19 Strange Encounters (1/2)
After some wandering, whilst still keeping track of his way back to the inn, Kalin found himself in a large market. Unlike the rest of Den that he'd seen so far, the streets weren't narrow. Though still highly populated, the market was a colossal opening that had a unique liveliness that only markets can have. With a giant fountain in the middle, the entire market gave off a cheerful vibe. The market was filled with countless stands and boots, selling any objects imaginable.
Vendors displayed their wares in a variety of fashion. Some placed their wares on tables, while others spread sheets across the ground to display their own. There were some more permanent structures, such as tents and even shacks. There were even things that looked like a cross between a shack and a carriage that Kalin had never seen before. The 'nicer' places even seemed to have canopies to block the sunrays.
As Kalin saw and smelled the various goods for sale, he had a smile pasted to his face. Unlike in Sweetgrass, where he was fairly famous and people would stare and approach him, the majority of people here didn't pay attention to him. It was a new experience for him, being just another face in the crowd instead of the center of attention. He didn't hate this, however. He found the whole situation fresh and new.
Looking at the various stalls, the majority of great deals he saw were cheap imitations or fakes. Though hidden treasures appear in these kinds of markets, they are rare. A certain smell from one of the stalls selling food snuck upon him and grabbed him by his stomach, forcing him to buy some grilled cockatrice. The moment he received them, he took a small bite. Though it was good, it smelled better than it tasted, leaving Kalin a little disappointed. However, that didn't stop him from wanting to eat the whole thing.
Finding a place to sit near the fountain, Kalin started munching on the cockatrice kababs. They were slightly overcooked and a bit dry, but cheap. While eating, he watched the crowds walk by. There was a particular fat woman that caught his attention, possibly because she was fat. His eyes followed her for a moment before his thoughts were interrupted by a guttural rumbling noise. Upon inspection of the noise source, he didn't find a monster, however.
Sitting near him on the edge of the fountain was a teenage girl, a couple years his elder. She was wearing a slightly revealing, white, 2-piece robe with a circlet made of woven wood. She had quite a bit of jewelry on, numerous bracelets, anklets, necklaces both chorded and metal, and several rings decorating her fingers. She had numerous piercings on her ears, and one on her exposed navel. She held a large ornamental staff across her lap with a moon carved into the top and wore a pair of simple sandals. Although she wasn't flabby, she was very curvy and had a somehow soft look about her. She had long, flowing blonde hair and grey eyes. She had a slightly absent-minded look on her face as a small strand of drool dribbled down her mouth as her eyes were locked onto Kalin's food.
Kalin started to move his food around with his hands. Her head turned every which way he moved the food, causing Kalin to find her adorable. Though older than him, he couldn't help but feel like she was like a dopey dog, begging for his food and attention.
”Do you want some?” Kalin asked as he held some of the skewers toward the girl.
Awakening from her daze from his voice, the girl slowly turned her lazy eyes toward Kalin. Remembering that her sister told her to not talk to, or accept anything from strangers, she used all her mental faculties to process whether she should accept the food or not. After several long moments, the internal battle to the death ended with hunger prevailing over reason.
The girl slowly nodded and opened her mouth to confirm the question of Kalin. Though he felt it peculiar that a girl he just met expected him to feed her, it wasn't that strange to him. In fact, he had fed Rosalie so many times that he was quite adept at it. The girl eating the majority, the two of them quickly polished off the rest of the food.
Bereft of food, Kalin just looked at the girl that was staring at his face, unblinking. Their gazes locked until she made her move. Moving her hand atop his head, she started patting him on the head. Confused, Kalin just decided to accept the action of affection and sat there. She eventually seemed to forget what she was doing and started playing with his hair instead. After discovering it was extremely soft and pleasant to touch, she hugged him from behind and started rubbing her cheek against his hair. The odd atmosphere between them thickened as Kalin started to hear the light sound of snoring next to his ear, with her chin on his shoulder.
After ten minutes or so, Kalin was finally freed from the situation. A girl similar in dress to the sleeping one, approached them with hastened steps. She had similar blonde hair and eyes, though her physique differed greatly from the other. She had a more athletic look and more modest breasts. She wore her hair in a pony tail and carried a bow, though a matching staff could be seen inside her quiver. With a sharper and more serious look on her face, she marched right up to the duo sitting on the fountain's edge.
Seeing the approaching girl wearing familiar clothes, and a slightly angry expression, Kalin called out to her, ”Are you companions with this girl? Could you help get her off me.”
”Who are you and what did you do to my sister?” Came the response to Kalin's question. After completely ignoring him, the girl started the interrogation, after prying her sister's arms off his body.
After explaining the situation to the girl, she directed her anger away from Kalin toward to awakening girl. ”And what do you have to say for yourself?”
With an extremely puzzled look on her face, the lazy-eyed girl placed her finger on her chin and asked, ”It was yummy?”
Letting out an exasperated sigh, the sharp-eyed girl turned to Kalin, ”I'm sorry my sister's like that.” and with a slightly troubled look on her face she asked, ”How much do I owe you for the food?”
Kalin waved it off, saying, ”It's not a big deal, I got paid pretty well from a quest today, so don't worry about it.”
Exhaling half a sigh of relief, the girl couldn't help but ask again. ”Are you sure?”
Kalin smiled, ”Of course!”
After releasing the rest of her sigh, she looked at the face of the cute child in front of her. ”I guess I'll have to thank you…”
”Kalin.”
The sharp-eyed girl slightly smiled and said, ”Thank you Kalin, I'm Artemis, and this is my twin sister Yami. You said you did a quest. Does that mean that you're an adventurer too?”