Chapter 10: The shopping list
Along with the sunrise, a new day begins. For some, it was a day of work. For others, another day of survival or adventure; starting with a blank sheet of paper. However, not everyone has a background as the pure as the color of said sheet. Some unfortunate souls happen to be in debt, a debt of blood followed by their starving hounds.
Someone like that was Ayne Kravel, a kid that Varren took under his wing. He felt a strange connection and sympathy for the girl. His sheet may be pure on this side, but papers have two sides. The opposite was darker than he, himself, thought.
Varren rose from his floor bedding, awakened by a horrible smell, and looked over to the opened window. The moment he dared to look toward it, he got blasted with an overwhelming odor coming from below. The stench was so strong, he immediately closed the window without hesitation to look for the root of it.
"Jesus fuckin Christ," he choked as he was gasping for air. "It's a good thing we're even alive," he said, as he looked to the girl who was supposedly sleeping, but the bed was empty.
He stared at the bed for a while, shrugged, then decided to put on his clothes with intention of leaving the tavern. After a swift change into his usual getup, his attention was hooked on a small mirror on the wall. He stepped closer to it and lifted the cold iron mask off his face. He stared deeply into his missing eye that was replaced with a weak, red glow. He touched the mark on his face; the result of his contract with the creature.
"Maybe I shouldn't have gotten up that day. Perhaps I could've seen her if I didn't." his mind rambled as he was examining his scarred face.
"Varren?" a familiar voice rang behind his back.
Caught off guard, he quickly put his mask on and turned the direction of the voice. It was Ayne holding a basket with both hands.
"What were you doing?" she asked, confused.
"Contemplating." he answered shortly.
"Oh, really now?" she slightly raised her brow.
"Really, really. Now, where have you been?" he asked.
"I woke up early. So, I thought it would be nice if I got us something for breakfast." she said as she raised the basket, pulled off a piece of cloth, and revealed: bread, cheese, fruits, vegetables, and two brown jugs.
Well, at least Varren thought they were fruits and vegetables. Since he's never seen ones like these.
"What? Never seen local fruits?" the girl said, noticing his intense reaction to the basket.
"You could say so. We should eat and decide what to do next, nonetheless. Can't really stay here for long since you're being searched for." he replied, taking the basket out of Ayne's hands and placing it on a small table.
"What about you?" she asked, with a worried tone as she watched him sit down on a chair.
"What about me?" he looked back, confused. While he tore a piece of bread, he completely forgot he had his mask on and accidentally pressed it against the metal sheet of his face cover.
Ayne chuckled as she watched the unusual scenario. She wouldn't have expected it from someone like him.
"What?" he asked slightly irritated, wiping the bread crumbs off of his second face.
"No, nothing" she snickered as she sat on a chair in front of him. "Don't you think it would be easier to take it off, like you did moments ago?"
"Some things shouldn't be seen by others or in the daylight" he answered with a grumpier tone. He reached for another piece. This time, he lifted his mask enough to make sure it made its way to his mouth.
"You hate your face?" asked the girl, grabbing for a weird purple fruit.
"It's somethi- what the actual hell!" he stopped mid sentence after he watched Ayne grab a knife from the table, plunge it into the center of the fruit, it responding with quiet scream, slowly shrinking and wrinkling, then proceeding to retract the instrument of cold-blooded murder from her victim's body and put it back on table.
"What?"
"How do you even eat that thing?" he asked, disturbed, yet curious.
"Well, it's quite simple. After making hole to the core." she replied, then continued to demonstrate by taking the fruit and squeezing its juice into her mouth until a small wrinkled sphere remained.
"That's brutal." he said pointing at the remains of the plant, resting in Ayne's palm.
"Is it?" she asked. "Pretty normal to me." she shrugged.
"Never seen a fruit that would actually make a sounds and start shrinking" he said as he continued to stuff his face with bread.
