Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 68: Mëekies, Igloos, and Nightmares

Jukeni had not been exaggerating when he claimed market day to be crazy.

It was a small village. The buildings were built in the same style as Nama's house was, with narrow roofs, small windows, and stark contrasts between the walls and the dark beams that held them up. However, the strange buildings were the last thing on Kai's mind as he allowed Kaeden and Jukeni to lead him into town.

The village was packed. What looked like hundreds of stalls filled the main dirt and cobblestone streets, and thick, bustling throngs of people spilled over the roads and alleyways; a roaring, chattering sea of movement and voices. Most stalls were made of wood, but others were tents of brightly-colored tarps and blankets.

The people wore clothes similar to how Kai, Kaeden, and Jukeni's were; plain tunics and cloaks for the men and long, modest dresses and skirts for the women. Kai had never seen clothes like these. Leather jerkins, slim-fitting breeches, knee-high boots, and of course those weird flaps coming out of the front and back of these costumes. For the ladies, there were dresses, long skirts cut at the sides, kirtles, bodices, and Kai honestly didn't know what else he was looking at.

These people bustled in milling crowds on the streets, shouting, jostling, waving, greeting, arguing, laughing, and creating all sort of noise as they shopped at different stalls and argued over prices. The stalls themselves carried varying articles. Fruits and vegetables were collected neatly in straw baskets and wooden crates, set out nicely for display. Dark, greasy meat sizzled on roasting spits over small fires outside or on little stone ovens within the tents and shacks from which the cooks sold their food. The smell of warm bread and sweet goodies wafted from several stalls with brightly-colored tarp roofs, while sharp spices and thick, juicy aromas both made Kai's mouth water. None of this food looked familiar to him—save for a few vegetables and maybe some fruits—but a lot of it certainly smelled delicious.

Food wasn't the only thing the people sold and bought with one another. Jewelry glittered from boxes in their tents and from strings hanging down from the ceilings. Metal music boxes creaked and sang their high-pitched tunes, with little figurines twirling in place when the top was opened. Hand-carved kitchen utensils, furniture, figures, and more sat handsomely together by their proud makers. There were even animals milling about with the crowd, such as donkeys led on leashes while tall, lean horses—taller and leaner than the horses Kai had known in Ninjago—clip-clopped their way up and down with their riders or pulled creaking carts full of cargo or people.

Perhaps Kai shouldn't have been so surprised to realize that Kaeden wasn't the only "dog-man" in this realm. He stopped and stared slack-jawed when he'd nearly run headlong into a large, irritable-looking creature with the head like a German Shepherd.

"What where yer going, lad!" the big dog snapped, brushing past Kai. Like Kaeden, he wore clothes like the humans did, and the lower portion of his body seemed to be more humanoid than the rest of him, though a large tail bounced along behind him. The dog-man paid no mind to Kai's stare and pushed his way through the crowd, carrying a basket of groceries in one hand.

Kai looked around and caught sight of more furry faces in the crowd. Many were wolf-like creatures as Kaeden was, but there were some with more hound breeds, too. All those people with fur were canine. He half-expected to see more half-animal people around, like cat-people, yet dogs seemed to be the only hybrid in this crowd.

"This place is crazy," Kai muttered under his breath, staring around his surroundings.

Jukeni, standing nearby, heard what Kai said, and mistook his meaning. "I know, right?" He laughed over the bustle of the crowd, "Told you market day's intense!"