125 Quick Visit (Part 4)

I didn't know anyone who sold jewellery, but Tara did. We arrived at a small quiet shop, but Tara assured me it was a great shop. Insides were decorated with puppets, all wearing jewellery of some kind. Necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings. There were also more uncommon pieces, like some sort of badges and even head or hair ornaments. "Old Germa, are you here?", Tara called out.

An old Lizard lady walked out from the back room, joining us on the shop's floor. "Young Tara came for a visit? Don't tell me you want to have a look at some rare pieces again… Your friend, she looks familiar… Princess Anna?", she asked unsure. "Pleased to meet you. Tara said your shop has loads of great things, so we came to buy some jewellery", I replied with a smile.

"Hehe, my shop might be small and quiet, but I'm sure you'll be able to find something. What sort of jewellery are you interested in?", "I don't really know. I don't wear jewellery myself really… Curly, behave will you?". Curly seemed really interested in all those glittering items, she jumped off of my neck and explored the shop by herself.

"What an unusual creature, I thought it was some sort of furry scarf", Germa said, surprised. "Yea, I get that a lot. Anyway, what can you recommend to us? My plan is to place Formations of these few pieces, therefore size is quite important. Too small, and it will be quite difficult. The price also matters, we don't have that much money", I said. "Not to worry, I'll show you some of the pieces for sale. Tara should have a good idea about the items I sell. She can help you choose".

With that decided, Germa showed us some rings, bracelets, pendants and whatnot. She chose mostly inexpensive items, but we opted to see those a bit more expensive too. While we were deciding what to buy, Curly finally returned to my side. She didn't return alone, there was something in her mouth. "Didn't I tell you to behave? Where did you get that from?", I asked, with the intention of taking the item away.

Curly was very reluctant to give the small bracelet back, as if she didn't want to part with it. "Hehe, your pet found one of the antiques inside my shop. This thing is rather old, and you can even see the damage thanks to the passage of time", Germa said. She wasn't wrong, the bracelet looked like it saw better days. The materials seemed to be copper mixed with silver, or at least these were the colours on that bracelet. There were black marks everywhere, and even a few dents. The bracelet was intact, but not perfectly round.

"Arf, arf!", Curly barked at me. "You want this?", I asked, confused. "Arf!", she barked in confirmation. "How much would you like for this?", "I'm sure no one else would be willing to buy it, but I do have a shop to run. How about forty Red Hals? A bit damaged, but antique nonetheless", she proposed. I took out forty Red Hals of my own money, and handed them to her. "I'll take it then". With that, the bracelet belonged to Curly. Which of course was baffling to me, since I had no clue why she wanted it in the first place.

Curly was really happy to be given the bracelet back. She put her head through it, then returned to her usual place on my neck. "Anyway, let's wrap this up here. I want to check if Dawn returned already". In the end, we bought six items from Germa, excluding the bracelet for which I paid with my own money. There were two rings, one bracelet, two necklaces and a hair clip that looked like a Taurus' head.

After a brief farewell to Germa, we left her shop. "The two rings were a bit more expensive, so with good Formations we can surely earn well on them. The bracelet as well as the necklaces look more usual, still we can make profits on them no problem. The most intriguing is that Taurus' head clip… It's rather unique", Tara said.

"That's the exact reason for us getting it. The quality seems quite good, but the shape might not appeal to everyone. She was willing to sell it cheaply, since not everyone is a fan of Tauruses. If we find an appropriate person, we can probably sell it for a good price. Of course with appropriate Formations placed on the clip", I replied.

"By the way, how about you treat your friend to some jewellery? I mean, Curly got a piece…", Tara said. "You have your own money, cheapskate, Curly doesn't. Besides, I'm as clueless as you are… Curly, why did you want that old bracelet?", I asked. Curly gave a few happy barks, but that didn't explain anything. "Anyway, let's check whether Dawn's back or not. The rest of our budget can be used for some sculptures, but not the usual ones", I added.

"I'm all ears", Tara said, awaiting an explanation. "Instead of wooden sculptures, we'll pay a bit more and get stone sculptures done. With stone, I don't have to worry about durability that much. Thanks to the stronger material, I'll be able to place stronger Formations too", I explained. "Hmmm, I have about seventy Red Hals left. I'll see what I can do", she agreed. "We can throw in a Black Hal or two into the budget. Variety will do us plenty good, don't you think?", "I guess you are right… Look at you, talking like a proper business woman. Hehe, I like that", she nodded.

Upon our return, Dawn was finally back from her work. She hugged right at the entrance, then showered me with questions. "Calm down, slowly. I'll tell you everything", "We haven't seen each other for so long, and you grew up a lot too. Seems your adventure brought many changes, eh?", she said. "Yea, you don't know the half of it. Let's have a seat first", I nodded, before recounting some of the events from the past few years.

She was surprised many times, especially about the wedding. "It's a shame we couldn't be there for the wedding, but your parents also did a party here", "Huh? No one told me anything about that", I said, then looked at Tara. "Well, I didn't think it was important, since you saw the real deal. The party here in the North was for your parents' friends, and highly positioned people only", Tara explained.

