The small, but quick pit-patting bare feet of a boy no more than seven years old raced down the lane as fast as his little legs could carry him causing his black, glossy curls to bounce atop his head. His brilliant, piercing blue eyes darted back to meet the eyes of gold that belonged to his best friend, Yorick; a cherry red headed boy who was usually covered in motor oil.

          “Moon! Run faster! I think he’s gonna catch us!”

          Moon gave a cheeky grin before replying haughty, “No chance!”

          Moon took a sharp turn and ducked into a gap between two buildings that was so skinny his small shoulders brushed against the grimy walls on both sides as he practically flew between them. “This way, Yorick!”

          The giggles that escaped the mischievous boys as they ran through the labyrinths of pathways leading to the city’s lower class living quarter distinct echoed off the walls. The bag of sweets that were taken from the royal palace’s kitchens were held tightly in each of the boy’s grips as the angry bellows of rage of their purser followed them in voice only. The palace cook was much too wide to follow the two juvenile troublemakers.

          Now without much reason to flee, boys made a race out of who could get to their hiding spot first. From the high class metal walls mixed with smooth stones of grandeur, decorating the streets with beautiful concrete statues and lawn fronts and fancy neon green lampposts to the middle division folks who lived in walls of great stone and mixtures of luminous colors of pinks and oranges to light the smooth roadways.

          After twenty more minutes, they entered the shabby concrete structures that were made of the lesser materials and into a small, dank building that was home to the red headed boy. The boys had finally reached their destination and now had collapsed exhausted onto the old, cracked and cold hard floors, which was much welcomed after their grand adventures of trouble. The blue neon lighting from the flickering signage outside lit the almost barren room as the boys attempted to catch their breaths.

          Soon silence fell as their breathing returned to normal and sharing alike minds, the boys looked at each other for a moment, before bursting out laughing.

“That was crazy! That awesome! That was so crazy awesome!" Yorick cheered, rocketing up into a sitting position, bringing his stash of goodies in front of him. “Lets see who got the best sweets now!”

“Ok! But I already know I grabbed the best stuff there.”

Moon sat up, grabbed his bag as well and together, they jumped up into the rusty chairs that were barely cushioned with small worn, and stained pillows. They then began to pour their stolen treasures out all over the rickety table, avoiding the jagged hole in the one corner so as not to lose anything.

Moon wiped his hands off proudly on his black shirt and dark colored pants as he admired his haul. “I managed to snag the cream puffs, the truffle coco cake, and the caramel pudding drops. What did you manage to grab?”

Yorick gave a toothy grin. “Well, you really did get the good stuff! All I got was lemon gumballs and the strudel wafers.”

The boys proceeded to divide up the goods between them evenly and started their small feast. Growling in happy delight at the tastes and flavors, they tried to rank, which deserts were the best but in the end couldn’t decide.

Once they had had their fill, they did what any young boy would do and rushed back outside into the streets to play pretend. Finding whatever they could use as weapon in their game, for Moon a pipe and Yorick a trash can lid for a shield, the two boys roamed the lower class distinct with glee. Sometimes they’d race to one end of a street then they'd spy some other children, cause a little trouble that meant no harm and then flee the seen while laughing. Sometimes other boys would join them but it wouldn’t be long till their mothers called after them.

Eventually, the sun started its descend in the sky so the boys started making their way back to Yorick’s place. They abandoned their weapons in an alleyway near by, covering it with bits of trash that weren’t too grimy to save them for another day. As they walked talking about their day and their favorites parts of it, Yorick stopped suddenly.

“You’ve started you’re training this year, huh? To be a warrior?”

Moon turned to look at him. “That's right,” He put his hands proudly on his hips and puffed his chest out, “You’re looking at a great warrior!”

Yorick grinned. “Is it hard? Must be great to start so early?”

Moon made a face at him of mock-offense. “Its me we’re talking about here! Nothing’s impossible for me.”

Confidence sung in his every word as he spun on his heel. “Come on. I’ll race you back to your house!”

Yorick’s grin grew even more as he thought about what an amazing friend he had—the bestest friend ever he was, that is and he knew how fortunate he was to have him. He chased after the curly haired boy, calling out that he’d win. They ended up in a tie then soon afterwards Moon waved goodbye for the day and started he trek back to his own home.

Cutting down this way and that way, he soon found the palace gates in sights and rushed to his secret entrance in the sidewall, sneaking past the guards. The palace, with its metal and pretty stone structures, was the only building within the grand city of Cync to have been made with glass and metal statues. Large panels of glass windows circled the castle walls in its beautiful and splendor. Framing each window, two sets of neon purple torches added to the natural beauty the castle was.

Around the side of the palace he snuck keeping his steps light and quiet passing the kitchen windows with extra care, hoping to go unnoticed just in case there might be any consequences from the day’s earlier pranks. He knew one person for certain would not have found it quite as amusing as he had and would certainly bring it up again. Not that he had much to worry about but this way made things fun. Into the castle he crept, ducking out of sight of the maids or guards in the new game he had developed, Moon had almost made it to his room unnoticed. That was until he heard a voice deliberately clear his throat. Moon instantly recognized it. He slowly turned on his heel, giving a toothy grin from behind the metal table, which was decorated fancily, that he had been using as his cover.

A dark haired man, with graying streaks down the side of his head, stood in the hall with his magnificent uniform that marked him specially apart from the all the servants and palace staff. The emperor.

With a swift wave of his hand, he beckoned the boy he found so easily to follow him. Obediently he did. They soon arrived at the man’s oversized office where he proceeded to sit down at the stately metal framed desk and gestured to the chair in front of him for Moon to take. The emperor laced his fingers together and rested them down on the desk.

“I heard from a very troubled cook today, young master Moon. That you and the wild little friend of yours were having a little bit of fun earlier.”

Moon gave a lazy grin and shrugged. “I didn’t think it was all that bad. Nothing that would be missed of course.”

“Is that so?”

“Well it could hardly have been I mean there were three plates stacked this high with them.” Moon stretched his arms all the way apart from each other to demonstrate.

 “And you know where these sweets were intended to go do you?”

“Of course father. They’re for the party tonight with all the nobles. But you don’t really think they need to put on any more weight do you? Yorick and I on the other hand, we’re growing warriors! We need the sugar to build our strength.”

 “I see son. Well at least you have a defensive position ready. You will still accompany me to apologize for stealing the sweets and making the head cook chase you halfway across the city. I will not have any child of mine build themselves a reputation as a thief and a scoundrel.”

 “Yes father.” He said glumly.

  Standing before the head cook unimpressed by his flushed angry face Moon delivered his apology.

  “I am sorry for taking the sweets so that the noble families that are our guests this even would not become obese from your cooking and I’m sorry for your decision to chase us halfway across the city even though your fat. It was rude and I do hope you will accept my sincere apology.”