"Hey Clara, are you free right now?"
"Sorry, I still need to deliver two letters and one package. I'll meet with you when I'm free though"
"that's sucks, see you later then"
I grab the two letters I need to deliver and put them in my bag then grab the package. I decide to deliver the package first and it seems to be for Mrs. Anders from the shop nearby, I wonder what she ordered... a little peek won't get me in too much trouble right...
unable to hold back my curiosity I gently untie the package to open it. i look inside and it... has a letter?
"Hey clara, no looking. i won't report the last few times so stop it"
ugh, she caught me. when though...? anyway, I just have to tie this back up and act like I didn't see the letter, right? I package everything as it was moments before my... investigation. yes, investigation. after I repackage it, I grab it and head out to the shop.
I head out the main gates of the school and bump into a few friends of mine and see they're heading to the shop I'm delivering the package to.
"Hey Ari, Yuna. you two headed to Mrs. Anders?" I ask the duo
"Ah, yes. We need a few supplies for our club. Are you heading there as well?" Ari answers calmly
"Yes, I have a package for her. I'll join you two on the way there."
With that, I join the two. Ari and Yuna, members of some crafts clubs. clubs that have jobs of fixing other people broken items and making things. whether it's decoration pieces or tools, i trust their work and often request for few things myself. on the walk there I ask Yuna about my order from a month ago
"Yuna, how's my knife coming along?"
"It's almost done I think. can you come to the smiths to check it out later."
"Yes. I'd really like to see your work."
"Don't get your hopes too high. I barely got to actually work as a blacksmith, my teacher barely let me take your order because I'm not exactly ready to take orders yet"
"Don't worry Yuna. I'm sure it'll be great!"
a month ago, I'd heard that Yuna would be able to work as a blacksmith soon, so of course I had to be her first official customer. Before, I only requested fixes as a friend, and now I get to see her first work done on an order. as for Ari, I'd asked her to repair a few clothes I'd torn on some errands. her work is pretty good, but I don't get why her teacher says she's average and tries to send me to other students to repair my clothes.
"The Ander's Little Supply Shop". seeing the shops sign I run off leaving the two behind, package in hand. Then I see a boy run out of the store with a big bag on his back and Mr. Anders running after the boy, but the boy's too fast even with that bag... Reaching the shop, I go in to see Mrs. Anders behind the counter and a huge mess in the shop.
""Mrs. Anders, what happened here?"
"That boy stole a few things, but we'll be fine"
"What!? why would he need to steal that many things? that bag was huge. and he made this mess didn't he" I ask with concern for her shop
"Clara, it's fine. really... he's from the Innercity I'm sure" she whispers the last part to me
"The Innercity?! then we should repor-"
"CLARA!... we don't need to do anything. I just need to clean. don't tell anyone I told you this"
"Sure then... but I don't like keeping secrets like this"
Mrs. Anders has a past in the Innercity, and she still seems to help few of her "children" whatever that means. she says they're not really her kids, but she loves them... if that boy was her kid, then why would he run? why wouldn't she want to report it? I'll just listen for now and stop talking about it.
I see Mr. Anders come back through the entrance with Ari and Yuna behind him.
"We couldn't catch him, he ran into the alleys" Ari says, tired and out of breath
"Don't worry about him, can you help me clean up?" Mrs. Anders asks the girls
"Yeah, sure we can. Ari, you take a break first" Yuna starts cleaning the place with Mr. and Mrs. Anders
"I'm sorry but I still have two letters to deliver. I'll leave your package on the counter; can you sign the paperwork by the time I'm back as well?" I tell Mrs. Anders before leaving to deliver the letters.
Looking at the addresses on the letters, they seem further away... and one's near an entrance to the Innercity. Seeing that and noting the boy from earlier, I take my baton out and set it on my hip, so it'll be ready to use. After readying up I make my way to the closer address which seems to be an alleyway second level.
A while later I'm walking along on a waterpipe running along a building. looking down at the roads from up here feels nice, the bugs can get a bit annoying though, so I pull up my hood. on the pipes I see the mark red, so I jump onto the building walk nearing my destination.
At the address I put the letter in the mail slot on the door then run of to my next and last destination for the day. That's when I see another red hood, so i call out to them.
"Hey, you going this way too?"
"Huh! yes. yes, I am" The girl seems startled. she has black long hair and a gentle face.
"I'm going near an entrance. I'd like to have company there if you wouldn't mind"
"Really, me too" she looks me up and down "but I'll delivering a little deeper than you. So, you'll have to wait for me when we're there"
Seeing her look at me I'm guessing she was looking for a black tag. she's probably a second year, maybe third then.
"Okay then, I can do that. and can I ask, are you a second or third year?" I ask about her age to know why she's allowed in the deeper areas
"Second. but I have permission to deliver to the deeper areas of the Innercity"
"Ooh, are you strong. that's reassuring, then I'll trust you with my life"
"Yes, you could say that. and can I know your name? I'm Anastasia"
"My name's Clara. first year messenger"
On our way to the Innercity entrance Anastasia and I talk a bit. running along the buildings, alleys, and pipeways. I learn she's an achiever, she's a summoner with a fox and a wolf so that's why she's allowed deeper into the Innercity. she uses her fox to scout ahead of her paths and her wolf in emergencies such as fighting or running.
