Home is Where
Your Tree is
Your Tree is
12th of Winter, 519 AV
The Merchant's Ring
The Merchant's Ring
Gathering food in the city was much harder than it seemed to be in the wilds. Sure, one had to avoid dangerous predators and find non-poisonous berries and things like that, but once you found food it was yours. There were no strings attached. You pick it you eat it. But here in the city, if you see food, that food is not yours. Not until you do something to get those smooth, silver or gold or brown rocks with the symbols on them. Then if you give the person in charge of the food a certain amount of those stones you can finally get the food. So not only did you have to actually find the food but then you had to do extra work for it, which didn't seem entirely fair to him. Granted, finding the food was much easier here since there always appeared to be food around every corner, but Itt at several points had to stop himself from grabbing some fruit off a cart or stand due to him just being hungry. He'd rather do the work before knowing where the food was and then have the satisfaction of eating it right away. Finding the food easily and then doing work after, knowing that it's just right there was torturous. He didn't like it, having the food dangle over him like that.
And on top of that, the only way he found to actually get those stones is by sending messages to people. He's never seen anyone else get those rocks any other way. Except for the merchants, but Itt didn't have food to just give away. He's been living off of nuts for the past two days, so just giving away food wasn't going to work. So he had to listen to people tell him what to say and then run around the entire city looking for someone who matched the description he didn't understand. Or at least it felt like he was running around the entire city. He didn't know this area that well, so how was he supposed to know where the "Jester's Corner" was? What even is a Jester's Corner? He didn't know! But he had to figure it out somehow! Apparently, a Jester was a music place. And it wasn't even on the corner! This was a circle town! There were no corners!
Gah, it all was so frustrating.
Itt huffed to himself as he meandered in the Merchant's Ring, rolling a walnut between his fingers and palm. It was rather cold today compared to yesterday, but he could have missed how cold it was due to his hunger. Now that he had at least something in his stomach the wind was more noticeable. The sun also wasn't out, being covered by medium grey clouds. That likely contributed to it. No sun. No shoes. No distractions. It made sense why he took note.
But there was no hunger as well. He'd rather feel cold than hungry any day. He hadn't been as hungry as he was yesterday in a long time because at his tree back home by that big city he could just grab a tree branch and eat leaves, or see a berry bush and pick it clean. Technically he could go back to the lake shore and roam in the trees there but he thought he needed those stones for those boats that travel back and forth as well. Which again, he didn't have. He'd have to save up for that if he also wanted to eat. He was low on nuts so he would have to get some more soon.
Yesterday didn't prove as successful as the day before in terms of money. He sent messages, but people got really upset at him for taking so long so they didn't pay him. It probably was because he didn't know where to go. So today he figured he would try his hand at the map that the woman from a few days ago drew to help him find Caesar. If he had a more fleshed out map, maybe people could just point where to go instead of using their long complicated words. He did need to learn how to communicate with people sooner or later, but for now, a message and a point on the map would do. After all, he needed to find someone who was willing to teach him first, and no one seemed to want to bother with him.
One day. One day he'll figure it out. But for now, the map.
Putting the walnut back in his sack and throwing the bag over his shoulder, he pulled out the folded piece of paper from his pocket, flicking it open so he could see its contents. The charcoal had smeared quite a bit, making the boxes more blurry grey blobs, but he could redraw it. After running back and forth in the market for an entire two days, he was sure he knew the basic layout of it by now. But then again, he was abnormally tired. And hungry. He didn't pay much attention... Oh well, he'd figure it out.
And on top of that, the only way he found to actually get those stones is by sending messages to people. He's never seen anyone else get those rocks any other way. Except for the merchants, but Itt didn't have food to just give away. He's been living off of nuts for the past two days, so just giving away food wasn't going to work. So he had to listen to people tell him what to say and then run around the entire city looking for someone who matched the description he didn't understand. Or at least it felt like he was running around the entire city. He didn't know this area that well, so how was he supposed to know where the "Jester's Corner" was? What even is a Jester's Corner? He didn't know! But he had to figure it out somehow! Apparently, a Jester was a music place. And it wasn't even on the corner! This was a circle town! There were no corners!
Gah, it all was so frustrating.
Itt huffed to himself as he meandered in the Merchant's Ring, rolling a walnut between his fingers and palm. It was rather cold today compared to yesterday, but he could have missed how cold it was due to his hunger. Now that he had at least something in his stomach the wind was more noticeable. The sun also wasn't out, being covered by medium grey clouds. That likely contributed to it. No sun. No shoes. No distractions. It made sense why he took note.
But there was no hunger as well. He'd rather feel cold than hungry any day. He hadn't been as hungry as he was yesterday in a long time because at his tree back home by that big city he could just grab a tree branch and eat leaves, or see a berry bush and pick it clean. Technically he could go back to the lake shore and roam in the trees there but he thought he needed those stones for those boats that travel back and forth as well. Which again, he didn't have. He'd have to save up for that if he also wanted to eat. He was low on nuts so he would have to get some more soon.
Yesterday didn't prove as successful as the day before in terms of money. He sent messages, but people got really upset at him for taking so long so they didn't pay him. It probably was because he didn't know where to go. So today he figured he would try his hand at the map that the woman from a few days ago drew to help him find Caesar. If he had a more fleshed out map, maybe people could just point where to go instead of using their long complicated words. He did need to learn how to communicate with people sooner or later, but for now, a message and a point on the map would do. After all, he needed to find someone who was willing to teach him first, and no one seemed to want to bother with him.
One day. One day he'll figure it out. But for now, the map.
Putting the walnut back in his sack and throwing the bag over his shoulder, he pulled out the folded piece of paper from his pocket, flicking it open so he could see its contents. The charcoal had smeared quite a bit, making the boxes more blurry grey blobs, but he could redraw it. After running back and forth in the market for an entire two days, he was sure he knew the basic layout of it by now. But then again, he was abnormally tired. And hungry. He didn't pay much attention... Oh well, he'd figure it out.
