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[Gale Austin McCenry]

So Close Yet So Far

80th of Spring, 514 A.V.
The Streets of Zeltiva

Bad news was bad. Yes, it indeed was. When Richard told Gale that he was leaving for Syliras, that was enough to have the man's heart sink into his stomach. But when it was mentioned that he was going to see a healer about brain cancer, Gale just about threw up. It's been a couple of days since then, but the eerie thought of the possibilities the situation held wasn't a burden that Gale liked to carry.

So, in attempts to take his mind off of things, Gale decided that today, he was going to run errands. He had a few things he still needed to do that he never got around to. Perhaps they would take his mind off things. He needed to go and get gloves, mainly for work so he didn't get splinters all the time. He needed to go get more charcoal, he was running out. He needed to go and get his sign out of the tree in the fish market. He also needed to go get a new eating knife, he surely wasn't going to use the one he had anymore. He needed better work shoes, a new sketchbook so he wasn't wasting the pages of Hana's sketchbook, and he probably should actually use the flute he carried around all the time. How he is going to get better at it if he never played it? That was enough to keep him occupied for at least most of the day.That and Martin.

Gale grabbed his boots and slipped them, buckling them quickly and slipping on his green tunic. He ran a brush through his hair and looked at himself in the mirror. Should he shave? Hmmmm, maybe later Gale snatched his backpack and swung it in his shoulders before scurrying over to the other side of the room. Gale returned to his bed, for there was a basket in which Ricky and Telion left him. Inside this basket, bundled up in two blankets, Martin laid asleep.

A wide grin appeared on Gale's face, as it always did when he say the boy. The godfather knelt beside the basket, and as carefully as he could, slipped his hands under the blankets Martin was wrapped in, praying that he didn't wake the child up. After all, Martin hadn't been exactly sleeping well with his parents away. And neither did Gale, for that matter. Waking up in the middle of the night for the past few days doesn't exactly do one good.

After taking Martin out of the basket, Gale held Martin against his chest, cradling the baby for a few ticks to see if he would stir or wake up. Whether he woke up or not, Gale smiled fondly at the child before heading out the door.

The man exited the Grotto, taking a deep breath of the salty air of the city. He should probably head to the Fish Market first. That's where he can get his sign and from there, he can go to get the clothes he needs. With that decided, Gale started walking down the street, passing the various other citizens and travelers of Zeltiva. Having learned the layout of Zeltiva by heart back when, it didn't take anything more than a single memory to tell him which way to go, which included alley's he could cut through and turns he could take to make the trip shorter. Like the one that ran between these two houses where one had graffiti on it. He keeps expecting the paint to be covered up, but for some reason, it hasn't. Then again, it is East Street, no one cares over there. It served as a good marker, actually. It reminded him of where to turn when his mind was in another place.

Like now. Gale shook his head out of the cloud it was in, looking at the next alley as he approached it to see if it was the right turn.

[Kendhl Pilkvist]

She had found her home again. Zeltiva. Kendhl had been wandering the Wildlands for who knows how long, searching for the port city in vain. Finally she had found the Pass, and in turn she had rediscovered her home.

The ghost made her way through the city in silence, her wraithlike form moving slowly. Where was Gale? He was the one reason she was still here, still in this broken land. The reason she wanted to live for. Her bondmate was the most important thing she'd had in both life and death. She would be with him until he died, too.

The young woman turned her head, fingers rising up to meet her chin in thought. Where would Gale be... Ricky's house? Probably not. Drowning his sorrows at the Kelp Bar? It's possible. That's where she would go first. She took a couple steps, then frowned. Where was the Kelp Bar, again? East Street? Petch, where was East Street? She hadn't strayed far from the beach at all, now that she thought about it.

As she walked through Zeltiva, Kendhl managed to wind up somewhere around the University. The ghost was utterly lost. Reaching out to a passer-by, the girl was almost as surprised as they were when her hand went straight through the person. "So sorry! Um... I'm kinda lost. Which... Which way is the Kelp Bar?"

The stranger pointed and the once-Kelvic was on her way once more. The fact that her hand had gone straight through their flesh was... disturbing. She didn't go through herself, after all. Just other people. How did she feel? Was she cold? Probably.

