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Six Fingered Nigel

The busy sound of the bustling coble stone square failed to drown out the hollering wind as people in thick cloaks sprinted through the streets, darting in and out of the sheltered market stalls, a sea of dark hooded figures streaming through the narrow alleys. It wasn't surprising to find so many people outside, even on such a chilling morning, Idris was accustom to rain and it was a necessity to keep going on as usual no matter the weather.

Jace Wayland was among many, seeking the delights the town markets had to offer. Briskly walking between people of all ages Jace called out to his sister who was narrowly dodging a hunched elderly couple carrying thick bails on their boney backs.

"Isabelle. What else did Maryse want us to buy?" Jace flicked his damp, hair out of his face in an array of water droplets, as he turned to the slim figure who was now beside him. Neither Jace nor Isabelle had bothered to bring hooded travelling cloaks and were now regretting their choice as it began to pour down with rain half way through their shopping trip.

"By the angel," Isabelle swore in exasperation staggering on the lose cobblestones and hastily swiping the inky tendrils of hair out of her face and ungracefully over her shoulder as water sheeted off her head and down her thick red cloak, almost knocking a passing man in the process "At the rate we're going I may as well jump in Lake Lynn and I'd be dryer than I am now" Jace sighed; Isabelle was beautiful but hell did she lack patience.

"IZZY," her eyes darted up to his, she hadn't seemed to notice his gradual presence within the crowed. Her gaze was expectant and she didn't seem to realise he had already asked the question, so he repeated it with an out of place tone of amusement considering the circumstance "I am not sure if you have noticed recently but there is quite the downpour and as the situation seems I would like to return to dry ground before the days end and; in order to do that we need to buy an abundance of objects for your dear mother. Considering she only told you the things she required, I think you could perhaps, you know- TELL ME."

Isabelle lacked no ire as she listed an assortment of strange vegetables and grains the family was in need of this morning. Her face was scrunched up in annoyance as she continued on to list another assortment of profanities about her companion beside her who was already ducking under an overhanging roof side where wooden crates of organics were stacked around like a makeshift fort, some of the more prided produce protected by stray thatch rugs which now had a steady stream running off its soaked fibres and into the street. Realising her brother was no longer walking beside her she flicked her head from one side to the other before sighting his blond hair several meters behind her. Stopping to turn around she accidentally knocked into several people who gave her quite annoyed sounds of protest.

Hurriedly rushing through the stream of coats and limbs she found herself beside an array of different vegetables all thrown haphazardly into wooden crates which were now soaked into a dark amber. Standing beside a supply of multi-coloured tomatoes stood Jace, who looked to be deep in discussion with a short beady eyed man. His eyelids drooped over his pupils slightly as he looked up at Jace, his bare head covered in thin patches of pale wispy hair. Jace turned around with animated arm gestures as he welcomed his apparent new found acquaintance. "Ah… Isabelle, come meet Nigel here" he grinned as the so said Nigel nodded his head in acknowledgment but his facial expression didn't really change enough to warrant a greeting.

"Nice to meet you… Nigel" Isabelle politely announced with distain. This, however seemed to amuse Jace.

"Nigel is willing to give me this strange thing he calls a Mango, free of charge. Isn't that so generous of him?" Jace directed the rest of his obligations to the elderly man beside him as he continued with a persuasive charm "You see, I have never tasted such a strange delicacy in my life and I shall be glad to buy many off you, my dear friend, in the future" Isabelle suspiciously watched on wondering where her older brother was going with this.

It hadn't taken the pair long to collect the rest of their groceries before they were headed home. In the short time it had taken them, the rain had failed to clear up and the sky had turned an ashen grey with little sunlight to be found. Isabelle was carrying a woven bag in each hand which were filled with a strange assortment of vegetables, dairies and meats. Jace on the other hand had one satchel of thin fire wood over one shoulder- hidden under his thick cloak- and a half eaten mango in the other hand. After his encounter with Nigel (whom Jace had later told Isabelle was also named Six Fingered Nigel) Jace had told Isabelle that he had obviously tried Mangoes before and was "trialling the quality" which he had apparently also done with Alec a week earlier.

