Shade Touched - 70. Thief

Shadow started to feel self-conscious when it took her almost 30 seconds to retrieve just one silver coin from her coin purse using her ‘between the knuckles’ method. Many people in the crowd waiting to buy meat from Nessa were shooting her impatient looks. One man leaned over her and started to order something, but Nessa shooed him off and told him to have some patience, which only made Shadow feel worse.

After spending another 20 seconds fishing around for a half silver, Nessa made an offer to help, which made Shadow throw in the towel with an exasperated sigh.

Rather than accept the help, she asked a question.

‘I can do it, just… do you mind if I use my tongue? I know it’s kind of weird but I’m much better at picking up small stuff with it.’ she asked shyly.

Nessa raised an eyebrow at her.

“I suppose that’s fine?” she said, sounding a little perplexed.

Shadow gave her a nod and extended her tongue down toward her coin purse. Thinking for a second, she made a judgment call and decided to wipe the end of it off on her pants. Licking her pants might be gross, but she figured getting the coins wet with spit was worse. People didn’t like getting spit on their hands. She quickly started retrieving the half-silver and 3 ten-pieces needed to make up the remaining 80 copper she needed.

The process elicited several gasps and some laughter from the crowd.

Even Nessa’s eyebrows had gone up in surprise, despite the prior warning.

Shadow’s ears flattened as she hunched a bit in embarrassment.

It only took her another 15 seconds to finish grabbing the coins, which was a big improvement. Nessa was grinning at her again by the time she finished.

“Now that’s handy! Like you’ve got a third arm. Must be useful.” Nessa complimented as she palmed the coins.

Shadow perked up a little at that. That… that hadn’t been so bad. She thought the majority of the crowd looked impressed or amused, rather than disgusted… although some people did look disgusted. She supposed she’d have to live with that.

Nessa glanced down at Shadow’s wet pant leg with a bit of a grimace.

“Might suggest using a clean rag to wipe it off with, rather than your pants. Would save you needing to, well, lick your pants like that,” she suggested.

Shadow’s eyes widened, looking at Nessa in awe.

That… was a really good idea! Shadow probably would have thought of it herself, but she’d only just had the thought of wiping her tongue off. Shadow could keep a cloth in her pouch and use it whenever she needed to touch something with her tongue! Or, maybe just when she needed to touch stuff that she’d be giving to other people. She didn’t mind touching her own spit. It didn’t even need to be a nice cloth she didn’t want to damage, which meant she could pull it out with only one paw and her claws. She could probably just leave it wrapped on her belt. That might look bad, though.

Nessa leaned forward, holding the two chickens. The woman had bound them together with a small cord at some point.

“Lean forward dear.” She requested.

Shadow leaned forward.

Nessa laid the cord around her neck and shoulders, the chickens hanging on her like a necklace. Shadow staggered with the extra weight. Her legs and back were already starting to burn a bit and the extra weight didn’t help. She was grateful, though, it was going to be much easier to carry them this way than what she’d been planning.

Nessa followed up by handing Shadow’s tablets back, which she happily took.

“Alright! You’ve paid, and gotten your chickens! Off with you! I’ve got customers waiting!” Nessa lightly scolded as she shooed Shadow off.

Shadow quickly scampered out of the way, feeling a little bad she’d made so many people wait. She waved goodbye to Nessa using both of her forepaws. She even stuck up her tail and waved it for extra emphasis, although she almost fell over given how much it messed with her balance. The extra weight from the chickens certainly didn’t help.

Nessa waved back with a hand, but was already focused on her next customer.

Shadow was all excitement and grins as she staggered her way back to a bemused looking Jonas.

“So… how went the haggling? I noticed you two seemed to be getting on pretty well by the end there.” Jonas asked, looking curious, but not displeased. He reached over and took the chickens off her shoulders, putting them on his own, much to her relief.

‘I got the chickens for 1 silver 80!’ Shadow wrote, grinning up at him.

Jonas barked a laugh, and slapped her on the back, making her stumble forward a bit. He stepped in front of her and crouched down, giving her a quick hug, then holding her back by her shoulders.

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He fixed her with a grin of his own.

“That’s a good price! I knew you had it in you. How’d you go about it? Something tells me you used a different tack than what I showed you.” He questioned, eyes brimming with pride.

Shadow felt like she was going to burst from the approval. She was having trouble keeping her paw steady as she wrote. She even dropped the tablets once.

Some of that energy did turn to embarrassment as she recounted the entire encounter. Looking back on the moment, it was pretty obvious it was less her amazing haggling skills and more Nessa’s kindness that got her the chicken for so cheap. She’d been too excited in the moment to really notice.

Jonas was quick to reassure her though.

“Being friendly and likable’s a skill just like any other! You would’ve never gotten it that cheap if you didn’t make a good impression, regardless of how nice this Nessa was. I get better results playing hardball when I don’t know the person but… that’s clearly not the case for you.” He paused a second, considering. “That should’ve been obvious, in hindsight.” He muttered, looking a little sheepish.

