Rookies

The wind carried the smell of rain.

Red stepped through the eastern woods, his satchel heavy with bread, dried meats, rice pouches, and healing potions. The path beyond Silverhaven's wall twisted quietly toward the slums, still choked with overgrown vines, broken stones, and forgotten bones.

This was his routine now.

He moved in silence, as always, arriving at the usual spot: a broken crate half-swallowed by the ruins of an old tannery wall. His hand moved with practiced ease, placing food, water, and medicine inside without a word.

Then he stood and turned to leave.

But the wind shifted again.

He paused.

There, just beyond the alley, a boy, no older than sixteen, hurried through the mud with blistered feet, arms wrapped tight around a pouch of healing tinctures. His thin body shook with each step. The bottle clinked dangerously, nearly slipping from his grip.

The rain had started.

Slow at first. Then steady.

But the boy didn't stop.

He limped his way toward the far edge of the slums, deeper than Red usually went. Past the burnt-out shelters and toward the skeletal remains of an old watch post turned shanty.

Red followed. Quiet. Unseen.

Curiosity was not his nature.

But something about the boy's desperation… the way he gripped the medicine tighter than his own breath… made Red move.

The boy ducked into a collapsed shack, its roof half caved, the wood soaked and rotting. Red approached, slow but purposeful.

And what he saw inside stopped him.

Two little girls, no more than six or seven, lay curled under damp, patched blankets. Skin pale. Lips chapped. Their chests rose with effort. Breathing shallow. A fireless hearth sat cold in the corner.

The boy, mud-soaked, coughing, knelt beside them and opened the pouch, whispering, "It's okay, Lana… Lia… I've got more potion this time. We'll feel better soon, okay?"

He uncorked the vial and offered a few drops to each.

They didn't even stir.

Red stepped through the doorway without a sound.

The boy froze, eyes wide, mouth trembling.

"You'll kill yourself trying to save them like this," Red said flatly. "The potion won't work. Not down here."

The boy didn't answer. His arms wrapped protectively around the girls.

Red continued, "They're breathing in mold. The air is poisonous. You keep them here, they die. Potion or not."

The boy looked at him now. Closer.

Recognition flickered in his eyes.

"You…" he whispered. "You're the one who… leaves the food."

Red didn't respond.

He knelt.

"You have two choices," he said. "Stay. Or come with me."

"I… I don't know you," the boy muttered.

At first, the boy, Lio, refused to move.

He said nothing, only looked down at the girls: Lia and Lana.

One opened her eyes faintly. The other only shivered.

Then Lio looked up again. At Red. At the stranger who always leaves the food. Who never spoke. Who gave without asking.

"…If we come with you," Lio said quietly, "you'll keep them safe?"

Red: "Yes."

He didn't say "I promise."

Red never used words he didn't believe.

But the weight in that yes was enough.

The boy looked at his sisters. Then at the potion vial.

Then, slowly, he nodded.

"I'll go," he said. "Just… Please help them."

Red nodded once.

By the time they reached Red's cabin, the rain had turned into a steady downpour.

Selena stood at the porch, a cloak wrapped around her shoulders, her eyes widening at the sight of Red returning, not alone, but with three more behind him.

The boy carried one girl in his arms; Red carried the other.

"Lana," he whispered. "Lia… We're almost safe…"

Selena stepped down, already moving to help. Her eyes locked with the boy's, and then both of them stopped.

"…Lio?" she asked, voice soft in disbelief.

He blinked, eyes wide. "Selena? You're… you live here?"

She nodded slowly.

He looked at Red again. This time, with something deeper than recognition.

Trust.

Later, inside the warmth of the cabin, the girls were wrapped in dry blankets and placed beside the hearth. Their breathing was still weak, but stronger than before.

Clean air. Warmth. Rest.

The first steps to healing.

Selena knelt beside them, brushing damp hair from their faces.

Lio turned to Red and stood tall, despite the exhaustion in his limbs.

"My name's Lio," he said. "The little ones are my sisters. Lana and Lia."

Selena stood, brushing her hands off. "You already know mine. But I'll say it properly now." 

She looked Red in the eye. "Selena."

They looked at him expectantly.

Red hesitated.

"…Red," he said, after a long moment.

It was the first time he had introduced himself to anyone in years.

Red looked at both of them. No nod. No visible reaction.

But he registered their words.

He turned to the fire, his voice low.

Red: "Then this is your home now."

And in that small, quiet home, with the fire crackling, rain tapping gently on the roof, and four children resting beneath his roof, it felt like something had finally changed.

He wasn't alone anymore.