Beginning of the end (Doc)

[Ycharley]

A dark crimson blush flashed across Lilly's face. "Just like anyone else, I simply know where and what my clothing are, I'm blind, not helpless. Plus, how else would I get dressed?" She was heating up his shield as she spoke, stunned by the question he had just asked.

"Do you think I would let Devin do it? That's gross and improper," She added, in a slight whisper like the thought its self was speaking it too loud. The thought made a chill run up her spine. True her and her brother were close, but that. She shook her head, trying to clear the thought away as she started to hammer the dents out.

[Doc]

"Well, I mean.." Cauwyn frowned briefly as he tried to consider the best way to word it so he didn't sound like an idiot, or more precisely sounding more like an idiot. After all, what she said made since. He could dress himself in the dark, even don his armor knowing where all the various buckles and straps went, "how do ya know if it's on the right way? Or, you know, where your stuff is 'round the forge?" He gestured vaguely with his hand at the various tools, not even considering that she couldn't see the gesture.

"What? No! No, that wasn't what I was tryin' to say.." He blinked, a little taken aback by her thought process. Though, to be fair, he had been considering the idea that that was what she had meant when she'd been talking about how close her and her brother were. It had seemed to make a lot more sense at the time, before the girl got upset, "Nothin' like that. Just, well... I don't know. Most blind folk I've met die off pretty quick s'all. Cause they can't really do much for them selves... uh, not to say that you can't. I mean... obviously," Again he gestured without thinking, this time toward his shield, "well, you know."

[Ycharley]

"My stuff is where I leave it, I live here so I have every square inch memorized by heart. I don't have to see to know where my flat hammer is, I always put it by the flat anvil and bucket of water," She said pointing to exactly where it way. "The same fro everything else. I know my cloths on right because I can feel them. Are you saying you can't dress yourself in the dark?" She asked as she got the last dent out. She poured water over the shield to make sure it was cool enough for her to touch. She turned the shield over so she could feel the striking surface, figuring out how exactly she would get all the scratches out.

"If I was stuck out in the middle of the woods I would be prey. I have good hearing so it would be hard to sneak up on me, but I wouldn't be able to run or protect myself like you would be able to. Though I would probably be better off then the daisies around here even with out my sight. Most blind folk drown in there own self pity, I refuse too, I can do nearly everything any one else can," She said crossing her arms and turning to him.

[Doc]

"That makes sense.." Cauwyn nodded his agreement. In fact, everything she said seemed to make perfect sense, so much so that he felt a little foolish asking about it now. He shifted his weight slightly, frowning at her accusation about being able to dress himself in the dark. It was a logical conclusion, he supposed, but still. It wasn't like he was blind..

"Well, yeah.." He said, somewhat begrudgingly, "course I can. I mean, even where there's no moon as long as you know where your stuff is.." And now he was just reiterating her point. Cauwyn flashed a small grin and chuckled softly, "But I guess you already figured that.."

"Hmm.." Cauwyn made a small noise of approval, accompanied by a quick nod. The girl had fire, he liked that. He'd seen more than a few men give up the sword for injuries much less severe than a blinding, that the girl was still dedicated to her craft was more than admirable.

"That's good to hear, lotta common folk tend to drown themselves when they start facin' a problem.." Cauwyn's tone was as lighthearted as the smile on his face, despite the fact he planned to do the very same thing once he got to the tavern, "Glad your not one of 'em. So, how'd your eyes get messed up in the first place? Some coals or somethin' get up in there?"

Cauwyn had seen what happened when hot coals got into a mans eye. A bit of cinder could be pretty painful, he knew from experience, but then he had also used coals when interrogating people. Usually you just did one eye first and they would start talking. Depending on what was said though, you might add another coal. Cauwyn had never been sparring when it came to getting information about any of the various enemies he'd faced with the Crows.

[Ycharley]

"I was born this way," She said looking down with a sigh. There was a hint of sadness that started to rise to the surface. She took a deep breath, she figured she would say the rest. No reason to hold anything back now.

She walked back to the front counter where Cauwyn stood. "They say I was probably blinded in the womb when my mother was interrogated while she was packing my," She said, trying to just shrug off the subject slightly like it didn't bother her.

[Doc]

What did you say to something like? How terrible would it be to be born never able to see a sunset in the Kilanthro mountains, or a snow covered forest, or a beautiful girl? Cauwyn frowned at the very thought, he liked seeing women naked, though maybe if you had to see with your hands like she did...

