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All Lit Up (SDB!)

Started by Eckhart_Von_Musel, January 07, 2018, 06:32:46 PM

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Eckhart_Von_Musel

"But Tazaaaaa," Randal Barlow whined. "I made us a lot of money!"

Taza Faah sighed and shook her head. The drug dealer and her apprentice were in the woods outside of Zantaric, much to Taza's annoyance. Coming here was dangerous, of course- people disappeared in this forest quite often. It was, however, the only place nearby where fenshade grew. "I already told you, we can't grow this stuff- it's too dangerous. You can't just sell our entire stock to one person, even for the amount he payed."

"But he asked for all of it! You told me the customer was always right, remember?""

"You could've given him half and told him that's all we had. The customer only needs to think he's right- we get to decide how "right" he actually gets to be."

Randal wanted to complain further, but he kept his mouth shut. Muttering about how unfair the whole situation was, he looked around at the surrounding woods. "This place is weird." he thought angrily. "It's weird, and I don't like it."

After about thirty minutes, they had finally gathered enough of the toxic plant- that, or Taza didn't want to be outside after dark. The sun was beginning to set as the the two dealers made their way down the trail...

Reaching into his pocket absentmindedly, Randal eyes widened. "My marbles! I left my bag on that pile of rocks!" he said nervously. "I-I'll be right back!"

Taza grimaced. "Grab them and come straight back, understand? I'll be waiting right here. You have the hallucinogens?"

Randal nodded quickly. "Yeah! Don't worry, I can take care of myself!" Turning on his feet, the young boy ran back up the trail...

Celegwen

Cassiopeia jogged along the path. the setting sun in the woods creating dark shadows against a burning sky. She spun once in a circle as she walked, taking a deep breath of the forest air.

Where are they? She thought to herself, frowning and folding her arms over her chest.

The girl took a slight turn, then her frown disappeared, replaced by a slight grin. She bent down and looked at the small patch of yellow flowers, closing for the night. Pushing them aside, Cassiopeia glimpsed a tiny, yellow figure dart away.

She scrambled forward, wrapping her hands around the small body. The girl stood up with a wide smile. The lizard squirmed in her hands, but she didn't let it go. Sitting next to a small pile of rocks with a bag on them, Cassiopeia looked at the reptile, her brown eyes momentarily flashing a brilliant gold.

The lizard started convulsing with patches of its skin turning a dull grey. The girl studied the reaction carefully, interested in what was happening to the animal's body during the painful experience. "Maybe it can hurt dragons, too," Cassiopeia mumbled to herself, placing the dead lizard on the ground in front of her. "That would be so cool."

She turned to her left to look at the bag. What's this? She opened the bag and stuck her hand in, pulling out two little spheres. Marbles? She thought, a grin spreading on her lips. Cassiopeia stuck her hand back in the bag, touching most of the marbles with her eyes flashing gold again. Chickenpox. Won't kill anyone, but it'll sure be itchy!

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal ran up the path, eyes darting back and forth. There were a lot of stories about this forest, none of them pleasant. Rumors of monsters and demons living here had caused many travelers to take long detours around the woods instead of going through them. With the amount or people who had entered the forest and never returned, it was hard to blame them.

"I gotta be careful here." the boy thought as he approached the patch of fenshade. "If I inhale too much of the pollen I'll- Hey!"

A girl looking to be about his age was sitting in the patch of toxic plants, her hand rummaging through the bag of marbles. "Those are mine!" Randal yelled, sprinting towards the girl. He snatched the bag away from her, pocketing it quickly.

"Uh-oh..." he thought, realizing just how suspicious this looked. "She might have been sent to follow us!"
 
"Why are you in the woods?" the boy asked, pointing at the attempted marble thief accusatorily. "Don't you know it's not safe?"

Celegwen

"Hey!" Cassiopeia snapped, jumping up when the boy grabbed the bag of marbles from her. "Finders keepers!"

