ORIGIN - [FF] TAXES (trinket and item shop)

Cave-light twinkled down on the fall festival, a certain small booth standing steady near it's core. A wood-and-twine boxy hut, lizard-sized and secluded from prying eyes, scavenged materials spilling out of it's sole entrance. The clearing in front was sweeped surprisingly clean with piles of mosses acting as seating, both for customers and any passerby who just wanted a break. Wooden poles directed passerby near. A vaguely tablelike structure sat next to a bone drum, with four trinkets displayed on it's surface:

-- A floppy twine ragdoll (roughly 7" long) vaguely resembling a quadruped creature. A fat green leaf sticks out of it's head.

-- A miniature cart (around 8") made of interlocking bone. Attached to the front is a rough figure also made of bone, looking as if it is pulling the cart itself.

-- A pair of small cymbals made of stone and attached to the other with vine. When hit together they produce a metallic clang.

-- A plain grey rock with a crude, derpy smile carved in.

There were others mixed in too: an oddly reflective purple gem and a few plain pebbles, for one. But the main purpose of the shop were neither of those-- Sharp was just about to explain what.

And there she was! The little lizard, poking her dusty head out of her workshop once she saw the crowds start to visit other shops. It was time! She climbed over her funny box, walked to her drum, clanged the bones a few times, then climbed back onto the hut and began advertising:

"SHAAAARP! SELLS! THINGS!" her shrill voice sounded out into the air. "HAVE ALREADY-MADE THINGS! WILL MAKE THINGS IF BUYER WANTS! POINTY-STABBY THINGS! FUNNY-PLAY-EY THINGS! EXCHANGE FOR SHINIES AND GLOWIES!"

Now she just had to wait for business.

Sharp is selling premade toys, stones, as well as custom objects as requested. She spends a good amount of time in her back workshop, and if she's not up front gembound can ring her bone drum/bell to get her attention. ~~Or try to steal some of the things she has on display if they're willing to take the risk.~~

Huma had been left at home. That had not, however, deterred him. He was older now, no longer a tiny and fluffy baby, but instead a patchwork mess of adult feathers and baby down. He had hobbled into Polaris with his wings beating valiantly (although he still wasn't able to fly on them), and now he hopped up on the drum and bounced on it, making a clacking noise with his toes but not a drum noise (he wasn't that heavy). "Mama!" Huma chirped, voice still rough but becoming smoother. "Followed you. What're you doing?" He lowered his head to peer into the hut at her.

He noticed the two rocks beside each other, and hopped off the drum to totter over, picking one up and banging them together to make noises. Lovely -- the child had found the noisemakers.

@sharp

Leaving Kitty's booth, Comet looked around, trying to find the next spot she should go to. There, a tiny booth going almost unnoticed among the other much bigger ones. Although it was small, it had some of the best setups, with small piles of moss to sit on, a bone bell to ring, and so many nice items! She walked over, and seeing no one was at the front of the booth at the moment, sat down on one of the piles of moss. The small piece of moss was squished into nothingness at the weight and size of her body, but it would've been rude to not make use of this seating which was obviously for the customers' use.

Comet guessed that the bell was probably for ringing, so she held up a claw, and tapped it against the bell, making a pleasant sound. Even that light tap left behind a small scratch on the bell, but she couldn't help it. "Hello?"

@Sharp

East was subject to avian curiosity; it dragged him by a tight leash, guiding his awkward and wobbly flight path to a small booth standing out amongst giants. The place was quaint and cozy compared to the rest of the festival, somewhere to mill about amongst the chaos. If one were feeling bushed, they might relax upon the accommodating moss—a thoughtful addition, even if he could barely fit both feet on a pile without shredding the plush seating. But that wasn't the draw for him. No, the real eye-grabbers were the little collection spread out for prospective customers.

A child he might be, but toys were a foreign concept. The closest thing to playtime he knew was the unfortunate time he'd accidentally discovered handpuppetry. It was a good thing skeletons couldn't feel; he sure felt bad trying to reattach that Lesser's skull. So, seeing such creations, they were oddities for the bird.

