A young girl was playing with her dog in a small village at the countryside. The girl, Rin, had long crimson hair and emerald eyes. Her dog, Hero, was a loyal and brave dog.

One day, Rin and Hero were running happily through a forest nearby. As they were running, they saw an injured young boy. Rin, being kind hearted, approached the crying boy. However, Hero disagreed. He growled at the boy as he did not want his mistress to be hurt.

Rin, ignoring Hero's warning, called to the boy, saying, "Hello. What happened to you?" The boy, surprised, said," I was running when suddenly I tripped on a stone and fell. It really hurts."

Rin quickly ripped her red dress which she was wearing into a small long piece. Gently, she tied her torn cloth over the boy's injury. By this time, Hero had come near the duo. The boy who had stopped crying said, "Thank you. My name is Pri.....I mean Laurance. Yeah... Laurance!" Rin, not suspecting anything, said," Well nice to meet you Laurance. I'm Rin."

"Rin?" Laurance said," That's a nice name" Hero, feeling left out, barked." Oh! And this is Hero." said Rin " Anyways, why are you here? I've never seen you before." Laurance nervously said," Well, I kinda ran away from my guards....I mean... friends. They were always following me so I don't have any personal space, ya know?"

Rin replied," Huh, I've never thought about it that way. I mean I don't really have any friends unless you count Hero. Most kids just avoid me because they say I'm weird."

At this, Laurance laughed," It's different for me. People want my attention even if I reject them, they still come back. Say, do you want to be friends?" Rin, surprised, asked, " Really! Are you sure? You don't think I'm weird?"" Really. In fact, you're not weird at all." The duo talked together for some time after that.

As the sun was setting, Hero licked the friends' face." Well, I have to go now. See you tommorow?" asked Rin." Of course! " answered Laurance.The two friends then said goodbye.

Rin and Laurance would meet day after day. They were having so much fun with Hero too. After meeting for a week now, Rin went to the same spot where she had helped Laurance ( Their meeting place ) at the same time like always but this time, Laurance was not there.

Confused, Rin thought that he was just late but little did she know, a guard was looking at her. With his sword out, he carefully approached her. Luckily, Hero was on high alert,as Laurance was never late, and knew something was wrong. As the guard came nearer, Hero growled at him. The guard, knowing that he had been found, charged forward. Rin, taken by surprise, quickly ran to the direction where she had come from.

Hero followed her. Rin was worried something had happened to Laurance but there was no time to think about that. Rin quickly ran into her house and locked the door. Her grandfather who was there asked," What is the matter, Rin?" Rin panicked said," There was a guard chasing me, Grandpa. I didn't know what to do except to come here."

Rin's grandfather, being an ex general, was worried that the guards had come for him. Afraid, something will happen to Rin, he replied," Come Rin. We are going to the capital." Rin's dream was always going to the capital but she couldn't as her grandfather would not let her. Happy, she quickly went and packed her things.

As she was packing, there was a knock ob the door. Her grandfather went to answer it and saw several guards. A guard said, " Excuse me, sir. I'm looking for a girl with crimson hair." The old man then answered, " There is no one in the house except for me." Rin who was within earshot heard this and decided to keep her mouth shut. Hero however, barked and growled. Rin quickly tried to quiet him down and succeeded. Unfortunately, the guards heard her. Without hesitation, they entered the house. Rin's grandfather quickly blocked their way and shouted," Rin!! Run away! Quickly!!"

Hearing this, Rin turned her back and left the place. She left with Hero and afraid of what she would see, she didn't look back. With a smile, the grandfather saw Rin running away and was stabbed in the heart. Rin ran and ran into the forest and finally, found a hiding spot.She hid in a tree which was hollow as the guards came looking for her. Rin, instantly, hold onto Hero as a sign to not make a sound.

A guard was approaching her hiding spot.

Rin dared not breathe as the guard came closer. Without finding her, the guard left the area. Rin exhaled her breath which she had not realised that she had been holding. A few hours later, the guards finally was not within earshot. Taking her chance, Rin quickly ran back to her village with Hero.

The guards had left the village in a chaotic view. They had murdered every villager they could see. Not only that, the houses were set on fire. Seeing this, Rin hurriedly ran and ran towards her home. As she arrived, Rin saw her grandfather's dead body. With sadness and despair, Rin cried and cried with Hero beside her howling.

The next day, unable to give her grandfather a proper funeral, Rin left early in the morning with Hero to the capital to find shelter. Bringing the money that she had searched in her house, she headed towards the next village. Along the way, she was thinking on how to earn money when she had an idea. She may be able to sell the herbs which she had collected in the forest and sing for onlookers as she was told she had a lovely voice.

With high hopes, Rin and Hero finally reached the village as the sun was setting. She managed to find an inn before fainting from hunger and exhaustion. The inn keeper was nearby as she saw Rin collapsing. Without wasting a moment, she approached the girl but was fended off by Hero who was protecting his mistress. The inn keeper ,wanting to help Rin, tried to show her kindness.

Hero saw this and allowed her to pass to Rin but was always keeping an eye on her. The kind lady carried Rin to a room. She then put Rin on the bed so that she could rest with Hero's eye on her. The inn keeper soon left the place and Hero jumped onto the bed and slept by Rin's side.

The next morning, Rin slowly open her eyes to see a stranger near her bed. Getting up quickly, Rin backs away from the stranger. The unknown woman said," There's no need to be afraid child. I'm the inn keeper, Anastasia but most people call me Ann." Cautiously, Rin replies," My name is Rin" pointing at Hero who was still sleeping," And this is Hero. May I ask where am I and what happened? " Ann answered," You fainted last night at my inn so I took you in. I believe that you are hungry, right? I'll go get some food. Wait here." With that Ann left the room.

