Estate Sale

Mission:

Vh’idrruss made his way out of the magic show he just put on, the kids had asked him a thousand questions about the Hokage and “The White Wolf”, he then noticed a small help wanted card pinned to the cork board in the small shop.
 
It stated that help was needed at one of the residences to help organize and put on a yard sale, which would be paid in full.  Vh’idrruss grabbed the card and made his way to the home’s address listed on the small note card.
 
After wandering through the old-time neighborhoods of Yugakure no Sato for the home listed on the card, he finally managed to find the house.  It was in an older part of the village, and while the house was worn down and in need of some love, it had a beautifully kept garden in the front yard.  The grass was meticulously cut, with beautifully arranged flowers and plants accented throughout the garden.  There were statues of mythological creatures and gods in various parts, and a stone fountain in the center of the yard.  The fountain was not currently spitting water from the stone fish that adorned the top of the fountain, but he could picture it in his minds-eye.  “Nice,” he quietly said to no one.
 
Slowly walking up to the front porch, with several stone benches, and some statues of various mythological figures that he did not know the names of, he knocked on the giant wooden door.
 
After a minute or too, the door creaked open, and an elderly woman answered through the chain protected crack, “Hello, how may I help you?”
 
“I’m here about the yard sale,” Vh’idrruss answered.
 
“Grandma Chiyo. Who is it?” yelled a woman from inside the house.
 
“Just someone who answered your flyer,” Grandma Chiyo reluctantly said.
 
Vh’idrruss could hear the pain in her heart.  “It must be hard on her,” he thought.
 
“Beautiful yard,” Vh’idrruss said to the elderly woman.  “Must have taken a lifetime to create such a work of art, and another lifetime to take care of such a beautiful arrangement,” he added.
 
“Thank you for the kind words, young man,” she brokenheartedly returned.
 
After a couple of seconds another woman, though much younger appeared in the crack of the door.
 
“Hello, the pay is not great, and might be a lot of work, but if you’re willing, I will appreciate any help.”
 
“I don’t mind,” he returned.
 
She closed the door and Vh’idrruss heard the chain being removed from the door.  The giant door slowly swung open.  “Please come in,” the young woman said, “and don’t mind the mess.”
 
Boxes of stuff were everywhere, filled with amazing relics of the past.  Painting, statues, books, scrolls, just about any trinket you could think of.  It was an amazing collection of odds and ends.  “It looks like the elderly woman had been collecting things since the dawn of time,” Vh’idrruss silently thought to himself.
 
“So over here is what we are currently going to add to the yard sale,” she said.  And then with a weird look in her eye said, “Oh my, where are my manners?  My name is Akane, and my grandmother’s name is Chiyo, you can call her “Grandma Chiyo”. That is what everyone else calls her.”  She smiled at shook Vh’idrruss hand, and Vh’idrruss returned with, “Just call me V, it is short for Vh’idrruss.”
 
“Beautiful place you have here.  Why the yard sale if you don’t mind my asking?” Vh’idrruss asked.
 
Grandma Chiyo eyes shimmered and the young woman answered, “Unfortunately Grandma Chiyo’s husband, my grandfather, recently passed, and I am taking her to one of the local villages to live with me.  We can’t take everything and are doing our best to sort through what is not important and selling it to the people of the Hotsprings.  I also hope to make a little money to help with the cost of moving.”
 
“I am sorry for both of your losses, it is hard to lose someone who is so close to you,” Vh’idrruuss respectfully stated.
 
“These beautiful relics all look like they have a story to tell,” said Vh’idrruss.  “It must be hard to choose what to keep and what to let go.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Akane said.  Grandma Chiyo smiled warmly with the telltale shimmer of sadness in her eyes.
 
“What do you need me to do first?” asked Vh’idrruss.
 
“First let’s get all these relics outside,” pointing to the corner she stated about earlier.
 
“Glad to help,” he replied.
 
As Vh’idrruss moved the relics to the front yard, they exchanged stories and some laughter along the way.  Vh’idrruss tried his best to remain professional and learned a lot of the old man.  The garden was his pride and joy, and Grandma Chiyo loved the garden above all else in the house and was sad to let it go.  She had been maintaining it, but in her old age, was too much for her to do.  They had been here for many years, and even though she was sad to leave here, she was happy at the same time.  The village had really deteriorated since they made their life here.
 
Vh’idrruss than was than tasked with putting up some flyers around the neighborhood and to spread some news of the yard sale.  After a few hours of handing out flyers and talking to people in the neighboring housing districts, people began to show up to buy stuff.
 
A young woman asked about an old rocking chair that had been put in the yard sale and wanted to know the history behind it.  Grandma Chiyo stated that she used to read bedtime stories to her grandkids and spent many hours just rocking and reading all her favorite books.
 
“It’s beautifully made, and looks like a professional created it, the craftsmanship in the subtle details etched into the chair, he really must have known what he was doing,” stated Vh’idrruss. 
 
“It truly is beautiful,” the woman replied.
 
A tear began to form in Grandma Chiyo’s eye, and Vh’idrruss said, “Imagine the stories she will read, and the tales she will tell her children and children’s children.”
 
“I will miss it truly, please promise me you will take great care of it,” she said to the young woman.
 
“On my honor I will take good care of your chair,” the woman said with a hint of sadness for Grandma Chiyo’s loss.
 
The young woman walked over to Akane to finalize the deal for the chair.
 
