Completed In Her Eyes

[Adriana Sparrow]

Spring 4, 519AV

She watched the sun rise. The bright yellow rays attempted to pierce through the dense grey fog that lifted itself from the raging river nearby. But the light was dulled and split and the sky remained grey and covered, the earth not becoming brighter, only more visible in the daytime. She watched as the dilapidated ruins of the district's neighborhood became more detailed to her young eyes. The ground was brown as littered with wood and stone as the houses built on the soiled dirt crumbled slowly from time and disuse.

She watched as a skittering, starving rat, nearly blended into the brown dirt it ran across, dipped into an abandoned home via a hole in the framework. In a moment it was gone, though Adriana was sure there were many more lurking in the woodwork of the house.

She smelled the fog in the air, a cool mist mixed together with the fresh soil around her, a musty and peaceful smell. Even the warmth the sun brought she was beginning to smell. A blind man may think this area was beautiful and kind, how wrong he would be. It was interesting to think that the smell of Sunberth could be so unmatched to its reality.

She sat up form the patch of dirt she had been resting upon just outside her hovel of a home hole, smacking at the dirt that clung to her already filthy clothing, watching as it released its grip and fell, bouncing against the ground.

Her boots made a soft noise as they traveled across the ground, the only noise coming from the stray wood pieces and stone pebbled that danced as she stepped on the, making her way towards the center of town. Soon the ground was met with a cobblestone walkway, her shoes making a more pronounced sound against the more solid material. It echoed across the area, bouncing off the more formidably built buildings that started springing up in more dense parameters as she got farther from the Rotten Ruins.

The day was still so new, and the bustling of the city on any given day was still quiet. Yet, even at this time in the morning, the city center would still be ripe with bust citizens. The fresh smell of the fog and the dirt and the day slowly became mixed with the rotten smells of the bust city, the trash rotting in a back alley, or the piss of an entire district mingling with the ground they walked upon. Even the smelly bodies of the people, including her, tainted the scent. A blind man would not be fooled any longer.

Word Count: 440

Code credit to Itt.

[Adriana Sparrow]

The Castle Commons, what she considered the center of town in this part separated by the river, was dominated by the Temple of the Unknown -- a name she knew, but a building she didn't. The style of the building, while grand and awesome, did not match the buildings of today in the city. Adriana was always struck witha bit of awe when it came to the Temple, she had even been inside more than one time, only to find it barren and ruined. She saw people inside before, but none stayed too long. She did not understand why they stayed or went inside at all. The Temple did not seem dedicated to any specific God, and it was certainly not tended to by any staff.

She avoided it today. The wonder it sparked unnerved her, and she did her best to ignore the strange cathedral that claimed the Castle Commons as its own. Instead she hobbled past the ornate building, and into the real depiction of Sunberth that was represented by The Gallows.

More akin to this type of atmosphere, it did not save Adriana from the unfortunate feelings associated with the place. For most of the city The Gallows were a place of excitement and Justice, and while Adriana had not known any victim of the gallows personally, it unnerved her just the same to witness both the death of the victim as well as the willingness to celebrate from the viewers. But that was Sunberth, the city of the desolate.

There seemed to be a celebration happening right then. Adriana cringed. She did not enjoy happening upon a sentencing, but, unfortunately, there was never a timed schedule for the deaths. They were always as random as the crimes they were attempting to seek justice for.

Usually, around the Temple, it was quieter than the rest of the city. The strange wonder that Adriana felt, she suspected she wasn't the only one. It was like magic -- something Adriana had personally and recently seen -- and she was not sure how she felt about it. For now, it confused her, she wasn't much a fan of being confused.

But the loud rabble of The Gallows crowd peirced through that quiet Temple veil and grew as Adriana got closer. This kind of noise could only mean one thing, the victim was in sight and justice had not yet been served. Before the accused was taken into public view, the crowd was loud, but they were waiting and had nothing to yell at. It usually was scattered and diminished quickly. After the accused had been hung, the crowd stayed for a while and celebrated, but the noise always had a cheerful tint, and for now the noise was strictly angry.

She watched the crowd. It was dense, people pushing and falling into each other. Fists pumped the air and voices rang out slurs and insults towards the man in his final moments. Through the movement of the crowd Adriana could just see the victim of The Gallows standing quietly, his hands bound together in chains, long, disheveled hair hiding his bowed face from view. The sight was sad and Adriana did not want to look. The mass of watchers mostly hid her view and thankfully she did not have to see much, but even so she realized her eyes were glued to the scene, waiting and wondering as if she did not know exactly what was going to happen next.

Word Count: 580

Code credit to Itt.

[Adriana Sparrow]

The crowd was getting louder by the moment, angrier. Adriana wanted to leave but found herself rooted to the ground, staring ahead at the backs of moving heads. They were yelling, Witch! Causten! Warlock! She wasn't sure what a Causten was, but she knew the other words. The man must be a mage, a magic man. Between the gaps of people she saw someone else on stage come nearer to the standing man, he had something in his hand and reached up toward the accused. She saw nothing for a moment and then, the unmistakable sound the the hatch below opening, the snap of the rope as it resisted the pull of gravity, the crowd silent for one tense moment before erupting into cheers. She was glad her view was blocked.

She looked away just as the man fell, even though she couldn't see him, she did not want to take the chance. She turned her head away from the crowd and in the corner of her eye she saw another face. This was strange, as all faces should be away from her, watching the show, so he eyes traveled back. There she saw a child, younger than her, faced away from the crowd. He was walking away, slowly, through the mass and she watched as he swiftly and almost invisibly reached into the pocket of a man cheering in the crowd. Immediately his hand reemerged and was gripping something he swiftly put into his own pocket. He was stealing, using the crowd to hide himself from suspicion and notice. She had done the exact same thing.

