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 Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 7:05 pm
"You....You...." Maia couldn't even say the words. Instead, she crouched down with the bag in front of her on the ground. With shaky fingers, she held her breath and unzipped the bag.
Inside were her things, just as she'd expected. Only...
"You...Gave them half my things!" Rage. It'd been so long since she'd felt so angry at someone. Not since the last time she had dealt with the old Shifter at the antique shop, the one who always refused to take her seriously and just look at what Maia brought her. "Those were not yours to trade away!"
"What's all this noise?" came a voice from inside the house. "Is it from the other one in the basement? Ankin, go check!"
The time had come. The absence of the Aishan was about to be discovered. Maia didn't want to be around when it was.
Ignoring the Ice girl, she turned and ran down the alleyway, rounding a corner and than a few more before stopping. The entire way there, she had heard the sounds of the other girl following her, but was too panicked to try to stop her.
8/10
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 10:43 am
Elka could feel her cheeks heating up at all the accusations. She was only trying to help! Surely that was obvious? If she hadn't stepped in, Maia would still be locked down in that basement, facing some kind of awful punishment for playing a part in the theft. Well, okay, her main objective hadn't been to help, it had actually been to turn a boring day into something she could take back to the inn and tell everyone in earshot. While they were slaving over a kitchen stove or shaking sheets out the back door, she was having an adventure! And besides! Everything in that bag was junk, why did they matter this much to yell at her over it?
But she had no chance to say all this back. Right. There had been a second one down there and now her absence was about to be discovered. The Shifter had realized this, too, and taken off as far away as she could get from the house. Elka, not finished with the conversation, followed suit, picking up her long skirts in both hands and sprinting closely behind. When Maia finally stopped, the Ice girl bent over with her hands on her knees, panting for breath. She never ran. Like ever. However, if she kept quiet for too long, she was sure the Shifter would leave.
"Of course I gave them half of what's in that bag," she panted, her head still lowered to the ground. She realized this might be seen as begging for forgiveness, so she straightened back up, a hand going to her hair. She must be a right mess, now. "How else do you think I was able to even get you out?"
9/10
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 10:51 am
"I don't know! I...." Maia stopped in her next lecture. Elka had a point. She didn't want to admit it, but she might have to. She did owe her freedom to this girl. She breathed in deeply, to calm what nerves were still rattling about in her brain over this before continuing. "Sorry. It's just....I wish there was another way than giving up all my hard work." She gave another sigh, hoisting the bag onto her shoulder and offering the other girl a smile. The first one since they had met. What a first impression they both had had.
"Thank you...For helping me. Um..." Pulling the bag back off, she dug in it for a bit. Her hand wrapped around something long and she pulled it out. The mirror without a reflective surface. It looked old, really old. She hadn't had a chance to appraise it. That was why she had been in that side of the city, it was where she'd entered. She had planned on going straight to Chiro to see what he thought of all the things she had found. She thought she had enough expertise in this business by now to understand when something might be old and valuable.
Holding it out, she offered it to the Ice girl. Who just stared at her in confusion.
"For saving me, you can have this. It's not junk. I'll give you the address of someone you can take it to, get it appraised. I'm sure it's worth a lot to someone. Likely the museum. You could sell it to them. It's my job, I know what I'm talking about."
9/10
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 10:55 am
An old mirror? That she couldn't even use for herself? Why would she want that, even if she could sell it? But wait. If Maia had randomly pulled this out of her bag, that meant everything else in there was as valuable as this was. And she'd said this was her job, so she searched for old, valuable things to make a living. That gave her a better idea.
"No. Keep it." Elka pushed the mirror away from her, back to Maia's arms. "Instead of giving me some old tra---Mirror...I want half of what you'd get for selling all this." She could see the Shifer's face contorting, beginning to start yelling at her once more. She quickly cut her off, raising a finger for silence. "You'd still be there if not for me. I think this is a good reward for my intervening, don't you?"
10/10
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 11:02 am
What? What?! What was this girl's problem? The mirror was a good enough reward. But she wanted more. Of course she wanted more. Has this girl shown Maia anything but a selfish attitude since they had met. She angrily stuffed the mirror back into her bag.
"Fine!" She didn't have time for this! She needed to go back out into the jungle and search for more things to replace what she had lost. This would take up weeks of her time and lose her potential income. She needed to do this as fast as she could, reduce the loses. If it meant sharing a month's work with this greedy, selfish...Whatever. "Have it your way. Give me an address I can contact you at when I'm ready with the next supply."
Elka visibly happily complied, giving Maia the address to an inn. That was surprising. By the haughty nature she had been subjected to this whole time, she expected to learn this girl lived in some fancy manor house. But she worked in an inn. Maybe even lived there, if she was giving her an address. Clearly she was down on her luck. That sent a little stab of sympathy through Maia's chest. Maybe the money would help her along.
10/10
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