When she arrived at the door to the Bar, she was suddenly unsure as to how she was going to open it. Passing right through it would be impolite. A frown crossed over her face. Looking at the door, then at her fingers, then back to the door and back to her fingers, an idea popped into the ghost's head.

Kendhl reached for the door, focusing. Her fingers curled instinctively, ready to grasp it. However, as usual, her metaphysical shape would not solidify. The girl grunted and tried again, getting it this time. She pushed and entered the Bar.

It was rather loud, and there were people drinking in every seat, but there was no sign of Gale's curly head or lanky frame. She slipped out of the Kelp Bar. Where was he? The young woman turned and decided that what she saw was East Street, if the sense of pleasure was anything to go by.

"Gale? Gale! Gaa-aale!" Her voice echoed only around her. She roamed through East Street, poking her nose around any and every corner. Didn't she know Zeltiva? A feeling of desolation washed over her. She couldn't find Gale. She was lost on East Street. She couldn't touch anything.

Kendhl sat down, bringing her knees up to her chest. All she wanted to do was find her bondmate. The girl's bottom lip trembled, spectral tears welling up in her eyes. "Gale..."

[Ricky Maze]

There were no motions or noises loud enough to stir the sweet little child that resided within the basket that had been his bed for just about half a year now, it would only be a matter of time before his parents would have to make an investment in something larger, and much safer for young Martin to sleep in, whenever they would return from their long arduous trip. Though unaware of what was going on Martin only knew that both his mommy and daddy were gone, had been for what seemed like quite some time now. Which in turn led to longer nights awake and anxious to be reunited with them while they made their trip towards the one place that held hope for Ricky, yet their trip had only begun and it'd already felt like ages past for both parties engaged in this hopeful journey.

Ricky's life had once again somehow found itself threatened and the only thing to do was to leave for the place where hope resided, yet even when the mother of the sweet sleeping child Gale now cradled in his arms wanted to go... she also wanted to stay behind. Both parents did. Nobody wanted to have the long and heartbreaking farewell they had to share, yet even if their spirits were a little somber upon departure they all the more felt higher and higher the further they left. The reason? They had someone to come back home to and take care of, somebody that heavily depended on them that couldn't go. Thus with Gale to volunteer as Martin's guardian while they were gone, he was given a parchment full of vivid detail on what he would need to do for Martin in Telion's absence.

The artist no doubt had his trials and errors to follow but he no doubt found himself in the start of getting the hang of things, after all constant practice of being a parent or guardian tended to bring out the best and worst things of a person sometimes. For Gale though Martin seemed to be nothing but delights at least, as he would only feel the same sincerity granted upon him with each smile when he would gaze at a waking Martin. Even with the baby sleeping one could somehow find tranquility in watching a child, since such a young and innocent thing could always bring hope and high spirits in a world of darkness and peril. As Martin stirred just a little his eyes barely cracked open with a yawn, his face buried gently within the inner sleeves of Gale's shirt while the snug blankets made the child feel secure.

Upon being out and about in the bustle of the city the child would stir further and further until at last he was finally awake, big pale blue eyes wondered up to the scruffy look of his Godfather as the man walked about in his business. "Mmm." The child cooed as he stretched out his arms and moved them out to grasp at all he could, he mainly found Gale's shirt a prime target as an object to grasp and tug, a bit of saliva extruded from his lips as the boy looked as though he wanted to taste at the fabric of clothe on his skin. He was fully awake now and ready to be up and about, yet compared to the mind of a child the artist seemed to have other things to handle other than play around and grow up.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Peering around the corner, the same ol' drawing was there as it had been since a year or so now. It was the right turn alright. Without a second thought, the man swept into the short alley between the houses, glancing at Martin as he did so. He only just started to stir, which was actually surprising, giving the natural noise and commotion of the streets. Maybe Martin was getting use to loud noises or was getting use to his parents gone? Either that or he was just really tired. Couldn't blame the poor lad.

