Spirits of the Earth

"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...

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!

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?"

"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?"

"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!"

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."

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...

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.

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...

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.

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?"

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.

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...

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!"

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?"

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.

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?"

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.

"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."

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?"

"Very good!" Taza said happily, still not relinquishing her grip on the child. "Now Randal, what do you say?"

The boy opened his mouth, then paused as he saw the look Taza was giving him. He sighed. "Don't worry about it Cass!" he said, throwing his hands into the air excitedly. "I forgive you!"

"And I forgive you too!" Taza concurred, roughly leading the girl away. "Aren't manners wonderful? I think we all learned something valuable today." she said, shoving shoving Cassiopeia out the door. ""Remember, if you ever need flowers..." Taza's face turned to one of pure disdain. "...Don't come here."

She slammed the door behind the girl, locking it shut. She turned to the boy, who'd gone back to scratching. "Now, let's see if we have aloe vera in stock..."

Stupid lady, Cassiopeia thought, as the door slammed and locked behind her. She straightened out her dress with her upper lip twitching. The girl stormed back into the alley, picking up her knife where Taza had forced it out of her hand. She clenched her fists and disappeared into her secret hideout beneath one of the abandoned buildings.


The girl ran out of a shop with a chicken leg and two potatoes in her hands. She whirled around the bend breathlessly, a cocky grin on her thin lips. A woman raced past her on the street, grumbling about a little thief.

Cassiopeia made her way through the alleys, putting one potato in each of her dress pockets and picking apart the chicken leg as she walked. Glancing onto the street to make sure the coast was clear, she shook her head with a smile. I know you! She thought, jogging across the street to the other side.

"Hey!" She said from behind the familiar dark-haired boy. "You're still alive?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Cassiopeia was slightly surprised that Randal was still kicking.

The air was crisp and chilly as Randal made his way to his third favorite place in the city- the only candy shop in Zantaric. Blue Orchid had exceeded their sales goals for the month, and it was cause to celebrate! The boy grinned as he felt the surplus of coins in his pocket. "Maybe they'll have maple nut toffee today!"

A familiar sounding voice snapped the boy out of his fantasies. "Hello!" he said as he turned around. His face went blank as he saw who it was. "Oh no!" he thought, eyes beginning to widen. "Taza told me not to talk to her!" He shifted in his feet uncomfortably. "But I can't tell her that I won't talk to her! That would be rude!" He swallowed. "I can't pretend I didn't hear her, I'm already staring right at her! What do I do?"

"Um..." Randal said. "I gotta go!" With that he'd hurry away. "Please, please don't follow me!"

Randal was silent for a few seconds with wide eyes when he saw who was following him. Cassiopeia lifted one brow, waiting for him to respond, then he just said he had to go.

How rude! The girl thought, her lip twitching.

She sped up to walk next to him. "Where are ya goin'?" Cassiopeia asked, tilting her head to look at him. "And I don't like people walking away from me." That last comment held a sinister tone to it, one she'd been working on for a few weeks.

Upon seeing the girl begin to walk next to him, Randal quickened his pace. "No no no no no! Stop following me!" Cassiopeia's tone was threatening, causing the boy to wince. "I'm just going to the candy shop!" he said a bit too quickly. "Nothing important, haha!"

"Crud, now she's definitely gonna follow me. Great going, Randal!"

"I want candy, too!" Cassiopeia chirped excitedly. She quickened her pace as Randal did, frowning and glaring at him unintentionally.

Why's he going so fast? She thought.

"Why are you running away from me?" She asked loudly. "Do you not like me or something?"

Randal had now broken into a full-fledged run. "You gave me spots!" he cried, legs moving faster and faster with each second. "I was scratching for- OOF!"

Not looking where he was going, the boy tripped and fell over. His eyes watered- he had scraped his knee. Shooting a quick glance at the rolled up parchment he'd slipped on, Randal's gaze soon turned to the approaching girl. "Come oooooon!" he whined. "Go away! Taza says I'm not allowed to talk to you!"

"You whine like a mule!" Cass spat. "You're still alive!"

The girl looked at the tears threatening to spill from Randal's eyes, and felt an unfamiliar pity for him. She knelt next to him with pursed lips, her brown eyes momentarily flashing green - different from the gold that she used to generate illness.

