Gaius wandered around the marketplace. He was in the lower circle of Arca, perusing some of the 'fine' goods the merchants have laid out on their tables and stands. He came across a stand selling fruits and vegetables. Most of them looked of poor quality, but he still managed to find a nice enough orange. He picked it up from the table, rolling it over in his hands.
He looked up at the stand runner, it was a grubby looking man. Like most things in the outer circle, he was covered in dirt. Gaius towered over him by a wide margin. While holding the orange in his right hand, Gaius reached into the bag on his waist pulling out an ambiguous amount of money. He tossed a total of 1 gold coin and 3 silver at the man.
Only half catching the coins, the man dove to the ground to collect the remaining two. While doing so he sputtered, "T-thank you, kind knight!"
When the stand runner looked up, all he see of Gaius was the sun reflecting spikes of light off the plates on his back.
Gaius continued towards the center of the city. Nobody got in his way, there was no reason to stop a grand knight as himself. As he grew closer to the center castle, Gaius noticed the increase in sophistication of the buildings. The attire of the people passing him seemed to be better dressed as well. He tossed his new orange around from hand to hand as he walked along the street.
He needed a place to sit for awhile and find his prey. Street after street he looked for a decent spot. He finally settled on a small garden in the inner circle. Benches have been scattered about so people could relax, he clunked down on the bench nearest to the exit of the garden. He leaned forwards with his arms on his lap, hands holding onto the orange.
He watched as people came and went, all of them showing little promise as prey. Gaius sat on that bench unmoving for several hours, he enjoyed watching the machinations of city life. The rich clambering over the poor. One beggar was getting quite the bit of attention, mostly looks of disgust and snide comments about her. It was funny to Gaius, as she was of a higher grade than most of the people passing by.
The sun had just about touched the horizon line and Gaius was just about to give up on finding any truly worthwhile food. He leaned back from his day-long brooding position, it seemed that he would just have to kill the beggar. She was the best candidate anyways. He stretched as he stood. Roughly 8 hours of sitting doesn't really stress Gaius' muscles, his actions were now just a mimicry of living beings.
Many of the people in the area had dissipated, off to their studies, jobs, wives, etc. In a few more minutes it would just be the beggar and himself. He watched the sun as it slowly drifted into the ground, "Pity..." Gaius mumbled to himself.
After a short time, Gaius looked around for any unwanted pests. When he had determined that the lane was clear, he started walking over to the beggar. Each step he took echoed through the now quiet street, his metal boots seemingly stamping the noise out of the ground itself. As he got closer he truly saw how decrepit she looked, greasy black hair, dirt everywhere, tattered clothes. Gaius crouched down in front of her, trying to see her face. He tilted his head down, vying versus the sun for a peek at his next victim. When he was able to see the lower half of her face he saw something that surprised him. She had a smile on her face, not a smile from happiness but as if she were trying to hold in laughter.
Gaius pulled his head back, "I have a very special gift for you.."
With that little statement, Gaius had chosen his dinner. He started to reach out for the beggar with his left hand, but when he was millimeters away from her some force turned Gaius' attention to another source, not too far away. It was similar in variety to this woman here, but with a more consolidated core.
He had found new victim, somebody more deserving of being his food. He stood up from the woman and turned in the direction of the new power. He started walking forwards at his regular slow pace. After his first two steps he turned halfway to the beggar, "Here."
He tossed his orange into her crossed legs and turned back to begin his walk again. His new food wouldn't be given such mercy.