Coming out of the alley, Gale took a left, walking down the side of the street. Various conversations could be heard, and numerous amounts of people could be seen, but as Gale was walking, his eyes turned to group of two with distinct frowns on their faces, one of then eying and rubbing their shoulder almost as if someone has slapped their shoulder a little too hard. He didn't hear much of what they said since they were going in opposite directions, but a brief 'are you okay' and a mutter of something feeling strange was made out. Gale didn't think much about it, because the fact of the matter was, he didn't exactly care and it wasn't likely anything important anyway. Like it was said, someone probably knocked into them or something.

Without further ado, the widower kept on his way, finding himself closer and closer the the fish market. But, once again, Gale got distracted as something started tugging on his shirt. For half a tick, the man was confused as to what was on his shirt, but then realized that Martin was likely awake at this point. Looking down, it was proven that it was indeed Martin.

Gale chuckled softly with a large smile," Well good morning sleepyhead." His pace slowed as he walked while looking at Martin, and it eventually got to the point where he almost completely halted. Despite the fact that he was practically standing still, someone almost ran into him, just barely weaving around him, startling Gale to take a step away from whoever it was. "Here, let us get out out of the street." He said more to himself than to Martin, though it was distinctly loud enough for the baby to hear.

With a quick paces ahead and a few weaving between strangers, Gale found himself in the alley next to the Kelp Bar in which he stood just inside the shade of the building. Now that he was out of the way of the bustling plebeians, he could actually look at Martin without running into anything. "There we go, much better." He smiled at Martin, having said the particular phrase in a much higher tone than he meant to. But given that Gale was a baritone, it didn't entirely make a difference.

The man watched the child for a few chimes, leaning up against the wall of the Kelp Bar in a rather relaxed pose. Martin cooed like all babies did, and did so with a mouth full of spit. And that spit, as always, trailed down the side of his face. "You silly baby, do not drool on yourself." He chuckled again, as if Martin was able to control such and was actually able to understand. Taking a finger, Gale was able to wipe the piece of drool off his cheek, though stuck out his tongue in a disgusted manner afterwards and wiped the saliva on a loose piece of blanket. But after doing so, Gale's attention returned back to Martin with another helpless grin.

He was still grabbing on to his shirt at this point, but Gale was quick gently take his fingers off, allowing him to wrap them around his index finger instead. Given that he was holding Martin wit his 'full' hand, as to fully support Martin, Martin would be holding on to one of Gale's only fingers on that particular hand. He remained like this for another few chimes before a dastardly draft came by, cooling the area in which he stood. Gale shivered from the sudden coolness of the air. "Yeesh. I guess that is Laviku or Zulrav telling us to move on, huh?" With that, the sailor wrapped a loose end of the blanket around Martin in a protective manner and headed out of the alley and went on his way again. By that time, the cold was gone.

Making it to the Fish Market, where almost every kinda of scented fish was being cooked, the artist took a minute to take in the smell. He had a habit of doing this since he spent so much time here. That and the fact that it was food. And boy did it smell great.

Gale walked along the side of the street once more as to avoid the large crowd that came in waves down the large street. Once or twice he swore he could hear someone calling his name, but given the vastness of the city and the variety of names, he figured he wasn't the only Gale in the city and thus disregarded it mostly. But at some point, he head his name distinctly in the crowd.

A loud "Gaaaale!" passed through the air.

The artist stopped, turning to look behind him to see who was calling out and if they really were calling out to him. At first, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Bu after another glance, he saw a hand waving in the crowd. A woman's hand. The woman made her way through the crowd, and Gale observed that another woman was heading towards her. They soon met each other and gave one another a warm hug as a greeting and started chatting away. Suppose one of their names was Gale. Or Gail. Or maybe even Gaile. There were all sorts of strange ways to spell things, like how Kendhl spelled her name.

Gale gave the situation nothing more than a shrug, turning back around and continuing on the path he was going. It didn't take long for him to get to the all familiar tree at the end of the market. The frail Willow looking just a tired as ever. Gale looked up in the branches, seeing the sign laying across to branches. It was clearly out of reach, even if he had a large stick, and he wasn't about to climb a tree with Martin or set him down. Hm. How was he going to get the sign?

