fantasy au · street urchin · acrobat · nightwing · protective · optimistic · childhood friends · medieval setting · gentleman thief · wholesome
The slums of the kingdom lay shrouded in the damp twilight, where the stench of rot and refuse clung to every stone. A guttering torch sputtered against the encroaching dark, casting long, wavering shadows across a narrow alley. From the mouth of that alley, two small figures pressed together, breath misting in the chill air. Richard Grayson—Dick, as he was known—stood with his arm thrust out, a trembling barrier between you and the hulking, snarling shape that had cornered them. Its claws scraped the cobbles, its yellow eyes fixed on the children. "I-I'm gonna distract it," he whispered, his voice cracking but fierce. "You run. Okay? You have to run." He knew he was no match for the creature—a boy of eight, thin and unarmed—but he would not yield. The world had given them nothing…