Sora looked up at the starry night sky, desperately trying to block out the
noise of the city around him and to remember the sound of waves breaking
upon a beach.
More specifically, the beaches of Destiny Island, where he grew up.
Instead of hearing the waves, he heard people running about and instead of the seagulls cries, he heard people yelling and shoving each other about. A young boy shoved past Sora, bringing him back into the world just as he finally saw the palm trees for the first time in four years. After the boy shoved by Sora, he looked back up at the palm tree which turned out to be nothing more than a street light. Sora sneered, looked both ways across the wide street and crossed, clutching his paper bag close to his chest.
People are way too rude. He thought to himself, watching a fight erupt in an alley. He turned away quickly, so he wouldn't get involved. After all he went through, didn't he deserve to sit out of fights? He asked himself, trying to justify himself as he heard crying from the alley. Sora shut his eyes tight and shook his head to make the crying go away, and it did, at least to his ears. That's how it was in Twilight City, day in and day out. Well, in Sora's section at least.
"Taking your time!" snapped a female voice ahead of Sora. There in the doorway of a small, shanty house was a short, stocky female with a no nonsense face. In her right hand she held a soup ladle while the other hand was on her hip, or what Sora assumed was her hip. He observe that her apron was clean, which meant that she was waiting for Sora to get there so she could cook dinner. Sora trotted to her and bowed his head in respect. The woman snorted and looked in the bag. 'I bet you were daydreamin' again, weren cha?" she snapped. Sora tried not to wince as the woman's acrid breath wafted down to him. "One day, yer goin to end up in the gutter with yer throat slashed because you weren't payin attention." She said, leading Sora into her home.
Sora followed the woman obediently, without a word, and was instantly surrounded by a troupe of dirty looking children. They smiled at him with smiles that were missing teeth and breath as bad as their mother's. Each child tried to grab a hold of Sora, to drag him to play. Sora gently, and wordlessly, tried to pull free, but all of the 8 children were home today, making this more of a struggle than usual.
"Dinkledorfs! Let him alone sos we can eat!" the woman bellowed, swatting the children with her soup ladle. Gertrude Dinkledorf was no woman to laugh at, but to obey. Any smile that she caught in her house by non- family members was questioned until the person was nearly in tears of fear or embarrassment. The kids scattered from Sora and he felt himself being towed by Gertrude into what they called 'the kitchen'. Sora had never seen anything look less like a kitchen in his life, because at night, the children slept in the kitchen with rags that served as blankets. The kitchen ran into the five foot wide 'living room' while that ran into the bedroom; all without a wall to separate any of the rooms. In the living room, there was a stairwell that led upstairs with the building's only bathroom. The landlord, Burrwell, had somehow made the houses so that they were all next to each other, but each tenant had to go u a flight of steps to a second floor where there was a small bathroom. At least 13 people shared the one bathroom, and it was only cleaned when one of the tenants decided to waste their meager pay on cleaning materials, then brave the stink long enough for the supplies to run out. This happened almost never, because the pay that the people had was used to keep themselves in the homes they had, as cruddy as they were.
Sora placed the paper bag on the counter and turned to leave, but felt the back of his shirt be tugged roughly. He turned around, trying not to scowl at Gertrude. The woman tapped him hard on the forehead wit her ladle.
"I need someone to keep an eye on these young'uns while I stir us up a messa sumthin, and that someone is you Sora." She snapped. Sora stared at her for a moment, then turned to tend to the kids. Gertrude pulled him back again, although, she was more gentle this time. "You stay for dinner too. The kids like yeh, can't imagine why tho." She grumbled. Sora shrugged and took a step away from her. "Donche got any manners? I said you can have dinner wit us? Cantche manage a thankya?" she bellowed. Sora grimached, then turned to her and bowed.
"Thank you Ma'am." He said, barely loud enough for her to hear. Gertrude watched him for a moment, then shooed him off. She watched the odd boy for a moment. She knew that he would be turning 20 in a few weeks, but he still seemed boy-ish to her, but not as childish as when she first met him. Going into the kitchen, she began to make her soup, chopping the carrots Sora bought and preserving the rest for tomorrow night's meal, while cleaning parts of her kitchen and habitually keeping an ear out foe one of her children.
'Fool,' she thought to herself. 'Sora's there to watch them. Odd boy though. Pity this city is finally beginning to take its toll on him.' She closed her eyes while stirring her soup. She remembered meeting him nearly six years ago. He was a thin lad, with hid hair forming a few large spikes in a few directions as if he fell asleep with gel in his hair and never thought to fix it when he awoke. He had been wandering around the streets, being shoved over by people while asking questions. She had seen he was about to approach Burrwell, and she ran to him and pinched his ear, dragging him off.
