The Edge

Arian: Prologue

The girl in white would've been an easy mark if she hadn't been standing next to one of the tallest kids Arian had ever seen. Maybe if he could get her alone, but...

Nah, better to not risk it. Maybe the one in the pink hat, though. She was standing slightly apart from everyone else, and on a tablet. He could definitely grab her bag and run.

He made himself look more generic than he usually did—tanned to match the sunny weather, dark hair like most of the population, dark eyes, unremarkable in every way. As he crept forward, he made sure to keep an eye on the others. They were a pretty big family, but sometimes big families were easier to hit. The adults were always splitting their attention to the kids and the kids were usually arguing or something. This bunch wasn't as rowdy, but Arian still walked over casually. As he walked by Pink Hat, he swayed, "tripped", and latched a hand around the strap of her bag.

"Hey...!"

He pulled the bag free and started running.

The plan was to get into a crowd, change his appearance again, hide the bag under his sweater, and keep walking. He got up to changing his appearance, but just as he was about to tuck the bag away.

"Excuse you!"

Arian turned around in time to see the kid in white from earlier bull-rush him. "Give that back!" she yelled.

...what the hell?

"Hey!" Arian said, trying to hide the bag behind his back. "I don't know what you're talking abo-"

Before he could finish, the giant-ass kid the girl in white was standing next to appeared out of nowhere to grab Arian by his sweater's hood. That gave the girl in white enough time to grab the bag back. "Stealing's not nice," she scolded.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Arian said, the lie slipping easily past his lips. He looked different enough now that he could pull it off...hopefully. "That's mine!"

"It is not!" She waved to one of the others. It looked like the whole family was coming over. "Luca, is this Adoette's?"

The boy she was talking to—also tall, pale, dark hair, looked like he'd rather be anywhere else—hesitantly took the bag, holding it carefully. After a second, he nodded and handed it back. "Yeah, it's hers."

"See?" Don't steal," Girl In White repeated as she handed the bag back to Pink Hat. "It's wrong."

Arian expected the two adults to call the police, or to just handle the punishment themselves. None of the people walking by were going to help him; they probably (rightfully) assumed he was one of the many pickpockets or petty criminals of the area. Not their problem, and not even law enforcement cared if people took justice into their own hands.

Damn it. Well, better face the music. Arian kept his chin up and held eye contact as the assumed Dad of the bunch crouched to his eye level. He might be about to get his ass kicked, but he wasn't going to be a coward about it. No way in hell.

"Do you want something to eat?" the man asked.

Wait. What?