The man glanced around him, searching for an epiphany. And it didn't take long to find one. There was a young boy standing with his mother in line at one of the stands. "Excuse me!" He called over, walking over to the two. Both the woman and the boy turned, not including the few other people who has also turned. "Is it alright if I can ask you to get a sign out of that tree right there for me?" He pointed over his shoulder. The mother scowled in an unfriendly manner, obviously not liking the idea, while the boy almost was in awe. "I will pay you." Gale added, hoping said comment would make the boy beg for the job.

[Ricky Maze]

Of course the sudden interest in the aroused but still rather tired Martin led the child to smile at the attention he received, a bit of a shied turn of his head for a chime followed as the baby continued his activity with reaching out and grabbing everything new to him in the world. Of course the only practical thing he took attentive interest to was Gale's shirt really, seeing as how it was in fact the first thing he'd come to grab upon his awakening to the day. Yet he still very much missed the parents that were gone on his trip, and it would soon become evident once more when the child would fall into another daily crying fit. Yet for now... the world awaits!

With it the exciting transition of new things he'd never seen before caught his eye, each and every new color a spark for interest as every newly heard sound would draw the child's attention. The act of Gale cleaning Martin's slobber led the child to try and grab it of course as that was his first reaction towards anything, whenever he could get his hands on something he first had to have a taste of it to see just how different it was from everything else. That so naturally the act to grasp for the finger and rake it towards him was met with a failure as Gale had to wipe off the extract of saliva onto the blanket. "Hehehe!" The baby found amusement then, the look of disgust on his Godfather's face one he wanted to see again, only because the act of sticking his tongue out looked rather funny.

Then of course the tugs on the shirt was finally met with the finger the artist used for a grasp, the baby vastly interested in the single structure that proved too large to grip with just one tiny hand. Success! In baby terms at least. Martin now finally had a grasp of something new to suck on, thus when he had the soft meager grasp every young child did, he raked his arms forward in an effort to pull Gale's index finger into his mouth. Of course Gale would have the option to deny the cute child his need to taste it and Martin would merely watch his Godfather with interest, but should the finger travel within Martin's mouth the soft mush feel of Martin's gums would proceed to press on it while the baby tested to see what a "Gale" would taste like.

Then of course the movement to another area led the child to discover a new location, of course he'd been on many adventures out the room he lived in with his parents but not as often as Godfather Gale seemed to take him out. For the past several days it seemed like Martin would be headed out somewhere, which led the boy to somewhat squirm a little as he looked around to see what all the bustle in the city was. His eyes began to water though which proved to be an indicator for the Godfather, one that meant he was missing mommy and daddy right about now.

[Kendhl Pilkvist]

Kendhl's ears gave the slightest shift. Did she hear something? Her head came up, a surprised look on her face. Did she? The former Kelvic got up, curious. It sounded almost like Gale...

Except there was an infant-like coo following it. Gale didn't have a child, did he? The possibility of it snapped Kendhl's ghostly heart in two. Her legs almost gave out, and she took another step to steady herself. But... Gale loved her, didn't he? Did he forget she existed?

The grief was replaced by a sudden flame burning within her. Kendhl's soulmist swirled with fury, her face contorted. He had loved her! She knew he did! And then he goes off and grabs another woman, throwing his memories of her away! HOW DARE HE!

The logic part of her mind suddenly kicked in. It hasn't been long enough for him to recover and find someone. Think, girl. Ricky's wife was pregnant at the bonfire. It could be their child.

The rage was extinguished as swiftly as it had flared up. The wraith flew through the streets, searching. Gale. Gale. Where was he? Follow the sounds of the baby? But there were many babies in Zeltiva. Maybe he was in the Fish Market. It was loud in the Fish Market, she wouldn't be able to hear him. She could try, though.

Kendhl immediately headed for the Market, not even bothering to move her legs any longer. She found it easier to simply float, and going through people was easier than going around. Her soulmist had stopped twisting and curling as much as it had in her anger, now moving almost serenely within her. "Gale? Where are you, Gale? I know you're still here. You have to be. I heard your voice, I thought. Where are you?"

[Gale Austin McCenry]

When Gale was leaning up against the Kelp bar wall with Martin, he chuckled once more at the baby's giddy laughter. "Oh, you think that is funny?" He stuck his tongue out again in a playful manner. "You like silly faces, huh?" He couldn't argue with that. Every baby loved silly faces. Who wouldn't? It was the reason why they are called funny faces after all.

