Gearing Up

"So… Are you a Boy or a Girl?" I asked. (Are you serious? Why do you want to know?) They said, suspecting me of something. "It's not like that, I just want to know. And it's hard to tell with your current state." I said. (Fine if you must know I'm male.) He said. "See, was that so hard?" I said smugly. (That's not important right now. What is important is finding you some clothes.)

"Really? 'Cus I was thinking about being 'au naturale' the whole time." I said sarcastically. (Look we can pawn off those potions you stole and buy you some clothes, no more stealing you already brought too much attention to yourself.)He said. "That's a great idea, the employees totally won't panic when they see a 3 foot something rat walk in and ask for some fucking cloths. Weren't you the one saying I'm bringing too much attention to myself?" I pointed out.

(They're looking for a small rat monster not a dwarf sized intelligent rat. If you play it cool and show that you aren't a threat along with little white lies. You might just convince some people to sell you something.) He said. "Well the longer I stay naked the more attention I will bring to myself, so I guess it's do or die. I remember seeing an old shop in the red-light district. I can get there during the day if I travel by rooftop, I'll need to minimize the amount of people that see me." I said. ( sounds good! I'll keep an eye out on your blind spots.) he said. I nodded in agreement.

I started speed running along the roofs. The streets are really noisy during the day so it's perfect cover. I carefully leaped from rooftop to rooftop avoiding the people below. Luckily all of them had a habit of not looking up. ( How are you so good at free running!?) He asked. "Had to run away from the police a lot as a kid,"I replied. (Were you some kind of criminal in your past life?) he asked. "Something like that." I said. (so how did you die?)

I nearly slipped and fell when he asked that question. "I don't want to talk about it." I said with a bit of shame in my voice. (Ah, I understand…)

We finally got to the red-light. The buildings were farther apart here. I have to travel at street level. Good thing the streets are basically empty and the only people outside are so drunk they won't remember anything. I walked up to a small store, it was in a well hidden spot, not a good place to set up shop if you ask me. I turned to the Fuzzball. "You should hide somewhere, it'll hurt my chances more if the shopkeeper sees you." I told him. (Don't worry, I'm invisible to anyone but you.)He reassured me. There was a sign outside the front door [We buy and sell everything, no questions asked].

Perfect.

I walked in and a tiny bell rang as I opened the door. The inside of the store was covered in all kinds of merchandise. I saw a big strong looking shopkeeper. He was in the middle of cleaning a sword covered in what I think was dried blood… He took his attention away from the sword and looked at his latest customer. His eyes widened and his Face turned pale. He just sat there completely still staring at me. It was getting a little awkward so I decided to break the silence. "Uh hi? I just have some things I want to sell, I hope there isn't a problem." I said. The shopkeeper broke out in his trance. "Oh uh sorry, it's just that I've never seen a Mouseling as big as you before and naked at that! mice kinda freak me out." explained the shopkeeper. (Oh yeah I forgot to mention that sometimes Mouse-kin and Rat-kin can be born naturally as the 'Ling' version of each race. This man must've mistaken you for a Mouseling. Tee hee, silly me forgetting important details!)He said. "You numb-skull that would have been useful to know a while ago!" I yelled at him.(Still, you can't just run around naked!) he shot back.

"Uhhh, who are you talking to?" Asked the shopkeeper. "Oh sorry, I have schizophrenia. It runs in my family." I replied "Schizo-what now?" He asked, confused. "Nevermind that I came here to sell something to you."I told the shopkeeper. "Sure I'll buy what you got.''Said the shopkeeper.

I pulled out the sack of potions and pulled out one. It had cooled down a bit. The man took one one look at the potion, his face twitch when he did. He looked at me blankly. "500 gold coins per potion." he said. I have now idea how much that is. (I don't know what the value of gold is nowadays.) He said. Hmm, something tells me he's low balling me. No, I know he's cutting me short. "I Know what I have, 2,000!" I shot back. Always go higher or lower than the price you want. That's the secret to haggling. "1,000!" He yelled and slammed his fist on his counter. "1,250!" I said as I slapped the counter. The man peered right into my soul, we stared at each other's eyes trying to figure out what the other was thinking. "Ha ha ha! It's a deal!" He said as he held out his hand.

I shook his hand, and I sold 8 bottles to him. I got 10,000 gold in total that he gave me in a pouch. I looked inside and counted a hundred gold coins each with the value of 1,000. I plan on keeping two potions in case I get into a tough spot.

Oh, maybe the shopkeeper has some clothes I can buy for cheap. "Hey uh do you think you have any clothes my size?" I asked the shopkeeper. "Hmm, your size? Oh I got just the thing!" The shopkeeper went to a back room and came out with a small flat box. He opened it and inside was a set of clothes: one green shirt, one pair of green pants, one pair of brown boots, and a pair of white socks. "Here, try this on. I just cleaned and fixed it up." Said the shopkeeper. "Alright." I responded. I took the clothes and tried them on. They fit well except for one thing, there was no hole for my tail so it was really uncomfortable. "Hey, could you cut out a hole for my tail?" I asked. "Shure but it 'll cost you extra." He said. After a few adjustments he managed to adjust my clothes. I put the pants back on and this time it was comfortable."So how much is it?" I asked. "I'll sell it to you for 2,500 gold."he offered. "2,300 and throw in a steel dagger." I answered "I like you kid. It's a deal!"Confirmed the shopkeeper.

Wait… kid?

And with that I was done shopping in this store. "Thank you,come again!" Said the shopkeeper. As I was walking away from the store something kept popping up in my brain. "Hey Fuzzball you there?" I asked. (Yeah what's up?)He responded. "Do I look like a child?"I asked him nervously. (No, you're more like a young adult. It might be because you started off as a basic rat. Look man don't let it get to you.)He reassured me. "Ah ok, It's just because in my past life I was closer to that man's age before I died." I explained. (Really? But you act so immature and sporadically, something like that should correct itself with age.) he said. "Yeah well some people just find it harder to grow up then others." I replied.

(Also you've got to find something better to call me then 'Fuzzball'.) He pointed out. "Sure how about Ruffy. A combination of Rat and fluffy!" I suggested. (That's… pretty good actually, I like it.) He agreed. "Ok then Ruffy it is!" I confirmed.

The sun was starting to set, pretty soon the street will come alive and the businesses will open for business. People will come from all over just to 'wet their whistle'... At that moment I got a very devious Idea.

"Hey Ruffy, you said my face wasn't that uncommon right?" I asked. (yes, you could be mistaken for a Mouseling which is rare but they are quite well known to exist.) He explained. "So you're saying ANY business would be willing to take me in as a customer." I said slyly. (Just what exactly are you thinking Rat?)He asked. "What I'm thinking is that I've been holding in my 'urges' For about a month now and need to relieve some stress." I said bluntly.(WHAT!!! NO, as a Prodigy of the rat race you are to stop this way of thinking at once!) He ordered.

"Heh heh heh, Make me." I said seriously.

(please don't make my people look bad.) he begged. "Chill out man. I'll probably only take a bath in a private bath house-" I reassured him. (Oh thank god.) He said relieved. "If something more happens that's just the way things go."I said.

(Oh… shit)