Lorz's Orphanage

After spending two days with the Black Flawks a decision has finally been made with the situation regarding Brune. 

( Tap! Tap! ) 

"Brune wake up!" 

Feeling the taps on his shoulder, Brune opens his eyes. Standing on the outside of his bed was Kiji.

"Are you awake now?" said Kiji. 

Nodding his head yes but still drowsy, Brune could barely keep his eyes open. 

"Sorry for waking you up early, but the council has decided to move you into one of the orphanages in the second city. The decision was able to be quickly made because Captain Shika was able to come up with a solution as the owner of the orphanage was once a member of the Black Flawks. Get ready and pack your stuff as I will be the one guiding you there." Kiji told Brune

There wasn't much to pack as Brune only had the clothes he came with and a few extra sets of clothing that were recently given to him by the alchemist guild. 

Taking off the necklace that was given to him recently and putting it into the bag, Brune got ready and set foot outside of the Black Flawks' building. 

Waiting outside for Brune, Kiji noticed Brune coming out the door. 

"Brune over here!" yelled Kiji. 

Walking towards Kiji, she then led the way to Pete's stable. 

( Sqawk! ) 

Pete stuck his head out before letting off a squawk. 

"Oh Pete," said Kiji as she petted Pete. 

( Clank! ) 

With the door now open Pete walked out of the stable. 

( Fluh! ) 

Pete opened its wings before quickly contracting it. 

Getting help from Kiji, Brune got on the back of Pete. Getting on after Brune, Kiji then proceeded to pull the lead indicating it was time to fly out. 

Ascending towards the sky, the city scenery could be seen once again before fading out in the distance as the second city was almost two hours away. 

While flying towards the second city another flawk could be seen coming towards their destination. 

Noticing the other flawk approaching, Kiji made Pete slow down. Approaching Pete the other flawk slowed down to match the speed while staying side by side with each other. 

The rider of the flawk was wearing a dark green uniform with some kind of emblem on the side. 

Reaching for the back of her cloak, Kiji flashed the emblem on her back to the other rider. 

Nodding their head yes, the other rider proceeded to part ways with the direction that Pete was flying in. 

Flying for another twenty minutes or so, the outline of a city could finally be seen. Just like the third city, the city was surrounded by a giant wall with tons of buildings within its walls. Also by the shore was another huge gate-like structure. 

Going a little bit past the city walls there was a patch of field that could be seen. By the field was a stable. 

Landing the flawk, a man came out from the stable to greet Kiji. 

Brune and Kiji got off Pete. 

Kiji flashed the emblem on her cloak before the man calmly brought Pete inside the stable behind him. 

"Ok let's walk to the city as it'll only be about a fifteen-minute walk," said Kiji. 

"Ok, also who was the man on the other flawk?" Brune asked. 

"Those are the city's sky watchers, they watch over the sky in case something dangerous or illegal is flying towards the city," Kiji told Brune. 

( Thumph! Thumph! ) 

While walking towards the city, Brune could feel fatigue kicking in. With each step, he became more and more tired until he couldn't hide his exhaustion anymore. 

"Kiji.... Brune..... tired," said Brune out of breath. 

"Would you like a ride?" offered Kiji as she bent down offering her back. 

Still having the pride of a grown man, Brune could not get on the back of a lady. 

"No.. Just wait a minute." still trying to get his breath, Brune replied. 

After waiting a few minutes and finally catching his breath the two continued their walk towards the city.

Having a feeling about what the gate-like structure might be but not one hundred percent sure, Brune asked Kiji, "Are the gates by the water the dungeons?". 

"Yes, walking in those gates would lead you inside the dungeon. Do you know anything about dungeons?". said Kiji. 

Telling her all that he had learned from the picture book, Kiji was impressed by how much he knew. 

"Have you ever been inside a dungeon?" Brune asked Kiji another question. 

"Before I became a member of the Black Flawks I once relied on the money I was making as a dungeon diver. So I've been in plenty of dungeons." Kiji answered. 

The two continued talking about the dungeon and Kiji's past before reaching one of the city's gates. 

There was a line of twenty or so people waiting to be let in by the guards. Six guards were on the ground by the gate while more guards were on top of the wall. 

Walking past the line, Kiji approached one of the guards. Showing the emblem on her cloak once again but this time was different as she was told to show papers to get in. Reaching into the bag that she was carrying under the cloak, she took out a piece of paper before handing it to the guard to read. 

"Let her and the kid in, also lead them to the carriages that are waiting inside." said the guard after reading the paper. 

Walking past the gate door, they followed one of the guards inside before reaching one of the many carriages waiting by the gate. 

The carriage that Kiji was looking for was one of the alchemist guild's carriages. 

Finally finding the carriage, the coachman recognized the cloak that Kiji was wearing. 

"Are y'all Kiji and Brune?" the coachman asked. 

"Yep, and are you heading to Lorz Orphanage?" replied Kiji. 

"Sure am," replied the coachman with a smile on his face. 

Getting on the carriage and making their way to the orphanage, the three rode off. 

"So the head of the orphanage used to be a Black Flawk, do you know them?" Brune asked. 

"No, I don't, I joined a year after he retired. Hearing stories from the other members, the head of the orphanage used to be the former captain before Captain Shika." Kiji answered. 

( Clop! Clop! ) 

Riding through the busy streets, there were hundreds of people walking around the city streets. Many things could be heard too as kids were running around playing and vendors advertising their products. 

After a few minutes of riding in the carriage, they finally stopped at a house. The house was the biggest house on the block, and judging based on the gate of the house it seemed as if it had the biggest backyard too. 

Above the entrance of the house, there was a sign broad that read, "Lorz's Orphanage". 

Kiji and Brune got out of the carriage before walking towards the door. 

( Knock! Knock! ) 

No one answered, Kiji waited a few more seconds before knocking again. 

( Knock! Knock! ) 

Footsteps could be heard approaching the door. 

"Who is it?" said a feminine voice from inside the home. 

"I'm Kiji and I'm part of the Black Flawks and I'm here with Brune," said Kiji. 

( Creak! ) 

Opening the door was a human woman in her mid-forties. Looking a bit older, Brune could tell that she was quite the beautiful woman in her earlier years, "Kiji is just as beautiful too though," thought Brune. 

"Oh, you must be the new member of the family! Come in, I'll show you around," said the woman happily. 

By the entrance was just an open area. There were three hallways connected to the open area, to the left there were two doors, to the right were three doors, and going down the middle hallway led to the kitchen area, which led to the backyard. On the left hallway, there were two bedrooms of similar size. On the right, there were also two rooms similar in size to the two on the left but the door at the end of the hallway on the right was the master room which was about 3 times the size of the other rooms. 

While walking through the left hall the lady told Brune, "Your room is this one," as she opened the right side door. Inside the room was a bed, a small drawer, and a big drawer. The small drawer was by the bedside while the big drawer was a few feet away from the door. The room was about sixteen by sixteen feet. 

"Well it is probably a good time to leave, I'll come to visit you whenever I get the chance to," Kiji told Brune before leaving. 

Waving goodbye to Kiji as she walked out the door, Brune could feel a little bit of sadness creep up. 

"It's just us now, the other kids are out playing and Ren won't be home until later. Why don't we use this time to get to know each other more." said the lady.