"They are fairly common here, though." she said, looking at the wrinkled ball resting in her hand. "You sure aren't from here, are you?" she continued as she put the remains near the basket.
"I told you before, I am just a friendly wanderer."
"Yeah right."
The rest of the meal, they sat in silence. Sometimes breaking it with small chatter, but even if it was mostly silent, it was quite pleasing for Varren to eat with someone. Even if they ate screaming purple fruits that caused chills to run down his spine.
"Well I hope you are done eating, because we are going out" he said while adjusting his mask to match his face.
"But where?" she wiped the juice off her face.
"Don't you have any relatives?" he asked.
"My uncle lives 5 days away from here." she said "He has a big library, always looking for new books to add to his collection"
"Big library eh?" Varren rubbed his metallic chin. "Alright. But, before that, we will do some shopping."
"Do you even have money?" she asked.
"Of course I do." Varren shook his head. "Now, let's go. I want to make this shopping trip as short as possible" he picked up his leather bag from the ground and rushed towards door.
"H-hey, wait!" shouted Ayne, almost falling out of the chair. "Why are you like this?" she asked with annoyance while following his lead.
"We don't have time and I said I would bring you to your family in one piece." he explained.
"Right…" she said changing from annoyance to sorrow.
"And for that we…"
"Oh, hey you are already up!" shouted the same waitress who was trying to hold him down last night at the bar.
"Shit" he said quietly under his breath. "Yea." he turned around, but quickly sprung back when he saw her face a centimeter away from his, beaming with enthusiasm.
"Where are you two going? You're not leaving the town are you?" asked the girl, worriedly.
"We're just leaving to get some stuff from the market." he replied shortly.
"Oh, that's great! Make sure you have money and don't overdo it! You are still recovering from that nasty stuff!"
"You better not scare off anymore clients."
"That hurt, you know." replied the redheaded girl, doing a dramatic pose.
"Just like your enthusiasm is killing me." he grabbed the doorknob and left with Ayne behind him.
"Hmph, we will see after you are back!" she shouted to the backside of the hooded man while standing in the open doorway.
"We aren't coming back, are we?" Ayne was silent until now.
"No dice." he replied, simply.
"I really liked her." stated the young girl. "Anyway, what are we getting?" she asked as they traversed the town.
"Food, water, basic equipment" he reached for the pouch inside his coat. "We will split up. You buy food, I will take care of the equipment." he said as he passed a few gold coins to Ayne.
"But- wouldn't that be dangerous? I mean-" she suddenly stopped.
"It's the peak of the day, I doubt anyone would commit discrete murder in front of everyone's eyes" he came close to ruffle her hair.
"But-"
"If you feel like you're in danger, scream. I will come. The faster we get this, the faster we can leave and think up a way to vanish from their sights."
"I will do my best!" she confidently jumped up "Also stop messing with my hair." she quickly stepped away from Varren's reach.
"Good, we will meet under the town gate" he turned to walk away.
"Good luck!" she shouted, but the only response she got from him was waving as he went on his way.
With few gold coins in her hands, she quickly went to the marketplace where there was plenty of food to buy at good prices. It took her about three minutes to get there since the inn they stayed at was relatively close to the centre of town. It was the peak of the day, so the market was filled with a tremendous amount of people. It was her first time going through such a commotion without anyone looking at her back. It was hard, yet exciting to finally be able to do anything on her own. She wandered around stalls filled with a variety of dried, fresh meats and fishes with quite a few vegetable and fruits stands. Gold carries quite a bit of value. Even one gold coin could feed them for a week if they wanted, but since she's not rich anymore, money is now more valuable than ever. Especially, when equipment is expensive.
Using the experience she got from her father while being on the trade route, she got few items at a lower price than usual. Using her smarts, charismatic side, and perhaps a bit of her looks. People could say that she looks like a doll with her white skin and long black hair. That, and they would feel bad if she got sick.
