The way Clive saw it, if lack of water didnāt kill him, boredom surely would. He had spent the last several hours making his way across the City Zone, searching for any remaining channels of water. All the prominent streams and brooks were quickly drying out in the summer heat, and that was worrisome. It was the main reason so many people went flocking to Cru and his stupid little reservoir. But really, being oppressed and treated like subservient creaturesā¦ was life really worth that?
Clive didnāt think so. Heād even risk drinking from the polluted river rather than give up his freedom to Cruās Army. However, that was obviously going to be a last resort ā it was why the bandit changer was crouching in the dry bed of what had once been a clean and reliable stream, poking at the dry dirt with clawed fingers. There wasnāt a hint of moisture left. Clive clicked his tongue, rising to his feetā¦ this wasnāt good. Yes, the Pack had enough to get by, but without any pure streams of water, their resources just might run outā¦ and if the sunny sky was any indication, rain was out of the question. The rainwater was all polluted anyway.
āWell, this was pointless,ā Clive sighed, turning back towards a passage of ruins. So now the lack of water had been unfortunately confirmed, he would have to do something about the boredom. He had left early in the morning to check on the streams, so he hadnāt gotten the chance to talk with anyone yet. It was always boring alone after all, and the City Zone was more barren than ever with everyone flocking to the reservoirā¦ not that Clive really interacted with strangers all that much. āI should probably go back,ā he murmured, before slowly beginning his walk back to the othersā¦ back to where the Pack would be.
Although he walked at a languid pace, Clive was alert ā he was tense. It was evident from the way his clear blue eyes flitted from side to side, glancing at the shadowed rubble of old buildings, from the way he breathed and stepped quietly, both to avoid attention and also listen for others. One never knew what lurked in the ruins, and the last thing he needed was a mutant on his tail. Or what he considered worse ā one of Cruās followers. They could get pretty irritating. Although many of the buildings ā what legends call āskyscrapersā were collapsed, some still stood upon brittle foundations, intact, āBut not for much longer,ā he thought grimly.
In the desolate landscape, Clive stood out quite a bit in his monochromatic attire ā white sleeveless shirt, with a long black vest over that, gray shorts and black sandals, but what really stood out was his hair. It was cut in layers, and strangely enough, it alternated black and ash. From the front, one would think he just had messy black hair, but any other angle proved otherwise. The last, innermost layer was made of longer black strands, which he had tied back into a low ponytail. From the strange hair and the clawed fingers, his identity as a bandit changer was rather obvious. Did he blend in? No.
Did he care?
He wasnāt really on thieving duty at the moment, so there wasnāt all that much benefit to blending in anyway. Besides, he really didnāt see the point. However, at the same time, he was still being wary of possible enemies. As he continued walking, his hand latched onto the silver charm bracelet on his left wrist to keep it from jangling. It was quite the noisy trinket, but Clive rarely took it off. Why? He never said much more than that he was a little attached to it. Heād put it in his pocket, but it was filled with little goodies heād picked up on his short excursion ā well, perhaps more took without notice rather than simply āpicked upā. It wasnāt all that much since his priority had been checking the water supplies, but heād found some odds and ends: bits of food, a switchblade, a satchel of obsolete coinsā¦ and some things that others would have deemed useless. However, Clive always did say, everything has its worth.
However now that heād gotten a couple prizes, the bandit found himself craving a couple more. Perhaps he could win some from his dear comrades? āIāve been a little too quiet nowadays,ā he chuckled to himself. It was the truth. With recent happenings and such, he hadnāt really gotten around to pulling tricks on his fellow alliesā¦ and without that, well, life could get pretty grim, and nobody wanted that.
Just then, a familiar sound cut through the air, and heard the prolonged howl of his leader. āThatās my cue,ā Clive grinned before racing off towards the direction of his leader. āIf Mawās howling, thereās no danger,ā he mused, disregarding all his previous caution. The prank could wait until later. It seemed that the Pack was finally going to get moving.