21-50: While not majorly valuable, you do have an important item taken from you.

Shopping tended to give Eliazer a rush of anxiety that the young teen would rather go without. He carried his little notebook with him wherever he went so communication wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but that didn’t mean others wouldn’t make it a problem. Just because he couldn’t speak sometimes vendors assumed that meant he had something wrong with his head and they tried to take advantage of him. It was infuriating to say the least, but Eliazer did his best to avoid those stalls at all costs. Sometimes reporting them helped, but more often than not they dismissed his concerns entirely. A merchant's deep pockets helped their crimes and poor sales practices to be overlooked which meant a little rat like Eliazer didn’t stand a chance.

It felt strange to go from spending his nights with Adhira back to mundane tasks. Under the moon he felt invincible; like the man he’d always wanted to be! In the sunlight, however, Eliazer was aware of just how little he meant in the grand scheme of things. Hitching his basket further up onto his arm the Geian meandered around the stalls, trying his best to scoop out the best deals, when a group of kids brushed past him. Instinctively he clucked his basket closer to his chest after getting a good look at them. Street rats from the look of it, with more scrapes and dirt than the average duruf. A few ‘well meaning’ citizens stopped to give the little beggars some coins, but Eliazer knew their game. The younger ones would lure others closer with their big eyes while the faster, older kids robbed the target blind. Good thing Eliazer didn’t have more than a few coins to his name so there was nothing for them to stea-

Are you kidding me?!

His notebook! It had been hanging on his side, wrapped in a bit of cloth and the little brats took it! Looking over the crowd he saw a few of the little jerks smiling at each other, giggling and high fiving before taking off. Well, if he could keep up with Adhira then he could definitely catch some kids!

With a snarl, Eliazer took off. As soon as he got his hands on those runts he was going to make them pay! Thankfully the layout of the city was exactly the same now as it was at night which gave him all the knowledge he needed to give chase. It also made a world of difference to know that the kids weren’t taking this too seriously. They kept stopping at random, getting new marks and bouncing off. It took them a while to realize they were being chased, but when they saw the Geian on their heels they panicked.

“RUN!” Screeched a little Lightning child. Like insects they scattered and Eliazer had to stop. Two went down a side alley, one slid under an alleyway fence and another took off straight down the street. Which one was he supposed to follow? And honestly, at this point, was it even worth it?

With his lungs pounding after the run, Eliazer raised a hand to run it through his hair. If they had managed to take his coin then he would be really upset, but right now he was mostly just embarrassed. The notebook meant a lot to him, but in the grand scheme of things it was relatively cheap. If he asked his mother he could get another, but still...they needed to be taught a lesson!

Still, looking back behind him with a sigh Eliazer realized that his shopping trip would have to be cut short for the day. Without his notebook he didn’t have a way to communicate with ‘average’ vendors. I could always go get Aleksi… But his friend was likely spending the off day with his family. He would come if Eliazer asked, but he didn’t want to be the one to do that. Feeling around in his pocket, the teen was able to produce a small piece of coal and a thought occurred to him. If he could just manage to scrap together a piece of paper then this could still work. It wouldn’t be as nice as his notebook, but a temporary fix was better than going home empty handed.

Looking back toward the street Eliazer huffed and finally, with a grimace, turned his back on the scene. They’d clearly gotten the better of him today, but if they ever met up again he’d show them!

[762]