"Anyway, how about you? I'm sure you have loads of things to talk about", I asked Dawn instead. "Hehe, well, not so much. I mean, my work takes most of my time. I usually spent my free time with Tara, or your uncle and aunt. We sometimes visited your parents, but not very often. I'm sure Tara told you about the changes around the North, right? As for myself, same old really", she replied.

"Then do you know about Tara's little… ehem relationship?", I asked. "Hey, why are you bringing this up?!", Tara protested. "You mean Teri? Hehe, she actually thought their little secret was well kept… Seriously Tara, one look at you guys was enough for me", Dawn replied. "Well, they are officially together now", I added. "I'm not really surprised, everyone expected that to a certain extent... You guys finally decided to take a step forward, eh? We thought it'd take a few more years. Hehe, that's more of a surprise", Dawn said.

"You two are simply jealous! You don't have anyone, so you can stuff it", Tara proclaimed. "Now, that isn't true actually", Dawn surprised us all with her reply. "Dawn, what does that mean?", aunt Ceri asked. "... Well, I met someone at work and…", as if caught doing something bad, Dawn's voice became really meek. "Dawn…", her mother demanded answers.

"Nothing happened between us. I just find someone attractive… Alright?", she replied. "Who is it?", aunt Ceri asked. "Why do you want to know? Does it matter?", Dawn questioned. "Of course it does. Now, who is it?", aunt Ceri asked again. "I'm not saying. You'll tell father to make his life more difficult, I'm sure", she replied. "Auntie, it's fine, isn't it? I mean, Dawn is already grown up… Though I'm sure my mother would be the same, I'm also sure Dawn will introduce him when she is ready, right?", I tried to help my friend out. Dawn nodded and looked at her mother.

Aunt Ceri shook her head, "Alright, but be reasonable. Don't let him take advantage of you… I'll keep quiet for now, and let your father stay in the dark. Though remember your father's temper. If he's not good enough, your father will not allow this". "Thanks mom". With that serious mistake out of the way, Dawn grabbed us to leave. She really didn't want to sit there talking, since her mother already knew something she wasn't supposed to.

"This is your fault, Tara", Dawn blamed her. "How come?! You were the one trying to make fun of me, now you paid for it. What goes around, comes around", Tara replied. Dawn wasn't happy, but there were a few questions in my mind. "I'm not going to ask you who it is, but why did your mom react in such a way?", I asked.

"Well, my parents want to find someone strong, someone who will be able to protect me and our family. They want me to aim higher… So of course she'd asked who it was", she explained. "Which means that guy isn't stronger than you, or that influential, right?", I asked. "...Yea. He's actually a bit weaker than me, but that doesn't matter. Why should I choose someone based on strength? He cares about me, isn't that more important?", Dawn argued.

"Yea, I'd say it is. After all, Teri isn't stronger than me either. Thankfully, my parents or Atols in overall aren't that strict. They had nothing against me and Teri, so I can't really relate here", Tara said. "Well, that's to be expected. Shades are much stricter with their children. They want the best for them, sometimes even at a price of happiness. I know my mother will accept that, but my father is a different story", Dawn said.

"From what you said, you actually work with your father?", I asked. "Yea... Actually, I work there because of him. I don't mind, but he is a tough Shade to live with. He might appear nice and all to you, but he really is hard to stomach sometimes", she replied. "I'm sure this will work out one way or another. Worse comes to worst, come to me. I know how this sounds, but maybe thanks to my little title, I'll be able to actually help. You never know", I said. Dawn smiled, but didn't reply to that.

Tara proposed a restaurant, since we didn't have the chance to eat at Dawn's place. During our dinner, I told her a bit more about my journey, though she was more interested in Curly at that stage. "She's really cute, I'd like one too", "Ehem, I can't give you Curly, but I can give you something else", I said. "Hmm? What's that? You have another of those cuties hidden somewhere?", she asked, interested. "No, no. I meant a baby wolf. After all, I have fourteen of them. There are bound to be babies. Once we have some, giving you one or two wouldn't be a problem. Besides, wolves are hunters by nature. If you teach them well, they can be useful in your line of work", I tried to sell the idea to her.

Tara chimed in as well, "Yea, it's actually not that bad, and wolves are still very rare in the North. Besides, these will be babies and friendly from the beginning". 'I wonder why she's so enthusiastic about them all of a sudden? Well, I wanted to give her one whether she liked it or not, so the more I can gi…', "Hey! I can sell these wolves!", I exclaimed.

Both Tara and Dawn looked at each other, then back at me. "Well yea, people sell Tauruses and other stuff. Arena does that, as you probably know, but even Sedon's Grand Stage does. Selling rare wolves wouldn't be a problem. Hell, you'd get quite a lot for them", Tara said. "Exactly! Well, not exactly. I don't care for the money, I just don't want more wolves!", I replied. "Baby wolf, eh? Maybe it's not a bad idea… Yea, I'd like one when you give them away", Dawn accepted my offer. Of course there were no babies yet, though sooner or later, they'd appear. That was a certainty to me.