The Pumpkin Market [Angelique]

[Serrif Von Chatlyn]

30th Fall 511AV Serrif had been awake for nearly all night. Sitting on the beach watching the sun begin to rise. He had seen the moon melt into the darkness and the sun gently rise. He had been awake for a great amount of time turning all kinds of things over in his head. That was the normal for him, he couldn’t ever really sleep all that well. Even though he felt at home here on the island he felt like he was also relatively useless. He didn’t really feel needed. But before he could have anyone depend on him he would have to set his skills to where they needed to be. He would need to get his skills to a point where he felt proficient. Where he felt like he could save lives. That was important to him; healing was his art now. He had taken it up and Lym was helping him learn everything he needed to know. They spent a ton of time pouring over things and making concoctions that he had to write down in order to remember. Every day he would see her, in fact the sun was coming up. He didn’t feel like training in the morning today. He knew better than to think he was up to it. So instead he would go and visit Lym; and see if she had anything else for him to do. If so he would do whatever he could to assist her. He went back to his tent and figured he would gather a few things before he headed in. But he ended up laying down and drifting away without even noticing it. He awoke with the sun’s rays gently caressing him awake. He opened his eyes and didn’t panic; he found it actually a little funny. He shook the sleep away and then proceeded to gather the notes he had been reviewing. He put them in the inner pocket of his cloak and then headed into town. The walk was about fifteen minutes or so, but it was through a nice forest like path. It was narrow and really barely enough room for two people to cross each other on it. But it was all he had and he would have to deal with it. Every step brought him closer to the city, and he knew Lym would likely be waiting for him. But she knew he was likely tired beyond all belief. He had been working late with her as many were during the Pumpkin Festival. They did it to honor Rak’keli, and he did it to help Lym out more than anything else. Sleep was slowly falling away from his body, it was tough but it did eventually go away to where he could appreciate the day before him. And to where he thought he could focus on something other than how tired he felt. It was almost midday now. And he knew Lym would be looking for him; or in the least wondering where he was. He sighed, this would be an interesting one to explain to her for sure. But he had been looking over the notes most of the night trying to figure something out. An antidote for what plagued him. But he had no idea really where to start. Besides the notes that had been transcribed for him he really had no idea what he wanted to do. He didn’t have the appropriate skill either to manage it all alone. He knew this for sure; he would need Lym’s assistance. He KNEW he would need her help. He also knew that he would have to carefully explain to her what this was. He thought he had finally figured it all out. The dormant poison in his body was reacting with the Vision Waters on the island. It was the only source of fresh water and he had been drinking it for a long time now. He had also been drinking a good amount of it during his exercising and all. Likely more than most people who visited the isle. That may have been why he experienced such odd occurrences. Many people didn’t stay here long. Most were traders and the like. He figured at first it was because people couldn’t stand the peace; but now he understood there were indeed other reasons. As he walked into town there were booths set up everywhere. Selling all kinds of things from food to ornate crafts he hadn’t seen before. Every last one of them was wonderful. It was obvious they had been planning for this for quite some time. Many of them not so much selling as showing off what they had done. Almost as if they were showing off their skills to the gods themselves…because you never knew when one would walk through Mura, especially during the Pumpkin Festival. He browsed quickly through the booths on his way to the temple. He didn’t want to keep her waiting too long. She was a patient person, and she was likely going to be a little sore with him right now. But he was sure he could smooth things over. And then he saw Lym in the crowd. She moved through to him and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. “Enjoying things?” She asked with a smile. “Yes, I’ve been working on something.” He said pulling the scrolls out of his pocket to show her. She smiled and spoke again. “Serrif it’s market day. The perfect day for you to get yourself something nice. I would’ve told you I didn’t need your assistance today. But it seems you picked that information up on your own…Now have a good day out here. And for Avalis sake find yourself something nice.” She then walked off and literally disappeared into the crowd among the booths. Serrif figured he would take her word on it and buy himself something, but he didn’t have much of an idea what he would want. He figured he knew a good way to get some archery practice in. Perhaps he could go hunting. That would be a good idea. Maybe he would manage that later today before the sun set. It would test his archery skills and maybe give him some variety in his diet as well. He knew regular target arrows wouldn’t do for this. So he needed specialty arrows, something that could put down his prey. But he needed to find someone selling the arrows he was looking for, and someone who knew what he could hunt in the forests near Mura. He hadn’t been hunting here yet and only ventured into the forest once; so he didn’t know what he was going to find. Or even if there was something dangerous out there; but it was Mura there couldn’t be anything that dangerous. He moved through the booths and finally found one that was selling a plethora of arrows. There were arrows of all kinds and sorts that he had never seen before. He looked over them one by one and really couldn’t begin to imagine what he could use them all for. He needed a certain kind of arrow…but which one? Serrif stood there perplexed since the booth owner wasn’t there.