This short got very long so I'm splitting it into parts. 

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A crow's shrill cry sounded overhead. Scrabbling claws kicked dirt and loose stones into the alleyway and Jayashekar pulled his feet in to avoid the downpour. A shiver clawed its way through his form. The setting sun cast a sharp glare.

Another loud caw pierced the silence. The crows are out early today.

Sharp pain stabbed Jayashekar's gut. He wrapped dirt-encrusted arms around himself and mewled. When the moment was over, he fished through his pockets and brought a sad gathering of coins into the dying light. He worked his fingers quickly over the pile and counted it up in his head.

Then he stopped. While most of the coins were copper-tinged bits of metal, one in particular caught his attention. It was perfectly round and golden. It lacked a face of any sort. Instead, it was stamped with small, cramped words that fought for space across the surface.

When did I get this one?

He scanned his memory but no answer came to him. He pocketed the remaining coins – if he was lucky, they'd buy him a dinner roll – and pinched until his fingers hurt. Then, apprehensive, he bit a corner. The coin didn't break. There was, however, a distinctive divot where his teeth had been.

There's no way it's actually gold, he told himself even as his stomach flipflopped. Not that this is worth much of anything.

He bit a different edge of it, just to be sure. The metal caved under the pressure of his jaw.

No way this is real.

He held it awkwardly in his palms and scanned the writing with a frown. While he had a basic grasp on Elrish, some of the words eluded him. One in particular stuck out to him: Crows.

We have enough of those out here. He bit his bottom lip. What was there to do with a coin like this?

His palms scraped against the stone wall. He clenched the coin in his fist and stood but the world spun on its axis. Even keeping a hand to the wall didn't do much to keep the dizziness at bay.

At the mouth of the alleyway, he paused, dirt-encrusted hands on his knees, and took a deep breath. Maybe I should save the searching for the morning.

A quick glance behind him made him change his mind. Sitting where he had sat, quiet as could be, a small crow stared at him with beady eyes the color of ink. Jayashekar stared back, stomach alive with the writhing of snakes, and pressed on.

First order of business, he decided as he moved through the maze of backstreets, is to get a damn bread roll. He traced the embossed surface of the coin with a frown. Maybe one of the vendors will know what this coin says.

Somehow, he doubted it.

By the time the sky was blackening, Jayashekar had made it onto the main street, named such by a large metal sign. At least, he thought it said Main Street. His vision swam too much to keep the words straight. The cobblestones were rough under his threadbare boots.

He couldn't pick apart any scents from the sudden confusing bouquet, so he took slow, tentative steps down the street. Carriages and horses and people passed him from all sides, some with glances that made his skin crawl. He buried his hands deep in his jacket pockets and hoped no one would stare too hard at his choppy haircut and ill-fitting skirt.

Before long, he caught the hint of baked bread. Despite himself, hope swelled in his chest. He moved in the direction he thought the smell had come from, nearly blinded by his rumbling stomach...

And was stopped by a hand on his shoulder and the harsh grating of cart wheels.

"Careful, boy, or you're likely to get run over."

Jayashekar stood stiff as a board, the gears in his brain turning. Did they just...?

The cart passed by, too close for comfort. Desaturated red curtains flapped in the windows. Jayashekar's heart thud in his chest. When it had past, the figure that stopped him took their hand off his shoulder.

"You know, a 'thank you' would be nice."

Jayashekar frowned. This speaker's l's sounded more like r's. Why would a foreigner come to any part of Elrick? And moreover, why didn't they think he was a girl?

"I..." Jayashekar clenched his fists. "You called me a boy."

"Am I wrong?"

"Everyone thinks I'm a girl..."

"And are you?"

"Well... No."

"Then you're not a girl. It's that simple, right?"

Jayashekar turned, breath caught in the back of his throat, and examined the figure that had saved him. Their face was brown and wrinkled, the lines forming their own sort of map. A pale brown scar crossed like a bridge over their nose. With eyes the color of clover honey, they blinked and offered a small smile.

"I..." Jayashekar curled his fingers tighter around his change. "Thank you."

They nodded. "You're welcome."

Their smile lasted a touch too long for Jayashekar's liking. In a city like this, you never know when someone wants something from you or for you. He tipped his chin up and hoped the figure would ignore the gurgling of his stomach. "I should get going."

The figure examined him, smile gone. "I feel like I've seen you around before."

You probably have. Starving, whoring, begging... it's all the same in the end, right?

"No response? I suppose it's a weird statement to make."

Jayashekar stared down at the hole-ridden tops of his shoes. "I guess."

The figure scratched their chin with short-trimmed nails. "You seemed lost."

"I wasn't. I was headed for the bakery." Now Jayashekar looked up and pointed in the direction of the bakery scent. People filed past him from all directions. "Or... I think it was one."

