With Kelwindre

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre nodded slightly, taking in Tash'ma's words, and trying to understand the past the Traveller had seen. "Interesting," she said quietly. "I can't say I really blame you," she said to her. Kelwindre actually counted her lucky stars when it came to not having to be a 'lady', in fact the villagers knew she would accept no such thing; that's probably why they raised her as they did. Still, there were times where Kelwindre couldn't help but wonder if a life as an aristocratic girl, bred for family and nothing else, wouldn't have been easier.

"Oh well, here's to not being aristocratic ladies," she said with a smile. "I guess I kind of lucked out there, no one ever tried to make me into something I'm not; they recognised I was far too eager to adventure to be some lady of the court." Kelwindre looked at Tash'ma and smiled just a little wider than before. "I guess it's the same feeling for you?" she asked. It was partly that way before, the idea that she felt compelled to take up, or at least felt more excited about, a life of adventuring. Of course, it wasn't the only thing. Kelwindre oftentimes wondered if she'd ever have a family, but everytime thoughts of such came up, she'd always find herself too busy to notice, either in training or work or whatever her duties had called upon her to do. There was also the whole thing about the dangers of being an adventurer in Avaren, and how each day could be her last; and that wasn't some cliche line, it was more than true. Bandits had proven that to her years ago, using her family as the example. Kelwindre couldn't even bear to think about forcing anyone to go through that, which just pushed her even further away from people. How these great adventurers have families and such was well beyond Kelwindre, but she figured it had to be something that came with experience.

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka nodded. "Yes, it was pretty much the same with me. I couldn't stand to be a lady and walk with mincing steps and if I picked up a sword, one of my aunts would go into hysterics, another would grab it from me and hide it, and the third would lecture me till my ears rang. It was the same with anything considered unladylike. Besides, I considered tracking down my parent's murderer and killing him was more important. My views have chnged some on that, but I still want to meet him in battle someday." A pale fire leapt into her eyes. "And I will." Looking up, she said, "Oh, look! She's almost done! We've got to figure out what we want." And hurriedly the two heads bent over the book.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre looked at the book only for a brief second before she lifted her head. She decided to just try to explain the fairly complex braid that was almost unique to her village. It was a simple pony tail, but braided, both the pony tail, and the strands used to braid the pony tail were themselves braided first, which made it look a lot more complex, and quite beautiful. It'd most likely test the patience of the girl coming to get her, though, but Kelwindre had faith.

After she had been led up to the nearby chair, Kelwindre tried her best to explain the braid she wanted; it wasn't easy to do, but somehow she had managed it, and the girl quickly got to work.

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka smiled as she watched Kelwindre try to explain to the girl how she wanted her hair braided. Just then the other girl came up and said, "If it please you miss, I be ready for you." Kaldaka smiled and pointed to a coronet style. "I would like a variation on this style, please," she said. "If you could have three braids on each side before braiding those up into a coronet, that would be wonderful." The girl nodded and, once Kaldaka was seated, started work on her hair. Kaldaka smiled over at Kelwindre as the girl brushed her hair.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre smiled, yet remained quiet as the girl worked on her hair, finally finishing up and turning Kelwindre to a nearby mirror.

"Does that suffice?" she asked. "I hope I got what you wanted, if not I can fix it."

Kelwindre examined her hair for a moment before smiling and nodding. "Yes, you did very well," she said, getting up and pulling a couple of gold pieces from her pouch as she approached the front counter of the small shop. She put them on the counter, and the girl who did her hair took them and placed them under the counter, presumably in some sort of sack. After paying, Kelwindre simply walked to a nearby wall and leaned against it, waiting for Tash'ma to be done, herself.

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Soon after Kelewindre was done the girl handed Kaldaka a mirror. "Is that good?" she said, looking with pleasure at her handiwork. "Wonderful," Kaldaka said with a broad grin. Walking over to Kelwindre, she looked at her hair. "Oh, Kel, that's beautiful," she said happily. "If that's a good sample of your villages hairstyles, I'm already in love with them. " She giggled and then hooked her arm with Kelwindre's. "Where to next?" she said happily.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

"That's about everything I can think of," Kelwindre said, her voice fading off as she spoke. "I just can't wait to get that sword," she said happily, almost too excited to be getting a sword. "But, I guess that comes in time...anyway, I'm out of ideas, so I guess its up to you, or I guess we can go back to your home."

