• Closed • Living on the edge (Symbri)

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 20th of Ashan, 717

Finn squeezed his tongue between his lips and carefully put one foot in front of the other as he balanced himself on the roof-gutter. Heights didn't faze him, but he couldn't deny that it looked much higher from up here than it had appeared to be from down on the streets. One mistake, and he'd make a steep, twenty-foot drop to the ground. Yet he kept his eyes firmly on the target. At the end of the gutter, where the building wrapped around into a corner, was a bird's nest, and in the bird's nest lay three flecked eggs, waiting to be picked up.

The mixture of leaves and water in the thin, steel gutter unabalanced him from time to time, but whenever he looked as though he was about to tip over, he caught his balance again as he spread his arms out like an eagle. Sweat started to trickle down his brow as he came closer and closer. A few pedestrians on the streets below started to take notice, and a woman hollered for him to come down. But he wasn't going to give up, not when he was so close to his goal.

Slowly but surely he bent his knees and reached out toward the white eggs, flecked with spots of brown. The first one he stuffed in his left pocket of his jacket and the second one into his right. With both pockets occupied however, there was no room to spare for the third one, and he simply held it in his right hand.

A small crowd had now gathered at the foot of the building. Some were pointing up and laughing whilst others clasped their mouths in horror. Certainly, most of them would likely think him mad for climbing up so high simply to get some eggs. But these were not any regular eggs. These were eggs of some special bird whose name Finn had already forgotten. All he remembered was that the man who'd asked him to fetch them had offered him a golden nel for each of them, if he returned them in one piece.

Overconfident from having seized his price, Finn did not notice that a large bird, almost half his size was coming home to her young. He had already turned around in the gutter and was shuffling his way back when the bird struck him from behind.

He stumbled forward. His feet slipped and he barely caught the ridge of the gutter with his hands. Gasps came from below, as Finn was forced to drop the egg in his right hand and hung on for dear life.

[Symbri]

Perhaps it was just the nature of things, those with the brash nature, those who do not care for the thoughts and opinions of others, who act out on their own become the outcasts and underdogs. Delinquency and bad behavior, hallmarks of the troublemakers in the forced school system of ne’haer. Though she couldn’t claim she was much of star either, she’d taken working at the farm over going to school, and avoiding her chores to find trouble whenever possible. Though perhaps it was for the best she’d left her old ways behind, trouble… as an adult was a lot less than fun, it wasn’t often one got away with just a scolding anymore.
As the woman walked ever in contemplative silence her attention was snagged by a rather loud scene, a boy walking across the edge of a roof trying to snag… eggs from a nest? The small gathering of people looking up, some angry faces, some amused others concerned, Symbri’s own face assumed the latter, she could tell by his motions he was on a precarious perch.
Though to her relief he claimed his proze without much trouble, it was however, what came next that spurred her to action. The owner of the nest swooped down none to happy with the theft of her eggs Swooping over the boy, in hindsight he’ probly would have been better off taking the hit from the bird and keeping his balance, but that was hardly important, even as her mind raced her feet were already in motion. Before the boy managed to call out for help, she was halfway to him.
When she reached the wall she didn’t stop, kicking off the ground her first foot connected with the wall seeking footing on the rough vertical surface, then the next foot running vertically, she had to be fast as she was already rapidly loosing momentum, snagging the ledge of the roof with her hand she pulled herself up with the help of her momentum quickly if not gracefully scaling the side of the building. Reaching down Symbri grabbed the boys wrist now above him, her other arm fending of the squawking beast above, the bird seemingly hell-bent on defending it’s territory.

“Hang on boy, I’ll pull you up.”
Bracing herself back She began the process of trying to haul the boy up, though she hoped he could help himself, to an extent, she was perhaps fast but raw muscle was not her strong suit. Worse yet it looked like a couple rather unhappy looking town guards were approaching, she wasn’t one to be a criminal but explaining their situation seemed arduous too. Escaping, by running across roofs was an option, for her at least, but she’d allow the boy to be the deciding factor.

“Quickly now, worse trouble than this DAMN BIRD’s on the way.”
Her shout at the bird punctuated with another angry swipe at it. She could probly hit it if she wanted to but killing a creature for defending its home left a bad taste in her mouth, though being clawed was not ideal either.

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 20th of Ashan, 717

His palms turned cold and slippery with sweat while the angry mother bird clawed at him. A tremble passed through his arms as he tried to pull himself up while his feet kicked and searched for support. Just as his face started to turn red with effort, the bird flew away and gentle fingers wrapped around his wrist. Her pull wasn't quite strong enough to hoist him up and over the ledge, but combined with his own efforts he soon made it to safety.

