"Fresh apples! Exotic melons! The first and best of the season!" The merchant shouted out his wares and prices in a loud voice. "You there, girl! Come try my fruits. I promise you will never taste sweeter melons in your life!" The girl peered out from under her hood. the merchant writhed under the gaze of her dark eyes. She ran on. "Strange girl." The man muttered. He continued to hawk his wares, the girl already forgotten.

Renae shivered. Market day. She hated it. The crowds of people buying and selling at ridiculous prices, all trying to take advantage of the other; the orphans stealing food and money from the gossiping rich women; the apprentices of various businesses using their day off to spend all money earned from the month before while also playing tricks on each other and trying for new romances. Crimes were commited by both young and old while the city's guards merely watched the rich ladies and the young women in the hopes that some of them would give attention back. In every class, the city was beyond corruption.

The girl pulled her hood closer, hoping to hide her white hair and dark eyes. Although the city was corrupt, it was also superstitious. When she was found years ago, most people wanted her killed or sent away, fearing her strange white hair and pale skin was a bad omen. When she opened her eyes, their beliefs of her darkness matched her dark eyes. Renae didn't know why she was spared, but she was sent to the orphanage and there she had lived for 17 years, never quite able to shake the superstitions that surrounded her.

Renae felt a tap on her shoulder and whipped around, her hood falling down. Korrin ducked the hand that was lifted defensively. She smiled and Renae relaxed.

"Come on, Kor, you know better than to startle me."

Kor laughed. "Yes, that's why I dodged your hand."

The pale girl smiled. "Then everything is fine. How long of a holiday did Mistress Oona give you today?" She said the name of her friend's mistress with a slight note of disdain. More than once her friend had been told not to mingle with "strange, unnatural folk" like herself. Kor sighed.

"Mistress Oona isn't all that bad. She just doesn't want bad luck to rub off on her bakery or her apprentice. I have a half day today."

"Then let's get going," Renae said, starting to jog, "I want a picnic outside the city before you have to go back to getting fat." It was well-known that Mistress Oona's apprentices ate almost as much as they sold. It was only slightly less known that Kor was the one apprentice who still retained a slim figure, for whatever reason that was.

The two girls ran through the market streets, skillfully avoiding the merchants who tried to convince them to buy their goods. Renae smiled as one stubborn merchant received a swift kick in the shins from her friend. His yelp quickly drowned in the general noise of the street. Most of the merchants were accustomed to their antics and left them alone.

They made it to the gates after leaving only three or four shady characters unconscious in back alleys. When the gate guard saw Kor, he blushed.

"Good morning, ladies." He glanced away.

"Darrin, you can call us by our names. We've told you that before." Kor sighed.

"I apologize, ladies. I forget."

Kor laughed and shrugged. She and Renae ran through the open gate as he shouted after them, "The gates close at dusk! I won't be able to open them for you if you haven't returned before then!"