The fox child was innocent, and often the innocent questions were the hardest to answer. "When something 'dies', it is like falling into an endless sleep. But…you don't wake up ever again. Even if you eat, sometimes it can still happen. Like if you are hurt too much…" She didn't want to scare the girl, but wasn't sure how to describe it so she could understand the concept of mortality without fear. Thankfully the girl's spirit was brighter than hers, as the fox child then darted off in the direction of a stall with freshly baked bread. Shiloh knew what Akira was thinking as soon as she saw where she was going. Even though she was a human, the smell of baked treats were strong.

She arrived just in time when Akira was about to eat something without paying first and the stall owner was scolding her. Breathing a sigh of relief as the man wasn't calling the guards yet, she fished out money and handed it to him. "Here. I'll take three. Give me one of the rosemary loaves as well." The man looked at her and Akira, assumed she was the child's guardian and accepted the coin. While he was bagging two other sweet rolls and a loaf, she knelt down to Akira. "Akira, when you want something here you need to give them the right amount of coins first. It's not that they don't want to give it to you, they want to trade it to you for something. It wouldn't be nice if they gave things away they worked hard for without getting anything in return, right?" This wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for a young child, but Shiloh saw it was a good opportunity to help teach Akira. She would likely remember it more clearly now than if she told her at a different time, as she would associate paying for food with this event. 

Gently she patted the fox girl's head before standing up to take the baked goods she purchased. She then said to Akira, "You can eat the roll now. I traded coins with the man for the food, so it's now yours." She had bought the rolls and bread seeing that Akira probably wasn't able to have regular meals due to being all alone. She herself had been in a similar situation a long time ago, and if she hadn't been adopted by Unna then she would be in the same position as Akira now. The world was an unforgiving place for those who had their parents taken from them before they could learn how to care for themselves. It wasn't their fault that life was sometimes unfair.

How can one get hurt too much to not be saved by eating? It was something she did not know how to consciously contemplate. Her mind was blocking out the one time she witnessed something terrible, her first real experience with death. Primarily, it was because she didn't understand that it was murder, and the victim would never return. When Shiloh approached, still with tears in her eyes, Akira watched as some round, flat, metallic items were traded for the bread and sweets.

The child frowned at the explanation. Trading something for things to eat? Her ears flattened as Shiloh's hand patted her head, eyes closed momentarily. Soothing touches were still very uncommon for her, so the look of surprise as she looked up at the woman was quite natural. How can so few people be so kind to her when most everyone treated her like she was unworthy of anything but cruel interactions. Hesitantly, she retracted the sweet roll, wearily watching the baker, expecting him to yell at her again. When no words came, but instead he smiled at her, Akira said a single thing as she turned to catch up with Shiloh. ”Thanks you.”

She took a bite and nearly squealed in delight as the sugary sweetness exploded upon her tongue, the warmth of the bread making it so soft and flaky. ”Shiloh! Yum!” In her excitement, she tried to eat far more than she could fit in her mouth at once. Poor thing had her mouth so full, she could barely chew it. Giggling, she worked at it until she could swallow, giving Shiloh a goofy grin. It quickly faded as she recalled the coins that Shiloh had used to purchase everything. ”Shiloh… Akira so small. How Akira make 'coin'? No can make treats.” As she said the last statement, she held the half eaten sweet roll up to show Shiloh what she meant. It seemed cruel for such a young child to suddenly worry about coins and work, but it was the way of the world for orphans. For this reason alone do most turn to thievery to survive. How Akira managed to stay clean of this was beyond many people.

Shiloh rested her head on one of her hands, watching Akira eat. This was probably the best meal she had in a while. When the fox child asked how she could be able to make money and voiced her concerns on her young age, it brought back memories of her own childhood. Thinking for a while, she tried to come up with feasible options that Akira could do. "Hm…that's a good question. If you want to make money, then that depends on what you can do. There are lots of ways other than making bread. Is there something that you like doing, or something you are good at? That's the easiest way to start until you learn new things. Once you have a way to make coin, you can use that to find people who can teach you things you want to learn." 