"Thanks," he panted, his face red from exertion. Not all children were as aptly attuned to the distinct clattering of armour as Finn was, and he instantly recognized the sound. More trouble was brewing.

Finn shot a quick glance at the woman. She seemed to think the same as him.

"You there!" A low voice boomed. "Get down at once!"

The middle-aged captain of the guard would come to regret his choice of words as Finn raised himself and scurried over the ridge of the rooftop before sliding down the other side. Indeed, he had every intention of coming down, just not on the side that the guards were standing. Amid a small avalance of loosened rooftiles, Finn came skidding to a halt in the gutter before leaping over the edge and disappearing from sight. Indeed it might have appeared as though he'd jumped to a certain death if not for the sound of a low thud. If Symbri would follow the same route, she'd spot Finn rushing down a tall, wooden scaffolding tower.

The wooden structure creaked and swayed dangerously as Finn hastily descended, almost slipping over a loose plank halfway down. Once at the bottom, he did not wait for Symbri. She could either go her own way, or chase after him as he bolted across the courtyard down below. Rows of well-kept flowers and neatly trimmed grass decorated the courtyard and an artisan fountain hewed from a dark rock decorated the center of the little square.The inhabitants of the houses surrounding the square were clearly retired, both from work and from standing or sitting in the small patch of paradise in their backyards. A paradise that was however roughly disturbed as Finn trampled the flowers, kicked up thick clods of dirt and unearthed a rare species of plant when his foot hooked underneath a fragile root.

Unbeknown to Finn, the last egg in his pocket had cracked and left a trail behind him as the yoke seeped through the cloth. Much more alarming however was that the courtyard was sealed off by building on all sides, except for a narrow pathway, guarded by a tall, wrought-iron gate.

There was nothing else for it. He ran toward the gate and tried to push it open, but the old iron rattled with hollow laughter in reply.

"Cuntin-," Finn cursed under his breath as his fingers wrapped around the rusty steel. He'd come through this way not ten bits ago. Just his luck that his only escape route had been locked by some demented-

He turned as the relative peace of the square garden was disturbed. A door banged open through which one of the two guardsmen came, and just when Finn was about to turn away from the gate, a gloved hand seized his arm and yanked it forward between the bars. The pull came so suddenly that Finn's turned head slammed against the cold iron with full force, bruising his temple.

The guard who had seized him toted a broad mustache and thick, angry brows. "Where's the other one?" he demanded to know while he caught Finn's arm between the bars in the gate.

"Let me go!"

The guard inside the courtyard came to his captain's aid and trapped Finn between his the ironwork and his body, much to the captain's disapproval.

"You idiot!" he barked at his subordinate. Though dazed, Finn understood the guard's mistake immediately and sent a cocky smirk at the fuming captain. Since both guardsmen were now pinning down the youngest of the troublemakers, there was a chance for Symbri to turn back around and find another route of escape.

"Go!" Finn shouted in the direction where he'd last seen Symbri. "Run, qui-!" his voice was cut off by a painful yelp as the frustrated captain twisted his arm into an unnatural position while the other guardsman turned to search for Symbri in the courtyard.

"What were you thinking?!" The captain demanded to know as he eased his grip a little. "You could've fallen to your death!"

Finn shot a foul look at the guardsman whose face twitched as he resisted some violent urges while he waited for his subordinate to return. "Shouldn't you be in school, huh? Where do you live?" Again, Finn stayed his tongue, much to the chagrin of the snarling captain.

The fatter soldier returned a few bits later, sweating and puffing, and markedly alone. "She escaped," he explained rather needlessly as he halted behind Finn, resting his hands on his kneecaps as he caught his breath. "So what do we do with this one?"

The captain grimaced. "What's your name, boy?"

"Luka."

The captain gave him a hard stare. But just when Finn thought the man's features softened, the captain twisted his arm against the natural hinge of his elbow. "Don't lie," the captain grumbled. "What's your name?"

"Abernat-"

The crushing grip around his wrist tightened as the captain forched his

"We'll take him to the Hall of Rule and Rep-"

Finn let out a loud, bored, groan. "Why can't you just let me go? Don't you have anything better to d- Ow!" The captain yanked his arm, causing his head to bump violently against the steel gate. "That's enough out of you. What were you doing up there anyway huh?"

"Just-" Finn started as he rubbed his bruised forehead. "Just hangin'. What's it to you?"

"Shouldn't he be in school or somethink'?"