((Sorry about date edits, it's just that i think it might be easier for people to come in if the date is closer to the others. If it's a problem just let me know and i'll put it back ))

Adelle looked up at the clear sky. It isnt often that the sky is clear durring a rain this thick. She looked through the thick rain at the dock of Old Rose Harbor. It was so thick now that she could see as easily as if looking through fabric that wasnt so close to her face, mostly the color was all she could see. Chace trotted to her and lay down at her side. Adelle opened her bag, pulling out a canister with some water she had gotten from all the rain. She began to drink the water, meanwhile still staring at the harbor.

Adelle looked at Chace now, her eyes happy, a smug smile appearing on her face."Thirsty boy?" She asked sarcasticaly. She lay down next to Chace. "The sky is beautiful, isn't it? Especialy right now, with the rain falling how it is." She asked this as a question, but ending it as a statement. Chace let his jaw drop, his tongue now flopping out.

Adelle slowly got to her feet, moaning as she stood. "Okay, boy, let's go." Chace came to a stand, barking loudly and excitedly. Adelle walked until she came to the entrance of Old Rose Harbor, Chace trotting behind her all the way.

Adelle stopped short. Chace stopping a few feet ahead of her, looked back at her, confusion in his eyes. Confusion easily turned to understanding, he remembered. He remembered that Adelle would always shy at the entrance of new places, She hadn't been around too many people in the past two years of her life.

Adelle looked up from the ground, slowly moving her gaze to the sky. She looked at the clouds for a long moment, watching them pass slowly. She looked back at Chace. "Are you ready?" She asked. Chace let his jaw drop, he seemed ready enough. Will i make any friends here? She thought to herself. Will i find someone i love? Or will i be resented? She asked herself, as if she knew answers that she hadn't told herself.

Adelle took a large breath as she walked into the town. Little that breath did her, when it all came rushing back out as she hit the ground. Something or someone had just run smack into her!

"Ouch!!!" Adelle said with a squeal. She looked up and everything was a daze, she felt like she was going to fall again.

"Watch where yer goin', shorty." Grunted a stocky woman with an armful of packages, wobbling a little from the impact as she tried to regain her footing. She took a few steps back, only to smack into someone behind her—a very large, intimidating looking man with arms the size of tree trunks.

"O'scuse m—" The tall, bald man began to speak, one large, meaty hand reaching out to try to catch the woman but missing as she tripped over his feet, falling forward and scattering packages everywhere, some landing with dull thuds in front of Adelle as well as along the street. The large man's other hand reached for the back of his head in awkwardness, broad fingers rubbing at the tattoos that decorated his head, disappearing down his neck and under his shirt, "Dammit."

The woman landed with a loud, "Oof!" Her arms flailed and people scattered to avoid having to take responsibility for picking up the packages.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Adelle said, pleading for forgiveness. "Ow! Ow! That really hurts!" Adelle stood and moved her hair from her face, watching the woman wobble. She watched the woman back into a man, tripping over his feet just before she could speek the words; "Watch out!".

Adelle jumped back twice, as two packeges almost hit her on their way down. "Are you okay ma'am? Here, let me help you up." Adelle said these words kindly, understanding the pain that the woman may very well be in, and added a friendly smile at the end. She threw her hand out for the woman to grab. Oh yea...Great first impression Adelle... She thought sarcasticaly and brutaly to herself.

The woman saw the girl's hand and may have stared at it a bit longer than was necessarily polite. This girl looked a bit too small to really be helping her up. Still, she took Adelle's hand and at least pretended to allow her to lift, even if the woman obviously did most of the work, "Thank'ee, child. Ye'd best be watchin' where yer goin' on these busy streets. Ent safe t'be runnin' into strange folks, you know."

"Darn right it ent." Huffed the tall, hulking human behind her. He was scowling, but at least making use of himself by picking up boxes, "Young folks these days ent got any respect."

