I'm sorry I got glitter in my eye

Zain Altahar
— “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we are encouraged to love.”

The city air was cold, rushing through his curls and he wished he had walked out in his armor. After all this time he still wasn't used to the icy air of the high north. Being born.. growing up there. It had always been a pleasant warmth, but he knew that this cold suited him more. Made him harder in turn.

He had donned his typical black robes the familiar gigantic sword swinging on his back. Feeling akward but knowing that it would draw too much attention at his side. He wasn't a small man, but the damned blade was just too big to hang at a mortals side. No it belonged at the side of Umbra Mortis. An immortal monster in the eyes of his enemies.

Zain rushed a hand through his hair and stretched his shoulders before stepping into the comforting warmth of the smithy. He knew the woman by name and reputation. Her sister had actually suggested going to her for this so he knew she was supposed to be trustworthy. But could she be, everyone could betray everyone after all.

"ACCAlia?" He called out into the smithy taking the gigantic sword of his back and leaning it next to the doorpost. Waiting patiently till he was answered.

Accalia Rizal

A soft groan echoed in the small room as Accalia tried to wipe the dirt from her eyes. But guess what. The back of her arm wasn't exactly the best tool for the job, as she smudged the black ashes across her face instead. Just great. If only she hadn't lost the cloth she usually used for this. But searching for it was too much effort and she really wanted to start on this piece.

"ACCAlia?" The voice came from her storefront. Apparently, someone needed her there. Someone who at least knew her name. Not some rando that had never visited. It meant that she couldn't make him wait too long. "I'll be with you in a sec!" she yelled back before bringing down her hammer once again. Two strikes later it was to her liking. With the nippers, she picked up the piece and held it in a tub of cold water. Once the steam had cleared, she placed the sword on her workbench, before walking into her shop.

"Hi, what can I with today?" she said with the black ashes still smudged across her face. Not exactly the best look for a shopkeeper but hey, she was running htis place all on her own. He couldn't judge her for that.

"The tempered blade is the strongest"

▾

Zain Altahar
— “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we are encouraged to love.”

Ahh there she was, definetly the sister of_, though he had expected her to be a bit shorter. Did that mean that big bad Camilla was the tiny one of the two. It almost made him laugh and he had to concentrate on the fact that his face wasn't hidden right now.

Right, no helmet, no obvious emotions. Fucking great, why hadn't he worn his full armor again?

She still looked exactly how he had expected a smith of a sister so he nodded slowly to himself. For sure that she was who he needed right now.

"I am send, or well. Sort of recommended by a friend." Family bonds could be difficult. Gods, he knew that firsthand, so he kept it simple and not too obvious. He had no idea how she would react so playing it save was the better way.

"I need some help with this."

He pulled up the gigantic sword with ridiculous ease and laid the blade on his left hand while holding the handle with his right. "She has seen some better days, I was wondering if you could fix her up a bit? Heard you're the best in town after all." The easy smirk followed lighting his eyes as he turned over his beloved blade. Showing the damaged parts from the many battles. "I fear I've neglected her lately. But with a new job comes responsibility to look my best."

He wondered if she would recognize the blade. His name or well nick name of Umbra Mortis held some weight and he had no idea if the hobby of a smith would be looking at the blades knights used. He liked looking at the others. So perhaps. If so, he may have a problem if she'd start accusing him of stealing..

Accalia Rizal

"I am send, or well. Sort of recommended by a friend." Ah. So that was how he knew her name despite her never having seen him before. Reccomendations. She got them a lot. The thing that intrerested her was not who reccomended her but what she would get to work on. "I need some help with this." A claymore. One that had seen her best days, that was clear enough.

Accalia leaned forward to take a better look at the blade of the weapon. Dents, chips, and just a whole lot of damage in general. "She has seen some better days, I was wondering if you could fix her up a bit? Heard you're the best in town after all." She hardly listened to what he said, studying the blade in his hands was far more interesting. "I fear I've neglected her lately. But with a new job comes responsibility to look my best." She gave a short nod, before standing up straight again. "You shouldn't neglect her like this. It's going to take a lot more work to get her in a good condition", she said with a sigh. It was far too common for men to take bad care of their weapons.

She took half a step forward to softly drag her fingers over the edge of the blade. Somewhat dull as well. To be expected. "I can fix her up, but it's going to cost you. And you have to promise me to take better care of her from now on", Accalia said with a raised eyebrow. Claymore were big and because of that hard to work on. Small mistakes could throw off the center of balance and make fighting with them a lot harder.

"The tempered blade is the strongest"

▾

Zain Altahar
— “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we are encouraged to love.”

Ha he liked her. She was quick with her words and definitely not afraid to say what she thought.

The smirk turned on his lips, just a bit bigger. Of course she was completely right. He had been working his baby too much. Taking too many things, caring too little for what it meant for the blade. He was sure that it not be a pretty price at the end of the line. But with the protection of the crown princess soon resting on this blade.. yeah it definitely needed a shine up.

"My lady, you are completely right. I fear I simply do not have the time to really take care of her." Leaning a bit towards her his eyes lighting up a tiny bit. Wicked pleasure playing with his grin. "So can I perhaps promise you to bring her by say.. once a month?"

He pulled up one eyebrow, flashing his pearly whites holding up his dearest blade as a treasure to the smith.

Maybe he liked being without his helmet for once.

Accalia Rizal

"My lady, you are completely right. I fear I simply do not have the time to really take care of her." At least he was willing to acknowledge the fact that he had wronged the blade in his way of handling her. It was going to be quite a lot of work to patch her up.

The way he leaned forward a little and had a smile curled around his lips, told her he was about to say.. something he enjoyed saying in one way or another. "So can I perhaps promise you to bring her by say.. once a month?" She had to admit she was surprised. He either had too much money to spend or used his blade a lot.

With a grin on her face, she turned around. "Sounds like a deal", she said while walking to a stack of papers lying around on one of the display tables. She quickly jotted down some numbers and made a quick calculation. One of the few things she had to thank her upbringing for. But judging from the way he looked, this man was probably literate as well. She held the piece of paper up to him. "The fix-up is going to cost this much", she said while tapping one number. It was rather costly but the blade was in a bad condition which meant it was going to take a lot of work. "And if you're going to bring her by each month, those are going to be within this range", she continued tapping the two other numbers. A discount was included. Fixing up her own work was a lot easier and frequent fix-ups made the entire process easier. "Sounds good?"

"The tempered blade is the strongest"

▾

Zain Altahar
— “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi's life. So you might say that we are encouraged to love.”

Being an easy talk seemed to run in the family. He felt comfortable as he leaned a bit to her, watching the expression run across her face at his plans. Could practically see the coins shining in her eyes at the mention of how often he wished to come in.

While he wanted to say that it was to see her more often, he had to accept the fact that he actually used his blade that much and that roughly. Yeah he loved his baby but he abused her. Anger boiled within him that only seemed to come out with his blade at his reach.

"That sounds great. Do not worry about the bills. You can forward them to Captain Huppelpup." He nodded to her with a wink. Oh yeah, he'd love to let that shit faced captain cough up army gold for his blade. He should have been in that position any way.