'Cantchee tell he's not one to be talking to?' she snapped, releasing the squirming boy when Burrwell was out of sight. Sora rubbed his ear in pain and watched Gertrude warily, then he put on a bright smile and was about to ask her something when she whacked him on the head with her bag. 'There be no grinin at me boy! What disrespect! Didnnt yer mother every teach you nought' Sora looked at the ground sheepishly and said,
'I'm lost. I can't find my friends or my way home.' He said softly. Gertrude gave him another whack on the side of his head.
'I'd beat my boys if onenna them were snifflin round town, askin strangers for some kind'o pity! Yer a man aintche? Stand like one and be proud and don't ask if someone has seen yer momma!' Sora stared up at her and she remembered the smile on his face. She remembered how he promised her he wouldn't bother anyone with his questions the way he had. Looking down at her pot, Gertrude frowned and went to slice some potatoes for the soup. The next time she saw him, he was about to walk into a Daj Alley, where the most violent gangsters and ruffians took their victims for the beating of their lives. She caught Sora by the same ear and dragged him all the way home, tossed him inside and slammed the door shut and locked it. Next she turned on him, her face redder than a tomato.
'What.kind of idiot are you?' she bellowed. 'Nobody goes there and comes out without both their legs broken and crying for their momma!' Sora looked surprised, then looked at the ground, apologizing for inconvenience her and thanking her for rescuing him. She sighed and dropped her bag on the ground. 'Well, since you no sense to stay outside alone, you can stay here till yer on yer feet and street smart, but ye need to be watching me kids while I work during the day!' she had said. Sora agreed, but said he wouldn't stay for very long, because he knew his friends would come for him.
Now it was six years later and he had stopped looking for familiar faces in the crowds and didn't whirl around ever time he thought he heard his name. Six years had taken their damage on him. His semi muscular form was turned into tense muscle and his over exuberance was smashed into silent obedience. He no longer jumped to do a task with a cheerful 'don't worry about it!' and an attempt to get Gertrude a high-five; now it was a silent nod and a half smile. She sighed and returned to making dinner.
Sora lurched to his feet with three kids on his back, one pulling his hair, one nearly choking him from pulling on his shirt collar and the third was pulling his ears. A small moan escaped his lips when a fourth child wanted to be held by Sora, right then. Gertrude came to his rescues when she bellowed for them to grab their bowls. All of the children abruptly leapt from Sora as if he were a leper to retrieve their bowls. Sora trudged after them and reached for his own chipped bowl when Gertrude stopped him.
"Nai boy. Go lie down. When yer rested ye may eat. If I feed ye now, I'm afraid ye'll fall asleep in yer soup!" she said, turning Sora around and shoving him into the main bedroom. She sighed sadly. He was becoming how her husband had been when he was alive. Running all day with only two meals a day as his break, which was often consumed still running, and coming home dead tired, but with his work not yet done. She heard something hit the floor and she knew that Sora had collapsed. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
'He's going to die, just like my old Roger. This city will kill him. It drags them about until they are too broken to fight back, then their lives are taken away as if they never meant anything to anyone.' The children looked up at their mother, worried.
"Git back to work! Mara, Rog, Briar and Kiel! Youre going to the factory till morn. Don't whine like infants! I didn't raise no bebes! The rest of you are going to be in the Works tonight and make sure you count your pay!" she yelled.
Sora, who was in the master.the only bedroom of the house, listened silently and felt ashamed. He had failed at fighting off the Heartless and he even failed at trying to help a single mother raise her children in Twilight City. He curled himself up and tried to keep his tears from flowing. His body was too weak to fight the gangs that followed careless people home and his will was too weak to fight back whenever he was caught by them. He only had to will to live each day to help the woman who was keeping him alive. Eventually, he fell asleep. Gertrude came in and left two bowls of soup next to Sora for him to eat when he awoke. She had given him her share, to keep him alive and with her for as long as possible.
A hooded figure peered into the dirty window and saw Sora curled up against the cold. Slowly, he turned and left Hell's Alley and walked to the center of Twilight City; the most beautify part of town. It was lively and noisier than the part that Sora now lived in, but the noise wasn't as harsh. The people who lived here never knew or thought of the existence of the people like Sora who toiled all day for the services and materials they purchase. They wouldn't even care if someone sat them down and told them. They only cared that it was done. The figure walked in the middle of the street, and onlookers suddenly felt raw emotion well up inside them. Many burst out in tears and all ran. The emotion was fear, endless depression and hopelessness. By the time the figure got to Central Building, the streets and sidewalks were empty. The figure looked up to see the glass doors of the building and tilted his head up enough so his face was visible. The people inside fled, and no one noticed that the man walked with a blindfold tied tightly over his eyes. He entered and walked to the top of the building slowly. His company would not arrive for some time.