There were still a few boxes left to be gathered, all carefully wrapped, unmarked parcels.

After Adelle helped the woman up, she began to help the large man pick up the boxes. Hmm...I wander when the ferry comes with more fish...I'm pretty hungry... Adelle thought as her stomach grumbled.

"Do ya' hap'n ta' know when the ferry comes 'long with more fish? I could use a bite bout' now..." Adelle asked the woman with both curiosity and a sense of humor. "I have but a tallie, but i think i can find a small fish er' somethin'." She said with a smile.

Chace, now standing between Adelle and the woman, looked up at the woman with cautious eyes. He began to walk in a circle around the woman, as though he were trying to be sure she was safe. "Chace, it's okay." Adelle said, as if she were telling a child not to be afraid. Chace quickly walked back to Adelle, and sat, leaning on her ankles.

"Oh, er, by th' way, my names' Adelle, and this is Chace. Whats' yer's?"

The woman had finished gathering her packages and eventually found her balance again. Peering over the wrapped objects, the woman offered a smile that didn't have as many teeth as most people, "Jus' call me Wren, child. I ent one to use my real name 'round here in the Harbor, y'see."

She chuckled, "You ent gotta wait on a ferry to get fish. There's always food to be had. Th'market's full of stalls all day long, an' if you ent got the coin, not everyone's watchin' if you feel like takin' a swipe at things."

Wren winked at this, as if not at all bothered by encouraging the girl to steal.

Adelle saw the woman smiling back at her.


"Thanks ma'-er..Wren!" Adelle yelled, as she started to run further into the town.

Adelle slowed from a run to a walk, as she got tired. She walked to many places just to familiarize herself with the town, so that she could go where she needed, when she needed. Until she left, of course, as she had already crushed her own hopes of finding family, so that they wouldn't go too high up.

Adelle got up from the ground that she had sat on to take a rest. She walked around a corner, deciding she would go to the waterfront now. As she passed the corner, a stand caught her eye. Fresh, Clean, Fish! She read the sign to herself. "Fish!" She said, remembering the last word she'd read.

Adelle walked to the stand, that walk slowly turned to a skip, and then a run, as she was reminded, by her growling stomach, that indeed she was hungry. She ran forward, stopping short in front of the stand. "Hello?"

Adelle waited for a reply, but no one had said anything. Her stomach growled, reminding her yet again, just how hungry she was. Adelle looked down at the stand that was nearly as tall as her shoulders. Fish... She thought. Maybe if i just take one...

Adelle swiped her hand very quickly across the top of the stand, grabbing at a medium sized fish, and pulling it off of the counter. She quickly turned away from the stand, while trying to open her bag, and threw the fish in as quickly as possible.

If anyone wandering by had noticed Adelle's actions, no one said anything. It was the Harbor, and it was Loshis, and no one wanted to bother pointing out someone else's wrongs in the rain in a place like this. If the fish stand vendor had noticed, no one yelled at her right away. There was some shuffling, as if the owner might have been bent over digging through buckets of fish,

"Hmm? Someone there?" Came a muffled voice from behind the counter.

Almost as soon as she had began walking, Adelle stopped short. The voice she had heard made her jump back almost a foot.

Crap! She thought. "I was...Er..That is i was..." Adelle scrambled for something to say that didn't sound to suspicious. "Just saying hi!-You know, in a friendly sorta' way? Hadn't made too many friends yet in this here town, figured i might try a hello." She finally finished, the end sounding more like a question.

She had remembered the words of Wren, the stocky woman that had bumped into her earlier on in the day, but was unsure what the owner of the stolen item would think about her actions.

"Well, no dawdlin'. If you're not gonna buy nothin', don't hover by my fish." The narrow wick stood up from behind his counter, wiping his fishy hands on the stained leather apron.

"Unless you're buyin'. You got some ging, boch? Need some fish?" Tall and partially toothless, the older fishmonger had wisps of white hair on his head and rather impressive sideburns. His eyebrows were like fluffy clouds. However, he definitely smelled like a fishmonger.