Now glad Six Fingered Nigel had unreliable memory, Jace was pleasantly biting the stringy flesh straight off the seed as though it were a common apple and spitting out the rubbery yellow skin onto the flooded stone road. Casually taking bites as he walked, with no regard for the weather.

Whilst beside him Isabelle was briskly trying to get out of the billowing wind and pelting rain as soon as possible, her red cloak- now a dark crimson as it sopped with rain water- flying around and her hair sheeting off streams of water. Her eyes looked dark and dangerous in the gloomy light she was set in determination as she followed the stream of people walking down the street, they were now in the area of the city which was out of the markets but held all the stationary stores.

They passed many glass store front windows. Jace noticed a small restaurant, patisserie, deli and tailors studio but didn't really pay much attention to the shops considering he had passed this street so many times he already knew all the titles and where they stood. He knew the hanging wooden sign which engraved 'Lightwood & Son Bakery' was not too far ahead and was about to calculate how long it would take to arrive under the shelter of his families Bakery when he heard screams of shocked exclamation from behind him as people began to clear a space around something to the side of the street.

Jace looked back at Isabelle who returned the same expression of confusion and curiously tried to glance over the crowed unsuccessfully, looking back at Jace shrugging. Jace tried peaking over the large crowed. The clearing was quite far away and Jace came to the realisation he wasn't going to fit through the crowed, looking around him he found several discarded broken crates on the side of the street leaning against the brick side of an old healer's den- the pharmaceuticals of Idris.

Doubting the ingenuity of a leverage made out of broken boxes from the gutter Jace sighed and scanned the ground for something else before a shimmer of blunt metal caught his eye. A rusty old welding nailed onto the brick wall, two long metal rods scaling the wall vertically with horizontal bars at its intervals, several missing or loosely hanging from odd angles.

Quickly running over to it and beginning to climb the fragile ladder Jace felt the cool metal slip under his fingers. The rain was still pelting down on his back and he could see the water coursing down the thin bars he held. Taking several steps up the ladder Jace went as fast but as steady as he could, doubting the suspension of the years old fire escape.

Several feet above the ground he pulled his leg up onto another ridge and put his weight onto that pipe as he pulled his other leg up to join it but before he could the grate gave way and he fell, quickly holding onto the side bars to stop his short descent his feet caught on a lower bar and he began to climb further again, keeping a sturdier grip on the sides and making sure the pipes weren't too rusted before stepping onto them. The combination of wind a rain made it hard for Jace to keep his hold on the ladder and he was glad he only needed to scale several meters up the wall.

He had made it about three meters up the ladder when he could successfully look over the sea of startled and now as it seems unsettled crowed. It had only taken Jace a minute or so to climb up the grate but there were now people running and shouting down the street, some out of sheer panic for their lives as it sounded and others hopelessly calling for the towns doctor. Jace looked into the still recognisable circular clearing and saw lying on the cobblestone road a body, what looked to be a large man- unmoving.

From where Jace was, on the other side of the street several shops down, it was hard to make out particular illustrations but he looked moderately robust and had a black cloak which was covering most of his face and fanning out on the ground around him. A pool of crimson mixed into the flooded puddles of rain water around the figure, a splash of colour standing out in the gloomy setting. A long thin stick protruding from its chest, realisation hit Jace and with a start he almost slipped off the ladder.

It was an arrow.

Hey there readers, so that's my third chapter now done. Anyone notice the TID reference? I'm not too proud of this one actually, though it is my longest chapter for this story so far but I'm just disappointed with the actual overall quality of the writing- arg. Im not sure where you guys live but in Sydney (Australia) here its about 1:30 am in the morning and I just wanted to get it out as fast as possible because you have all been waiting for so long. Sorry I haven't updated for what, two weeks after I said I would? I've just been really busy with holidays (don't give me that look! Holidays can be tiring too! …maybe…) and I've been getting really tiny amounts of sleep and such. Anyway, thanks so much for all the reviews, favourites and follows, if you're a Fanfic author as well then you would understand how important they are for motivation. So thanks a bunch guys, really appreciated. And I think that pretty much raps up all I needed to tell you and if your still reading this from the start of my AN then you really rock and I applaud you on your will power. Next update hopefully soon. I guess it depends on how much people like this chapter…

-Me P:3