Falling Like the Stars

Chapter 2

Off days were assigned to battalions, once a week, depending on how the situations were. Everyone hoped that their off days would fall on the Saturday of week 1 and Sunday of week 2, so they get a full two-day-weekend to stretch their legs, and while this occasion was rare, every once in a while, the contingent would get it.

It was on one of those rare, rare Saturdays, when Zayto, the red sentry commanding their handful of a squad, asked Aiyon if he was up for visiting the Bazaar. He claimed that he needed his spear polished, and knew a blacksmith at the Bazaar who did it better than anyone around the palace. Of course, with Finster being around, that was an obvious lie, and an excuse to get out of the palace, and maybe have some private time with Aiyon, but Javi didn't read that, and he actually had work at the Bazaar— the only place he could get good marshmallows on the black market that wouldn't get him sick— decided to tag along, and then couldn't fathom exactly why both of them looked so annoyed at the idea, but had then sighed and consented to him coming along with them, finally.

The Bazaar was a name the entire sentry force had arbitrarily assigned to that main marketplace a little way from the civilian quarters, and just at the right distance from the palace that if one knew his way through the labyrinthian trails of the wheat fields, he'd take about ten to fifteen minutes to walk through. It was one of the places that actually managed to thrive under Drakkon's rule, even though giving off a near primitive aura, it was a hotspot of local activity.

Drakkon had realized that shutting down the Bazaar would have severe impacts on his own sentry force, because most of them procured necessities, and addictions from over there, but it was also a hotspot for the coinless, who, in their ragged clothes could sometimes mix in well with the common civilians, barring the few who had a bullseye painted on their faces and WANTED posters stuck over electricity poles, and remained in hiding.

The market was well known for weapons supplies, blacksmiths, farmers, seamsters— Adam Park's old shop used to be right near the entrance, across the street from the candy seller, until he joined the ranks, and it was taken over by a basket weaver— and basically any sort of profession you could possibly think of. It had been set up in a small opening between crumbling buildings, so that there were only two actual entryways into the bazaar, without counting the rooftops, and they were aimed to stay like a bottleneck to keep heavy vehicles out.

What wasn't part of the deal that Drakkon had agreed to, and could not curb, no matter what he tried, was the black market that would go on, seemingly unnoticed in the goings on of the mainstream Bazaar. Things that Drakkon had banned in his rule, supplies of drugs, morphin energy sometimes stored as "Morph-X syringes" that could power any weapon for a short time— mighty expensive— opium, rare parts of machines, medications that were stolen from Finster's lab, other stolen goods, things the coinless, as well as the sentries, might require.

And it was a good place to hang out at, when a sentry was on an off day.

Javi had walked two to four paces behind Zayto and Aiyon, giving them their precious time together, and whistling out into the golden fields, looking  around himself, while trying to pull his rip-off leather jacket closer to himself for warmth.

The Bazaar was bustling with people, as usual, the dust being kicked up in places by the wind, and Javi followed his sentry friends, without much conversation (more because he was mad at Aiyon for ditching him in the woods a few days back when they had been tackled by the coinless, and considered Zayto a higher ranking officer he was kinda scared of) into the blacksmith's forge. It was dimly lit, and a rugged old man in overalls greeted them, "hello, what may I do for you gentlemen today?" he asked, and Javi liked his accent, it felt somewhat familiar, but he couldn't face it.

"This needs sharpening" Zayto handed him his sentry spear; none of the sentries were dressed in their uniforms, only casual clothes, with Javi having on a white shirt, old grey jeans that once belonged to his father, and a leather jacket, Aiyon in a cream collared sweater, and Zayto in a red coat, prim and proper as he was, but the spear indicated they were Sentries, and the man tensed immediately, and Javi saw him trying to relax himself, hoping his change in behavior wouldn't be caught.