Billowing smoke and the fumes of industry were abound as soon as the light of the sun had just risen above the Wall.  The street today was a little less quiet than before, but still a far cry from the usual street markets in the Wharf.

“Is this the place?”

“Yeah… doesn’t look like she’s here yet.”  It was around the same time as when we met before, yet she wasn’t here yet, “I’m sure she’ll get here soon.”  What worries me is how upfront she is about her escape; so bold as to tell me outright in the middle of the street, not to mention asking me to take Fria next to the sleeping men in Pyoni’s tower.  Being so brazen, I guess she gets it from her father.  From her own admission, he's as equally foolish.

“You don’t think…”

“Don’t worry, Acou.  She’ll be here.”  I wanted to sate his worries, but my own were also in the back of my mind.  I know very little about this Pyoni, and what I do know does nothing to persuade that dark notion which lingers over me.  A bruised and broken Joran comes to mind, the same as she had been when merely embracing her sister was enough to bring her pain.  If Pyoni had any notion that they were planning to escape today, who knows what he might do.  Maybe like the Butchers he’d take an ear or a hand, then sell her off for cheap.  Whatever the case, it’s not worth thinking about.

In the meantime, the three of us are listless in a crowded market and need something to do, so I beckoned Mei and Acou to follow me to a stall.

“What are we doing?”

“Well she’s not here yet, so the least we can do is shop around.”

“We don’t have anything to trade, not even a guin.”

“When have we ever needed money, Acou?”  The two of us smiled at one another, and we moved between stalls as a group seeing all there was to see; Acou and Mei quickly leaving me behind as they sought out their own interests.  

The first vendor to catch my eye was a shriveled Canis and what looked to be her granddaughter.  The two were sitting in the middle of some intricate matt, and surrounding them were peculiar painted statues formed from clay.  One in particular was shaped to be two men on a stand, each wielding some long stick and crossing both at the middle.  Maybe it’s meant to be a segai?  It doesn’t look like one though, as most of it’s gray except for the brown bottom where the two figures clutched them…

“What’s this one supposed to be?”

“What an ignorant critter you are!  Why, that’s the famous Sir Robert Lucian of the Bone in his last duel!  What snot-nosed creature hasn’t ‘eard of it?”

“Critter?!  Well, you shriveled bitch, why is the oh-so famous ‘Robertlucian’ wielding a stick in his duel?”

“A stick?! Haha~ you hear that, love?”  She tapped the shoulder of her granddaughter, “He called it a stick!  Hah!”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”  I decided to leave before their laughs could reach their peak.

“I doubt you’d have the wherewithal to afford my wares anyways, mangy rat!  Haha~” 

“I doubt you could afford the muck off my shoes, you shriveled old hag!”

“Haha~”  Her and her granddaughter were still laughing, the latter of which was clutching her chest as I rushed away to the next vendor.  Maybe I should look for an Abyssian to shop from, this time around.

 

“Hey Mackie, look at this!”  Acou called out to me from across the street.  Him and Mei were at a stand decorated with dangling papers folded into all kinds of shapes.  As I crossed the street, Acou excitedly revealed a simple paper feather wrapped with thread in the middle to hold its pieces together, and to connect the string of the necklace.  “See?!  It’s a feather!  And it even has writing on either side of it!”

“What does the writing say?”

“Uh… I don’t know.”  Mei surprised both of us by lifting the paper feather out of Acou’s hands.

“...Strength…”  On one end she ran her finger across the written word, then flipped it around and ran her finger along the other word, “...H-honor…”

“Strength… and honor… wow~”  Acou looked even more impressed now that he knew what the words written on the paper feather meant.

“You like that one, Frog?”  An Abyssian lady appeared from behind the stand.  She had one eye and grayed hair; certainly the type of suspicious person to be selling charms like this, “I’ll let that one go for a guin.”

“Oh… uhm–”  She widened her one good eye and leaned over her stand, batting away the paper charms that hung from the top as she did.

“You don’t have any money do you, wretch?”  Her voice was sharp and croaky, like she’s rubbing gravel in my ear whenever she speaks, “Those who come here just to look are a waste of space!  I oughta hang you from a hook and leave you to dry out, slimeskin!”

“I-I– uh–”

“Who’d want to buy these silly charms, anyways?”

“Oh~ silly are they?  Don’t you know anything about your own history, boy?”

“My history?  What, like my parents or something?”  The lady let out an inaudible scoff.

“No!  Not your parents, numbskull!  Your history!  Your ancestors!  Is any of this ringing a bell?!”  I gave her a shrug, and in return she appeared dumbfounded, “My word…”  The lady grabbed a few charms and came out from behind her stall, “Take a look.  See these charms here?”  She held out her hand and in the palm was three folded papers stacked on one another, “This one’s a seroc.”  She lifted the one on top.  It looked like four jagged papers extending from the base; almost like lightning from a cloud.  “This is meant to guide you, and keep you safe during the coming storm.”  She placed the seroc charm on her stand behind her, and lifted the next piece, “This one’s a eucli; very popular with kids.”  It was a folded cube which she expanded then opened revealing words scrawled on the inside, “You write the names of those you wish to keep close, and words that have profound meaning to you.”  She placed her eucli on the stand, and lifted from her palm the last piece of paper, “Last is the most important.  The magori…”  It looked like a small square with nothing about it standing out.

