Thread: Worlds, among other things. Post-apocalypse RP with Lotherio & Cosmic

...So then when they ran away from the flare I was free to collect. A couple of mamas made it a bit difficult, but luckily I didn't break anything, skinned my knees something fierce but not to worried about infection from that wine you got me. She finished her story with a toothy grin and a nod, before gulping down a small glass of what looked like purple oily water. It was one of the few reasons she came to the bazaar today, the other was the fact the city kids were due to show and she never missed out on showing them they were not welcome here. Currently, she was sitting on an overturned crate next to a couple of lonely old men who were guffawing over her story, and were more than a little generous with their alcohol. And even though the evening bazaar held many colors, shapes, and people, none could say that Nat-Vee was blending by any means. Firstly she was tall for a woman, nearly six feet, with wide bright sky blue eyes that heavily contrasted her dark dirty exterior. Her skin was naturally a coppery color, but combined with her near-permanent tan and grime it looked darker, particularly in her face in hands. Her hair was the truly strange thing as she had it cut short on her left side, but the semi-curly black locks on her right were braided over her head like a crown and clipped to the left behind her hair with a shiny piece of metal. Most women in this area kept their hair long if an adult, or shaved if a child. Nat was an interesting combination of both. Even her dress seemed confused as to whether or not she was a child or a woman by the villages standard. She wore simple denim pants--no cheap buy for anyone--but also a faded purple web-skirt that served no real purpose beyond looking strange. Her shirt was a simple red tank top, despite the risk for sunburn, she just liked showing off the long violet-gray scar that ran from the top of her shoulder by her neck and curved all the way down to her elbow. Despite her wild, and even vaguely risque, attire no villager really paid her notice. Those who knew the traveler gave her a wave of hello, and those who didn't rightfully guarded their goods. She didn't seem to mind to much, her large green bag sat near her right side, and another back sat near left, that although looked relatively new and well kept, had the distinct smell of dung about it. So anyway, Dif, about that rifle you had. I got fresh grade A pure pig shit to trade. as I already said, I nearly died collecting it, but i'll give you a whole twenty pounds flat for one rifle and a box of rounds. she said setting her cup back down. Plus it's wild so you know it's good. Monsoon season is soon and you can't convince me that you don't need some fertilizer for your crop. Plus, twenty pounds for one gun and some rounds? I'm one generous fool. Nat, I would...but I already traded it. The old man nearest to her said slowly. And for a better deal than yours to boot! damn city boys no nothing about bartering around here! He started to laugh with the other man but Nat's eyes narrowed. What was the deal? A gallon of water, a two pound block of salt, and--and Nat, he gave me salt and--a yard of city-grade denim. The pair broke up laughing as Nat fumed. She risked her life to get enough dung to make a reasonable bargain for the gun, and this guy, this city boy, ends up make an offer three times better than anything she could ever come up with? She was close to murderous. So you are saying, that I spent the rest of my flares and nearly died, to collect the pig shit you requested...just to get out bidded by...by... She slammed her fist on the table, causing the men to just laugh louder. She sighed. No point in getting angry. Fertilizer, salt, water, denim...she had all of these things in a well enough stock to where she could get enough food for two months of travel, enough water for a few weeks, and a few parts for Betsy. It would be a good run, a good stop. Profitable even considering the fact that with the creek in the area, she could wash out the dung-bag and haul extra stuff that rightfully belong to her, yet somehow was in other people's packs. She got up without another word, hauling both of the bags in tow. Her main one was on her back by one strap, and the one with dung she held in one hand as she checked out the venders and made scary faces at the few city people she saw. She had to go to the fruit stand first, the dried fruits and nuts there being the cheapest but lightest subsistence available for the long journey ahead of her. Where she was going she didn't know, but that little encounter, despite the free alcohol, was enough to turn her pleasant mood sour and make communication with people...difficult to say the least. By the time she made it to the fruit stand she already had a small bag in her other hand that had tiny pieces of rock salt, shiny stones to be used as weight or jewelry, and a couple of swatches of fabric. Some called it stealing, but Nat called it scavenging. It was just little things taken from a lot of people in small enough quantities that added up into half the price for four pounds of fruit and nut mix. It was then she noticed a city-boy near a vender next to her, carefully looking at the greasy nuts and bolts the man was showcasing as if there was some secret message in them. Normally Nat wouldn't have cared, but it was the fact she could see plain as day, her gun slung across his back that was the final straw as she emptied the large baskets of food into an inner pocket of her pack. She was going to get her gun, and compensation for it's original loss too, whether this city boy knew it or not.