Suddenly the boy looked up, directly at her. He froze as he surveyed Adriana's face. She wasn't going to turn him in. She wanted to see him up there on The Gallows just as much as he did. He looked scared for just a second, he was so young, she thought, but she wasn't much older, Bae even younger. She looked away from him, and away from his crime so he knew he was free to go on his way. Immediately he bolted down the nearest alley and was out of sight in just a second. She understood his fear and unwillingness to trust. She had experienced everything before, she lived the same life, as she suspected numerous others did in this city.

It had only been a few moments and so the crowd was still cheering at the most recent gallows death. She saw through the gaps of their heads again just a moment, just enough to see a slight swing of color. Thankfully the view was quickly shielded once more and here eyes were unable to connect the dots, her mind, however, was very capable and she knew she say the swinging of a dead body on a rope. She looked away.

There was no reason to be here, but the event did spark some thoughts for her. She knew of mages, very little, from her mother who, during her paranoid state before her death, rambled about them occasionally. She knew her mother was afraid of them, but it appeared the entire city disliked people who could do magic. It seemed to even be a crime, although Adriana did not know the exact crime man hanging at The Gallows did to warrant a death sentence, but by the slurs the people were yelling, it had to be magic related.

She wondered what about magic was so terrifying to the people of Sunberth. She wondered if something had happened in the past to make this kind of practice illegal and so hated among the people. Then she thought of the magic shell in her pocket at this very moment, and what this entire crowd would do if they found her with it.

She walked away then, quickly, and in no particular direction. She had a destination in mind when she entered the Castle Commons, but it was forgotten in this moment, her only thought was so get away from the angry crowd that could turn on her in a moment and the sad mans body dangling above the ground.

Word Count: 687

Code credit to Itt.

[Adriana Sparrow]

His empty eyes still hovered in her vision even as she clenched them shut, trying to forget. When she opened them next she found herself face to face with ruins of the Whiteflame's Cedar Mill. She remember this place, in some deep memory that had nearly faded, and the thought of it made her shudder at the state of the building now.

She had pasted it many times during its ruined state, but only now did it draw out her memory and she connected the dots the building formed in her mind. She used to go here with her mother and father, before Bae was born. Her father enjoyed the drinks the nice people behind the counter served, and her mother enjoyed getting out of the house. While Adriana was too young to participate in the drinking, she always had fun when her parents were together with her. It was rare with her father work, it was nice.

She looked at the ruined building now, desolate and destroyed and wondered what had happened to the place. She saw some burnt wood, though the entire place was not burned down and so was not the source of the destruction. She wondered if it had been destroyed by a gang, or if it had been the victim of a strange natural attack... though that seemed wrong since nothing around the mill was affected. It was more likely the hatred of Sunberth that caused the death of the building, much like the hatred of the city that put the sad man to death just moments before. Everywhere around her this city destroyed lives and dreams. She wasn't sure how, but she was going to get Bae out eventually, with enough time to have his own dreams thrive outside of here. She just needed a plan.

For now though, she worried. She worried that her plans would end up looking like the Whiteflame's dreams right in front of her. She remembered them so fondly, she hoped they were okay, living their lives somewhere else. She thought about the boy she saw pickpocketing in the crowd, she wanted to take him with her when she left. She thought of Taris and all the other homeless children that wondered the streets everyday just like she did. Maybe it was too late for her. Sunberth's bleeding streets had already stained her red. But when she saw Bae, she saw potential - a future. Just like the other kids.

She left the unfortunate sight of the destroyed business in front of her, and instead walked to the river, fumbling with the magical wooden shell in her pocket. She wouldn't bring it out today, not with everyone in the city riled up form the death of the mage just chimes before. She she enjoyed the river either way, it was peaceful, and one of the few places within the city that was usually pure and clean of Sunberths normal vileness. The river simply washed it all away.

She walked to the south river, where across she could just make out the sight of The Sunset Quarters district. She had spent sometime in that district and she knew it just as well as the other districts as she took care to learn the streets and locations of the city. The most notable of the locations there was the orphanage that Adriana had considered going to when their mother first died. She had walked herself and Bae up to the door before she stopped and changed her mind.

She wasn't sure, and maybe it was the taint of Sunberth rubbing off on her, but she did not trust the adults that ran the place, even though she had not met them. She could not understand why some random people would care enough about some random children to treat them right. There was not way anyone in this city cared more for these children than they did about the money they were being paid for their job. She still thought, every once in a while, when Bae looked sickly or sad, if she should go back and surrender to them, or even just Bae. But she couldn't bear the thought of separating from him, and she herself was too scared to go. Maybe she was jeopardizing Bae, but she liked to think she was protecting him.

The truth was, this city in all its dirty alleys and dark secrets, grew feelings of hate and distrust in its citizens. Those, like Bae, who chose to care about something that mattered, were held to the ground by the object of their care, while the others who chose greed and violence, floated away untethered to the world. She was lucky she had a brother that allowed her to keep her morals in check, and she could only hope she never floated away from him.

Word Count: 809

Code credit to Itt.

[Orakan]

Adriana

Skills

● Observation - 4XP
● Logic - 1XP

Lores
● Location: Rotten Ruins
● Location: Temple of the Unknown
● Temple of the Unknown: Sticks out amongst all the other buildings
● Causten: Slang for mage?
● Witnessing a hanging at the Gallows
● Sunberth: Magic is viewed as a crime
● Location: Whiteflame's Cidar Mill: A destroyed ruin

Comments

Hey there just be mindful of spelling mistakes as they can take away from a story-type thread such as this one. Do let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade and don't forget to delete/edit your request in the grading queue.