Chapter 3 : Shopping

  The market was still alive with noise and color as the boy and his father stepped out of Korrin & Daughters. Their sack of rocks is now empty and their velmarks pouch is a little heavier. As they walked further from the shop, one merchant’s offer stood among others “special candy canes, 5 velmarks for two and only for today!”. The little boy clutched his newly obtained velmark coins in one hand while the other tucked into his father’s coat pocket. “Dad, can I have those canes?”,”(chuckles) Well, of course you can, because we also need to put the sugar meter up kid, come on”.

  The little kid quickly walks towards the vendor and exchanges his own velmarks for those two candy canes. The candy canes are made from … , an exotic plant that only exists on moving crawlers. They’ve been accompanying many crawlers for an unknown amount of years, maybe it has been so before the planet became almost tidally locked. It is inseparable from every walking giant. “Father can i have these two”, His father chuckles again and said “Well, you can”.

  As they continue to walk through the market’s winding walkways with economic activity being done in the background, the little boy starts to ask some questions. “Dad, why did the vendor buy our stones?” The boy asked while enjoying the candies on his both hands. “well, if you do something to the stones, you will get valuable items, such as metals to build crawlers or weaponry.” his father answered.

  After answering the little boy’s question, they came to a spare parts vendor. A wiry woman with a voice like sandpaper and a table full of scavenged parts starts to offer her top selling products. The father haggled over a replacement coolant valve while the boy examined a bin of cracked visors and old crawler badges.

  The third stall was a spice merchant, his wares arranged in glowing jars that pulsed faintly with heat. The father bought a small pouch of dried emberroot, good for stews and sore throats alike. He also bought multiple big boxes of food supply sent to their crawler directly.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  As the father is about to pay everything they bought, a blur of motion suddenly flashes through and a tug is felt by the father’s belt. The bag was gone. Someone has stolen it right before the little kid’s eyes. The boy turned just in time to see a small figure dart away. A child no older than himself, clutching a familiar leather pouch. “That’s the bag” he shouted as he started to run as fast as he could, dropping his half-finished candy cane behind. “Well, I guess the business needs to wait, . . . Hey stop you little brat”, the father shouted and started to chase the little thief after talking to the vendor.

  The boy didn’t hesitate. He bolted after the thief, weaving through the crowd with surprising speed. Merchants shouted as he brushed past their stalls. The little thief toppled a stack of crates full of fruits hoping to stall the little boy. He quickly jumped over a lady’s fruit stand to avoid the obstacle. “Oh come on, my fresh fruits! Come here you son of a b”!W@!” A woman cursed as her recently organised fruits were crushed into pieces. The boy didn’t stop chasing.

  The pickpocket was fast. The thief darted through the main street like a cat, then slipped into a narrow alley between two cargo lifts like an eel, and somehow the boy was not so far behind. As his heart was pounding and his feet slapping against the road, suddenly, the pickpocket jumped over a balcony and parkoured into another building and continued on running. The boy scrambled his head but then his father grabbed him up and threw him out of the balcony descending slowly like a glide using an item. They continued on chasing, scrambled over a stack of crates, and dropped into a service corridor that smelled of rust and coolant. And then, . . .

  “Hahah, you can’t run anywhere now!” the boy said while gasping for air. “Give me back that money you thief!” he mischievously said as the pickpocket came to a dead end. The little thief, after knowing there is no escape, walked towards the boy to give back the bag. As thee approach approaches, . . . “HAHA, Gotcha” The boy took the bag and opened the hoodie. The thief was a girl! A young girl in particular. “Woah, idk this little thief would be a woman.” The boy was surprised. However, as he wanted to ask more about her, his father called him to come back to the vendor because they’ve got business to do. As he walked back to his father, his father said, “ ah yes, give her 20 velmarks.”. The boy stopped and looked very confused but his father repeated “just do it”. The boy heard the repetition. He walked back and gave her 20 velmarks. “My name is Lisa” the girl suddenly talks as the boy walks away. “ Well Lisa, stop being a thief and i hope we’ll never see again . . .” the boy said in return with an annoyed looking face while walking back to his father. .