Yeah, this one took me a while to get done. I was really wrapped up in my Wattpad stories. So sorry. Enjoy this incredibly late chapter!
As Zane returned to the orphanage, he placed the money he earned from his job in the little bank Miss Skyler kept in the kitchen and headed to his room. His eyes wandered to the plethora of ice outlined drawings on his wall, glancing over each one of them. Zane glanced at the newest and most seen one; a man with a long beard, a straw hat, and a staff. The boy sighed; why did he have the same dream with the same man? It never happened before; maybe it was different this time.
Zane sighed and sat at his windowsill, looking out the window as he thought of nothing. Glancing at the dead grass and gray sky, it almost seemed like the world stood still. Zane's eyes continued to glimpse around the yard until he saw something move in the trees. Zane paused and looked up, hoping to find what moved. Zane's eyes focused on the background and saw a small, blackish-blue bird, a falcon to be specific.
"Pretty," Zane muttered, admiring the bird as it stared at him.
"I wonder if you're like me, busy and alienated. Alone." The Falcon looked down at him and turned his head to the side in curiosity. Zane let himself smile as he watched the Falcon perch on a tree branch near his window. Zane let himself smile as he watched the Falcon perch on a tree branch near his window. The Falcon cried out, its song filling the empty yard. Zane felt something deep down inside, something... familiar.
"It's strange. I have never met you before, yet I feel like I know you," Zane muttered to the Falcon. The Falcon turned to Zane and looked him in the eye. They stared at each other for a good ten minutes before Zane was called to the main room. Ah, yes. Time to find a parent, AKA waiting for a grown-up to pick a child or leave empty-handed.
Zane sighed and got up, walking to the main room, head tilted down since he didn't want the adults to glare at him. He sat down on the rug near the corner to avoid being seen. The other kids were already in the room, sitting around and waiting impatiently. The stillness of the room was almost deafening.
There was a moment of silence before quiet footsteps walked into the room. Zane didn't see who as his head was still hung low to avoid eye contact, but the small gasps of the other children gave him a strange feeling about the stranger that now stood in the same room. The footsteps slowly walked over to Zane, and with the extra sound of tapping, Zane guessed that the stranger held a cane or a walking stick with them. Zane estimated that the person in front of him was a man based on the black shoes the person wore.
There was a moment of silence once again as the man gently tilted Zane's head up with the bottom of his staff. Zane's eyes widened.
It was him. The man Zane dreamt about. The man's long white beard almost reached his stomach, matching his white robes. The straw hat that rested on his head cast a shadow over the man's face, but the man still had a sparkle in his eyes as if he was outside on a warm spring day.
"Sir? I see you have met Zane?" Skyler wondered, walking up to the two. The man put his staff back on the ground and nodded.
"Yes, I have. I have been waiting for a long time to meet you, Zane," The man said, speaking in a soft tone that made Zane feel safe with this man on first instinct. With other people, he might've flinched, moved back, or even run out of the room, but the man in front of him made him feel like there was no reason to.
"H-How do you know my name...?" Zane asked, his voice quieter than usual.
"There isn't a single person in this town who doesn't know about the boy who single-handedly took down a group of dangerous people with the power of ice," The man said. Zane was quiet with the explanation he was given.
"It's a shame that no one understands how much potential you have, Zane. You were born with an incredible gift that people misunderstand and fear. But I know a family that not only understands but also has what you do." Zane didn't know what to say.
"I... I don't understand," Zane muttered.
"Zane, he wants to adopt you," Skyler said simply.
Okay, now Zane was speechless.