I wanted to get this chapter up soon. I'm in the process of moving into a new house and I have hardly any free time to write. The chapter's a bit shorter than I wanted, but I thought it would be better to get it up while I still had internet. (And the section I cut did very little for the story and can be put in a later chapter.)

This chapter is dedicated to Magical Marker and Queen-of-the-Rogue (a.k.a. Navigator101) because I know they're Diata and Turi fans.

Like I said, I tried to make Turi more mature and I think it worked. In my opinion, he's the same Turi just less hyper, more confident, and more mature. Tell me how I did.

As usual, please review!
~Roki


Market

"I need to go down to the harbor."

"No you don't. She told us not to. Turn around Diata."

"Turi, you don't get it! Josha's down there. Why can't I?"

"Because Josha and his sister are going to Corus with Denna."

They had been having that argument on and off for hours. Both Turi and Diata were frustrated beyond belief.

"Then I'll go to Corus with them!" Diata said, yet again.

Turi sighed and put his hand on Diata's shoulder. "Denna told you, Josha told you, your father told you, and now I'm telling you: Do not go to Corus. I get it Di, I really do. You care about Denna. We all do." He smiled, despite the fact that Diata wasn't looking at him. "We're in Market District right now. Let's find Denna a present for when she gets back. Her house should be fixed up enough for her to move back in. It can be a housewarming gift."

Diata turned away from the harbor to face Turi, looking defeated. "I forgot."

"What? That Denna won't be staying at the Inn? Personally, I'm relieved. A noble shouldn't stay at the Court of the Rogue."

"She wanted to. She asked me if she could."

Turi shook his head. "That wasn't my point. Now do you want to get her something or not?" He walked over to the nearest stall. "Come on Di. I'll pay."

"But, I thought your da said that you couldn't spend his coin on things like this."

Turi laughed. "My father's in Scanra right now. Any coin I make while he's gone is my own."

Diata smiled at his blond friend. "Alright then." He pointed to a stall with small figurines of the Gods. "Mayhap something like that? Her ma's the Goddess after all."

"I doubt she's going to want a reminder of that so soon. The last time we talked and before that, when she was dying, I got the impression that she didn't like the Gods much right now."

"Well, I think we should get one for her. I can pay for it on my own if you won't."

Turi, quick but not sly, snatched Diata's coin purse from his belt. "First of all, if a merchant can steal your purse, you've gotten too laid back. That's not a good thing when we don't even know what the Mithran looks like or who's working for him. Second of all, I'm paying. You have too much coin for your own good. If I don't stop you, you're going to buy Denna something expensive and useless. I may be a year younger than the rest of you, but I have more sense than you at least. I'm here to moderate you."

"Fine. What do you suggest?" Diata asked, rolling his eyes.

"Something a girl would like."

"And what do you know about girls? You've never had a sweetheart, Tori."

Turi didn't even bother to correct Diata any more. He knew it was pointless, Diata was just teasing him when he called him Tori. "You haven't either, Sundiata Kane. You've been with doxies, but you don't know girls. I have four older sisters. If it wasn't for you three and my father, I may have grown up wearing dresses and face paint."

Diata couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing at the thought of Turi in a dress. "I would love to see you like that, Turi. I bet you're the cutest little gixie."

"I don't know. I didn't think I looked all that great," Turi muttered in embarrassment.

Diata laughed even louder. "You mean you've done it before?"

"I was younger and I lost a bet with Karina."

"How young is 'younger'?"

Turi thought about it for a minute before responding. "I remember Karina was 16, so that made me around 8 years old."

"And you haven't done it since then?" Diata asked, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Of course I haven't! And you will tell no one what I just told you. It was the worst day of my life. Liv put lip paint on me and Astrid kept pinching my cheeks telling me I was the cutest little gixie she's ever seen."

Diata put an arm around the small boy's shoulders. "Alright then Tori, master of mots, let's shop."

The boys walked from stall to stall, examining everything they thought Denna may like. Every time Turi suggested something, Diata turned it down. Most of the time Diata headed towards a stall, Turi had to push him in a different direction.

