“Morning, Stephan. Good of you to make it here,” Roland greeted their fourth member. “Would have been a shame for you to miss today’s adventure.”

Nothing but the truth from this smiling paragon of a leader, who so enthusiastically welcomed what could have easily been mistaken as a walking corpse.

Stephan had definitely seen better days. Eyes swollen with dark circles under them, unkempt black hair standing in every possible direction, and a distinct lack of his usual jewelry all pointed towards two possibilities. He had either not gotten enough sleep or was in fact one of the reanimated dead.

The red flush all over his whole body supported the former possibility.

“Morning, Boss,” Stephan tiredly replied while taking out a small comb, slowly adjusting the disaster on his head. He assessed that the situation was in fact not as serious as his large captor had led him to believe. “Of course, I’ll be there whenever you call me. Dutiful like always.”

A snort came from the beside him where an unconvinced Arthur choose not to comment on Stephan’s imaginative statement. He instead shot an inquisitive look towards their leader, wondering if everything was alright.

“Sorry about alarming you this morning, Arthur. Must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed or something,” Roland apologized to his large friend, regretful over having made Arthur run himself ragged first thing in the morning. “We’ll have a nice relaxing morning of work, before getting some energy in preparation for the public training. No need to be an edge, as Thomas would say.”

The latter reacted slightly towards Roland’s words, but it remained unclear whether the throwback to one of his previous still legally disputed mistakes or the mention of ‘getting some energy’ caused it.

Arthur took a deep look into Roland’s eyes and, seeing nothing concerning, nodded. The aura of tension which had been hanging around him diminished greatly, though it would be a while until he could get out of his serious mindset. Their next activity might help with that however.

“Clumped together like fish in a barrel. Working from morning to night just to make ends meet,” Roland started his briefing with a little speech to set the tone after he got everyone’s attention. “And when you factor in all the stress of daily life, these poor people often forget to even take care of their own health!”

Comb stopping mid brush Stephan’s eyes widened in shock, before his face distorted into a grimace. A bad morning had taken a turn for the worse. In a display that single-handedly proved the existence of miracles, the same reaction could be observed on Arthur. Their leader talking about ‘Health’ being a sign of impending disaster was one of the few things these as dissimilar as it got boys could agree on.

“As protectors of the people it us our calling to remind them of the importance of living healthy, and to help them in their struggle,” Taking joy in his friends’ pained expressions, Roland continued. “Let’s go around, everyone naming one thing he considers of vital importance to stay healthy in times like these. And then we’ll set out to inform our fellow citizen. Stephan you can start.”

Extraordinarily not amused but without any alternatives left, Stephan cleared his throat. There were those who would falter in the face of hardships and simply run away or collapse into a feeble ball of despair. Not Stephan though. He would try to get it over as quickly as possible, keeping himself sane with thoughts of a brighter future. Preferably one where he did not have to talk to another person ever again.

“I believe a big factor of people succumbing to illness nowadays is insufficient sleep,” Stephan said devoid of emotion, the current state he was in making his words more believable. “The sun sets very late during this season which makes people subconsciously stay awake longer. And after not getting enough rest, they turn more susceptible to illness. We should remind them to go to sleep at appropriate times.”

A surprisingly logical idea on paper. A bunch of kids telling adults to mind their sleeping schedule would however not go over all that well under normal circumstances. Luckily the Crescent Moon Helpers had a reputation for weird behavior to back them.

“Great idea as always, Stephan,” Roland praised his friend, before turning towards their other unenthusiastic member. “How about you, Arthur?”

“Water,” Arthur suggested stoically, quite possibly thinking that quickly running throughout the city for this had been a mistake. “Nobody ever drinks as much as they should.”

Serious nods abounded, everyone having been told more times than they could count to drink more water. Who could possibly mind another reminder?

“They gotta eat,” Thomas gave his predictable response without any prompting, though his reasoning turned out to be quite unique. “If they don’t eat, all the food will go bad. And then it’ll stink up the whole town and everyone will get sick from the smell! We all have to eat our part so it doesn’t come to that.”

A moment of silence followed before Thomas’ suggestion was wordlessly accepted, his reasoning being just as wordlessly amended. Though nobody bothered to tell Thomas about it.

May the Princess grant patience and understanding to whoever gets a visit from Tommy today.

“Wonderful,” Roland clapped his hands to conclude their gathering of ideas. “Sleep, water and food. Very basic, and important due to that. Reminding everyone of them is today’s task. We’ll get some fruits from a nearby market and each pick one of the buildings over there to hand them out while talking about the importance of living healthy of course.”

“Boss,” Stephan interjected, trying to look like a loyal subordinate offering a helpful suggestion. Not particularly succeeding, courtesy of his strained face. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we all focused our efforts on ‘one’ building in particular. I feel like we could really convince people that way.”

While not outright saying it, Stephan made it blindingly obvious what he meant. He to his credit worded it carefully, not being one to blurt out things he shouldn’t, even under extreme sleep deprivation.