He eyed his wares, biting his chapped lower lip for a moment, before leaning on the counter and giving Adelle a stern look, "Which is it?"

Adelle froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. Should she apologize and pay for the fish, being as she did have some ging? Or would it be best to just leave, saving the money for another meal?

"That's okay, i don't have much. Another day maybe?" She said in a more confident voice. Adelle thought for a moment. I could use some extra ging... "Although, would you have much a problem with me staying around, and doing some work of some sort? I could really use the extra ging..." She smiled a smile that could have dazzled many, aside from the yellowness of her teeth. Although who knew, many people in this town seemed to have missing teeth.

"Work?" The wick glared at the girl, small and offering him some kind of placating smile, "Can you gut fish? Can you yell loud an' sell my catch'o'th'day? You ent look like much of a salesperson down there, boch."

He smirked, revealing his handful of teeth, gnarled hands on the countertop of his booth, the stench of old fish wafting across from his every pore toward Adelle's young nostrils, "You sure you wanna work with fish? Hmm? You're too pretty to sell fish. No one's gonna believe you're a fishmonger girl."

Adelle was thinking about the mans words.


Pretty.. She thought with a smile. She liked when people said nice things about her, it made her feel more like she belonged here.

"I don't care if they believe me or not. And yeah, I can cut fish, I've been living on my own for two years on the plains traveling." Adelle said with a sort of smirky pride of the fact. "The yelling I'm not to sure I could do, but I could sure cut the fish." She said, "So what do you say? I can work cheap."

The old, slightly toothless wick smacked his lips and looked thoughtful, sharp yellow eyes darting to the crowd as one gnarled hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. A few potential customers had slowed to study his lifeless but still-fresh wares, noting that at least his fish still had clear eyes, unlike some of the other vendors. He'd caught his this morning, he knew how to keep his fish for as long as possible. A few cooked selections, fried up in the hours before the sun fully rose by his wife, took over another side of his tent. The fishmonger wasn't a fan of sharing profits, and the creases of his weathered face revealed just how hard he was thinking about this little girl's proposition.

He had kids of his own, kids he put to work all the time. A good number of them were grown now, however. He scowled.

"I ent got a lot of business to share ging, but I might be able to make an exception for a day." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder to where there was a gate built into the counter of his booth, "If you cut yourself, it ent my fault."

The old wick had obviously been cutting fish on a low table near the ground when Adelle had showed up in the first place, considering a metal bucket was full of fish guts and flies. The small table had a few fish on it, a grime-coated knife, and a tray for finished fish. It was a lot smellier behind the counter.

Adelle tried not to breathe from her nose, with the awful stench of the fish in the air. As she walked under and into the stand, she looked carefully at how the man had his fish cut, just to know how he would prefer it cut.

"Thanks very much sir." She said, her smile widening. She picked up the large knife and began to cut into a large fish. She turned to put some fish guts into the bucket, and noticed how full it was. "This bucket is awfully full, do you normally dump it somewhere, or re-use the guts as bait?" She asked, staring at the gross contents of the bucket.

"I don' need any more bait than I already got." Grumbled the wick as he exchanged coins for a customer who'd appeared, "Jus' dump it down the alley that way—"

He pointed with his free hand over his shoulder and down between some of the market alleys, "No one will notice."

Adelle watched the flies move up in a swarm as the man moved his hand, pointing towards some empty alley ways. "Yes sir." She said, picking up the bucket.

Adelle walked down the alley ways with the large bucket, noting how dark it was between the buildings, even during the daytime. Although this was probably the work of some large rain cloud. She found a low spot on the ground, almost a hole, and began to walk to it, but on her way, she tripped over a rock the size of a small box.

