The next morning I woke up to a furious stomach. I had never gone this long without food and it was letting me know that it was not happy about that fact. Hopefully, my traps could remedy the problem. I just hoped that I had built them right. I had never made one before so I had guessed about a lot of things. I also was not the best knot tyer so there was the chance for them to fall apart.

Making my way to the river, I found where I had placed my traps. I had no trouble finding them and immediately checked them for results. The first, bigger trap, was empty. The second had a fish. I had done it! My trap worked!

I now had to decide on how to eat it. I knew of several ways to make fire but, like building traps, I didn't have any practice making one without matches. Since I had no matches, I would have to resort to some other method. The ones I could think of were rubbing sticks or striking flint.

I didn't know if I had the stamina to rub sticks together long enough to make a fire. I was also sure that it wouldn't be as simple as rubbing two sticks together, anyway. I had seen people use what looked like bows to help too. Sadly, I had nothing around me I thought would be strong and durable enough.

Flint. Probably the easiest method next to matches. Smack flint against a rock and you get sparks. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't too sure if I could find some flint and identify it. I didn't even know if there was any out here.

I would have to eat the fish raw. At this point I almost didn't care about that. I just hoped the fish didn’t have parasites and diseases.

Raw fish. Raw fish! Never again! Never ever.

Mmm. Raw fish is so slimy going down~~. Yum Yum. That is all I have to say about that.

***

It was a glorious day! Pali had had a wonderful sleep, and the morning was that perfect temperature with no cloud in the sky. He knew how easily he could go find a nice spot on a grassy hill and take a nap in the warm sun. Or maybe take a stroll down the river, looking for a frustratingly hard to find a child that only looked like a child and was probably smarter than him.

Why was Pali so happy when he was having so much trouble? Optimism! He had decided that rather than worrying he would hope and plan for the best. He had told himself that worrying too much was unneeded and that he should just enjoy the day while he looked for her and if fortune shined upon him, then that was how it was. If not, then it did not.

So what could he do on such a wonderful day, while being productive in more ways than one? Shopping! He would prefer to do this with the child since he did not know her preferences and such but since the school opened in two days, he had to get it done today and hopefully leave by tomorrow. He would have to do his best at guessing. Even if he did not get things right, it was her fault for running away. Yes, that was a perfectly justifiable excuse.

So where would he go shopping first? That would be the first place where someone that had gone without a lot of food would go first. The market! There was no way Pali was going here for himself. No way he would see if they had got any strange or exotic food this far up the river before it spoiled. Like that delicious fruit called pineapple they had the last time he had looked…

There it was. That strange-looking yet somehow beautiful fruit. It was all he could do to keep himself from buying all of it and keeping himself to just one. If they were not so expensive he might have done just that. He would have then shut himself in his room until he had eaten them all and died happily as his stomach burst open and pineapple poured out. And now he had no more apatite. That last image had been too much.

Now that the pineapple was out of his way he walked from shop to shop, asking if they had noticed a Teran child or even a strange out-of-place child. When they told him no he said that if they or anyone they knew saw her then he would reward them for telling him. Everyone happily agreed to that.

The next thing Pali knew he had to go shopping for was clothing. He knew the child had had a bag when she ran away, but it did not look to have much of anything in it, let alone enough changes of clothing to last her for more than a few days. If he chose wrong, he could exchange the clothes later.

At the tailor, he went over what he wanted. The school's uniform was a simple one-piece tunic that went from the neck to the ankles. It was a simple design but fashion had no place in a school. The school also was a temple to the Deity Candrar and Melche, so they also needed respect. He would also need to buy some undergarments.

Pali discussed the sizing of the clothing with the tailor. Since he had not gotten a good look at the child, he was not too confident. There was also the fact that Terrans differed slightly from native-born Calorin. This was the most difficult thing for him to guess for. Height was not too hard, but the rest of her measurements would be troublesome.

