Characters: Tony Barde and Wren
Setting: Misthallery Market
Prompts: Flora's Cooking and Potatoes
"Oh damn!" Flora muttered. She looked from left to right, trying to see if she could recognize anything around her. Uneven brick buildings in various shades of orange and tan towered into the sky. She knew this was an alleyway, and that she was supposed to be in the market, but she couldn't remember how she got there...
Just yesterday, Flora had arrived in Misthallery with Luke and the Professor. On the trip there, Luke had been telling her about his old life with his parents in Misthallery, and when he first met the Professor. He burst with excitement when telling her stories of his friends and how, with the help of a woman named Emmy, they had discovered the Golden Garden. When Flora questioned who this Emmy lady was, Luke went quiet and uncomfortably shifted in his seat. The professor, who was driving the Laytonmobile, cleared his throat. Flora knew she had hit a nerve.
"Anyways..." Luke began. "I'm so excited for you to meet my old friends, Flora! You'll love them!" Luke threw his hands into the air and his face beamed. Flora had even become a tad anxious to see the town. Luke's childish anticipation seemed to be rubbing off on her. "You'll get to see the the buildings, and the market, and the shops and-"
"Thats quite enough Luke." The Professor laughed, "You don't want to spoil the sights for Flora, now do you?"
"Oh!" Luke gasped. "No, Professah! Sorry, Flora!"
Flora simply smiled. Luke could get quite riled up at times for such a usually quiet boy.
It wasn't long before they had arrived in Misthallery. The Professor and Luke gave Flora a quick tour of the main parts of town before visiting the Triton Manor to see Luke's parents. Everyone in the town was there to meet them, which meant many introductions and handshakes for Flora. By the time dinner rolled around, Flora was assisting Mrs. Triton in the kitchen while the Professor read a book and Luke played outside with his friends.
"Hmm... What do you think would go nicely with steak, Flora?" Mrs. Triton wondered, tapping a finger on her small chin. Flora stopped chopping carrots for the salad and thought.
"Oh! I know!" She suddenly dropped the cleaver onto the cutting board, which made jump. Flora's hands flew into the air. "Potatoes! They would be fantastic! I could prepare them myself, too!" She squealed, making Mrs. Triton laugh.
"Sounds good!" She said before turning to the pantry to retrieve the food. "Oops," she exclaimed. "It appears that we have no potatoes left!" Mrs. Triton held up an empty bag, a worried look on her face. "Flora dear, would you mind running down to the market quickly and purchasing another bag?"
"Sure thing!" Flora replied eagerly. She loved to cook, and would do what she could to help out Mrs. Triton. Flora cleaned up, grabbed her purse and headed out in the direction of the market. Well, at least in the direction she thought the market was.
"All those stupid colourful signs. I must have gotten confused, and now look at me! I'm standing in the middle of a creepy alley, alone!" Flora burst, then slumped against the nearest brick wall in defeat. She had been so excited to finally get cooking that she'd likely taken a few wrong turns, and ended up here. Empty aluminum garbage cans were lain around her, their smelly contents strewn about the ground. Flora closed her eyes and tried to decide what to do next. She doubted that she knew which direction she'd came from if she turned back, and she was afraid of getting even more lost if she proceeded forward. Maybe she could wait until someone passed through, and she could ask for directions? But how long would that take? Mrs. Triton was expecting her back quite soon, and she wouldn't want her to worry about where she was, especially when it was the early evening; the sun would be setting quite soon.
Flora saw a flash of movement in the corner of her eye, so she quickly looked up. On a small metal balcony off the opposing wall, stood a tall black creature with a long white face, a blue circle around the rim of one of its eyes. Its yellowish hair, which looked much like clumps of straw, swayed from underneath the creature's hood in the light breeze. Flora jumped at the sight of it, but was completely speechless.
"BLAHHHHHHHHH!" The creature yelled, its cloaked arms rising above its head.
Flora dropped her purse in fright, until she heard a fit of laughter rising from beneath the creatures face.
"Wha-what?" Flora managed to spit out.
The laughter became even louder until it began to sound like two voices. A pair of hands emerged from underneath the cloak before lifting up. The creature began to fall apart piece by piece; Flora's wide eyes followed its hair and face as they tumbled to the ground below. When Flora looked back up, she saw two children, one sitting on the shoulders of the other.
"Wren? Tony?" Flora questioned. She had met the two of them along with many more of Luke's friends earlier today when they arrived in Misthallery. The small, orange-haired Tony was perched upon Wren's shoulders. She swayed back and forth on the balcony, trying to shift her weight in order to hold Tony up. By the look on her face, she was beginning to have a difficult time with it. Her body twitched uncomfortably underneath the boy.
