The Markets of Delrany

[Ikaina]

Eraella walked through the crowds in the marketplace of Delrany City, her hands tucked warmly into the sleeves of her long, light blue robe. She looked about silently as people bartered their way to lower prices and others traded items that they no longer wanted. These people were what she and her mother had lived to help. They were the ones that she had become a priestess for.

A few of the citizens of Delrany smiled and nodded to her in greeting. A few even stopped to start up small conversations. Eraella answered them gently and kindly, asking about their families and then departing without much extra thought, letting them get about their daily lives.

Approaching a small kiosk on the side of the market, Eraella smiled to the young girl behind the counter. She had to have been no older than seven or eight. Her brown eyes scanned the contents of the kiosk, finding that she enjoyed much of the jewelery. It was all quite lovely and must have come from some foreign kingdom. Perhaps that of the fire or thunder kingdom. It was certainly gorgeous.

Hearing someone speak to her, Eraella looked up, searching for whomever it was that had spoken to her.

[Neoruko]

Moro walked a bit ahead of her brother, looking around at everything. She had gotten her way and they had left the earth kingdom. Travelling hadn't been much fun since Roth was so grumpy the whole way, but now that they were here, she didn't care. She had still gotten her way, afterall.

"Roth, hurry up! You're so slow! I'm not even going to get the see the whole city before nightfall tomorrow if you don't hurry up!" she called as she looked back to find him a whole block behind, still brooding and casting wary glances all around him.

Puffing out her cheeks briefly before blowing out the air she had gathered, she stood and waited for him to catch up, "Jeez, Roth, it's not like anyone will know us here," she muttered, giving him a playful shove, "Why can't you just have some fun and stop acting like an old man?"

Staggering slightly from the shove which he had not expected, he looked down at her, "Old man? I don't act like an old man! You just act like a child." He grumbled a bit, knowing she was right about no one knowing who they were here, which was actually part of the reason he had agreed to her little adventure.

"Oh, you're no fun at all! You've been moping the whole trip! Get over yourself, Roth, and let yourself have some fun! Stop worrying so much!" She took his arm and linked it with hers, pulling him a bit faster.

"Moro, wait, will you slow down?" though he only resisted fora little while before giving in with a small smile and letting her drag him around the market to look at different wares. She stopped and stared for a long time at one stand, which carried many types of jewelery, "Moro, you know we can't afford anything-"

"I know, Roth," the merchant was talking to another prospective customer and had his back turned, "But we could take it, right? Look at it!" She held up a beautiful pendent. The black, tear-shaped stone seemed plain at first, but then she tilted it slightly and a rainbow of colors flew through it. There were smaller, taer-shaped stones going to about half way up the necklace, "It's so pretty, Roth...." Her eyes were glued to the stones as she held it as though it might fall to pieces in her hands.

"Moro, we don't need it, and you know we only steal to survive-"

"But, Roth, it's so pretty! I don't have anything nice like this, why can't I have one thing? I promise, I'll never take anything I don't need ever again if I can have it. Please, Roth?" Her red gaze was pleading desperately as it met his.

"Well...," he made a face and scratched his head, looking over at the merchant who was still bargaining with a customer, "I'm going to regret this...," he muttered, then, "Fine, but hide it now and don't put it on for a couple days, got it?" Her eyes lit up and she quickly slipped it inside a small pouch at her waist. "Now, come on, before he notices, let's get out of here." She nodded and he led the way through a small crowd and then another, hoping to get themselves good and lost among so many faces just in case the merchant happened to notice sooner than he hoped he would. "Are you happy now?" He asked, turning back to her. "Yes!" she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, much to his surprise. He only stood for a moment, eyes wide, before his arms came to wrap around her slowly, "Well, you're welcome," he spoke softly. She seemed so happy now. He was suddenly glad they had come here, if it made Moro happy.

[Ikaina]

Finding that, no one had, in fact, said her name, she was about to turn back to the young child when a couple caught her eye. There was a young boy and girl standing not too far from her, glancing at the jewelry, the little girl having much desire in her stare. Eraella thought nothing of this, it was in the nature of girls to be fascinated by pretty things, and she would have just turned away had she not seen the boy slip a certain article off the table.

She was now confronted with a dilemma. Should she turn the two in as thieves, or let it be? The pair was a sorry sight. It didn't look like they were very wealthy, nor even from around these parts. Yet, at the same time, it wasn't right that this family who ran the kiosk would be out of the money they worked so hard to earn. It was a decision she was a bit reluctant to make. There seemed to be no way around hurting someone. Eraella hated hurting people.

An idea did come to mind as she looked back at the beautiful gems before her, and she began digging in her pocket for her coinpurse. Eraella reached down to pick up a small coronet of silver. It wasn't very expensive, but it wasn't cheap either, and it certainly was gorgeous. She handed the child almost three times as much as the price of the coronet. It was enough to cover for the piece, the jewelry that was stolen, and then have some left over.

"But, my lady, this is too much. It's only worth 50 coins." the child said, staring at the money in her hand.

"Well, dear, it's just so beautiful...I'm giving you 100 coins for it. Certainly that should give you a profit off of it. And the other 50...well, you just take it and get yourself a treat." Eraella replied, giving the girl and small smile before raising the coronet to her head and placing it gently amongst her flowing brown waves. The silver shimmered nicely in the sunset, the metal coming to a v-shape slightly above the bridge of her nose, the sapphire dangling and dancing in the sunlight.

She turned, looking back at the two strangers. Eraella had never seen them before. They must be travellers she told herself, and without really realizing it, began walking toward them.

"Hello." she greeted as she approached the two. "I don't recognize you...are you new to Delrany?"

