Master had gone out again, leaving Mateo to man the temporary shop they had in the city. After the work he'd put in with the beautiful copper shield that now hung up on the wall for display, the ring he'd made for Master, and a long afternoon catching up on his sleep, Mateo was incredibly restless. He wanted to roam the city, wanted to practice with his  new broadsword on the training dummy, anything other than sit behind the counter sharpening one of the stock swords with a whetstone, staring at the front door to will it to magically open. Let it be someone amazing, let the shop catch fire so he could leave, anything. They were soon to close up shop anyway, as Master had plans for taking the two of them towards Vilpamolan, the pirate haven, in order to get a charter to the city of Joyau. Months at sea with pirates….it got his heart racing just thinking about it. Finally! His stick-in-the-mud Master was taking him on something adventurous!

The thought of it made sticking around the shop all that much more unbearable. But they needed to coin in order to pay for passage, and he couldn't just sneak out like he usually did. Thus, he stared at the front door.

And like magic, it opened, and the little bell on the edge of the door frame jingled a merry tune. Mateo scrambled to his feet, awkwardly clattering the sword onto the counter. "Welcome!" He said, hazel eyes wide.

A young woman, about eighteen years old, entered the shop, her hair a greyish white, her eyes a pale crystal blue, and her expression of someone curious but cautious. Asra wore a scruffy brown dress made of leather covered in a black cloak, the hood over head. Her skin was tannish, as if she'd spent a lot of time in the sun.

She didn't know what the kind of shop this was, wasn't use to shops in general, or weapons. Her wolf clan primarily stayed in their lupine forms, their tradition, and they preferred catching game of their own, even in human form, so she didn't know much about human cultures and traditions. When she had come to Adel una City, she was very ignorant of everything around, touching things she wasn't supposed to and even growling at people she thought were trying to fight her. 

She understood some of the common language. When a man had advised her to get a better weapon than the cruel dagger she had, he'd pointed her toward a shop, saying that she could purchase one from the new blacksmiths. She barely understood what they're were saying, but she decided to see what would happen when she went inside. 

Now she stood in the shop, her eyebrows furrowed together, gazing around. She ignored the attendant's greeting and went over to a double headed axe, one with intricate design, made of fine material. She held in her hand and studied it, wondering if she could just take it, it looked expensive. She could always turn into a wolf and rip the man's throat out but he didn't look like a bad person. Asra eyed him, then she took the sword by the handle and pointed it straight at him, barely a foot from his face. "I want this." 

Mateo smiled at the woman who came in, though his smile fell as she moved around the shop and ignored him. He couldn't really see well under that hood of hers, but he thought he glimpsed silver hair. Was she old, then? He leaned over the counter and placed his chin on his fist, watching her openly, since she had her back to him. She stood up straight, at least. Maybe she was one of those who just went grey early. Or maybe she was fey, like Master was. He let his imaginations run as they wanted while she looked at the things for sale, but when she picked up the sword on the counter and swung it at him, he cried out and flinched back from it, his back arched away from the counter. He slowly looked from its sharp edge to her fierce gaze under her hood, swallowing roughly, stupidly thinking in the quick of the moment that she would be pretty, and most definitely not old like he'd originally thought, if she wasn't aiming his own weapon at his throat.

"Alright, firstly," Mateo said, his words tumbling out of his mouth out of blind fear. "This, what you're doing right now, is what people call a threat." He slowly raised his hand to push the tip of the sword away from him. "Secondly, I don't appreciate being threatened. Thirdly, I'm not going to sell to someone who thinks it's in good taste to aim a weapon at me." He eyed her as he reached for the sword hilt and took it out of her hand, setting it back down under the counter this time. "Now kindly put the axe back, and leave."

Asra watched at man while he yelled at her, lowering the weapon. She said that she was being threatening, just like everyone else. She hadn't been trying to threaten him, but she wasn't going to explain that to him. When he took the sword she resisted a little, but just let him take it. Then she walked away, studying the other weapons again. She picked up the battle axe from before and held it in her hand, testing it's weight. She held it up high and said, "This, too." She had a harsh, foreign accent, making it hard to understand her when she spoke it long sentences. Asra walked back over to the man and dropped the weapon delicately onto the counter, then she climbed over it, pushing the man away. She drew back the curtain that seperated the back from the front and looked around. 

It was warm, from the smelting and hot fire in the back, so she took off her cloak, letting her Silvery white hair cascade down her back. Throwing her cloak to the side, she picked up a hot iron rod and immediately cried out, dropping it on the floor. She glared at the man like it was his fault, and said, "Make me weapon, now." She grappled a random unfinished tool, perhaps something that was supposed to be a dagger, and held it up in his face. 

He watched her, his shoulders tense, as she continued to move around the shop front. Was she ignoring him again? He frowned in disbelief as she took the axe that he'd made not two weeks ago and put it down on the counter, and then vaulted over it, pushing him to the side with an incredible amount of strength before she went to the back of the shop. A strangled sound came from his throat at her audacity, and he followed her, saying, "What - You can't be back here! What are you….?" He saw he take her cloak off and throw it carelessly to the floor, and he moved to pick it up and sling it over his arm. When he straightened up, she had moved to pick up a pair of iron tongs he'd left in the fire and she dropped it immediately, letting it clatter to the floor and scatter sparks and embers where it may with a cry of pain and a blaming look that made him flinch.

