Post by Jin Yi on Nov 6, 2011 20:37:40 GMT -5
This sucked.
Amestris was, frankly speaking, everything he had hoped it would be when he'd arrived with his uncle's trading group nearly two years ago. There was barely any poverty, opportunites were everywhere, and so far he'd only seen a handful of problems that had been slowly disappearing ever since the country had a regime change within the last year. Even the farmers here had it good - unlike the ramshackle buildings he'd grown up around in Xing where only the lucky had electricity or running water that didn't need to be pulled from a well, most of the farming families he'd seen travelling with his uncle had their own homes much as the families in the suburban areas of Amestris did, supposedly complete with the exact same amenities, and even the Ishvalans who had been treated as outcasts when he had first arrived in the country were beginning to get recognition and recompensation for the attrocities that the earlier regime had committed against their people. All in all, things were looking up.
Unfortunately, he wasn't Amestrian.
While there was no way in hell he was going to go back to the mud trough he grew up in back in Xing, Jin had to admit that his escape from the trading group's caravan before reaching the country's border had not exactly been all that well planned or thought out, a rarity for the 15 year old, then 13 at the time. Granted, he had enough clarity of mind to grab the documentation that allowed for his stay in Amestris along with a bag and a few meager belongings before leaving that night, but he hadn't actually thought of how he was going to feed or shelter himself before he'd left. After seeing so very few homeless or jobless people between Central and the eastern border Jin had wrongly assumed that getting enough work to support himself would be relatively easy - he spoke the language fluently, after all, and had a very strong and able body for his age. It wasn't until after leaving the life he had that he realized that he'd only done as well as he had earning his keep before because the adults were familiar with his quick mind and talents - out here, he was a foreigner without any truly marketable skill sets beyond being able to fix a few things, and the adults were not as quick to trust a foreign child they didn't know with work they could hand to more familiar hands. While there were a few places that had trusted him enough to hire him out on a job by job basis, allowing him to slowly work up a reputation for future work, all in all it wasn't enough to support himself for long, and after a few months of living without a roof over his head and going without a decent meal for days at a time Jin finally swallowed his pride and began resorting to the only other means of income he could think of - stealing. The act had and still did fill Jin with self loathing and revulsion every time he did it, but it was better than starving or dying of exposure.
In short, life in general sucked.
At least today was nice, though - warm and sunny, and the kind that kept people generally happy and either daydreaming or otherwise distracted. While New Optain wasn't nearly as big as East City it was placed directly between it and Youswelle, and by extension East City and the train route to Xing. As a result it had turned out to be an excellent "hunting" ground for the teenager - of rather average but thin build at 5' 1" and dressed in an olive colored t shirt and cream colored shorts, the fact that he was clearly Xingese did little to make Jin stand out among the relatively varied, ever changing crowd at the local train station. If anything it helped - while not many, there were enough Xingese people present that he could simply imply he was waiting for his parents, and few people were familiar enough with the city to call him out on it.
As Jin leaned against one of the walls on the far end of the train platform, largely hidden from view behind the throngs of people awaiting the next train out, the teenager's attention perked as another train pulled in on the next platform over. The moment people began disembarking his eyes began picking out likely targets, marks more likely to end up paying off big than others. Almost immediately he was irritated with himself as his eyes were drawn to a flash of pink as a small girl stepped off the train with a blond boy about his age behind her, immediately disregarding her - while it had only been the vibrant color that had drawn his attention, it annoyed him that something so flashy would distract him, even for a moment. After several more moments of searching, though, Jin found his mark - a taller man, clearly well off but in enough of a hurry getting off of the train that he was bumping into people left and right as he attempted to rush through the crowd. It was almost sad, really - Jin couldn't had asked for a easier target.
Pushing off of the wall with his back, Jin began to slowly move through the crowd towards the train station's exit onto the main streets, blending in with the movement as best he could and putting on a burst of speed at the last moment, breaking into a full out sprint. As he did so his path intersected with the man's a moment later, with Jin seemingly only brushing past him without seeming to touch him at all for more than a second. In that split second, though, Jin managed to slip his hand into the man's coat pocket that was bulging just that much more than the other, with his mark's wallet in his possession a moment later as if by sleight of hand - to the casual onlooker it might have appeared that Jin had it from the beginning, or that it would've appearing in his possession as if out of thin air. Pleased with the weight of the leather, Jin pocketed the wallet just as quickly slowing his pace to that of a relaxed jog as he began to exit the station, keeping an eye on the man he'd just stolen from. While it may not have been much in terms of compensation, Jin did regret the act, and he would attempt to return the wallet when he could, before the man left the city - granted, much of the money would be gone, but at the very least Jin refused to stoop so low as to steal the man's identity, and he saw no reason to inconvenience the guy any further than he already had.
Slowing his pace even further to one of a casual walk, Jin kept his eyes on his latest victim and moved to match the crowd leaving the station.
