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The scorching sun shone on the oceans waves as they lapped at the edges of the port. The sea breeze was the only relief the people of alabasta got from the summer heat. Not even the colorful tarps and canopies used to shade the lively bazaar helped very much.
The bazaar was filled with merchants and travelers from all around the globe, gathered to trade stories and culture along with material goods. With all the colorful fabrics and sizzling food, it is easy to pass over the small purple tent on the edge of the crowd.
The tent was more of a shoddy canopy made of some fabrics and large wooden poles stuck into the ground than a tent. It only served to provide the owner with some shade while they did their business.
The aforementioned owner was sat against his incredibly large backpack, filled with goods and trinkets he collected in his travels. His tail gently flicked against the dusty old rug he sat on and his ears twitched in the hooded purple cloak he wore. His red eyes scanned through the bazaar as he kept his head low, letting the hood obscure his face. His wares were ordinary, nothing of value was displayed atop the ratty red cloth. Only a small bowl of spices and some random shells. As he eyed the passing crowd, he noticed that not a single person looked at his shop. Or so he thought.
“Oh my, what a nice shell”
He turned towards the voice. It seems a customer appeared while he was distracted.
“I see you have a keen eye! Tsaravi sells the finest shells in all of alabasta!”
Tsaravi found the shell the customer was looking at in the dumpster behind a bar. The finest shells indeed…
“Really? Where did you get it?”
This was too easy. It’s no wonder there are so many scammers out there when people were this gullible.
“Tsaravi may not share his sources. However that shell can be yours for the very low price of 500 berries!”
He used his most charming salesman voice as he pitched the deal. The Khajiit caught the innocent idiot hook line and sinker with his shell scam. He even put it in a fancy glass box to sell the lie of it being special.
Scamming wasn’t his usual business practice, but Tsaravi wasn’t getting any of his usual customers, so it was hard to do any real business.
The real business being his maybe legal trade of probably not legal goods. He sold the last of his normal goods at the last city he visited, so he had to rely on whatever he found on the way here. The biggest disappointment of the week was that no one would get to try his latest batch of Tsaravi’s mystery powder. He spent the voyage to alabasta perfecting his white powder, which resulted in his black fur getting coated in sparkly white powder. It took ages to get it all out, and even now there were still some spots where the glitter wouldn’t come out.
Just as he pocketed the pouch of berry, a burly man with a large scimitar on his hip stomped into Tsaravi’s line of sight.
“I hear you sell cheese”
Tsaravi had never dealt with this man before. Had never even seen him until this point, but this man was here for Tsaravi’s real business. Perhaps one of his regulars has been spreading word of him.
“Tsaravi has wares if you have berry, what type of cheese are you looking for?”
“Stinky cheese. You got anything with a bit of firepower?”
The man kept his voice low, but it wasn’t entirely necessary with all the background noise. His request was not uncommon, but something told Tsaravi that this man was dangerous. Maybe it was the bounty poster with his face on it a couple meters behind him.
“Of course! Tsaravi has plenty of cheese like that! However, this one would not sell such cheese in a crowded bazaar such as this. Let us go somewhere more private!”
His sharp toothed smile never wavered. He wouldn’t have questioned selling the pistol to the burly man. That is, until he kept talking.
“Must be hard, wearing that cloak in this heat. Why don’t you take it off?”
The man chuckled gruffly. Tsaravi stopped preparing to move locations. This man was not here as a customer.
“Ah, this one is quite fine. Tsaravi’s hometown is much hotter than Alabasta.”
He kept the conversation going, but Tsaravi was done playing along with the man. As he started packing up his shop, he remembered the pistol he was going to sell.
“Apologies my friend, but this one forgot he sold the cheese already! Perhaps you should come back next time.”
He spoke with the same salesman voice he used on the gullible customer from earlier. He packed the last of his things into the large backpack and hefted it onto his back. His ears folded back under the cloak, betraying his cheery façade. This reaction went unnoticed by the man as Tsaravi turned to leave. Before the man could do anything else, Tsaravi dropped a small bottle, breaking it and releasing thick smoke into the crowd. He made his escape towards the docks amidst the confusion.
Tsaravi didn’t know if the man was a pirate or an undercover marine. Perhaps he was neither. Either way, he was after Tsaravi’s head. The threat of death doesn’t scare him though. He has a business to run, and money to make. Marines are bad for business. The longer he can keep his face off of a wanted poster, the better. Pirates aren’t much better, but at least they don’t arrest him, they just try to steal his stuff sometimes.
Now, which ship will he sneak onto this time?