She didn't really mean it because she'd hoped someone would come for the marbles. That being said, the girl didn't exactly think she would be caught red handed. The left side of her upper lip twitched, and she glared at the boy in front of her.

"Of course I know it's not safe," she said, folding her arms. "I like being here at night because I like lizards more than people." She looked at her feet, then back at the boy with a wide smile. "Oh, yeah! I found a lizard!"

She looked him over again. "Who are you anyway? Why are you in the woods?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"My name is Randal!" the boy said indignantly. "I'm pretty much the greatest bad guy ever you know." He looked at the girl's feet. "That lizard is dead, stupid." he said. "Why would you want to spend time with dead lizards?"

He shook his head, visibly annoyed. "Girls." He pointed at the girl, backing into the shadows being cast by the trees. "You never saw me here..."

"Oh Kia, I bet that looked awesome!"

Celegwen

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes. "So dramatic! Can't you just walk away like a normal person?"

Oh, Kia, the girl thought. That looked awesome.

"I'm Cassiopeia," she called after him. "And I bet I'm badder than you are!" Cassiopeia sneered at the boy retreating into the shadows. "That lizard wasn't dead when I found it, after all."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal paused, halfway submerged in shadow. "Wait." he said, feeling very confused. "You said you liked lizards! Why are you killing-"

"Randal!" Taza called from a distance away. "Come on, it's getting dark!"

"Ah!" Randal cried, ears gong red. "I almost forgot!" He pointed at Cassiopeia, glaring. "This isn't over!" With that, the young boy would begin to run back down the path...

Celegwen

Don't run away from me, she thought angrily. Glancing at the lizard's body, Cassiopeia grinned and ran after Randal. She made sure to keep a safe distance, not wanting to be spotted by who she assumed was Randal's mother or older sister.

Even if she didn't talk to the boy again, Cassiopeia wanted to make sure at least one of them touched the marbles. Instant chicken pox! She thought eagerly. Haven't used chicken pox in a while.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Taza watched as the boy sprinted down the path towards her, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. "Randal, what took you so long? I heard you talking to somebody up there."

Her protege looked as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Ummmm..." he started. "There was a girl up there, she was trying to steal them..."

Taza's face darkened. "The fenshade?"

"No, my marbles! She was killing lizards too! She was weird."

Taza squinted. "That... doesn't sound good." Unable to relax, she took Randal by the hand and began to lead him out of the woods. "Well, I hope you were polite." she said, not wanting to scare the boy. "Weird people have feelings too."

The boy didn't answer, and the two were silent until they reached the edge of the forest...

Celegwen

Listening to Randal tell the woman what had happened, Cassiopeia huffed. I'm not weird, she thought. You're weird!

The woman took Randal's hand and brought him out of the woods quickly. Cassiopeia felt a burning energy in her. He can walk by himself, you-you...girl dog! Randal didn't seem to mind it, which confused the girl more than she expected.

She kept on them, following the entire way without being seen, wanting to watch one of them contract disease she placed on the marbles.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

It took about twenty minutes to reach Blue Orchid from where the edge of the forest. Zantaric was not a pretty place at night, and Taza held onto Randal tightly. The boy stared at passersby in awe, grinning wildly. "Taza, all the cool people come out at night! Can I start staying up late?"

Taza shook her head. "No."

Randal pouted. "But why noooot?"

"Because there are people like Chrys out there." Taza thought.

"Well, you need your rest." she explained. "I can't have you falling asleep on the job, after all."

Randal groaned. "Fi~ine." he sang. "But when I get older, I'm gonna stay up all night."

Walking inside, Taza lit the shop candles and turned to look her protege. She gasped. "Randal! You're covered in spots!"

Randal stared at Taza with wide eyes, bag of marbles in hand. He was, in fact, covered in red spots. He scratched his neck irritably. "W-what?" he asked nervously. "I'm covered in what?"

