<b>RE: Tears of Scarlet, Chapter 1: The End</b><br/><br/>The small half-cast sat from the gutters, watching the occasional person go by the opening to the alleyway. No one ever noticed him, not while he was hiding, which was probably a good thing in the long run. He would blend in with the city, like the rest of the scum that filled this hellhole he would go unnoticed, hopefully.<br/><br/>It took Alaran a while before he decided to leave the safety of the gutters. He didn’t really know where to head, although he knew that the prostitutes were usually a good place to start. A lot of information was passed around between bed sheets, and it might be that one of them knew something about the cult, something that Alaran could use to get him further.<br/><br/>Shedding the shadows for sunlight, Alaran stepped into the main street, joining the relative hustle and bustle of the slums. There was no general direction to the foot traffic; most people were hurrying from place to place, afraid to be out for too long. Who could blame them though? There were gangs to think about, occasionally the corporation got its bounty hunters down here to stir up trouble, and of course, there was the ever-present cult threat to think of.<br/><br/>The cult had never been too much of a worry for Alaran, at least, before they’d used his friend in one of their ceremonies. The thought was enough to bring the stinging lash of tears to his eyes once again. Biting down on his bottom lip Alaran tried to control his feelings, this wasn’t the time or place. He was on a mission.<br/><br/>When Alaran finally found the hookers, he once again took to a quieter place, across the street from them. He sat on an empty box as he looked on them, waiting. He didn’t have any money to buy services, but Alaran had been on the streets a while, occasionally the whores took pity on those less fortunate, more often than not though they’d stop to chat on a late night, safety in numbers and all that. With that, he sat on his box, staring, hoping that he’d be at least recognized by one of them.