23rd of Spring, 514 AV
With one foot in front of the other, it was easily to see the couple of females walking through town. One had extravagant red hair and the other was almost as vivid. One had crystal blue eyes and the other's were the colour of a cat's hazel green.
They were hand in hand, talking about random topics. The child held a frowning face whilst the older female tried to cheer her up.
Once the two had arrived at their destination, the woman went to proceed to check out at the stand of a man selling various fabrics and articles of clothing.
The child had disappeared, walked over to some other stand and then vanished completely. The woman was frantic, running wildly through the crowd of bustling people.
She couldn't find the child anywhere and there was no clue to direct her into any possible direction. There was no one with the same golden auburn hair as the child in the crowd and she began to panic profoundly.
She had thoughts about what happened to the child...
...but oh where, oh where had the little girl gone?
They were out on a stroll, the woman and the child. The child’s hair flowed down her back in waves of golden red. The woman’s hair was as curly as it always was. It was so bright and vivid in colour it often resembled that of a fire being ignited.
They two were out walking toward the Seaside Market. Lenz brought along her backpack and some money to use to purchase the four main items she needed most. Those items were bread, a sewing needle and a spool of black thread and a new shirt for the girl. She had wanted purple, a purple shirt and it was noted in high priority in her mind.
Passing a few buildings and complete strangers proved to be rather boring to the girls so Lenz came up with the idea to play a game.
“I spy something yellow and round,” she announced. Her voice interrupted the silence that wafted around her.
“Are we really playing this game?” asked Ipisol, her face showing intense signs of confusion and probably disgust.
“Why not?”
“That game is for babies,” she retorted, defiant on why she didn’t want to play.
“Come on,” Lenz urged, nudging her playfully as they continued to walk down the pathway through town. They were almost there, but it would be a while and Lenz was striving for conversation.
“Alright, fine,” the girl said, eventually giving up. She dropped her arms which had been crossed over her chest and sighed. She paused for a few moments to take everything in that surrounded her. Then she started walking again with an index finger to her chin.
“Lenz, there’s nothing yellow and round out here,” she finally said, giving up. All she saw was drab colours of the wooden city. The atmosphere wasn’t very colourful. The clothes the locals wore weren’t very striking either.
“Sure there is,” Lenz said helpfully.
“No there isn’t,” Ipisol persisted, her eyes narrowing as she fought to try to seek out anything that resembled what Lenz had described. She came up empty handed.
“You just have to think harder. Try to use your imagination.” Lenz noticed how the child was becoming frustrated so she offered her help, dropping a hint unnoticeably. “Try looking up.”
Ipisol’s head lolled back as she stared at the roofs of many buildings and various houses.
“I don’t-“
“Look higher,” Lenz pressured, her eyebrows rising with anticipation.
“Is it the-“
“Yes?”
“Is it the sun?”
Lenz clapped her hands loudly. Ipisol nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden noise. She smiled at the praise she received from her guardian as she readied herself for her turn.
She strained her head to try to look around in terms of finding something to use for Lenz to spy. Her eyes locked onto something she knew would be challenging to pick and said it aloud, a smirk playing on her thin lips.
“I spy something long, thin and wooden.”
For a moment, the woman was naturally stumped. She didn’t waste much time surveying what was around her, but she did take a short time trying to rack her brain for the most logical areas a child would look.
Her logic led her to understand the height of a child and she instinctively looked down. A child’s perception usually was limited by their size and given that Ipisol hadn’t thought to look up when it was her time to search gave Lenz more reason to believe she was getting warm.
Her eyes trailed very plausible objects, but nothing that matched what the little girl had described. Finally she found what she had been looking for and cleared her throat nonchalantly.
“Is it that stick lying over there?” she asked, pointing to the direction of said object.
Ipisol’s eyes bugged out of her head. She had guessed it on the first try!
“How did you get that so quickly?”
Lenz smiled brightly, pride overwhelming her entire body. She simply shrugged and said, “Let’s just say that I played that a lot when I was a child.”
The woman was about to continue the game with her turn when the Seaside Market sprung up from around a corner they had just recently passed. They had finally arrived, and Lenz pressed the silver mizas she held in her hand against her palm.
The couple walked over to the first vendor, who happened to be selling fresh produce including several different kinds of vegetables, a few pieces of fruit, some loaves of bread and s couple jars of milk.
Lenz greeted the man, who in return received a grunt as a response. She didn’t mind, though. She had spent enough time in Sunberth to know that not all the locals were kind or even friendly. She, herself, wasn’t much of a social butterfly, so she had no room to scrutinize anyone.
“What can I do for you today?” he asked, coughing into his hand.
