67th Spring, 511 AV
If Seven kept frequenting the baths every day, he'd be broke before he even found work. There was no way he could continue a lifestyle of cleanliness and being well-fed if he simply kept doing map work for free.
Seven exhaled as he walked through the narrow streets of the Warehouse District. The bell had chimed for the 8th hour only moments before Seven wandered by The Tooth and Claw and the early morning air smelled of the ocean, a scent that nearly stung the inside of his nose now. It wasn't refreshing at all. Seagulls blathered on on top of warehouse rooftops and merchants from afar were settling in with their kiosks, carts, and sometimes even simple blankets in which wares were spread out with crude prices written on tags beside them. There didn't appear to be a strong knight presence as of yet, but the day just appeared to be getting started. Strange, in Lhavit the city would be winding down now, its nocturnal citizens settling down to sleep for the entirety of the hot day. It had taken some time for Seven to adjust to a diurnal lifestyle.
Hands in pockets, the albino sidestepped a pair of sailors feverishly carrying a relatively lavish woven carpet, long, red and tightly coiled.
Seven stood out like a beacon against the dusty streets, yellow under the early sunlight and cloudless sky. He was dressed well. Black trousers neatly pressed, the collar of his white cotton shirt with the top button lazily, but purposefully undone, rested on on top of his thin black wool-blend jacket. His well-combed white locks, clean and as stainless as his shirt. But more than anything, it was the fact that he was, in over two weeks ... nearing twenty days, the only being of Symenestra origin that he had seen in the city. Seven's stomach flip-flopped and his lips tightened into a frown at the bleak thought.
This new life he had made for himself wasn't quite as glamorous as he had hoped. The apartment he was renting was dingy, whoever had it before him had little concern for tidiness. There was little light inside and he couldn't see the night sky due to there being no windows in the facility. He had run out of the food he had brought into the city with him and the pain of hunger was beginning to set in, not only in his stomach but in his mouth where bitter, saliva-like and unwelcome venom had started producing itself. Seven swallowed, grimaced, and reached up to wipe the corners of his mouth with his thumb and index finger. Of course he had money, but without a job he had been afraid to spend a copper. Speaking to those he met while his search continued, they hinted at travel being a big possibility in his potential line of work, and with a body like his, to seek out a body guard if he wanted to even survive a job.
Seven knew all too well of the dangers that lurked beyond city walls.
"Hey! Get back here!" The scream of a merchant rang over every other sound in his head, even his own thoughts. Before he knew it, a shady figure barreled towards him, dropping a brass vase in his arms before disappearing into the slowly gathering crowd. Seven's pale fingers wrapped around the handles of the ornate vase as he looked it over. What kind of moron would steal in the light of day in such a city?
As his gaze lifted towards general direction of the cry he had heard earlier and his lofty, absent-minded brain drifted from thoughts of the thief, a meaty fist met his cheekbone and a surge of severe pain coursed through his entire body.
"That'll teach you to steal from me!" The gruff merchant ripped the vase from Seven's limp fingers before the boy fell to a heap in the street, dust billowing around him. Forehead resting against the ground, he felt his stomach turn and nausea setting in. A foot swiftly met his side and he was knocked over onto his back. He stared, in shock, up at the merchant who had decided to take this supposed thief into his own hands rather than alert a knight. The merchant's eyes widened in astonishment and disgust as he noted Seven's features. "So you're a Widow. Not enough to snatch up innocent women, you've taken to petty thievery as well?" He spat. "You're lucky I don't break every bone in your body for that fact alone. Stay away from my cart, or the next time knights be damned I'll have your head."
Seven remained silent, his heart pounding in his chest as the merchant left him on the ground. He didn't dare move. He tasted something metallic, then swiftly came to the realization that it was his own blood. Seven had bitten down pretty good on his tongue when he was struck and it was filling his mouth. He rolled over onto his stomach again and gagged, tears filling his eyes. One arm propped his head off of the ground by a couple of inches. A mix of venom and blood dripped down his pale, dry lips to the ground in neat droplets. While the boy retched, nothing came from his empty stomach. Seven's cheek throbbed in pain and with his free hand he was clutching his side.
Get up. Get up before a knight sees you.