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Silver wasn’t quite sure why he held on to the raggedy old thing. If he hadn’t been staring down at the ground, kicking rocks around, he wouldn’t have spotted it in the dust and ruin. The brown let it blend in magnificently with the rust of the building it propped up against, but the black beads in its eyes glinted in the burning light. It was alone out here and clearly the little bear had been well-loved, despite it being left behind. He wondered what multitude of horrible things happened to the owner, or if Iblis had made a sudden appearance and caused an emergency escape.
Still, he wasn’t keen on leaving it behind. It was probably lonely without the people it used to be with. Though talking to a small brown bear toy was probably not the best thing for him to do--the distraction could lead to disaster, or someone would hear him and try to ambush him--but it was the least he could do. For the bear.
He let his power drift him above the buildings, searching the city for possible survivors--they may not be friendly, but knowing someone else was alive only spurred him more--Iblis had to be defeated and then the world would be okay. It had to be.
Once the buildings became too tall, he lowered himself to roof height and walked along them. If there was trouble, he could escape in any direction. Besides, not many people were crazy enough to scale the rusted, broken towers of what once was. It would be a death sentence, not to mention far too much energy with no reward. Food was scarce as is; though the city held the most resources. Being Iblis’ epicenter came with its pros and cons, he supposed.
Sometimes, he held the bear over to ask what it saw, and answered in a small, tinny exaggerated voice what he observed down below. Most of the time, it was a whole lot of nothing. Scrap, maybe some still-functioning robots, maybe evidence of a skirmish that took place for food.
Sometimes, the bodies of those who did not make it. He spared the bear the sight of those, paid his respects, and moved on quickly. There wasn’t much more he could do in that regard, no matter how much his heart pulled to do so.
He hoped he would find a solution soon. Get rid of Iblis for good, and then have the biggest feast he could ever think of--he could have a full can of soup! Or some of the fruit he read about in old, burnt magazines! It would be amazing; worthy of a celebration! And the bear would join him, of course. Though he wasn’t sure what the bear would want to eat. Any questions lead to silence.
… Maybe he was going a little nuts. He was getting used to the bear plush far faster than he’d thought. It wasn’t even his, no doubt the person who had the bear would want the bear back, after all. Sure, he was more than willing to give the plush back, but… at this point, he would miss it terribly.
He was talking to it again as he searched for his next meal, slipping in and out of each floor of the multitude of buildings, hoping for a jackpot higher up, where people wouldn’t dare climb. If he could find just one thing, he would be set for an entire day. It would be amazing!
Of course, despite how little people there actually were, resources were far more limited. He’d tried to move areas whenever he found something good, but realistically, if any other group found food they’d try and take everything they could salvage. He hoped, at least, that the food served someone well.
“I wish you could help find food, Box.” Silver mumbled to the plush. He decided to name it a while back, since he had nobody else to talk to and had found nobody who was supposedly searching for it.
“We’ll find it soon! Don’t you worry, Silver!” He spoke in that little voice again and sagged. If someone was listening, they’d figure he was completely gone. Maybe it could have been a good defense mechanism, but it could drive away companionship as well. Or maybe the loneliness was getting to him that much. Regardless, he paced on towards the red skyline until his search ended up empty handed for this street. He sighed and rounded onto another street, only to freeze at the sound of voices.
“Please, can’t we go back?”
“Sweetheart, she’s probably gone at this point.”
“We can’t stay out here long, anyways. We could get found by someone else.”
The hushed whispering sounded like that of a young child, and two older figures. Silver scaled the side of the building he pressed himself up against until he landed on the roof, glancing down at a small group of people, all reptilian. The larger two surrounded their smallest group member, definitely a child, and Silver’s heart ached far too heavily at the sight. He wanted to say hello, he really did. But the other two did not seem keen on strangers. So he merely observed them as they passed by.
“But I know I dropped Izzy around here somewhere…” he could hear the child’s voice more clearly now, “Just a little longer?”
“We don’t know when the monster will resurface.” One of the older ones frowned at them.
“We can look for your bear a bit longer, but we have to retreat soon.” The other promised, though the former frowned at that.
Silver found himself glancing down at Box.
“You were with them?” He whispers, as if the bear could give him an answer. He glanced back to the group, watching the child keep their head down, eyes on the ground, searching every nook and cranny they could get their hands into.
Even if Box wasn’t this ‘Izzy’ this child was looking for, they clearly missed their little friend. And as attached as Silver was to Box at this point…
Well, someone needed Box more.
Silver trailed them, hovering over until he was certain his magic wouldn’t be spotted, and he lowered Box down to the surface, leaving the plush poking just out of some remaining debris. Then, his body flush to the roof of the tower, he watched as the child got closer and closer to it. He crossed his fingers and hoped they wouldn’t give up just before Box was discovered.
When the child gasped aloud and ignored two frantic shushes, Silver’s heart melted at the way the child dashed over and nearly wrenched the debris off of Box.
“Izzy!” The child shrieked in delight, hugging the plush to their chest and spinning a little bit, turning to their companions. “Look! They’re here!”
“Shh, sh, okay, that’s so great. We should go now, okay?” The other two started to glance around a bit more frantically. “Glad you found her. Let’s get to safety.”
The three slipped off towards the edge of Crisis City, and Silver let out a long breath of relief.
He was going to miss Box, but it was clear someone missed her more.