Pseudo Market was... well, something between a market and a village. Shops and merchants were everywhere, advertising whatever they were selling. Others were arguing with neighbors in elaborate, livable stands. Children and smaller creatures scurried around, some being chased by angry shopkeepers, while others dosed near lanterns that hung from every corner Tbh could see. Then again, it was sort of necessary, as the shard-powered lights kept shadows out of the market.
Tbh was getting tired of 'Dandelion's' endless chattering, the kid having repeated himself, what, at least six times by now? Multiple times, 'Dandelion' had purposefully gotten distracted or taken a wrong turn to buy more time with Tbh as he apparently led him to a shard keeper's stand. Not that Tbh had asked, no, the bat had just thought it'd be cool to meet a friend before Tbh was on his way.
"So, how many more editéq do we have to walk before we meet this friend of yours?" Tbh huffed, shooting a glare at a particularly nosy merchant. 'Dandelion' smiled that fake smile, cheerily responding, "Oh, not many at all, practically right around this corner! And the next, and the next- I don't really know where they've set up shop today, but they're typically near the auction center."
Tbh inwardly groaned, starting to doubt if this friend was even real. The auction center, from what he could remember of his last visit, doubled as the town square and, well, an auction house. A raised wooden platform that was separated into stalls allowed multiple auctions at once, typically with things from the edges of the region or from a different region entirely. Then again, one stall always had sharded items being auctioned, whether that be amber-like earrings or shard-tipped spears.
Finally, after dodging around one last crowd of people, the duo had reached the auction center. As expected, clusters of humans and creatures were shouting to auctioneers on the stage, who displayed whatever item was being bid on. 'Dandelion' practically skipped around the edge of the platform, ignoring the glares he received from practically every shopkeeper he passed. Alright then, he was a notorious face for the people around here.
Tbh followed a couple paces behind, pulling his cloak tighter around his body and keeping his head down. He didn't need any unnecessary attention; not that he was bound to get any, but he might as well stick to himself anyway. Suddenly, 'Dandelion' slowed, letting out a way to nervous shout.
"Lynn, my friend, great to see you again!"
Tbh looked to where a woman was standing in a stall, hair pulled back into a braid, witch-like hat overhead, a grey shadow barely covering her dimmed eyes, and a grumpy look now settling onto her face. Tbh would've considered her and 'Dandelion' rivals, but one look at the various sharded items she had on display and he knew this was the 'friend' 'Dandelion' had been talking about.
"Wha'd'ya want, pest?" Lynn muttered, two sets of arms moving to rest on her hips. With a closer look, Lynn appeared to have deep blue antennae curling out of her hair, gossamer wings on her back twitching slightly beneath iridescent elytra. A beetle, then.
"Oh, nothing in particular! Just wanted to introduce you to my other multi-limbed friend here, uh..." 'Dandelion' trailed off, not knowing Tbh's name.
"Tbh Honest, ma'am, a traveler from Chynekkin Mountains," Tbh spoke up, reaching out his humanish hand to shake. Lynn snorted, not taking her eyes off of 'Dandelion'.
"So you've dragged another person into your shenanigans- wonderful." Lynn said sarcastically, propping herself up on the stall's counter.
"Oh not just any person, Tvh here offered to take me to Karmiki City," 'Dandelion' stated, Tbh's head whipping from Lynn to the child.
"Alright, first of all, it's Tbh, not Tvh. Second of all, I told you I'd bring you back here, stay the night, and then be heading to Karmiki alone," Tbh deadpanned.
Lynn chuckled at that, shaking her head. She must've been used to this by now, as she didn't bother asking who was telling the truth. The glare she'd been putting on softened slightly- though it didn't disappear- as she finally turned to Tbh.
"You think you can get into Karmiki City?" She murmured, undertones of disbelief in her voice.
"Of course, anyone can if they're partner's there," Tbh said, somewhat confused.
"Well, not sure how long you've been in the Chynekkin Mountains, but rules have changed since the meltdown."
