Norbert saw to the right at the city's outskirts and the nothingness that was past it, as he continued his rough circle, the desert dunes rolling one after the next. No wall protected the city; just one step out, and the sand was under one's feet.
Staring, Norbert wondered if this place was ever attacked, not seeing any walls or barriers that could ever protect this place and the residents that lived there—continuing to whistle as he made his way around the city's outskirts. Trash and other items started to be blown his way around the place, moving itself off and into the dunes around him.
Wondering where it was all going, Norbert dismissed it as he continued, wanting to find the temple section as he wondered what the area for Luck would look like. The buildings around him were the closest to ruins. The walls were thinner at the top from the sand that tried to battle him and the buildings, slowly eroding them away.
Whenever someone past him on his travels on the outskirts they were wrapped up in duller colours than those further in around the colosseum. Norbert looked across, seeing the people here less clean than the others, and smiled at the realisation of where the two city sections started.
The affluent were near the centre, away from the constant sand that would berate your property and near the all-important Colosseum. But below, with no sand or anything disturbing you, the more critical section was privacy, pushing yourself away from anyone you didn't want to interact with.
The people here, like below, kept their way from him. A stranger walking in a stranger's land, Norbert did not mind the isolation he was experiencing from them. As long as they didn't cross any barrier and kept to themselves, so would he.
Making it to the top, Norbert climbs on top of a dune to look further ahead, seeing a section balloon outwards from the usual circle of the city.
Curiosity and hope peaked; had he finally found what he sought? Gazing up at the moon, the celestial object still high in the sky, he was thankful that he would have enough time to find it and get it done before needing to go once more.
Continuing his walking pace, with no need to rush anymore with enough time on his hands, Norbert continued his whistling as he made it around the city.
He saw it running towards him, puffing into the air with each step they took as they rushed towards Norbert. Coming to a stop, letting the kid finish their journey as they skidded, sliding next to Norbert, the sand kicking slightly up onto his boots and pant legs.
Smiling, Norbert looked down not wanting to intimidate any more than needed, waiting for the urchin to talk independently. The kid huffing their breath, finally standing up straight, sucking air into their lungs. "Did you hand out candies?" The kid shouted to Norbert.
He took a step back and nodded in return. With the confirmation, the kid sprinted off, looking back once to see if Norbert was following him. He sighed, and he did not see a way of getting out of it. His curiosity was caught; he wondered what the kid so desperately wanted to show him.
Heading into the city, Norbert looked to the side as kids stared at him from behind windows and on top of rooves. The further they went, the more Norbert could see, tens of the kids on every street block just looking at him go past.
There were no looks of animosity or curiosity. Their eyes were sunken into their heads, their nails cracked and blackened, and dirt covering their faces, making them look gaunter rather than natural. Catching up to the kid, Norbert asked, "What happened to them?" Looking over the kid, he saw none of those signs on him, thankful that whatever it could be wasn't spreading to everyone.
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A low-rise building stretched over where a street would typically be. The curtain is pushed aside, and Norbert sees only darkness within as he changes his vision. He follows after the kid as the moonlight is blocked by the makeshift door being used.
Stepping through, Norbert looked around, seeing that the kids here weren't as bad a condition compared to those outside. Huddled together, they watched Norbert, who had just entered. There was a table and two seats, one already occupied.
The boy he followed quickly walked over, and Norbert heard the boy whisper in the seated person's ear, "He should be the one."
The seated person nodding their head once, Norbert walking towards the chair, pulling it out and sitting down on it. Norbert feeling the rough wooden chair under his hand, sitting down it rocked slightly, one of the legs to short compared to the others.
Leaning to the back to avoid being on the lowest leg, Norbert took a coin from his pouch, quickly whispering, "Heads I leave, tails I stay." So it only sounded like a buzzing to the ears. He was flicking the coin into the air, Norbert palming to his left at the top of his hand, and he saw the tail's side looking back at him.
Surprised at the outcome, Norbert wondered what he could do for a bunch of kids. Tossing the coin back into the air, he watched it reach the apex before coming back down to the ground again. He did this several times, still the kid in front of him doing nothing, and Norbert had had enough of it.
"Why did you come looking for me?" Norbert asked around the room. The silence was finally broken, and the kid in front of him was finally coming to motion.
"Were you the one that handed out the candies before the guards came?" They asked Norbert, their voice wavering slightly at the question, Norbert seeing that they were all looking up to the kid in front of him to control and get them the best outcome possible for them.
"And if I am?" Norbert questioned, leaning back in the chair slightly as he tossed the coin up again, draping one hand off the table and letting it limply towards the ground.
"Do you have any more candies you can give us?" The kid asked. Norbert looked into their eyes, changing his night vision to see colour better as his eyes naturally became acclimated to the darkness. The kids looked younger than he thought they should be as if they might have started high school back on Earth.
"A couple left, but not much anymore," Norbert told them, remembering the rest of the collection that Vivienne had returned to his room in the Pudgy Patron, confirming that they had been moved to the witch's mansion.
"We need them." The kid said, leaning forward, both hands on the table. The slight coolness and control they tried to grasp at the start were thrown away in that single motion.
Seeing the desperation painted on the kid's face, Norbert smiled at him, trying to calm him down. "If you want something from someone, sometimes it helps to provide why you want it and something that is an advantage from the owner to give it to you?" Norbert provided to the kid.
The words washed over them, Norbert seeing as they tried to calm themselves down before continuing to talk to Norbert.
"It's for those outside," the kid said, pointing out the door. Norbert remembered the ones who looked sickly on the way to come here, their sunken eyes staring past him flashing in his mind.
"Do you have any idea what happened to them?" Norbert asked the kid, looking around at the others in the room with him, trying to spot any sign of them.
"I have no clue. Just one day, Frang got sick. A couple of cycles later, three more had it. Now nearly everyone here has it—except for those you gave the candies to," the leader said, pointing to the huddling kids behind Norbert in the corner.
Turning around, Norbert stared at them, all ten sets of eyes
"No parents?" Norbert asked the questions, believing the answer he would receive.
"People come, people go, and some just get left behind," the kid said, Norbert, tilting his head to the side as he wondered what could have happened to have so many here. He saw he wouldn't get more information about how these came together.
"Is there an adult organising you, forcing you to steal or do actions any of you don't want to do? Is there a ringleader pointing you from behind the stage?" Norbert asked, pushing off the chair as he leaned forward. He stared at the kid before him like a beast, ready to pounce on his prey.
Norbert stared into their eyes, only cold firmness projected back to Norbert. "Just me now. There was another before, but they left here when they could." The kid sitting in the chair said.
The kid who brought Norbert over here nodded in agreement. "And what is your name, leader of children?" Norbert asked, leaning back in the chair once more. He rocked backwards as he leaned on the back two legs, placing a foot on the table and using it to rock himself back and forth.