Rotten, low, worthless. That is what I am, nothing more worth than a half dead rat in the streets of this royal city.  Not everybody is royalty though, but for us, they are.  You can see high class people everywhere, walking the lighted streets, while scum like us has to stay in the shadows of the alleys until the moon breaks the horizon so that we can escape from the stinging eyes of the royalty.

I am nothing more than 13 of age and still, I have lived in the slums for as long as I can remember.
Small and fast, that is my ability. I can easily steal from the others and even from the high class, but one thing that fascinated me was not something that I stole.
It was a half torn flier that came through the alley and hit me in the face… literally. It had screaming colors and was simply beautiful. The flier told of a carnival that was to take place at the plaza, the rest of the info was torn away. The half picture showed an obviously tall man with a funny hat and colorful clothes, he looked really happy.

The next days I barely ate, I spent my days keeping watch at one of the alleys by the plaza; I really wanted to see the tall man with the funny clothes.

I woke up the next day to a lot of noise and the sounds of people speaking, yelling and laughing. The carnival had started, and so, many people had gathered to watch as performers in beautiful colored clothes were dancing and performing amazing tricks in the middle of the plaza. I sat there watching in the shadows of the alley, spellbound by the art of performance that they were showing me.
And then, finally then one I had been waiting for stepped out from a side street and into the plaza;  the tall man with the sparkling colorful clothes and the funny hat.

He bowed deeply before somebody threw some cones to him and he started to juggle them with amazing accuracy. I could hear the bells from his hat jingle as he moved. Those bells, I loved the sound of them. He performed several amazing tricks before taking his last bow to pounding applause. The sea of people started to ease up as they understood that the performance was over, and in the end there was only the tall man left in the plaza, picking up some of the cones he had lost during his performance. As he picked up the last cone, he stood up and looked straight at me. I felt a jolt pass though my body, would he chase me away?   Would he yell at me like the others would do?   No, he smiled and took a few steps towards me before he crouched down and reaching a hand out to me.
“Hi, who are you? Have you been sitting in that dark and cold alley during the whole performance?” he asked friendly with an ascent that I hadn’t heard before. I only nodded, and took a few hesitating steps towards him. He smiled and his whole face shone with warmth.

At last I had mustered the courage to go all the way up to him, and even if he was sitting he was incredibly tall.
“So, what is your name then?” he asked again.
“Uhm… it is….. Crow sir” I said while looking at the ground. Yes even if I lived in the slum, I had enough sense left in my head to address him properly.  But as far as my name went… I probably had a given name, but I could not remember it, so I had named myself Crow, like those black birds. They were the same as me, not welcomed, hated. Looked at as rats.
“Crow? Well isn’t that a unique name huh?” he said with a smile.
“heheh, yes..” I said, but my mind wasn’t on my unique name, it was on the man’s hat, it was so beautiful, with a black brim and something that could not be described as anything else then tentacles with bells in the end. The bells were the best part, they sounded so pure and innocent, like tiny birds playing in the sky.
He noticed where I was looking and let out a laugh.
“Oh, you like my hat?” he asked. I immediately looked away, but nodded slightly.
“Well then” he said as he lifted the hat off his head and placed it on mine, the brim fell slightly over my eyes, and as I pushed it up I could hear the bells jingling in my ears. I felt a smile building up in my face, and I just let it beam while I looked up at the man. ”Oh, the bells, they sound so beautiful sir” I said.
He studied my smiling face for a moment. “Why, what a beautiful smile you have Crow, and my hat really suits you” He said.
“Ah, thank you sir, it is the first time I have heard somebody say that to me” I said, my smile still beaming as I moved my head to make the bells jingle more.
It was nice, to meet somebody outside of the alleys, and somebody who - on top of being so nice - let me try his hat.
“Ah, sir do you need any help with cleaning up?” I said, I wanted to stay with this nice man for as long as I could.
“Cleaning up? Oh, no Crow, the plaza is as clean as it was before we came here, so that is fine.” As he said it he could see the disappointment in my eyes. He smile again before checked his watch that he had in a pocket inside of his jacket, and he immediately seemed stressed.  
“Oh man. Crow, I have to go and speak with the manager, he is waiting for me.”
“You have to leave sir?” I said quite baffled.
“Yes Crow, I am really sorry” he said, and he really looked sorry for it,
“But you know what, you can keep my hat since you seem to have taken a liking to it”
“Really?” I smiled, I could not believe it, would he give me his beautiful hat?
“Yes Crow, I mean it, I have never seen somebody so happy about my hat before, so I will give it to you, take good care of it OK?” he said as he stood up from the ground.
“And remember” He said pointing a friendly finger at me. “You are not a clown, not a jackass and not a joker. With this hat, you are a Jester. Take good care Crow” and with that he turned around and walked over to one of the trailers that stood in the outskirts of the plaza.
”Goodbye sir!” I shouted weakly after him, before looking around and returning to the alleys.