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka turned towards Kelwindre. "You can't think of anything else?" Her face broke into a wide grin. "Well, then, I've got one place to take you, but you have to be very careful and you probably shouldn't talk to the actual owner, just to me. He can be very touchy, and even I have trouble sometimes remembering what he gets mad about." She looked almost young and girlish again, and very excited, as she led Kelwindre down an alley and through what seemed to be a maze of alleys.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre allowed herself to be led down the various alleyways, taking in not only the scenery that she could see, and the few people about them, but also the direction; trying to keep track of which way they were going. Finally starting to slow down the pace, Kelwindre focused herself forward, not sure of where she was going to.

"So...where are we headed?" she asked, not nervously, but more curiously than anything. "Sounds...interesting considering the description of the owner."

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

"Well, the owner's name is Brend Mackal, and yes, that is a rather interesting description I gave of him, is it not?" She grinned at Kelwindre and slowed her pace slightly. "You see, he fought in the last Great War, and he's very paranoid now, as well as being one of the best fighters and weapon-makers in the world. I plan to get you a dagger and throwing knives there. Everybody needs that. I'll love training you."

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre laughed a little bit, feeling more at rest now, even though there really was no tension to get rid of in the first place. "You like your daggers, don't you," she said with a smirk, almost happy that she'd get a chance to learn how to use them. Back in the village, her mentor had once said "Daggers are weapons for thieves and backstabbers- neither of which you are." Of course, Kelwindre didn't believe that, but it meant that what little dagger training she had she had to get in secret, and in the end, she never really used daggers to get around the fact that she really didn't know how to use them well. "I wonder when that sword will be done..." Kelwindre said in passing. "I guess I have to be patient, huh?" Kelwindre smirked a little at her own comment, knowing it was true. "So, how much further?" she asked after a moment.

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Kaldaka chuckled drily at Kelwindre's comment on daggers. "Well, in a way he was right," she explained, walking slowly and glancing around them. "Daggers are mostly used by thieves and backstabbers. But they're also often used by assassins, and every smart fighter should carry a dagger. You never know when you're going to find yourself without your main weapons, though that shouldn't happen if you're careful. Still, you never know." She grinned. "Assassins have a habit of sneaking up on you when you have no weapon but a dagger." Making a sudden turn, she opened a small door and slipped into it, holding it open just long enough for Kelwindre to come in after her.

A man could be seen at a small forge, delicately tapping at something with his hammer. Hearing the door open, he turned around, and, seeing Kaldaka, his face split open into a huge smile. "Mae govannen, Traveller, gen suilon!" he said jovially. Then he saw Kelwindre, and his eyebrows shot up. "Who's this?" he said mildly, his tone expressing surprise. "Gen suilon, Brend. I brought a friend of mine," Kaldaka said, giving him a one-armed hug. "I'm getting her some daggers and throwing knives, ada. Could you show us some of yours?" He smiled and went to the back of the small, dimly lit room and returned holding several boxes in his hands. Opening them one by one, he started showing them to Kelwindre. "And then of course, there's the ones hanging on the walls. And you can pick the sheaths you want as well." Kaldaka grinned at Kelwindre. "Take your time, Kel," she said reassuringly. "It's rather overwhelming at first, but the quality is tremendous, and the daggers can be either plain or fancy, and you can do what you like."

Watching Kelwindre start to look around, she smiled slightly, remembering the day she had first met Brend. Brend had been only a little taller, the small room only a little less smoky and crowded. He had brought her here himself, having found her on the streets, shivering because she had run out of gold. He had asked her why she was here and when she had boldly replied she was here to become the best assassin in the world, he had laughed and brought her back after advising her to not tell the world her ambition.

Since then he had become a sort of foster-father for her, though she saw him seldom and he didn't make any movements toward her. Yet he always seemed to be glad to see her, and she knew he was, and she was always glad to see her. It was just that they both had their own lives to live and their own problems to work out. The only bond that connected them was the fact that both of had suffered sorrow that they shouldn't have had to, for Brend, though cranky and paranoid, was the farthest away from an assassin you could get.