"I found it," Diata finally said. "Turn around Turi."

Rolling his eyes, Turi turned around to see what Diata was looking at. It was a flower stall.

"Flowers? Really Di? She may be gone for two weeks or more. I don't think flowers is a good idea, unless you want to buy then as she's getting back to Port Legann."

Diata smiled. "Trust me Turi. Take a closer look."

They walked over to flower stall, noticing how people around it mostly admired the flowers, but didn't buy them.

"Oh," Turi gasped in amazement as he saw the flowers. Every petal of every flower was outlined in gold and the flowers each shone with the magic of protective spells. Turi knew people could see the shine, but he couldn't help but wonder how many people recognized the magic signs that he did.

"These flowers are guaranteed to last forever young masters," the man behind the stall told them.

"I can see that," Turi said, awed.

The old man nodded at Turi. "It takes a sharp eye to spot what you've noticed. You must have the Sight."

Turi shook his head. "Not the Sight, no. But I have the Gift and I know the signs of all sorts of protective magic."

"Turi," Diata said, slowly. "You never told us you had the Gift."

"It's not big. I get if from my father." Turi smiled. "As a merchant you have to be able to protect your goods and spot fakes and illusions. That's all I can really do."

"Well then, will these really last forever?"

Turi examined a flower closely. "They will. But if someone tampers with the spells, they'll die just like any other flower."

"Forever, Turi," Diata said with a meaningful smile. "Just like her."

"And now you're starting to think the right way," Turi replied, reaching for his coin purse.

After paying for the flower, the two boys worked their way towards the port, where Turi's home was. They both agreed that Turi's house was the safest place for the flower, at least until they could put the flower in Denna's house, which was Diata's plan.

Just as the first ships were coming into view, a monkey covered from head to toe in golden fur darted off of a ship and up Diata's back. As soon as it stopped on his shoulders, it began to hit black palms on Diata's head.

"Get off me!" Diata said to the monkey, swatting at it with one hand.

The monkey shoved Diata's hand away, but otherwise acted as if his slapping had not been interrupted.

"Akuma," a stern voice called.

The monkey froze and looked around for the voice.

"Akuma, get down from that boy." A woman wearing Yamani men's style shirt, pants, and sash walked over to them, watching the monkey carefully. She gestured with two fingers for the monkey to come to her and after a moment's hesitation, the monkey obeyed. "Good boy," the woman said as the monkey perched itself on her shoulder. "I've told you before, no running off."

"I think it's safe to say that this is your monkey," Diata commented, rubbing his head where Akuma had hit him.

"Yes, he is. I'm sorry about that. He is usually very tame."

"It's no problem."

Turi had not noticed the exchange; he was too busy examining the swords the woman had tied to her sash. "It is very unusual to carry three swords as you do Mistress," he finally said. "I can tell by the tsuka that these are Yamani blades, but I thought the custom was to only carry one katana and one wakizashi."

The woman smiled. "That is the custom, but it only is enforced with Nobles. I find two wakizashi to be much more helpful."

"I would not like to cross blades with you," Turi remarked, "even if I were a master swordsman."

"Many men do regret challenging me," she said with a small nod. "And I'm sorry, but I must leave. My employer needs me."


Some extra bits of information I feel like I should tell you:

-The monkey is a Blond Capuchin monkey. Even though Capuchins are from South America, the only native Japanese monkey I could get information about was too big and heavy to do the things Akuma will be doing later in the story.

-Tsuka is the term for the hilt of a Japanese sword.

-I'm going to assume people know what a katana is. On the other hand, a wakizashi is the same thing as a katana only shorter and more practical for indoor fighting. (Also, later I will mention a tanto. That is a 12-inch long, Japanese dagger.)

-Karina, Liv, and Astrid are three of Turi's sisters. His other sister is Mia. I meant to introduce Mia and explain more about Turi's family in this chapter, but I decided to put it in a later chapter. (I would've edited that section to not even mention his sisters, but I love that part too much to touch it.)