Hello friends~ It's me again back for a second chapter of Tales from Crisis City! I'm open for any requests or suggestions for a chapter you might want to see in this fanfiction, so feel free to drop me a private message or leave a review and I'll get back to you~! Enjoy the chapter!
"So you can walk through fire too?!"
"Yes."
"Wow, and you can move fire around?"
"Yes, Silver."
"You never get burned?"
"I said yes."
"And you can extinguish them?!"
"I already answered these questions." Blaze muttered. Everywhere she went, the silver-haired boy would follow. He kept talking and asking her questions. Silver was quite the annoying boy to her. She was grateful for the food and guidance he had offer her in the past few hours. The help was done. She didn't understand why he didn't just shoo. Instead, he just kept following her like some little lost puppy. "You helped me. Now you can leave."
Silver shook his head. There was no way he was leaving his new friend. "The Elder said I didn't have to be back until later. So I'll just keep talking to you."
Blaze sighed. She didn't even realize where they were going. They just kept wandering around some of the ruined buildings on the more quiet side of the city. Next they just found themselves on a twisted highway. This Elder Silver spoke of confused her. She heard one of the boys who antagonized her mention the name earlier. She figured maybe some sort of teacher figure. "I'll be fine. You should go and not worry your Elder."
Silver thought for a moment. He thought she was right. Upon seeing her look around, he chuckled. "Okay. What time does your Elder what you back?"
Blaze paused. She just crossed her arms and looked to the side. "Whenever, wherever. I don't have an Elder."
"What about parents?" Silver asked with a frown.
"Nothing." Blaze just stopped walking all together. Like most of the kids, Blaze didn't have parents. However her special case was that she didn't know who they were, or where she even was before Crisis City. Silver stopped as well. Now his previous excited deposition turned into one of sadness.
"No one, huh." Suddenly, Silver seemed to bright up with an idea which startled Blaze. "I know! You can come back with me. The Elder would love to meet you."
"W-What? No, we've only just met." Blaze shook her hands in front of her. She thought the boy was way too trusting and naive for his own good. He just met this girl and now he wanted to take her to his 'home'. She just wanted the boy to stop bugging her and get out of her way. However deep down she felt somewhat happy because of this boy.
Silver smiled and grabbed a hold of her hand. "It's okay." he reassured. "I can't leave you here all alone without anybody. At least come for one night."
Blaze looked right down at Silver's hand. It wasn't sweaty, at least. 'Why is he. Holding my hand.' she wouldn't admit it, but deep down she liked it. She felt somewhat safer. She seriously considered Silver's suggestion for a moment. She thought just one night couldn't hurt.
"Fine." she said. "Just one night. You lead the way."
Blaze soon found herself in front of some kind of small bunker-like structure embedded into the base of a cliff. Next to the cliff was large remains of a building that had tipped over. A highway was underneath these remains, and crumbled right into the ground in front of the bunker. Blaze was somewhat mesmerized by it. It looked like a genuine shelter especially when compared to the other places in the city.
Silver led Blaze right into the shelter. It wasn't a big place, just a main room the size of a simple living room which was connected to two smaller spaces used as bedrooms. In the main room, there was currently a very old man bending down with a small wooden cane searching through some boxes.
"I'm home, Elder!" Silver said happily. "Let me help you with that." he immediately went to help the old man, searching through the box of junk. Inside was metals and materials, things that were used in trade or to reinforce the bunker.
"Why thank you, Silver." The Elder smiled. He wore a simple green flowery vacation shirt with beige trousers underneath. Despite the somewhat fancy attire, he also wore brown house slippers to walk around. "I know I put a can in here earlier. Does beans sound good for dinner?"
"Yeah. I'll eat anything right now." Silver chuckled. He noticed there was no beans in the box. "Elder, this box is just for the metal and other supplies. I think the worker from yesterday put it in… here!" he took out a shiny can of beans in a small box next to the one he was looking prior.
Blaze just sorta stood there in the doorframe with her back against the metal door. She felt extremely uncomfortable. She didn't want to speak up, for she feared of being rude. "..."
Silver looked back at Blaze, sensing her discomfort. "Oh, Elder, this is Blaze!" Blaze immediately jerked out of her train of thought, almost looking like a fish out of water.
"I-It's a pleasure." Blaze said, composing herself and standing straight.
The Elder turned around and smiled. He slowly waddled over to Blaze with his cane and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's nice to meet you, little one."
Silver walked over to them with the can of beans in his hand. He began to play with it, spinning it around and what not. "She wants to stay here for the night. Can she?"
The Elder hummed and gave Blaze a quick nod. "I don't see why not. I hope you like beans!"
Blaze suddenly felt a warmness in her heart. She didn't want to admit it, but she was actually quite happy to be offered shelter for the night. "I'll eat anything you'll give me, sir."
