Impure

Chapter 5: Outsiders

Hey, look at this!" Linda shouted. She dgasped as she passed by a mystic's kiosk, Leo and Martin running to ctch up with her. She gestured to a couple of charms, which mirrored those hanging from the trees.
        "Say, weren't these the things outside on the trees?" Martin asked. Linda nodded.
        "A nice eye you have there, young lady." A ragged old man stepped forward, his eyes locked on Linda. His cloak kicked up dust as he walked toward them.
        "These charms are very special." He spoke.
        "How so?" Martin asked.
        "They repel the darkest of magics, curses, and hexes." He stated.
        "Do they, now?" Martin asked.
        "Lin, i think it may be a scam." Leo added.
        "Oh, no no no! These are not mere trinkets of trickery!" The man assured. "These charms work wonders. They protect you from the evilest of magics! give it a try." He said. Martin picked one up, looking it over.
        "Oh! Exccellent choice!" The main exclaimed. "That will be fifty golden pieces!" Martin gave a blank stare at the man.
        "You know, on the other hand," Martin said, placing the charm back down.
        Another robed man walked up to the back of the stand, and removed his hood.
        "Joshua, it's fifteen." He spoke with a serious voice. "Don't try to scam people out of their money."
        "Oh no no no, sir! Joshua did not mean to give the wrong amount!" Joshua hunched over and walked away.
        "I apologize for my aprentice, he tends to be on the odder side of things." He said.
        "It's fine, sir." Martin said. "You said the price was fifteen?"
        "Yes, that is what i said. But Joshua did warn you about the side effects these things have on the users, correct?"
        "Side effects?"
        "I'll take that as a no, Be careful with it." He said, giving Martin the charm.
        "If it is to crack while protecting you, the consequences could be dire. This one in particular causes your spells to rebound on you in such a case.."
        "Understood." Martin replied. "Thank you." Martin handed over the coins, and took the charm in return.
        "We hope to do business with you again." The man said as the three walked off.


        "Alright everybody." Leo spoke up, holding out a couple slips of paper.
        "Everyone takes a list. We need to divide up the work so we can get this done a bit quicker." He stated. Linda took a slip of paper.
        "It looks like I'm out for outfits." She said. Martin looked at her.
        "Grab a couple scarfs, it gets a lot colder up north." He stated. He took a piece of paper from Leo.
        "I guess I'm going for food." He said. Leo nodded.
        "And that leaves medical supplies to me." Leo stated. The three split up and took their places in the market place.

        Martin marched around the square, searching around the vendors.
"Where's a hunter when you need one?" He asked himself. He aproached a man dressed in hide behind a small stand.
        "Hello." Martin  greeted him.
        "Good afternoon." he replied. "Can i help you?"
        "How much for a venison?" Martin asked.
        "75G for one, Or 200G for all three."
        "Just one please." Martin stated. The man wrapped the meat and handed it over.
        "Thank you." Martin said as he paid him. "You wouldn't happen to have any firestarters, would you?"
        "Not anymore, nobody seems to need them with mages popping seemingly out of nowhere nowadays. But if you're preparing for a long journey you could hire a mage to go with you. They can start fires if you need one." He stated.
        "I see. Well, thank you." Martin said. He departed for the center of the square, awaiting the other two.
        "Hey, kid!" The man yelled back at him. Martin turned around to see the man running up after him.
        "How far are you planning to go exactly?" He asked.
        "I'm travelling to the capital with two others. Any reason?"
        "You're going all the way to the capital? A single venison won't last that trip." He stated. "Do you at least have a way to hunt?"
        "Actually, I don't." Martin answered. "But we'll find a way."
        "I've got an idea." The man stated. "So I'm sure you've noticed things aren't all right in this town." He stated. "Well, a friend of mine had a couple of rings stolen from him."
        "Rings?" Martin asked.
        "Yeah, but no ordinary rings. They were solid gold, And one of them had a rose engraved on it. The were his parents wedding rings." He stated. "And the slimy son of a scut brother of this town's lord managed to snatch them from him. I'd deal with it myself but someone has to look after the shop. If you can get those back from him, you can have an old bow of mine." He stated.
        "I'll think about that." Martin replied. "My name is Martin." He held out his hand to shake the man's.
        "My name is Rin." He said.
        "It's nice to meet you, Rin."

