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"Absolutely!" River beamed.

Just then their food arrived, and the three who had ordered began to eat. Since they had more or less gotten only snacks, it didn't take them long to finish. When they were ready, they turned to Miyuki.

"Ready?" River asked her eagerly.

"Anywhere," Aranxia said softly, at the same moment as River exclaimed, "Everywhere!"

Jess laughed as the two girls looked at each other and giggled.

"Why don't we just look around?" he suggested, grinning widely. "None of us three have been here before so it will all be interesting, I'm sure."

"Deal," River spoke up in agreement. She took Jess's hand, and the three elves followed Miyuki out of the inn.

The market was near the inn, just a few blocks north, and took up both sides of a rather wide and long street. It was an outdoor market, and most of the stalls had canvas canopies to protect the sellers' wares from the hot desert sun. The air was filled with the shouts of people calling their wares.

"Fresh fish!"

"Fishing hooks, guaranteed not to break!"

"Fresh-grown fruit, five pennies a basket!"

"Good strong fishing line, don't lose your catch!"

"Net repairs, the finest quality in the city!"

"High quality oil, keep your tools free from rust!"

Aranxia looked around, her eyes filled with wonder at the excitement around them. This was completely new to her, since she rarely went into the city back home - and even then, the market there was nothing like this. It was much more ... calm.

"It's wonderful," Aranxia replied, smiling warmly. "It's so much louder than Tor Karad ... but in Tor Karad, most of the businesses are indoors rather than out. I wonder if perhaps that may be because it's hotter there, it's nice and cool here."

The air was no cooler than in Tor Karad, but there was a cool breeze coming in off the river which made it much nicer.

"It's a good thing I didn't bring money to spend," she added, looking around. "Mama only gave me a set amount, so I'd like to make it count."

She leaned in to inspect some fruit at one of the stands. It looked very good, firm and juicy. They were small, smooth ovals, such a dark purple that they were almost black. She had never seen them before.

"Miyuki, do you know what these are?" she asked, pointing them out to her friend.

"Hmm ..." Aranxia eyed the fruit thoughtfully. Perhaps tomorrow she would bring some money to try one. They were definitely different from anything she had ever eaten before.

Suddenly her attention was diverted by some other merchants down the street who were advertising less edible items - bolts of cloth and silk, leather goods, and more.

"Hey, Jess," she said, turning to point out the leather stalls to him - but he was gone, as was River. Aranxia sighed and shook her head, but she was smiling. "Those two."

Aranxia smiled. "If you don't mind. I'm curious to see how it compares to Tor Karad."

It was all she had to compare anything to - though she was looking forward to remedying that on this trip.

"I think I'd like to do that, too," Aranxia murmured as they wandered up the street. "I'm sure Nana-tol has already told Ninako all about the differences, but ... I'd like to be able to tell her about it too. And Nako."

She giggled. "Nako is always saying Nana-tol doesn't tell her much about his travels. But she'll see quite a bit of our trip, I suppose ... she wants me to paint as much as I can."

Aranxia blinked at Miyuki. "Close calls?" she asked, a little anxiously. "What happened?"

She slowed her pace so that Miyuki could tell her story before they examined the goods that were being advertised so loudly.