Eternal Days

[Nayt]

The city was cloaked in an endless twilight. There were stars above, thinly veiled by the contrasts of copper and azure, and there was a star below, a large, billowing star resting firmly against the horizon and infecting the rusted city with its orange decay. Skyscrapers dotted the sky and reached for the stars, but all were cut short. Those tall enough had long since fallen to the weight of gravity, stripped in two to leave whole blocks beneath of it in ruin. Everything was caving. Everything was overgrown. No life remained.

But one.

The figure stood at the edge of shadows, set in the gap between an empty doorway and an empty street. A fire flickered in the rusted and half collapsed house, but its dancing light could not reach the figure. It stood in the doorway, its arms folded over its chest, and its head turned to the horizon-- to the bright, oppressive evening sun in the distance.

None of the figure could be seen. Its details were shrouded by a long, black leather coat with a thick hood up and over the figure's head and face, shrouding its details in shadows. The coat appeared to be stitched together using a vibrant orange color, but it was far from new. The majority of the garb was tattered and worn. Its orange stitches were ripping with time and one sleeve was ready to fall off with just the slightest tug.

A breeze struck through the city streets, and the figure lifted a gloved hand up to over its unseen lips. A wave of dust flooded the streets at the wind's behest, prompting the figure to bow its head and step back into the confines of the ruined home.

This isn't how it was supposed to end.

The figure turned from the city and approached the barely living flame. It collapsed upon its knees before the fire and soaked in the extra warmth. Even with a coat this thick, the figure was stricken with cold chills. The city was forever harsh. The city was forever cold.

And yet . . .

It raised its eyes to the corner, where objects of interest lay. A two handed sword was propped up against the corner, the hilt of which contained a necklace, dangling over the blade. A coin attached to the chain rattled helplessly against the blade. And below it all, a broken time piece-- a pocket watch stopped at Zero Hour.

. . . there wasn't a thing we could do to stop it . . .

. . .

[Nayt]

. . .

"Oh, man! Are you seein' this? This is amazing!"

Daniel Kerington was in an especially lighthearted mood right now, and rightly so! This was the first large port city he'd ever been to. Well, this was the first one he remembered, at least. If he'd ever been to one before, well-- that was a long story that he just chose not to think about most of the time.

People were weaving in and out of the fray in the distance, where the port was visible above all of the houses dotting Daniel, Everett, and Manny's immediate vision. There was a large ship in the distance, a passenger ship of some sort, likely built to hold thousands of people all at once. Of course, that didn't mean these people were guaranteed any sort of comfort, but that was just the price you paid to travel big.

It was a series of bizarre encounters that got them here, encounters that left this as their only path to their only goal: something to do with these black feathers. Everett had managed to actually collect one recently, and there was a suggestion that other such feathers could be found in this city.

"Just look at that thing!" Daniel exclaimed as he set foot upon the first cobblestone street of town, "It's bloody huuuuge! Man, I bet it's a fortune to board."

[Nayt]

#3. Mandaz: Manny’s head was practically on a swivel as he tried to see everything in the town. He’d never seen so many people in his life, and the senses overwhelmed his sharpened nose to the point where he could practically taste gumbo of salty and brisk flavor that was the air. Everett had a tight grip on his wrist, dragging him behind Daniel to make sure that he kept up. They had already lost him twice in the crowd, setting them back precious minutes. She had just about enough of set backs for one quest. At least now it seemed that they were getting somewhere. Snails pace as it was.

“I’ve never seen the ocean before!” Manny yelled out to Daniel so he could hear him above the crowd and Everett’s anger. “I can’t even see the end of it! Does it ever end?”

Everett rolled her eyes at the enthusiasm, but tried to keep her pace so the boys would focus. Maybe once she got them out of the crowd they would settle down. Manny kept his jabbering though.

“I’ve never been on a ship before either! How do they make them that big? How come all the people on it don’t cause it to sink? What even makes it go?”



#4. Nayt: "Man, I don't even know!" Daniel called out cheerfully. He was just as energetic as Manny, it seemed. "Engineers gotta be bloody magicians or summat!"

The crowd was pretty dense, and they really hadn't the slightest clue where they were going. It was probably better if they fought their way out of this and got somewhere they could talk without screaming over each other. So, Daniel held out his hand, hoping Everett would take it and they could make this nice and easy. If they were linked like a chain, they weren't going to be separated.