"Don't call me sir, call me Elder! It's not my real name, but everyone loves calling me that." the old man chuckled and patted her back. He began to usher her into one of the rooms with Silver following. "It's nice to see a new face around here." He led her to a small room. There was two beds, bunk beds with a small set of drawers across from it. The room was the size of a bathroom. It wasn't too bad, it had enough space and was rather cozy. "You may sleep here tonight."
Blaze gave a small bow, showing utter respect for the elder. "Thank you very much." she stepped into the small room inwardly smiling at the fact that she'll be able to sleep in an actual bed.
"This is my room." Silver went and sat on the bottom bunk. "I'm happy to share with you!"
The Elder gave a happy nod to the two kids. "You settle in, Blaze. I'll go make dinner for you two." he turned right back around and left, the sounds of his cane clattering moving along with him.
Blaze looked to the top bunk. There was no way she wished to sleep on the top. She developed quite a fear of heights. It wasn't an extreme fear, but the thought of being asleep that high made her feel uncomfortable. "M-May I sleep on the bottom bed?"
Silver nodded, and happily took his cyan colored blanket and pillow off of the bed to move it to the top bunk. "Sure. I'll go get you some blankets in a second." he just tossed it on the top bed and left the room. Blaze's eye twitched. She didn't like the idea of a messy bed. Letting this pet-peeve get the best of her, she fixed up Silver's top bunk while standing on the rims of her own bunk.
The boy came back with a purple fuzzy blanket with matching pillow in hand. "Here. I was able to get you purple, since I figured you liked the color purple." he chuckled and looked up to his bunk. "Oh, you didn't have to fix it for me. Thanks!"
Blaze nodded, and took the blankets with a small smile. "Thank you. And yes, I do like the color purple." she began to fix her own bed. "Do other kids stay here?"
"No, not really. Sometimes they do." Silver climbed to the top of his bunk to snuggle himself into his bed. "A whole bunch of kids used to stay here. They either died, ran away, grew up, or just left with grown-ups like construction workers. The other room is used for other kids who want to stay, and the Elder sleeps in the main room next to the supplies on a cot." he frowned and looked straight up into the stone ceiling. "Sometimes Clint and the others stay here for a night or two. Now it's really just me here."
The bottom bunk was fixed up with ease. Blaze sat down on the bed and slicked her hands through the soft fabric of the blanket. "That's unfortunate." she was surprised on how clean the blanket and the pillow was. She thought maybe the Elder made them with the materials he had.
A few minutes later Blaze and Silver were eating dinner while sitting on the floor in the main room. Silver was enjoying his food, just like Blaze. She had to admit it was the best food she had in a while.
"And if you like it here," the Elder said as he sat on his little cot with his own plate. "You may stay here for as long as you want. This is your shelter."
Blaze took a moment from eating to think about it. The opportunity sounded almost too good to pass. From what she seen so far, maybe just a few more days couldn't hurt. "I'll stay. Thank you for opening your doors to me."
Silver almost jumped up from his spot in the ground with happiness. "That's great! You'll really like it here. This place is the safest place I know. You can keep that bottom bunk in my room too."
'Great, looks like I'll never hear the end of it from Silver any time soon.' she chuckled to herself. She was grateful for the friend she gained, and now she finally had some shelter. There was nothing more she could ever ask for. Upon finishing up her little plate of beans, she stood up. "Where must I put these?"
"Oh here, I got it." Silver stood up as well and took Blaze's plate along with his own over to a big plastic bin of water next to the area where the Elder kept all his food and kitchen supplies over in the right corner next to a small cooking nook. "You put it into this bin so the dishes could soak for a bit then we wash it in the morning."
The Elder opened the door to look outside. It was pitch black already. Sometimes it got too dark outside too quickly. "You two best be off to bed. It's very late."
Silver nodded and set foot to his room along with Blaze. "Goodnight Elder!"
Blaze gave the Elder a polite bow. "Sleep well. Thank you again for letting me stay here." Within the next few minutes, both children were inside their bed. Silver was snoring loudly on his top bunk, which made Blaze somewhat aggravated. She still had to admit, she actually felt like she could relax for once. She slipped into a train of thought. After a few minutes she felt her heart skip a beat once she heard the bed creak from Silver moving above.
"Mmmm…. hey Blaze?" came the half-asleep Silver.
"Yes…?" she almost got a heart attack from the sudden movement.
"Thanks for staying over today." he muttered before shifting around to face the wall. He finally had a friend. "Sleep tight."
Blaze's gaze softened once she heard those words. Despite her independent personality, she felt happy to have Silver as a friend, deep down.
"Goodnight, Silver." she uttered before snuggling in her blanket. For the first time, Blaze and Silver were able to have a good nights rest in a very long time.
And that's it for this chapter! Sorry if nothing too exciting happens, but I promise the next few chapters be much more entertaining!
Until then, that's all for now folks!