It was well past seven, the sun had descended an hour earlier but Elushva's well-known bazaar was still bustling with activity. In fact, the place was more alive and teeming now than at any time of the day. It was all new to Dana, in Nedava, you wouldn't see people--anyone at all, roaming the street at this hour. Not that there were many dwellers, to begin with, but in a place where the infamous border was your neighbor, it was better to be home before the dark closed in.
Dana allowed herself to enjoy this short respite, her eyes took in everything greedily. Elushva truly deserved its name, she thought. It was beautiful in its own right. The vibrant colors, the scent, the noise—it was intoxicating. If a stranger came up to her and said that this place was enchanted, she'd believe him in a beat. It would explain why she felt so alive, like the place itself was sentient and wanted her to feel what it feels.
She had not felt this good in a long time and it took her a moment to realized that she was truly happy. The thought was foreign but not unwanted. She was also bone-tired, yet she felt extremely satisfied.
When she saw her brother's head walking her way amongst the sea of people, she knew what she needed to do. She would make sure they would live this moment. They would relish every second, because tomorrow, they would wake, and they would find themselves traveling back to their reality. Back to that small isolated community, to that ancient brooding forest, and to that rundown rickety shack.
When Khal reached her, he was not alone. Tucked in his left arm was a ball of black fur looking awfully benign. It was sleeping serenely and her brother was cradling it very gently. Dana bent over to look closely at the Ivrrad pup, it was the size of a grown cat even though she was sure it has not reached its second week yet.
"How much did you spend for this Khal?" she asked after a while. Her brother scratched his head.
"Not much, " looking sheepish he handed her his sack. This held everything he bought, from the things her sister assigned him to find to the things he assigned himself to buy--rather impulsively.
"And what exactly the amount of this not much?" Dana probed, she was now looking at the contents of his sack. Aside from their needs, her brother thought it would be good if he bought an aerthal wooden figurine, five tiny glasses of vials, foreign-looking glass hour, a shiny but otherwise ordinary rock, and some more items that were utterly unnecessary.
Dana felt the urge to remind him how badly they needed every coin they have until she took in his expression. Khal at that same moment held the wooden figure and proudly showed it to her. He was smiling happily like it was the greatest find, she softened--who wouldn't? Well.. it was technically his money anyway. Besides, her brother barely had anything he could call as his and these were simple things--aside from the pup of course.
"This is pretty Khal but how much for the Ivrrad really?" He took his time to answer, gauging her first.
"28 silvers," he said faintly but she heard him anyway. Dana suddenly contemplated swinging their sacks at his head—all contents included.
"Khal you rat! You realized how much that cost us, don't you? Ten coppers equal to one silver, fifty silvers for one gold--"
"I know my studies, Dee, I'm not stupid!"
"But spending twenty-eight silvers for that pup is stupid! It's bound to die Khal, look at it! That thing needs to be breastfed. Besides, no one from this city would want a savage ivrrad inside their home. He'd sell it for 5 silvers--"
"No there was another boy who wants this Dee! He even offered forty silvers. But the seller didn't want him to have it, she said better if I keep this to myself." He burst, Dana raised a brow.
"Well, that's because that boy is her son. Her son offered forty so unsuspecting buyers—like someone I know—would think that's the proper price, so when she lowered the price, these gullible buyers would buy it because they thought it was a good trade."
"I know they aren't related, Dee. The boy's just around my age so his scent isn't as strong as the woman but I know what I smell. And he went off carried by this very pretty couch you know, his mother is rich not a woman selling wild pups in the City's bazaar." he rolled his eyes.
"Fair enough, but that's not the issue is it? How do you plan to raise that and what happens when it does?" she placed her hands on her hips.
"Bery has cows. I could give him two coppers for a jar of milk. The pup will get used to it, the woman said cow's milk will do just fine. When it's old enough to hunt then I'd let it go in the forest to feed himself. Also, it could stay outside in the kennel, while our dogs I was thinking.. maybe we could let them inside for a while?" Dana saw the determination in his brother's eyes.
"Abba wouldn't be happy, the dogs as well," she said with a sigh.
"But I already bought it and I don't plan to go back there, it's pretty far you know."
"Then I'll be the one returning it," she said although at this point she already accepted that they would take the pup with them. Anyway back home it was their father who had the final say.
