'Never go shopping when you're hungry' would've been very good advice but Lorianne didn't follow it. She had set out to buy new strings for her bow but couldn't help but 'browse' the selection of food stalls in the outdoor market. It wasn't really fair that she chose to forego breakfast in order to hit up the market before the day crowd gathered and had to pay for it with a craving of almost every food item she could see and smell.
She had almost made it to the small stand that sold weaponry and accessories when her belly gurgled loudly enough that a few passersby glanced her way. She hoped the black cloth over her nose, cheeks, and mouth would conceal the embarrassment on her face as she lowered her hood subconsciously. The redhead finally decided to stop at the next food place and eat. She came across a stall that was selling cupcakes and her mouth watered. She walked up to the counter-top and was greeted by a popsicle-woman, not an odd sight, as almost anyone, including candy-people, came to the market-place to sell and buy goods. The pink lady smiled at her nicely.
"What can I get you today stranger?" Lorianne was trying to contain her excitement at the thought of sweets so she could make a quick decision. She cleared her throat and attempted to lower her voice a few octaves.
"I'd like to purchase one chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, please." The popsicle-woman smiled.
"Great choice! Coming right up!" She turned around, put on some oven mitts, pulled a tin of cupcakes out of her portable oven, and picked up a tube of vanilla icing. She carefully pulled out one plain chocolate cupcake, set it on a plastic plate, and neatly squeezed white frosting out of the tube. She put down the icing utensil and handed the small plate with the cupcake on it to Lorianne. In return, Lorianne paid her three gold coins.
"Enjoy your cupcake and have a nice day!" She waved an icy hand as Lorianne walked away. Walking over to a shaded area of the grounds, Lorianne cautiously lowered her mask, revealing her feminine facial features, and took a bite of the confection. She closed her eyes, savoring the sweetness. She opened her eyes again and continued eating the cupcake. When she finished she tossed the little white plate into the nearby garbage bin, tucked a couple of stray red curls under her hood, pulled up her mask, and rejoined the other customers.
Just as she was making her way towards the weapons' booth, she and several other people were startled by an excited yell.
"WooooHOOOO!" Lorianne looked around frantically to find the object of the loud call, her animal-influenced instincts telling her to locate the source so she could find means of escape. Maybe she was spending a little too much time with the deer and the rabbits. Her amber doe-eyes widened as she caught sight of a boy in a bear-eared cap riding a giant yellow dog. This sight, though odd, was not cause to flee. She stared up at them as the yellow, apparently stretchy canine walked past her and shrunk down in front of the very same stall she was formerly making her way towards. As the boy in the white hat and blue-clothes jumped off the dog's shoulders, Lorianne tried to nonchalantly continue to make her way to the same stand. She got close enough to hear the last of their conversation with the goblin vender.
"Yeah, your order just came in." The gray-skinned salesman handed the boy a container labeled 'sword polish' and the dog handed him a handful of coins. Right after the transaction, the short dog got big again, picked up the boy, placed him on his back, and started walking over the market, amazingly not stepping on any of the 'little' people. As she turned to the goblin manning the stall and named the object of her purchase, she couldn't help but think.
'What strange people.'