"I guess observing dad really did help." she thought as she was strolling towards the gate with a bag filled with food and 2 gold pieces and 1 silver in her breast pocket. Everything was running smoothly so far, but she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. She thought it was because of her looks in a crowded place, but it didn't feel like the usual envy of other girls. Paranoid, she picked up her walking speed a bit, thinking she might lose this feeling. It was following her every move. Her mind filled with numerous thoughts and the fear of being alone, yet again. The fear of being abandoned by the person she trusted. Maybe he just gave her those coins and left the town? Maybe he just saw her as burden? Why keep a kid that has a death sign on her head?
She couldn't bare the thoughts anymore and dropped all the groceries on the floor. She sprinted towards the city gate, crying her eyes out, and hoping she was wrong. Maybe he was really waiting for her. She sprinted so intensively she couldn't feel her legs anymore, but one thing was sure, he wasn't anywhere near the gate. Maybe he was just taking his time buying right? Right..? As she turned back to look for Varren, she bumped into a man in a coat.
"Now, I have you!" he shouted as he grabbed the girl with his right grip. With one hand wrapping around her waist, and the other covering her mouth to make sure she doesn't let any sound slip through, he quickly ran to the back alley of nearby building.
She couldn't catch a breath, yet she struggled so much. She doesn't want to die, she wants to live, she wants to see the world. The despair crawled in, but she wanted to go, she wanted to see Varren's stupid mask again even though she just meet him. With the last bit of her strength, she ripped her arm out of the man grip, using this moment to slowly pull his arm out of her mouth.
"Hey! What are you- arrgh!" shouted man as she sank her teeth into his hand, making him drop her tiny body free.
"Get back here!" screamed man when he realised that girl was running away as he grasped his hand in pain.
She ran as fast as she could, but man was catching up. She couldn't stop crying out of fear. She wanted to go faster, but her legs were giving up, not suited for intensive running like this. Soon the man caught her again by the back of her shirt.
"You little bitch! This time, you won't even have a chance to get away like this!" he shouted as she tried to resist.
Desperate for help, she started to shout. She shouted anything that first came to her head. "Varren, please! Don't-" she couldn't finish because the man covered her mouth.
"Shut up! No one is going to see you again! You are the only thing in her way right now!" he continued shouting.
Shortly after that, something had hit his head. He turned around and a saw a masked man in a long ripped coat.
"For someone who tries to silence something, you sure are loud" said the man in the mask.
"Mind your own business, weirdo!" shouted the rag covered man in a coat, pointing a crude looking firearm at him.
As soon as Ayne saw Varren, her struggle to get out of the man's grip made it even harder for him to hold her, making his aim quite a challenge.
The man in mask slowly, yet steadily, walked towards the man in the coat as he was threatening to shoot him between the eyes. The tension was rising, the abductor was running out of options, his nerves reached the boiling point, resulting in the gunshot suddenly happening. However, the bullet missed its target because girl made it impossible to aim properly. Varren took this opportunity and quickly dashed towards the man, sheathing out a thick, pointless blade from his lower back.
The bandit was filled with panic. He took the girl and threw her in front of the running man as his last resort to escape.
"You can have the girl, but this isn't over yet! Not if she's still alive!" he screamed as he ran away.
The girl threw herself in Varren's arms, crying and saying his name over and over again. He got her back, but she made it impossible to catch his possible information source. He put his machete back into its sheath and pat the girl's back.
"I told you, I will be there." he said, as he hugged the distressed Ayne.
"I know, but I couldn't help thinking you would leave me like everyone else!" She cried.
"Let's leave before any more creeps jump out." he said as he picked the girl up and gave her piggy back ride.
"Yeah." she sobbed.
After this traumatic encounter, they went towards the gate as planned, and left the town. Leaving everything she knew behind her. Her home, the townsfolk, everyone. But what she could do? At least she isn't alone anymore.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Varkeniz
Varkeniz Sorry fot taking it so long. Overcoming a block was really challenging for me.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone