Search Team of One (Solo)

[Yvera]

85th Day of Spring, 512 AV Yvera walked down the streets of Zeltiva, munching on a roll of bread. She had gone into the habit of saving the rolls of bread from the meals Satevis brought her, and eating it for breakfast. She woke up early that morning to give her enough time to search for her family. In fact, Satevis was still asleep when she woke up, which was annoying because it meant that she had to keep walking around him in order to get ready. Today marked the second day of her search. Yesterday, the first day, held no fruit. She had searched most of the inns and taverns and had walked around the dock and market place, but she found nothing. This didn't particularly discourage her because she knew that she didn't search very hard. Yesterday's search was more to get her bearings in a new town. Today, Yvera planned to ask around; to see if anyone had news of her family. She stopped walking and swallowed the last piece of bread. The plan seemed decent enough, except... Where would she start? She watched as a completely random person walked past her, and shrugged. She might as well start here. Yvera ran to overtake the man who passed her, then, turning on one foot, she stopped in front of the man to get his attention. "Umm... Hi!" she greeted. "I'm sorry to bother you this morning but have you seen any Vantha recently?" The man stared at her for a second before raising his hand to point at her. Yvera sighed. There were days when she wondered whether her common was bad or if everyone else was just stupid. "Yes, yes. Besides me." she replied. Although she was smiling at the man, her eyes were a dull red that relayed her annoyance. The man, however, took no notice of it as he thought harder about her question. It took him a while and by the time he finally answered, Yvera was loosing her patience. "I'll tell you what you need to know," the man said. "But only for a price." The rather annoying man rubbed his fingers together expectantly. Yvera sighed. He was the first person she asked and he was already looking for a bribe. She waved her hand aside dismissively. "I'll give you the money after I hear the news." she told him. "I'll pay you by the value of your news." The man frowned. This was obviously not going according to plan. He closed his eyes in thought, unaware of the young girl in front of him as she picked up a pebble from the road. When he opened his eyes, Yvera had her hands behind her back. "No," he said. "I have not seen any other Vantha recently." He put his hand forward, expecting his reward. Is this guy serious? Yvera thought, although she smiled at the man. Slowly, she brought the hand that contained the pebble from behind her back, poising herself to flee. "I understand." she said as she brought her closed hand on top of his. "Something of equal value, right?" The minute she opened her hand, Yvera ran past the man and ducked into an alley way. By the time the man realized that he had been given a rock, she was already gone. He angrily tossed the rock to the ground and turned around, trying to catch sight of the Vantha girl. The man cursed once before deciding that it wasn't worth his time, and left the Yvera giggling in the alley way. Well, it's your own fault! she thought at the man.