The alleys was still dark and gloomy, but something was changed, because wherever I went, the bells of the Jester hat jingled and kept my courage and my faith from failing me. I started running and the jingling of the bells got louder, but my joy of the bells disappeared as I turned the next corner.
I had just heard the last sentence of their conversation “What is that awful jingling?” before I turned the corner and it was too late to run away.
There stood one of the worst gangs of the slum, the gang went under the name Dark Angels. They saw me and I could see that all of their faces got filled with a demonic joy of seeing me.
Those who were sitting immediately stood up, and I could see that all of them were ready to attack me. I had to come up with something to prevent them from doing so, but my mind stood still, only the words of the tall man were left in my head “With this hat, you are a Jester”.

                                                                    *
I laid down in the blankets that were my bed, my whole body was aching from the beating I had gotten. I had been bleeding badly too, but I had put pressure on it, so it stopped rather quickly. My biggest concern during the fight was the hat, but I had managed to protect it. It was a bit dusty, but not torn or anything like that.
I had my tiny hideout on the edge of one of the busier streets, so there were always sounds surrounding me. People walking by and the best part; the gangs did not dare to come here, by that exact reason that there was always movement and people around. Of course, I got some horrid looks now and then, and I could hear the people whispering to each other, but I did not care for it, it was a low prize to pay if you compared it to waking up with a knife clamped to your throat and a whole gang standing around you.
The next couple of days I did not venture any deeper into the known maze of alleys and side roads, I just sat by the entrance to my alley and watched people walk by. It was quite fun too. I always saw something new, and some people were only walking by me at a certain time of the day. It had started to get dark now, but there were still people in the street. This piece and quiet did not last long though, at last one of the gangs had discovered where my hideout was, how they managed to do it I don’t know, but I wish they never had.

A low cold voice sounded behind me “Why look, isn’t it the little birdy Crow with his fancy hat”. I turned around and saw some of the worst members from The Dark Angels.
“Yes, what do you want with me?” I said and tried to sound calm, but from the second I had heard the voice of the leader I felt chills run down my spine and fear grasp my heart. I knew that this time I would not get away with only some bruises and gashes, they had been searching for me, which meant that they were serious this time.
“Don’t try to be a smart ass with us kid!” the leader Marcus growled.
“We’re here because you have been too, ah how should I say it. Yeah! Too much of an ass lately, running around like you own the place, letting that horrible jingling fly through the alleys!” his voice turned more into a whisper for every word.
“Marcus, I have been sitting here for the last couple of days, how is that running around?” I asked while my insides were boiling with a mix of anger and fear, but they had gone tired of the talk.
“Wrong answer Crow” Marcus whispered, and behind him I could see the some of the other members getting ready to attack me. The only way for me to survive now was a miracle.

Like somebody had fired of a gun in front of me I turned and ran out in the streets, the bells jingling furiously because of my sharp movements.
I saw blurred faces pass by as the crowds were parting for me as I came running at a dangerous speed.
“Come back here you damn idiot!” I heard Marcus yell behind me. I did not look back.
I did not know where I was going, I just ran. I heard people get pushed aside as the gang was after me and people yelling at us and complaining, of absolutely NO importance for me right now!  
I turned a corner and I found myself at the plaza, I ran across it and into the first side street that I saw, bad idea. It was a dead end.
I turned around to run back, but it was too late, Marcus was standing there, blocking the way.
“OK everybody, make sure he can’t get out of here, I will take care of him.” While talking he closed up on me.

