THE MOMENT
"See? And we don't have to go all the way back to town," Molly smiled as she showed off the secret oasis. Astra was admiring the entire scene; the clear blue sky matched the crystal clear water. The small lake was surrounded by lush green that ended before too long to make way for the rest of the endless desert. But, Molly was more concerned with pointing out the vendor to Astra.
"Oh, hi," Astra waved at the tanned old-timer. He looked like he'd spent most of his life standing there under the baking sun without any shade. His hair was stringy and silver, and his face was wrinkled leather. She liked to consider herself observant, but she hadn't noticed him there.
"Afternoon, Miss," he nodded at her. Astra and Molly had spent most of the day adventuring, and heading to town now would cut their excursion short. Then, Molly realized where they were and she eagerly led the way to somewhere they could unload junk while still bringing in some cash. By the time they got there, a plan was in place, and Astra began pulling a large number of items from a deceivingly small leather pack. She placed them on the table in front of the vendor, and he nodded with each new piece to accept the trade. Whatever Astra set on the table disintegrated into dust, and her money increased in tiny amounts each time.
"We could just swim," Molly smiled and gestured at the water. "You haven't been to the beach since you got here, right? This is the next best thing!"
"Ohhhh, maybe!" Astra kept unloading while she gave the water a second look. The surface rippled gently with the cool breeze flowing through. And, there was a notable spot surrounded by palm trees doing their best to create shade on one side of the oasis; it looked like the perfect spot to jump into. She distracted herself by imagining the rush of water; but, she suddenly realized she had a book in her hand and was about to set it down. She wasn't quick enough to stop but, she did pay enough attention to watch the grimoire dissolve.
"NO!" she said.
"What happened!?" Molly didn't know why Astra was distressed, but it didn't matter. She was instantly there and attentive at her friend's side.
"I just sold the tome I found today..," Astra checked her total and was surprised. She brought up the transaction history with a flick of her wrist and scrolled back down the list. "IT'S WORTH 50 SILVER!?" Her shoulders slumped in instant defeat. "I hadn't even decided if I was going to use it or not, but it was legendary! It had to be worth more than 50!" Astra didn't really have a target for her frustration. She couldn't even be mad at herself, it was a simple mistake, and the vendor was an NPC, he didn't set his own prices.
"It's okay," Molly giggled, and patted Astra on the shoulder. "It's very okay, and I'm about to tell you why," she said. "But, first, I'm going to insist that we stay and swim; you need to unwind, girl. You've been tense all week. I know you're still worried about Ben, but my mom said he's looking good. He'll be cleared for adventures again by tomorrow, or the next day. He's healing really fast," she reassured Astra and her friend sighed.
"Thank you," Astra replied. She had the same realization Molly did, it wasn't like her to be so uptight about a simple mistake.
"Now, just buy it back," Molly said.
"It's Legendary....," Astra said. she'd been doing well, but there was no way she could afford a Legendary item with the funds she had on her. But, Molly giggled and shook her head.
"Not to him it's not," she said. "It's one of the reasons I like this vendor so much; and, that's probably why you got such a low price for it. He's a 'Junk Vendor'," Molly added. "It doesn't matter what he gets sold, from his perspective, it's only ever junk. Try it, see if you can buy it back," she encouraged. Astra navigated the menu and opened the 'buyback' tab to find the full list of junk items she'd delivered. Scorpion carapaces, sand elemental cores, desert rabbit's feet, it'd been a kind of slow day until the book dropped. She was very happy to see "Tome of Animal Familiar' with a red-orange 'Legendary' border around it, for only 50 silver.
"It's here!" she bought it. "I got it back! THANK YOU!" she hugged Molly.
"Okay, that was too dumb a mistake, and I think I'm done for today," Astra shook her head and headed toward the water. Molly realized what was happening and dashed ahead of her to get there first, even as Astra finished her thought. "I'm going to relax until the evening, then we can head back to town. Sound good?" She was answered by a heavy splash as she reached the water. Molly smiled and nodded, then leaned back in the water to show off the golden-pink scales that now covered her bottom half.
"AAAAAAGWWWgghh " she reached her arms in one direction and her tail in the other. "It's so good to stretch out."
"Kind of open out here, isn't it?" Astra asked as she finished pulling off her boots.
"Hah, I swim all the time out here; this place is pretty secret," she said. Astra accepted the explanation. If Molly felt comfortable showing she was a mermaid there, she didn't want to accidentally discourage it.
"Well, no one except the Junk Vendor," Asra laughed and gestured behind herself with her thumb.
"NPCs don't count." Molly giggled and nodded at something past Astra. The girl turned and she was surprised to see the scraggly junk vendor gone. "He only exists if he's making a trade."