Amestris was, frankly speaking, everything he had hoped it would be when he'd arrived with his uncle's trading group nearly two years ago. There was barely any poverty, opportunites were everywhere, and so far he'd only seen a handful of problems that had been slowly disappearing ever since the country had a regime change within the last year. Even the farmers here had it good - unlike the ramshackle buildings he'd grown up around in Xing where only the lucky had electricity or running water that didn't need to be pulled from a well, most of the farming families he'd seen travelling with his uncle had their own homes much as the families in the suburban areas of Amestris did, supposedly complete with the exact same amenities, and even the Ishvalans who had been treated as outcasts when he had first arrived in the country were beginning to get recognition and recompensation for the attrocities that the earlier regime had committed against their people. All in all, things were looking up.
Unfortunately, he wasn't Amestrian.
While there was no way in hell he was going to go back to the mud trough he grew up in back in Xing, Jin had to admit that his escape from the trading group's caravan before reaching the country's border had not exactly been all that well planned or thought out, a rarity for the 15 year old, then 13 at the time. Granted, he had enough clarity of mind to grab the documentation that allowed for his stay in Amestris along with a bag and a few meager belongings before leaving that night, but he hadn't actually thought of how he was going to feed or shelter himself before he'd left. After seeing so very few homeless or jobless people between Central and the eastern border Jin had wrongly assumed that getting enough work to support himself would be relatively easy - he spoke the language fluently, after all, and had a very strong and able body for his age. It wasn't until after leaving the life he had that he realized that he'd only done as well as he had earning his keep before because the adults were familiar with his quick mind and talents - out here, he was a foreigner without any truly marketable skill sets beyond being able to fix a few things, and the adults were not as quick to trust a foreign child they didn't know with work they could hand to more familiar hands. While there were a few places that had trusted him enough to hire him out on a job by job basis, allowing him to slowly work up a reputation for future work, all in all it wasn't enough to support himself for long, and after a few months of living without a roof over his head and going without a decent meal for days at a time Jin finally swallowed his pride and began resorting to the only other means of income he could think of - stealing. The act had and still did fill Jin with self loathing and revulsion every time he did it, but it was better than starving or dying of exposure.
In short, life in general sucked.
At least today was nice, though - warm and sunny, and the kind that kept people generally happy and either daydreaming or otherwise distracted. While New Optain wasn't nearly as big as East City it was placed directly between it and Youswelle, and by extension East City and the train route to Xing. As a result it had turned out to be an excellent "hunting" ground for the teenager - of rather average but thin build at 5' 1" and dressed in an olive colored t shirt and cream colored shorts, the fact that he was clearly Xingese did little to make Jin stand out among the relatively varied, ever changing crowd at the local train station. If anything it helped - while not many, there were enough Xingese people present that he could simply imply he was waiting for his parents, and few people were familiar enough with the city to call him out on it.
As Jin leaned against one of the walls on the far end of the train platform, largely hidden from view behind the throngs of people awaiting the next train out, the teenager's attention perked as another train pulled in on the next platform over. The moment people began disembarking his eyes began picking out likely targets, marks more likely to end up paying off big than others. Almost immediately he was irritated with himself as his eyes were drawn to a flash of pink as a small girl stepped off the train with a blond boy about his age behind her, immediately disregarding her - while it had only been the vibrant color that had drawn his attention, it annoyed him that something so flashy would distract him, even for a moment. After several more moments of searching, though, Jin found his mark - a taller man, clearly well off but in enough of a hurry getting off of the train that he was bumping into people left and right as he attempted to rush through the crowd. It was almost sad, really - Jin couldn't had asked for a easier target.
Pushing off of the wall with his back, Jin began to slowly move through the crowd towards the train station's exit onto the main streets, blending in with the movement as best he could and putting on a burst of speed at the last moment, breaking into a full out sprint. As he did so his path intersected with the man's a moment later, with Jin seemingly only brushing past him without seeming to touch him at all for more than a second. In that split second, though, Jin managed to slip his hand into the man's coat pocket that was bulging just that much more than the other, with his mark's wallet in his possession a moment later as if by sleight of hand - to the casual onlooker it might have appeared that Jin had it from the beginning, or that it would've appearing in his possession as if out of thin air. Pleased with the weight of the leather, Jin pocketed the wallet just as quickly slowing his pace to that of a relaxed jog as he began to exit the station, keeping an eye on the man he'd just stolen from. While it may not have been much in terms of compensation, Jin did regret the act, and he would attempt to return the wallet when he could, before the man left the city - granted, much of the money would be gone, but at the very least Jin refused to stoop so low as to steal the man's identity, and he saw no reason to inconvenience the guy any further than he already had.
Slowing his pace even further to one of a casual walk, Jin kept his eyes on his latest victim and moved to match the crowd leaving the station.
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