This blog post houses about 1000 words written today to help me figure out what happened to Sol while Nic was trying not to get shot in the tavern. Don’t know what I’m talking about? You can go read Chapter One here.
EDIT: This was written when Chapter one V1.1 was avialable.
– J
Sol watched Nic disappear through one of the windows of the Purple Dolphin. It was another tavern that sailors seemed too frequent. There were always fights being broken up in the common area and it wasn’t uncommon to find questionable individuals there. Sol’s mom had pleaded with him to stay away from the place.
“It’s nothing but trouble. They should move the Purple Dolphin where it belongs down in the docks.” His mother’s voice waged an invisible finger at him in his head. Sol heard something behind him and from over the corner of the roof, he saw Seb climbing up.
“Alright ‘Miracle Boy’ let’s see you escape from us this time.” Seb voice was a little winded from climbing up the side of the building. But he was on his feet and moving towards Sol. Sol didn’t even take a look back toward Nic, “He can handle himself.” he thought.
Seb chased Sol over the rooftops. The streets became a blur of decorations for the festival that night. Ropes webbed from building to building holding banners, flowers, and other decorations. Sol looked back and saw Seb losing ground. But when he turned back around Rylan was about 20 feet ahead of him. Sol clambered to a stop knocking roof tiles loose as he did. He looked back and forth between the two boys closing in. He did the only thing that made sense, he started sliding down toward the street.
His shoes scuffed the clay and wood tiles of the roof as he slid down toward the edge. This roof had a small iron parapet surrounding it. He slid into it hoping it would hold, it was flimsier than he had expected though. He looked around nervously for a way down, some tiles fell to the ground below causing people to look up. Behind him, he could hear the two other boys sliding toward him. He looked back towards the street, they were about two stories up. A fall from here could cause some damage. The sound of sliding shoes grew louder, his heart raced in his ears.
Sol jumped and cat clawed at the air. Seb and Rylan slid to a stop, astonishment spread across their face. Sol continued to grasp at the air hoping to grab a banner or decoration or anything to help slow his fall. His hand connected with a rope and he grabbed on with all of his might. The rope sagged liberally, stretching until he was only a story from the ground. He let go and fell to the ground rolling to take the momentum out. Breathing hard, Sol looked back up at the boys and smirked. He gave a sarcastic wave at the boys before he casually walked away with his hands in his pockets.
As Sol made his way back to where he had last seen Nic he ran into Thon. The 10-year-old boy was an orphan. His parent’s left on a ship and never returned. Sol and Nic had found him in the warehouses in the Docks. Ever since then it had become part of their weekly routine to check in on the boy and take him clothes or food. Sol’s Ma gave the boy lodging on the rainiest of days to keep him from getting sick.
“Thon, hey Thon!” Sol moved up towards the boy and clasped him on his shoulder. He was mouse-like, his face was round and seemed too big for his body and his nose was a tiny sliver on the front of his face. There was surprise in his eyes, and then relief as he recognized Sol.
“Sol?” Thon squeaked the words. Another attribute that made him mousey.
“What are you doing man? I didn’t think you liked coming this deep into the main city.” Sol knelt down on one knee as they talked.
“I want some food while it’s still fresh.” Thon was starting to really relax now. His guard must have been up even before Sol spotted him.
“That’s a smart lad. Get the food before the flies do.” Sol rustled the boy’s bushy hair.
“Hey don’t treat me like that!” He stammered trying to brush Sol’s brotherly gesture off. Sol just smiled and laughed playfully taunting the boy.
“Thon, I need a favor. Could you do me a favor?” Sol said. Thon looked at the nearest window hungrily.
“I, I…” He stammered, still looking at the food. Sol followed his eyes and said,
“Ah, I see. Here I think I’ve got something.” He dug in his pockets for a second before producing an iron penny. He held it out to Thon. Thon grasped it with a small hand.
“Will you go down to the fishery and bring me a bucket of fish guts? Actually no!” Sol interrupted himself as he started working out the specifics. “Can you bring it to the Nobels Gardens?” Sol smiled encouragingly at the boy. But Thon let go of the coin and crossed his arms looking away from Sol.
“I’ll need more than an iron penny for that.” He said the words stiffly. It was obviously hard for him to turn down any money, no matter how small. Sol shifted his fingers and he was now holding three iron pennies. The young boy turned around at the noise and his eyes lit up looking at the three coins.
“The purple roof. Near the Lockport’s. If you get caught or yelled out just run, it isn’t worth a beating.” Sol looked at him seriously but Thon was only focused on the coin. “You hear me?” Thon grabbed the coins out of Sol’s fingers.
“Get fish guts and bring them to the purple roof near the Lockport’s. Don’t get caught. Easy.” Thon shoved the coins into his pocket. He shook them around making them clank. Sol stood up and said,
“Awesome, thanks!” All of a sudden remembering something Sol reached into his other pocket. He pulled out a perfectly preserved small conch shell and held it out to the boy. “Here, it’s my good luck charm. Bring it back to me.” he teased.
Thon took the shell and started looking it over admiring it. Sol looked towards the road and caught a glimpse of someone sprinting through the street. “Nic?” Sol started trotting towards the main road. He hollered back one last time to Thon. “Purple roof. Don’t get caught!” Sol ran after Nic.
