The Bazaar was an amazing place, full of vibrant colors, cheerful music, chattering shoppers, and beautiful lights. But, amazing as it was, Rune found it a little...overwhelming. There wasn't anything like this that he'd encountered in Hyrule so far; the closest experience he'd had had been visiting the Outskirt Stable on horse catching day. Part of him was excited to see new people and new things. A much bigger part of him, however, wished that he could experience this in...smaller doses.

Maybe he just wasn't a people person.

"Alright," Groose said, walking alongside him as he looked over his list. "We've got a laundry list; we need stamina potions, heart potions, a couple of good shields, bomb flowers, and food."

Rune looked up at him in confusion. "I already have bombs."

"Yeah, you do." Groose pointed a thumb at himself. "I don't wanna have to need you to be able to use them. Besides, don't you need those for like...flying or something?"

"I can make more than one."

"Not the point." He turned his attention back to the list. "You wanna get the food for us?"

Rune's ears perked. "Yes," he signed. "How many days' worth?"

Groose hesitated. How many did they need? "...A week's," he finally decided. Link had been able to come back to Skyloft for restock, but Groose wasn't counting on being that level of lucky; not below the clouds. "Get stuff that'll keep. And stuff that's edible."

Rune squinted at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I'm not gonna trust the guy that eats bandages to be able to know what good food is." Groose folded the list in half and whapped him on the head with it. "So don't go buying what looks appetizing to you, go with stuff you know other people eat. Got it?"

Rune rolled his eyes, waving his hand dismissively. "Where's the food market?"

Groose pointed him across the bazaar, then handed him a few red rupees. "Here, that should get us enough."

Rune stared at the gems incredulously. "In what world," he signed slowly, "does 60 rupees buy an entire week's worth of food?"

"It's called budgeting, pal." Groose crossed his arms. "I'm not made out of rupee ore. You deal with what you got."

Rune huffed, then headed over to the diner corner, trying to do math in his head over the noise. If eggs are 12 rupees and hearty truffles are 24, I can either get two truffles or five eggs...or a truffle and three eggs. He sighed. Hyrule can't be too different from home, right? I can forage. A glimmer caught his eye, and he stopped walking noticing a sparkly amber bottle on display.

The cooking lady, Piper, looked up from the dishes she was making with a smile. "Oh, pumpkin cider!" She set her plates down and slid over to the counter. "That just came in. Kina's delivery, it's top shelf quality."

Rune looked up. "What is it?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what cider is?"

He shook his head, giving her a puzzled frown. "Is it a cooking ingredient?"

"If you use it right. Most people just drink it straight, though; it's a good social drink."

He considered the bottle carefully. He wasn't interested in pumpkin-made Chateau Romani, but if it had worth as an ingredient... "I want to know how to cook with it. What do you use it for?"

Groose examined the shield selection critically, looking for faults in the woodwork of them. He wasn't taking any chances; not with this, and not with his chances of saving Zelda.

"If I can suggest this model?" Rupin said, approaching him with a pricey silver and purple shield. "You look like the kind of man that could use something a bit higher in quality."

Groose side-eyed the merchant in annoyance. "Don't try to upsell me," he warned. "I know what I want."

Rupin put up his hands defensively. "Of course, of course! Just don't hesitate to ask for assistance if you need it."

The student knight gave a grunt of acknowledgement then turned back to the shields. He couldn't stand family Arpignon; all they ever did was flaunt how much money they had and buy more useless porcelain to hang up. What's the point of money if you spend it on trophy trinkets, anyways?

Barely resisting the urge to mutter under his breath, he picked out his gear—two decent quality wooden shields, a bomb bag, and a pack of bomb flowers—then dumped them on the checkout counter and leaned on the edge. "How much?"

Looking ridiculously pleased for a moment before putting on an air of professionalism, Rupin quickly rifled through the items. "Hmm...let's see here..." He whipped out an abacus and slid the beads back and forth as he did his math. "This comes to aboooout...270 rupees."

Groose's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?! That's nuts!"

"That's business, my friend!" The merchant said gleefully. "Two 50-rupee shields, 20 rupees for 10 bomb flowers, then a 150-rupee bomb bag."

Groose scowled. "Keep your overpriced sock, then. I'll carry the bombs myself."

"Ah-ah-ah; not on Skyloft grounds, you won't." Rupin gave a smug grin. "It's quite illegal to carry around open explosives on residential isles, you know. You could get—dare I say it—expelled for such an egregious transgression."

"How much money do you think I have?!" Groose exclaimed. "I'm a student, I get 40 rupees a month!"

"Not my problem, my good sir," Rupin said, voice dripping with saccharine sympathy. "If you can't afford the merchandise, I'm afraid I'll have to relieve you of my wares."

The redhead bristled, glaring at the offending bomb bag. Shields were a necessity, and he did want bombs; the surface world was terrifying, and bomb flowers had saved his hide on more than one night out in the wild isles. But he couldn't afford this, and potions, and fixing Rune's dumb sailcloth-on-frames at the gear shop; he'd be almost broke after this alone.

"...Fine," he finally conceded after a heavy internal debate, carefully counting out his rupees so as not to give him one green gem more than he deserved. He dropped them unceremoniously onto the counter. "Take your dumb money, I've got a girl to rescue."

"Happy doing business with you, sir!" Rupin bowed with a flourish, scooping up the hexagonal gems in a smooth swipe.

"Tch. Whatever." Groose grumbled. He grabbed the items that had taken out all of his savings and stormed off, sitting by the wall to sulk.

