Xenotober Day 13. Collectopedia

Elma and Lin get irritated at Kiba, who appears to be the human version of a magpie; completely unable to not pick up every shiny thing he finds.

(Kiba is my Cross.)

Enjoy!

Day 13. Collect everything

"Kiba!" Elma yells as the young man starts wandering from the path again. "Stop wandering off! We need to get back to NLA to report the last mission."

The last mission was a pretty simple one, consisting of taking out some creatures and delivering some supplies to a team in northern Oblivia. Tatsu had decided to stay in NLA as some Nopon caravan had been visiting and he really wanted to spend some time with them.

"And to get some rest," Lin added, trotting forward on the road behind Elma. "I'm so tired I could fall sleep here." She gestures to the surroundings, which consists of some rocks, cliffs, grass and a few Grex-type creatures nearby.

"I know," Kiba answers, having reached whatever it was he saw, and kneels down to pick it up and stuff it in his bag. "I just saw something and wanted to grab it first."

"You always see something and want to grab it," Lin says, looking somewhat annoyed by the whole thing. "And then you see another thing, and another, and another, and then we're miles away from where we were supposed to be, because you keep running off!"

"I can't help it," he protests. "I just see something shiny and I have to grab it!"

"Well, you'll have to learn to ignore them!" Elma tells him firmly, hands on her hips as she glares at the redhead. "You can't grab everything shiny you see! And you get some serious tunnel vison whenever you do this, too."

"I do not!" Kiba protests, turning to Lin for help, that he doesn't get as she shakes her head with exasperation.

"You totally do!" she informs him, very directly. "How many times have you almost ran right into a monster because it was near something shiny, and you didn't notice it until it was right on top of you?"

"Not that many times," Kiba tries to defend himself. "Maybe two or three times?" he guesses, accepting that this has in fact happened more than once.

"Try thirteen times," Elma corrects him. "Plus that one time you almost got us all eaten by a Tyrant."

"You're like a human magpie or something," Lin says, giggling at her own comment.

"What's a magpie?" Kiba has to ask, not knowing what she's talking about, but guessing it's some kind of animal from earth.

"It's a kind of bird that likes to collect shiny things," Elma explains. "What are you even doing with all of them? Surely you're not collecting them or something?"

"Well..." Kiba starts, rubbing the back of his neck. "Kind of? Not really as in getting a ton of them and not doing anything with them, but I'm kind of making this... list, or Collectopedia, of the different things that can be found around here. And they sell for a little credit."

"A Collectopedia?" Elma repeats, looking thoughtful. "I'm pretty sure there's something like that already done, but it's not a bad idea."

"How much do you get from selling these things, anyway?" Lin asks, holding up a Rock-Orange. "Can't be that much, right?"

"Around a hundred credits or so," Kiba says, holding up his hand in a wobbly maybe-gesture. "Depending on where I sell them."

"How do you even fit all that stuff in your bag?" Lin wonders out loud as she watches him stuff yet another Rock-Orange in his bag. With the amount odd things he's been putting in it, it should have been beyond full long ago.

"Good inventory management?" Kiba suggests, shrugging as he keeps putting things in there while wandering along.

"Good inventory management doesn't let you cram in unlimited amounts of stuff in your bag," Lin protests, trying to grab Kiba's bag from his hands. "Let me see!"

"No way!" he protests, holding his bag over his head, well out of her reach. "Get your own bag!"

"Regardless of how Kiba's bag functions," Elma interrupts their bickering impatiently. "We need to get going, or it'll be midnight by the time we reach NLA."

"Right," Kiba and Lin both answer as they get themselves together and ready to keep walking.

"And Kiba," Elma adds, looking at him sternly. "No more running of to pick collectibles. Not today. You're not picking up anything unless it's right on the path, got it?"

"Right," Kiba agrees, somewhat reluctantly. "Let's go."

They make their way to NLA with no more Kiba running of to grab things, though they do have a run-in with some unlucky Grex that decide they look like a good snack. They arrive in NLA a few hours later, and head straight to bed after turning in the mission report.