00C: Wow, I didn't mean to make it that long. If you don't mind, tell me, and I'll try to keep it up. Long posts are actually best. They help to counter-act some of the incredibly short posts around here.

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

Kelwindre stayed silent as the man and Tash'ma explained the daggers. She could only nod her understand, too weary of saying something wrong and making the man angry. It wasn't a fear of harm, so to speak, but just a fear of simply losing the man's respect: he garnered that kind of dedicated respect without even doing something to earn it. He just seemed like the kind of guy you didn't want not liking you.

However, Kelwindre's eyes quickly began wandering the different daggers. While she wanted her sword to be flashy and nice, she didn't particularly care about having a formal dagger. In fact, she almost thought it better if the dagger were simply durable and reliable; it'd be hidden from view a lot of the time, anyway. However, her penchant for formal looking weapons quickly got the best of her as a small silver dagger caught her attention. She walked a little closer to its place on the wall, examining it. It was an interesting dagger; the blade was a stiletto design, a killing blade designed to defeat armor and leave wounds that didn't heal; assuming the piercing thrust left all of the victim's organs intact. However, the handguard on it was unlike a normal stiletto, rather it was fashioned in the manner of a gauche dagger: the handguard actually bent upward, allowing the skilled user to parry and catch attacking sword blades with it, and leave the opponent completely open.

She stared at the blade a moment, knowing the power of the stiletto against an opponent, but she couldn't understand how the thin, javelin-like blade could withstand the force of parrying blows.

"It's forged in a special way," the man said, predicting Kelwindre's question. "That blade won't break on you when you parry with it, unless you try to parry some kind of two-handed executioner's axe or something of that sort, but you should be able to avoid it, scrawny as you are."

Kelwindre blushed a little, both at her needing the question answered, and at his comment about her being scrawny, although she knew it was true; she hardly looked like any sort of real fighter. She quickly shook off any feeling of embarassment or discomfort, though.

"That dagger looks excellent," she said. To add to the combat usability of the dagger, it was also a brilliant silvery metal, and most of the engravable surfaces were engraved. The only part that wasn't engraved, the blade itself, seemed to have grooves in it nonetheless. Kelwindre wished they were decorative, but she knew the real purpose: to keep the blade from sticking inside its helpless victim. Nonetheless, even if the blade wasn't as nice looking as the handguard and handle, if it were sheathed, you'd never know of the blade's brutally efficient design: the scabbord itself was also silver plated, and once again engraved. With that dagger, and my new clothes and sword, I'd be able to blend in with the Royal Court, Kelwindre thought to herself. The thought made her smile, especially since she had never really owned anything like that; only one or two of the richest families in her village dressed nicely, the rest wore pretty much what she was wearing now. She had wanted to be able to wear something formal enough to see a King with, and now she had that chance.

She turned to Tash'ma. "What do you think?" she asked, both of Tash'ma and the man. She was clearly impressed with the gauche, but she wanted to make sure she wasn't passing up a better dagger; Kelwindre knew she wasn't at all an expert when it came to daggers, and she figured that the other two probably knew more about them than she did.

((OOC- I don't mind the long posts at all, so no worries ^^))

[Kaldaka/Traveller]

Turning away from her own inward thoughts, Kaldaka scrutinized the dagger that Kelwindre had selected. "It looks nice, and it looks like it would go with your sword quite well. But the most important questions are, do you like it? Does it fit comfortably in your hand? And do you feel you could fight efficiently with it? Because if the answer is no to any of those, the dagger won't work."

[Kelwindre Shadowheart]

The man grabbed the dagger and handed it to Kelwindre, who lightly took it into her own grasp before swinging it through the air a couple times. "It seemed balanced," she said before taking a fighting stance, as if she were holding a sword in her other hand. "Definitely seems balanced." Kelwindre turned and smiled at Tash'ma. "This was definitely a good idea," she commented before turning back to the shopkeeper. "I really like this one," she said, almost reluctant to hand the dagger back to him. "I'm gonna need to become a thief just to pay for all of this," Kelwindre joked as she to grab her now-noticably lighter bag of gold.