"Sure but I won't be carrying anything, nor will I stay here to guard our belongings.." he crossed his arms then pouted. When her sister didn't say anything he began touching her hands with pleading eyes. "Come on Dee!! Let me keep it. I promise I'll help you tend your plants!" she imagined Khal in her herb garden and shivered. She shook her head and let out another sigh.
"Just don't mention my name to Abba, alright? It's all on you." her brother frantically nod his head and laughed. With vigor he carried his sack to his back and another on his right arm, Dana then carried the rest and they walked back to the Traveler's Inn.
She originally planned to spend the rest of their night gaining rest in their room, but after falling in love with the place's ambiance, she thought they could do some strolling. She told her brother this and he excitedly agreed. In the end, they decided to drop their things at the Inn, took a tour around the city some more, then find a good diner to eat their last dinner in Elushva.
On their way back, Dana spotted at the distance the fruit stall where they found Wan in the morning. Wan was a ragged girl years younger than her brother who was caught trying to steal an apple. The vendor would have beat the scrawny child if they did not intervene. They paid the man handsomely to let her go, he accepted the four copper coins albeit reluctantly and threatened that the next time he caught her, she'd lose both her hands.
The two were just starting their day at the time and after giving four coppers to the man, they only had four silver coins left. They badly wanted to buy something for her but couldn't, their fare back home will cost exactly this amount and they needed to keep it.
Dana told the girl to wait for her brother at noon in the corner adjacent to the stall for a meal since she was sure by this time they would have sold something already. She also told her that if she was there at Fidel's hour, they would pass her way and they would give her stuff she could bring to her family. Unfortunately, Khal did not saw Wan at midday. She figured that the child probably had a place to eat, still, she hoped they would see her now because tomorrow they'd be traveling in the opposite direction.
"Is it Fidel's already?" she asked her brother.
"Almost," he replied. When they neared, she again asked him if he gets a whiff of her, Khal shook his head. "She's a child Dee... she smelled exactly like this place." Dana smiled, he said the word child as if he isn't one himself.
They passed the stall and she noticed the apples barely decreased. She waved when she saw the vendor looking their way but the stingy bastard pretended he did not see anything and moved his head the other way. She laughed inwardly.
"That's her!" her brother suddenly exclaimed. She looked and there she was, crouching while hugging her knees at the corner. When they stopped in front of her, Khal slowly sat down. The girl stirred and looked at him tiredly. The boy smiled and handed her the bigger sack he carried, inside were the fruits and some meat they bought for her earlier. In a flash, Wan was unto her new pack, skimming its contents.
She looked at Khal inquiringly, then at his sister. Dana smiled at her, nodding. She pointed at the bag, then at the child, assuring her that the sack was indeed brought for her. Dana was stunned by how many emotions those aged eyes held. She certainly felt them but it was too chaotic, and she couldn't hear them. Unfortunately, unlike most people who rely on their voice to say what their eyes meant, the child didn't have that. She couldn't speak. Although she definitely knew how to count and write.
Wan stood up and slowly closed the distance between them. She grabbed Dana's hands and force her to squat too. Their sacks, she carefully arranged--Dana noticed--allowing them small privacy, if people got a little too close, all they saw was a bunch of kids--one holding a pup--looking over a sack of fruits.
Wan gestured to Dana to move closer, it was cramped but she did anyway, then the child reached inside her garb and pulled a pendant. It was a simple wooden ring, unadorned aside from her name that was etched on the outside part.
"It's beautiful, Wan. Did your parents give it to you?" she asked. Wan did not answer, instead, she removed the necklace from her neck then hung it carefully to hers. She looked left and right then hastily gestured, a mixture of hand signs and upper body movement. She was also mouthing something.
Dana and Khal threw each other clueless look. Wan followed the exchange, she eyed them--agitated, she knew she was not understood but still, she continued to sign frantically.
"I think she wants to tell us something." her brother said.
"I don't know for you but it's obvious to me," she replied.
To the girl, she said, "We don't understand, I'm so sorry." when she finished signing, the child looked sad, her shoulders sagging.
"Just write it again Wan. I can read fast, it's not difficult at all." her brother said, but the girl only shook his head sideways, she was close to crying now.
