TALES OF RUNETERRA: IONIAN
AHRI THE NINE-TAILED FOX_equivalent exchange
This market smells like burning incense and also rotting cabbage.
Ahri wore a robe that wrapped her six tails while her finger was busy playing the two twin stones that made her divert herself from this smell. Each stone he held had a flame-like shape that lit up, but they were carved to fit when put together, and formed a circle orb. He had been carrying the stone for a long time, although he did not know what the stone was.
Although Ahri used to be in a very new situation as well as environment, she was comfortable with the magic power circulating around her. He had passed many wooden baskets filled with deliberately polished rocks, some legendary shells from the seafaring tribe, as well as gambling game dice carved from bones, he said, and not to miss the other items that make Ahri curious. But still, nothing was the same as the stone he had.
“Do you want a stone that is the same color as the sky blue?” ask a merchant with a grey beard. “For you, I'll trade it for a Cryraven feather, or maybe a seedling from a Jubji tree. I don't have a problem.”
Ahri smiled at him, but shook his head and continued walking around the market still with a pair of stones. He crossed a trading tent filled with orange vegetables, where there was a little boy who sold fruits with colors like the weather of the day, and next to it were three peddlers with incense cans, each of which was like coloring a meditation.
"The future! Come here and know your future!” said a girl with lavender eyes and her little jaw. “Find out who will be your love, or how to avoid a very busy situation with this pinch of Burdock roots. Or if you prefer to leave your future to the gods, I will just talk about your past. Although I suggest you guys find out when you will die from poison.”
A Vastaya with cat ears would bite the cake being seasoned. He silently pensively looked at the figure of the fortune teller.
“The answer is no. For you, I give it for free,” he said, before finally turning towards Ahri. “Now, you look like you once had a dark and mysterious past. Do you have any questions you'll ask me, miss?”
Amidst the smell of the incense, Ahri stopped and smelled the wet fur and sweat on the woman's neck.
“Thank you, but no need,” reply. “I'm still looking for something.”
“I was afraid that I would never be able to find that Ymelo stone in this market,” said the woman nodding towards the stone that Ahri was grasping. “As you're holding it.”
Ahri then shuddered and he came closer to Ahri. He could not close off the feeling of pleasure he had experienced after knowing the news. “Do you know this stone? Where did they come from?”
The woman then looked Ahri in the eyes.
“I think it was Ymelos,” he said. “I've never seen that pair of stones at once. In the past he only made a few fruits, and there were many parts that were scattered during the war. The stone is very rare.”
Ahri digests deeper into the words he hears.
“By the way, my name is Hirin,” said the woman.
“Do you know where I can find the person who carved this stone?” ask Ahri.
Hirin laughing. “Do not know. But if you come in, I'll tell you what I know.”
Ahri tightened his robe and followed where the fortuneteller went into his tent. It turned out that there was a caravan whose walls were decorated with animal skins.
“You got tea?” hirin. “I just made it this morning.”
He poured two cups of wine-like color, and took one for him. The bitter taste, but covered by the sweetness of honey. Hirin tried to grasp the stone, but Ahri was panicked and made it not too far away from her.
“I think the stone means a lot to you,” he said with a sweet smile. “Don't worry, I'm not interested in stealing that stone. I don't want to have a bad reputation.”
“Can you tell me where to go?” ahri asked, handing over the two stones entirely.
Hirin grasped it and saw the light shining within it.
“That's great,” said. “I don't know how they can be put together so perfectly. I've never seen anything like this.”
Ahri said nothing. He stood frozen curiously, unwilling to take his eyes off the woman.
“There are many stories that say that Ymelo collected fossilized eggs of lizards that date back thousands of years and sculpted them into this. The legend about the lizard has long existed long before the Ghetu Sea drought and became a desert, leaving only bones and also dust.”
Hirin coughed, and Ahri felt a strange taste in her dragon, like she had drunk ***.
The woman hung a piece of gold in front of Ahri's face.
“Just like the past you left with many words, these stones also have many parts, which, when combined, will create a new shape. Who knew that maybe you could put it together. In each missing piece, you will learn more about it.”
“Beautiful words,” murmured Ahri, still staring at the woman.
After being silent for a while, Hirin then chuckled. “Some things may be true, and some things are my own. A fortune-teller should be even smoother.”
The woman then took a hunting knife from her closet.
“I have spoken so much that I want to make you stay here,” he said. “’Until finally the tea will relax all your muscles.”
A sudden rage emerged from within Ahri. He's gonna take out that woman. He tried to pounce, but his body seemed to refuse. He's tied up in place.
“Oh, no need to do that, miss. I just need one tail. And I can use it for a lot of potions, and of course it is very valuable. Or something like that. I've never seen Vastaya with a fox tail like you. This tea will soothe the pain, along with. your body.”.
Hirin tries to wrap one of Ahri's tails with a bandage. Ahri tried to resist, but he was still unable to move.
“You will wake up tomorrow, good news for you!” said the woman. “I only need one. You won't use those nine tails either, will you?”
Ahri closed his eyes and grabbed all the magic power around him. Everything around him reacted, but Ahri was too limp by the tea earlier. He could only reach the woman's mind, which was more than enough.
Ahri opened his eyes and looked at Hirin with a strong face. His eyes changed from lavender to purple.
“Hirein,” said. “Close. I want to see the face of someone who tried to fool me closer.”
“Alright, miss,” Hirin replied. The woman's voice began to change, as if coming from inside her heart.
He leaned over until finally his face only stayed an inch in front of Ahri. Ahri inhaled a breath, taking all life from the breath he drew.
...Hirin used to be a little woman in hiding, hungry and scared, living in a small market. Two people were arguing in front of him, looking towards his face. All he had was a crate to work...
Ahri again sucks Hirin's past, looking for an emotional memory. They felt so rich inside Ahri's mouth, like an image filled with deep emotion.
...Hirin informs the future of a witch wearing a robe, and receives a sum of money in return for all her troubles. He used the coin to buy bread, which ran out in a matter of seconds…
...in a shanty shop, there are some people who are playing cards. A person with eyebrows resembling a butterfly eyebrow put up a Ymelo stone as a gambling bet while Hilin looked at it from within the darkness…
...Hirin followed Ahri as she walked into the market. One of his tails was clogging one out of his robe. Until finally he led the Vastaya into his caravan—
Thats enough.
Ahri stopped, inside his head he felt a new spirit. With every memory he stole from Hirin, he felt the energy flowing within his body strengthen his muscles, clearing out the poison within.
Feeling recovered, he then felt his breathing return smoothly, as well as the tail he could move. They move to the right and to the left.
Hirin stood with her eyes wide open, still alive. Maybe he'll wake up awake tomorrow morning, and probably won't remember a few things.
Knowing that the woman was still alive, Ahri felt that her soul had begun to calm down. He rubbed his hand against the woman's face and then began to put on his robe and left the market.
Hirin would not remember him, nor even their meeting. But Ahri had already gotten something, Ymelo, as well as the figure of the man with the butterfly eyebrows that was in his mind.
***