Linda looked through the various garments the woman had up for sale.
        "How much are the scarves?" She asked. The woman looked at her with disgust.
        "20G." She stated.
        Linda looked next to the rack.
        "Your sign says 10G." She stated.
        "20G. Take it or Leave it." She stated. Linda sighed and brought the scarves and a few pieces of cloth up and payed for them.

        She stepped Back out into the square, making her way Back to where she was to meet the other two.
        "Why do I put up with these people?" She asked herself. "I thought the war was over."
        "Hey, girl!" She heard a man call from across the lot. An older man with a wrinkly face sat at a small booth. He gave a sinister smile.
        "Come make yourself pretty." He stated. "Finer jewely doesn't exist." He stated. "At least... not for you."
        Linda shot him a look, but stopped for a second and gazed at pendant the man wore around his neck. The familiar triangular shape and shine of the moon emblem in the middle verified it.
        "Where did you get that?" She asked, gesturing to the necklace.
        "What? This thing? Oh, i got it in a trade, you see." He stated. "And no, it's not for sale." He stated.
        "It's not yours to sell. It was stolen from my friend when we entered the town."
        "Oh, you see, that's not possible. I traded some gems for this over a year ago." He stated. "You're clearly mistaken."
        Linda gave him a look of disgust and ran off to find Martin.

        "Martin!" She shouted, catching up to him. Mart-..." She stopped to catch your breath. collapsing at his feet.
        "What happened, what's wrong?" Martin asked, neeling down to help her up.
        "I found your-huff. I found your pendant."

        "That's fine! I don't need your stuff anyway!" Leo stood shouting outside of a building. He turned to see Martin and Linda walking toward him.
        "Can you believe half of the people in this town? They don't want anything to do with anyone or anything Kendred." He stated.
        "Yeah I've noticed." Linda stated.
        "Did you manage to get anything?" Matin asked him.
        "Yeah. It's not much but it'll do until the next town." He stated.
        "That's good for now." Linda said.
        "But we aren't done here yet." Martin stated. "We still have to deal with the Lord's brother." He stated.
        "Who?" Leo asked.
        "Well, on the way back," Linda started, I came across a man running a jewelry shop, and he was wearing Martin's pendant." She stated.
        "He's the Lord of this town's brother. He rides his coattail and takes advantage of the citizens." Martin added.
        "Well why aren't we doing anything about it?" Leo asked.
        "Because Linda and I already tried that." Martin stated. "He called the guards on us and threatened to have us thrown out of the village. Leo nodded.
        "Wait a second," Leo said. "If he had your pendant, he must know that kid that bumped into you."
        "We think we saw them on the way over here." Linda said.
        "But when we tailed him he dissapeared around a corner into a dead end. As if he could walk through walls." Martin said. A woman walked out of the door they were standing outside of.        
        "Will you get out of here? You Kendred are bad for business." She stated.
        "Maybe we should discuss this in the tavern. Anybody have any money left over? I have 50G" Leo said.
        "20G." Martin stated.
        "25G."Linda stated. "And a room is twenty-five a night, so we have more than enough."

        The three entered the dimly lit room from the previous night, the sun now setting outside, giving off a golden glow.
        "So This guy has your necklace and this person's rings," Leo stated. "But what would he get from those?"
        "Leverage." Martin said. "That hunter told me that he has secrets about everybody in this town. what if he can't find anything on them? Or what if somebody knows his secret?" He finished. They heard a knock on the door.
        "Who's there?" Linda asked.
        "A friend." A voice echoed. Martin walked over to the door and opened it.
        "Rin?" Martin asked. He looked up at the hunter, and noticed a girl standing behind him.
        "Martin, Is it ok if we come in?" He asked, a distressed tone in his voice. Martin nodded and shut the door behind them.
        "What's wrong?" Martin asked.
        "It's Lucas." Rin stated. "He's run off."