"The only bakery I know in that direction puts maggots in the dough. You don't want that, no matter how nice Aval makes it smell. It's cheap filth, only fit for rats."

It's all I can afford, in that case.

"I see that look about you, boy. The hunger. Don't test your luck. Being poor and starving is better than being poor and sick. You can easily buy food. Medicine, though... Medicine is the real kicker."

"How did you know I was--"

The figure gave a short laugh. "You've got the stink of the street on you and I'd recognize that posture anywhere." They waved him closer before putting an arm over his shoulders. Above the chaos, Jayashekar caught the smell of flowers. Jasmine, he thought it was.

"What are you doing?" he asked as they began to walk.

"Taking you for some real food. Something light, I promise."

At once, heart wrenching, Jayashekar ducked out of their grasp. "I can't pay you."

Another chuckle. "I'm aware of that."

"And however you think you've seen me... I can't do any of that, either. I'm not a prostitute. I'm not willing enough to be one."

At once, the figure stopped. "Boy, I don't want anything from you."

"But I..."

"Keep your money. Keep your innocence – whatever is left of it. Allow me to do you this one act of kindness and you will never have to see me again."

With great reluctance, Jayashekar dipped his head. "All right."

The two of them turned back against the tide of people and headed the way they had come. At the intersection of another street – this one with a sign Jayashekar couldn't read – they turned. Then again. Despite the noise that hit him from all sides, Jayashekar thought this sudden silence between him and the stranger deafening.

Finally, as they stopped in front of a small store, Jayashekar couldn't handle it. "Why are you being nice if you want nothing from me?"

The stranger considered this for a moment. "Where I'm from, we have a saying. The richest person is the one who shares their resources to those around them. The poorest person is the miser."

Jayashekar's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't understand."

"I am helping you because I have the resources to do so. No one deserves to starve."

"But I--"

"I've lived enough of a life to see what happens when people are allowed to starve, boy. When people starve, empires fall. Kings stuff their riches into sacks and demand until their subjects are hollowed inside and out, and even then the obedience is not enough for them. An empire built on hollowed people can't stand.

"I've seen this cruelty once. I won't let it happen again, even if just on a scale as small as this."

Jayashekar's words died on the tip of his tongue. He bowed his head, speechless, and gave a short nod.

"Well then. Are you hungry, or do you totter for show?"

Still silent, Jayashekar strode forward and opened the door. The sickly sweet aroma of sugar and berries hit him like a slap in the face. The wave of heat that followed was almost enough to knock him to his knees. Above his head, a bell chimed.

"Hel—oh, dear me. You're another one of Bao's, aren't you?"

Jayashekar froze in the doorway. His stomach was a storm ripping apart his insides until he thought he would vomit.

As quick as the feeling came, it was gone. A soft – yet firm – hand pushed him into the room and the stranger followed him in. Reeling, Jayashekar stared at the counter, transfixed by the white-powdered delicacies sitting on top in neat rows. Staring at the desserts made his teeth ache.

"So you are one of Bao's," said the person behind the counter. As they spoke, they worked a fat lump of dough in their hands.

"I don't..."

"He is. He's... Boy, I don't think I ever caught your name."

"J-Jayashekar," he said.

"Jayashekar, hmm? Sounds like a name from Vahn."

Vahn. He had heard the country's named uttered once or twice before. It was always said the way one would spit out a bad lump of meat.

But, he noted with sudden curiosity, not this time.

"I picked it myself."

"A pretty boy deserves a pretty name." The stranger behind the counter smiled a wide smile before slapping their dough against the counter. "I'm Elizabeth."

"Nice to meet you, Elizabeth." More certain now, Jayashekar looked around the small bakery. A single table sat in the corner, by the window. Two chairs sat on either end of it, a small cushion on the seats.

"You're free to sit down, if you want."

I do, he wanted to say, but he resorted to pulling a chair out and sitting down instead. Elizabeth watched him as he did so.

The stranger, the one Jayashekar thought is Bao, sat down in the other chair. "This one hasn't had food in gods' knows how long, so go easy on him. A couple of bread rolls should do the trick, yes?"

Elizabeth set their wad of dough down. "I'd think so."

The small bakery was consumed by the sounds of slapping dough and Jayahshekar's anxious foot-tapping. Under the table, he laced his hands together and swallowed down the empty bubbling in his stomach. His gaze raked over the deep groves etched into the wood of the table.

"Where do you come from, boy?"

Jayashekar didn't look up. "From this city. Same as most people here."

"But did you really?"

Heat flooded Jayashekar's face up to his ears. "I..."

"You don't look Elrish. Under the dirt and famine, I can see it. Most people in Elrick, they're too pale. Not like you or me."

Jayashekar sighed. "Vahn. I'm from Vahn."

Again returned the acid in his empty stomach. He waited with a tight chest for Bao to say anything.

"Vahn is a lovely country for a lovely boy to be from."

"I... thank you."

