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[RumpleGrumblePuss]

I sought shelter from the sun and the people on the street, a near by shop offered just that. The awning provided protection form the sun as I pushed the door open and looked in. Curiosity and wariness held me in the doorway as I looked in the shop.

I sighed in relief at finding the shop well lit. Those half lit places always made me nervous. I was convinced that the owners kept the lighting low for one of two reasons. One, they didn't want a customer to get a good look at what crap they were buying. Two, they were hoping some innocent female would walk in and thought the lighting would be nice for a quick tryst.

"Hello?" I called, stepping forward to let the door close behind me.

[Artifex Felicis]

Deft hands worked on the metal links that littered the table in front of the merchant. The rings themselves were all of mythril, and small, requiring quite a bit of effort to open and close each one. Despite, Lionel made the task seem almost easy. His careful hand opened one link a tiny amount, hooking it through another and the using the same small pair of pliers to close the link. His paws held up the small strip of chain mail up to the candle which was beginning to burn low. The thought of having magical lights within his shop never really sat well with the cat merchant. Something along the lines one allowing a mage a possible eyeball into his shop and home wasn't that good.

The cat merchant rose, blowing out the candle carefully so he didn't spill any wax. He didn't need it with the fairly large windows and bright sunshine outside, but letters often required the wax seal, and a little chain mail on his rings sometimes helped. The door opened then, nearly causing the cat merchant to spill hot wax upon his fingers. He got lucky however, picking up what remained of the candle and lamenting the wax now hardening on his table.

"Welcome to my shop," Lionel said aloud. He walked over, putting the candle holder onto a shelf for use later. He wiped his greasy fingers upon his a small handkerchief he had on him, grinning widely at his customer as he bowed. "How might I help you?"

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

I stared at the person, the shop keeper I guessed. Unable to help my self I stared giggling when he bowed. The more I tried to stifled the silent giggling the harder it got to keep it quiet. Cat people. Okay, this is Althanas after all so I’ll just go with it. Pulling my reactions firmly in line I nodded my head politely to him.

“I am looking for a weapon that would be a lot more useful than the tiny weapon I currently have.’ I smiled ruefully and dug into my pocket, pulling out the Swiss army knife and looking at it. ‘It’s not much protection, just a very useful tool.” My eyes wandered around the shop, resting on the chain mail the man had been making for a moment before moving on. Slowly I crept away from the door way and further into the shop.

“Truth be told, I’m not at all sure of what I am looking for. I have no training with weapons. I’m sure I’ll be killed long before I figure out which way to properly hold a sword.” I reached out, my fingertips lightly brushing against the curved arch of bow made of dark wood.

“I hope I’m not being too much of a bother. Oh! Where are my manners? I am Kahlina, a pleasure meeting you.” I smiled at the shop keep and held out a hand.

[Artifex Felicis]

"That's a pretty fair assumption you're making Kahlina," Lionel replied with a grin. Polite and interesting customers were few and far between. People who actually weren't full of themselves ever rarer. He shook her much smaller hand with his own gently. He has a lot of practice shaking hands,but he was always careful. When he was young, someone once surprised him while he was shaking a hand, and his claws shot out reflexively.

"I'm Lionel, owner of this shop," the cat merchant explained. He swished his tail from side to side, watching the woman in front of him with unwavering eyes. "Just have a look round the shop my firned, and I can explain anything in here."

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

My eyes followed the path of his tail for a moment. I wondered if the fur was as soft as it looked. Pulling my thoughts and eyes away from inappropriate places, I nodded politely.

I turned away from the swords and daggers. I was sure that with out any type of training carrying anything sharp would just paint a target on my back. I already had enough invisible signs over my head as it was, I didn't need to add one that screamed 'Victim' to the wolves in the crowds.

A twin coils of the leather on a shelf caught my attention. I picked up one of the whips coiled on the shelf, I was pleased that the handle fit into my hand. the end of the whip skittered across the with a whispering, hissing noise. Picking up the other whip, I experimentally flicked both getting used to the feel of both whips. I yipped as I caught the back of one leg with the end of the whip. I was glad I had been only experimenting. A full force hit would have hurt like hell.