The bucket of day-old fish guts went everywhere—on the street, on the wall of the alley, and on Adelle. It was a smelly, fly-attracting mess of oozing, dark colors and it was hideous. The alley was empty, which was both a blessing that no one else got splattered and a curse because there was no one there to assist Adelle in getting up.

A few stray ostas in the alley may have found the scene interesting, however, ears perking up and eyes focusing on the smell of rotting intestines as a potential meal.

Adelle stood up, looking around at the eyes that were now staring at the fish guts that were everywhere. "Ah man..." She said, looking at the fish guts and flies that were all over her now.

She picked up the bucket, made sure it was empty, and walked back to the stand. "Er...May i go to the shore for a minute please?" She said, clearly hoping to wash herself free from the stench that swarmed over, under, and all around her.

"Ah, but, bochi, now you're dressed for work!" Laughed the old wick, actually being sincere and not sarcastic. He'd obviously lost all sense of smell years ago, fishmongering for as long as the callouses on his hands bespoke of. His grin softened a little as he recognized the discomfort of the girl he'd agreed to hire for a day on a whim,

"You take your time. I'm here all day." Her absence would give him time to consider whether or not he had the coins to offer her new clothes. He had bochi of his own, he knew how things were. It all depended on how many fish he could sell, however, "You jus' have to come back smilin', ye chen?"

Adelle chuckled at what she thought was a joke, but surely enough, her face turned to discomfort when she'd caught a whiff of herself.



"Yes sir, thanks!" She said, as she began walking to the shore.

She stumbled over one too many things on the way; rocks, holes, sea shells, even some soft spots in the dirt. When she'd finally gotten to the shore, she wasn't just covered in fish guts, but now sand was covering even that.

Adelle walked slowly, foot by foot, into the ocean. When she'd reached a point where her knees were barely submerged, she bent down to splash the water on herself. "Ouch!" She yelled. Flailing arms and all, she fell into the water with no hope of any part of her staying dry.

I'm not going to sleep tonight until I've been knocked down five times. That's just my luck! She thought to herself, as she tried to emerge from the water.

The beach was surprisingly empty, though it could've just been because of the weather. Overcast as usual for Loshis, there was a breeze and a bit of a misting rain. Nothing heavy, but enough to coat most people in a light dusting of moisture. The ocean was chilly, but not bitterly so. It definitely sucked a bit of air from the lungs at first, but standing up again after a dip made the wet air feel much warmer than it really was.

No one was strolling along the beach, not even any stray fishermen or drunk pirates.

Adelle pulled herself from the water. Walking slowly to the beach, shivering horribly, she looked over herself to make sure she was clean. A few pieces of fish were still on her, but right now she was cold enough not to care.

Chace came trotting to the water. He never went in the water, he only got wet on days that were so hot that small rivers were dried up.

Adelle walked to Chace, and when she reached him she quickly threw her arms around him, hugging him for warmth. When she was warmer, she let go and began walking back to the fish stand.

"I'm back." She told the man.

"Hesta!" Grinned the old wick of a fishmonger, "Got plenny left for you to do, anyways. You sure you wanna spend the day with stinky fish? I can't promise amazin' pay, ye chen?"

He'd sold a few more fish, judging by some smaller piles. They'd become harder to sell as the day wore on, especially once their eyes finally glazed over and that familiar odor crept in. For now, they were still fresh, and the cloudy, rainy weather at least helped in their preservation.

The cooked fish were already covered by hand-crafted tin lids, each one marked by a little sign with a terribly written price. Apparently, his writing skills left much to be desired.

Glancing at the pile of fish left to be gutted and sorted, the old wick added, "I ent asked your name."

Adelle smiled. "My name's Adelle. I don't mind working with fish, I do it all the time for meals. And don't worry about good pay, a little is all i could ask. you're very kind, by the way. Most I've met would tell me that I should 'Go fishin!'' if i don't have much money.

Chase sat on the ground beside Adelle, probably bored. Adelle went back to the fish, and continued where she'd left off, a smile on her face despite the smell.