He smiled fondly and sincerely at the boy as he took hold of his finger, enjoying the pure bliss that came from watching Martin explore the world, which included his finger. "You want to suck on my finger?" He said in his baby voice again. "Is that what you want?" Seeing as Gale didn't bring anything for Martin to play with or suck on, he supposed it was only fair. But first, he took his hand away briefly to see how dirty it was so that Martin wasn't sucking on charcoal or dirt under his nail. It was mostly clean, given that he had been careful recently to keep his hands clean because of Martin. But he still managed to pick some of the grime that built up in the night away before letting Martin 'have' his finger to with as he pleased.

Of course, he sucked on it. Babies put everything in their mouth after all. But it felt odd at first, given that Martin had no teeth. He excepted it to be like a dog, in a way, but it was much different. There was no sharp teeth, his tongue was much softer than the rough tips of a canine, and his gums were like wet, smooth rags that pressed softly up and down as he sucked. It was interesting, yet sweet at the same time.

Gale then went on and about and soon came up to the woman and her son with his offer of Miza's for their troubles. The boy gasped and then tugged on his mother's arm. "I can do it momma!"

She looked at her son, then back at Gale, giving him another degrading glare. But pretty soon, she looked at Martin and sighed. "Alright, be careful though."

"Yes!" The young boy didn't take anything more than a tick to get to the tree and start climbing. Gale couldn't help but smile and laugh, walking back over to the tree with the mother walking along side him.

"It should be on the left!" He called up.

The boy nodded in acknowledgment and made his way ungracefully through the tree. Climbing trees was every boy's dream he supposed. Gale remembered when he use to climb up in it with Hana. It sure was nice being a kid.

Before Gale knew it, the boy hopped down out of the tree with a loud 'oof', holding the small, hand painted sign under his arm. He rushed over to the Godfather, sticking his hand out which held the sign. The man couldn't help but laugh,"Why thank you kind sir." He took the sign with a smile, though getting an odd, curious expression from the boy at the sight of his hand. He paid no heed to it, however, and simply set the sign on the ground and sliding his back pack off. Digging through the leather pack for a few ticks, the artist opened up a smaller pouch which held the currency he carried and pulled out a gold rimmed Miza. "There you go lad." He offered it to the boy who was all too quick to snatch the coin from his hand with a wide smile filled with pride. The mother, however, still glared disapprovingly and hurriedly rushed her son on and back into the line in which they were at. "Thank you!" He called over quickly before they were too far.

The sailor knelt down to grab his sign and place it in the bag. Of course, he had to reorganize it all to make it fit. He took out all the books and his flute and set them on the ground, placed the sign within the pack, and set the other items back in accordingly. The sign stuck out the back of his pack, but he didn't mind, since his hands were full anyway.

"Well, she was interesting, was she not? " He asked rhetorically to Martin after having finished gathering his stuff and setting his backpack on his shoulders again. Although he held a smile at that moment, it quickly evaporated as he was quick to realize that Martin was about to cry. "Oh no, no!" He exclaimed in a hushed manner. "It is okay Martin, it is alright."

He walked out of the way of the busy crowd once again, but this time leaning up against the trunk of the Willow tree that hung it's leaves low and swayed in the wind.Gale attempted to comfort the child by shifting him closer to an upright position, that way his free hand was-well,- more free. Martin still squirmed nonetheless, making it difficult for Gale to do so. "It will be alright Martin." He said once more, hoping it would get the worried child to stay still for a single chime so he didn't drop him on accident while trying to adjust his position. Of course, this didn't exactly happen, seeing as Martin was both curious and missing his parents, and thus, was making a fuss about it, like all babies do.

To counteract this, the widower took some of the excess blanket that hung down and wrapped over Martin's arms, tucking it in the best he could into the other end of the blanket. This at least prevented so much arm movement, which helped some, but didn't cancel out the affect completely. Nevertheless, Gale was quick lift Martin up more, supporting him more of on his shoulder now rather than his forearm and bicep. "There we go, is that better?" He supposed it probably wasn't.

Missing your parents wasn't exactly an easy thing, especially at a young age. Of course, when Gale lost his only parent growing up, he was much older than a toddling infant. But still. At least he could relate somehow.

