Meaningless Petals {The Arcana}

Ch. 2: Ravi

Ravi walked through the bustle of the market, revelling in the familiar sounds of vendors shouting to call attention to their stalls, the mixed scents of fruits, pastries, and other items teasing their senses. Asra had left earlier, leaving Ravi alone to do the shopping. Not that Ravi minded. So they did just that, shopping list in hand as their white boots clicked against the pavement.

It's no matter, Ravi thought as they walked past a stall of foreign sweets. As much as they enjoyed Asra's company, they enjoyed having time to themselves even more. Of course... it wouldn't hurt to let Faust hang around. She was loosely wrapped around their neck, her head poking out from the hood of their cloak every now and then.

"Hey, Faust? What do you think if I'm in the mood for doing some exploring of my own?" They asked, smiling at the snake while they massaged her chin with their knuckle. While they knew that Faust can only converse with Asra, as she is his familiar, they also knew that Faust doesn't mind being simply spoken to.

They hummed as they weaved through townspeople. They had one stop to visit before they could explore, and as they neared their destination the familiar scent became more and more prominent.

The baker, Selasi, immediately recognised Ravi right on sight, beaming as they approached. He slunk back to the stand, already knowing exactly what they're here for. In turn, Ravi was already fishing out coin from their bag.

"Asra went exploring without you again?" Selasi asked, holding out the bread to Ravi as they held out the coins.

"Won't be that way for long, sir," they beamed, "Asra intends on taking me with him on the next trip."

"At long last! How'd you convince him?" he joked.

"I tried guilt tripping. Turns out he wanted to take me somewhere before I even tried to make him feel bad."

"Good on ya, kid."

"Thank you. I should be on my way, now."

"Have a good day, Ravi!"

Ravi smiled as they waved and left. They looked back at the shopping list, examining the items on the list and taking a moment to remember where each one is located.

"Oh... that root's at the south end. Okay."

Faust must have sensed their slight discomfort; Ravi had always avoided the south end. She poked her head out from the hood and nuzzled their cheek, hoping to bring them some comfort.

Ravi smiled at her, somewhat assured they'd be fine. "You're right, Faust," they said, straightening up, "it's just an easy in and out."

Putting on a determined face, Ravi walked on and made their way to the south end from the main marketplace. The drastic difference became more prominent as they continued, the warm saturated colours of the marketplace faded to the cooler greys of the south end. Faust hid more and more inside Ravi's hood, her head now barely poking out from behind their neck. On top of that, the entirety of the south end just looked... sketchy.

They were already there, no point in going back, so they went on and looked at the occasional small stands off to the side to see if they had the root Ravi was looking for. It was proving tricky, since Ravi had to step closer to the stands and examine anything that looks remotely like the root, as most items in the stand were unlabelled.

As they continued on, something else caught their attention. While most of the people in the street minded their own, Ravi stopped to watch the scene before them. A tall man with an eyepatch held up his gloved hands in surrender— one hand held two small pouches— as he backed up into a wall, cornered by two rather angry-looking townsmen.