Submission (#1144) Approved

It was that time of year. 

Sawyer liked to pretend like he can smell the change of seasons in the air, claiming that his nose felt a little more tingly as they got closer and closer to winter. The truth, however, was that it’s the change in how other elnin were handling themselves. The bazaar seemed busier than before, with different wares cycling through and more of the villagers pouring out of their homes to stock up on supplies. The merchants were a little more aggressive with their advertising and attempts to get people to come to the quickly-put-together stalls and check out their wares. 

All of the gang seemed to be busy gathering supplies too. 

Sawyer had contributed too! Sorta. 

Well. That wasn’t exactly accurate. It was more like Sawyer kept meaning to focus on collecting supplies and perfecting his thieving skills, but-- Well, when he was alone, the kittom had a tendency to get quite distracted. He found it more fun to slip underneath the merchant’s tables and rifle through their wares for something shiny. 

Most of the time he’d been caught, carried off, and dropped somewhere in the sand relatively far away from the rows of stalls. Once, he’d even been put in a time-out pen constructed of posted dug into the ground and a faux-guard who spent more time dozing beneath the heat of the desert sun than paying attention to the naughty kittoms that had been corralled and contained. 

Which meant that, naturally, Sawyer exercised his pirate-in-training skills to escape. 

But it was getting even closer to winter and there were sharper reminders that if they weren’t smart about the treasures they were looting, then he and the gang could end up in trouble! Getting talismans and charms to help with miasma that would be coming was vital. Sawyer knew that, he understood that. 

And yet…

BUT! Today, today, he was going to come back with loot the whole gang could use. A new merchant had arrived that he had his eyes on. They carried a large pack with them that he could only imagine was filled with everything they might need. Unlike most of the merchants, this one didn’t set up a stall, instead they found a nice palm tree to sit beneath and tugged out a blanket to lay upon the sand for their wares. 

Not too far from them was one of the irrigation canals the town had built to make sure water got to the appropriate places and Sawyer spent several minutes wondering if he could use it to his advantage. 

While he debated his options, he took a stroll around the town itself. Each of his steps were light, quick to keep the heat radiating off of the sand and his tail flicked behind him with antsy. He weaved through the crowds of people, lingering by the gate to the town to take a rest beneath the dusty stone arch and the shadow it cast. 

From his spot he could see the dark clouds in the north, forboding and terrifying. He couldn’t see the rain from here, too many sand dunes and slopes with cacti littered across the expanse at seemingly random. There’s a long trail of pawprints that stretch from the gate into the stretches of sand that he knows will disappear the second a sandstorm kicks up, still it’s an almost comforting sight. 

It means they can still come and go.  

He sat and watched for a moment, choosing to resume his wandering when a group of travelers pass through the gate.  It was the perfect timing, Sawyer slipping into the crowd with an ease he’d practiced for. At one point he bumps into a traveler, his ears flatten against his head and he makes his eyes as big as possible. 

“Oh sorry! I’m still getting used to all the sand,” he lies and luckily the stranger simply grumbles under their breath and waves him away. When he scampered away, it turned out there was a golden coin in his paw and an almost cheeky grin on his mouth when he handed it over to his pomu. “Sometimes,” he drawled, “they make it easy.” 

Sure, it was just one coin from a stranger he had bumped into but still! It was a treasure!!

Besides, Fai would probably handle all of the heavy lifting when it came to practical supplies and frankly, Sawyer’s attention span wasn’t good for too much outside of going for what he decided upon wanting in the heat of the moment. He was too excitable, too easily distracted, too much a kittom. 

He would be lucky to come back with more than a coin at this point. The day was starting to slip by him without Sawyer realizing it. A chill settled into his spine when he realized that the heat of the sun was fading against his fur and he caught sight of some of the merchants starting to pack up their things and head into the inns or back out to make it to the next oasis town over before nighttime truly set over the desert. 

In a panicked hurry, he scrambled to find that merchant he had been eyeing earlier. Unfortunately, his hurried movements caused the grains of sand to shift beneath his paws and since he wasn’t exerting enough energy into treading across it properly, Sawyer found himself falling, crashing into the cooling sands face first. 

Sputtering, his tongue lolled, working hard to dispel the mouthful of sand he’d found himself with. In the end, he ended up swallowing more than he could spit out and had to hurry himself over to the canal nearby to get a few gulpfuls of water to wash it down and get the grittiness out of his mouth. 

This, at least, put him close enough to the merchant that when he scampered closer and shook himself out, he could get a nice good look at the wares. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting, if he was honest because nothing was quite catching his eye except…

There was a bag of coins that laid really close to where the merchant seemed to be half dozing half watching. He wanted those. They were better than anything else he could find he was sure! Now he just needed to decide how to get it. 

He knew he was being watched, even if it seemed like he wasn’t after that incident with the sand but…

Sawyer wasn’t exactly great at denying his impulses so, without too much more internal debate he darted forward, maw open to snatch the strings of the bag of coins, and went for it. 

His teeth closed over the open fabric, coins spilling out into the sand and glistening beneath the setting sun and the merchant’s eyes snapped open, entire body lurching forward to stop the kittom in his tracks but he was a wiley one, immediately flattening himself against the sand to make himself smaller before his paws sent sand skittering, kicking up a flurry of dust in his wake that helped provide cover.

The remaining loot clinked against each other as Sawyer snapped his maw shut and took off, feeling teeth graze his tail as he hurried to flee, very much aware of the elnin charging after him. 

His heart pounded in his chest as his brain hurried to figure out the best escape route but at the very least, he didn’t stop running. Getting away with the loot was too important! 

After all, he couldn’t come back empty handed this time.