A New Batch

[Adelay]

Stepping away from the stall of Avaren's Bowyer, a Tan-skinned Elf came pensively into traffic. In one hand he was holding a sack filled with long cedar shafts and another smaller one for fletchings. In his other hand he held his ribs over his freshly mended, Brick Red, jacket. Normally Adelay would go out and collect the raw materials himself, hunting birds and cutting down saplings to make his arrows. Though as anyone could plainly see, he was in no shape for such activity.

How did Adelay get this way? Well, Adelay was still recovering from a battle he got himself roped into out in the Ruins of Aesir with a group of Undead some days ago (See: By Fire or Ice). The life of a Hero was often a thankless and troublesome job. More often than the Bardsongs, legends, and epic poems were to lead on. Perhaps he wouldn't even run into the fever-stricken woman he rescued again, but the important thing was that she was safe.

The thoughts of the battle still were running through his mind. Undead don't usually just stay down, at least not ones like the mounted warrior he had faced. The possibility they would meet again in battle were quite considerably high for his pending mission with Malachy the Mage. With a sigh of relief, Adelay came upon an empty bench. He took his time and settled into it to upset his aching bones as little as possible.

"Here is about as good a spot as any." Adelay mused to himself, setting down his bags of goodies next to him before drawing out the first of the cedar shafts, inspecting it a bit. "Cedar, huh? Not exactly as lightweight as woods I usually use for this, but it should yield a bit more powerful of an impact." He continued to think aloud. He intended just to begin carving his spell-storing runes into the arrows right there, but his own fatigue got the better of him as he thought it better to just sit back and enjoy the beautiful day a bit first.

[Luna Grimm]

Again, Luna found herself at the market, only this time, she wasn't. Pick pocketing every third person like she used too. She decided it was time for a career change. And she kept her head up instead of towards the ground and her stance made it appear as though she had some place to be. But she wasn't sure where she was headed. It was getting close to spring and the sun was warm agains her skin. She smiled, thanking the sun silently to herself and looked around the market...

There were vendors calling out their goods, children skipping down the cobblestone paths, men and women alike gossping, chatting and laughing with each other. It was another wonderful day in the kingdom and she knew she could get used to this.

A bright red figure caught her attention off to the left and she smiled at the familiar face of the young Adely. She dodged into the crowd and snuck up behind him, not making a sound. With a flick of her wrist and a sweeping motion, she sat next to him, facing the other way, his coin purse dangling from her finger. "You know, Adelay... you should be more alert." She teased. She set the purse by hs sticks and smiled. "More arrows?" She asked, curiously. She never knew that he had made them himself. Although... that entire first night they knew each other was sort of a blur.

(Ooc: like you requested! Here I am! =D)

[Seam]

Seam, on the other hand, was up to the usual. He hadn't 'turned over a new leaf', no, nothing like that. He was here to get food, mostly. It wasn't that he enjoyed steali-... no, that was a lie. He liked it, and he liked that he was getting better at it. He probably would've payed for the food if he had the money, but since he didn't have money, this was as good as it got.

His eyes scurried around everyone there, searching for easy targets. Busy stands were his usual targets, but this time, an odd pairing stuck out to him, but more importantly...

Coin purse.

He was close enough. Could he manage it?

He snuck closer, made a grab, and ran.

[Adelay]

Adelay sighed and took ahold of his purse. As soon as his hand closed around it another foreign hand clasped his tightly and then take off into the crowd. Adelay was put off a bit and took him a second to realize what almost transpired.

"I appreciate you wanting to hold my hand, but I'm afraid I don't swing that way!" Adelay called out toward where the man had run off to annoyed. Being nearly robbed twice after what he had endured was a test of his patience. "And you should be more careful, Luna." The Elf continued, turning his attention to his sudden company as he placed his purse inside his jacket with a wince of pain and a sharp inhalation of breath. Perhaps he should have stayed in the Barracks another day? If just reaching in his jacket caused him pain, he could only wonder what would have happened if he had to chase that Thief.

"Anyway, yes I do make my own arrows. Normally I wouldn't resort to a Bowyer for the raw materials, but oh well. I have to carve in the spell-storing Runes myself, so I'm certain it's right. A faulty carve somewhere and I could blow my hand off if I tried to charge it. Best-case scenario." Adelay explained, starting to settle down again. Looks like he now had an excuse to put off carving his new arrows for a bit with Luna here to chat with. "So what brings you out here, Luna?"