“It’s just a piece of paper–”

“It’s not just a piece of paper, idiot!  Look closer…”  She gripped the paper on both sides and revealed that there was an inside which held another paper cut into the shape of a half-circle, “What does this remind you of?”  From the bottom she moved the end of the paper inside to push the circular part out of the top.

“A… sunrise?”

“Very good!  This is one of the oldest charms our people know.”

“Our people?”

“Yes, our people!  The magori is meant to create tomorrow; hence the sunrise.  The Abyssians of old, our ancestors, made these charms, kid.”

“Abyssians of old… how old are we talking?”

“Before this city was made, old.”  With a smirk she returned behind her stand and leaned over it before continuing, “Not years ago, or dozens of years ago; not even a hundred years ago.  It was a time before factory smoke and plastic, heh~”

“And they’d make these silly charms?”

“Yes yes, they’d make the silly charms ‘cause they thought the charms had power to them.”

“Sounds stupid.”

“Scoff, ‘stupid’, boy?  You poor, ignorant thing…”  The one-eyed lady shook her head while clicking her tongue, “What do you think the crybleat or phlegmface behind you was doing so many years ago?”  She pointed at Mei and Acou who were just as taken aback as I was, “Their people were eatin’ mud and grass, and beatin’ each other with stones.  It was us who sharpened our sticks, molded our clay into pots, made bricks from mud and straw; why, everyone has us to thank for the world we have today.  Not the Canis, and certainly not the Storks!  Us!”

“That’s… fascinating, but it doesn’t really answer my question.”

“Sigh, the charms were for a simpler time; back then, they truly believed in the powers of charms.  I still make ‘em to keep up the tradition, kid.”

“And people actually buy these?”  I ran my hand through the hanging charms.  Dozens of them swayed as their threads ran through my fingers; each uniquely crafted to represent some phenomenon or theme.

“Occasionally… less than they did before, when it was still my husband and I running the stand.”  The one-eyed lady straightened herself behind the stand, “I hate seeing us forget where we came from.  Tradition is important, boy; it reminds us of who we are.  Keeps us connected, in a way… tell ya what, your Frog friend can keep the feather.”

“R-really?!”  Acou’s eyes sparkled at the rare kindness.

“Yes really, for being so kind as to listen to this old lady yammer on.”

“Haha~”  Acou laughed, and transfixed his eyes pleasingly on the words written on the feather’s sides while she stared at him with a satisfied gaze.  I’m sure she wasn’t intending to make a Frog so happy, but took it as a win regardless.

 

As we left the stand, a new group of young Abyssians moved in behind us.  The one-eyed lady smiled and gave the youngest of the group a charm; the young girl’s expression beaming as she fiddled with the paper in her hand.  I found myself caressing the key to Venus in my pocket, itself a charm wrapped with history, threaded as such as I’m sure it was meant to be worn.  Did people really think those paper charms were imbued with power?  Would this key have power?  I don’t consider myself superstitious, but maybe there’s a reason it would arrive to me now.  Why it’s all coming together now.  Some unseen force at work… however nonsensical that might be.

If there’s even a chance this key could help, then I’ll take all the help I can get for tonight.  Withdrawing the key from my pocket, I squeezed my head through its thread and placed the plastic key at the end of the necklace under my shirt.  I didn’t feel that different in doing so, but there was some strange comfort in wearing it.  The note from Candor was also still jostling in my pocket… should I just throw it away?

"Acou.”

“Yeah?”  We’d stopped to lean against the side of a building, taking a break from looking around.  Things on the street were slowing; more than they already were, anyways.  It had never crossed my mind before, about a time when this city wasn’t here. 

 

“Where do ya think all these Abyssians used to live before coming to the Wharf?”

“Mmm… they weren’t always here?”

“Well… maybe they were always here just that they hadn’t made the city yet, hmm…”

“They could have come from uh– that one place, uhm…”

“...S-Scutch…”  Mei injected herself into our conversation and held up her map, pointing to a location south of where she said Muskreg was.

“Scutch?  Never heard of it…”

“P-papa said… it was a land of Ab-Abyssians…”

“A land of Abyssians, huh.  Maybe I should pay a visit?”  Mei stepped back and closed her map.  She lowered her head and stumbled over her words trying to speak again.

“I-I… I could always take… you–”

“Joran?!”  From the slow moving crowd I spotted two ears that poked up from behind a thin crowd.  Her ears perked when she heard her name, and she split through the crowd in a brisk walk over to us.

“That’s the sister?”

“Y-yeah.”  She looked worse than when I last saw her.  She carried her basket closer to her chest, and walked with a wobble.  Her face as well was… swollen and bluish.  A cut ran between her bottom lip, and her swollen right cheek was forcing her eye to squint.  It was hard to tell from where I stood, but her inner thighs looked almost black the further up they went.

