The bird flapped its wings and danced away from me. My elbows screamed at me for the skin I left on the street cobblestones, diving after the thing. That thrice cursed bird had my money! With a flap of gray wings, the feathered thief took flight while I rolled around the street and made off down the dock. Running after the dam thing down the shadow-filled ally. My legs pumped under me as the shadows of the ally fell away to the sunlight of the open dock. Bursting out onto the dock proper, the world tipped as I fell again, as my feet slid on the worn cobblestones.
A message filled my vision, and I failed to dismiss the message, willing it to go. Then, I waved my hand across the message, and it minimized into a stack in the corner of my vision.
Combat log: Environmental damage taken, Error no profession.
Scrambling, I got my feet under me, and again, I was off after my coin scanning ahead of me; I saw that bird flying just above the heads of the dock workers.
"Get out of my way," I yelled, running as fast as possible, but no one moved.
The din of conversations and the calls of the hawkers drowned out my cry. Running for all I was worth, I bounced off one worker, spinning into another, grabbing, and then being grabbed and passed to the next man. Both hands grabbed this man by his shoulders, and I felt like I was being lifted by stone giants.
"Sorry. Sorry." I apologized to the man, or was it a woman?
I was not looking at their age. Willing face, but tracking the pidgin. The dammed thing was just ahead of me. Moving again after it, I saw the bird floating out seaward and followed it; I truly wished I had been aware of where the dock ended. My stomach jumped into my throat as my body fell.
Combat log: Environmental damage. Error not profession recorded.
Congratulations! You are hurt, and it is getting worse.
The ship's deck was only a few meters of a drop from the dock, still far enough to make me regret not paying attention to my surroundings. I lost sight of the bird as I lay facedown on the deck, rolling over to my side and onto my feet. I sprinted to the seaward side of the ship, scanning for the bird and my coin. I watched the bird change course, returning to the land.
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"Who are you?" someone said behind me. "Why exactly are you on our ship?" the voice continued as I watched the bird move closer to land.
Spinning around, there was no one there, and I started off again. And my knee crashed hard against something or someone, yep, definitely someone.
Combat log: You have engaged in combat. Error: no profession recorded.
"You fucker." Yelled the lightly dressed dwarf as he spun to the side, grabbing his war hammer at a frog clip on his belt.
"Sorry! Sorry!" I yelled, holding my hand up and palms forward while sidling to the dockside. The dwarf advanced on me. The look in his bearded mug was filled with a lot of hate. I turned to scramble to the side of the boat and, with a good jump, up to the dockside. The hammer slammed down behind me into the ship railing where I had been only a moment before the hammer splintered the railing. I made it to the dock and started off after the bird again.
The crowds continued to pay little attention to me as I pushed through, losing what was left of my shirt. I ran half-naked across the dock and up a new street wide and generous with space for carts to travel side by side and for people to travel along the sides.
I watched as the bird wheeled to the right, and again I ran as fast as I could, shirtless, bloodied, and yelling, "Stop that fucking bird.".
In less than half a day, I had gone from interstellar traveler to wealthy merchant to indentured ship oarsmen to the city madmen, and I still needed a profession. This was indeed a great day.
I started moving out of the dockside area into more of a shopping zone. The merchants had placed signs beckoning people to enter the shops along the huge paved road, making running in the less densely populated street even more difficult.
The long expanses of the shops and houses, most of which looked like the old historic houses. Not the ones with long-reed thatched roofing. But the next area was the wood-style housing that kept most of the weather out. I noted that the roofs and water drains were really well maintained. 'What am I looking at? I need my coin!' I thought. I took to the great street, staying off the sidewalks and running on the road. A message box popped into my vision again.
Warning: You are hurt and fatigued. Error: no profession recorded.
"Oh great," I said, noting that each step started at an increasing energy cost. My legs were heavier, and my chest was heaving up and down, breathing in short, ragged breaths. The bird was only just in reach. I could see it nearing a sizeable temple-like building, white with reflective gold. I was desperate for a side street. Which is precisely what I got. Taking the new street was much more manageable. The white building was only a few hundred meters away, and the bird was almost there, too. The thought jumped into my head: I was going to make it; I would get the bird, and my coin would be my reward. Lowing my head, I willed my body to move.
The white building loomed before me. The marble it was made of was unblemished, raised above the streets with stairs up to great columns and as-yet-unseen doors. As I climbed the stairs one by one, the bird flew above, and I lost sight of the dam thing as it flew above me. My legs burned as I forced one more step, my skin hot and feeling like it wanted to split and fall from my thighs and face. I reached the top of the grand stair.
Only to find a landing, a number between white and gold robes, what I guess were priests or monks. The monks were standing around, keeping the odd focus on a single man sitting at the bottom of the following steps going up to the temple. He was dressed in the same robes as the monks.
Except his robes were ripped at the shoulder, the other monks had an embroidered symbol of the sun over the sea, the same that was over the temple doors, and that trice-cursed bird was nowhere to be seen.