His thoughts snapped back before they had too much time to wander down that path when she mentioned the word interrogated. Cauwyn's face contorted into a confused frown as he tried to figure out just what it was she had said during that brief moment of fantasy. Cauwyn cleared his throat, deciding to play it safe and just ask neutral questions.

"Your mother was interrogated? Why? What did she do?" He asked with a small frown and a hint of suspicion.

[Ycharley]

"Both of my parents were high ranking warriors," She said returning to the shield with a sigh. She didn't like going into a lot of detail. "Both were killed soon after I was born. What exactly she knew that they were after, I honestly don't know, though there are many theories," She continued to speak as she started to run her hand over the shield, figuring out what exactly she was going to do.

"You can go on to the tavern, I might even have your shield done by the time you return, depending on how much you depend on drinking that is," She said. Having people watch over her wasn't her favorite way to work. It made her nervous.

"Or at least sit down on a piece of wood or something," She said. She hoped that he wouldn't continue with his questions about her parents. She didn't like talking about it and she didn't know much, only what she had heard. Her brother knew much more, but good luck on getting him to talk.

[Doc]

A part of him felt bad for asking the girl about her parents, it clearly upset her. He could understand, to an extent. Both his parents had been killed as well, though that was about the extent he knew about them. Whenever he had asked Bryn about them as a child the rather taciturn half-elf had simply told him that his parents had fought well, but in the end they weren't strong enough to keep him. Such was the way of life outside of the cities though and something Cauwyn had learned young. Nothing you had was truly yours, including your life, unless you had the strength to keep it.

"Uh, yeah," Cauwyn cleared his throat a little, cutting into the awkward tension he'd created, and gave the counter a nervous rap with his knuckle, "Yeah, I think I'll do that." His warm, charming smile returned again though it was a little forced, "And how much time you have depends on the quality of the ale, though my guess is it'll be plenty.."

With that Cauwyn adjusted his makeshift pack over his should and then turned slowly, heading for the door. "I'm, uh, leavin' now..." He didn't know if should say something or not, but it seemed the better option for the blind girl and with that Cauwyn walked out of the blacksmith shop and stopped in the street.

She'd said down the corner, right? He turned and headed opposite the way he'd come into the town seeing as how he didn't remember passing the tavern on his way to the shop and started walking. Once around the corner his lips spread into a broad cheerful grin  at the sight of the tavern and he pushed open the door sauntering in.

[Ycharley]

Lilly shook her head looking down. "Stupid guy, I heard him leave," She said to herself. Of course she was use to it by now, people always acted like that. Like they had to hold her hand through everything. Like she was completely helpless. She started working on the scratches, adding metal where it was needed.

Axel then helped Lilly carve at the shield slightly. Then Lilly added the copper mixture she made to that parts she had carved, making the wolf print more permanent, and more durable. With age the copper would dull out and darken until it looked back, but that would take time. She hoped he would like it.

She ran her hand over the shield, it was smooth, appearing almost new, and defiantly didn't look like it had been in battles. "Good as new," She spoke with a sigh while Axel brushed against her and purred in satisfaction.

Devin was in the tavern, being loud and joking with the other men. He was smiling brightly, before taking a deep drink. It seemed he was well known and liked, clearly the life of the party. He started to sing loudly, quickly other men started to join in.

[Doc]

Even as Cauwyn headed for the bar he took notice of his surroundings with a practiced eye for details. Things such as who was the biggest? The drunkest? Who all were carrying weapons? And of course, what girl was the prettiest... and then the easiest. All important things in a tavern. Not one to shy away from a good drunken brawl, or a bad one, Cauwyn had learned early in his youth that an unwatchful eye got your purse cut if you were lucky or found the blade in your back if you weren't. Not to mention that it was always better to do your sizing up before you started drinking.

Cauwyn handed off his makeshift pack to the bartender and plopped a few bronze coins on the counter in exchange for an ale. In all honesty Cauwyn was more of a mead man, but too many times had he ordered it and found that whoever brewed it had added something to it to make it unique or flavored differently. He wasn't a fan of berries by themselves, why in the hells would he want them put into his mead?

Tankard in hand Cauwyn turned around, returning his attention to the crowd at hand. He knew the Adelan were a rowdy bunch, something he liked about them, and couldn't help but crack a broad grin when he saw the blind girls brother. It hadn't been that long, but the boy and his friends seemed to already be enjoying the drink with their loud laughter. Cauwyn took a few gulps of his own ale, enjoying the taste actually, and watched with that broad grin as the boy, Devin, started up a song.

[Ycharley]

Devin slammed a empty cup of ale down on the bar as he walked up to on the the tavern girls. He took her by the hand and started to swing her around, dancing. Soon more followed. the girl smiled and laughed, her dark curls swinging around as they danced.