"If you tell anyone I did this, I'll give you small pox." She waved her hand quickly over his knee with a common cold germ on her skin. He wouldn't contract the cold, but it acted as a magnet to draw his white blood cells to the injury. It would be completely healed in seconds. Cass shot him a cold stare. "Again, small pox if you tell!"

She stood up and started walking away, then turned back to him with furrowed brows. "What do you mean you're not allowed to talk to me? If Taza wasn't here, would you talk to me?"

Randal flinched, whimpering as the girl's eyes began to glow. "No no no! She's gonna do it again!" he thought, clenching his eyes shut. "Taza's gonna take away my library privileges when she finds out!" The boy's lips trembled, waiting for the itch to return...

But it never came. Opening his eyes, Randal saw that his scraped knee was rapidly healing. His eyes widened. "S-small pox..." the young dealer murmured. "R-right..." 

"Why is she being nice? I thought for sure she'd be mean..."

Randal stood up slowly. "B-but Taza isn't here! If she were here, you'd be staying away!" The boy gave the girl a confused look. "Why d'you wanna talk to me anyway? Don't you not like me or something?"

Cass laughed dismissively. "Why would you think I don't like you?" She exclaimed. "You're one of my favorite toys!"

The young girl frowned slightly. What do you mean she isn't here? She has you basically on a leash!

The frown quickly disappeared, replaced with a shake of her head. "Obviously Taza isn't here, you nincompoop! I meant if she wasn't around! Like, if Taza wasn't around, we could talk and be friends and stuff, right?"

"Toy?" Randal said nervously. "B-but I'm not a toy! I'm a person!" He crossed his arms, trying his best to look brave. "And no. Taza makes good decisions, if she says you're bad then that means you're no good."

"Oh no! Why did I say that? What if she gets mad and makes me sick again?"

The boy looked both ways. "But, uh, I guess I can't stop you if you wanna go to the candy shop too..."

"Oh Kia, I could get in so much trouble for this!"

"Well, obviously I'm no good!" The girl snorted, biting her lower lip. "This place is meant for bad guys! This is where good guys lose!"

What do you mean you're not a toy? Cass thought, hiding her confusion well. Anyone can be my toy!

She huffed, rocking on her heels briefly. "What's your favorite candy?" She asked, following him. "Mine's butterscotch. I've stolen so much butterscotch! It tastes better stolen, ya know."

"This is where good guys lose!" The words rang in Randal's mind as he walked. It was true if course- being an awesome bad guy was the boy's dream. It was also true, however, that there were different kinds of bad guy. There were also monsters (as Taza called them), people like Chrysanthemum and the Gorwood brothers. Those people were worse than bad- they deserved to have annoying heroes come after them.

"Um..." Randal said distractedly. "I like fruit gums..." The boy furrowed his brow. "So, what kind of bad guy d'you wanna be?" he asked. "I wanna be a drug dealer!"

"I wanna be an assassin," she said, a fire in her eyes. "Ya know, like the ones who no one ever knows was there!"

She smirked, imagining being all grown up and even more powerful than she was. It was a dream of hers to be one of the best assassins ever. That was kind of difficult when she didn't have anyone to help develop her skills, but she refused to give up!

"Why a drug dealer?" She asked, scrunching her nose. "What do drug dealers do? That's not cool and dangerous..."

"You don't know what a drug dealer is?" Randal asked, eyes wide with shock. "They're only like, the coolest thing ever!" The boy puffed up his chest in pride. "They sell plants and things that are illegal! Like opium, and fenshade! And then sometimes there are big fights between rival dealers, and sabotage, and even murders!" He beamed. "I'm gonna be the best dealer ever! Just you wait!"

Randal glanced back as Cassiopeia. "I know an assassin! She's so cool, she doesn't even have to kill people! She just hangs out!"

Cassiopeia's expression twisted into something that resembled disgust. "Why wouldn't she kill anyone?" She exclaimed in shock, putting her hands on her hips. "That's the point of being an assassin! What's she do...? Pretend she kills?"

The girl snorted slightly with overconfidence. The thought of an assassin who didn't kill was just a ridiculous concept to her.

She smirked with pursed lips. "Hey, what if we become partners when we grow up? Like, you're the best drug dealer, and I'm the best assassin. We could be the best criminals in Zantaric ever!"

"Oh..." Randal said softly. "That's really nice of you to offer, but I'm kinda already part of a group..."