More specifically, the beaches of Destiny Island, where he grew up.
Instead of hearing the waves, he heard people running about and instead of the seagulls cries, he heard people yelling and shoving each other about. A young boy shoved past Sora, bringing him back into the world just as he finally saw the palm trees for the first time in four years. After the boy shoved by Sora, he looked back up at the palm tree which turned out to be nothing more than a street light. Sora sneered, looked both ways across the wide street and crossed, clutching his paper bag close to his chest.
People are way too rude. He thought to himself, watching a fight erupt in an alley. He turned away quickly, so he wouldn't get involved. After all he went through, didn't he deserve to sit out of fights? He asked himself, trying to justify himself as he heard crying from the alley. Sora shut his eyes tight and shook his head to make the crying go away, and it did, at least to his ears. That's how it was in Twilight City, day in and day out. Well, in Sora's section at least.
"Taking your time!" snapped a female voice ahead of Sora. There in the doorway of a small, shanty house was a short, stocky female with a no nonsense face. In her right hand she held a soup ladle while the other hand was on her hip, or what Sora assumed was her hip. He observe that her apron was clean, which meant that she was waiting for Sora to get there so she could cook dinner. Sora trotted to her and bowed his head in respect. The woman snorted and looked in the bag. 'I bet you were daydreamin' again, weren cha?" she snapped. Sora tried not to wince as the woman's acrid breath wafted down to him. "One day, yer goin to end up in the gutter with yer throat slashed because you weren't payin attention." She said, leading Sora into her home.
Sora followed the woman obediently, without a word, and was instantly surrounded by a troupe of dirty looking children. They smiled at him with smiles that were missing teeth and breath as bad as their mother's. Each child tried to grab a hold of Sora, to drag him to play. Sora gently, and wordlessly, tried to pull free, but all of the 8 children were home today, making this more of a struggle than usual.
"Dinkledorfs! Let him alone sos we can eat!" the woman bellowed, swatting the children with her soup ladle. Gertrude Dinkledorf was no woman to laugh at, but to obey. Any smile that she caught in her house by non- family members was questioned until the person was nearly in tears of fear or embarrassment. The kids scattered from Sora and he felt himself being towed by Gertrude into what they called 'the kitchen'. Sora had never seen anything look less like a kitchen in his life, because at night, the children slept in the kitchen with rags that served as blankets. The kitchen ran into the five foot wide 'living room' while that ran into the bedroom; all without a wall to separate any of the rooms. In the living room, there was a stairwell that led upstairs with the building's only bathroom. The landlord, Burrwell, had somehow made the houses so that they were all next to each other, but each tenant had to go u a flight of steps to a second floor where there was a small bathroom. At least 13 people shared the one bathroom, and it was only cleaned when one of the tenants decided to waste their meager pay on cleaning materials, then brave the stink long enough for the supplies to run out. This happened almost never, because the pay that the people had was used to keep themselves in the homes they had, as cruddy as they were.
Sora placed the paper bag on the counter and turned to leave, but felt the back of his shirt be tugged roughly. He turned around, trying not to scowl at Gertrude. The woman tapped him hard on the forehead wit her ladle.
"I need someone to keep an eye on these young'uns while I stir us up a messa sumthin, and that someone is you Sora." She snapped. Sora stared at her for a moment, then turned to tend to the kids. Gertrude pulled him back again, although, she was more gentle this time. "You stay for dinner too. The kids like yeh, can't imagine why tho." She grumbled. Sora shrugged and took a step away from her. "Donche got any manners? I said you can have dinner wit us? Cantche manage a thankya?" she bellowed. Sora grimached, then turned to her and bowed.
"Thank you Ma'am." He said, barely loud enough for her to hear. Gertrude watched him for a moment, then shooed him off. She watched the odd boy for a moment. She knew that he would be turning 20 in a few weeks, but he still seemed boy-ish to her, but not as childish as when she first met him. Going into the kitchen, she began to make her soup, chopping the carrots Sora bought and preserving the rest for tomorrow night's meal, while cleaning parts of her kitchen and habitually keeping an ear out foe one of her children.
'Fool,' she thought to herself. 'Sora's there to watch them. Odd boy though. Pity this city is finally beginning to take its toll on him.' She closed her eyes while stirring her soup. She remembered meeting him nearly six years ago. He was a thin lad, with hid hair forming a few large spikes in a few directions as if he fell asleep with gel in his hair and never thought to fix it when he awoke. He had been wandering around the streets, being shoved over by people while asking questions. She had seen he was about to approach Burrwell, and she ran to him and pinched his ear, dragging him off.