[Luna Grimm]

Luna growled as the thief tried to grab and run with Adelay's bag. She rolled her eyes at his failed attempt and then laughed lightly as AdelY informed the thief in a loud tone that he didn't roll that way. She raised a brow as he winced while putting away his bag. She looked at him concerned as he sat back down and asked what brought her down here today. She shrugged. "Career change.... are you all right? She asked him, turning towards him. She knew it took quite a bit to make an Elf wince under pain.... and she was concerned for her new friend.

(Ooc: akk. Sorry its so short. I'm on my phone and its almost dead! =[)

[Adelay]

"I'll live. Lida inorum saenes." Adelay replied, invoking his Clan's credo. Translated into Common this means "Strength comes from the Heartwood". He punctuated his sentence by thumping his chest with his fist, only to follow it up with another pained groaned. That was a mistake. " A few days back, I was scouting around Aesir for a future mission and ended up finding some Undead warrior attacking some ill woman out in the rubble. I had to intervene. Call it what you will, 'Heroics', 'Bravado", because helping someone in need is stupid, right? Whatever it was, what I did stopped one more Undead from coming to be, and that's something. Long story short, maybe I should be looking for a career change too." He explained, ending with a chuckle. Of course he wasn't serious about that. He knew any adventure where you came back unscathed was a boring one.

[Luna Grimm]

He said he would live, saying that strength came from the heartwood, and then hit his chest with another wince of pain. She really was concerned... men always seemed to try and tough out the most painful situations. She sighed lightly, deciding to wait til after his story. She listened and her stern look softened into one of understanding... Aseir? The Undead did not normally attack, nor did they rise unless something had upset them. But wait... wasn't Alexander's book from there? Was it perhaps his fault that there was activity out there? She paused and looked at Adelay, a smile on her pale face as he chuckled about a career change.

"Perhaps you should..." she teased. "But I do consider what you did heroic. And I'm sure the lady you saved did too." She smiled at him and was about to give him a pat on the back, but she wasn't sure where his wound was so she patted his hand. "As for me... I am tired of pick-pocketing, robbing, and gambling..." she sighed, resting her chin in her hand that was propped up on the table. "Maybe I should just join the Army of Avaren..." she thought out loud. It was apparent that this was bothering her quite a bit.

[Adelay]

"A noble thought, but not one you should act on in haste." Adelay replied. Him giving advice of thinking things through before acting. That's a laugh. One tussle with a horde of undead and just like that he's starting to talk like his Father. Now if only he could shoot like him too. Wiith that, he reached into the smaller bag and pulled out one of the feathers he purchased for fletching. He looked it over a moment before blowing on it with a soft, sustained stream of air to see how it would take the wind in flight.

"So how's... what's-his-name? Alan?" Adelay said, turning back to Luna.

[Luna Grimm]

He had a point.

Thinking this through was probably a good idea. Of course... living for forever... she had time to do things she wanted to correct as well. She sighed lightly, dropping her shoulders and watching as Adelay started to inspect a feather, blowing on it lightly. She smiled as it reminded her of those long days that she spent inspecting and making arrows herself and for others as well... She perked up a little as he asked how 'what's his name' or 'alan' was doing. She smiled and laughed lightly.

"You mean Alex? Oh... He's all right. I don't see much of him anymore. It seems that his studies get in the way of us..." she said honestly.

[Adelay]

"Well that's hardly fair to you. Have you tried to talk to him about it?" Adelay responded cocking a brow as he then rested his arm over the back of the bench. The Spellshot could understand the importance of study being a student of what Avaren considered two different worlds. Though, there were limits to what one could study. If one never puts the books down, they could risk burning out.

Now Adelay already had a bad impression of this "Alex" from the last time they met. Though, there had to be some kind of redeeming quality to him... Somewhere. Luna seemed smart enough not to waste her time on a completely one-sided relationship. Right?

[Luna Grimm]

He asked if she had tried to talk to him about it and she raised a brow in return to his cocking of one brow. She sighed and placed both of her hands under her chin and watched him put his arm on the back of the bench. She hadn't yet, but perhaps she should. She looked at him and shook her head lightly. "I have not yet. But I plan to..."

Funny how such an old elf as herself was taking advice from another elf so much younger. But he did have a point... and his wisdom seemed to be beyond his years. She smiled and chuckled lightly leaning back and crossing her arms across her thin torso. "You're so much younger than me, yet your wisdom is years beyond what you are... Thank you for your advise." She smiled again and turned herself to look at him better. Her eyes fell to the arrows to be on the table. "And speaking of wisdom.... how about you teach me how elves from the south create such gesticulating and enchanted arrows?"