"Oh gosh, I hope that was polite enough!" the boy thought nervously. The girl's offer was very abrupt, and had caught him extremely off guard. "Ahh, I really hope she isn't mad!"

"Haha, sorry!" he said, trying to sound less worried then he really was. "Maybe you could join my crew when you're older? That might be nice..."

"Oh god, I hope she doesn't try to join! She's weiiiiiird!"

"Hey look!" he suddenly said, pointing to a building up ahead. "There it is! Race you there!" The boy took off in a sprint, rushing towards the candy shop's door...

He'll agree eventually, Cass thought, unconsciously glaring at the boy when he gave her his albeit rather nice rejection. Nevertheless, it was a rejection, and Cassiopeia isn't exactly fond of being rejected. After all, the last people who rejected her - when she was sick - all ended up dead.

She didn't really want to kill Randal, though: he was fun! Speaking of which...

"No fair!" She called after him. "You got a head start!" She started running after him, barely gaining on him at all. She didn't need to win, but maybe she'd give him a cold or something for cheating.

Not worth it, she thought, reaching the candy shop after he did.

Laughing gleefully, Randal swung open the door of the candy shop. The door chimes jingled violently. "Haha! Beat you! I wi-OOF!"

The boy crashed headfirst into somebody, knocking them over. Looking down, Randal saw Tiffany Starbrite on the floor rubbing his head. "Oh! I'm really sorry, I was in the way!" the pink haired... person said. Immediately he stood up, pink marshmallows galling out of a hole in the paper bag he'd been carrying. "Are you alright Randal? You aren't hurt, are you?" 

"Umm..." Randal said, pointing to the floor. "Your candy fell..."

Tiffany covered his mouth with his hands. "Oh my gosh!" he gasped. "That's not good at all!"

Catching up to Randal in the candy shop, she laughed immediately at the pink haired girl on the floor. "You dropped your candy," she said after the boy.

She eyed the...was it a girl? Cass suddenly became confused at whether or not this person was male or female. "Uh, are you a boy or a girl?" She blurted out, not realizing that it could be incredibly offensive.

Cass moved around the person with her back towards the candies and hands behind her back, picking candies and slyly putting them in her pockets.

Tiffany smiled. He'd long since learned to take questions like this in stride- there was simply no use in getting upset anymore. The pink-haired boy threw up his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "Who knows?" he said dramatically. "There's not a soul alive who can tell!"

"Tiffany's a boy." Randal said nonchalantly, bending over to help pick up the marshmallows. "He's just..." The boy paused. "Pink."

"I do like pink..." Tiffany said wistfully. He gave Randal a big smile. "So, who's your friend? You two look very cute together."

Randal's ears flushed as he glanced at Cass. "It-it's not like that! Girls are gross and have cooties!"

"Nuh-uh!" Cass spat, insulted by the thought. "The only girls who have cooties are the ones who got them from boys!"

She looked Tiffany up and down, not hiding her obvious displeasure. She didn't know why she didn't like him, but she would surely be able to come up with a reason later.

Sneering, Cassiopeia shook her head. "You're name is Tiffany and you're in love with a girl color. Are you sure you're a boy?" The question was pretty innocent, but still was probably blunt enough to be insulting.

Tiffany put his hand to his cheek, seemingly unsure of himself. "I... I'm not sure..." he said dramatically, eyes slowly widening. "I was the last time I checked, but..." Tiffany's jaw dropped. "That was only this morning! I need to double check!" Clutching the bag of marshmallows to his chest, he rushed towards the door, only stopping to give a sly wink to Randal before he left.

Randal giggled. "I like Tiffany!" he told Cass, snickering. "He's so funny!"

"He's weird..." Cassiopeia said, partially to herself. "I don't like him..."

Not even a hint of a smile tugged at the girl's lips. In fact, she sported something of a suspicious frown, watching the pink-haired boy retreat from the store.

Cass turned back to Randal with her head tilted slightly to the left. "Why do you think he's funny?" That was something she was still trying to grasp. The kind of humor everyone appreciated was foreign to her, and she was beginning to think the rest of the world was just a bunch of fools.

"Ummmm..." Randal gave Cass a funny look, unsure of how to explain Tiffany's joke. "Well, it's like, um, he's being silly? Like, he doesn't really need to check, he's just saying that to be a goof."