Lenz gave herself a few seconds to scan the items the man was selling. She had already picked out one of the things she wanted to purchase before she was done browsing.
“I would like a loaf of your bread,” she answered him, looking down at her hand where all the money sat.
“That will be two copper mizas,” he told her, grabbing one of the loaves of bread he had and
She stared at the currency as if willing herself to try to figure out how much she needed to hand over to the merchant.
“Is there a problem?” he asked skeptically.
The woman ignored him, concentrating on figuring out how much she needed to pay him with and how much would be returned to her.
She licked her lips and used her fingers to move around the silver mizas about her palm. Her mind played tricks with her until she eventually focused hard enough to will her brain to function properly.
“One silver miza equals nine copper mizas, no, ten copper mizas,” she murmured to herself. “So that means that if the bread is two copper mizas…” Her voice trailed off as she tried her best to do the math in her head, using her fingers to help her keep count.
“Ten minus two equals eight, right?”
She looked up at the man and smiled again, the crease in between her eyes that always formed due to hard work concentrating had vanished.
“Here is a silver miza,” she said to him, handing over the currency. “I shall receive exactly eight copper mizas in return.”
The man handed the bread over to the woman. She stuffed in into her backpack as she watched him count out the money he already had. He counted eight copper mizas out loud and then handed them over to her.
“Have a nice day,” he muttered, his eyes squinting from the sunlight. Or was it due to suspicion? Lenz felt partially embarrassed that she wasn’t able to subtract the amount she had by the total cost of the bread. Then again, she hadn’t known anyone who could. Her mother tried to teach her a few times and only a few tips and tricks remained in her memory. She was thankful that she could recall those things or else it was possible that she could have been ripped off right then and there.
“Where to next?” Ipisol asked, skipping beside her elder with a happy smile lighting up her face. Her eyes glistened, there blue resembling much like the sea during a summer day.
The child’s grin was so contagious that the woman ended up becoming infected by it. A smile of her own latched onto her lips, pulling them up and nailing them there.
“How about we first buy my sewing needle and spool of thread and then we can buy your shirt?”
“Purple shirt,” the girl corrected.
“Purple shirt,” Lenz said apologetically.
The two were on their way, traipsing through the stands of many sellers. Things were looking up, like everything was going to go well today.
It’s a shame that statement wasn’t true.
With one foot in front of the other, it was easily to see the couple of females walking through town. One had extravagant red hair and the other was almost as vivid. One had crystal blue eyes and the other's were the colour of a cat's hazel green.
They were hand in hand, talking about random topics. The child held a frowning face whilst the older female tried to cheer her up.
Once the two had arrived at their destination, the woman went to proceed to check out at the stand of a man selling various fabrics and articles of clothing.
The child had disappeared, walked over to some other stand and then vanished completely. The woman was frantic, running wildly through the crowd of bustling people.
She couldn't find the child anywhere and there was no clue to direct her into any possible direction. There was no one with the same golden auburn hair as the child in the crowd and she began to panic profoundly.
She had thoughts about what happened to the child...
...but oh where, oh where had the little girl gone?
They were out on a stroll, the woman and the child. The child’s hair flowed down her back in waves of golden red. The woman’s hair was as curly as it always was. It was so bright and vivid in colour it often resembled that of a fire being ignited.
They two were out walking toward the Seaside Market. Lenz brought along her backpack and some money to use to purchase the four main items she needed most. Those items were bread, a sewing needle and a spool of black thread and a new shirt for the girl. She had wanted purple, a purple shirt and it was noted in high priority in her mind.
Passing a few buildings and complete strangers proved to be rather boring to the girls so Lenz came up with the idea to play a game.
“I spy something yellow and round,” she announced. Her voice interrupted the silence that wafted around her.
“Are we really playing this game?” asked Ipisol, her face showing intense signs of confusion and probably disgust.
“Why not?”
“That game is for babies,” she retorted, defiant on why she didn’t want to play.
“Come on,” Lenz urged, nudging her playfully as they continued to walk down the pathway through town. They were almost there, but it would be a while and Lenz was striving for conversation.
“Alright, fine,” the girl said, eventually giving up. She dropped her arms which had been crossed over her chest and sighed. She paused for a few moments to take everything in that surrounded her. Then she started walking again with an index finger to her chin.
“Lenz, there’s nothing yellow and round out here,” she finally said, giving up. All she saw was drab colours of the wooden city. The atmosphere wasn’t very colourful. The clothes the locals wore weren’t very striking either.
“Sure there is,” Lenz said helpfully.