Whether or not she took his hand, though (he'd have liked it very much if she did, perhaps for more reasons than one!), he'd lead them to the side of the main drag. It was right where the main drag met a side road, like some sort of psuedo-alley masquerading as a corner.

"I know what's 'cross there, though," he'd say once they were closer together and less ruled by the noise of this port city.

[Nayt]

#5. Mandaz: It seemed that Daniel was finally taking some initiative. Or at least that’s how Everett interpreted his reaching for her hand. She just wanted to be out of this crowd; too many people put her on edge. She was so short; the risks of being trampled under a mod were high, and her attention was severely diverted when keeping up with these two. She gladly took the tallest boy’s hand and was lead by him. They walked hand in hand like a line of school children; Manny stumbling behind as always, Everett stomping with as much intimidating air as she could give off, and Daniel happily leading the pack, glad to be holding a girl’s hand.

Once they’d reached the temporarily peace of the alley’s mouth, Manny wriggled his wrist from Everett’s grasp and continued to stare out to the crowd and ocean. Everett too dropped Daniel’s hand and rubbed the boy’s sweat off of her palms.

“Oh yeah?” both Manny and Everett said in unison, though in entirely different tones. Manny’s was more curious excitement while Everett’s was more sarcastic disbelief.

“What’s on the other side, huh? And how far is it?” Manny continued his questions with an eager jump in his step.



#6. Nayt: Daniel totally would've kept holding Everett's hand if she hadn't let go of his! Oh well. He was pretty happy to have gotten that far, at least. He was all smiles, in fact-- though it probably wouldn't look too much different than normal. Daniel had a habit of smiling. He liked to smile. Even if it was just a facade sometimes, it at least made him approachable, and sometimes he really felt happy. Like right now.

"Where oI come from," Daniel answered the both of them at once. "I don't really know 'ow far away it is. Weeks of sailin', oI know that much . . ."

Truth be told, Daniel couldn't recall much prior to the boat ride across the ocean. There were bits and pieces that came to him with time, and he desperately clung to those. They never left him. Maybe someday he'd have all the pieces in order.

"oI remember a few things about the city. It was pretty big. Not, loike, ultra big, but still 'eld a lotta people. I was in school over there. Crap student, though." Daniel scratched his nose and grinned in nostalgia, "Spent way too much toime skateboardin', way too little toime in class."

This . . . was actually one of the very few times Daniel had just up and shared a little piece of his history with them-- with Everett specifically, actually. Everett knew about his best friend, the one whom that coin belonged (the coin with which he crafted a necklace for her), but beyond that . . . well, Manny was a little more inquisitive about things. He knew a little bit more than Everett simply because he asked. Nonetheless, it might come to them as a surprise, even if only slightly; he didn't talk about this sort of subject much.



#7. Mandaz: Manny listened intently as Daniel told his story. He was forever fascinated by his bigger friend, and saw him as something of a hero. To Manny, Daniel’s life was an epic tale of adventure and bravery, a life that he wished somewhere in his heart that he could have had. Manny never spoke about his life at all though. And he spoke about himself even less when Everett was around.

Everett had never spoken a word of her past to either of the boys as well. She told them that she was an angel, sent on a holy quest from god, and that was about it. Sometimes they would briefly hear her say something about a mother, and in her sleep she would sometimes wail about a father, but neither of the boys had any evidence that any of her claims were true. Which was pretty humbling to think about. Three children, practically a group of strangers to one another, all traveling to the ends of the earth for an unknown goal. The fact that they weren’t dead was astounding.

“Well. If things turn out the way I’m thinking they’ll turn out.” Everett began, crossing her arms and speaking with purpose. “Then we might be headed back there. The feathers and clues have led us to this harbor town. So either I’ve reached my goal, or we have an ocean to travel.”

Manny was admittedly excited about the prospect of crossing the ocean, but he held in his eagerness to allow Everett to her thoughts. Interrupting the girl was always a bad idea.

“It wont hurt to search for more clues here. But I can feel this. I’m almost positive we need to sail. And it looks like you’ll be helpful for once, Daniel! Since you know the city.”



#8. Nayt: "Yeah?" Daniel quirked a brow. "Well, oI'll tell you wot. If we woind up goin' that way, I know a good place to eat. I'll take you to dinner or summat."

