Gears for War?

[Yamihara]

"Asuka... You don't have to do this..."

Morning arrived on the horizon, stretching her fragile fingers across the sky and pulling away the blankets of night. With the warmth of the sun stretching through the streets of the Bazaar, Asuka found herself wondering... Constantly wondering how much would have changed since her last memory of the homely Estate. She could even barely remember how it looked so grand and beautiful the marble structure was the very day she chose obscurity over security.

Silly girl, Asuka. It will always remain the same... It is your home after all...

The frail Akashiman shook her head in defeat at the thought and continued her march down the beaten, dusty path. She was here for some gears that would be necessary for her to survive through to another day. Survive another day in her own home, no less.

"Why? What's the head shake about, Asuka?"

Her loyal cohort kept his pacing easy but nervousness could be felt with each step he took, always trying to keep up with the Ex-Noble yet still somewhat too afraid to pass in front. She knew he was merely trying to be courteous by not getting in her way, but she also knew the old cry-baby would not have second thoughts when it came to dueling against her with their wooden swords.

"It's nothing, Tokita. It was just a thought I'd rather not think about..." Asuka forced a smile, knowing full well he could sense her faking it. "But it can't be helped. The Estate... No... My Family needs me. I can't turn my back on them for long and you know it."

The Yamihara household errand boy opened his mouth to interject that the only true Yamihara remaining in the Estate was Mariko Yamihara. She was Asuka's own sister and, now, the only true Yamihara blood alive besides her older sister. However, the man was stopped with a well-placed finger on the tip of his nose and he froze in his tracks.

"And don't you deny it, young man. Everyone I say is my family is my family. And that includes you, smarty-pants." She gave him a wry smirk before removing her fingers, strutting off towards a weapon shop that had an odd assortment of exotic weapons lining the window.

Stepping through the doorway with ease, Asuka gave the storekeeper a curt nod of her head and proceeded to browsed around the shelves and tables laden with strange-looking wares. Tokita followed her in a few seconds later, bumping his head against the top of the doorframe and swearing out loud as he massaged the scraped wound.

Ignoring her traveling partner completely, Asuka moved to the counter with a pair of punching gauntlets in her hands, hand-forged from tempered steel and shining in the morning rays.

"Good morning, sir." She greeted the owner and carefully laid the gauntlets out on the weathered oak counter, placing her delicate hands on top of the steel arm guards. "I was wondering how much this gauntlet of yours would cost? I was hoping to buy this as extra protection during my travel."

The gauntlets she had chosen were not quite the same as those found on full suit armors. These were simple, forged steel plates riveted into a comfortable leather armglove that would reach from the palm of her hand to just short of her elbow. One plate was attached parallel to the forearm, acting as a narrow defensive shield while another squarish plate would hug the back of the wearer's hand and a bit of the knuckles. The leather gloves ended a short distance past the knuckles and would hug her arm all the way beyond the steel plate - most probably up to the middle of her upper arm.

She had high hopes that it would not be too expensive, considering how little materials it was made from, so that she could have some left over to repair her worn-out katars.

[Artifex Felicis]

Lionel's shop had slowed down considerably in the opast couple of days. It wasn't anything that the merchant understood too well, but he was glad for it. It meant a considerable amount of his time was finally free for him to relax. His assistant Kate enjoyed it as well, though their methods were diffrent. Ever since the customers stopped coming in by fours and eights, there was a soft music whenever someone entered into the shop. The music cost him a pretty bundle, but it was the average net gain of a day's work for Lionel.

Currantly, the two workers were seated on either side of a largish table. Most of the items that normally littered the top of the table were stowed away, not neatly, into a wooden box that rested in veiw underneath the stairs. Now there was a square wooden board on top of the tasble, with two sets of sixteen pieces on either end of the game board. Each of the stone peices was lovingly made from either a shiny white or black chunk of rock. Lionel's tail flicked from side to side as he moved the first pawn in front of his king two spaces forward.

The game continued for a short while, with hardly any casulties between Kate's pieces or the cat merchant's white ones. Though, anyone who was familiar with the game would have would have considered it to be akin to two master swordsman. The moment a wrong move was made the other would pounce and destroy the other. It was pretty hard to belive that the two nekos managed to get so good after a couple days of playing.

The door's bell jingled merrily, snapping the cat merchant out of his trance on the game and diverting his attention to the customer. He smilied, waving at them as he stood, making the move he contemplated and leaving the cat girl to provide a sutible counter-attack to losing her Queen's knight. He smilied, watching the red-headed lass with his eyes as he mentally went through the price list of what she wanted. It was probably a sign that he had been in the shop for too long when he could name nearly every price without double checking.

