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Dorian stepped through the doorway of his shop and closed his eyes as he filled his lungs with the sweet smell of the breeze. It was that lovely time of day between morning and noon and he was grateful he had talked himself into sleeping in a little. He closed his shop for the day and started on his trek to see his friend. It wasn't often he was able to get away for a whole day, but he told himself it was to garnish supplies and it made his worries slide through his thoughts easily.
He set out in the direction he usually saw his friend. It would take a few hours to get there, but with any luck he would be back home in time for diner and with new wares for his shop. He wondered what he had for him today. Sometimes he had little acorn figurines Dorian could sell. Another time He had used his skilled claws to thread some twine through some rope and make some wonderous puppets! Dorian smiled and chuckled to himself as he remembered how well they had gone over with some of the children in his Aos Si town. His smile grew warmer as the image of parents pulling the strings of buffalo puppets and their children in small form holding on as they playfully bucked. Yes, it would be good to see him again.
Dorian lazily walked down the path that usually led the way. His eyes wandering peacefully over the lush plants, making a little list of things he could come back for when he wouldn't need to save space in his bags. There was no telling what would be offered in trade today, and with this there was no way Dorian could fill his bags before reaching his friend. So instead, he filled his mind with swirling thoughts of what could be made with the bits and bobs he saw in nature around him. His dream friends still visited him and his imagination had grown increasingly ever since their first appearance.
The sound of laughter bubbling in front of him broke him out of images of his dream friends sawing little paws from wood to make little tiger figurines. Dorian shook his head and stopped right before bumping into the friend he had been searching for. "Terrance! I was wondering when I would find you!" A smile broke from his muzzle as Terrance's laugh grew louder. "I think it was I who found you this time! The way you were looking it seemed you wouldn't have found a lake if you had stepped into it!" Dorian blushed as he was sure Terrance's description of him was less than false. Dorian cleared his throat and glanced to the side before looking back and smiling at Terrance. "Than I am glad you found me, cause I was needing some new stock for my store."
Terrance beamed at his friend. "Ah! Wonderful! I wondered when you would be needing something new." Terrance began digging through the small cart he brought with him always. "It's been so long since I saw you last, I have a few new things." He popped his head out, his arm still in the cart as he turned to quarry Dorian. "Tell me, is there a bread maker in your village? I have this wonderful new ingredient that has so many uses." Dorian tilted his head slightly and nodded as he responded "Yes, though they haven't really ventured into advanced technique yet. Mainly they make these lovely little loaves you can spread butter on."
Terrance lifted a jar of green powder from the cart, its hue the color of poison ivy. Dorian's eyes grew wide as his ears went slightly back with unease of the color. "What do you do with it?" He asked. Terrance chuckled as he turned the jar so the sun played with the dust inside. "I could sooner tell you what you Don't do with it, the truly wonderful things you can do with this powder." Terrance took a pause as Dorian's eyes lifted from the powder to him, inviting him to go on. "I've many a customer who enjoys mixing this into their breads. They've told me it turns them into the most splendid of color! Their excitement for it makes them a bit queasy at first, but they've also mentioned a wonderful little side effect of weight loss for those looking to slim their figure" Terrance's eyebrows danced atop his face as he went on. " I've had others that say they wet it and make it into a lovely paint for toys. Much better than some smelly paints I've sold before as this often adds a slight hint of almonds!"
Dorian's ears swiveled forward again, his eyebrows coming to meet in the middle of his face as it turned quizzical. "Almonds? Do you add almonds into the powder?" "Not a lick of it." Terrance bubbled back. "No, this is actually mostly some ground and dried soil I found by a small waterfall." He leaned in, an action he hardly ever performed with his other clients, but he had known Dorian for years at this point and felt him an easy confidant. "I have to use leaves though or it tends to make my claws break out." He shrugged nonchalantly "I haven't had any complaints from anyone else though, so I don't usually feel the need to mention it."
Suddenly rage filled Dorian as he understood what made him wary of the color. He had heard of it before, though he had never seen it in person. "You FOOL!" He burst out. "There is arsenic in that!" Dorian's eyes moved back and forth between Terrance and the jar of powder, not sure what surprised him more. "You'll KILL someone with that! You have to stop immediately." Terrance scoffed as he looked down his nose at his friend. "You must be joking. I've made more selling this than any of those silly puppets I sold you. This is gold compared to those! And no one has complained so far besides the upset stomach." He put the jar back in his cart and turned as if to leave. "If you are going to act like this over some silly soil used in baking than I don't have anything else to sell you."
Dorian watched stunned as his friend, no, Terrance retreated with his cart. The whistling he could hear grow fainter juxtaposing the dread he felt cumulating inside him. He had trusted Terrance. He had thought him a skilled artisan! What could have possibly happened to him in the time between the last they had met to make him think this was okay.
Dorian turned and walked back towards his home. His head lowered towards the ground, no longer able to think of any materials he could fill his empty bags from the plants that swayed beside him. He couldn't stand to think of Terrance as a friend after this. He would need to tell everyone he met not to buy Terrance's powder. And though it might save someone in the future, the thought killed a small bit inside him.
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