He left the tailor not very satisfied. Since he had not been sure about the sizes, he had purchased different sizes. He had gone for bigger sizes rather than smaller because he hoped that she could grow into them if they were too big. He was just happy that it was over. The only thing easy about the whole thing was choosing the color of the clothing. He had gone with white, hoping that the color that represented purity would rub off on the child. It was also one color not associated with a certain Deity.

The last thing Pali would do was go to the cordwainer. He had not gotten a good look at the child's shoes but he doubted that they were in any good condition. He did his best to work with the cordwainer but once again he was only making best guesses. Fortunately, the cordwainer said he could trade them in for different ones.

On a better note, Pali was proud of the shoes he had chosen. Like the clothes they were white, but it was the design that he liked. He had chosen a foreign design of leather boots. These boots were much taller than those normally found in Flaern and would probably go to just under the child's knees. They also had laces instead of straps. But the biggest reason he had chosen these was that they looked like they would be a pain to get on and off even if they fit. He also realized that since he had bought boots instead of the usual sandals, he would need to buy some foot wraps too, which the cordwainer had.

With the shoes purchased, Pali finished with his shopping. Still tired from his time on the mountain and with all the items he was carrying, he decided that he would go back to his room at the inn and take a nap before returning to his search. He hoped that it would all end today. He was getting worried since she most likely would not have much food. He just hoped she was smart enough to come into the city, give up, and ask for help.

***

Now that I had gagged down the raw fish, I felt the energy slowly return to my body. I was still starving and even felt a little queasy but I could now go on. Since I had reached the bottom of the mountain, I also would have an easier time. My legs would at least be happy now that they didn't have to fight gravity.

The going was much easier. Before I knew it, I had traveled who knows how many kilometers and was approaching the edge of the forest. It wasn't even noon yet, so I had plenty of time to pillage the town before resting for the night. I just hoped I didn't run into any pedophiles or drunkards.

Since I had only seen Stutra from high up the mountain, I had never really gotten a good look at it. Now that I was here I saw that I hadn't been missing much. Much of the city was smelters or something to do with the mine. There was plenty of smoke and some soot to go along with it.

The part of the city that wasn't mine related was better but still dirty. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the norm on Calorin since they didn't have sanitation facilities. I was just glad that it was still a town and not a mining village. I hoped that I wouldn't be staying long here either. I had to get some money before that.

What surprised me the most about the town was how big it was. Other than the mine all it had going for it was the surrounding farms and some fishing. The only thing that I could think of was that since it was where the Porre and Lyn rivers merged meant that they must have had some trade going on. Maybe I could take advantage of that and stow away on a boat?

I had wasted too much time studying the town, so I scolded myself and went in, doing my best to stay out of sight. Once I had gotten inside, I immediately began looking for a disguise. My white hair was hard to miss, and even if I wasn't trying to hide from someone, it would still attract unwanted attention. Good or bad, I hated attention.

I soon found out how hard it would be to move around unnoticed. There just wasn't much of any place to hide and the fact that they built the houses circular instead of square meant that there were no corners to hide behind. There also was not much cloth of any size lying around, let alone something I could cover my head with.

When I had made my way farther into the cleaner side of the town, I found a large building. It looked like a fort, but in a way it didn't. It was made of stone and had six towers around the circumference. It was also well decorated. Too decorated for a military building. Unless Flaern was weird like that.

I then saw them. The sickly and feeble looking people. They crowded around what was most likely the rearmost door, some with tents most not. I did not understand why they gathered around this building, but I didn't was a disease or their stink so I avoided them for now.

As I made my way carefully around the building, I found my disguise. While it was brown, dirty, and a little disgusting it would have to do. When I had cleaned it off the best I could, I gathered up my hair and covered it and my head. I hoped that my hair didn't fall out of the wrapping.

With my disguise ready, I was now willing to go into the open. While I probably could find food in the spaces between buildings and near the roads, there was no way I would ever eat anything I found there. I had already seen someone empty their chamber pot on the ground just outside their window. With the smell of the city, the way it was everybody else did the same thing.

