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 Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:29 pm
“Oi, watch where you’re goin’!”
Lenila’s feet skidded along the cobbled street, the thin soles of her shoes slapping stone as quickly as she could manage to spurn them forward. In the process and as an inadvertent and unintentional but all but inevitable result just the same, her body occasionally collided with things along the way: stalls, carts, cages, merchandise, and merchants alike. The outcry, though, was easily ignored and drowned amidst the rest of the rabble, forgotten thanks to the overpowering drive of adrenaline, instinct and fear.
Behind her somewhere was a constable, shouting over the crowd.
In front of her somewhere was safety.
A nook. A cranny. An alley. A house. She couldn’t be positive until she came upon it what exactly it would be so long as it got her out of the throng, out of sight, and out of danger. Her hands tapped and gripped to the corner of another stall, bracing her as she dipped and changed direction, skirting into the shadows of an alley and flattening herself to the brick there. Her breath sucked in and sounded wildly loud to her ears on the exhale, though in reality, it probably couldn’t have been heard a foot away, over the sound of the bustling city.
In her chest, her heart hammered.
And she waited.
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Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:13 pm
Jalase frowned as he eyed the area around his parents’ stall. He’d been ‘relieved’ of his duties after his parents had found the missing money. In a way he was glad to be free to do his own thing but he also hated that he’d somehow lost his parents’ money. It was only one sale but one sale added up after a while. Rolling his shoulders, he thought back to the day in question. The only time the desk had been out of his sight was when he’d gone to help the customer out and left Len by himself. Jal ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Could the younger boy have really stolen the money right from under Jal’s nose? Grunting, he moved away from the stall and off in the direction of the blacksmith.
Jal wondered if he’d ever run into Len again. Chances are, if he really was the thief, Jal wouldn’t see him ever again. He stopped in front of the blacksmith’s stall, eyes glancing over the woman who ran it before moving over to the weapons hanging in display. His plans to buy a new, official, weapon for himself had been pushed to the side as he’d had to pay his parents back for the missing money. Which had seriously taken a chunk out of his savings. Sighing, Jal turned away from the weapons, resigned to only being able to look for now.
As he began to head back, someone pushed past him, clearly in a hurry somewhere — and fast. Blinking, Jal watched a familiar figure dart in and out of the crowd before finally ducking into an ally. His eyes narrowed and he was completely taken by surprise. What on earth was he doing back around here? Huffing, Jal moved, picking his way through the crowd as he headed towards the alley. “Len? Is that you?” he called out as he stepped into the alley and caught sight of him. “It is you.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:48 am
Len swallowed at her pulse, shutting her eyes and focusing on slowing her heart rate as she listened. With any luck, she had lost sight of them. With any luck, she was clear. The longer the stretch of the pause, the more hope bloomed, a dim flicker at first but brightening by the moment. Nothing, nothing, nothing—
“Len? Is that you?”
Len’s eyes snapped open, locking to the approaching face and, no, no, no, she didn’t want anyone drawing attention to her in this moment. Thus, ‘Go away, go away, go away—’ flicked on repeat through her mind ceaselessly until it was very obvious that he would not, and she reached out, snagging at him and jerking him into the shadows of the alley with her, out of sight of anyone immediately looking. Perhaps it would work out—his body could shield her from view.
She shot him a glower nonetheless, opening her mouth to point out that she was busy—but, she hesitated, squinting and blinking instead. “Aye, aye, it’s me,” she said, keeping her voice significantly more subdued. “No need t’ make a great spit about it, an’ y’ could keep your voice down, it’s loud on me ears, eh? Nice t’ see you again—” What was is name? Jala…la…Jalami… “—Jal.” She was fairly sure it started with that, anyway. “How ya been?”
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:35 pm
Jalase stumbled forward as he was grabbed and dragged into the alley way with Len. Confused, he caught himself against the wall and frowned at him. “What on earth are you doing? Why are you in this alley?” Jal’s eyes narrowed on Len, his earlier thoughts coming back to him as he stared at the younger boy. “How have I been?” he echoed the question, frown deepening as he grunted and pulled away from the wall. “I’ve been better. The other day, after you left, my parents came back and as we were closing up, they found some money was missing.” He paused long enough to give Len a look before continuing. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 4:00 pm
Len squinted at him. For her being the one running for her life—or at least her freedom—and him being the unasked for interloper, he sure was testy, wasn’t he? At his initial questions, she gave a dismissive huff-puff and minute shrug-and-head-toss gesture. “Oh, I dunno,” she said. “Maybe I felt like takin’ a brisk walk and thought this here alley’d be a nice spot t’ catch my breath and take a think. It’s such a lovely day an’ all. Isn’t really—”
She paused though, expression taking on new, deeper perplexion, and then displeasure, at his latter accusation.
“What’d make y’ think I knew somethin’ ‘bout it?” she asked. “Dunno a thing ‘bout how you or yer folks handle business and don’t suppose it is any spot for me to be puttin’ my nose, don’t even know you hardly. Was just there a brief bit. What’re y’ askin’ me for?”
