Salvaging

Seeing this, Ava couldn't help but pause for a moment. The church never had any food worth taking, as the pastor barely even bothered to get the lowest quality black bread for their ceremonies, and typically most of the villagers would avoid littering in the church's vicinity. Thus, overall the church rarely had much trash at all. If the trash was full, there should be something special inside, as typically the pastor would simply take out the church's trash with his own, as he lived nearby.

Creeping over to the trashcan, Ava carefully lifted the cover before seeing a can full of broken glass shards. Thinking for a moment, Ava searched her memories before recalling that it seemed that there had been a rumor going around that the church had been cursed and the pastor was secretly a heretic because a bird had smashed its way through a window in the last gathering.

At the time, she hadn't particularly cared about the rumor, as based off of her experience with the pastor, and her hardships in life, she wouldn't be permitted into the church even if she did believe in the Goddess of Fertility, Prosperity, and Harvest Lithius. Of course, she didn't. After all, if there was a God, even if order wasn't in their domain, it didn't make sense that idiots like the two men from before, or the pastor of this church would be able to achieve the status that they did.

But now, it seemed like she should have paid more attention. The focus wasn't on the fact that the church was cursed, but rather that a window had been smashed.

Reaching her hand into the bin, Ava took out two large shards of glass, wrapping the first one in her shirt, and ripping out a bit of the cloth at the bottom of her shirt to wrap around the sharp endpiece of the other, lightly cutting herself in the process. Lifting her thumb up to her mouth, she lightly sucked on the cut, not wanting to lose any of her blood.

Looking at the makeshift dagger in her hand, Ava couldn't help but have some thoughts. No matter what, it seemed like she couldn't stay in Shattered Creek Village any longer. Although it seemed like the problem had temporarily resolved itself, as the two lanky men were going to find a placeholder for her, she was sure that if she ever entered their line of sight again, they would have no hesitation in sacrificing her as well.

In addition, after this incident, she could be considered to have completely fallen out with the rat. After all, even if she was willing to trust the rat again, would the rat be willing to use someone they had double crossed before? It was possible that the rat himself would kill her on sight as well.

In the end, the problem was that Shattered Creek Village was just too small. Although it was larger then some of the fringe villages nearby, having developed in the direction of a town, it was still small enough that it was impossible for her to live in the town without coming across familiar faces. And it wasn't like she could give up scavenging in half the village just to avoid people, she would simply starve in that case.

But to make it into the nearest town, she would have to have a citizen pass, or at the very least enough money to bribe the guards to let her in. Ideally, she should also wear something nicer then what she was currently wearing, so she didn't instantly get chased away.

Making her way to the opposite fence, Ava couldn't help but frown at the height. Normally it wouldn't be a problem to get across the fence, but with one of her hands occupied by a piece of glass, and another piece of glass folded into her shirt, it was highly possible that she would cut herself while crossing, and possibly shatter the glass in the process as well, losing her gains on top of hurting herself.

Thinking for a moment, Ava moved back to the trashcan and pushed it over to the side of the fence, and after stepping on top of the trashcan, could barely reach the top of the fence. Standing with her back facing the fence on top of the trashcan, Ava jumped slightly and landed on her butt on the fence, and then using her hands turned herself around and landed on the opposite side safely.

Taking a few glances around to ensure no one had saw her, Ava quickly made her way out of the alley before crossing into another one, making her way through the village while trying to avoid all the main roads.

Although the two fellows had temporarily given up on finding her, and it seemed like they had gone to the bar, it didn't hurt to be a little more cautious.

Before long, she arrived at a small ramshackle shed that sat behind an abandoned warehouse. Seeing the broken door and the obvious footsteps in front of the shed, Ava didn't seem surprised, simply pushing open what remained of the door before looking at the cramped interior. Inside, the bits of cloth and hay she had strung together to make a bedspread had been torn apart, and her small collection of goods had also been taken away.

With an impassive look on her face, Ava made her way to the corner of the shed and pushed aside the broken bedspread, which spilled out hay as she did so. Pushing aside the hay with her foot, Ava bent down and dug at the dirt floor, revealing a small pouch that contained about seven bronze coins, and a small metal fishing hook alongside a bundle of fishing twine.

These should be considered her most valuable possessions. Then, moving over to the other side of the hut, Ava looked at the broken stool that now had three of its four legs torn off. She had originally found this stool behind a townhouse, with one of the legs torn off. Seeing that it could still be sat on with decent balance, she had lugged it home and used it as a door guard, as well as at times a table, as with her diminutive height it was about tall enough if she sat on the floor.

Picking at the splinters coming off of the broken stool, she eventually got a decent sized chunk, and then using the fishing hook made a small hole on the large end of the splinter, before tying the twine into the hole. Then, picking up the scraps of cloth that remained from her bedspread, she took the biggest piece and sewed it into the inside of her shirt, placing the coin pouch between the two layers.

Taking any of the larger remaining strips of cloth, she made two tight bindings on the two shards of glass, as well as tightening the impromptu binding she had made earlier, creating two fairly comfortable handles that she could exert some strength on without cutting herself.

Lastly, she made a small pouch that was no bigger then a palm, keeping the hook and twine inside of it. Then, taking a brief look around she exited the hut. If she stayed any longer there was a chance someone would come back to check, and she was unwilling to get found.

Taking one last look at the small shed that she had stayed in for as long as she could remember, Ava entered an alleyway and left.