...Now what? He couldn't afford medicine. He could probably pick a bouquet of heart flowers, but those wouldn't last long or store well, and that was assuming Rune didn't eat them first. And Rune's sailcloth...he couldn't get Gondo to do that kind of work for free, especially on something that had to support a whole person's weight. He actually respected that shopkeeper.

...Could he fix it himself?

"Excuse me?"

He looked up, only to find Sparrot looking at him with those huge, unsettling eyes of his. "You look troubled," the fortune teller observed. "Would you like to have your spirits lifted and your fortune read?"

Groose rolled his eyes. "Out of cash, old man. Try someone with money to lose."

"I'm not asking you for your money, sir, only your time." Sparrot gestured to his face. "Do these eyes not bear sincerity?"

They seem like they wanna skewer me like a ripe pumpkin, Groose thought, but kept it to himself and glanced at the crystal ball. It was...sparkly, sure, but that didn't mean it did anything. If anything, it probably just added to the guy's image.

...On the other hand, though, what did he have to lose? It's not like he could do the shopping he wanted anymore, and he was still waiting on Rune. And it wasn't actually gonna cost him anything, for once. "...Alright, sure." He relented, scooting closer to the purple stand. "Show me what you've got."

Sparrot clapped his hands in delight and sat down. "Wonderful! Now, tell me what on your cloudy path you'd like revealed. These eyes shall surely behold the answer."

"Tell me if I'll save Zelda," he said without a moment's hesitation. That was information he could use.

"Ah, a question of the gods themselves. Let me see what I can see..." The fortune teller focused on his crystal ball, murmuring in foreign words as the glass lit up eerily. "Ydobyreve ot terces a s'ti..." He closed his eyes. "Hmm...I see...a young woman, all in white, under a darkened sky. A black hand reaches out for her, then casts her aside...she falls..." He gave a small nod of approval. "She is caught. Rescued in the nick of time. I see green, red, navy blue—" He stopped abruptly. "And it is gone."

Groose stared, a hand slowly going to his choker. "...She's okay?"

"That's what the future holds, so long as it's permitted to run its course."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Sparrot said, opening his eyes, "that while the future is mostly formed, it is fickle. I can foretell someone dropping their favorite cup and shattering it into a million fragments, and that is what will happen if they take no action. But once they know the information, it's up to them to react to it in time."

Groose frowned. Fortune telling was...weird, at best. "...What about something nicer?" he asked. "Do I get to marry Zelda?"

"Oho, jumping ahead, are we?"

"I wanna know." He leaned on his knee. "After all that's been happening, I want something to look forward to."

Sparrot considered a moment. "...Let me see." He refocused on his magic crystal, murmuring under his breath again. "Oolagoob cirtcele owt terces...Mmm..." He frowned. "It's...fuzzy, but..."

Groose straightened up, eyes wide. "What is it? What are you seeing?"

"...A young woman in a dress made of the sky itself. She stands among a field of sky-mirror flowers..." He frowned. "I'm sorry, it's too faint. I don't know exactly what this means."

"...Bouquets."

"I'm sorry?"

"I bet it means bouquets!" Groose lit up, snapping his fingers, a genuine smile on his face. "That's what I haven't tried, I haven't given Zelda a bouquet! She'd love that!"

Just then, Rune came over, travel bag packed full, carrying two plates. He lifted one up and balanced it on top of his head, freeing a hand to fingerspeak. "Did you get what we were looking for?" he signed.

The question made the redhead snap out of his date plans with a scowl. "No," he said bitterly. "I got scammed out of 150 rupees." His attention shifted to the plates, each one with a small pumpkin sitting on it. "...Did you buy cooked meals? Those are pricey."

"Everything's cheap here. They're more expensive where I'm from." Rune took the plate from his head and set it on the floor in front of Groose. "Don't worry; I got enough supplies. Tell me who took your money."

Groose raised an eyebrow, then nodded to Rupin, who was triumphantly dusting his empty shelves. Rune studied the man, then gave a thumbs up, downed his stuffed pumpkin at lightning speed, tossed the plate, and strode over to the gear shop.

Rupin looked up as he approached, eager for another pricey sale. "Ah, a customer! Welcome! What can I do for you?"

Rune held up a finger, then pulled the slate off of his belt, quickly busying himself with tapping various buttons. The merchant's beady eyes glittered with interest, and he leaned forward, trying to look over his shoulder. "Ooh, an artifact. It looks quite rare, yes? I'd love the chance to take it off your hands-"

SHING!

A flash of yellow chains, and the shopkeeper was frozen in place. Everyone in the vicinity stared, frozen in shock as Rune swiped a gold rupee from behind the counter and bolted out the door.

Not two seconds later, Rupin unfroze, gasping for breath, then vaulted over the counter. "STOP THAT THIEF!" he shrieked. The knights of Skyloft snapped out of their shocked daze and abandoned their lunch table, racing after the newly made criminal.

BANG!

Groose just sat in his corner as he heard the bomb noises and shouting outside, watching numbly as people ran past him.

Rune was insane.

Groose was NOT bailing him out.

He took a deep breath as the indoor commotion died down, then looked at the meal he'd been left behind. It was...kinda cute. The pumpkin had a little happy face carved shallowly into its side, and the top of it had been cut like a lid. When he opened it, a puff of steam billowed out, and the tantalizing smell of ground guay, sauteed onions, and roasted peppers hit his nose. His mouth watered, and he lifted his spoon to try a bite.

This was...good. Like, REALLY good. Like, he wished Rune had brought him seconds kind of good.

...Yeah. Maybe he should bail the guy out.