All the girls loved Devin, he was fun and most of all a gentleman. You could dance with him, drink with him, and he wouldn't expect anything. It seemed he didn't even think about getting into a girls undergarments. Of course this wasn't true, he was a young man and of course, it entered his mind frequently. After raising his sister though, he found he had gained a large amount of respect for all women.

The girl smiled and was passed off to a shorter man, and a curvaceous girl with golden skin and  long blonde hair took her place. Devin just like with the other girl swung her around dancing to the tavern. Most of the people in the tavern were now dancing, bright smiles on there face. The bartender looked and laughed, what did he expect. It was always like this when Devin was there, always the life of the tavern.

After a good ten more minutes Devin finally made it back to the bar, the bartender quickly passing him another ale. Many of the girl kept looking his way, hoping he would soon join them again.

[Doc]

Cauwyn finished his ale and ordered a second. While the ale by far wasn't the worst he'd had, it wasn't exactly a savoring kind of drink at the moment and so he proceeded to drink it down in rather healthy gulps. As the singing turned to dancing though Cauwyn was instantly caught up in the excitement clapping his hands and stomping his foot to the rhythm of the song. Though he didn't know it exactly he had heard it sang a few times before.

He couldn't help but notice the boy certainly had a way with the ladies, but then as Cauwyn inspected the others it wasn't hard to see why. A pang of jealousy coursed threw him as he watched the kid dance with the girls, though whenever any of them came over to him he waved them off with flourish of his hand and a kind smile. It wasn't that he couldn't dance per se, Cauwyn had spent plenty of time in taverns around the lands, but more so that he knew he wasn't very good at it. Put a weapon in his hand and he could dance all day, put a girl in his hands though and it was like he grew two left feet. Of course, when he was holding a girl it was hardly dancing that he was thinking about. At least not the vertical kind..

The second beer was drank down and his third ale poured when the young boy returned to the bar. Cauwyn raised his tankard to the kid, his smile broad and cheerful, "Hells kid, look's like ya got quite the ruckus goin' on in here!"

[Ycharley]

Devin raised his with a smile, turning his ale bottoms up and drinking most of it in one go. "This ain't nothing," He said with a smile. The blonde girl finally walked up to him, approaching on the opposite side that Cauwyn was on. She placed her hands gently on his are, moving her lips to his ears.

As the girl whispered one of Devin's eyebrows raised. What she was offering, well it was extremely tempting he had to admit. He placed his hand on hers gently, turning to whisper something to her quickly. She blushed with a chuckled bashfully.

"I think my friend will enjoy your company, but my beautiful lady I must go, you know my sister, I wouldn't want to get hit in the head with a hammer," She said standing and bowing to the lady with a charming smile. She moved over to Cauwyn, her rich chocolate brown eyes smiling.

"Hi, my name is Luna," She said with a soft blush, she was still slightly embarrassed, and felt slightly rejected by Devin. She could never get mad at Devin, the only person around that village that would raise a hand against him would be his sister.

Lilly had set the shield on the counter and was back at her forge, working on a piece of jewelry, testing her skill, trying to get better. 

[Doc]

Cauwyn shared the young mans drink, raising his own tankard and finishing off the rest of the beer within. He gestured to the barman with his fingers for two more, and why not? The kid seemed nice enough, plus he still felt a little bad about questioning his sister. Turning his attention out across the bar as the blond girl approached and the two began whispering, Cauwyn couldn't help but grin as he tried to give the two their privacy to work out what he was sure to be a grand time.

It was a little odd, Cauwyn thought, when the man obviously turned down the affections of the young curvaceous blond. He mentioned something about his sister to which Cauwyn found even more curious. He'd never had siblings, in fact he had rarely ever seen other children growing up except a few of the slaves, and so the idea of passing up a guaranteed romp with the girl in exchange for a pass from his sister seemed confusing.

The man at least had the decency to pass the girl of to him. Cauwyn started to say something, still a bit confused, when the girl introduced herself at the same time the bartender sat down two more ales. He glanced at the bartender, sat down some coin, and then looked back to the girl with a broad grin. The confusion and thoughts of before easily swayed now by the lovely tavern girl as he slid the tankard over to her.

"Well merry met, Luna. I am Cauwyn," He said with that beaming grin and a slight flourish of his hand as he bowed slightly at the waist. Girls, he'd found, almost always liked that high class sort of stuff.