Hey, Everett had accepted his invitation to take her to dinner /once/ before. Surely she might do so again! Except Daniel asked this time with Manny around, and he wasn't too clear on who he was asking. It probably sounded like he was inviting the both of them out at once. Which was fine by him, but he still really enjoyed that solo meal he had with Everett awhile back. That Valentine's Day thing.

Well . . . it was worth a try, anyways. In the worst case scenario, he'd chill out with Manny for a few, and that was always fun. Except when they drank too much. That wasn't going to happen ever again.

"So, where to first?" Daniel asked. "Do we snag a room or get straight to punchin' some homeless?"

By this point, Daniel was beginning to see nothing wrong with punching a homeless man in the face. Nine times out of ten, they deserved it. If they didn't deserve it already, then given the opportunity, they would do something to deserve it. Seriously, every conflict thus far had dealt with the homeless. It was like they'd become Everett's-- and by extention Daniel and Manny's --archenemies.



#9. Mandaz: “We’ll get no where if we try to navigate this dense crowd together.” Everett surmised, watching the sea of people lap against each other like waves on the shore. “Maybe we should split up. I’ll go about getting a room. Daniel, you can inquire what it will take to get us on a boat. And Manny can…”

Everett turned her gaze to the excitable boy. He stepped back, always nervous when she looked directly at him. His eyes may have been hidden from her view, but he could see hers clearly. They cut into him like shard of orange glass, as if their very souls were destined to clash against each other. She didn’t trust him only because of this fact. This feeling

“On second thought best not let him run around unattended. You can watch over him, cant you Daniel?” Manny frowned at this. Ready to fight back with a ‘I’m not a child’ or something of the like. But he stayed quiet and still. Something told him this was not a battle he wanted to fight. Not now. Instead he decided to try and one up her. “Tell you what. Lets make it a contest.” He said in possibly the most confident tone Daniel or Everett would ever hear him speak. “You have two feathers, right? Me and Daniel will take one, you can have the other. We’ll ask around about them and meet at the first dock by the time the sun hits the water. Whoever has the most helpful information at the end of the days wins!”



#10. Nayt: Splitting up? Well, that'd work, too. The more Daniel thought about it, actually, the more it made sense. Man, when did Everett start making so much sense? Daniel was hard pressed to remember. Probably since the beginning or something. She was actually really intelligent. Chalk that up to one more thing Daniel Kerington fancied about the girl.

He was just fine taking care of Manny, too. They were good male friends. If they had normal lives, they'd probably enjoy casual beer and full contact sports together. Somewhere in the world there was a term for that. Regardless, there'd be some measure of friendly competition there.

. . . and speak of the devil.

Daniel grinned ear to ear. "Hey, that's not a bad idea at all."

Competitive. Fun. Practical. There was no topping this idea. Manny was totally getting a fistbump for this one.

"Whot do y'say, Everett?" Daniel put his hands on his hips. If he could magically summon a gleam with this pose, he would in a heartbeat. "Think you can outclass this dream team?"



#11. Mandaz: “Hmm.” Everett glared over the boy and folded her arms. Then she looked at Daniel’s stupid grin and back to Manny again. “Deal. You two are damn near impossible, this will be the easiest contest of my life.” She rummaged around in one of her pockets and pulled out a fluffy, clean, ash feather. With intense eyes she handed it to Daniel and made him hold it delicately. “Whatever you do don’t touch it for too long. Or get any of it in your mouth. Or in your nose. Just…keep it between your two fingers and only take it out when you need to. Got it?”

Manny was feeling really proud of himself for finally coming up with an idea that they’d go along with. He stood next to the taller boy triumphantly and watched as the feather was exchanged. “We aren’t savages. We won’t eat the stupid thing.” Manny, in his burst of confidence, chided. Everett shot him another deadly glare to make him such his mouth before she changed her mind about being civil. “You’ll do as I say or I’ll make sure to reserve one comfortable room and two dog houses for the night.”



#12. Nayt: "E-eh -- heh," Daniel was a wee bit nervous, directly contrasting his previous bravado.

Everett never let anyone else carry these feathers-- and with good reason. The people they'd found thus far that had them were not good people. They went to many lengths to keep these feathers, and they were awfully displeased whenever they were pilfered. Then there were those weird plants that grew around them . . . it was altogether just a bad time. Everett seemed to know something about them, though, even if she didn't tell Daniel or Manny about it.