"Hey!" He moved to her and grabbed her wrist, taking the unfinished work roughly out of her hand and slamming it down on the work table with a loud bang. "Cut it out! You're going to hurt yourself, and I thought I told you to leave!" He pulled on her wrist, meaning to make her go towards the front door and out of the shop. "I'm not going to sell you anything, and I'm not going to make you anything! Take your cloak and your silver somewhere else, thank you very much!"

Asra slapped his wrist away and barred her teeth. "Don't touch me, fool!" Her hand still smarted from when she touched the hot rod and she felt tears sting the corner of her eyes. She rubbed her hand, watching it slowly leave a eternal red scar on her skin. She cursed under her breath and held her cloak close to her, eyes wide as she stayed at the man. She didn't want to leave yet, it was getting late and she'd seen too many evil men on the streets, especially in the closest taverns. She could fight them as a wolf, but she didn't want to get hunted and caged by anyone, since recently she found that it took her longer to transform back into a human than usual. Maybe it had something to do with leaving the clan. 

Asra cleared her throat and looked down as tears streamed down her face. She wasn't use to fire, her clan never had the need for it and she'd only really seen it when she snuck close to hunter's campfire fires and when there was the occasionally forest fire. The burn hurt terribly, and she wondered if her wolf form would be affected by it. The white haired girl huffed as she said, "I'm not from here, I don't know your 'delicate' customs. Where I'm from you take what you want, as long as you're stronger than whoever you're taking it from. I didn't mean any harm, I just want to protect myself." She let her old dagger clatter to the floor. " I need somewhere to rest for the night, and I don't want to go back out there. Let me stay here." She thought for a moment, and then she added. "I know how to cook, I can make good food."

He took a step back when she slapped his wrist and yelled back at him. "Alright, 'm sorry, but really –" She took the cloak back and nursed her wounded hand, and he saw the tears start to form, which made him stop and sigh. This was a right mess. He watched her warily as she spoke, and it was difficult to understand through her thick accent, but he got the gist of it. Damn though, those tears were making him feel guilty. Was she trying to apologize? Maybe? He sighed again and scratched the back of his hair and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't. Master would kill me if I let someone stay here, and he'll be back soon. He…..doesn't like strangers. Doesn't like anyone, really."

A solitary, irritable fire elf and a strange woman who didn't know how to keep her hands to herself. It was a disaster waiting to happen. And the way she spoke about not knowing basic taboos like boundaries made him wonder if she could pay for the axe even if she wanted to. "Look, here," He reached into his pocket and pressed five silver coins in her uninjured hand. "There's an inn next door, 'n if you give this to them, they'll let you stay there for the night. Y' can go around back if you want."

"Oh, and y' should ask someone to take a look at your hand." He added, eyeing the front of the shop nervously just in case Master might show up. "If you find a healer, they can patch you up fair and quick." Then he looked at her with a frown. "And next time….maybe don't try going into places where you're not invited. Y' get hurt that way."

Asra at first wanted to try to be his friend but now it seemed like he was pushing her away. She glared at him, and pushed the coins back into his hands. Taking out her own pouch, she said, "I don't need your precious coins, boy." She showed him the large amount that she had, making a sound of annoyance. "And I didn't really want to stay here anyway. But I do need that axe." She poured a little less than half of her coins into her palm, weighed it, and then dropped them onto the counter. "Take this, should be enough. If it's not…it just better be." She snatched up the axe and marched away, hand gripping the handle hard. She was annoyed; why were humans so rude? If she had been a pretty, common girl with a sweet smile and offering something perhaps better than coins, the young man probably wouldn't have hesitated to give her anything. But because she was a foreigner who didn't know their customs, she had to be treated this way. 

"And actually I can fend for myself, thank you." She then exited the shop and walked a few ways. When she walked around corner, she came to a crouch, placing everything she has into a small bag she carried, including the axe. She then walked again until she was in a small garden, hidden by the few trees and the darkness. She then took off all of her clothing and put it in the bag and then she transformed into a white wolf, a little smaller than most. Her crystal blue eyes shone in the moonlight. Asra carried her bag in her mouth, walking the darkness, using her camouflage so she wouldn't be seen. When she was across the street from the blacksmith's shop, she stared at the young man.

Just…what was up with this woman? Mateo simply stared at her change in behavior as her tears stopped and she flippantly poured out a little less than a hundred silver coins out onto the counter and stormed out, completely ignoring everything he'd said. And to be honest, he was glad when she left - if it displeased her that she couldn't walk all over him and take what she wanted, then fie on her. He scowled at her backside as she left.

He was just completely and utterly bewildered by the whole scenario. This girl barged into the shop, ignored him, aimed a sharp edge at his throat, trespassed, burned herself, cried, asked to stay in some stranger's house (without intending to stay in the first place, apparently), and then treated him like some peasant scrounging for silver all within the space of twenty minutes. What kind of person doesn't understand that white-hot metal would burn, and then say they were a good cook? Why would someone ask to stay the night one moment, in tears and mindful for their safety, then act like an arrogant princess the next? Was she possessed? Cursed? Lying?

His mind was fixated on the whole ordeal as he cleaned up the shop, sweeping the floor in case any of her silver hair fell to the floor (a fact that Master would definitely notice and would definitely become furious over), and he picked up the dropped, cruel-looking dagger and the iron tongs and placed them in respectable spots around the back. Once he was done, he went to the front of the shop and moved to the door she'd left open, staring into the night for any sign of her. He didn't see the camouflaged wolf across the street staring at him as he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out into the night, "Be safe!" before going back in and locking the door to the front of the shop.

What a weird girl.

[end thread]