Citizen 263 Grygori

Grygori woke up with a groan that was half a moan, half a muffled curse. The fake sun of the Dome was still not out, leaving Nyctimene's darkness to shine as the rexal pushed himself out of bed, his bones cracking as he did so. Grygori grimaced at the sound of his joints as he began to stretch, first by extending his arms above his head and reaching as high as he could and then by leaning to the left and right, his body giving out sounds that were mimicking one of a falling tree.

"I am not getting any younger", he told himself after he shook down his hands, feeling how much easier the blood was now flowing now in his limbs. These little morning exercises were the result of his age, for sure. When he was younger, he would never do these activities, but by now, he has matured and learned their benefits. He could not imagine starting the day off without them.

Then, he walked to his room's window, curiously looking outside, checking on the nest that was carefully built by one of the nearby birds. It was a little game to Grigory, so to speak, to see if he or the bird was up earlier. Today, it appeared that he had won as he noticed the small body of the avian curling up along the tiny branches. Grygori smiled to himself before he headed outside towards his smithery, which was but a rock's throw away from his house. Time was wasting, and he had products to make and deliver later today.

Without eating any sort of breakfast, he began to wake up his workplace by first litting the furnace, making sure that there was enough wood and coal to keep it roaring as long as he needed it. He knew plenty of smiths that were not a fan of letting their furnace run cold, either out of habit or by some family tradition - he, however, had no restraints like this. He slept better with the fact that the heart of his forge also slumbered when he did.

His tools were already placed out nice and tidy on the table, just as he had left them the night before. He made an effort to keep his forge as clear as possible and to always tidy up for himself for tomorrow - which allowed him to get to work as soon as possible. With the orders carefully charted up in the crevices of his mind, he began hammering away. He needed to get a handful of deer hooves done, as well as a brand-new knife for a butcher in Atlas.

He worked tirelessly all forenoon and into the early afternoon, creating pieces that he was proud of. After he was done with the hard part, he started cleaning up after himself and also dousing the flames of the furnace. He was done working the smithy for the day, and now he had his second job to tackle; delivery. He walked into the back room of his forge to grab several, large satchels, which were all filled with various items - not all of them related to smithery. While he made sure the deer hooves and the knife had their own little bag of holding, the other, the significantly larger satchel, was filled with items not from the Dome. They were, by all means, illegal goods. Experimental medicines, relics, and other knick-knacks would never make it past the guards at the edge of the Dome if not for him having a very reliable smuggler. While the nature of these goods would assume that he was using them for malice, it was the opposite. He "imported" these in to be able to sell them to rexals who could not afford them otherwise - either due to monetary or physical limits.

After he threw all the satchels over his shoulder, tying them together with a rope that he would hold onto, he began his walk towards Atlas. He enjoyed this peaceful part of his day. After hammering away all day and smelling coal, his body and nostrils needed the fresh air and nature that the Dome provided. He always found these walks to be shorter than he wanted them to be, but alas, he needed places to be.

Once he was in Atlas, he began to make his deliveries, starting from the edge of the city and making his way towards the centre of the city. He took utmost care when doing so, knowing that if the guards were to spot him dealing with some of these goods, he would get into trouble. While young him would probably have had no issue with it and would be able to leg it in no time, his older self did not need this extra amount of work. Especially as he had other plans after he was done with his delivery work.

Once all satchels were empty, he decided to head towards the Cloaca of the city, carefully entering one of the many entrances of the city's sewer system as the sun was slowly bidding farewell on the sky, giving time for the moon to take its throne. While Grygori used to be an everyday fighter, nowadays, he was mainly a spectator, only getting into the ring if he saw an exceptionally cocky youngin' needing taming and humbling. Part of him missed the everyday fighting, but he had to admit to himself that it was not the right thing to do back then, and nor would it be good to walk the path of violence now. After spending several hours there, he finally decided it was time to head home. As he left the Cloaca and, ultimately, Atlas behind, he sighed to himself as he looked up at the moon. He was already tired thinking about doing all of this stuff tomorrow...

ForgottenCerberus

Grygori smiled to himself as he kneeled down and analysed the hoof prints left in the mud. He was still a teenager, just knocking on the door of adulthood, but he had already mastered the art of hunting. He had no one else to feed him since his mother had passed away, and he had found that buying from the marketplace was too expensive. For a street kid like him, 100 dracm was worth a lot more than just a slab of meat, and so, he had taken it upon himself to learn the intricacies of hunting. He had hunted many small creatures before, but today was the first time that he had decided to go for something big - the big stag that had been roaming the nearby fields, calling out to the nearby deer farmer's deer to try and pair with them. The stag has been causing quite a ruckus because of this, and a job posting went up fairly quickly after, to look for someone to take them down. This was just perfect for Grygori - he could have meat for weeks, and he would also get paid. Accepting the job of course was the easy part...getting it done was the tricky part.

He rose up from the ground, his hand clutching the spear he made himself as he followed the footprints deeper into the fields, trying his best to keep track of it despite the tall grass and bushes.

"If I was a deer, where would I go?" He asked himself as he kept on with his slow pursuit, only to stop dead in his track as the low and beckoning sound of the stag's call echoed through the air, and if his ears did not play foul on him, it was surely coming from the direction of one of the nearby farms. "Of course", Gyrgori sighed, slightly annoyed at himself for not thinking about this sooner. Of course, a horny stag would go after the deer farms; it has often been sighted there for entire days. He quickened his footstep towards the farm, hoping that the stag would still be there by the time he arrived.

Luckily for him, he was.

The stag stood at an impressive height and wore its wide and gorgeous crown of antlers as crowns as he walked up and down along the fence, trying to impress the ladies on its other side. However, the most peculiar thing about it was its sheer muscle mass and dark, melanistic coat. As if it was cursed by something, the stag wore its onyx-coloured fur with pride, and yet it gave him an aura that felt oddly threatening. Even Gryori had to stop and think before he proceeded to slowly sneak up behind the stage. The fact that it was completely enamoured by the other deer was a huge advantage - yet also a big fear factor. If Grygori was to make a bad step or noise, it could turn around and attack him without a thought; after all, stags were at their peak aggression during mating season. While Grygori himself was large, this stag could still harm him in ways that would leave him scared for life - or worse. No, he was not going to have that.

He took a deep breath, steadied his shaking hand, and focused his weight as evenly as possible to get as close as possible before he stopped and raised his spear. He exhaled and once more took a breath, but this time, his muscular arm moved instead of his legs as he threw the spear at the side, trying his best to aim where the stag's heart would be.

The beast roared in pain before bucking and turning towards Grygori. Its eyes filled with rage, and it started sprinting at the rexal, but just before it could reach him, it collapsed while gasping for air. It kicked a few times as if trying to get back up before it went completely limp. Grygori had to support himself by leaning onto a nearby tree to slow his breathing down. He looked at his shaking hands as he breathed in and out to get his heart back to normal.

"I did it... I did it", he told himself repeatedly with a smile, as if not believing it himself. Soon he would carve the animal up and collect his well-deserved reward.

Artist: Beegleray