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 Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:05 pm
The market place was bustling as usual, filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of people trying to sell their wares. Stalls lined the walls of the streets, vendors attempting to sell everything from day old bread to recently woven baskets. A little stall at the end of the line stood slightly away from the rest, distinctly different from any of the others. Instead of the open stall, it was covered in a rich purple cloth, hiding the vendor from view unless you approached the stall from the front. From the entrance hung golden tassels, and among them charms of every shape and size. Incense burned in the corner of the stall, the scent of dragon's blood wafting out to those who passed by. "The Mystical Soothsayer" read the sign. "Charms, wards, and palm reading available."
Inside the stall, Gyp crooned softly to the ratling, who was resting comfortably in his sling. The soothsayer was dressed as per usual, from the handkerchief on her head to the numerous jewels and bangles she wore around her wrists. Those of the fox clan were notorious for their strange dress, though they said it made up for their lack of animalistic traits. Seeing as Gyp's fox tail was hidden under her clothing, only her amber eyes gave her away as being inhuman. Not that the ratling in her arms seemed to notice anything. Kiba squeaked softly at her crooning, brown eyes watching her intently. When she dangled a string of bone fragments at him he giggled, reaching up to touch them. This was cool!
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:25 pm
Jesse and Silas were, as per usual, wandering the city to amuse themselves. Their first stop had been the zoo, which ended most abruptly when they found the 'red-heiny baboon' and his girlfriend. After that, Jesse had opted for a safer domain; the shopping center.
He'd pick-pocketed a few more wealthy-looking patrons and returned their slightly-lighter wallets back to them and, soon enough, he had a reasonable amount of money for a day on the town.
Silas led the excursion, dragging a new bunny-plush by the ears behind him. It may have been the sight of the stall, or perhaps the smells from within, that lured him there. Regardless, the small boy invited himself into the structure, soon followed by a slightly grinning Jesse.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:38 pm
Kiba's little ears perked at the sounds of approaching footsteps, Gyp reluctantly taking her eyes off the child to look at her customers. The rat baby was incredibly cute, able to work his charms on even on a swindling, cunning vixen like herself. She had to give the boy some credit. Hopefully he would grow up good, and take an interest in their guild. She had heard rumors of children being adopted into thief families who turned out to be knights in shining armor. The age of chivalry had died. This world was no longer the place for the righteous, something that Gyp strongly believed herself. It wasn't any wonder why the vixen had no problems cheating people out of their money.
"What can I help you with, young sir?"
She spoke directly to Silas, bangles jingly as she moved to get a better look at him. A young boy, perhaps the youngest she'd seen step into her little shop. Perhaps he had just been curious. Her stall was rather different. His father (though Gyp did admit he looked nothing like his son) looked the tough sort, though, so she would have to keep her eyes on them.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:50 pm
Silas tilted his head at all of the shiny and the string of bones previously used to play with the rat child. This was certainly quite different than any other shops he'd seen. This one didn't have any pretty things for sale!
"Sy, tell the nice lady why you came in here."
Silas looked up to his father, then back to the woman with the baby. Oh no! Who was this?!
He rushed back to Jesse, clinging to the man's leg and attempting to hide himself behind it. The toddler had become a pair of pink eyes and a thrush of red hair. Jesse chuckled.
"Sorry."
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:06 pm
Gyp raised her eyebrows at the child, surprised that it had taken him that long to notice. The little rat baby in the sling had noticed the approach of strangers. Perhaps this child was simply hard of hearing, or perhaps he was just plain dumb. Either of the options worked for her. She had no great love of children who weren't raised in the presence of a mystic. They had no imagination and were always incredibly skeptical. Not to mention they tended to be very rude.
"Nothing to apologize for," the vixen replied with an absent wave of her hand. "There are many who fear the mystic arts, as well as those who practice them." From within his sling, Kibarango gave a small squeak, reaching upwards when he heard the bangles jingle. With a soft chuckle, Gyp moved one of her hands closer to the baby, allowing him to jingle her bracelets. That made him chur softly, apparently very pleased with so much shiny so close to his face.
"Is there anything you would ask of this soothsayer? Perhaps a charm to favour your ships?" The man's clothes reeked of salt water.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:15 pm
Jesse's smile turned to a smirk and he dropped to one knee, whispering something to the toddler and offering him something from his pocket. Silas emerged from behind his father's thigh, took one step forward...two. His eyes faced the ground as he shuffled to the woman before them.
"May I--" he began, and then looked up a moment.
"May I...haaave pa'am wed?" Toddler speech impediments were certainly something amusing.
