally overstealing. In the end, it was decided to use this opportunity to help Alice recover a little faster, even if Alice felt a little bad that she got more to eat than the others.

Even though Alice had calmed down on the outside and used every second to recover, inside of her it looked very different. In her whole life, she had never been so angry at someone and the rage silently kept getting stronger and stronger somewhere deep down in her subconsciousness.

After all, that staff was not only an important memento of her father, in her mind, it had already become an inseparable part of her and her fate. Without it, she would lose her entire future.

At some point, Alice had been very surprised by herself. She had never thought that a human could feel emotions like that and almost became a little terrified of herself.

...

"Well then, since Alice has recovered enough, someone needs to take her with him and show her around our territory. Could you do that please, Gardos?", Alex asked while looking in the boy's direction.

"No problem, but why? Wouldnt you or Gale be better suited for that?"

"Didn't Eric tell you? We can meet with the bears today and I want Gale to accompany me."

"No, he didn't tell us. That Idiot probably forgot it."

"Urgh, sorry boss."

"...Well, it's partly my own fault. But now you know. As for you Alice, Gardos should teach you the basics, but make sure to ask him if you have any questions, ok?"

"Yes, I will make sure to do so. I will be in your care."

"Likewise, but no need to be so formal."

"Ok, thanks.", Alice answered and smiled slightly.

It was actually the first time she did so since leaving the old grandma, and even in those three days, she didn't have many chances to interact with the boys as they were constantly patrolling their territory.

When Gardos saw her smile instead of her usual gloomy expression for the first time, he was suddenly very glad that Alice had ended up with their group. Not only was she a promising talent that could potentially secure the position of their group, but they had also always been a group of only boys, so he never had a chance to build up resistance against girls. Especially not against one like Alice, that even covered in dirt managed to look cute. In short, he had a crush and the longer he looked at her the more nervous he became.

Before anyone would be able to realize what was going on in his mind, Gardos secretly pinched his arm to distract himself. When one lived on the streets like them, they would be forced to adapt and become mature much faster than ordinary children. Thanks to that, he was able to understand the meaning of his emotions to a certain extent and knew that he should get those thoughts out of his head for the time being or he would be distracted for the entire day. And that could be quite dangerous when he had to take care of Alice as well, while more guards than usual where on the streets.

Having rid himself of distracting thoughts he said: "Let's go then! Oh right, what about patrols? Should I still take a look at my area?"

"Good that you mentioned that! Although it would be good if you showed her how we normally work on our patrols, you should still prioritize teaching Alice the basics and showing her the boundaries of our territory. Although its a little hard on you three, it would be good if Eric, Jayden, and Forster could patrol two areas each today. You don't need to stock up on food in exchange, we still have enough reserves to last a day or two."

"'Till later then!"

Making sure that there weren't any passerby's, Gardos and Alice left the hideout only shortly after.

Although Alice had already been outside the hideout this morning, it had still been very dark. But now that the sun was up, she could for the first time truly appreciate the ingenuity with which the hideout was hidden. The trick was actually fairly simple. They had made use of a dead-end and build a wall about three meters in the front and made a wooden roof that fits almost perfectly in. And because they were going in and out through the roof there wasn't even an entrance that could be found.

Any normal passerby wouldn't even realize that there was a small room, and even if they did, they would just assume it to be part of one of the adjacent houses.

Just as Alice was about to climb down into the street, Gardos stopped her and asked: "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

For a moment the boy looked confused before putting up a face as if he had a sudden realization.

"We are going over the roofs obviously. Don't say, you managed to get away from the foxes while staying on the ground the entire time?"

"Ehh? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Pft, maybe in the merchant or noble districts where they have higher rooms and two-story houses, but in our territory, the roofs are barely two meters high, so how is that dangerous?"

"But won't they break in?"

"Don't worry, for now, you just have to follow me. You will learn to judge those things by yourself, you just need to change the way you think a little. Just because they call it a roof and not a road, it doesn't mean you can't take a walk there. Actually, the scenery is even much better!"

After hearing Gardos little speech, Alice tried to change the way she looked at things. It didn't take long until the sea of obstacles in front of her, became a sea of ways and possibilities instead. When she looked at her surroundings again, Alice suddenly became excited, she felt like she had just discovered a secret world that almost no one knew about and wanted to explore it.

It was the same adventurous feeling that she had when she left her village for the first time or when she secretly entered the forest on her own. The endless possibilities lying before her gave her the same exciting and thrilling feeling she had years ago when she listened to the story of the old storyteller.

At that moment, a subtle change started to take root in her mind, changing her way of thinking. Where other people would fear the unknown and shrink back in front of change, Alice would search and yearn for it.