Randal paused, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, so..." The boy shifted on his feet slighty. "What kind of jokes do you like?" His ears flushed slightly at this. "Oh gosh, I hope that wasn't rude..."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Well, I like messing with people." She smirked devious. "Like when I gave you chickenpox! That was a joke."

She furrowed her brows briefly, tilting her head to the left. "Why didn't you laugh? Why did Taza get angry, if it was a joke? It was funny."

Randal took a step back, shaking his head. "That wasn't funny." he said, eyes wide. "Funny stuff has iron in it- like sarcasm that you don't need to say." The boy swallowed nervously. "What you did was just mean."

"Stupid! What if she tries it again? Me and my big mouth..."

"Iron?" Cass mused aloud. She snickered condescendingly. "Do you mean 'irony?' Iron is a metal, dumbo." The girl shook her head and folded her arms over her chest. "Besides, it was funny! Maybe you just have a bad sense of humor. Ever think of that? Hmm? No, I didn't think so!"

Stupid Randal and his stupid not funny jokes...

"Taza was right, she's bonkers..."

Randal began to back away, shaking his head slowly. "Ypu know, I've had a lot of fun today..." he said, trying to sound confident. "But y'know, I really need to..."

Randal suddenly dashed out the door, not even bothering to say goodbye. "She's crazy! There's nothing funny about chicken pox!" The boy's legs seemed to barely touch the ground as he ran through the streets, anxiously glancing behind him. "I gotta get back to Taza, like, now!"

Cassiopeia narrowed her eyes, not responding to Randal's hurried lack of a goodbye. She was going to follow, but a different idea sprung to mind. Rude, she thought to herself, taking the candies out of her pocket.

Putting on an innocent look with wide eyes, the girl approached the counter where someone had just emerged. "Excuse me, mister candy shop owner?" She said sweetly with a perfectly faked look of concern towards the door. "That boy who just ran out... His name is Randal. He, um, he tried to take these without paying." Cass reached up and placed the candies on the counter.

He probably won't be back here again, she thought slightly victoriously.

"Please don't be mad at him, mister candy man, but I know that stealing is bad, so I didn't want him to steal from you."

The Slaughterhouse- a nickname given to the absolute worst neighborhood in Zantaric- was not someplace to get lost in. A lot of things could happen here- simply "going missing" was probably the nicest fate one could come to. 

And yet, despite every warning he'd ever gotten from Taza, the Slaughterhouse is where Randal found himself. He had only taken a few wrong turns! How did he end up here, of all places? 

The sky was beginning to grow dark, which meant that Taza was beginning to grow worried. It was time to find his way home, but how did he get back? Beginning to panic, the boy turned around...

...And stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who had been behind him. "Oh no..."

Well, this is interesting, Cassiopeia thought to herself, peering out from an alleyway. The Slaughterhouse was one place in Zantaric that she frequently visited. It was a strange place to find a child, but the young girl had no fears of being hurt by anyone there.

The Slaughterhouse was the last place she expected to see a kid like Randal! Yet, here he was... being stalked by a thin guy Cass had seen pickpocketing often. She scurried out of the alley, trotting quietly behind the thin man with a poorly placed smirk on her face.

Sticking her finger out, Cass lightly poked the bit of exposed skin between his sleeve and glove, then rocked back on her heel, seeing the man's lungs quickly begin to collapse in on themselves. He gasped for breath, clawing at his throat and face turning blue.

The man dropped to his knees, still suffocating, so Cass could see the boy he had been following. "You don't need to thank me," she said with satisfaction.

"No! Mark!"

Randal, of course, knew who the choking man was. He was a regular at Blue Orchid- even since before Taza ran it. He came in weekly for his fix of opium, and always had funny stories to tell about his various misadventures in the city. Randal had always rather liked him, and seeing Mark like this now was outright traumatizing.

"Hang on, I'll get you help!" Running over to where the Mark was suffocating, Randal outstreched his arm to hold him- but it was to late. With a final gasp, the man collasped on the ground. The boy stood still, staring at the corpse by his feet and blnking tears out of his eyes. "M-Mark...?"

"Mark is dead, and Casseopia killed him. Mark is dead, and Casseopia killed him. Mark is dead, and Casseopia killed him. Mark is dead, and Casseopia killed him. Mark is dead, and Casseopia killed him!"

Still sniffling, Randal slowly looked at the smirking girl. "You... B-word!" he yelled balling his fists in fury. "He was a repeat customer!"