[Neoruko]

As they began walking again, someone addressed them from behind and he stopped suddenly. Throwing a glance at Moro, he was about to put himself between her and whoever had spoken when Moro stepped forward and nodded. Moro!

"Yeah, we just got here," she replied casually, as if they had not in fact just stolen anything and if anyone were to suggest the idea that it would be quite preposterous, "We're from Xendel, but... I was getting bored there, so we came here!"

Roth had grit his teeth to keep from doing something incredibly unhelpful to their cause and managed a slight smile that didn't look quite as forced as it actually was, "Yes... but, now we have to go meet our uncle, we're already a little late as it is." Then he muttered, "C'mon Moro-"

"Oh, he can wait a while longer," Moro grinned at him which only made him go slightly rigid with anger. Turning back to the woman, she murmured, "I never really liked our uncle much... he's so boring!" She laughed a little, covering her mouth with her hand, "My name's Moro, and this is my brother, Roth. Don't pay any attention to him, he's always grumpy like that."

Running a hand down his face in frustration, he gritted his teeth once more to keep from growling, She gave away our real names!? Just like that! He felt like yanking out his hair, though he forced himself to relax a little- "Hey! I am not grumpy all the time!"

"Well you are right now!" She stuck out her tongue at him, "And you have been the whole trip! You haven't been any fun at all! Hmph!" she crossed her arms moodily and looked back at the woman, brightening slightly, "So, what's your name?"

Roth made many unintelligible, breathy sounds, spluttering frustratedly, and finally just blew out his breath, hands clenched into fists. Fine Moro... you have you're fun for now, but it's not gonna be any fun for you later! He planned on having a good old lecture ready for her after pulling this little stunt....

[Ikaina]

Eraella studied the two closely. How could they have come all this way by themselves? They were just children after all...they could't be much older than she was. She let out a small laugh at the girl's words. "Well, boredom is a hard thing to come by in Delrany, I assure you."

Now, Eraella was very good at reading people. She could tell that this boy wasn't very happy with the fact that they were standing there talking to someone who was a complete stranger. Though, Era couldn't blame him seeing as he had just stolen something. But she knew better than to bring that up. By the looks of them, they didn't get the chance for nice things all that often. And the little girl...well, Era had always had a soft spot for children, their innocence and purity. She firmly belived that children should always get something nice once in a while. And if she could somehow give them something nice to have or remember, then she would do it.

"Oh? Who's your uncle? Perhaps I know him..." she questioned the boy, but her words were cut fairly short by the introduction of names. Roth and Moro. Good, solid names. And as the two started a little argument of their own, Era couldn't help but find herself giggle. She was an only child, and she had never had the experience of fighting with a sibling. It was rather cute. Of course, had she actually been in an argument with a brother or sister, she probably would have found it more frustrating than cute.

When Moro asked her name, Era smiled brightly at the two. "My name is Eraella Shimasha, but you can just call me Era if you like. I'm a priestess at the castle." she replied, brushing her light brown hair out of her eyes. A small glimmer of happiness shown in her hazel gaze. Era loved meeting new people, and she didn't get to do it that often.

[Neoruko]

As Era inquired about their uncle, and perhaps she knew him, Roth muttered, "I doubt it...," under his breath and crossed his arms, staring off into the crowd of people moving around them, his eyes searching for easy prey in case he might see them later. He spotted a couple people pass every now and then, and with his incredible memory, he knew that if he saw them later he and Moro be eating well for a while, Easy... just like in Xendel. People should really get a clue..., he thought with a smirk, his emerald eyes narrowed arrogantly. This place wouldn't be so bad afterall.... He completely ignored everything that was being said by the two girls, continuing to watch people go by and commiting faces to memory to find later.

Moro ignored Roth just he was ignoring her, and gave her full attention to Era. Moro had never had any friends, other than Roth, and he was just her brother. "You have a pretty name... Era...." She looked up at the woman, "So... what does it mean exactly... to be a priestess? What do you do? Is it fun?" Sometimes Moro wondered what it could be like to have a normal life, like Era seemed to have. THe only thing Roth seemed to be good at though, was stealing, so she wasn't really sure how a 'normal' life would go over with him. She had tried picturing him doing hundreds of different jobs, and none really seemed to fit. Moro would be happy to help out in a store somewhere, or even somewhere here at the market or something. She just wanted something... normal, something every day, even if it was boring. She'd like to know what it was like to be normal.

[Ikaina]

She watched as the boy walked off. Something was rather odd about him, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. What it was, she probably would never find out either. Even with all the power she had, she wasn't sure that anything about this boy would come to her, and it was doubtful that she would be able to summon some vision about him. And for another fact, it didn't seem like these two children would be around for long. So, really, why should she even bother?

Turning back to the girl, she smiled brightly. It wasn't often that Era recieved compliments like that. "Why, thank you. Yes, it was my great-great-grandmother's name." Her great-great-grandmother had been a great priestess herself. Wise and kind, and definitely powerful. But she never used her power to harm unless she needed to. That was what Era aspired to be like. Just like her ancestor.

"Well, being a priestess isn't really all that it's talked up to be." Era replied, wondering how much this little girl knew about the ways of the elite. Not that she was all that fascinated by them. Some of the elites and royals disgusted her. "Being a priestess, I have a special connection with the Gods and Goddesses. I have the ability to see things that are going to come, and I act as the advisor to the Empress. It's really nothing all that interesting. It's just a job...a gift given to me at birth..." she paused. "And because of that gift, I was forced into my trade." Sometimes, Era too wondered what it would be like to live a normal life. Not to have the sorts of visions that awoke her in the middle of the night, screaming and crying...