[OOC: Hm...now that I think about it, sitting on a rock just waiting for people is kinda boring and somewhat...well, stupid in something this big XD]
IC: Voutok (Onu-Koro Market)
After letting the crowds die down for a bit, Voutok got up from the rock and wandered into the market, looking at the various shops for something to catch his attention. He tossed and caught the bag of gears Gahree had given him last night for a brief moment. He still found it odd and somewhat sad that these people used such simple scrap metal to represent their economy, but he eventually just shrugged it off and kept looking.
He thought briefly about the other regions that Gahree had previously alluded to in one of their conversations conversations.
I'm not sure if you'll ever find a quiet spot on Mata-Nui." Gahree had said, "Ko-Koro is always windy, Ga-Koro has plenty of waves, we just experienced Po-Koro, Ta-Koro is nothing but erupting lava, Le-Koro is windy and full of Rahi, and now you can see what Onu-Koro is like,"
"What did all those names even mean?" Voutok muttered to himself quietly enough to not be heard by any non-De-Matoran (which, so far as he knows is to say, everyone). "I wonder if they have a map or some kind of guide to this land in one of these shops...That would help me get a bit more acquainted with...what was it again? Mata Nui?"
After relentless searching through the crowds, Voutok finally found what he was looking for: a simple library near the edge of the market. He went inside and was slightly unnerved to find it much quieter than just about everywhere else he'd been so far. The doors and rock walls of the building drowned out the sounds of miners in the distance (a sound Voutok forgot still rang in his ears until he was met with the silence) and the room was almost deathly quiet until he heard the sound of a turning page from the direction of the counter and a few footsteps from near the back of the building.
"Can I help you?" An Onu-Matoran said from behind the counter.
"Oh. Yes, if you don't mind. I'm looking for...some kind of map of 'Mata Nui', I guess. Even better, a guide or something that tells about everything. Got anything like that?" Voutok replied.
The Onu-Matoran raised an eyebrow behind his mask, as if the question was stupid. "You mean...like the Encyclopedia?"
"Ah, karz..." Voutok thought to himself, "I probably just weirded this guy out asking something stupid...
"Er, yes. Sorry, the word slipped my mind for a moment." Voutok replied.
"I see." The Onu-Matoran replied, still heavily suspicious. "Well, we clearly have stacks of them right by the door, so..."
Voutok looked behind him and saw the stacks he was refering to, right in his path where he should have seen them. "...So it seems." he replied, taking one of them off the top of the stack. "So, uh, how many...'gears'?"
"...'Gears'?" the Onu-Matoran said, tilting his head slightly.
"Uh...yeah. You know, these." Voutok took out one of the gears from the bag of them he got from Gahree.
"...You mean Widgets?"
"...Yes."
The Onu-Matoran rolled his eyes. "You feeling ok, buddy?"
"I...guess. I'm kinda new here, you could say. Just tell me how many 'widgets' this is, exactly."
"For that thing, 20 Widgets."
Voutok counted up twenty of the gears from the pouch and laid them on the counter. The Onu-Matoran looked them over, then put them in a chest behind the counter, opened the cover of the book and stamped it before handing it to Voutok, still suspicious as to who he was.
"Thanks." Voutok said. "Say...how would one, uh, you know...get transportation out of here?"
"...You're kidding me, right?" the Onu-Matoran replied. "Just look for one of the--many--Ussel Crab Taxi services in the area."
"...Yeah. Thanks again."
"Sure."
The Onu-Matoran's eyes seemed to stare right through Voutok as he turned and left the store, merging into the crowd and looking for these "Ussel Crab Taxi Servives" the Onu-Matoran mentioned, holding the encyclopedia under his arm.
[OOC: I'd say that's enough for now]