The Lake

Chapter 1

"Ahh, Salre! There you are!" Says Mr. Freid, the Pawnshop owner. He a short, plump bear with small granny-glasses. He is wearing a a white shirt, with brown trousers with suspenders to finish the look.

Authors Note: it's pronounced Sar, like Czar. Also, the story takes place in a Fantasy world/medieval times, but with some advanced stuff, so things that happened in the Industrial Revolution happened in this world, it's just mainly dominated by magic still. So no phones or anything, but working sewage/water, electricity, etc exists now. Again, mainly dominated by magic still so most of the houses are sort of... think log cabins. This also takes place in a heavily populated kingdom with Many Many houses, so yea.

A tall, athletic tiger walked through the shop doors, the bell on top making its own little chime.

He is wearing quite Roguish clothing, with a purple tunic, the bottom of it quite long, reaching past his waist. The sleeves are cut off, leaving his arms exposed, but has a hood that stays over his head, covering his long, red hair, but having an opening for his ears. His eyes are a bright violet, with his long eyelashes and unkept goatee. He wears a baldric across his tunic, with a small dagger to his side. He has black pants, with some boots on, but they look a bit worn.

"Heh, hello Mr. Freid, it's quite nice to see you again." He says as he places the bag onto the counter, opening it with one hand and stroking his hair with the other, tidying it.

"Salre, what brings you here today? More valuables to sell?"

"Yep." He puts the small bag he has onto the counter; It's full of small crystals and jewelry.

"Ooh, this is nice!" Freid answers, as he begins to inspect everything.

Salre stands their patiently, eyeing the pawn shop.

It's a small shop, wooden interior, and lots of random antiques, valuables, and other things.

"Mr. Freid, the day?" Salre asks politely.

Mr. Freid takes a moment to check the clock and his calendar.

"It's around 2 o'clock, and it's Monday today."

"Ah, thank you." Salre responds.

He stands there, just waiting for Mr. Freid to give him some money.

"Well, you've collected quite some unique things today, I can give you... about 230 gold coins for all of this?"

"That's wonderful, thank you!"

"Of course." Mr. Freid gets some gold coins and hands them to Salre, watching Salre put them in his small money pouch.

Salre begins to walk out, before a familiar face comes from the front of the door; It's Mr. Fried's daughter, Angelica. She looks similar to her father, but is a lot taller and slimmer, with green eyes and a white blouse with a long brown skirt.

"Oh! Hi Salre~" She says in a tone which makes Salre uncomfortable.

"Angie, hi..." He replies politely, giving her a small wave, as Mr. Freid winks at him. 'Great, it's her.'

"Where are you headed, mister-?" Angelica asks.

"Home." He responds, trying to leave the shop.

"Oh, can we not hang out today? I really wanted to spend some time with you~"

"Erm- no thanks, I have... other things I have to do, sorry."

She looks a bit heartbroken, but doesn't try  to pry anymore.

"Oh, alright. Well, have fun!" She says in an upbeat tone.

"Will do," he says as he rushes out, glad to be away from her. 'God, she's persistent. She really can never take no for an answer, can she?'

This isn't the first time Angie has flirted with him, and it won't be the last. He rushes out, and begins to walk downtown the street.

There's lots of people: Vendors, Pedestrians, Beggars. They are everywhere, so it's easy for Salre to grab some goodies to resell or keep for himself.

He gets through the crowded downtown, and reaches the more rural parts of the city, with small houses, some stone roads, and lots of trees.

More walking.

Finally, he arrives home.

It's a small shack, far from the city; it's where he can rest and have a roof over his head. It's small, but big enough to have a bath, a bed, and at least a small fridge.

It's surrounded by forest, the nearest home a few hundred feet away, but far from the center of the kingdom.

He opens the door, and heads inside. It's quite bare, consisting of an unmade bed, with a dresser full of unfolded clothes, a counter with a small stove, a small fridge, and another small room consisting of a surprisingly clean bathroom.

"Finally..."

He walks towards the bathroom and turns on the bath, he's lucky to make enough money to have running water, let alone pay bills.

It's been a long day, work is hard. He's surprised he was even able to find the job he has, with so many people looking for work, maybe he doesn't have to steal anymore, maybe he can finally, truly, be a good person.

Or all else goes to hell.

847 words