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 4:05 pm
Jalase grunted, eyes narrowing in on Len. It was ballsy, on his part, to blame Len for the theft but he had been the only one alone, that Jal knew of, around the desk. And Jal had left money sitting out. He just wasn’t sure exactly when it had went missing. Had it been there when Len had first shown up? He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “You were there — alone — long enough. I don’t even know you.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 5:31 pm
Len’s shoulders drooped, sinking low as her expression pinched with something between a pout and a frown to exhibit hurt. “Did just say I didn’ know you, neither,” she said. “And aye, I was there for a bit, talked t’ you, then waited, an’ ate…” She resisted the urge to peek around the alley corner to see if anyone was still on her trail, and kept her gaze firmly rooted to Jal-whatever-it-was instead. “Thought we had a fair okay time for just havin’ met. But what’s this now? You callin’ me a thief? And a liar besides? I didn’ take none’your stupid coins.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 6:01 pm
Jal crossed his arms, frowned and leaned back against the wall opposite of where Len was. “Fine, fine. I’m sorry. I just…” He threw his hands up in the air, frustrated by the renewed thoughts of what had happened. “I ended up having to pay my parents back for the missing money. Which set me back on buying myself a proper sword.” He scowled and glanced out towards the busy street. “And I’m not sure how I’m going to earn it back. My parents were paying me but now they don’t trust me to watch the stall anymore.” He pursed his lips and looked back at Len. “Though I suppose I got my wish. I’m free to explore the city properly now.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:20 am
Len frowned as she watched and listened, and needle of guilt threading its way into her chest despite all and plucking as he said he’d had to pay it back to his parents. She really hadn’t specifically planned to steal from him. He was a boy only her age. His parents clearly had more resources, and it didn’t seem fair of them to put that weight on him when they could afford otherwise.
But she had used the coin on food. She needed food more than he needed his sword immediately. That made it alright. It made it necessary.
But it didn’t mean she had to like it.
She shook her head, huffing, her irritation turning on his parents — as opposed to herself. Really, they were the unreasonable parties here, taking coin from their own child when he’d been trying to work hard. “That doesn’t seem fair at all,” she said. “There’s lots o’ folk that’ll steal here. Good enough they could take it from ‘neath your nose and you might not see it. S’not your fault, and they shouldn’t punish you straight for it. Maybe you could find work of a different sort, eh? Ask the lady blacksmith if she’d use your hand for a spell while you’re here. Couldn’t hurt, now that you have the time an’ all.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:15 pm
Jalase eyed Len for a moment before finally speaking up. “I may not like it but it’s fair enough. I had a responsibility and I failed in it. I lost the money, I should pay it back.” He shrugged and relaxed back against the alley wall and closed his eyes. He chuckled and shook his head at Len’s suggestion before opening his eyes again. “I don’t know the first thing about being a blacksmith. She’d probably laugh at me while I was walking away.” He pushed away from the wall and shrugged. “I’ll figure something out, I’m sure.” He glanced out of the alley and raised an eyebrow. “Have you ‘caught enough breath’? As you said, it’s a lovely day. It’d be a shame to waste it hanging out in an alley.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 5:34 pm
“Ey, y’never know,” Len said. “Could maybe use a hand just t’ hold hot things or carry things ‘bout, or clean up. There’s always work t’ be done that don’t require no skill, all in between the work that does.”
At the latter suggestion, Len felt a spike of combined curiosity and want—and trepidation. She risked a ‘casual’ peek around the corner. The noise had seemed to have died down, or at least the commotion in the wake of the chase. The city street looked normal enough, filled with oblivious passerby going on about their daily business. It was probably safe. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and hooked her thumbs on her pockets, drew a breath, and puffed her cheeks, before letting it all out in a gush of an exhale.
“I s’pose I have, aye. Y’ found anywhere worth notin’?”
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2016 11:38 am
Jalase raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “Not really had much of a chance to explore. Was just about to head out when I spotted you ducking into the alleyway.” He glanced back towards Len, the corner of his lips curling up. “Maybe we can get something to eat on the go and do some window shopping? I was kind of wanting to look around at swords, even though I can’t really afford one anymore, at the moment.” He rolled his shoulders. “Unless you have somewhere else to be?”
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 8:12 am
Len was fairly sure there would never be a time in her life when an offer of food was unwelcome. Nor was she about to pass up a perfectly good opportunity to explore the streets with company. She wasn’t intent on leaving the safety of the alley immediately, but another glance about confirmed that there didn’t seem to be anyone on her tail — still — and that by now, the coast was more than likely clear. So, she rolled her shoulders, and flashed a small, toothy grin.
“Got nowhere t’ be as it stands,” she said. “Don’t think I’m ever not in th’ mood for eatin’. Have y’ even had a chance t’ practice yourself with blades or such?” she asked. “Or have some’on in your family could give you a lesson in ‘em?”
When they moved out, she kept to the right side of him, walling off her narrow body behind his from the direction she most expected attention, if there was to be any.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 1:11 pm
“I have practiced. Many times. I have a simple, practice sword back home. My parents don’t allow me to carry it to the city just yet. They say I need more practice.” Jalase gave a small shrug and glanced around for a food stand that offered something they could take on the go. “I’ve kind of outgrown that sword anyway, so it doesn’t really bother me that I have to leave it behind. What about you?” Jal asked as he moved to join the line of a stand he knew offered wraps with meats and veggies inside of it. “Do you know how to use any kind of weapons?”
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2016 9:17 am
Len puffed. “But if they don’t let ya bring ‘em nowhere how are you s’posed to practice to get better? ‘You can’t have this here thing until you practice with it more.’ But ya can’t practice with it ‘less you have it.” She rolled her shoulders, calming as the boy said he apparently didn’t mind so much after all that it had been left behind—though it still sounded silly to her. Immediately at the smell of food, her attention perked, stomach rumbling allowed, and she wriggled her toes in her boots before realizing he’d asked her another question.
Something about weapons.
“Oh, sure,” she said. “I’ve practiced with loads o’ things. My mum, before she died, she had this whole great store of ‘em like she used to use, and she had started in on showin’ me a thing or two ‘bout most all of ‘em. But then, after she was gone, we had to sell near the whole lot.”
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