Standing Ovation

Prologue

 5 years ago he wouldn't have been crouched on that roof overlooking the musty alleyways filled with vermin and trash. The sounds and smells infiltrated his senses, causing his eyes to water and hands to clench onto the edge of the railing. "Moggy." The scratchy and gnarled voice called through the walkie talkie, breaking him out of his little hissy-fit. His hand moved to his waist, grabbing the small black talking device that was clipped to the belt loop of his old black jeans. He brought it to his mouth with ease, pressing the button. Bleep.

"Ashni, how many times do I have to tell you that my name is William?" His settling voice departed from his throat, the resonant sound, that was just above a whisper, was spoken into the speaker, as the left corner of his mouth lifted into a small smirk, his feline teeth beginning to show. 

A feminine laugh jumped out of the walkie talkie like a small antelope, "Ten more times." There was a pause before she spoke again, "Francis claims that it will downpour soon and our little leader says she wants you to get your job done and come back as soon as possible." Again, Ashni paused for a minute, "Make no mistakes." William glanced at the sky with a scoff. It was black and soulless, as it usually was. No stars were shown, not even a ray of light from the full moon that was apparently taking place that night. He lowered the small radio, putting it back in it's old spot. There was no reason to answer the damned elf on the other side of the static since she'd give him a beating when he got back. With that out of the way and new orders consuming his thoughts, he moved over to the opposite corner of the roof and, as it began to drizzle, his ears twitched when he caught hold of the sudden burst of commotion. When he looked over the edge of the roof, he wasn't surprised to find someone down there. Except it wasn't only one person, it was two, and they sounded upset. One man wearing a black cloak that covered his features stood at the entrance to the alley, while the other stayed in the shadows.

William leaned over a little, careful not to fall on the duo, as he attempted to listen.

"Did you get the..." The rain began to fall at a quicker pace, drowning out the rest of the guy's sentence. He growled in agitation.

"No, they didn't have any. Will emperor..." The cloaked guy's voice caught his attention. They were talking about the emperor in a stinky alleyway, how ironic. The man stepped closer to the other one, the black cloth on his back flowing as the rain and wind wrestled over the wrecked fabric. The two whispered for a minute as William bent closer, putting most of his weight onto the old rusted railing. "Now!" The brutal yell of the man caught him off guard but what shocked him was the weapon pointed straight at him. The bow was strongly-built and shining in the darkness and before he could react properly, slicing pain erupted on his right cheekbone. His ears went back and his feline nature seemed to kick in as he leapt away from the danger he was in, arrows coming down from the sky much like the rain. A relentless storm that promised pain.

William's eyes struggled to see as the precipitation began to pelt his face and body, it was safe to say it was hurtful with how hard it was hitting the roof beneath him. There was a ladder on one side of the building, that he once used to access the place he was in now, but he couldn't remember which one it was. He squinted and rubbed his face with his already soaked sleeve, not making any progress. The yelling of the men reached his ears and the sudden smell of gunpowder filled his nose. William struggled to find an escape route, ready to give up and surrender, before his eyes landed on the rows of buildings next to his own.

"Shit."

At only 5'5" you'd think it would be easy for a man with feline abilities to just leap over alleyways and onto a different rooftop, but you would be wrong. Extremely wrong. William gulped as he stared down at the ground beneath him, his fear of heights becoming evident in the back of his mind. "That's a long way down." He muttered, his deep voice shaking as he backed away from the ledge. Sure, he was fine when he was looking at the ground a few minutes ago, but that was before he was considering jumping to his death. Even if he did manage to jump to the other roof, it wouldn't guarantee a clean escape, plus if there was no way down then he was as good as dead no matter what.

"He's up there, let's go get him!" One of the men yelled, attracting his attention and, through the pouring rain, the stomping up the ladder was clear and burdensome to William's soft heart. Much like gunshots, each step they took made his anxiety worsen. He looked to the side and took a deep breath before he stood on the edge once more, his plans changing to something new automatically. The boy was in fight or flight mode at that point. His body turned to face the opposite side of the roof as he crouched and found good enough grip on the slick brick, "Mother, please forgive me for what I'm about to do." He said, glancing at the sky, his face being smacked with the rain.

 He shook his head and carefully lowered himself to hang off the side of the building, fingers clutching the edge of the hard stone as he stayed there limply, much like a rag-doll. It was safe to say he was frantic. His head titled to stare down at the far drop, his chin taking a rest on his chest as his heartbeat quickened it's pace. The stomping stopped after a while, but that was when two thuds were heard on the gravel of the roof. William's hands turned cold, his breathing ceased, his heart hammered in his ears and the silence carried on for what felt like eternity. What he thought was quiet was a difficult lie that he told himself but the reality was that; the sound of rain and whispering was drowned out by the fear. It was as if nothing else even existed other than the thought of survival. His ears were ringing and the tail in his pants was ticking to an absent clock as he waited. 

Suddenly, a whistle sounded and his head shot upwards. A man loomed above him, the butt of a rifle aimed at William's face while the man smiled. His eyes widened at the sudden threat and he immediately let go of the brick wall. His body twisted and turned as he fell and his hands attempted to grip the wall only to be sliced open and hurt by the old stone. William's throat released a strangled cry when he came to recognize the fact that he was actually falling. It felt as if an hour passed before he got close to landing but as soon as he hit the ground, everything went black, and the last thing he could smell was the startling and intrusive scent of garbage within the musty alleyway he was once overlooking.