Jesse smiled smiled at the little boy, crouching in the corner to watch.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:25 pm
The vixen eyed the man with just a hint of wariness when he smirked, not entirely convinced of his good intentions. There was something to be said about a man with that many scars, and it definitely wasn't anything good. The fact that he smelled like sea water only made things worse in the soothsayer's eyes. However he seemed to be only dealing with his child, whispering something in the boy's ear. Gyp decided to simply watch and let things play their course. After all, he hadn't taken anything of hers yet.
She watched Silas come slowly forward, tilting her head as he started his question. Could he have his palm read? Gyp flashed the child a toothy grin, before offering her hand to him face up. "Place her hand here, and turn it up so I can see the palm." She was aware that the child probably didn't know much about what she was going to do, so she would cut him a little slack. "I'm going to have a look into your future. Do you have anything specific you'd like to know?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:37 pm
That was true; Silas had no idea what was going on. He did, however, know that this nice lady was somehow magical.
A violent scarlet blush on his cheeks, the toddler placed his hand palm-up in the woman's and shook his head shyly. For a moment, he worried. Was his palm readable at all? There was nothing written on it, as far as he could tell...even though he was only just now beginning to read. Perhaps, he realized, that's what his woman could do! See invisible words!
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:57 pm
Gyp couldn't resist the soft chuckle at the blush, amber eyes softening. Even though his dad looked like someone she would never want to have to do business with, this squirt wasn't so bad. Perhaps a little too shy for her tastes, but shy was better than obnoxious or dangerous. The fact that he had done what he was told gave him brownie points. If she saw him again, she would have to make a note of telling Bantu there was a decent child around for the ratling to meet when he was older.
"Right then. How about love? Perhaps you got someone you fancy now, so we'll deal with that first." She grinned, before reaching down to trace a gently curving line that spanned from one side of his hand to the other. "This is the heart line. Yours is long, very long, and curved just upwards at the ends, like a smile. Means you're a romantic person, very nice and giving of yourself when you love someone." With a definite nod, she tilted her head to study the other lines on his palm. "Can tell you about your mind, your fate, your health... lots of things can be seen on your palm."
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:05 pm
"Ooooh~" Sy cooed. So the lady didn't read invisible words...she read lines! He smiled then. He liked this lady's voice, and her likes her soft hands. It was a nice change from the men.
"How about fate?" Jesse asked from the corner, "That's always nice to know."
"Yeah!" Sy agreed excitedly. Whee!
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:01 pm
He seemed to be taking this rather well. Perhaps he was interested in the results of his palm reading now. It was better than the skeptical looks that Gyp got from many of her clients. They never seemed to believe she could see what she could see. Sigh. When you came in skeptic, you left skeptic, as far as the vixen was concerned.
"Fate?" Gyp cocked her head, before shrugging and staring back at the child's palm. "Fate then.... Here, this line here." She traced a line from the base of his thumb down to the edge of his palm. "And see where it crosses this line here," she traced a line from the base of his middle finger down to the end of his palm. "That's your life line. Where they meet, it means that you're going to have a tough time, but your family and friends," Gyp glanced upwards at Jesse, "Will be there to help you. Not a bad fate. "
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:05 pm
Silas giggled and looked to his father, grinning. He loved good news, and what was better than knowing he'd have support?! He offered a handful of coins to the woman with the hand she hadn't been reading. She definitely deserved a tip for this!
Jesse flinched, seeing the excess coins, but said nothing. He figured he didn't give that great of a first impression anyway, so why make the woman think he was a stiff? It wasn't technically his money anyway...
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:34 pm
Gyp grinned toothily, gladly accepting the coins from Silas. The kid had been nice, so she wouldn't consider taking anything extra from him. Swindling was only worth it if the person looked like they would get irritable about it later. Like that man in the back corner. He looked like he would get irritable if she took money from him. "Thank you very kindly, young sir."
As thought to thank him as well, Kiba squeaked, reaching up his little pink fingers to flail them at Silas. He had been preoccupied with the bangles, but he heard giggling. Giggling always got his attention.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:45 pm
Only then did Silas realize ow much this baby looked like Dada's horrible diseased fuzzies! This got him rather excited. He offered a finger to the infant, a grin positively splitting his face in two.
"Hi!"
Jesse stood then, approaching the woman.
"Wouldja mind doin' th'same fer me?" He offered out the correct pay.
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:12 pm
Kiba's large pink ears perked at the sight of the finger, churring softly as he reached up to grab at it. Wheee pretty finger! He had never seen one this colour before! The rat baby squeaked in response to the hi, blinking brown eyes up at Silas. Gyp grinned again at the child's interest, reaching down to pat the rat baby on the head. "This here is Fuzzy. He's got a big long name but I don't like to use it."
The vixen looked up when Jesse approached, taking the coins easily before opening her hand for him to place his down. "Anything in particular you'd like to know sir?"
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