“Mackie… I’m glad, hehe~”  She sounded relieved when she saw us, and tried her best to smile at Mei and I, stopping just short at Acou, “A… Frog?”

“Joran, this is Acou, and the Ovis is Mei.”

“How do you do?”

“...H-hi…”  Joran was apprehensive of Acou, but casually leaned against the wall with all three of us nonetheless.  

“I’m Joran.  I assume he already told you all about me.”  The two nodded their heads, “Tonight, I guess you two are helping my sister and I out of the city.”

“More than that, the three of us will be taking you all the way to Hanesh–”

“Really?!”  She excitedly moved her eyes between the three of us, before Mei stepped up to present her notebook.

“Th-this is a map…”  She held up her decrepit notebook and flipped to the pages with the map, then pointed to one location in particular, “...Hanesh…”

“H-Hanesh?!”  Joran’s eyes flickered with life, a stark difference from how they were when she arrived, “This will take us to Hanesh?!  Haha~”  She reached out and hugged a confused Mei who towered over Joran, with Mei’s expression soon turning into that of satisfaction.  Joran almost pushed her away while flinching with pain, but still seemed happy nonetheless.

“We have clothes as well to hide your brands, and a group of my uncle’s making will be taking us… halfway.”

“That’s… unbelievable.  Truly…”  She stared between the three of us for a moment before breaking her trance, “Oh– I-I also made some preparations.  I stowed food and blankets at the floor level of the tower.”  Joran parted a portion of her hair that was covering her face to the side, “What about this group of yours?  Do they… know about us?”

“Not exactly…”

“Hm?”

“They think I’m taking my friends, so you’ll have to pretend to be one.”

“Why just your friends?”

“As I said, it’s my uncle’s doing.  They’re meant to take me to my brother.”

“The one you told me about?”

“That’s right.  Instead, we’ll slip away to your home when we near it.”

“And then?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you were going to meet your brother…”

“Ah, I’m not so sure I’ll go all the way to meet him, to be honest–”

“You should.”

“Eh?”

“You should absolutely go to see your brother.”  That sternness she had last time we had met returned to her voice, “I’d do anything to see my papa again; I hope we still can when we get home.  So if you have a chance to see your brother, you should–”

“Uh…”  Acou spoke up, probably in an attempt to ease the tension between Joran and I by changing the subject, “W-what’s your home like, Joran?  So we’ll know when we get there…”  She ran her eyes from head-to-toe of Acou, giving him a look edging on that of disgust.

“...It’s quiet; this city has been too loud ever since I was brought here.”  Joran reached up to her long ears, struggling to raise her arms above her head, “There’s no buildings that sway and creak in the wind, and there're no roads swarmed with people too busy to notice one another.”

“N-no r-roads…”  Mei seemed the most mystified, as she smirked at Mei before continuing.

“No roads.  My warren could tell where it was and where it had been with just the land.  The smell it gave, how the wind would hit you, and how the leaves tasted.  The grass is tall, and makes you feel safe by its cover; though I guess it’s almost winter, isn’t it?”  She pushed herself off the wall where we were leaning and turned to face the three of us, “It’s rocky in some parts, and quite flat in others with some sparse trees and bushes.  You’ll know when you see it; trust me, such a place is hard to miss…”

“I believe you…”  She’d explained a place that I couldn’t quite imagine, but I’m sure it’s out there beyond the city.  We only have to go.  “We’ll meet with the escort tomorrow, so tonight you and your sister will stay at Trash; hopefully, we can leave before Pyoni and his goons wake from their stupor.”

“Haha~ right.”  She beamed with the rest of us, then lost her smile when she gazed at Pyoni’s tower, “I hope Fria will be okay after this…”  Her ears perked high above her head and she looked at the empty basket she’d brought, “I gotta get going.  Remember, it’s tonight!  When I bring her out here I expect you three to be ready!”  The three of us nodded in unity, and she began to walk away in order to buy her food before stopping and returning to us, “Can you two give me a moment to talk with Mackie?”  The other two obliged, with Mei hesitating slightly, “About what I said last time we met here, I’m sorry.”

“That’s–”

“Let me finish.”  She raised her head high, wincing in pain as she did, “You’ve done more for me this past week than anyone has in the time I’ve been here.  I know you’re putting yourself at risk with this, so… thank you, Mackerel.” 

“...You’re welcome.”  It felt weird to say that; having been thanked with such genuine gratitude in such a short period of time.  It feels good, somehow.  She gave a final spin to wave at all of us as she walked away, then dipped into the crowd from where she had come from to buy food.  I returned to Acou and Mei who had stood back watching the two of us speak.

 

“Well, we have some time to kill.”

“Are you sure we can take them back to Trash?  What if they catch on sooner than we think and send hunters?”

“Hunters wouldn’t check trash, that’d be the last place they check.  Plus they’re taking everything they have.  Nothing left behind means no scent trail, right?”

“I guess so… I’m still worried.”

“...So am I.”  I ran my finger through the thread of my necklace, the key to Venus hanging from its end.  Tonight I’d be entering into the unknown, any kind of assurances are welcome.  In a way, I have the same worry as Joran has; I too hope my friends will be okay after this…