"Yeah. I'll take care of it. Don't worry." Daniel said as he looked down at the feather.

Hm. Maybe he was going to need some gloves or something. Naturally, he was just going to keep this thing between two fingers like Everett said. He didn't want to sleep in a dog house tonight. No one wanted to sleep in a dog house tonight. But that was besides the point.

Oh well. Best to just get this on the road, then!

"See you this evenin'," Daniel said to Everett with a smirk. There was no way she was going to out investigate them. It was two to one, and if all else failed, well . . . Manny was cute as a button. This could possibly endear people to give some information up. Sure, Everett was cute, too (cute in Daniel's preference), but she was angry. This was bound to be off putting!

[Nayt]

#13. Mandaz: Everett nodded to Daniel and gave him a subtle, soften look. A look that said ‘I trust you’ without the words spoken. She knew he probably wouldn’t pick up on it, but she wanted him to know in her own subtle way that she knew he’d keep it safe. Everett wasn’t completely ignorant of Daniel’s advances on her. She still wore the necklace he’d given her, and she knew that if something was important enough to her, Daniel would see it through. He was reliable in his own way. Deep down she knew that

When she left, Manny nosed up to the feather in Daniel’s fingers but did not come close enough to touch. “What’s the big deal about these anyway?” He huffed, slowly reaching out his fingers to touch the downy softness. “It’s just a feather. Looks like I’d from a fat baby crow or something. She ever tell you why she’s so uppity about them? Or about…everything else she is uppity about?!”



#14. Nayt: A softer look from Everett was . . . well, surprising, to say the least-- but pleasantly so. It was the kind of pleasant surprise that Daniel didn't know how to react to. It had him smiling by the time she turned and left them to their own devices, though. Smiling warm and bright and lost off in his own little world somewhere-- at first completely deaf to Manny's words, but soon they all came to him in a rush. This hasty comprehension was kind of troublesome.

"I-- uh . . ." Daniel hesitated.

Daniel looked out into the crowd, out into the direction Everett left to. A few minutes ago, he might have agreed with Manny that Everett could be pretty uppity about things. Now, though, he was loath to even consider it.

"I dunno," Daniel shook his head, before pulling the feather down and gently pushing it into his coat pocket. It would be safer there.

Incidentally, over the course of their journey, Daniel had obtained a new coat. It was very similar to the old one he had, that dark leather hooded long coat, but it wasn't quite so lengthy. It had a large and hefty hood, deep pockets, and a strong zipper, but it only came down to his hips.

"So--" he cleared his throat and changed the topic of conversation for the better. "Where to first, eh? oI vote we 'unt down the local homeless pop', but that's just me."



#15. Mandaz: Manny almost had to wave his hand in front of Daniel to snap him out of his swooning stupor. The smaller boy wasn’t too sure what was wrong with him, but sometimes he let Everett just boss him around like he was…well like he was Manny. Daniel was like the smaller boy’s hero! How could he let himself get so wrapped up in what she told him to do? Maybe he was just as frightened of her as Manny was. Whatever the reason, at least it didn’t take him long after she left to come back to his senses.

Or at least partially to his senses. “So the feathers are connected to homeless people?” Manny lifted his brow up high. “Daniel, take a look out there!” Manny pointed outside of the alleyway to the hustle and bustle of the harbor town. Everett had long been drowned by the sea of people and was no where to be found. “How are we supposed to find someone without a home? We cant ask everyone in that crowd where they live. That’s awful creepy! And everyone looks kind of…well like me…” Manny took a moment to stare at his own tattered garb and back up to Daniel.

“Daniel…Am I homeless?”



#16. Nayt: Daniel looked out into the sea of people just as Manny pointed out to them. He had a point. It was going to be awfully tough to find homeless folk around here. Maybe there was a shelter? Hmm. Shelters were great places to find homeless folk. Daniel's gears started grinding but came to a direct halt soon after, as Manny asked him a question that he found great difficulty in addressing.

"Uhhhhh . . . eh . . . heh," Daniel scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Okay so he never really thought about that angle. Daniel was as homeless as Manny, so if Manny was really a hobo, then that made Daniel one, too. And Everett, for that matter. They went around, accidentally bumping into other, more dangerous homeless people, and screwed up most of their next few months. Daniel and his friends weren't Homeless Heroes, were they? Gods be damned, that'd be the worst title ever! No. No, they were not homeless.