Celegwen

This is taking forever! Cassiopeia thought the entire twenty minutes back to the city. She was slightly unnerved by how many people were out and about at night, never comfortable when on the streets alone at night.

She followed them to a shop she had seen a million times. Blue Orchid was a shop that Cassiopeia had never really paid that much attention to, but it just might be on her list to frequent a bit more often now.

As soon as the woman lit candles, a wide smile grew on the young girl's lips. She heard the panic in the woman's voice and saw it in Randal's eyes. "Spots!" Cassiopeia said, grinning deviously in the door. She waggled her fingers at him with a wink. "I gave you the pox! That'll teach you to grab things out of girls hands!" The girl bit her bottom lip and ducked out of the shop, swinging around the corner to hopefully avoid being seen.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal spun around at the sound of the girl's voice, scratching his forearm. "You?" he cried. "But they were mine to begin with!" 

Taza's eyes narrowed as the girl darted away. "Not I my watch you don't." she thought, fuming. "Not to my kid." 

The dark-skinned woman bolted out of the door, catching a glimpse of the strange child turning into an ally. Taza followed suit, reaching out to grasp the girl by the collar...

Celegwen

Cassiopeia felt the woman's fingers brush the back of neck, and she whipped around with a small knife in her hand. That she didn't really know how to use it was evident in the fact that she was holding the knife backwards. A red anger did a poor job of covering her fear.

"Don't touch me!" She said more confidently than she felt. "Or I'll have to hurt you!"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Taza was entirely unfazed by the weapon, and the glare the girl received in return would cause even a hardened killer to recoil. She grabbed the girl's arm tightly, shaking the knife out of her hand. "Nobody's hurting anyone." the woman said, grabbing the child by the scruff of her turtleneck. "With me. Now."

Taza dragged the girl back inside the shop, her grip painfully tight. "Now." she said angrily, facing the girl towards Randal. "What do we say to somebody when we've hurt them?"

Celegwen

The girl fought against the woman's grasp, but it didn't matter. She was larger and stronger than Cassiopeia, and she had much more motive. She forced the girl back into the shop with the boy who was now covered in chicken pox.

Up yours! Cassiopeia thought, though she wouldn't say it out loud for fear of getting in more trouble.

"I didn't hurt him!" She said with a huff. "I only made him itchy! You'll be the one hurting him if he doesn't see a doctor soon. It's a strong batch of the pox, lady! You'll kill him if you don't take him to the doctor right now." That last part wasn't totally true, but Cassiopeia was the only one there who could actually know that.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Randal scratched a blister on his cheek, eyes wide. He'd never seen Taza this angry before, and he was beginning to understand why she had the reputation she did. "Whoa..." he thought. "She is so cool..."

Still gripping the girl by the scruff of the neck, Taza unhooked her crossbow from her belt and pressed it against Cassiopeia's back. "I said..." she warned angrily. "What do we say to somebody after we've hurt them?"

Celegwen

Cassiopeia lost her breath when a crossbow was pressed into her back. Oh, Kia, the girl thought, squeezing her eyes closed. Her heart was racing because she really wasn't sure what to do in that situation.

The girl never had parents - or parental figures - to teach her how to be a proper member of society. She relied on what she saw, and she didn't exactly see the best examples of humanity in Zantaric.

"I-I'm sorry?" She said breathlessly, glancing back at Taza with a slightly questioning look.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"That's right!" Taza said with faux-exuberance. "Now, Why don't you explain to Randal just how sorry you are?"

"Where are this girl's parents? She has no manners."

Celegwen

Clenching and unclenching her jaw, Cassiopeia wanted to just walk out of the shop. If she wasn't afraid of the crossbow in her back, she would've.

"I'm very sorry for giving you chicken pox, Randal," she said with a pout. "I hope you feel better." She squirmed in the woman's grasp. "Can you let me go now?"

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