So you want us to find a good excuse to focus on the target’s building? If we were under time constraint, I might consider that, however seeing the kind of plan I am going for here you should know time is not a concern.

“Trying to cut corners again, my dear friend?” Roland asked, eyes narrowed, Stephan’s recent slip up still fresh on his mind.

“He he he, of course not, Boss. I would never,” Stephan nervously laughed. “I’ll take that one.” Pointing randomly to show he agreed with his leader, he unluckily selected the only reserved building.

“How about that one instead?” Roland suggested, smiling once again as he took Stephan’s outstretched arm and moved it slightly to the side. He was enjoying himself quite a lot.

“Sure,” Stephan acquiesced, close to tears by now.

Arthur had been watching their exchange in deep thought. Not due to anything specific they were doing, but purely because he was thinking about the best way to survive the coming ordeal with as much of his pride intact as he possible. A futile undertaking no doubt.

“There should be a place selling fruit down that street,” Roland remarked, pointing towards a small side street which led to a local greengrocer. “I’ll wait here while you get something to hand out. Oranges or apples are fine, don’t pick anything that’s too small or messy.”

Arthur listlessly followed the quickly disappearing Thomas, whereas Stephan stayed behind, looking like he wanted to say something else.

“The both of them combined probably have barely enough copper to buy a dozen apples,” Roland idly commented. “They’ll definitely need your financial support.”

Stephan couldn’t help but scoff at the idea of Thomas having any money whatsoever. With food being literally sold everywhere on the street, it was simply that preposterous of a notion.

“Keep those grabby fingers contained, Tommy. I’m not paying if you eat something expensive!” Stephan shouted after the almost out of sight glutton, fully convinced of the latter’s ability to devour something of priceless value, even inside a store selling cheap vegetables and fruits.

Having gotten some spirit from hollering publicly at the top of his lungs, Stephan quietly apologized to his leader, “Sorry about earlier, Boss. I’ll do better from now on.”

Despite him looking truly pitiful, like a minor criminal trying to atone for that time he stole a weird looking hat, there seemed to be something slightly off about Stephan’s behavior. Judging by the well-hidden, calculating look he gave his leader, it appeared he was more interested in Roland’s reaction than his own apology.

Not noticing Stephan’s shifty gaze, Roland raised a brow at his friend’s timid conduct, feeling the slightest bit sorry himself. Maybe I have been bullying Stephan a bit too much recently. He did solid work with my wounds. And also came pretty quickly today, despite looking like shit. Though Arthur probably played a major part in that. Eh, whatever, guess I can cut him some slack.

“Stephan,” Roland said, smiling at his sketchy but actually surprisingly reliable companion. “I was joking around earlier, don’t take things too seriously. You have been doing fine enough as of late.”

Despite Roland’s what he himself considered reassuring response, none of the expected relief was seen on Stephan’s face. He instead gave his leader a look full of suspicion, before quickly running after the other two without another word.

What was that about?

*

A nice wicker basket filled with oranges in hand, Roland knocked on the first of many doors he would see today. Arthur and Stephan greatly disliked public work, he himself however did not particularly mind it.

Well, Arthur’s people skills probably make things a lot harder than they should be, and while Stephan can be an even better actor than me, he freaking hates stuff like this because it feels like wasted effort to him. Sorry guys, rules are rules, no matter whether you know them or not.

The door slowly opened halfway, revealing an elderly man, concernedly looking at the stranger in front of him.

“Good morning, sir,” Roland greeted the man, smile so radiant it almost lit up the dreary corridor. “I’m Roland from the Crescent Moon Helpers. We are going around this area today to remind people of the importance of sufficient sleep, drinking enough water and not skipping any meals. If you’d like I would love for you to take one of these oranges.”

Briefly dumbfounded by the unexpected influx of information, the old man realized what Roland’s purpose was, which only made him more confused.

“You are giving away oranges?” The old man asked, voice raspy from age. “And telling people to live healthy?” His disbelief was plainly visible, apparently never having heard of Roland’s group and their penchant for weird activities.

“Yes, sir,” Roland answered politely, holding the basket a bit closer. He saw absolutely no reason to go further into it.

Still suspicious, but not about to pass on something free, the old man inspected the oranges, ultimately grabbing a particularly big one. He cautiously took a step back afterwards and waited for whatever Roland had planned next.

“A good day to you, sir,” Roland gave his goodbyes, bowing slightly. “May the Princess watch over you.”

Walking towards the next apartment, Roland pretended not to notice the white-haired head poking out of the previous door he saw from the corner of his vision. The quit mumblings concerning an ‘orphanage’ and ‘weirdos’ he heard brought a small smirk to his face. Even if they don’t know about us, the name Crescent is quite famous on its own.

“Thanks for the orange, kid,” The old man called out from behind as he closed the door. This could turn into a strange story to tell his grandchildren. Unfortunately, a good chunk of the people living here would be able to echo his tale, making it pretty unimpressive in the end. Ultimately a free fruit ended up being all he got for opening his door. Which was still very far above the average of what one should expect.