“No there isn’t,” Ipisol persisted, her eyes narrowing as she fought to try to seek out anything that resembled what Lenz had described. She came up empty handed.
“You just have to think harder. Try to use your imagination.” Lenz noticed how the child was becoming frustrated so she offered her help, dropping a hint unnoticeably. “Try looking up.”
Ipisol’s head lolled back as she stared at the roofs of many buildings and various houses.
“I don’t-“
“Look higher,” Lenz pressured, her eyebrows rising with anticipation.
“Is it the-“
“Yes?”
“Is it the sun?”
Lenz clapped her hands loudly. Ipisol nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden noise. She smiled at the praise she received from her guardian as she readied herself for her turn.
She strained her head to try to look around in terms of finding something to use for Lenz to spy. Her eyes locked onto something she knew would be challenging to pick and said it aloud, a smirk playing on her thin lips.
“I spy something long, thin and wooden.”
For a moment, the woman was naturally stumped. She didn’t waste much time surveying what was around her, but she did take a short time trying to rack her brain for the most logical areas a child would look.
Her logic led her to understand the height of a child and she instinctively looked down. A child’s perception usually was limited by their size and given that Ipisol hadn’t thought to look up when it was her time to search gave Lenz more reason to believe she was getting warm.
Her eyes trailed very plausible objects, but nothing that matched what the little girl had described. Finally she found what she had been looking for and cleared her throat nonchalantly.
“Is it that stick lying over there?” she asked, pointing to the direction of said object.
Ipisol’s eyes bugged out of her head. She had guessed it on the first try!
“How did you get that so quickly?”
Lenz smiled brightly, pride overwhelming her entire body. She simply shrugged and said, “Let’s just say that I played that a lot when I was a child.”
The woman was about to continue the game with her turn when the Seaside Market sprung up from around a corner they had just recently passed. They had finally arrived, and Lenz pressed the silver mizas she held in her hand against her palm.
The couple walked over to the first vendor, who happened to be selling fresh produce including several different kinds of vegetables, a few pieces of fruit, some loaves of bread and s couple jars of milk.
Lenz greeted the man, who in return received a grunt as a response. She didn’t mind, though. She had spent enough time in Sunberth to know that not all the locals were kind or even friendly. She, herself, wasn’t much of a social butterfly, so she had no room to scrutinize anyone.
“What can I do for you today?” he asked, coughing into his hand.
Lenz gave herself a few seconds to scan the items the man was selling. She had already picked out one of the things she wanted to purchase before she was done browsing.
“I would like a loaf of your bread,” she answered him, looking down at her hand where all the money sat.
“That will be two copper mizas,” he told her, grabbing one of the loaves of bread he had and
She stared at the currency as if willing herself to try to figure out how much she needed to hand over to the merchant.
“Is there a problem?” he asked skeptically.
The woman ignored him, concentrating on figuring out how much she needed to pay him with and how much would be returned to her.
She licked her lips and used her fingers to move around the silver mizas about her palm. Her mind played tricks with her until she eventually focused hard enough to will her brain to function properly.
“One silver miza equals nine copper mizas, no, ten copper mizas,” she murmured to herself. “So that means that if the bread is two copper mizas…” Her voice trailed off as she tried her best to do the math in her head, using her fingers to help her keep count.
“Ten minus two equals eight, right?”
She looked up at the man and smiled again, the crease in between her eyes that always formed due to hard work concentrating had vanished.
“Here is a silver miza,” she said to him, handing over the currency. “I shall receive exactly eight copper mizas in return.”
The man handed the bread over to the woman. She stuffed in into her backpack as she watched him count out the money he already had. He counted eight copper mizas out loud and then handed them over to her.
“Have a nice day,” he muttered, his eyes squinting from the sunlight. Or was it due to suspicion? Lenz felt partially embarrassed that she wasn’t able to subtract the amount she had by the total cost of the bread. Then again, she hadn’t known anyone who could. Her mother tried to teach her a few times and only a few tips and tricks remained in her memory. She was thankful that she could recall those things or else it was possible that she could have been ripped off right then and there.
“Where to next?” Ipisol asked, skipping beside her elder with a happy smile lighting up her face. Her eyes glistened, there blue resembling much like the sea during a summer day.
The child’s grin was so contagious that the woman ended up becoming infected by it. A smile of her own latched onto her lips, pulling them up and nailing them there.
“How about we first buy my sewing needle and spool of thread and then we can buy your shirt?”
“Purple shirt,” the girl corrected.
“Purple shirt,” Lenz said apologetically.
The two were on their way, traipsing through the stands of many sellers. Things were looking up, like everything was going to go well today.
It’s a shame that statement wasn’t true.
