Chapter Text
The day after a full moon and the market was packed. Venders were shouting in the street, crowds of people shuffled about, all of them ignoring the bloodbath that was last night.
Maybe it was easier for the general public not to dwell on the terrors of living near werewolves. Easier to ignore the murder of dozens of people if you don’t know them. After living in L’manburg long enough one would learn to ignore the day-to-day atrocities and worry about yourself. ‘Every man for themselves would be the best way to describe the experience of living in L’manburg.
It wasn't easy for Tommy to ignore the killers that haunted the streets of L’manburg. He’d been watching the marketplace since 5 am when the vendors started to set up. They washed the blood away with mops, repainted over scratch marks on their stalls, and picked up their toppled goods.
Tommy expertly weaved through the crowd, looking for his next victim to pick-pocket. Tommy ruled out the beggars and poor folks wearing rags, looking for a businessman or nobleman to rob. Those pricks deserved it, sitting atop their piles of money while the poor starved or were eaten.
Tommy’s eyes scanned across the plaza, eyes latching onto a man in a suit. He smirked, there was the poor chap that would be out of a wallet today.
The boy walked across the market, pretending to take interest in the various goods that were being sold. A large sector of the market was dedicated to werewolf repellents. Silver was rumored to ward off werewolves but no one was sure if it worked. It was total bullshit. Tommy’s parents had worn silver yet were still killed by werewolves. The first thing Tommy had sold after their deaths was the silver jewelry, it was useless anyway.
The businessman was haggling with a vendor over the price of vegetables.
“Sir please I can go no lower than 50 copper,” The vendor said. He wore a blue straw hat, his hair not visible insight.
The businessman pinched his nose. “This place is ridiculous. Last week the price was only 10 copper.”
“That was before my house was damaged by the syndicate pack yesterday!” The vendor exclaimed, waving his arms around.
The syndicate pack was the name of one of the most feared werewolf packs in the world. The pack happened to take residence directly outside the city, in the forest. The pack was responsible for the destruction and death left in the wake of a full moon.
The other pack in the L’manburg area was the Mask pack. This pack did not cause half as much trouble as the Syndicate. They were neutral to humans, not killing them, but avoiding them entirely.
The Mask pack was much preferred by the citizens of L’manburg.
The businessman waved his hand, “So?”
Tommy clenched his fists, this man sounded like a real dick. People like him got on Tommy’s nerves. The lack of empathy from the citizens in L’manburg was already astonishing, the upper class clearly had zero empathy. Fucking pricks they all were.
I hope women never date you Tommy thought to himself as he approached the man, praying that he was too deep in the conversation to notice Tommy. Tommy was two feet away from him, his leather wallet poking out of his back pocket. Tommy grinned to himself, he reached out his hand and then-
The businessman whipped around and grabbed Tommy’s hand from his pocket. Tommy made brief eye contact with the man, a sheepish grin on the fugitive's face. Then Tommy kicked the man in the balls and bolted.
A shout was heard behind Tommy as he dashed through the market, trying to lose himself in the crowd. Lady luck was not on his side today. The businessman managed to keep up with Tommy and was slowly gaining on him. Tommy jumped over a barrel of potatoes and discovered himself to be face to face with a wall. To the sides of Tommy were two stalls. One selling potatoes and the other selling apples. The boy's eyes darted around, looking for an escape.
The shouts of the man were closer.
oh shit
“Guards!” The businessman shouted. “Someone get that brat!”
Tommy almost snorted. The guards won’t waste their time running after some street rat, however, they would have tomuch fun arresting Tommy.
A tug on his arm was the only warning Tommy got before he was dragged under someone’s care red cloak. The fabric was red on the outside and white and fluffy on the inside. Tommy was too shocked to panic for a second before he tried to scream. A large, calloused hand slammed itself onto Tommy's mouth before he could scream.
“Do you want to get away?” The person whispered.
Tommy nodded.
The hand removed itself. “Then listen to me. Stay quiet.”
Tommy nodded again.
The crashing of barrels was louder as, (who Tommy could only assume to be the businessman) came running down the alley, full of rage.
“WHERE IS HE?” The man bellowed.
The person protecting Tommy answered. “Who is he? Exactly?”
“he is a little brat who tried to pick-pocket me. He’s about 5 foot, blonde, dirty looking red and white t-shirt?” The man rattled off.
oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, he's about to get busted
Tommy’s protector, savior, cloak-dude said, “I haven’t seen anyone of that description around here…’
“You haven't?”
“Nope, now if you'll excuse me I have some potatoes to buy.” Tommy’s savior said. Tommy heard the faint sound of footsteps walking away. He stayed dead-still, not daring to move a muscle in case the businessman came back. Tommy’s savior moved, and the cloak fell off Tommy.
Tommy looked up to the tower of a man standing in front of him. He had long pink hair, the soft locks falling to his mid-back. He had a defined jawline, his teeth straight, with his lower teeth a bit longer than average. He was jacked, and could easily snap Tommy’s malnourished body in half. The man wore a white poet shirt, straight cut black denim, and a red sash across his waist.
The man had copper eyes. A combination of gold and red. Tommy couldn’t place where he had seen similar eyes before…
Tommy must have looked dumbfounded because the man looked to be suppressing laughter.
“Uh, thank you for saving me, big man,” Tommy sputtered out. He stepped out of the man’s cape.
The man studied the kid for a moment.“No problem,” The man eventually said. “What’s your name?”
Tommy hesitated. He could trust the man, right? He had saved him from that snobby shit of the businessman. Plus he could snap him in half and that was something he would like to avoid. “Tommy.”
“Well Tommy you are a horrible thief,” The man said.
Tommy’s eyes narrowed. “I am a great thief! I'm the greatest thief in the world! All the women think I am the best thief in the world. I bet you get no women you dickhead-”
The man had a look of amusement on his face. Tommy stopped his rant to look back up at the man. “What’s your name?”
“Technoblade,” The man said.
“What a stupid name.”
“Bold words coming from the kid who got chased through the market,” Technoblade said in his monotone.
Tommy’s face turned red and he looked away.
“Here kid,” Technoblade tossed Tommy a small leather pouch and a potato. The pouch jingled with coins. “Use it wisely.”
Tommy stared at the man in awe. As much as Technoblade was his savior he was also a dickhead. Well, maybe less of a dickhead. He was probably the nicest person Tommy had seen around L’manburg in a long time.
Tommy nodded a thank you and scurried off to his shack. On the journey home, Tommy couldn’t stop thinking of Technoblade. It was so incredibly strange how he just saved a random kid, nevertheless a thief. Such kindness was rare in L’manburg. He must be an outsider. Tommy desperately hoped the werewolves wouldn’t hurt the man.
He approached a shabby wood shack, squished between two brick buildings. The shack was an old icebox that had been abandoned. Tommy had claimed it as his and put blankets in there. Tommy had been very lucky never to be the victim of a werewolf attack. If werewolves were as strong as they were rumored to be it would only take a few hits to knock down his shack. Tommy dug into his potato, still thinking about Technoblade.
The man couldn’t possibly be a werewolf. If he was he would have killed him back there. Tommy hoped to see him again.