"We're not 'omeless!" Daniel declared, "We're travelers. Adventurers!"

Had have stricken a pose just then, but he was half scared that Everett was watching and would throw someone else's shoe at him for unnecessary public displays of bravado (UPDB), a social disease that Daniel Kerington sometimes fell into.



#17. Mandaz: Manny gave a little clap at Daniel’s display, even if he only half heartedly believed him. Manny was well aware that he didn’t have a home, hell when he first met Daniel and Everett he was rooting through garbage for food. But he’d never called himself ‘homeless’, even though he was realizing more and more just how much he looked the part. Maybe though…this wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“That’s kinda too bad.” He sighed at Daniel, pouting a little. “I mean, it isn’t good to be homeless. I know I sure would be pretty miserable if I were. But if we WERE homeless, we could convince people that we needed help. And maybe they would take us to where homeless people get help. And maybe we would find other homeless people there.”

The boy wasn’t usually this witty or scheming when it came to having ideas, but he wanted to let Daniel come to the conclusion himself without Manny flat out telling him his plan. That way he could take credit for it, and maybe get a little more confidence back into his Everett wary step.



#18. Nayt: "I . . ."

Daniel was about to try to reassure Manny some more, maybe tell him about how they were totally adventurers-- wandering all over hell's creation, looking for somethingortherather. Feathers, or something to that effect. Which might have made them treasure hunters, too. Man, that was kind of an awesome thought. Treasure hunters. Well, that decided it. When Everett found what she was looking for, Daniel was going to get she and Manny to go treasure hunting with him.

Yes, that's what Daniel had decided he was going to reassure Manny with, but by the time he started letting off smoke thinking about it, Manny got even more depressed over the matter!

"Aw, man, hey-- we're not /that/ bad o--"

/Wait a second/, Daniel thought to himself. What if they pretended to be that bad off and Manny just so happened to be right? Some folk could show them where to go, and then they'd be rolling in leads. Daniel lost the fight against committing UPDB and posed, if only subtly, as a fearless leader.

"Manny, you and I are goin' undercover."

And with that, Daniel was off-- off to storm the streets in search of the single best corner outside of the harbor, the best place to hang out as a beggar. If Manny could find a cardboard sign to write on, that'd be absolutely ideal. There were a couple of alleys on the way. But the bettering of their disguise was probably on Manny; Daniel, after all, was on scout duty, keen and vigil for the best possible spot to park their rear ends and rake in all the change. All of it!

And information, too, of course . . .

[Mandaz]

Manny folded his arms and nodded, feeling very pleased with himself for being able to manipulate his friend so easily. Though manipulate might not have been the best word. In fact that made it sound a little…wrong. He only realized now how deceitful it might have been. That made him feel a little ill inside. But at least Daniel was happy! So maybe it was still a good thing. Manny made a mental note to never mentally manipulate his friends again.

As far as looking the part of a hobo, that was easy. Manny was already there. Daniel could be there too if he rolled in the dirt a little, but he had already rushed off, and Manny wasn’t about to get left behind. He ran to keep up, panting for Daniel to wait up. If he found anything interesting on the side of the road he picked it up. A beat up hat, some old newspapers, a thrown out sack of potato peels, and a cardboard box that was apparently home to a very angry cat, who scratched up Manny something awful for the property. But Manny was all in all successful, and made his way back to Daniel’s side with an armful of homeless goodies.

“So what now? I found all this stuff.” He picked through the potato peels and munched on a few ”I used to eat these all the time when I lived off of peoples trash. They’re good, you want?”

[Nayt]

Sadly, Daniel Kerington was not really that great of a hobo. The old saying went "he who fights with monsters shall become one himself," or something like that, right? Yeah, it was totally that, and Daniel was quite certain it was the, uh, the star Ulsterian cricket player Stanley Malletfiend that said that. What an insightful fellow, that Malletfiend. Regardless, that clearly did not apply to Daniel, because he had been struggling against the evils of the homeless for the last half a year of his life and he still did not understand their ways.