'Cantchee tell he's not one to be talking to?' she snapped, releasing the squirming boy when Burrwell was out of sight. Sora rubbed his ear in pain and watched Gertrude warily, then he put on a bright smile and was about to ask her something when she whacked him on the head with her bag. 'There be no grinin at me boy! What disrespect! Didnnt yer mother every teach you nought' Sora looked at the ground sheepishly and said,
'I'm lost. I can't find my friends or my way home.' He said softly. Gertrude gave him another whack on the side of his head.
'I'd beat my boys if onenna them were snifflin round town, askin strangers for some kind'o pity! Yer a man aintche? Stand like one and be proud and don't ask if someone has seen yer momma!' Sora stared up at her and she remembered the smile on his face. She remembered how he promised her he wouldn't bother anyone with his questions the way he had. Looking down at her pot, Gertrude frowned and went to slice some potatoes for the soup. The next time she saw him, he was about to walk into a Daj Alley, where the most violent gangsters and ruffians took their victims for the beating of their lives. She caught Sora by the same ear and dragged him all the way home, tossed him inside and slammed the door shut and locked it. Next she turned on him, her face redder than a tomato.
'What.kind of idiot are you?' she bellowed. 'Nobody goes there and comes out without both their legs broken and crying for their momma!' Sora looked surprised, then looked at the ground, apologizing for inconvenience her and thanking her for rescuing him. She sighed and dropped her bag on the ground. 'Well, since you no sense to stay outside alone, you can stay here till yer on yer feet and street smart, but ye need to be watching me kids while I work during the day!' she had said. Sora agreed, but said he wouldn't stay for very long, because he knew his friends would come for him.
Now it was six years later and he had stopped looking for familiar faces in the crowds and didn't whirl around ever time he thought he heard his name. Six years had taken their damage on him. His semi muscular form was turned into tense muscle and his over exuberance was smashed into silent obedience. He no longer jumped to do a task with a cheerful 'don't worry about it!' and an attempt to get Gertrude a high-five; now it was a silent nod and a half smile. She sighed and returned to making dinner.
Sora lurched to his feet with three kids on his back, one pulling his hair, one nearly choking him from pulling on his shirt collar and the third was pulling his ears. A small moan escaped his lips when a fourth child wanted to be held by Sora, right then. Gertrude came to his rescues when she bellowed for them to grab their bowls. All of the children abruptly leapt from Sora as if he were a leper to retrieve their bowls. Sora trudged after them and reached for his own chipped bowl when Gertrude stopped him.
"Nai boy. Go lie down. When yer rested ye may eat. If I feed ye now, I'm afraid ye'll fall asleep in yer soup!" she said, turning Sora around and shoving him into the main bedroom. She sighed sadly. He was becoming how her husband had been when he was alive. Running all day with only two meals a day as his break, which was often consumed still running, and coming home dead tired, but with his work not yet done. She heard something hit the floor and she knew that Sora had collapsed. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
'He's going to die, just like my old Roger. This city will kill him. It drags them about until they are too broken to fight back, then their lives are taken away as if they never meant anything to anyone.' The children looked up at their mother, worried.
"Git back to work! Mara, Rog, Briar and Kiel! Youre going to the factory till morn. Don't whine like infants! I didn't raise no bebes! The rest of you are going to be in the Works tonight and make sure you count your pay!" she yelled.
Sora, who was in the master.the only bedroom of the house, listened silently and felt ashamed. He had failed at fighting off the Heartless and he even failed at trying to help a single mother raise her children in Twilight City. He curled himself up and tried to keep his tears from flowing. His body was too weak to fight the gangs that followed careless people home and his will was too weak to fight back whenever he was caught by them. He only had to will to live each day to help the woman who was keeping him alive. Eventually, he fell asleep. Gertrude came in and left two bowls of soup next to Sora for him to eat when he awoke. She had given him her share, to keep him alive and with her for as long as possible.
A hooded figure peered into the dirty window and saw Sora curled up against the cold. Slowly, he turned and left Hell's Alley and walked to the center of Twilight City; the most beautify part of town. It was lively and noisier than the part that Sora now lived in, but the noise wasn't as harsh. The people who lived here never knew or thought of the existence of the people like Sora who toiled all day for the services and materials they purchase. They wouldn't even care if someone sat them down and told them. They only cared that it was done. The figure walked in the middle of the street, and onlookers suddenly felt raw emotion well up inside them. Many burst out in tears and all ran. The emotion was fear, endless depression and hopelessness. By the time the figure got to Central Building, the streets and sidewalks were empty. The figure looked up to see the glass doors of the building and tilted his head up enough so his face was visible. The people inside fled, and no one noticed that the man walked with a blindfold tied tightly over his eyes. He entered and walked to the top of the building slowly. His company would not arrive for some time.