The next apartment’s inhabitants seemed to be out, or deep sleepers. A distinct possibility of them ignoring Roland’s knocking also remained, which mattered little to him as long as the fainting lady didn’t do it.

He caught a bite at his third door. Middle-aged man, unkempt beard, dirty hair and barely dressed. The kind you’d throw back into the lake, because if you brought that thing back home the wife would complain about having to cook something so vile looking.

Roland wasn’t picky though, which is why he repeated his earlier greeting word for word. Once he finished the expressionless man in front of him grabbed an orange out of the basket, before wordlessly closing the door, no doubt eager to tell his family inside that he had just met THE Roland Crescent.

Not letting his fame get the better of him Roland proceeded towards the floor’s last apartment. There for the first time someone actually knew who he was.

“You boys the ones that found old Nancy’s brat when he got lost in the ruins, aren't you?” the tired looking middle-aged woman who had opened the door mentioned, praising look on her face. “Good on you youngsters trying make something of yourselves.”

“I doubt most of the fools living here are going to take any of your advice to heart,” she commented, casually dismissing her neighbors. “Appreciate you trying anyway. I’ll be taking one of those.”

The woman grabbed one orange at random. She smelled it thoroughly, satisfied expression emerging on her face as it apparently met her standards for how an orange should smell.

“May the Princess watch over you, little crescent,” nodding towards Roland, she left these words and returned into her apartment.

“And may her wish be fulfilled,” Roland instinctively finished, somewhat happy about having their efforts recognized but trying not to show it. While the overeager kids at the Orphanage irked him, and he also disliked being seriously praised by those he personally knew, Roland was quite happy about these kinds of quick acknowledgments. Especially for a rescue that ended so well.

Stupid kid smiling happily, excited about his little adventure in the ruins instead of being traumatized for life. I had to organize so many people, but it was worth going the extra mile and finding him before he fell down that hole.

Climbing to the next floor, Roland idly wondered how his companions were fairing. Laughing to himself as he imagined some unflattering interactions, he reached the next apartment. Not being able to see his friend’s struggles was the one big drawback of today’s plan.

*

Thomas

“Are you going to eat that?” Thomas asked the middle-aged man in front of him.

Said man currently held a fresh-looking banana in his hand, given to him about five seconds prior by none other than Thomas himself. It furthermore was the very first thing the pudgy boy did, forgoing any kind of greeting or explanation.

“Uh, I don’t know,” the man stammered, somewhat lost after being handed a fruit with no explanation whatsoever. It seemed many people nowadays had trouble understanding the most basic of concepts.

Patient as always, Thomas grabbed a banana for himself from his vastly overfilled basket. A precaution required to ensure he did not mysteriously run out produce halfway through. Peeling it dexterously from the bottom, Thomas demonstrated to the poor man how one should eat it.

Unable to close the door when faced against such earnest eyes, the man had no choice but to watch Thomas devour his fruit like a starving hyena. An action which lost quite a bit of its already dubious luster by the third one that disappeared into the bottomless abyss.

“It would be best if you eat it now,” Thomas declared seriously, cheeks stuffed with determination. “So I can make sure you actually ate it.”

Look alternating between the ravenous boy and the fruit in his hand, the man ultimately peeled and ate the fruit right where he stood, strongly considering the possibility he was currently experiencing a fever dream.

Shining like the rising sun, Thomas’ look of praise hurt more than it had any right to. Somehow this small kid not even half his age made him feel like a child again, getting praised for finally not shitting himself anymore.

When the man tried to do what he should have done much earlier and close the door on this strange bringer of fruits a loud question interrupted him.

“Do you have any water in the house?” gaze like a sharpened blade, Thomas pushed his body through the half-closed door. He had a mission after all. No complaints would be tolerated, laws and regulations held no sway over him, and basic human decency was no more than a fancy concept that failed to enter his eyes.

Instead of grabbing the seemingly insane child, and throwing it out of his apartment for good, the middle-aged man seriously considered calling for help. Gulping loudly, he then, for reasons unknown even to himself, led Thomas to his kitchen, before offering the latter a glass of water.

Staring in anticipation at the glass, Thomas quickly grew confused, sighing exasperatedly when he realized where the problem lay.

“I’m gonna need you to drink it,” Thomas told the slow-witted guy in front of him, shocked he had to explain every single thing to a fully grown man.

A tremble went through the man as his eyes twitched, irritation somehow mixing with despair. Too much had transpired, if he lost it now because the kid wanted him to drink some water it would be him that ended up looking like the weird one. Soothing himself with shabby excuses, he dunked the whole glass down at once.

Thomas looked proudly upon this man thrice his age, like a parent whose child just took its first steps. These little wonders of life were what made everything else worthwhile.

Incredibly creeped out, the middle-aged man prayed this would be the end of his nightmare. Only to have cold water poured on his hopes as Thomas gazed intently towards a specific room. Housing an old looking bed.

“You feeling tired yet?”