That didn't mean he was incapable of admiring them. Keen eyes took in the bones arranged to the shape of something distinct from that of a creature, not quite understanding the figure in front but still quietly amused by the sight. The simple, smiling rock he contemplated, debating whether to start a conversation with it in jest.

The ragdoll, though, was truly a head-turner. And by that, his head tilted far enough to the side it almost could have started spinning like a wheel. He lifted it and watched its limbs flop around. What sort of purpose did something so flimsy serve?

Now that the call was out, Sharp headed back into her warehouse to organize all her piles of junk and hopefully make it nice and tidy. The lizard spent so long making the outside look beautiful, that she completely neglected clearing out all the things inside her little hut.

Halfway through shifting things around, the bone bell rang and Sharp felt her heart jump up her chest. The first customer! No, no, it was just Huma's owlish face poking through the branches. But that was still just as exciting! She loved her little feather-lizard, yes she did!

"Huma!" she squawked as the little bird began playing with the cymbals. "I didn't know you'd be here! Is Aerie fine?" The mottled reptile hurried out of her structure just in time to hear the bone bell ring again. Another customer! "Momma's just selling some things, don't worry."

Finally rounding the corner, the sungazer peered up to see, alongside huma, a monochrome bird holding the ragdoll and a familiar white pup. Ooh, looks like her moss piles weren't big enough, seeing they were almost entirely squished. But that was fine! "HELLO, HELLO!" Her little claws tapped against the ground as she shouted. "Good seeing you, Comet! And hello other feather-lizard!"

Sharp swept her spiny tail towards the assorted toys on display. "HERE ARE ALREADY-MADE THINGS! Hold them and they move! Very fun!" she nodded her head towards East. "That's the TWIG GEMBOUND! The TWIGBOUND! You can make it stand, or sit, or just flop around! And that--" now onto the cymbals-- "Is the BANG-THINGY! It bangs when you shake them!"

"If you want something else, I make those too, of course. I'm very good at making! Just remember they all cost a shiny or a glowy!"

@East @Comet @Huma

He froze at the question about his sibling, and laughed a little nervously before giving a noncommittal shrug. It was not exactly in Huma's nature to care about anything beyond his own beak, which... frequently came back to bite him in the tail. Then, his head snapped nearly all the way around towards Comet, who he recalled with disdain -- the white, furry beast wasn't very smart as far as he was concerned.

He turned back to his mother. "Got bored! Aerie's prolly okay. They've got a handle of themself!" He kept banging the cymbals together, and then dropped them in favor of hopping back on his rock. "Lots of people!" he cried. "See you!"

Then, Huma was waddling off as fast as his little legs could carry him, wings still beating valiantly (though to minimal avail) as he tried to find something else that was of any interest to him.

/exit huma, unless stopped
@sharp

Oh! It was Sharp! Of course, who else could it be other than the crafty lizard? Comet smiled as she recalled when she had helped her build a "castle" in Eridanus. That had been fun! The only thing was that she had to pay for it in something that glowed or was shiny. The pup had forgotten that Sharp's idea of payments was different than that of other animals. Instead of wanting prey or something like that, Sharp wanted stones. Which was.. harder? Or easier? to find.

She ignored Huma's look of disdain, she was here at the festival to have fun! And she didn't want to start any arguments or anything like that. So ignorance was the best thing to do. There was a bird here too, although it seemed he had set his eyes on something different than she herself was interested in.

"Could you make me a necklace?" asked Comet, "Sturdy enough that it won't fall off when I go on my adventures, but also light enough for me to wear. A few trinket hung on it would be nice too!" Now she thought about what she could pay Sharp.

A large and shiny rock was soon found, with a bit of looking around, and she brought it over to the lizard and plopped it down. "Is this good as payment?"

@Sharp

Although he'd never say it aloud, the enthusiastic shouting took him by surprise. Coming from the lizard, it was like hearing a thunderclap where the rainfall was only a drizzle. His grip tightened slightly over the ragdoll, crest feathers quivering with a hint of alarm. The tell was subtle, the rest of his demeanor unruffled in every sense of the word, but one nonetheless. He straightened his head from its cocked position and locked onto the diminutive proprietor's sales pitch.

