By Nicholas Hotte
My life changed after that day. I was no longer alone in this small world. We never talked about our relationship with each other, we just slowly grew as a couple, until one day, we conceived a child named Carson.
After we had our son, I wanted to retire from crime. We had enough money to do so. I was satisfied with what I had. If I continued down this path, who knows what could happen to my family.
Sandy, however, didn’t want to live a peaceful life. I couldn’t understand why, but if I had to guess, it would probably have something to do with the rich folk.
She would always seem to ramble on about how much she despised the upper class in these parts. She wasn’t wrong though. The rich in the outlands were greedy scumbags.
They would exploit workers and be exempt from crimes because of their high stature. They worked with scribe users to get what they wanted, and sometimes even placed hits on innocents.
Our money was dirty, but their money was filthy. So that’s what Sandy and I did, we stole from the rich and gave to ourselves.
Even with that hatred, Sandy agreed and we lived away from the desert. Our land was not far from the capital of Caldredia, an area filled with grass and hills. A perfect home. For a year we raised Carson and did peaceful farm work.
One morning, I awoke to the smell of smoke. It was around 2:30 a.m. In a rush, I went outside to see our crops for the winter up in flames. Sandy came outside and noticed a note. It was from the scribe users who I knew worked for the upper class.
“Dear petty criminals of outland, if you do not turn yourselves into the state, your family will be the next fire display.”
-From The Dusted Levis
Sandy looked deeply at the name. “The… Dusted… Levis.”
“I’m sorry Jhin.” She stood up and looked back at me. “I’m going back to the Outlands.”