"What?"
What meltdown? Why was Lynn so sure he wouldn't be about to get in? How had the rules changed? Was 'Dandelion' so obsessed with him because of it? Questions kept running through his brain as he tried to recall what he'd heard about Karmiki while on the other side of the region, but nothing came to mind.
"Doesn't matter. You can try to get in, but they won't allow it. Can't tell you how many times I requested to see Ally, but even with her there they wouldn't let me in. Now, if you don't mind, I have items to sell, so if you're not going to buy anything, I suggest you pester someone else." Lynn stated, antennae twitching.
'Dandelion' gave a huff, turning around and heading towards the other side of the auction center. Before Tbh could follow him, he was being tugged back by his cloak, someone's presence next to him. He turned to look at Lynn, who had stepped out of the stall to stand beside him.
"Not sure why you're tryna get into Karmiki, and not sure how you got the kid to trust you so easily with such a dark shadow over your face, but be careful. I've seen the scrawny evéc getting pushed around by other students from the market's school, if you could even call it that, and the school's all he's got. He may be the most annoying person I've ever met, but he needs someone, and if you really do decide to take him, it would blow his mind." She murmured in Tbh ear.
"Why are you telling me this?" Tbh muttered, watching 'Dandelion' skitter around crowds, his wings flapping furiously as he tripped over someone's foot.
"Because you're clearly a guardian," she whispered back, her face serious yet caring when Tbh turned to look at her.
"I'm anything but a guardian. Besides, my partner would kill me if I show up with a random kid- if I ever get to see my partner again," Tbh spoke, a little louder than he'd intended.
"Whatever you say, but he's not gonna give up tryna get into Karmiki. There's still a good bit of daylight left if you wanted to head to the city now, and you'd probably be able to make it just after dusk if you hurried."
"I can't be out at dusk, I don't have a shard," Tbh muttered, just barely audible.
Lynn's expression hardened, clearly contemplating something. Tbh's eyes flicked from the ground to her eyes, to the surrounding stalls, to her eyes again. She backed up slowly, turning to her small shop, and picked something up from the displays. Turning back, she held out a closed fist, grabbing Tbh's hand and pushing something into it.
"Leave."
Tbh did, having returned 'Dandelion' to the market, and headed in the direction he'd been slowly traveling the last few weeks at a brisk pace. Opening his palm once he was well away from the auction center, he was surprised to see a sharded earring. If anything, he was expecting at most a coin, but Lynn had given him what looked to be a handmade piece of jewelry- for free.
Tbh slowed his pace for a moment, disappointed he hadn't gotten a chance to thank her. Still, he lifted it to his left ear, wincing as he tried to hook it in a practically closed piercing. He hadn't worn an earring since light still glowed in his eyes, and even then, it had been a simple black bead, barely visible against his hair. He'd been matching with his old guardian, or friend, rather. It was... weird how it had happened.
Finally getting it hooked in his ear, Tbh shook his head, unused to the extra weight. He messed with it a bit more before continuing on through Pseudo Market, the shops getting sparser as he neared the edges of the town. Finally finding the path he'd been on before his collision with 'Dandelion', he continued on into vines and undergrowth once more, unaware of a figure watching him from behind.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
YOOOO I wasn't expecting to include Lynn in the story, but I needed a stand-in, and I didn't feel like adding a random character just yet. Also- more mentions of not-relationship partners? HECK YES. Also multiple mysteries? YOU KNOW IT. Again, not much to say for this one, but I can't believe I got it out as fast as I did! Catch y'all in the next one!
-Bononuh Sloozhi (Word Count: 1425)
YOU ARE READING
There's Something about the Shadows (A SockSquad/FoolishCrew AU)
Fanfiction(COVER IS OBVIOUSLY TEMPORARY) "Has anyone ever told you how the world came to be as it is now?" A quiet snort before the answer, "'Course not, it's always been like this, hasn't it?" "Well, you can believe that and head to bed now, or you can get c...