Thus, after awhile of borderline senseless walk-- all of which Daniel spent trying to appear as homeless as possible (which in itself brought up a new and contemplative question for him: how do homeless people work? Is there a cultural identity amongst them? Is there a dress code? Must you have [this] many holes in your clothes to be one of them? Daniel never paid attention to those details. He made a mental note to be more attentive in the future) --Manny inevitably came back with a hole boatload of potato peels.

"oI, uh--" Daniel cleared his throat.

As a matter of fact, he did not want to eat something from another person's trash. But that was uniform, right? Damndable homeless uniforms! With bravado all but sapped by this challenge, Daniel steeled himself and accepted a handful of potato peels, all of which Daniel regarded with the utmost complacency. A woman with a nice dress and expensive handbag passed them by as Daniel hesitated to lift the peel to his lips. It has to be done it has to be done it has to be done it has to be done--

Seeing Daniel's struggles, the woman came to a stop. She was an older lady, in the whereabouts of early middle age, with a blue day dress and a wide hat. She approached Daniel and Manny, but kept a very adequate distance from their persons.

"Do . . . do you boys need help?" the woman asked.

. . . and Daniel could only turn and stare incredulously.

[Mandaz]

Manny munched on the peels like it was no thing. He had made many of his meals from similar treats in the past. None quite as fresh as this, either! Daniel should have considered himself lucky that Manny found such a good haul. They were homeless now; Daniel needed to appreciate the little things in life. Manny appreciated them, seeing as he was a little thing in life! He was very short and scrawny compared to Daniel, after all. His eyes widened as he watched Daniel bring the peel to his lips, but no one could tell because Manny’s eyes were hidden behind his hair anyway. The eating of that peel would have been Daniel’s first transition into homelessness. Sadly, they were rudely interrupted.

Manny looked at the lady with surprise and a little disappointment. They weren’t trying to attract right people like she seemed to be. They wanted homeless! Manny wanted to tell her to go away and leave them to their garbage, but he waited to gauge Daniel’s reaction. He was the leader, after all!

[Nayt]

Manny and Daniel's thought processes could not possibly be any more different at this moment in their lives. Manny was disappointed in the interruption, while Daniel? Daniel was overwhelmingly accepting of it. As useful as it might have been for him, he did not want to adopt the uniform of the homeless! Honestly, it was just way too gross. He had no idea how Manny could stomach this.

"oI, uh . . ." Daniel trailed off, "M-- my friend and oI-- we're jus' . . ."

"Lost?" said the woman with the utmost empathy.

"Uhh-- k-- koinda?" Daniel looked at Manny with uncertainty.

Actually at this point, he really didn't know where he was. At some point they wandered away from the shipyard and nearby a long stretch of market, where places sold food and whatnot. Wandering behind there had left them with what Manny considered goodies and what Daniel considered to be the uneaten food of other people, thrown out and left in the trash to fester and become horribly inedible.

"You poor dears . . ." the woman frowned, "Say no more. There's a place where people with your condition can go. Have you heard of the Merrifront Shelter?"

"Uhh . . ." Daniel tilted his head to the side.

"It's right on down the shore. They'll feed you, and even give you a place to sleep while you're getting back on your feet," the woman elaborated.

[Mandaz]

Manny stared at the woman with a dumbfounded smile on his face. She was useful after all! She was going to lead them to the very center of the homeless community for sure! The plan was happening a lot faster than he ever imagined could be possible! It made him wonder why he never received such instant help when he was living on the streets alone, but that was an issue he’d ponder later. His grin just widened and his head swiveled from looking at the woman to looking at Daniel.

“Wow ma’am!” He nearly sung with excitement. “That sounds great! Can we go right now? Please?”

Manny looked over again at Daniel with a wink and a nod. Except Daniel would only be able to see the nod due to all of the hair in Manny’s face, but it didn’t matter. Their plan was working! And better yet, they were totally going to get a free meal out of it! They should have thought of this weeks ago!

[Nayt]

The woman smiled warmly. "Of course! I'm not headed that way right now, but it's easy to find. Just follow the edge of the docks until you reach the shore. There's a short path around a hill from there, and you'll find it instantly."

"oI, uh-- th-- thanks, ma'am," Daniel smiled awkwardly and nodded his head.

"Oh, you're so welcome, boy. I'll pray for you tonight, that you can be sure of!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks . . ." Daniel half smiled.

