The Crossing Destinies [OPEN Sonic the Hedgehog FF]

Rose & Thorns (1/8) - R

When Shadow and Sonic arrived in Rosemary City, it was almost ten o'clock. However, they were able to go to sleep a good hour later as they had to travel to the outskirt of the city to find a cheap inn. Thankfully, in this big city, there was a lot of them, and most of them were open until midnight.

The next day they got up later since they were tired. The ground floor was a simple dining room functioning as reception as well. There they ordered a simple meal, and while Sonic was stuffing his mouth, Shadow was thinking. He wasn't sure what do next. There were many questions in his head, giving him the headache.

Once they finished their meal, he told Sonic to stay in the room and read his book to review everything that he had learned yesterday. The blue hedgehog, to priest's surprise, listened to him and headed there. The ebony hedgehog had to chuckle a bit as he remembered the last two times he didn't heed his words. Well, it wasn't funny, it just, for some reason, made him smile. Maybe the sight of Sonic not playing any pranks was just so unusual it made him crack a smile.

He slightly sighed and headed outside, as he had decided to scout the city a bit, stepping into the lively world. The priest was immediately welcomed by a buzzing street full of people. He headed toward the center as he didn't have any particular goal. His eyes were going from one corner to another, observing the magnificent city.

Though he was in a down-town-like part it didn't mean the streets were littered or dirty. It was the opposite, the surroundings were quite clean. He also saw a relatively large number of buildings with at least three floors. The colors of the plasters were variating from white and beige to different shades of brown. Some houses were decorated with red ornaments.

On his way, he almost bumped into a few people, as he was looking around. No one was paying him much of attention, he was just another person in the crowd. In front of him, he heard a lot of shouting, and soon he arrived at a small market. Merchants had their shops opened since the early morning, shouting, and luring potential customers from all directions.

He made sure to check the goods, but there was nothing he could buy. 'With the money I have, we can stay in this city for about a week, but what's next? I have to find a way how to get some income.'

Priests were always receiving money, based on reports to their superiors, and since he lied about his departure, there was no way he could ask The Order for it. Not to mention, how to present them his current condition? It would surely cause a lot of commotion. He had to now take care of Sonic as well.

He sighed in his mind, looking up, seeing glittering City Center above his head. The center held the tallest buildings and was standing upon a hill. In the past, it was important to build cities like this in order to use the natural terrain as a mean of protection. 'Hmm, I'm sure, I have read somewhere something about catacombs. I wonder if I'll have a chance to see them,' he thought, as he was remembering one text about this wonderful place.