Flushing slightly in embarrassment I coiled up both whips. I shook my head, moving my hair to fall in front of my eyes and hiding behind it a little. I looked back at Lionel through a veil of golden hair.

"I think I'll take these two. How much will they cost?"

[Artifex Felicis]

Lionel followed the girl's interest exquisitely, curious as to what she would go for. She didn't really strike him as the type to get the big heavy two handed swords, nor to get the tiny knife better used for tomatoes in the kitchen then defending. He took cautious steps as he watched her completely glance over the blades, imediatly going to some of his more exotic stock.

The whips she picked up almost brought a smile to he feline face, though when the girl brought the leather weapon back he had to nearly dive out of the way to dodge it.

"You might want to find someone to help you with those, or bug a citadel monk to be near while you learn." Lionel replied honestly. He was never one to try and glaze over most truths, instead simply saying them into the open for all to see. "But those are about 40 for each of them, if you wish to buy them."

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

I smiled in a self-deprecating manner. I looked down at the whips I held in my hands. I knew learning to use the whips properly would be a painful lesson. Tensing the muscle the end of the whip had struck carefully I was pleased when I found the sting had gone, a lingering warmth tingled along the skin.

“I’ll get both of them.” Stepping around Lionel and walking up to the counter I laid both whips on the counter as I started to dig through the backpack for the small pouch of gold coins. After I found it the gold pouch, I popped one of the peppermint hard candies I rediscovered into my mouth and offered one to Lionel. I looked down at the gold pieces I had spilled out into my hand.

“Ah, I am not familiar with this currency. A single gold piece is one unit, right?” I frowned down at the shiny gold coins, a little irritated at my lack of knowledge about the main form of currency in Althanas.

“Good grief, talk about a knowledge gap.” I muttered to my self as I laid forty of the gold pieces on the counter.

[Artifex Felicis]

"One coin is one piece most of the time, there're some other coins that're worth more, but those are rare nowadays," Lionel explained. He took the small candy, putting it into his mouth as he thanked her. He let his hands drift over the whips, quickly inspecting the two to make sure that there were no obvious signs of wear or breakage. "Probably sitting in some dragons heap."

"Err," Lionel paused after quickly counting the coins on the table. "You are a little off her. It's forty for each, so 80 total."

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

I could feel my face warm until I was sure that I was red as a tomato. The tips of me ears burned with embarrassment. Hastily I fished out forty more gold coins and placed them on the counter with the others.

“Sorry about that. It was nice meeting you.” I said quietly. I glanced up at Lionel before scooping up both of the whips. I nodded, my body following the motion so that I gave Lionel a half bow that I knew was almost formal. I then headed for the door, just before I opened the door I paused at looked back at the polite, odd man.

[Artifex Felicis]

"It's no problem, just be careful with those things," Lionel cautioned. He swept the gold into a small barrel for safe keeping, making the marks in his accounting books about what was sold and how much they were sold for. "They tend to snap back, and I've seen them cut on more then one occasion."

He paused for a moment, thinking about whether or not to tell the girl something, when she turned back around. He smiled suavely at the girl. "I'd suggest going to the Citadel though, it's not far from here. You can get a monk to heal you as you practice with your whips. Maybe a teacher too. There are plenty of warriors near there and I'm sure a pretty girl like you could find one."

[RumpleGrumblePuss]

I smiled slightly arching a brow at the suave smile. For a moment I considered his words, my fingers absently toyed with the whips I just bought.

"I think I'll take your advice. It should be, educational." For a moment there I was planning on saying 'fun' but a second thought had me change the word. After all fun would not be right.

"Perhaps I'll see you another time, thank you." Opening the door I stepped out with every intention of seeking out the Citadel to train with the whips.

[Artifex Felicis]

Lionel smiled, then immediately went back to his work. He was taking way too long anyway. He he wasn't self-employed, he'd have been fired already.

(Transaction complete!
80 gold taken, 120 remains at time of thread completion.))