The woman walked away with that, probably feeling a grand bit vindication and justification for her actions. Daniel, on the other hand, merely sighs. Sure, it's nice that they've found a good lead, but that whole last bit she said put him in a weird sort of mindset. For all the times he could remember, prayer never did him a lick of good. Once the woman was off and distant enough to not be a potential bother, Daniel turned to Manny. He also handed off the potato peels, just in case Manny wanted them back or something.

"So, oI guess we're off, then?"

[Mandaz]

Manny took a large step forward, bursting with excitement that a plan he had thought up all on his own was coming to fruition. He felt proud. Finally after all this time of traveling Daniel and Everett he officially felt like one of the team. Usually Daniel was coming up with plans. Then Everett would shoot them down and replace it with her own plan, while all Manny did was follow along obediently. Now he’d be able to prove his worth to the snooty girl. And oh how he was so ready to rub it in her face.

“Come onnnn, Daniel!” Manny whined, already several paces ahead of his friend. Daniel seemed to be lost in his head. Something that happened often, Manny assumed.

The smaller boy hurried along the docks, trying his best not to get in anyone’s way, and also keeping mind not to fall into the water. Such a huge expanse of water frightened him a little more than he cared to admit, but as long as his feet were planted firm on the ground he was as happy as he could be.

[Nayt]

"Uh?" Daniel lifted his head.

Oh, right. They were doing something. He'd almost completely dozed off there for a few minutes--let Manny take point and just put himself on auto pilot. It wasn't the first time Daniel had done that before, either. He seemed happy enough, but he could get really introspective sometimes, go off on a whole mental tangent, or just blank out entirely. Forget he's alive and walk the walk of the zombie.

Sometimes it was easier.

But yes, anyways, they were doing something. What were they doing, again? Oh! They were searching for leads on homeless people. Wait, why? Uhh . . .

Daniel scratched the side of his chin and lifted a brow. He was about tempted to ask Manny why they were looking for homeless people, but that would've just been too weird. Either way, that's what they were doing, and the homeless were up ahead.

"Oh, sorry," Daniel smiled, "Got koinda lost in space, there!"

Past the docks and again on land, they had before them a sprawling path through tall grass, leading all the way up to a meadow of sorts, chopped off from the rest of town and used as the perfect spot for a three story half-way home that looked to have the same quality as some of the worst inns Daniel and his friends had lodged in. Which was to say, it wasn't half bad.

[Mandaz]

“This place doesn’t look half bad!” Manny was first to exclaim. The surrounding meadow was nice, after all. Manny imagined it had beds inside, and a long line of free food for poor mouths. In fact he wasn’t really sure what to expect, but he knew it must have been nice if it helped people who were destitute like him.

Manny wasn’t sure how to approach. They would walk right up to the door and still he wasn’t certain. Were they supposed to knock or just go in? Would someone come out, scoop them up, clean them off and feed them? Did they need to fill out paperwork? This was all pretty intense!

“Uhh…what now?”

[Nayt]

Without a second thought in the world, Daniel stepped up to the door, swung it open, and stepped in. He'd been down this road plenty of times. He had, after all, been traveling a good deal with Everett before they found Manny. He turned around to hold the door open for Manny.

"Mn?" Daniel tilted his head to the side, "Wot do you mean?"

The inside of the halfway home looked something like an inn. Really did. There was a counter at the far end of the main room, a staircase behind it leading up to a couple of inside balconies (equipped with another staircase and a number of rooms to sleep in on each floor), a number of tables and chairs on the first floor, and a middle aged couple behind the counter.

The only difference?

Everyone was homeless. It was like they'd walked right into an international hobo convention. Every brand of homeless person was here. There were the homeless family, the sort that lost their home and the father was scrounging for pennies to get it back; the homeless vagabond, the sort that was through with society and decided to become a penniless adventurer (Daniel, Manny, and Everett in thirty years); the drunk ex-gambler, the sort that spent all his earnings on liquor and other vices; and the angry old bastards, the surly sort that hated just about everyone and everything, and really had no explanation to why they were so extravagantly homeless. It was like a smorgasbord of vagabonds in here.

There was also the cute red-headed girl in a white lab-coat looking thing brand of homeless. Wait, that's weird. Was that some rare brand of homeless bird? Because he'd certainly never seen one of those before.

Also the middle aged couple behind the counter had a whole array of food, all with a red or brown tint, and all some manner of soup or stew with differing consistencies. That was kind of cool.