Survival

The night sky stretched clear and boundless, with countless stars shimmering like distant embers.

The air hung cold and crisp, carrying a silent chill through the night.Below lay a bustling town, where people moved like scattered ants—some hard at work, others chatting with lighthearted smiles, while a few wandered aimlessly through the dimly lit streets.

In a shadowy corner untouched by the glow of houses and stores, a black haired boy with dark brown eyes was crouching, savagely tearing into stolen food — his breath ragged after a long, desperate chase from its rightful owners.

The boy's name was Lin Shu — an orphan who lost his parents to a beast attack two years ago. Left to fend for himself at the tender age of seven, he had barely managed to survive and reach the age of 9. Scavenging leftovers from trash bins, pickpocketing coins, or stealing food had become his way of life. His thin frame was wrapped in ragged, patched-up clothes — torn and mended so many times that their original color was long forgotten, bearing silent witness to his endless struggle.

After finishing whatever scraps he had stolen, Lin Shu wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and cautiously stood up. His sharp eyes darted in all directions, ensuring his pursuers were no longer on his trail. Only after confirming he was safe did he slip into the shadows, taking winding detours and narrow alleys before finally reaching the place he called home — a small, crumbling house at the outskirts of town. Most would never consider it a house, but to Lin Shu, it was the only refuge he had. The walls were cracked, parts of the roof had long collapsed, and only one small room remained intact enough to shelter him from the cold night.

Lin Shu spent the night curled up in the bitter cold. Though he had a few old blankets scavenged from the trash, they were torn and thin, barely offering any warmth. The ruined house did little to shield him from the freezing night air, with cracks in the walls and gaps in the roof letting the cold seep through. Sleep never came easily. To make matters worse, he had recently overheard that someone had bought the land the house stood on. It was only a matter of time before he would be kicked out — left with nowhere to hide, nowhere to call home anymore Lin Shu has no choice but to accept his fate.

On nights like this, Lin Shu would often find his mind drifting to the days when he lived with his parents. He missed having a real home — even if it was small, it had walls to shield him from the cold and a roof to keep the rain away. Those memories felt like a distant dream, one that slipped further away with each passing day. That home, along with his parents, had been reduced to ashes during the beast attack — leaving him with nothing but fragments of warmth in a world that had long turned cold.

With those thoughts lingering in his mind and exhaustion weighing down his small body, Lin Shu slowly closed his eyes, drifting into a restless sleep beneath the biting cold.