Nightlife

When Jonas woke up from his nap, he was a little surprised to see Elmo snuggled up against him. While he hadn't expected this, he wasn't going to say that it was unpleasant or uncomfortable. He was more surprised to find that he wished he could stay like that for longer, but he could see through the window hat the sun was going down, which meant that it was time for him to go

So, he carefully got up, not wanting to disturb Elmo, who was sleeping peacefully and Jonas felt himself smiling at the scene. It was a feeling that he couldn't say he had much experience with. Where he'd see a scene like this and wish that he didn't have to leave.

He felt an urge to do something more, but couldn't' think of for the life of him what that was. He felt like he should know, but the answer was always just out of his reach, regardless of how close it felt like it was.

Jonas then forced himself to leave the room before he lost his nerve and crawled back into the bed, letting Elmo enjoy being curled up next to him. Maybe even something more, which Jonas wouldn't let himself think what that might be, otherwise he was sure he'd turn back around.

Jonas quietly left the inn, keeping his senses alert to any possible danger. He couldn't say where the enemy might be or what form any attack might come in, but he wanted to be ready, just in case it happened when he wasn't expecting it.

The streets were mostly deserted at this time, but for the early evening, it wasn't too surprising for Jonas. This didn't seem like the kind of neighborhood where there would be much nightlife. The crowds would be towards the shadier parts of the city right now, wherever the brothels and prostitutes were.

It was possible that it was in a single area, essentially a pleasure district. Or it could be in multiple locations in the city, but he wasn't sure that would be the case. It made more sense to have them clustered together, that way potential customers would be able to choose which establishment they wanted and not have to go very far to find what they wanted.

Of course, if there were any river traffic or such, then it would be closer to that, while at the same time, it would likely be close to the inns, as travelers would be more likely interested in something like that than most locals.

At least that was Jonas' assumption. After all, people who travel from farther away would likely be more lonely while at the same time, locals would likely have whatever companionship already that they would probably want themselves already.

Jonas wandered around casually, trying not to stick out, but also learning what he could about his surroundings. Even if it didn't help him right now, he couldn't say that knowing the layout of the streets wouldn't be useful if they needed to make a run for it. After all, if their enemies attacked in full force, he could see them being overwhelmed and forced to run. If that happened then he'd need to be able to know a way for them to escape.

As Jonas walked around the streets, the sky continued to get darker until the stars started to appear, illuminating the sky with thousands upon thousands of stars that each gave a drop of light but were still dim enough that Jonas had no trouble using his Shadow Sight to see more than others were able to with this light.

Not that there wasn't much to see at the moment. The deserted streets didn't reveal anything of any importance to him, but that didn't stop Jonas. He continued to walk along, not even looking behind himself, trusting that he'd be able to hear anyone coming up from behind him.

Eventually he noticed light in the distance. He couldn't say what the source was, just that there was more people in that direction. Which made Jonas suspect that he'd found the pleasure district, or whatever they might call it here.

As he walked into that area, sights, sounds, and especially smells assaulted him. The smells varied from unwashed bodies to people who'd just had a romantic encounter of one kind or another, as well as from decaying dead animals to cooking food that a few street vendors were selling.

Not that Jonas had money for anything at the moment. Besides, if he did get anything to eat, he was sure that the others in his group would want some as well. Especially Elin.

While the area was lit thoroughly with torches, making his Shadow Sight almost all but useless, he found that there were places where it still could see, though it felt like he had to strain his eyes in order to see in those areas, but he was able to find a few buildings that were guarded by a few people just outside the door.

Jonas couldn't tell what kind of establishments those were, but it looked like they might be places that could hold whatever group had either attacked his group on the road or had had them attacked. It didn't matter who exactly had attacked them, just as long as he found out who it was. Preferable before they attacked them again.

Jonas didn't head to those areas right away, but he planned on investigating those buildings before he left, if for no other reason than to make sure that he didn't miss an opportunity just because he got careless. Being careless was typically the quickest way of ending up dead. Especially when you didn't know exactly who your enemies were.

The first places Jonas looked at were the brothels. He didn't plan on spending any money there, but he couldn't help but feel that it would look strange if he didn't enter any of them. If he didn't spend any money, it might be assumed that he wasn't able to find anything that suited his tastes and not suspect what he was really there for.

The first few brothels were exactly what he'd expected. Prostitutes who were available for a price. Each seemed to have a particular look that Jonas couldn't say appealed to him. For one thing, the facial expressions on those women were calculating and incredibly observant. Which bothered Jonas for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

The next brothel was one he left almost as soon as he walked in. It wasn't that the expressions on the prostitutes were more calculating and such, but rather because it was clear the ones who entered that particular brothel were looking to sleep with children. There was no other word for those in that building. Not only that, but the expressions he saw on most of the child prostitutes in that brothel could only be described to him as 'haunted.' If he could find a way, he planned on burning that building to the ground and rescuing the children from that fate.

However, the problem with doing that lay in the fact that he had no idea what to do with the children after that. He didn't know the first thing about raising them, nor did he know how to heal the trauma they'd have had to have endured up to this point. After all, if he was going to save them, getting them out of immediate danger wasn't enough. If he just left them to their own devices, they'd get snatched up again by someone who would put them back to the same use as they currently were being put to. He was sure of that.

The next brothel he walked into was one that caused him to linger a little longer. Not so much because he was interested in the prostitutes inside, but more because he saw some people who had the same emblem that he had been looking for.

The prostitutes in this brothel were mostly women, who hadn't grown as callous and jaded as those in the first few brothels. Then there were also male prostitutes that looked as young and innocent as the women.

Whether they were or not wasn't anything Jonas cared about. He seriously doubted that they were, but with what he'd seen so far, he couldn't be sure of anything at the moment. Though, he pretended to be interested in looking at the various prostitutes while trying to listen to what the men with the eagle emblem were saying among themselves.

Most of it was pointless banter that were closer to the level of inside jokes than anything else. Though, a few things did indicate that they were supposed to go to wherever the person or group or gang they worked for had their headquarters.

Jonas wasn't afraid of them suspecting that he was listening to them, as he was on the other side of the room from them. Though, when they seemed like they were getting ready to leave, Jonas made sure that he left first so it wouldn't look like he was following them.

He wanted it to look like he was essentially the one being followed if nothing else. At the very least, he was sure that the men would be less inclined to focus on him in that case. Whatever reduced the chances they'd take notice of him was preferable at the moment. He needed them to lead him where he wanted to go without being noticed.

Once he was out of the well lit area, he would have more options of what he could do to tail them, but for the moment he wanted to make himself less conspicuous. Otherwise he might end up in a fight that he wasn't prepared for.