Just then, the magical aroma of fish and just about every way to cook fish filled Gale's nose once again. His stomach growled in protest."Hey baby, are you hungry?"

[Ricky Maze]

The baby indeed only stirred and tried to be difficult in his fuss, the want and need to see his parents both present as he started his crying fit. In the attempt to keep the child from reaching that point Gale did his best to keep Martin wrapped in the blanket and suggest food, which of course would've been something to note for the baby had he the proper knowledge to know and understand food. Really the connection between that and hunger was something still being established to the child's mind even if he was already a pro at making his hunger known to those around him, even more he knew how to convince his parents he was hungry by a different tone in the cries he would make.

Still even when Gale suggested that he could be hungry the boy's eyes only looked more watery compared to before, whines followed as he continued to be difficult and attempt to struggle with Gale. He wanted to see his parents, that's all he wanted. Yet the demand for it to happen now would only prove difficuilt for the child as he couldn't accept the reality that they were and would be gone for a while. How could he? He was but a child that couldn't travel out in the world, becaue his life was far more delicate compared to the adults that had little choice but to leave him behind. His whines... soon came to be cries and moans that expressed his want, yet Gale would be the only to know what that want is by now, considering he's spent the last several nights up and awake trying to help the child find sleep.

Still Gale could attempt to ease the crying of the boy as food was generally a good idea to begin with, although Martin hadn't the ability to chew just yet the idea Telion left written down for Gale proved useful for the time she had been absent. surely food would be a good key to distraction for Martin right now, but even if it were so how long would that last? The parents still weren't around so Gale would only be subject to more crying later on. Whatever he chose to do he would find it to be a challenge though, only small considering it was practically just a baby, as Martin broke into a crying fit that allowed some of those around to hear.

[Kendhl Pilkvist]

So he wasn't in the Fish Market. Kendhl grunted. Where was he? She would swear up and down to Laviku himself that she had heard his voice. The voice that she heard even as her world had faded into darkness, soothing her fears. The ghost's soulmist slowed down even further, barely moving. Gale was here, she just... needed to find him. It shouldn't be that hard.

But it was. Kendhl felt as if she was moving in never-ending circles. She glanced at the ground and spotted a shiny something: A miza. Her eyes lit up. Money! The former Kelvic knelt and attempted to pick up the coin. She focused her soulmist, willing it to try and pick up the stupid thing.

Success! The coin was lifted into the air, but dropped once she tried to hold it up to her face. Kendhl frowned, then shrugged. She didn't need money, she was de- ...She didn't need money. That was that. Her mind refused to form the word 'dead', still uncomfortable about death even though it had been almost three seasons since she perished at the hands -- or paws -- of feral dogs.

A sound broke her out of her reverie. It was faint, but her hearing was still pretty okay for a human. If she tilted her head juuust right, it sounded almost like... a crying child. Child. Ricky's child? Maybe. Find out where it's coming from.

Kendhl experimented with various head positions, trying to deduce precisely where the sound was coming from. Deciding on a direction that was somewhat louder than the rest, the wraith slipped through the crowd. The shift in location made the child harder to find, the opposite of what she wanted. Well, great. Now I'll never find him.

No matter which way she turned, which way she went, the crying seemed to come from elsewhere.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Seeing as his words didn't appear to calm the child, Gale sighed softly,"Alright, let us get something to eat." The man knew it wasn't a permanent solution, but as long as he didn't cry for a little while, Gale was happy. Because it was at this point in which Gale had always returned the child to the parents or had someone more capable get them to stop crying, which was more often than not Hana. She could make a baby fall asleep with a single bat of her eyes it seemed. Gale on the other hand... It would take a miracle if he managed to keep the baby calm.

The artist slipped off his backpack once more, setting it on the ground and kneeling down beside it to look for Telion's instructions and the bread he had bought. He took out the sign again and the books and sorted out the paper and pages only to find he had forgotten it back at the Grotto. A groan of dismay let out of his lips. Looks like he was either going to buy new bread or go back and get it. Gale remained where he was, starring at the stone ground, visually remembering the route around the city. He was going to go to the General Store after this. Since he was going there, he could just buy some more bread. He needed to get milk anyway. It was a shorter route than to go back and get the bread nevertheless.