"Good stuff," the cat merchant commented. He sized the girl up, deciding her to be a bit smarter than he origionally thought. He inspected the guantlet, double checking the price in his mind as he did so. "125 gold for these steller gauntlets miss. And they'll probably protecht you from from quite a bit. Watch." He smilied, extending a large claw from on of his large paws, making a deep gouge in the oak shield near the shop's counter with barely any effort on the merchant's part. When the same claw was dragged along the steel, there wasn't even a scratch along the shiny metal.

"Will that do?"

[Yamihara]

Whatever the quality of steel was, the feline merchant impressed her with the arm guard's durability and strength. The price tag was a bit higher than she anticipated, but the lass had also heard about the possibility of a civil war breaking out in Corone. All she could hope for was that there would still be enough gold to fix her katars.

"Wow, that's a good deal. I'll take it, sir." She replied courteously. Still, there were more things that needed to be taken care of before she could leave.

Carefully sliding her worn-out leather armguards lined with brass strips under the binding, the maiden placed them on the counter next to her newly purchased punching gauntlets.

"By the way, sir. How much would you be willing to give for my old ones? I know they are rather worn out, but can I at least ask for 50 pieces? Also, I was wondering how much would it cost to repair this..."

Asuka reached down and unsheathed her battle-worn katar blades, the chipped steel blades showing clear signs of extensive abrasion with cracks starting to make their way across the surface.

"How much would it cost me to have the blades replaced with ones made from Damascus or Delyn? Or... rather, how much would it be for a katar of similar design, made entirely from metal? I would like the prices for hand-forged steel, Damascus and Delyn, please? All forged by humans, if possible."

Asuka bit her lips nervously after placing her query, knowing full well that human-made wares were neither as durable as dwarven forge nor as elegant as elven-made. Still, her coffers were low and she still needed some for her journey.

Meanwhile, Tokita wandered about the room and browsed the wares basking in the sunlight near the front of the cat merchant's store. He was not surprised Asuka did not respond suspiciously when the feline answered her request. Back home, in Akashima, the Nekojins were common sight and have kept their relationships with the human populace rather friendly.

Taking casual glances at the ex-noble, he drifted about aimlessly from one weapon rack to another, his boots making muffled thudding noises while his nose twitched now and again from the rising dust drifting in from outside. The Bazaar was stirring to life and they would need to leave soon.

((The Katars are under Weapons and the armguards are under Appearance in my profile.))

[Artifex Felicis]

((I'm sorry, but I have something of a headache right now and can't really write much for now. I'll get this done as quickly as I can for you though. If you want I can later edit in some more interesting story stuff.))

"That's god," Lionel said, handing over the goods to the girl. He didn't have much fear about her taking them, not many could outrun the merchant on any day. Or for that matter make it to the front door in one piece. It didn't seem like it would matter though with this girl, she seemed calm and pretty honest. Though the other man, intential or not, set off warning bells in the cat man's head. "Those ones you're turning in will do nicely for fift gold pieces as well. Katars are always awkward, they tend to flucuate quite a bit in price. And Plynt ones, would cost around 250 gold for you. I only have plynt and damascas for katars in my store. Deyln gets to be a bit awkward when certain individuals try to test out certain weapons in m store. Especially with some of the Prevalida I have."

[Yamihara]

((Yikes. I hope that headache leaves you soon. :)))

Asuka listened to the furry man eagerly, mentally adding up the prices in her head.

OK, let's see... a hundred and twenty five for my new gauntlets... minus fifty for my old ones... So... I've spent only seventy five and still have.... Oh... Three hundred minus the value... Two hundred fifty...

But the replacement katars' price and rarity was something she had not anticipated.

"Wow... Two-fifty for ones of Plynt?" She uttered, a worried look plastered across her cute little face. "Then... what about the Damascus ones? I'm rather low on money, so what would you recommend?"

The lass remained standing at the counter, her hands not moving for the newly-bought gauntlets nor for her worn-out blades. In truth, the lass should slip those on much earlier but she had opted not to. It would be rude to use an item that had not been paid for.

[Artifex Felicis]

"Judging by your reaction, the katars cost a bit more than you thought," Lionel said. He smilied at the girl, holding his hands palm towards the girl. "Damascas I think would be a bit out of your price range. They would cost over 600 gold for them. I added in a little discount since you remind me of someone I once saw a while ago."

He ducked downbeaneath the counter, rummaging for a moment before coming up with a short list. Following the lists instructions, he went through his store, taking the plynt katars from theirspecific place. He wasn't mean enough to try and make his assisstant do it, and his memory of his shop was actually getting fuzzy. He brought them back to the counter, laying down the gleaming weapons with care.

"Here they are, try them on if you wish, and please don't try to steal them," Lionel said with a wide smile. "I could probably adjust the straps a bit to fit you better if needed."

[Yamihara]

Asuka gave the merchant a weak chuckle upon hearing the price for a pair of hooded katars made of Damascus. If anything was for sure about a weapon with fluctuating prices, Damascus would definitely cost her more than she could afford.