"Twigbound." Tone wavered between amused and plain bemused while East dared another look at what he held. The twine figure lay innocently in a set of talons. Following the instructional summary, he manipulated the toy into a standing position. This took a couple more tries than preferred, the difficulty being keeping it still enough to maneuver all four stubby legs into place on the table. He regarded it with another head tilt and a considering hum.

Could be good as a decoy—a tiny one. Something to think over. As he did so, his gaze shifted back over the rest of the premade wares and settled upon the bone cart. The pieces skillfully interlocked in a way appealing to the eye. He was not a crafty sort, but this might be an expert to nab an opinion from.

East waited as the wolf sorted out her commission. Time was filled by posing the ragdoll some more, the result of boredom and maybe a growing attachment to the object. When attention turned to him, he preened, a subconscious move for the sake of appearances. Speaking, his voice stayed low with a conversationalist's easy chirp.

"I'll say, you've sure got a knack for things. Move, bang, hold. Is cutting stuff simple to make?" His wing prepared to raise and wave away any attempt to make a sale based off the question. "Mind, I'm all set on taking Twiggy there if you let me zip off to grab a shiny of mine. Just asking for a pal. He's got a broken thing, can't even cut a mouse's whisker anymore."

@Sharp

Huma fluttered away (thankfully leaving the merchandise behind), and Sharp waved at him with a flick of her tail before turning back to her two customers. Not that she wasn't interested in her son's departure, just that it was important to keep the customers interested. Then she could bring back all the shinies for her children.

And what nice customers she had! Her attention went to the wolf first: friendly and approachable, as Comet always was. She wished for a necklace! Sharp knew what necklaces were, even if she never made one personally. The lizard even saw a couple people at this very market with them. "Can do, Comet!" she assured, watching the wolf wander off for a stone before turning her eye to the hawk.

Ah, they were interesting in cutting stuff? Her brain mulled over it for a moment-- 'Is he talking about cutting things, or things that cut?'-- before deciding it was probably the latter. "Yep yep, it is pretty easy! Sharpening, un-breaking, I can do that! Tell your friend to come by Pegasus sometime! Or just here!"

And Comet was back! Sharp graciously accepted the stone, nudging it around a bit before nabbing it in her mouth. "Mhm! Is good! Will be done SUPER QUICK!"

The squat lizard hurried back to her work shed, hidden behind twigs and vine. Sharp nosed around her materials as she looked for what she needed. A bit of dried twine gripped tight between her teeth. Some spare bones-- small ones, so they slipped nicely on without adding too much weight. What else reminded her of Comet...? Oh yes, flowers! She didn't have a terribly large amount, but she managed to find some dried flowers among all the strange things she had lying about. With a careful eye and delicate fingers, she twisted them around, weaving the vine and twine together until she had a nice hoop far larger than herself. She then slipped on the bones, tying little knots around each one so they didn't slip ('man, this would be so much easier with thumbs') and arranging the petals so that they came between each trinket. At the very center: a nice, smooth marble, cracked just enough so the string could fit through.

Wooh. Was a bit tricky for her first try, but it came out decent. She even got to add a couple of decorations! Dragging her finished work out the shed, she placed it down at the wolf's paws and looked up with a smile. "How do you like it?"

Comet has bought an item!
A Very Flower-y Necklace

The height of fashion. Totally.

@Comet @East

East nodded. "Will do."

The stinking rot of the matter was where he could find this Pegasus. An inquiry had barely whistled past his beak when the lizard, lightning-quick, scurried off to work. He cut himself off with a decisive clack. Better not waste the breath now and save it for later.

Nevertheless, the bird couldn't help but stare after her speedy retreat, nerves zapped as if by a stray bolt. Was that level of energy normal? Just to check, he spared a glance at the other customer there. It didn't provide a definitive answer.

But putting aside the momentary bafflement, a "shiny" needed to be recovered. Here's to hoping he remembered exactly what nook it was stuffed in. He gave the twine ragdoll a gentle poke of farewell; it swayed in place but did not fall over. Then in a sharp pivot and a flurry of wingbeats, he was up and away, careening through the bustling crowd.

-Temporary Exit