When we get to the entrance, I find my destination near the ground floor, there's no mailbox or slots in the door, so I knock. waiting with Anastasia she holds what looks like a badge of some kind. When the door opens, I hand over the letter and with that. I'm done for the day.
Anastasia leads me to the rooftops of the buildings
"Stay here until I get back" She hands me a badge with a wolf pattern and for a moment it glows green. "Call for Rudy if you need protection"
She hops down the pipes and balconies going back down... she seems to know this place well. or maybe she's scouted ahead with her fox, don't know. but I do as she says and wait here.
[Michael's perspective]
I wake up early to the sound of fighting down below. insults of "you bastard!" or "bitch!" cross my ears but I ignore them. more annoyed they're so loud. anyway, now that I'm awake I hop off the gas pipe landing on one of the fighting two to cushion my landing, knocking him flat on his face and... he's not moving.
"He dead?" I mutter to myself
"Hey kid. he owed me, now he can't pay me back. so be ready to pay up"
I get up and walk off, not wanting to deal with this guy. but he grabs my shoulder so shove him away. going to pick up a metal bar.
He stumbles getting back up, probably drunk from last night. no wonder he was so easy to push off. he gets a clear look at what's in my hands then tries to talk his way out of his mistake.
"Hey, kid. you're not reall-" BANG
After a couple minutes there's another body to hide. I'll let the resident's take care of it so I walk off into the alleys, the buildings so high make's it dark down here on the ground levels. my family lives on the mid levels of the Innercity. I'll need to get them some foods, or they might try to come down here themselves
I look around the ground level, for a bar. the smoke being the only thing that fills the stale air, the yellow and blue lights makes it a little hard to relax. the trash piles being and ugly sight, and barely any way to rise from here. I don't need my children to come here. I see the roads leading to the bar I favor. it's a little close to an exit but that makes it good.
I rush to the bar only to see... sigh it's that hyper idiot.
"Hey, what the hell're you doing here?" I hit the boy's head pretty hard
"OW! oh, it's you..." he seems displeased seeing me
"I told you not to come down to the ground levels. get back to the family" I walk into the bar not waiting for him to respond. and yet, he follows
"I was getting food since you were late, the girls are starving"
"Idiot. get food for everyone, not just the girls"
We order food from the barkeep, and he gives me an errand instead of letting me pay normally.
"I have a job for you. I'm running low few things. get them for me and you'll get these for free"
"Done" I accept without hesitation, getting food for free's too good to pass up. "Hey idiot. bring this food to the family yourself i have a job"
"What! but it's too much to hold for me"
"Do it." I take the paper from the barkeep then head out.
Let's see what's here. yeast, fruits, glasses, pitchers... is this just a resupply list? why not just tell me straight up. well let's do this I suppose. I take a bag from the streets then empty it out, hearing a small "Hey!" behind me and, is this a wind amulet?! using it I jump up higher than I thought I would. running to the exit I feel like I'm faster
That guy, how'd he have something like this? not exactly normal. shit, what if he's dealing with a gang. Gotta hope he doesn't remember me. reaching the exit, I travel the mid levels soon seeing the actual blue skies. I keep going until I finally exit the Innercity. I make my way up the buildings by the pipes, balconies, and ladders to see the city once again.
looking down feels nice. I can breathe, it's cool, and bright. now the list, fruits will come last, so pitchers and glasses first. I know where to get those. So, I hop across buildings until I reach the school area, when I go down it's around midday.
I drop down pipe to pipe. I wonder... At a thought, I think I might try something a bit crazy.
After gathering my nerves, I jump off the building at around 150 meters. using the wind amulet i can control my fall a little bit. The speed I'm falling, the adrenaline is a bit much, before I know it, I'm at the ground. In a panic I clutch the stone regretting things and ready to die when a strong gust of wind breaks my fall.
I find myself laying down in the alleys, my heart racing from the fall. it was a lot faster than I thought it would be, but I'm alive. I take a moment to rest, thinking about my new toy. once I calm down, I make my way to the shop to get the glasses and pitchers.
I get out of the alley then walk down the road to the shop, taking in the sights around me. the mid levels are actually pretty, and it looks like there're no high levels. the waterpipes look sturdy and easy to walk on. I look at the sign
"The Ander's Little Supply Shop"
in and out, I hope. I have my amulet if I need a way out. I walk into the store
"You must be a new customer, what's your name? I'm Audrey Anders" the shopkeeper says
"Oh, I'm Michael. I'm here to get some glass cups and some pitchers if you have any" I give her a fake name
"Yes, we do have them over here" She guides me through the store, I stuff things into my bag few glasses pitchers and whatever'll be useful for me
"I certainly hope you're planning on paying for those things" hearing that, I feel like her eyes are on me. I panic, then the amulet activates. blowing a gust of wind into the store destroying nearly everything.
I run out as quickly as I can, finding a man and two girls chasing me, the amulet makes me feel light, I'm able to run at my top speed despite holding this bag. i run back into the alleyway then use the stone to jump to the building tops. running still. I take a look at my errand list, glasses and pitchers, check. now for yeast, fruits, and beers among few other things.
Hours later I finish the list. I go back to the Innercity exit, a fox like creature passes by me. I look at it then I see it look back at me, suddenly speeding off. Later I'm approached by a girl, a red hood with black hair... a messenger from the school.