However, she was not about to settle for weapons made from flammable material anytime soon. If anything, the lass would rather brave the streets with an empty pouch than with degraded blades.

"Eh, I see..." The Akashiman girl forced a sheepish grin onto her visage as she ran her fingers across the dark green surface. "I'm not sure if Plynt is what I'm looking for. Could you, maybe, well..."

Words became harder to find for the lass as she continued to search for them, the deeper she delved the more obscured they became. In a fit of frustration, she let out a resigned sigh before staring back at the feline directly opposite to her.

"How much would a pair of simple katars cost if it had a three-inch blade, no protective hood and made of Damascus? I would also like to know the costs in replacing my katar's blades with identical ones, preferably with Damascus, as well as just how much you can give me should I trade in my blades."

Tokita heard Asuka's little speech and strolled over to where she stood, leaning in close to her from behind. The swirling dust in his wake danced lively in the otherwise still air.

"You know you're pushing it, Asuka." He whispered to her as quietly as he could, "Might as well just get the Plynt ones and be done with it. You know you can't afford the Damascus ones with what you have."

"Yeah, I know..." She muttered weakly in hindsight. "Unless you can pitch in a bit, Mister Wise Man."

Her friend shook his head with a wry smirk, tugging at his pant pockets that produced no trace of sound.

"Sorry, Sis. I'm dead broke."

Shaking her own head in disdain, she let out a low defeated groan and leaned heavily on the counter. As far as she could see, all she would be getting now were the gauntlets to go. It was better than nothing, but she would really like something that could punch through armor in a pinch. The blunt surfaces on her newly-selected weapons would not be enough.

[Artifex Felicis]

((For sake of getting this doen cause I'm lazy, this is short. Sorry bout that.))

The cat merchant graoned as he listened to the girl. It was awkward, as he hated leaving someone unsatisfied with a purchase."If you want to help work it off, I could let you have the damascas blades," Lionel replied finally, trying to decide how to handle the situation. "I'll just need some time to think of something or you to do. And for that matter, get the the damascas katars for you. Trading in the blades costs the same, but takes a bit more time."

[Yamihara]

The Akashiman girl's eyes lit up at the notion of "working off" the price for her new katars. In a world such as Althanas, as she had learned from her many times traveling the various locales and continents, a sharp and pointy blade would be more effective in getting the point across than a gigantic bludgeon or a ten-foot pole could.

Then again, for her to work off the payment would also cost her something else as well. If she were to stay and work, she could run the risk of not being able to get back to Akashima in time to stop the usurpers from "taking over" her one and only true home. That would also mean putting Mariko at risk of being persecuted or casted out, something she would never put up with or forgive herself should it come to pass.

No... There was no choice. She would have to keep heading forward to her destination. Her time for preparation was over - Time to act had come.

"Wow, that's a very good offer, sir." Asuka gave the furry merchant a waning smile, tucking a strand of fiery copper hair that had come loose back behind her ear. "But I'm afraid I'm ina bit of a hurry at the moment..."

She fished into the coin pouch and brought out seventy-five pieces of gold, stacking the shining coins on the weathered oak surface between the steel-plated gloves and the Plynt katars. "The gauntlets will have to do for now, sir. I think I'll come back to buy the katars at another time when I have enough money. Thank you for trying to help me, sir."

Leaving the gold pieces on the counter, she silently sheathed her battle-worn katars and slipped on the new gauntlets. The weighty plates strained at her arms as the lass flexed her fingers, trying to get a feel on how to go about fighting with it.

It's just like using the katars, Asuka. Just without a blade but with your knuckles.

Just like the crude, simple ways of fist-fighting.

Tokita remained silent as his young "master" grimly turned around and walked towards the door. There was nothing he could do to change her mind, for there was not much of a point to do eitherwise.

Asuka turned around one last time, giving the feline merchant one last look before heading out the door and into the dusty, sun-kissed streets with Tokita in tow. The crowd outside was starting to crowd the streets now, the many faces ranging from ragged old merchants to strong, stern-faced guards and the occasional shady pickpockets here and there.

But getting out of the Bazaar would be nothing compared to what the two of them would have to face at the end of their journey. This would be nothing to what trials both her mind and soul would have to endure.

((Well, that's it for me. Go ahead and close this thread once all the transactions are completed. :)))

[Artifex Felicis]

The merchant watched the two go, somewhat sad that he hadn't made the sale. He sighed, putting away the katars. He was more qorried about whether the girl would survive without the weapons. He went back to the game Kate was still working on, having moved her piece obly a few moments earlier. Still, the girl reminded him of someone from a while back, but he could remember who.

((Transation complete, 75 gold taken away if math is correct. 250 remains at times of thread completion.))