[Ycharley]

Devin made his way to the house, his plan was to sneak into the house and not pass his sister. He hoped she was busy and wasn't paying attention, though he doubted it would ever be that easy. He walked slow, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Luna placed her hands on Cauwyn's arm affectionately. True. Devin was the one she was after, she had been after him since they were little. This guy Cauwyn though, he would due for now, he was rather attractive to start with. She flashed him a large smile, scooting closer. "It is nice to meet you, Cauwyn, how are you liking your stay here?"

Lilly sat at the counter, she had finished the bracelet and the shield. She sat there bored, she couldn't just get up and go places, not by herself, and she never really liked the tavern, it was too loud. She just hoped that one of the two would show up to entertain her for a while.

[Doc]

Cauwyn flashed a broad grin as the girl placed her hand on his arm, which as any man would he instinctively flexed, and scooted closer. He turned slightly to better face her instead of the crowd and took a healthy pull from his tankard. Setting the drink down on the bar he gave a small half shrug at the girls question.

"Well," He drawled slightly, his hazel eyes giving the girl a rather approving once over, "I can honestly say I'm doin' better now... This village just seems t'be full of pleasant surprises.."

[Ycharley]

"Well that is good, I'm glad you're finding this place suitable," Luna said as she leaded against him slightly, tracing her fingers up and down his arm lightly as she continued to smile. "So," She started, batting her lashes slightly, "tell me more about yourself," She said tracing a scar on his forearm.

"Devin, really, don't try to sneak past me," Lilly said crossing her arms, she could pick out his footsteps very quickly. "Come here, I'm done with this shield and I don't want to have to hold on to it forever, plus I would like him to see the work before he gets completely drunk or too busy with one of those easy girls at the tavern that seem to love you so much," She said raising an eyebrow.

[Doc]

"Nothing to tell really..." Cauwyn said with a somewhat coy shrug. It was hard, he realized, not just rattling off with his past. He was done with that past now, Cauwyn was ready to make a new one. And it was especially unfortunate in instances like this. Small village girls and farmers daughters always enjoyed his tales of far off places and grand palaces that he had seen. Now it was a struggle, especially through the ale that was starting to warm his mind, to come up with something vague enough, "I'm just a wanderer.. Travelin' place to place, just seein' what the world has to offer..."

[Ycharley]

Devin could tell what his sister was telling him to do, and he could also tell that she had pulled out a think of the strong potato alcohol she had gotten so good at making. He also figured that if she could drink she could he, and plus, drinking that, she would get drunk a lot faster then he would drinking ale.

He we walked back to the tavern, half to have his fun with Luna and half to tell the man about his shield. His sister after all, worked very quickly. He walked quickly, trying to avoid the puddles and ruts that the horses and carriages made the road.

Devin  walked into the tavern and Luna's attention was soon ripped away from Cauwyn. Devin took his seat back at the bar and Luna turned to Devin, her hand wrapped around his arm. "I'd suggest you get your shield, its done and sis is hitting the hard liquor," She said with a smile.

[Doc]

To say Cauwyn looked displeased was an understatement. His jaw set and his muscles tensed as the young man stole away the lass and then had the gall to tell him what to do. It was lucky then that Cauwyn hadn't been drinking as much as usual and that despite his instincts telling him to just start swinging, the ex-mercenary had a fresh resolve made not too long ago not to just return to his old ways. Growing up in mercenary camps as he had, everything the boy had done would be seen as a challenge worthy of having your throat slit.

Inhaling sharply through his nose, Cauwyn exhaled a calming breath between clenched too bared in a forced smile, "Yes," He managed pleasantly enough, though it was somewhat strained, "I think that'll be a good idea.."

He lifted his tankard and downed the rest of his ale in one long gulp. Setting down the tankard with enough force to catch the tavern keeps attention he signaled for his stuff and then quickly strode out of the door.

Even as he walked the streets he replayed the idea of pummeling the kid in his mind. It played over and over and eventually his muscles relaxed and a somewhat dark smirk formed. He idly considered just raping the boys sister and burning down their shop, but that idea was quickly shoved away as yet another throwback to a life he was trying to leave behind.

As he reached the shop his mind had turned to the idea of just wooing the boys sister and sleeping with her. Though she was about the right age for marriage, something Cauwyn had no intentions of ever, and he had certainly had younger in his days, something just didn't seem right about it. Such a conflict was new to Cauwyn, which he considered to be a good thing and proof he could change so that, as he entered the blacksmiths shop, his beaming smile had returned and his mood instantly improved.

" 'ello, girly!" He exclaimed with a bit of drunken cheer, "That brother of your says you already fixed m'shield?"