She was probably too young to understand what schools and tutors were, so she stuck to using simple terms. "Some people make coin by teaching people things they know very well, others make things to sell, some find things people need and exchange them for coin, and others earn it by helping people." Shiloh had done all of these at least once in her life, mostly the last two. The trick was finding where people were needed and convincing those offering the jobs that she was the right person to handle it. It was a slow, but steady process. To be honest, she was surprised that she had been able to have a steady flow of income just by running errands and deliveries alone. Bounties and other higher-risk requests were a rarity in her schedule. It was proof that you didn't have to risk your neck to earn a lot of money, if you were patient enough.

"I usually make money by helping people carry things to others, like letters and items wrapped up. They want to make sure the one they are sending it to receives it, and that's what I do. Before this, I would find things in the forest and other places, then come to the cities to see if anyone wanted to buy." She said, to give the girl an idea of how she got started. Taking out one of the loaves of bread, she broke off a chunk and chewed it slowly. The rosemary was strong and fragrant, just how she liked it. A little bit too salty for her taste, so she didn't buy it often.

Something she liked doing? Something she liked doing? Playing didn't quite help her earn money in any way, shape, or form. Akira frowned as she tried to figure this out. She took another bite of her delicious roll, chewing slowly as she was distracted with her thoughts while trying to listen to Shiloh continue speaking. People teach, make, find and help to earn money. Even Shiloh did just that, helping people by taking things to someone else.

"So… If Akira finds a shiny, Akira trade it for coin?" Shiny treasure, or the promise of, is what got Akira into the predicament she was in now. Some person or another wasn't even talking to her! Yet the little fox child stowed away on their expedition. It's nearly killed her several times now, and she's only trying to find her way back to a place she can only remember by sight. Names were still a little difficult for the child to grasp.

"And coin buy things like food! But… Shiny hard to find… Akira no find any shiny yet, except ghosty stuff." Still, there had to be something else she could do for people though. As Akira began to lick her fingers clean, an idea came to her. "Shiloh, Akira can find those planty stuff. Angel root, bee wax, nuts! People buy from Akira and sell to other, and Akira have coin for things?"

"Yes, that's right. You're learning well. But remember, be careful. Ask for them to give you the money before they take what you sell. Both of you should show the other you have something. That's fair." Thinking a bit, she was considering how to better teach Akira about foraging and basic survival. Foraging wasn't easy. She remembered spending hours searching, until she gradually picked up on where to look and when. Those were the kind of things most people had to try and fail at several times before figuring it out. She worried since the child was so young, so any help she could give the girl now would save her more pain and misfortune later.

"Akira, you have a good sense of smell. There are a lot of plants in the forest that can hurt you, and some plants that won't. But the good plants don't like getting eaten, so they pretend to be the bad plants. They can pretend by dressing up like the bad ones, but you can tell which plants are which if you look closely. How they smell, how many leaves they have, even their colors can tell you and me who they are. Mushrooms are harder to tell, so until you can pick out the good plants from the bad–don't try with them." Taking out an enchanted scroll, she touched it and began to draw the shape of a few plants based off memory. 

"I remember my mother told me something very important when I was small: 'Three leaves, let it be. Don't poke, it's poison oak.' Some plants have leaves that grow in threes. They make you itch when you touch them and hurt a lot, so stay away. Bad plants usually smell and taste bad. But if good plants grow in areas that have bad water or dirt, then they will become bad too. Your nose and eyes are very important, and don't eat things until you know they are good." Drawing out a picture of an edible berry, she pointed to it. "Make sure to only eat berries when they are ripe. They will be sweet and juicy, and won't hurt your stomach. If you don't know if a berry is good or not, see if other animals are eating it. Animals won't eat things that are bad for them, so you can learn by looking at them." Erasing the magical pictures, she then explained to the fox child a few more easy to identify edible plants and how to eat them.

By this way, she could find food in case it was scarce or sell them to others if she didn't need to eat them. Shiloh knew her own knowledge was limited, so she did her best to make things easy to understand. 

Akira tried to put all the new information into her brain, to store it away for future use. However, she was but a child, and it some things would take time to remember. But she did try hard. Every so often, she pointed at a picture and repeated names, details, what to look for. The child was trying to ensure the retention of knowledge. "Akira know ripe better. Akira nose smell it easy. Akira spent long time alone outside cities. Kids always be mean to Akira… Always pull ears, yank tail… Adults chase Akira out… It been cold and hard on Akira, but Akira manage."

