“Hush now my love, dry your eyes…” Hayate could hear the voice of a mother waver as she tried to console her babe, they and many others were seaking refuge within the main hall of the Steel Keep. The sounds of rolling chaos filled the air as the battle for their city had begun in earnest. With each and every crumbling rampart, dust fell from the rafters, showering the hundred or so civilians and scattered mercenaries on either side of the hall. There were a number of central facing pews filled to the brim with those who weren’t able to flee the city before the fighting, and surrounding them at all entrances were hastily build barricades of sandbags and crates as well as anything else they could push up against the doors. From here there were a few ways in or out but none that were unguarded by either the Radasanthian guard, the Imperial remnants, or some freelance mercs hired by the Assembly.

As the Shinobi sat in contemplation near the rear of the hall he watched as a few men came in and out of the way leading further into the keep, in the direction of where he presumed the Assembly to be riding out the storm. His mind raced as he tried to come up with some plan to make it past the guards, there were four men armed with the insignia of the Imperials. Knowing their past and how skillfully the Imperial army had trained and implemented before Hayate bided his time, not wanting to waste this opportunity.

As he formulated some kind of plan Hayate took notice of a handful of small dirty children gathering just off to his right. Among them were a few that looked to be no older than ten, these were by far the oldest of them. Hayate could tell they were among the street urchins of the Capital, being dressed in tattered rags and caked in grim were obvious tells, but there was no adult in sight that looked to claim them. He bit his lip, fighting the urge to give up on his mission altogether. Why the hell were these children still here, why hadn’t the assembly done something more for them then just corralling them in to wait for slaughter? He stood up and turned to face the ten or so kids before walking over and placing a hand upon the oldest of them. The small boy had short curly blonde hair and was startled as he turned to face Hataye with a face withered by fear.

“What’s the big deal!” the boy yelled as he shoved himself off of Hayate taking a step back. The boy stood tall and bravely in between Hayate and the others.

“Calm yourself son,” the shinobi said pulling off his hood and showing a concerned smile. “Tell me where your parents are?” The boy was quiet but didn’t for a moment waver. Or at least not to the untrained eye, but Hayate could see pain willowing up inside the boy child.

“Gone… just like everyone's...”

“I see,” Hayate said as he squatted down meeting the child at eye level. “Well then tell me what your name is, so I can talk to you like an adult.” Again the boy was quiet for a moment.

“Grell… and these are my friends.” He said as the others cautiously peaked from over his shoulders and behind the pews.

“You are all very brave aren’t you, staying calm down here and keeping everyone safe. The generals should throw you a feast when this is all down.” He said smiling again trying with all his heart to comfort them. Again the keep shook, startling all the little ones as the recoiled back down under the pews.

“I don’t care about that, just my friends,” Grell said fighting the urge to hide.

“That is the bravest thing I’ve heard anyone say in all my entire life. Grell, I’m going to let you into a little thing, but you have to keep it a secret. Nothing bad is going to happen to you or them, because just like you I’m strong and all I care about are my friends. And from this moment on you, all of you are my friends.”

The boy’s face lite up, but only to fall back down into sadness as the Steel Keep continued to rattle. He appeared to want to join the others but before he could Hayate reached into his cloak pulling out a fairly decently sized case stopping him. The Shinobi opened it revealing an array of sharp knives and signed for Grell to take the case. After a brief moment of consideration, the boy took the case, holding it tightly to his chest.

“When this is all over I’d like to ask you to do something for me,” Hayate said before letting the boy go back to the others. “Find me, no matter what you may hear, but for now I want you to do anything you can to keep them all safe."