Soon, Ann came back with a tray of food. She had even brought some for Hero who had awoken at the smell of food. Rin thanked Ann for her kindness but could not help asking," Why are you being so kind to us?" Ann simply smiled and replied," Isn't it common sense to help those in need? I may have no reason to help you but that doesn't mean I shouldn't help."

After eating, Rin paid the inn keeper several copper coins and said," Please take this as a thank you." Ann smiled and thanked Rin as show set off to the next village once again with Hero.

On the way, Rin saw a boy and girl riding a cart towards her. They stopped by Rin. " Hello" said the boy," What are you doing here?" Rin who was told to be careful of strangers, said," Where I'm going is not your business." The girl who looked older asked," Are you going to the capital? If you are, we can take you there." Rin asked yet again," Why are you being so kind to me?" Both the girl and boy smiled and said," Well, we won't give you the ride for free ,of course. In exchange you have to keep us company because we are pretty bored of each other."

Rin saw that they meant nothing bad as Hero has not barked nor growled. Before getting on, Rin introduced themselves, " Well, I'm Rin and this is my dog, Hero. What are your names?" The girl said," I'm Penelope but you can just call me Penny." Penny then nudge the boy as he wasn't speaking." Oh! I'm Kai"

Smiling, Rin and Hero got on the cart and were headed to the next village to restock on food and water. On the way, Rin and Penny were catting happily while Kai was playing with Hero.

After a few hours, they had finally arrived at the next village. Looking at each other, Penny and Kai hesitantly said," We have a problem. We don't have enough money to restock our supplies. We still need 10 more copper coins." " I have some coins but I'm not sure if I have enough or not." said Rin as she pulled out her coins in her pocket. There was only 3 copper coins. Kai said," We'll be needing 7 more. Where can we earn them?"

Rin, coming up with a solution, asked," What are your talents? We can use them and maybe get money." Penny replied," Well, I can dance a little. And Kai here can maybe find some work in an inn or shop." Rin, taking charge, said," Okay then, first, we need to find Kai a job. Then, Penny and I can do a little performance." " Let's do this!" cheered the siblings.

After that, they went around asking for a job. They mostly went to inns and dining places( idk the right word for it 😅) as Penny had said that they had experience being a waitress/waiter. As they went around, they finally found a dining place which was short of a hand. Kai went in and tried to get the job but he was told that he was too young to work. Angry, Kai said," I have experience and age doesn't matter" folding his arms," I can work here and I won't complain." " Fine but don't quit half way. You start tomorrow. Be sure to be early." said the manager.

Leaving the place, they sat down exhausted on the grass, near their cart but a little far from the village. They slept under the stars that night after eating dinner. The next day, Kai had gone to work when Rin and Penny woke up. Getting up, they ate breakfast and started towards the village. When they were at the village center, Rin begin to sing while Penny was dancing. However, no one gave any coins as they had thought that the singing was better without the dance as they didn't match. As evening fell, only Kai had earned money but he only gets a copper per day. Thinking hard, Rin asked Penny," Can you do like ummm a rhythm. Then, maybe we can get some money," "Hmmm, you maybe right. But I don't know how to play any instruments and the only sound that I can make is by banging a barrel." Thinking, Rin replied," Perhaps you just need to feel the rhythm? Then, just bang the barrel whenever you feel like it. I think. Maybe?" Penny, enthusiastic, replied," Let's give it a try!"

The next day, Penny got out an empty barrel which they used to store fruits in, from the cart. Rin helped Penny bring it to the village center. Trying again, Rin sang while Penny banged the barrel. This time, some onlookers threw some copper coins in front of them. By the evening they had gained 7 copper coins plus the one that Rin had. They repeated the same thing for another 2 days and finally had enough money. After buying the supplies, they had 3 copper left. So they gave a copper coin to each person.

After four days, they were back on the road.

Finally, after about a week, Rin, Penny, Kai and Hero arrived at the capital. It was not like what Rin had imagined. There were many shops, alleys, big houses and many, many people. Seeing the amount of people, Rin felt worried. Her plan was going to the capital and find Laurance to get help. But how could she find him with so many people around? Rin looked at Penny and Kai. She felt ashamed as she asked," Hey, ummmm I know this will sound weird but could you let me stay at your place for a while? It might take me a while to find the person that I was looking for."

Penny and Kai looked at each other. Then, Kai said, " Of course you can. But you have to work to stay at our place." Hearing this, Rin's face lit up but she doesn't know what work she could take." Thank you!" said a smiling Rin.

And so over the next few days, Rin worked as a waitress in the morning and looked for Laurance during the afternoon. At first, Rin was making mistakes in her job. She would either bring the food/drink to the wrong table or accidentally spill the food or drink. But slowly, she started to get used to it and now she would no longer make mistakes. After eating lunch, Rin and Hero went looking for Laurance. They would cover small areas as there was a lot of people and they had to look at everyone there. However, like her job, Rin slowly covered more ground as she got used to it.

After a few days, Rin and Hero was walking through an empty alley when they saw someone running towards them. The person was wearing a hood so their face could not be seen. They bumped onto Rin and soon left. However, the funny thing was that Hero did not growl at the stranger or give any warning. Instead, he barked at them in a friendly way. Rin didn't notice this until she thought about it later on. She was disappointed at the missed opportunity.