Small joys, the little things that lift your heart when all the world seems grey. -- Knitnan
Some people have all the luck. This is just as true as when that luck is only bad. A very unfortunate few get the kind of luck that is never enough. Enough bad luck would allow Hope to gain help. Enough good luck would mean that she would be managing well enough to not have a need.
Well, not many needs that could easily be overlooked.
As things stood, Hope was the one who was easily overlooked. It took a lot of effort since ze was a bright orange Hellkin. Her horns could easily be a spectacle, if people weren't determined to ignore her presence. Nobody liked a beggar, and a devilborn beggar was even worse. Ze couldn't even stay in one place and plead. She had to keep moving.
On one hand, ze had far more scavenging opportunities. On the other hand, the Watch could easily arrest hir for stealing literal garbage. If that was going to happen, they'd drag hir in after dinner and release hir before breakfast.
But roaming around the city also let her discover things. And, to be completely fair, there were always helping hands in the Hellkin ghetto. And members of the Watch fully willing to arrest hir for loitering if ze lingered too long in any one place. The Hellkin ghetto wasn't permitted to have a Hang Up as a place for people to sleep. If non-Hellkin couldn't profit from it, then they couldn't have one.
Then there was always the Undercity and the Everdark. The warrens of tunnels and caverns had too many nooks and crannies for anyone's Watch to check. And there were plenty of Everdark fungii that were edible more than once. If Hope could find them.
This particular day's journey found hir a cavern with irridescent glowing gems. And browsing detritivores that ze could hunt and easily cook.
For a moment, though, Hope appreciated watching the blobby things they called Cavern Swine as they grazed. Every time they bumped into a glowing gemstone, it changed colour.
The world was beautiful, if you knew where to look.
[Picture from Critter Science ]
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