I would have to beg for food. I didn't want to do it, but it was the only way I could think of getting somewhat clean food other than stealing. Since I was above things like stealing, for now, I had to get people to give me food.

My first stop was a bread store. The door was open, so I went inside after a little consideration. A man was standing behind a counter looking bored. When he saw me come in he looked at me suspiciously. He didn't look the type to give away food so doubted that I would get anything here, but I would try.

"Sir, could you spare some bread? Even your old bread will do."

He stood up. "Leave child. If I give you bread, the rest of your ilk will come. Please leave before you drive my business away."

Well, that had gone as expected. I wished they had proven me wrong, but I knew life wouldn't hand me everything I wanted whenever I asked for it. Now that I had failed here, I would have to move on. Someone in the city must feel charitable today. I hoped that whatever I got was clean.

I had been to several shops and stalls, each time being rejected. In time I came upon a friendly woman that seemed like she wanted to help but could not afford to give anything away. Despite this, she gave me a tip. She told me that the Temple of Sorris often helped those in need and that I should be able to find shelter there, if only temporarily.

Following her directions, I found myself back in front of the military looking building. Now that I knew this was a temple dedicated to Sorris the design of the building made sense to me, Sorris was the Deity of Protection after all. It now also made sense why all those people gathered behind the temple.

Driven by my hopeful stomach, I went inside the temple. The inside was nice. There were several paintings in the entrance, and some suits of armor. The paintings themselves featured a beautiful woman in a sparkling armor inset with thousands of what I thought were crystals or diamonds. She was guarding peasants. A typical scene of the rich protecting the poor defenseless peasants to show that they have money AND power.

“Hello little one.” came a calm voice. I turned to look at who had talked to me and it turned out to be a young man dressed in red robes. If he wasn't a priest, I don't know who would be.

"I always have loved that picture of Sorris. It reminds me why I became a priest here."

So the painting was of Sorris? Yep, it was a picture of a rich and powerful person, or deity, in this case, that just had to show they had to be there to protect the poor "defenseless" people.

"I was expecting you to be wearing armor," I said, being the first thing that came to mind. It was true anyway.

The man laughed. "We get that a lot."

Moving on to more pressing matters I asked, "I noticed all the people outside. I wanted to know where they got their food."

"We help those who need it." The priest paused, "Do you need our help?"

"If I said yes, would there be food involved?"

The priest laughed and then asked me, "Tell me everything and we might help you. No lying either."

“Don't worry, I don't lie.” I said, “I just leave out the parts I don't want anybody to hear.”

“Some still consider that lying. So, please tell me everything, even the parts you do not want me to hear or I won't promise

any food."

At this point I didn't care what would happen, so I told him all that had happened over the last few days. I also told him about Mr. Recruiter and that I was a Terran. When he asked me why I had run, I told him it was because I didn't want to be exploited.

"All right, I will go get you some food, but only if you let me find the man from the school. He deserves to know that you are safe, I believe he is the one that was offering a reward for the safe return of a certain Terran child. I will also send a message to your family in Porra-Kel letting them know that you are safe."

I wasn't happy. "I thought you said you would help me. Getting the recruiter won't be helping me."

The priest smiled at me. "I am doing what is best for you. Even if you get exploited, at least you will have food and a nice home to stay, not to mention an education that some people would be more than happy to be exploited for."

Well, he had a point. While I would prefer to do things on my own, going to this school was much better than staying in a boring mining town. I would also have better opportunities to get money. Money, money, money. I was just going to do my best to keep the amount they exploited me very low. Maybe I would even be the one exploiting them.

"All right, you can go get him. Just please hurry with the food before my blood sugar goes even deeper into the negatives…"

The priest looked at me puzzled when I said the last comment. "Blood sugar?" he said to himself, before saying, "Here, I will take you to the kitchen."

"You better give me half the reward," I told the priest as we headed to the kitchen.