"Um, T-Tony? I think you can g-get off now.." Wren muttered while Tony's laughing died down. He swiftly jumped off of her back, and his shoes clicked against the grated metal balcony as he landed.
"Hiya, Flora!" Tony waved. Wren adjusted her olive green jacket and waved also. Flora was still taken aback by what had just happened.
"You guys scared me! What was that thing?" She retrieved her purse from the dirty cobblestone, and gestured to the pieces of the monster, lying in a pile at the foot of the balcony's staircase.
Wren piped up, "Oh, that's the Black Raven! We-"
"WREN!" Tony bursted before one of his hands clamped over Wren's mouth. Her face went flushed red, like she'd let something slip that shouldn't have. She grabbed Tony's arms with two hands and took his hand off of her mouth.
"I didn't do nothin!" She yelled to Flora, trying to cover up her mistake. Flora nodded, though she still didn't understand. Tony ran down the staircase and Wren jumped off the balcony to get closer to Flora.
"So Flora, whatcha doin' here?" Tony asked, hands in the pockets of his yellow jacket.
"Well, I was supposed to be in the market getting some groceries for Mrs. Triton, but I think I turned down the wrong path..." She said, trailing off into a nervous whisper. Tony nodded in acknowledgement while Wren pulled at one of her red-brown looked at their surroundings.
"Well this sure isn't the market." he laughed, trying to sound witty. Now it was Wren's turn to slap Tony's mouth shut. She wrapped her left arm tightly around his neck and smacked a hand over his mouth. He clearly didn't see how rude his comment was.
"What did you need to pick up?" Wren asked politely, ignoring the boy's struggle to get her off of him.
"Umm... I need to get a bag of potatoes. Yukon Gold, preferably." Flora answered, slightly uncomfortable. Tony suddenly busted out of Wren's playful hold.
"We can help you! We know our way around the market like the back of our hand!" He boasted, waving a hand as if it was no trouble.
Flora's damper mood instantly brightened. "Really? You two would do that for me?" Her cheeks turned the same colour orange as the summer dress she wore. Tony noticed a small mark that looked much like an apple appear near her collarbone.
"Of course! Besides, you're Luke's friend. And we owe him a whole bunch!" said Wren.
"You guys are so sweet, thank you!" Flora stepped forward, giving Wren an thankful hug, and Tony a little kiss on the cheek.
"Ugh! No need for the kissy-stuff!" Tony exclaimed, waving his hands in front of his face. Flora and Wren simply giggled at his reaction. Flora then opened her purse and gave the kids a £10 note to pay for the potatoes.
"I'm trusting you guys to use that wisely, alright? I have to go back and help with more prep for supper. Meet me at the Triton Manor when you're finished." said Flora.
"Yep yep yep!" Tony responded, shoving the bill into his pocket, "We'll be in and out, lickety-split!" he made an OK symbol with his fingers as he and Wren were about to run off.
"Oh! But wait!" Flora called after them. Wren turned around to face her. "How do I get back to the Triton Manor?"
"Continue down that path," she pointed, "and stick to the right. You'll eventually get to the short-cut bridge over the river that will take you straight there!"
Flora thanked Wren again, and both parties turned away and sped off to their destinations.
The two children walked a slow pace through the Misthallery market. Their eyes wandered from booth to booth, filled with fruits and vegetables and various trinkets. The pair were in this place every day, but each visit had something new to offer. This time around, Tony's eyes were glued to the new selection of spinning tops a vendor had brought in. Wren had only just noticed that her side lacked the presence of the younger boy before turning around to see him gawking over the toys.
"Tony! What are you doing?" She asked him once she met up with him again. Tony's eyes danced over the shiny new tops, painted with an array of patterns and colours. He turned to Wren, looking up at her with his signature puppy-dog eyes. The girl knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Tony, we have no money of our own. Besides, we have to get the bag of potatoes back to Flora ASAP!" She explained while crossing her arms impatiently. Tony pulled the £10 note from his pocket and stared at it, then the tops.
"C'mon Wren! We have ten pounds! I'll pay Flora back once I crack open my piggy bank later, okay? Please?" He begged. Wren rolled her eyes. The boy must have taken that as a yes, because a toothy grin spread across his face before handing the money to the vendor excitedly. Tony selected a spotted light blue top before accepting the change. "Look, see?" He said, "Seven pounds left! More than enough!"
"Whatever, Tony. Let's just get the potatoes and get out of here okay?" She scoffed at him. The 10 year old would try to act so mature at times, but his age would always show through.
The two progressed down through the maze of the market, weaving past villagers and tourists alike. Suddenly, Wren's ears perked up. A whistle, much like a bird's sing song, was echoing around the small plaza. She stopped walking when she recognized the tune, and looked to her right into a cluster of shadows. Leaning against a wall in the darkness, stood another boy. The brim of his hat sat over his already low-hanging hair while he looked at the ground. He appeared to be mindlessly chewing on a piece of straw, the long end resting on his lips. Wren shuffled over to the boy.