[Adelay]

"Happy to help, Luna. My ear is always open for a friend. You can thank my Father for my wisdom. From moment one of my Spellshot training, he was always right there with some adage or proverb to help me learn. Suppose some of that rubbed off. I don't quite have the poetic flare he does though." Adelay replied with a smile and nod. He laughed a bit himself, a little embarrassed from the praise he was getting.

Adelay perked up when Luna asked to learn how he made his spell-storing arrows. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't surprised she was interested. " Oh, well I don't see why not." He agreed after clearing his throat. The tanned Elf sat up in his seat through another pang of pain and pulled his signature goggles over his eyes. Following that, Adelay reached down to his belt and unsheathed his large hunting knife, presenting it before Luna. "My people may be masters of the Bow, but before a young Saenes can even pick up a bow, they must first learn their knife. Not just any knife, but one that the Elf will carry throughout his life. Its weight, its length, how it cuts, how it catches the sun's reflection, everything. To the point that once you get into carving runes, its as comfortable and effortless as if you are tracing them with your finger." He explained before adjusting his grip on his knife and taking up a shaft. "The runes themselves are a manner of prayer to my peoples' patron deity, Vandria Gilmadrith the Steelheart for guidance and strength. Lady Steelheart, let not my arm falter, let my eyes see clearly and my heart be as steel, lest the lives in my care be forfeit. For my Bow is my body, my magic is your gift, my arrows are our unity, and our unity is a shield that together may we protect." Adelay stated, praying in Elven while effortlessly swiping the appropriate characters into the cedar shaft. He continued repeating this prayer until the shaft was fully inscribed.

[Luna Grimm]

She watched and listened as he said his prayers excellently and poetically. She watched as his fingers danced with the knife, inscribing, what she assumed, were the correct characters onto the shaft of the arrow. How magnificent... She watched the arrow grow more and more into what she had inspected the night before, from what she could remember. As it came to an end, she muttered a silent ending to the prayer in his dialect of Elvin and smiled at him. "It really is a piece of artwork. Though I imagine cedar is quiet a bit heavier than you are used to.... we use the wood from ancient trees that are fragile and light. Enough to soar with the power of the head and the guidance of the feather, but not light enough to be blown off course by the wind..."

She paused and then looked at him. "What tree do you use in your homeland?"

Funny how two of the same race could come from completely different homes.

[Adelay]

Adelay looked back to Luna and smiled thankfully upon hearing her soft addition to his prayers. With an approving sigh, he placed his knife down and turned his attention fully back to Luna while drawing up his goggles again. Listening to her own experience with arrow-making, it delighted him to hear that she really knew her stuff.

"We follow similar specifics when we are on the hunt for wood as your people. Darkwood is preferred. Normally, I would go out and collect the raw materials myself first, but I am in no condition for that. Our Bows, however are crafted with wood from the very tree we make our home. Its a constant reminder that, wherever I go, I have my family with me." He responded, retrieving his bow with a small degree of difficulty. He pointed out the Elven characters carved into the top half of the Cherrywood-colored bow. These ones weren't magical in nature and read out "Lida Inorum Saenes" from top to bottom. The phrase he had quoted earlier.

"How about you and your people? What are they like? Practically all we've done is speak of my heritage and I'm eager to learn more of yours"

[Luna Grimm]

He seemed happy that she knew what he was talking about and it was delightful to have someone of her own kind to talk to, just be friends with. She smiled brightly as he read out 'strength comes from the Heartland' and she reached out and gently ran her fingers along the carving of the letters. She still kept one hand around her torso. She looked at him with a curious expression as he asked about her people, what they were like. She blinked a couple times as he finished with that they had only been talking about his people and what they were like. She nodded and sat back again, her arms crossed across her chest.

She looked up at the sky for a moment, letting out a slow sigh and then smiled as she looked at them. "Beautiful... Intelligent... Elegant... Brutal... Collective...." she paused for a moment, tapping her finger against her lips thoughtfully. "My people... they are what everyone thinks Elves are. We've fought in every war since the beginning of time and the army is merciless. We are friends with many Lords and Kings and our Stars protect us, no matter how far we are from home..." she said. She reached into the front of her shirt and pulled out a glowing, cylindrical diamond wrapped in vines of silver and on a chain made of Mithreal. "You trust and praise your goddess. We believe in the gods... but bless our Stars for guidance..." she said, growing quiet. All this talk of home made her miss her people, her friends, and her family like none other.