twisted | six of crows

chapter 1 : meeting old friends

Ketterdam.

It's odd to think that I arrived here three years ago, when I was thirteen, and never felt at home.

I walked down the university district, alert but casual. I had been helping one of the students there with a device they wanted to design.

And who to call other than me?

I had made a living by being an inventor, helping the barrel bosses repair some of their things, building new inventions for the students who's learning over at the university, and sometimes just creating something for myself. Of course, I couldn't just do this freely, I go by under the strict supervision of the person I actually work for-

Divinity Jacobs.

I was indentured to her the minute I stepped into this forsaken city, and ever since then, she'd send me off to wherever she allowed me to. She knew about my abilities, she knew I was a tidemaker and she told me that if I ever disobeyed her, my secret would come flying out the window, which was why I patiently stayed.

There were many under her command and I knew for a fact that she strived to defeat the reigning barrel boss, Pekka Rollins. She said it's so that we were acknowledged as a gang, to be free of the underdogs category, but I could see that she had something personal to settle with Rollins. Something that ran deeper than petty rivalry.

It was still noon and the sun was high above when I felt my stomach grumble. I rolled my eyes at the sound and mentally told it to shut up. I needed lunch, badly, but I can't always spend my kruge on food. I needed materials for creating inventions too. Then I remembered having a leftover cookie in my bag.

I rummaged through the messenger bag, hoping in the name of the saints that I did have some food left. I felt different knick knacks brush my fingers, a pencil I used to draw a few sketches, a cool metal object from a long forgotten invention-but where is that damn cookie?

I was so preoccupied in searching for food that I hadn't watched where I was going. I bumped into someone at the exact moment I found the paper wrap with my cookie in them. We collided and my cookie came flying, away from me and nearing the ground. I winced as the cookie hit the ground, shattering into multiple crumbs. I hadn't even cared about the person that bumped into me, all I knew was that I had to skip lunch today.

Lucky me.

I looked up, about to apologise to the person I bumped into and to ask them to apologise to me for my cookies as well. That was until I noticed a pair of pearl-handed revolvers from the corner of my eyes and I immediately straightened.

"Jesper Fahey?" I gaped at him. Standing before me was a tall, boy with a laid back posture and an easy smile.

"Alaiya? I haven't seen you in a while, how long has it been? Two years?" He replied, equally as shocked.

"I believe so, since Per Haskell hadn't needed anything for me to repair, I found no reason to drop by the Dregs' place." I shrugged, and it was true.

The last time I had met Jesper was when I visited Per Haskell to fix something, and that also had been the last time I had seen him. The headquarters for Divinity's gang was far from Per Haskell's, so I rarely passed through. Even if i had seen Jesper, it had been a glimpse and nothing more.

"Isn't seeing me enough reason to visit?" He winked and I rolled my eyes once more.

Truth was, Jesper and I had known each other long before Ketterdam. With the both of us being from Novyi Zem, it wasn't exactly hard for us to get acquainted with one another.

Back when I was around 4 years old, my mother had fallen ill, and in that time, the one who cured her was Jesper's mother, Aditi. Jesper had came along with her and his mother told him to keep me company, since my father was working and I had been frightened out of my wits. Whilst my mother was being cured, Jesper approached me with a large grin on his face.

"She's going to be alright you know. My mother's very good at healing people." He reassured me. I had been silent, head full of worry so I hadn't so much as raised my head. He was baffled of course, not used to being ignored I presumed and switched tactics.

"How about we play outside? Run around in the fields. We can even race, although I must warn you that I'm a very fast runner." He tried and somehow, I agreed. We spent the afternoon having races, and I proved Jesper wrong as I outrun him every time. Even after my mother healed, Jesper and I still played together, and we became friends.

Although I suppose now it was different, seeing as how our paths diverged so vastly. A tiny part of me wished that it had been different, but that was far behind us.

"I didn't want to intrude, we barely talk now. Anyways, I should get going, I'm sorry I stalled you for whatever business you were about to tend to." I replied hastily and made a move to walk past him when he spoke. "Come on Alaiya, the least I can do is treat you to lunch after shattering your cookies into bits." He offered an I turned around.

"You saw my cookies fall?" I asked in surprise, "And I also saw your horrified expression." He grinned cheekily. I huffed and pondered on it for some time, but eventually my stomach got the better of me so I agreed.

"Wait, do you have enough kruge to treat us both to lunch?" I asked, not to be rude but to make sure, although I could come off as blunt at times.

"Ouch Aya, that hurt. And as a matter of fact, I do. I've been fairly lucky in Makkers wheel recently." He smirked.

I was caught off guard momentarily by the use of my childhood nickname, no one had called me that in years, and it's been a while since Jesper had said it.

"Jesper! Gambling's a rotten thing, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend." I chastised and apologised at the same time.

He let out a chuckle and nudged my shoulders lightly, "Loosen up, It's no big deal and besides where's your spirit?" I raised my brows questioningly, wondering what on Earth he meant.

"We're going to lunch Alaiya, you should be excited." He explained with a sigh. I formed an 'O' with my mouth and smiled sheepishly.

"Plus, lunch isn't the only thing to be excited about." Jesper added after a while. "And why is that?" I asked him, genuinely curious.

"Because today marks the rebuilding of Jesper Fahey's and Alaiya Kane's friendship!" He waved his hand with massive grandeur and I couldn't help but laugh lightly.

I had missed being friends with Jesper dearly and today might just be the day where we rekindle lost friendships. So with a smile in my heart, I walked with Jesper towards his place of choice : Cilla's fry. And then a thought appeared in my head.

If I had Jesper as my friend once more, then maybe Ketterdam wouldn't be so bad after all.

AN :

HEYYY this is my first chapter, pretty short I know, but I just wanted to start with the history and stuff, so next ones are definitely going to be more action packed and all that. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed this one, and will enjoy the next one!

-livi