Vh’idrruss than noticed a couple looking at an old tea set and began to make his way over to it.
 
“Exquisite craftsmanship isn’t it,” Vh’idruss stated.
 
“Yes, the paintwork alone must have taken ages, and not a crack in the entire set,” the man said with a hint of awe in his voice.
 
“Do you happen to drink tea?” asked Vh’idrruss.
 
“Oh yes, I consider myself quite the connoisseur when it comes to tea.  I travel all over the neighboring villages to get the best tea leaves,” he pridefully said and added, “I haven’t seen a set this beautiful in a long time.  It must have cost a fortune.”
 
“Well worth it, while I am not a connoisseur of tea, I come from a clan that takes its craftmanship seriously and I can say that the work that the crafter put into this is some of the best work I have seen,” Vh’idrruss said with pride and humility in his voice.
 
“We will pay what price is asked, it is definitely worth it, and I thank you for your honesty,” the man said.
 
“I will tell the owner, and she will be with you in a minute,” Vh’idrruss told the couple.
 
Walking over to Akane, Vh’idrruss said, “Akane, the couple over there is interested in the tea set, please talk to them about it when you get a chance.”
 
Vh’idrruss walked around the yard sale, helping others appreciate the furniture and the other trinkets that were being sold in the yard sale.  Just then he noticed an old man looking at a chest trying to open it up with no success.
 
Walking over to the old man, Vh’idrruss asked, “Can I help you?”
 
“I can not open this chest,” he replied.
 
Vh’idrruss tried and it would not budge.
 
“The crafter really knew what he was doing didn’t he?” Vh’idrruss said to the old man.
 
The old man laughed.
 
“One sec lets see if I could get the key.”
 
Walking over to Akane asked if she had the key.  “Hmm I am not sure where the key could be, let me ask Grandma Chiyo,” Akane said.
 
They walked over to Grandma Chiyo and asked if she knew where the key was.  After a few seconds to ponder over the question, Grandma Chiyo reached into her pocket and pulled out a ring of keys.  She removed one of the keys and stated, “this key should open the chest.”  She handed it to Vh’idrruss and all three of them walked over to the old man.
 
Vh’idrruss unlocked the chest and opened it up.  It was filled with old handmade blankets.  They were perfectly kept, and it looked like the chest did its job perfectly of preserving the blankets over the years.
 
The old man took one look at the blankets and said, “I’ll take it, but unfortunately, I am not in the need for the blankets.  I’ll take the chest.  It must have been made by a master crafter to keep these blankets in a perfect state over the years, not even one speck of rat dropping or even a cobweb to be seen.  No wonder we could not even budge it open,” he laughed.
 
“Make me a deal and you can keep the blankets,” he said with a grin on his face.
 
“My husband traded for that chest a long time ago and stored these blankets for many seasons and have not opened it in a long time.”
 
“I will be sad to let it go,” Grandma Chiyo said.
 
“I’m sure that he will take good care of the chest Grandma Chiyo, and use it to store his most prized possessions,” Vh’idrruss stated while looking deep into the old man’s eyes.
 
“Oh yes, I will take great care of this chest, I will only keep my best possessions in it,” the old man replied, with a hint of fear at the look Vh’idrruss gave him.
 
He understood that he was to take great care of the chest, by the look in Vh’idrruss’s eyes.
 
Akane asked for a generous sum, and the old man paid it without hesitation.  “It truly must have been well made for him to pay so much,” Vh’idrruss thought to himself, “but well worth it.”
 
Over the course of several hours most of the odds and ends sold out, all in all it seemed like a successful yard sale.  Books, scrolls, paintings, furniture and beautifully made silver eating utensils all sold.  Akane made a generous sum over the course of one day.  Way beyond her expectations.
 
As the sun began to set, Vh’idrruss was asked to take in the few left-over items back into the house for the night.  Akane stated that he did his job well behind what she could have hoped for and paid him a generous sum of Ryo for his hard and dedicated work.  She said she could probably easily sell the rest over the course of several days, and since there was so little left, she could manage on her own.
 
Grandma Chiyo invited Vh’idrruss to at least eat dinner with them after the hard day of work, which he knew he could not refuse.  They sat around the table and talked about life, and told each other stories that made them laugh, and cry.  The food was amazing and after dinner Vh’idrruss said his goodbyes and thanked Grandma Chiyo for the amazing dinner.  Vh’idrruss said if they ever needed help in the future to look him up.
 
He reached out to shake Grandma Chiyo’s hand, which she reached out and gave Vh’idrruss a big bear hug and then Vh’iddruss turned and bowed to lady Akane, which she returned respectfully.  Vh’idrruss set out and decided to go for a long walk to reflect on the day’s journey.  He made sure that his Ryo’s were safely kept in his coin pouch and left with a small tear in his eye and a smile on his face.
 
[2078]
Claiming! 2078 Words
1000 Ryo / 5 AP
(435/1000) [C Rank] Chakra Absorption [ABRACADABRA]
(788/2000) [Skill] Apothecary
(855/2000) [Skill] One-Handed Seals
20 Stats into Vigor

Vh'idrruss wrote:

Mission:

 
[2078]
Claiming! 2078 Words
1000 Ryo / 5 AP
(435/1000) [C Rank] Chakra Absorption [ABRACADABRA]
(788/1000) [Skill] Apothecary
(855/2000) [Skill] One-Handed Seals
20 Stats into Vigor

Approved