With that being decided, Gale smiled at Martin briefly, noting his soft whines. "Shhh, it is alright. I am going to get us something to eat, okay Martin?" This did nothing, as he suspected.

The pessimist once again started to pack his bag, taking once handful of items at a time and placing it in the backpack. First the sign, then the flute, then the books. He slipped it on his shoulders once more before heading out of the Market, returning to his walk to the General Store. It wasn't a far walk, seeing as the General Store wasn't far from the Market, only being a few blocks at most.

And it was a fairly quick walk, since most citizens were around the fish market for food, seeing as it was that time of the day. Of course, the streets were still pretty full on the way there, but no where near the Fishmarket, which allowed Gale to relax a bit while he walked, no longer fearing that someone was going to bump into him with the amount of space. Martin, however, didn't feel any comfort in it at all, now almost crying instead of his previous whines. "Oh Martin." The Godfather brought his other hand up to rub the baby's back. "Shhh, you will be alright, we are almost there." His almost whispered in his ear. Though, this didn't help the fact that people were starring already. Just perfect.

Passing the Treasures of the Sea, Gale was met by the two story, granite building that was well known as the General store. He didn't hesitate to walk in, opening the door with an awkward grunt as his two fingers pulled the door. He stepped in and quickly made his way down the isle he usually went for bread. Gale didn't eat much bread (or anything for that fact) but he knew where the bread was nonetheless. "Look, Martin." He picked up a small loaf and scooted Martin off his shoulder so he was laying on his forearm again. "See? I told you I was getting us something to eat." He held up the bread with a smile so Martin could see, whether he could understand or not.

Gale held the bread in his hand as he searched for the Milk. Now that, he had no idea where it would be. He never drank Milk. He mainly drank water and Kelp Beer. So, instead of aimlessly walking around in search of the product, Gale went to the counters in the back. "Excuse me sir." He said politely as the clerk turned to Gale. It was no other than Halabin Clarke, the man that Gale always saw whenever he went to the General Store. When he went, at least. "Do you have any Milk here?"

"Of course, it should be right down there." He pointed to a specific isle.

"Alright, thank you." He gave a no with a thankful smirk which was quick to vanish off his face when he looked at the crying baby in his arms.

As Gale walked over to get the Milk, he managed to tear a small piece of bread off the loaf and hold it out to Martin,"There you go baby, something for you to play with for a few moments. " He hoped that Martin would be compelled to reach for the small piece of bread and then take it in his hands. Whether he decided to suck on it or whether he simply decided to look at it, he didn't care. It would hopefully provide a few ticks of distraction while Gale bought the items.

With the loaf in his hand, the man went over and found a gallon of milk, starring at it for a few moments as he thought. How was he going to carry all of this stuff? His backpack is already fully, his hands were full... Did they have baskets? Of course they did, he bought a bucket from them a few seasons ago. They had to have baskets too.

Gale returned to the isle in which he remember getting a bucket, finding a wide, simple woven basket with a sturdy handle. Exactly what he needed. Gale quickly put the bread in the basket and grabbed it's handle, returning to the milk and placing a gallon in the basket along side the bread. He then quickly went to the counter and set the items on the counter. The bread was 2 CM, the milk was 1 SM , and the basket was 1 SM and 5 CM.

"That would be 2 SM and 7 CM." He had a few silver mizas on him, but he would only need two-no- three. Gale reached into his bag and pulled out a few silver mizas and handed it to the stranger.

3 SM minus 1 SM and 7 CM was 1 SM and 3- No, wait- it was

"You're change is 3 CM."

Dammit. He knew that.

Clarke handed him the three coins and Gale simply reached his arm over his shoulder and dropped it within his bag. He'll put them away later. "Thank you." He said again and grabbed the basket and food and headed out.

Instead of heading out to his next destination for his errands, Gale decided to head to the docks so that the two of them could eat.

OOCThe General Store write up wasn't exactly specific with how they stored or kept their food so I kinda just went off of what i thought was logical. If I did something wrong though, then tell me.

Ledgar2 SM and 7 CM for the supplies