He locked eyes with Shadow again.

“But that was good advice she gave you. Especially the firm part. That’s important. Being nice and friendly can work, but you can’t let them walk all over you. You’ve got to push back. Hold your ground. Stand firm.” Jonas instructed, motioning with a finger on every point made.

Shadow nodded along. That still sounded a little… harsh? She thought she understood what Jonas was getting at though. Her spirits had risen a bit from the talk. She still thought she could have done a lot better, and it really was Nessa being nice that got her a good deal. But she was starting to get a better handle on what haggling was now. With the two different examples, and Nessa and Jonas’s explanations, she was realizing that it was less about the method used and more about just… making sure she’d get a fair price, in whatever way worked for her. It made sense being friendly could work. She would certainly want to give friendly people better deals.

Now she just really needed to figure how a ‘fair price’ was determined. She’d have trouble haggling on her own if she had no idea what anything cost. She supposed that’d come with experience. Or perhaps she could ask Annie and Jonas about the fair price of everything she’d seen. Even Shadow hesitated at the daunting task that would be. She’d seen… quite a few things in their short walk through the market.

Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone just used a fair price to begin with? All of this haggling stuff just seemed to overcomplicate everything.

Jonas finally stood back up, roughly ruffling her ears as he did so. She squirmed away and batted at his hand, laughing a little. She noticed some people in the crowd looking at them. She supposed they’d been making a bit of a scene, but Jonas didn’t seem to care.

“Alright, let’s head to—” he was cut off as a man crashed into him from behind, sending the pair tumbling. Shadow jumped back in surprise, landing on four legs, before hurrying over to check if they were okay.

Thankfully, they seemed fine. Jonas muttered a quick curse before getting back to his feet and turning a glare on the man who’d crashed into him.

“Are you blind? Watch where the hells you’re going!” Jonas yelled.

The other man was finishing getting himself up as well. He was brushing off his fancy-looking clothes and turning a gaze just as livid as Jonas’s back on him.

“Watch where I’m going? You crashed into me, you ruffian!” the other man yelled back.

Jonas gave him an incredulous look. Shadow joined in with a look of her own.

Jonas hadn’t even been moving! There was no way Jonas had been the one to crash into him!

The other man started patting his sides, before becoming even more livid.

“And you stole my coin purse! Thief! THIEF!” The man started screaming the word.

“Wha— shut the hells up! I didn’t steal a damn thing from you!” Jonas angrily bellowed back at him.

“Guards! Guards! Apprehend this man! He’s stolen my coin purse!” The man continued screaming.

A pair of armed and armored men hustled over.

“What’s going on here!?” one of them yelled.

Shadow was standing stock still staring at the situation, unsure of what she should do. That other man was lying! Jonas hadn’t stolen anything! She started to move forward to help—and stopped when she felt someone quickly patting her back.

“Hey! Hey, uhh, kid.” Said a voice in a forceful whisper. She turned around to see a pair of eyes staring at her, belonging to a man with a worried look on his face.

“Is that man your… guard? Keeper? He seems like he’s in trouble!” he asked urgently, looking really concerned.

He was in trouble!? Shadow looked back over in worry. Both Jonas and the other man were screaming at each other, while the guards looked between them menacingly. They both had a hand rested on their swords.

“Those guards are going to arrest him! That other man is a noble!” he warned.

Shadows eyes widened. A noble? They were important! Did that matter? Jonas hadn’t done anything!

“So… you two are close right? I might be able to help!” he said.

Shadow nodded furiously.

Thankfully, she was still clutching the tablets to her chest. She dropped them on the ground to write in the interest of speed.

‘He’s my Uncle! Please help him! He shouldn’t be arrested! He didn’t steal anything!’ she wrote as fast as she could.

The man gave her a surprised look, looking between her and Jonas.

“He’s your uncle?” he asked, seeming a little off balance. With a quick shake of his head, his expression quickly shifted back to one of urgency.

“Then follow me! Quick! I can take you to someone who will clear all this up and save your uncle!” he urged, starting to move away.

Shadow grabbed the tablet in her mouth and started following on all fours, not wanting to be slowed down. But after a few steps, she hesitated.

“Well? Come on!” he pressured.

‘I’m supposed to stay close! I have to talk to Jonas!’ she wrote desperately.

The man’s expression became dire.

“Do you want your uncle in stocks? To get his hands cut off? The noble might have him executed!” he growled.

Shadow shrunk a little and shook her head.

“Then come on! Every second counts! You have to come with me to save him! You can’t help him here!” he implored, gesturing her forward and setting off again.

She stood there for a second, confused and terrified about what was even going on. This had all happened so fast! Jonas hadn’t done anything wrong! Why was this happening!? Thoughts of disembodied hands and… Jonas’s body, dead, lying on the ground flashed through her head.

That couldn’t happen. She took a deep breath and steeled herself.

She had to save her uncle.

She tore off after the man who said he could help.