Dana quickly tried to make her feel better, "but do you really want to give this to me, Wan? You don't need to give me anything, we bought it for you really. And this looks precious. Here let me put it in your--." She noticed how Wan's demeanor turned from disheartened to fearful. Khal noticed the same so he followed Wan's line of sight but quickly turned to her again still looking confused.
From one of her pockets, she pulled a luminous stick, the same thing she used to tell them her name. She bit the top and began to write on the ground.
Her tiny hands wrote "please help me," Dana stood up in alarm and looked around thinking that someone wanted to harm the child, her gaze especially lingered at the apple stall. She looked down, "my ayah is very sick. She will die soon," Wan looked at them both for a while then bowed.
She clasped the stick tightly, it took Dana a moment to realized she was silently crying, she could not seem to stop her tears as she kept wiping them with filthy hands, smearing dirt on her face.
How much pain did this child endured to learn to weep quietly like this? Dana thought. It had nothing to do with her being mute, she knew with certainty. A child is a child, and they all cry like a child, but this girl.. she could hear them. They reached her. It compelled her. At the time she didn't understand why.
Before Dana could come up with something to say though her brother already made his mind. He stood the girl and fiercely said "She will not die, we will not let that happen," then he put a hand on her shoulder. "Dee can make her feel better, she makes potions and healing paste that burns first but make you feel better afterward, right Dee?"
Ignoring her brother she said to Wan, "Is she that sick? Close to dying?" the girl nodded, sobbing. "So we can't do anything?" she asked, understanding her pain. The girl nodded again, still looking down. Khal look at his sister, affronted, he exclaimed "What?! How can you say that Dee?" to Wan he said, "I thought you're asking us to help your mother?"
"Bad men are looking for me and lots of them are in my street. Take me with you, it will look like I'm your sister. Please... I need to be with Ayah" She wrote, looking resolved now. Dana knew they shouldn't be doing favors to anyone, her father warned them that their ways are not the same but she could not help herself to still compare.
In Nedava, everyone knew everybody. Residents treat each other as extended family members. When someone died or disappeared at night, no child was abandoned. No child was left to tend for himself. That was why she was so upset when she saw Wan. So many people, yet no one looked twice at the struggling child. How? Why? She could not comprehend it but she was determined not to conform to this appalling norm.
They took the girl back to their Inn, clothed, and fed her. Dana redied everything they need for tomorrow's travel, she also paid the hostler coppers to take care of the pup and promised to pay more if it was well fed when they get back. After she made sure she secured all their needs, the three went out. Wan lead the way, the two followed.
They weren't familiar with the place, to begin with, but Dana did notice they were headed to the secluded part of the city, then a couple more walks, they stepped into an abandoned neighborhood. It was an hour past Fidel so they could not see very clearly. It was only because of the occasional moonlight that slipped from the clouds did she able to see the ruined state of the place. It was opposite to the part of the city where they came from.
She could not believe this place exists in Elushva and it was not even very far from the lively bazaar! Here there were no colors, only piles of refuse and debris. No street performers, only shadows of dilapidated houses. She saw a dim light that flickered from a distance and was convinced that the place was not completely abandoned. Her thoughts jumped to the people who choose to still reside in the place and as to why their authorities were not doing anything to help them.
Again, back in Nedava, the elders would have evacuated everyone, set up tents, and give out food until the renovations are made. Residents would have come together to restore the place! It happened in their village five years ago and Dana failed to understand why Elushvians could not do the same. They have many people here! That means more funds and more workers, so why?
Wan suddenly made a turn straight into an alley, the two followed closely. "What happened to this place?" her brother whispered to the girl, but of course Wan could not answer.
Dana stared ahead, it was unusually darker. Few more steps and she realized it was darker because there was a wall, the alley was a dead-end. Before she could say it aloud, Wan vanished into thin air, followed by Khal's sudden yelp. This reaction was brought not by the girl's disappearance--which he did not notice--but because of the sudden heat that came from his trouser's pocket.
He frantically pulled out his coin purse then tossed it to the ground. Dana's eyes widened in realization, she felt the soft buzz inside her head. Slowly, she turned around. As expected, she saw his familiar figure standing at the mouth of the alley. At his side was Wan, bowed in submission.
The big man laughed merrily, patting her head. "Took you long enough, eh?"