Karma Lee flitted around her small one room bungalow. It was made with sturdy mud bricks, and had a roof with tightly woven palm fronds. She had been living near the mysterious temple ruins her whole life. She had watched explorer after explorer go in and never come out. Lately though a select group had ventured in and out many times. Soon talk of museum just for the temple ruins artifacts seemed possible.
Karma tugged down the sleeve of her long tan nightgown. She had skillfully embroidered pink flowers and vines along the bottom. Karma stoked her small fire and started preparing her morning tea. The sun was slowly sneaking up on the horizon and the air was already hot. It would be another hundred degree day in the jungle. Karma went over to her chest and pulled out her outfit for the day.
Every day she wore white capris she had embroidered with pink flowers and vines. She wore a tan long-sleeved shirt that matched her skin color. Over that she out on a water resistant vest with white puffy sleeves. Her sleeves had red silk trim. Karma always used a sturdy leather belt with her capris and decorative golden belt over her red vest. She wore silk ribbons on her forearms, laced up the same way she wore her shoes. Her shoes were slippers made of strong yet flexible black leather. She laced them up her legs with the same black ribbon she used on her forearms. Every day she pinned up her shiny black hair with many pins and a gold flexible hairband.
She dressed the same way every day, she had several copies of her one outfit. Her look commanded respect and made her look dignified. Although her abode might be humble, Karma did not want people to group her with the "poor". Poor spanned everything from wealth, manners and appearance in her little village. Usually if you could uphold two, you wouldn't be classified undesirably. Karma made good money transporting artifacts from the ruins to the biggest city nearby. The explorers had grown to trust her, and knew her to be reliable.
Karma's pot of water had become a pleasing warmth. She took it off the fire and added a handful of tea leaves. Karma sat on a warn cushion in front of her low table and waited for the tea leaves to flavor the water. As she was waiting Scarlett Fox stepped through her door. The past few months Scarlett coming in the mornings for tea had become a ritual. Scarlett told Karma stories from her numerous adventures in the ruins. She told Karma of the strange monsters that chased the explorers until they reached the end of the ruins, or abandoned their artifact from the temple.
"Hey Karma." Scarlett seated herself on a cushion across from Karma.
"Hi Scarlett." Karma responded, her English was heavily drenched in the accent of her native language. Lately her English speaking skills had greatly improved, and she was even learning some words she considered to be slang. She pulled down two large wooden cups from a shelf and poured tea in each one.
"I plan on going into the ruins after Guy today." Scarlett sighed and gingerly sipped the hot tea. Karma discreetly rolled her eyes at the mention of Guy. Some mornings Karma's doses of adventure stories were replaced by Guy. Guy Dangerous was Scarlett's boyfriend. Karma could really care less about their relationship. She didn't want to seem rude to her newest friend, so she quietly suffered and listened to her about Guy.
"Neat. Do you have a specific artifact you're going to try to grab today?" Karma eagerly asked. Scarlett didn't seemed focused.
"No not really. Just a search run to see if I find anything." Scarlett said absentmindedly. Karma could see Scarlett wasn't in a story telling mood.
"When's your next attempt to get the idol again?" Karma asked. The religion from the temple still was practiced in her village. Karma was one of the few to believe in something else.
"After Guy goes in for artifacts, I'll go in for the idol. It would really be the center of the museum, I hope we can get it this time." Every explorer had abandoned the idol when they were pursued by throngs of beasts. Karma nodded and tried to be polite.
"I am sure you will get it soon." Karma took another small sip of her tea.
"You should go in Karma." Suddenly Scarlett's full attention rested on her.
"I am going to the city in three days, do you need me to go sooner?" Karma didn't understand what "go in" had meant.
"The temple Karma! You have gone around it your whole life! I'm sure you know every path!" Scarlett's eyes lit up. Karma did know every path because she had always known which places to avoid.
"No, I couldn't." Karma bit her lip.
"You could! I can't believe we didn't think of this before!" Karma shook her head.
"I am too busy organizing artifacts to bring to the museum in the city. I only have three days until we leave for the city." The artifacts had always been organized. As soon as one was in Karma's possession, it was neatly tucked away for the city trip. The artifacts never needed to be prepped for the trip.
"I know better than that Karma." Scarlett looked directly into her eyes. Karma looked away.
"I'm no explorer, I'm not cut out for adventures." Karma discreetly smiled to herself. She had used the phrase she heard Guy say. She was proud of her English.
"You don't need to be! Besides Karma, I think you are." Karma's face reddened at Scarlett's words. She was truly flattered to be offered the experience by Scarlett. Scarlett and Guy were in charge of exploring the temple. Karma rolled the idea around in her head. She tried to come up with more excuses to offer to her friend.
"Well…"