"Crow?" she asked, "I heard the whistle. What do you need?"
"The moon falls on the cheese eye." Crow muttered in a thick accent, though stayed in the same position. Wren's small face twisted in confusion.
"What? Crow, speak english!"
Crow's head fell lazily like he was fed up.
"It's code, Wren!" He finally said, not whispering for once, " I said someone is looking for the Black Market." Wren ignored is annoyance and sighed.
"Well you better not be expecting me to dress up as the Black Raven, because I'm on a different mission right now."
"Oh I know. I saw the whole thing. Helping that lady with a bag of carrots or something?"
"Potatoes, actually." She corrected him. "How did you know about that?"
"I have my ways." Crow said suspiciously, adjusting his pale yellow scarf around his neck. "I just need to know where you left your costume set. Tweeds needs a new one. That dumb-nut got his all sticky with candy again."
"Yeah sure, it should still be underneath the balcony, in the alley towards the Triton house."
"Thanks." Crow nodded. "Oh, and speaking of candy, isn't that the new little pipsqueak over there buying some with the money that lady gave you?" He pointed over Wren's shoulder.
"What?!" She turned in a flash, witnessing for herself exactly what Crow had told her.
Alas, there was Tony, being tempted once again by Aunt Taffy's homemade candy and any spendable money. Wren turned back to Crow, but found that there was nothing left of him except for the piece of straw on the ground. She grumbled loudly, then ran over to Tony.
"TONY! What are you doing now?!" She yelled, hands flailing around, then resting on her hips, waiting for a good explanation.
Tony's eyes slowly and cautiously rose from the candy cart. As they met with Wren, she could see that his mouth was full of bubble gum. His hands were also clutching onto a few candy canes and 2 or 3 chocolate bars. While the girl looked at him, speechless, he began to blow a bubble about the size of his head. The pink, sticky candy grew in size until Tony's whole face was blocked by it. Wren's eyes remained on Tony; it was only the obnoxious pop of the bubblegum that set her off.
"What do you think you're doing?! That money was for Flora's potatoes! Now what are we going to give her?! It was bad 'nough that you bought that top, now you musta spent all the money on stupid candy!"
Wren freaked at the boy. With every word, he began to lean back, trying to get away from the yelling. Just before Wren began another frenzy, Aunt Taffy awkwardly spoke up from behind the candy cart.
"Um, excuse me." she looked at the younger of the two, "Your change, dearie." Aunt Taffy swiftly leaned over the cart, and handed Tony his change. Just before the money reached his hands, Wren swiped it out of the air and counted how much was left.
"£1...That's all there is..." Wren said, clearly holding back another outburst, but then heaved in a deep breath. Angrily, she grabbed one of Tony's free hands and began leading him away like a small child.
"You are never being trusted with someone else's money again."
Flora stood anxiously behind the doorway at the Triton home. Her small feet tapped impatiently on the marble flooring. Where were Tony and Wren? They should have been back by now, since they knew the market "like the back of their hands" as Tony had put it. Flora pouted her freshly-glossed pink lips. She was beginning to think maybe she should have just pressed on and got the potatoes herself. Suddenly, the door buzzer sounded. Flora threw open the front door to see none other than the two people she was waiting on.
"Finally! What took you guys so long?" She questioned. Wren and Tony stood on the front stoop; the girl standing tall, crossing her arms, and Tony shifting uncomfortably, hands behind his back. Flora's excited mood fell when she realized the children had nothing to bring her.
"But.. Where are the potatoes? I gave you guys £10, that's more than enough!" Flora's ponytail swayed while she shook her head. The kids stayed awkwardly silent, neither one meeting Flora's desperate and confused stare.
"Ahem." Wren coughed, then nudged the unusually quiet boy.
Tony's eyes stayed on the orange welcome mat until his left arm shakily began to move. Slowly, he extended an arm toward Flora, holding a single dirty potato. He dropped it into Flora's waiting hands.
"Wha..huh?" She stuttered. Her gaze bounced between the kids. Wren looked down at Tony with disapproval and clicked her tongue.
"Let's just say that you'll get about £9 back in pennies and pence."
AN: Oooooh hey everyone :3 Hope you enjoyed this little oneshot of mine, because I had a great time writing it! Who knew one could write a 2,754 story about potatoes! Oh yeah, I hope you didn't mind the few Canadian terms/spellings I had in there. And also, if you are British and see something wrong with how I talked about the money and stuff, please tell me! I'm still not sure if it's right, I had to google to see if you guys had pennies *feeling like an idiot*
And as always, favourites and reviews are greatly appreciated!