The first punch he threw at me went to the stomach; I could feel my insides moving as his fist smashed into me. I hit the wall behind me. The next punch came so quick that I did not have time to put up a fight, straight in the face, and I immediately felt the taste of blood fill my mouth.
I could not protect myself from Marcus. He was too strong, and soon I was on the ground, bleeding from my mouth, nose and a gash in my head that I had gotten when he smashed me into the wall for the third time. My hat was lying beside me on the ground, stained in my blood; the bells did not jingle any more.
“Come on Crow, where is that immense strength that you are always bragging about! Huh! Where is your pride, huh! Where the fuck is your manhood!?” just as the last word was said he landed a kick to my groin, I screamed. The pain was horrible. One of the other gang members stepped forth; I could hear him walking up to us, but my vision was blurred by tears caused by the pain.
“Marcus, I think it is enough now. Look at him, we got him.” he said, but Marcus did not like the sound of that; “Fuck you Micha! Like hell that I would let him go just because you pity the bastard!” Marcus got silent for a minute; it was like he was thinking. “Well, OK then Micha, I will stop. YOU will take care of him now! Make sure that he is as good as dead when you are finished.”
I opened one of my eyes to see the situation. Marcus was standing with his back against me, handing forth a knife to the guy who was named Micha… What a weird name… He seemed reluctant to taking the knife, but in the end he was too afraid of Marcus to oppose him once more.
Marcus turned his head and smiled devilishly at me, like he was saying ‘Just say you last prayers now kid’ before waking to the entrance of the dead end. When he got there he turned around “Micha, we will head back, you take care of that brat… And believe me, I will know if you haven’t done it.” He said before walking away with the rest of the gang following him.

I saw Micha lifting the knife, he was ready to stab me and I closed my eyes, I did not want to see. Not even the hat. That hat, I had stained it, I was not worthy of looking at it before my death.
“HEY, YOU!” a sharp man’s voice echoed though the dead end and the plaza outside of it.  I opened my eyes just in time to see Micha run out of the dead end past a mighty shadow, blocking the little of light that was from the now lid street lights. The shadow walked closer, before crouching down before me, I could see his face now, he seemed to be old, not wrinkly weak old man old, but I have seen the world and I know a lot old. “Are you OK?” he asked carefully, this low calm voice was nothing like the shout that was from him only seconds ago.
“Y-Yes sir, I think so..” I stuttered, I could still feel the pain pulsating in my groin where Marcus had placed his foot to say it the nice way.
“Yes? That is good, but you seem to have taken quite a beating though. Even your clothes are rabbled and dirty like you should have lived on the street for years.” He said. Like I had been living of the street!? Well where the fuck would I live then if I did not live in the streets!? I took a deep breath to not let my thoughts get the better of me and make me sound rude. I had learned quite early that if you want to get anywhere with these people of ‘royalty’ you have to be polite and address them correctly with sir and miss. Damn! “Uhm, excuse me Sir, but I do live on the street, but I am still grateful for you saving me.”
He seemed surprised, I don’t know the reason for it but I did not care, if he was just going to pity me then he would just as well leave. I got up from the ground and into a half sitting position by supporting myself on my elbows; the muscles in my arms were aching from the stress. I then heard the jingling of bells; I turned my head and saw the man picking up my hat.
“Get your dirty hands of my hat you old bastard!” I growled, but then i immediately slapped a hand in front of my mouth, I had yelled without thinking. He too seemed shocked of my sudden eruption of aggression.
“I am sorry, I did not know that it belonged to you, and how important it seems to be for you.” He said quietly like he was a child trying to apologize for doing something bad.
“No sir it is my fault” I said quickly “it is just that… Yes, that hat means much to me, therefore I am really overprotective of it.” My voice sounded shameful, why? I had nothing to do with this man… except for the fact that he saved my life…. I owed him my life.