Storm

Chapter 8

            Kinu and Kai gaped at her, while the vendor lady scowled more and shook her hand at Storm. Storm frowned. “What?”

            Kinu scratched his head. “Money… you know… what you use to… pay for stuff.”

            “Pay?” Now Storm was even more confused, and Kinu sighed in frustration. “Look, it’s… like…” he reached into his pocket and pulled out several small round discs that glinted in the light. Storm smiled. “Oh, you mean those shiny things humans are always--I mean, um, that people are always handing out.” She backed up a step, as if trying to reverse time to make them forget what she’d said.

            Kai groaned. “Money. It’s currency. It’s… value. Worth. An apple is worth two copper pieces, an ostrich horse is worth ten gold pieces…”

            Storm frowned. “I don’t understand.”

            The vendor lady looked at Kai. “You’d better get her head checked out.”

            “My head?” Storm felt her head, wondering if her hair was out of place.

            Kinu just sighed and handed the lady a bunch of the shiny things. “I’ll explain later, let’s just get out of here.”

            Shrugging, Storm followed Kinu and Kai as they walked back through the market toward their ship.

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            “Look, money, it’s like… if I wanted your necklace, you’d want something in return, right?” Kinu looked at her, but Storm scowled. “I’ll never give you my necklace.”

            Kinu groaned. “I know that, it’s just an example! Okay, if I wanted… your shoes.”

            “Why would you want my shoes? They wouldn’t fit you.”

            “I KNOW! Just… pretend, okay? If I asked for your shoes, you would want something for them, right?”

            “If you needed them, then you could have them. I don’t understand what the point of this is.”

            Kinu smacked himself in the forehead, and Storm looked at him with concern. “Are you okay, Kinu?”

            “No. I am not okay! Kai, you talk some sense into her!” Kinu stormed away, and she watched him go with a confused expression.

            Kai looked at her from his place near the front of the ship, then shook his head and walked away. Storm was more confused than ever.

“Here.” Storm glanced to her left, to see an unfamiliar man. He took her hand and put a piece of wood in it. She looked down at her hand and frowned. “What’s this?”

            “It’s wood.”

            “Okay. Why did you give it to me?”

            “Because you need it to make something.”

            “Oh. What am I making?”

            He shrugged. “I don’t know. But I really like that wood. I want it.”

            Storm frowned. “But if I give you the wood, then how can I make what I’m making?”

            He took the wood and put a shiny thing in her hand. “Now you can buy more wood.”

            Storm stared at it. “This will let me have wood?”

            “It’s called a coin. It’s a copper. When you give it to someone who has wood, they’ll trade you the wood for the coin. Everyone wants coins.”

            Storm’s eyes widened. “Oh! So it’s like trading! Except the money is something everyone wants!” She smiled at the man, who grinned. “Exactly.” He grinned at her, and she frowned.

            “I’ve never seen you before.” She would have remembered him--his striking green eyes in a young, handsome face would be hard to forget.

            “Nope, you haven’t. I’m Ratna. But you can call me Rat.”

            “I’m Storm. You can call me… Storm.”

            Rat grinned again, and Storm decided that she liked him. “Will do. So you’re going with us, huh?”

            Storm nodded. “Have you ever sailed on a ship before?” He asked, and she nodded again.

            “The ferry took me to Ember Island.”

            Rat laughed. “That’s a boat, not a ship. Come on, I’ll give you a tour.”