She was trying hard not to be so upset about her past. The child reached out and touched the enchanted scroll. Images of different berries and fruits of the wilds she knew were safe. "Akira no know what names are, but, foxes teach Akira to live. Teach Akira to stay warm… ish." An image of a huddling of something under a blanket hiding under a thicket of bushes covered in snow drew itself. "Akira no want live like that anymore, Shiloh…" As her hand fell away, she was attempting to swallow her tears, not wanting them to fall and appear weak in front of the woman who was doing her best to teach the child.

"Akira like travel, but cold no friend. Summer, autumn, those fun times. Winter too cold, too white. Too hard find food." They were the natural hardships of living in the wild. Sadly, she was not a wild child. She was humanoid, and thus required more than furry creatures. No one was kind enough to take her in, no one helped her find orphanages. Akira didn't even know what orphanages were. "Winter coming, Shiloh. It will be hard…"

She nodded and gave her a smile. That was one good thing the fox child had going for her. The beastkin senses were always sharper than any human's, no matter how well one could train. Listening as the girl told her about how she had lived up until now, she twisted a piece of bread between her fingers. "Yeah…winter's always tough." If it wasn't for Unna, she wouldn't have made it past the first season. Living with a family of mountain trolls meant she didn't experience the same comforts as most children, but the cave was always much warmer than the howling winds outside. The worst of it was finding food. Most animals and birds were gone, the trees would've dropped their leaves, and fishing wasn't always something you could depend on. You either had to store food like the squirrels, hunt and follow the animals as they moved, or try to wait things out like the bears.

"Hey, Akira. Since I deliver things, I know a lot of people. I'll ask around and see if any of my customers know someone who will let you stay with them until the snow melts. There's a few I know here, so we can start from there." Shiloh thought of a halfling couple who lived a little ways off the main streets in Komiteia. They were middle-aged, and their children had moved out years ago. She had first met with them back when she had to assist a caravan delivering goods during peak season. The carriers needed extra hands and were running behind, so she helped drop off packages all over. Leading Akira along, she navigated the busy streets until she found a homely cottage. It was cozy, with painted windows and cherry-wood shutters. The bricks were a warm red, and smoke was coming from the chimney. There was a thick mat before the door that read: 'Welcome' in bright letters. 

Knocking on the door, it opened as a halfling man with a pipe came to see who it was. "Oh, hello! How may I help you?" Shiloh gave a polite bow, which seemed odd due to her essentially towering over the man. "Good afternoon Mr. Tolbern. Do you remember me? I believe we met last year on the coattails of Venti." Scratching the curly greying mop of hair on his head, Mr. Tolbern thought before the memory came back to him. "Aha! Yes, yes I remember! Edna's quilting supplies, you were the one who sent them to our doorstep when the wagons were overloaded and running behind. Good to see you again! I don't recall ordering anything lately, unless Edna's been sneaking coin to purchase sweets without me knowing." He chuckled, before checking if his wife had heard him. "So, what brings you here?"

Looking down to the fox child beside her, she answered plainly. "I'm here to ask a favor from you… You see, my friend here doesn't have any family nearby. She's still very young, and I don't know if the orphanages will take her, or where to look. If you could, I'd really appreciate it if you and your wife could ask around to see who's willing to look after Akira this winter." Mr. Tolbern was saddened to hear this, and took off his glasses to wipe them. "Oh dear…that's terrible. How old is she? It must've been hard living out on her own with no parents or family. After telling me this, I'm half inclined to take her in myself. I'll need to ask Edna, but I don't think she'll refuse." Shiloh wasn't entirely sure on Akira's age, but judging by her speech and behavior she couldn't be older than ten. "I'm not sure myself, but she's maybe around six or younger? She's a sweet child and very curious. She's also a quick learner." Turning to Akira she knelt down to her level and put her hands on her shoulders. "Akira, will you be ok with staying here with Uncle Tolbern? He says he's happy to let you stay until the snow melts. I don't have a house or a place for you to stay right now, but if you stay here Uncle Tolbern and Aunt Edna can teach you and keep you warm."