Chase was whistling quietly, or at least attempting to.
In all honesty, he had no clue how to whistle, so he was really just walking behind Gabe in the dimly lit streets of The City of The Sun- Making strange spitting noises.
Gabriel turned his head toward Chase, giving him a questioned look full of confusion, and then decided it was better not asking.
it was quite late now, and the new member of The Merchant's Guild supply team, had found himself extremely bored.
In fact, he had been bored the entire time. It wasn't like he was the one doing most of the work either.
Gabriel had led the deliveries, stamped them with the guild's sigil, and placed them on each doorstep. So, Chase was really just tagging along, and offering a hand on certain occasions.
With a sigh, he began to scratch at the marking on his shoulder again. It had slowly turned into a terrible habit, considering the amount of cuts he would wake up with, that surrounded the rune.
After they arrived at the second to last destination, Gabriel had began to explain everything he would need to know, if he ever got assigned a solo delivery.
However, Chase had pretty much lost interest after the words 'Nobles' and 'Orders'. Plus, he could probably get the hang of things pretty easily, whether he listened or not.
While Gabriel was yapping about the rules of the Merchant's guild, Chase was observing his surroundings as best as he could.
He had never been to a big city, before his arrival on the day he moved into the academy, or even seen one from afar at that.
His father had actively avoided large groups of people, and even the private social gatherings in Willowmere.
Hell, the sickly man had never even thrown Chase a birthday. So on the twenty-fifth day of every month, he would sit alone in his room and light a candle. After he would make a simple wish, he would blow out the candle and go to bed.
Chase kicked a rock, while waiting for Gabriel to finish stamping the next package.
In front of them was a small staircase, that led up to a grand wooden door, that was surrounded by an intricate design of cloths engraved into the brick walls.
Two large windows sat on either side of the door. The lights were off, but Chase could faintly make out large racks, that were lined with different pieces of clothing, on the inside.
Chase looked back up at the constellations that painted the night sky.
There was only one wish that he ever made on each of his birthdays.
'I wish that I could meet my mother.'
He remembered the phrase that had grown quite repetitive over the years; however, that did not stop him from lighting his own finger on fire, within The Dark Forest in order to make his wish one last time.
Chase had been convinced that he was going to die on that fateful day, and wondered if he even needed to bother with all of that, and yet he did.
Now that he had a place to live, clean clothes, and a stable amount of food every night. He found himself questioning the very wish he had made so many times.
That wasn't what he wanted anymore, and if anything- What he wanted most, was now just a vague question, that he did not have the answer to...
Chase wanted to know who he was. Who he really was, and he wanted to know soon.
He had tried to ask Leander, and several others as well, but they would just ignore him, or completely change the subject.
Of course, he had picked up clues along the way, such as the several mentions of a Phoenix.
He also knew for a fact that Leander had known his father, and that is why the man had taken such a liking to him in the first place.
Gabriel stepped off of the stairs, and had begun walking further in the direction of the outer parts of the city.
"Hey, check that map for the last place."
He asked, pulling Chase out of his thoughts.
Fumbling with the paper, he lifted it up and began to check off the second to last delivery.
All that was left was one last location, that read- The Underbelly. The small alleyway underneath Creekstone Bridge. Notes - Deliver to the market keeper.
"It says underneath The Creekstone Bridge, but we gotta hand it to the keeper dude."
Chase could not see Gabriel's expression but he knew it had darkened. He did not respond to the directions either, as if he knew the location quite well.
So they walked for a bit, and as they walked, the streets grew less populated and the man-made sources of lighting seemed to flicker, and fade slowly as they made their way.
They eventually found a small stone bridge on an empty street. To the left of the bridge was a small pathway that led down, and underneath it.
Below the bridge, was another street, that had plenty of housing, as well as shops surrounding it.
However, underneath the bridge, were only shadows and a small lantern that flickered gently with the wind.
Gabriel cautiously made his way underneath it, and walked to the a small crevice within the wall.
Above it, was a small sign that hung from a single chain, and on it was a poorly drawn face, that wore a large toothy grin, and next to the child's drawing was a name.
The Underbelly...