"Where in Vahn?"

"Castro." He swallowed. "My family lived near the Deadlands."

"Not the best place for a child to grow up."

"No."

Elizabeth stopped in front of the table with two plates and a warm smile on their face. "Here you two are."

"You're a doll," said Bao. They turned to Jayashekar. "El's baking is a gift from the gods."

Jayashekar stared at the roll in front of him, at the cracked top and the translucent glaze on it. "It looks delicious," he said as he picked at it with his fingers.

"I should hope so!" Elizabeth replied, hand on their hip. "It should be a bit easier on your stomach." With that, they moved back to the counter.

"So then," Bao said as they dug in to their meal. "How did a child from Castro end up here?"

Jayashekar looked up. "On a boat," he replied in a flat voice.

"That must have been difficult, considering Elrick's immigration policies."

Jayashekar didn't think he liked the knowing gleam in Bao's eyes now. "It wasn't easy," he replied, reluctant, as he picked at his bread roll. He ripped off a small chunk and balanced it on the edge of his tongue. Honey, almost too sweet, and cloves danced in his mouth.

"One might even be inclined to think your travel here was... unorthodox."

He took another bite before replying. "I don't know what gave you that idea."

"I never said I thought it. Besides, I'm of the thought that borders are an artificial means of governmental control." Bao sat up straighter. "But that said, not everyone agrees with me."

"Anyone here who heard you talk like that would be inclined to think you're a radical and a threat."

Bao winked. "Who would you tell?"

Jayashekar stiffened, another morsel of his meal half-way to his mouth. "I never said I would tell anyone..."

"The threat was there."

"I... I meant... talking freely like this... it's dangerous."

"El is good at keeping my secrets. Aren't you, El?"

From behind the counter, Elizabeth nodded. "Simply the best."

"And they'll keep yours, too, boy. If you let them, that is."

Jayashekar said nothing.

"No response? Suppose that's better, then..." Bao leaned forward, elbows on the table, but a stern cough from Elizabeth made them correct their posture. "So how did you end up leaving Vahn, then? Especially to a place like Elrick..."

Jayashekar's stomach roiled, but he wasn't sure if it was anxiety or the sensation of having food in him that made it so. "I stowed away in a crate."

"Why?"

"The Deadlands killed my family. That's what I was told to say."

"...Told?"

Jayashekar ripped off another hunk of bread. "You said El could keep my secrets, right? Well, this is one of them. I had a sibling. A young one. They were Luricae. You know where Castro is, don't you?"

Lips pressed into a thin line, Bao nodded.

"Prime place for young kids to disappear. There's an ocean. Oceans have sharks." He traced his finger through the sticky puddles of honey. "That's what you're told. The truth is, oceans have slavers, all ready to round up you and your precious family if they catch wind of your existence. And in our case..." He sighed, finger to his lips. "They caught wind of Abha."

As he sucked, Bao regarded him with a gentle gaze. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. I don't know what happened to them, anyway. Dead, for all I know." He pushed the plate away. "I'm full now."

"I see."

Jayashekar's chair scraped against the floor. "Thank you for the meal."

"Don't you want to take it with you?"

Jayashekar moved his hips and his skirt shuffled. "I don't have anywhere to put it."

Bao leaned forward. "You have pockets."

He touched something cold as he shoved his hands into his coat. I... what? When he pulled his hands out again, the perfectly-round coin came with it. Oh. After a moment, it dawned on him.

"Hey, I... I have this. I can't read it, though. Do you recognize it from anywhere?" He held it out to Bao. "Or can you tell me what it says?"

Bao took it, examined the dented imprints from Jayashekar's teeth, and hummed. "It's fancy."

Jayashekar's stomach sank. "...Yeah."

"You're being invited to visit an aviary, for starters."

"A bird-keep, right?"

Bao nodded. "Yes." They stared longer at the coin. "You didn't show this to anyone else, did you?"

"No." Jayashekar's fingers twitched. "Why?"

"Cause you weren't supposed to." Now Bao looked up, warm brown eyes twinkling, and they curled their fingers around the coin. "I knew you looked familiar, boy."

"I do?"

"You're the one I gave this coin to, after all."

"But..." He frowned. "I've never seen you before in my life!"

Bao winked. "But you have. You just don't realize it yet."

Elizabeth leaned against their counter, flour-dusted elbows spread. "Don't suppose you've heard rumors fly of a magical band of crows, have you?"

Jayashekar shook his head, heart thudding. He remembered seeing crows, but that didn't mean... did it?

"Today's your lucky day, boy." Bao held the coin out and Jayashekar took it with trembling hands. "Cause you get to see them."

"I knew you were special from the moment you walked in here!" Elizabeth added.

Bao's chair screamed against the stone floor. They put a wrinkled hand to Jayashekar's shoulder. "Well?"

"Well... what?"

"Are you ready to go see some magic?"