Knots can be Undone and Remade

[Winters-Feather]

Issen eagerly rose to her feet when Hyaeda suggested that they get moving. She followed closely behind Hysaeda. She could keep up with his pace well enough; though she had been confined in her radius, the woman had traveled within the bounds of her tiny desert home. Because she had some sort of homing instinct to always know where her prince was, the desert creature was never afraid of getting lost.

Issen gave a  sheepish smile at his thoughtful question.
"Clothes, please," she said.
However, she didn't want to bother him too much about paying. Besides, he said he didn't have a lot of money.
I should show him the bangles, the woman thought, and began to fumble with her satchel.

"One moment," she pleaded, and sank to her knees as she delicately brought out the jewelry box and opened it. Issen turned the box around so that the man knew just what exactly what splendor he was looking at;  the box was filled with bangles, a few necklaces,  a tiara, and anklets. Most were made with precious metals, others with glass or wood. The vast value of them rather escaped the woman; yes, some were very precious to the woman, but she was sure that two silver bangles would hopefully be enough to cover the expense of  new clothes and supplies. Besides, she felt it just to share with this man.

She offered up two such bangles to Hysaeda. One was thin and had a twisted, rope design. The other was a few millimeters in width and had an ancient, detailed Essryn pattern on it.
"Use this," she said, with a determination in her voice that clearly wouldn't take no for an answer.

[Lion]

"Clothes it is then," he made a mental note to keep that mind.  Though what she was wearing wasn't bad, he had to admit.  He wondered if that's what she'd been wearing for a thousand years, or however long she'd been down in that dark, dusky, tomb.  If they found any animals, no doubt he could crafter clothing of a higher quality himself, for free.

When she paused, he almost went on without her.  He looked back and saw that she was kneeling and he came and knelt beside her.  Jewels and bangles and articles of value that he figured had been collected over the years.  When she offered up the two bangles he grasped them gently in his raw, dry hands.  "You can't be serious.  These are far too valuable to just waste on clothes, from the looks of it.  Are you absolutely sure?"  He held them as if they were made of porcelain.

[Winters-Feather]

Issen tilted her head, a bit confused at the man's bewilderment. She knew  two silver bangles would be somewhat expensive, but not  as valuable as he was making them out to be.
"Then use them to buy, how did you say it... New supplies, as well," she  suggested.
Without any further ado, the woman promptly shut the box and carefully placed it back into her satchel before she slung it over her shoulder.

Issen giggled as she readjusted her veil, watching as Hysaeda held the jewelry as if they were made out of delicate glass. She touched his arm, gently as she looked at him in the eye.
"They won't break," the woman said as she playfully walked in, around, and beyond the footprints that Hysaeda had left.

[Lion]

Hysaeda frowned visibly and nearly grimaced because of it.  It didn't please him for her to give him those bangles though he was sure she meant well by it.  Taking things that he did not earn did not bode well with him, but she seemed she did not care to take them back or make any more of it.  She stood up and walked away.  He grunted and placed the bangles in his belt.

"Thank you," he murmured but shook his head as he did so. "It's just that.  They are personal things, it seems, yours.  But because you have freely surrendered them, I'll make sure that what I buy with them will be well worth their weight."  He nodded and continued on.

Soon the sun was reaching the nadir of its path and he saw the flickering image of Essyrn in the distance.  He was not enthusiastic about being among more people, but perhaps it would be a favor of some sort for Issen to see more than himself.  She could see how so much had changed in such time.  "Race you there," he said shortly before he started off in a run.

[Winters-Feather]

Issen smiled at the man's words about giving things up, but she said nothing. There was nothing to say- it was hers, and hers to freely give; that was that. They marched steadily on, not saying much of anything. Now and then the woman would find herself humming a made up tune, but for the most part, she was concentrating on her journey and getting lost in her day dreams.

She started to grow weary as the sun began to set, but lo and behold in the distance was a glimpse of the city. The woman gasped at the image, and stood fixated on the hill. So lost was she that she didn't hear or register Hyseada's words until he started running.
"Huh?" she muttered, confused. Why was he running? There wasn't anything following them.
"Wait!" she protested as she hitched up her robes and her veil as she, too, began to sprint. Downhill did Issen flew, though it was clear that her companion was the faster and stronger runner. She caught up with him moments later at the entrance  of the great city.

Issen was speechless and overwhelmed at the view of the city.  Like a trapped wild beast did she look around ,trying to find anything that resembled what life had looked like, years and years ago. Yes, people were still wearing veils and long robes, but they looked...different. And nothing was where it had been before; these streets looked utterly foreign. In the distance, Issen saw a tall structure that she hoped was the remains of the palace. She didn't realize how lost she would be. And all the people! And the animals. Her life had been so silent up to this point that the noise was startling and began to hurt her head.  The next thing she noticed were the smells. There were so many! Some smelt hot and spicy, others sweeter, other almost sticky...

It was all so beautiful, and yet frightening to the woman. She didn't quite know what to keep her eyes on, whether it was on the children playing or the merchants yelling and selling their wares or a person playing a queer instrument. The woman noticed that though she could pick up bits and pieces of their modern Essyrn  tongue, people were also speaking another queer language.

The people were queer, too. The Essyrn people in traditional look didn't seem to have change much, but there were foreigners in the city, too. Issen was pretty sure she had noticed a pale skin woman with blue hair, though it had seemed too bizarre to be true.
The woman was a stranger to her own city and the sense overload was almost too much for Issen. She touched Hyseada lightly on the shoulder, like a child not wanting to stray from their mother.  She placed her free hand over one of her ears.
Be brave.
"Let's go?" she weakly suggested.

[Lion]

The city was an amazing sight once he'd reached it and it was still very much like he'd remembered it so many years ago.  The first few visits were merely to trade for Hysaeda didn't have much interest in staying in hubs of civilization for longer than he had to.  But after being in the desert for so long, it was a wonderful, relieving change of scenery.  Hysaeda stood beside her as she took in the sights and knew he'd chosen the right name for her with the way she stood out in awe at everything.  It seemed as if she was seeing it all again for the first time.  And perhaps she was.  But at least he was here to help her along.

The city buzzed with activity and the market was not far from here.  He did indeed stand out amongst the crowd, but no more than anyone else.  Hysaeda reached out and clasped Issen's hand in his own and pulled her along toward a moving bunch that led towards the market district.  The day may have been dying, but the activity only seemed to heighten because of it.  There was still so much left to do that the buying and selling of wares was going at a rapid pace.

They reached a stand where a series of clothing lay on the counter and hung on the rafters.  The robes weren't particularly fancy but they appeared to be well made and he knew that if that was what she wanted, here seemed like a good a place as any to buy something to wear.  "Pick whatever you like," he said and gestured toward the clothing.

[Winters-Feather]

OOC: FYI, I'm basing her new clothes on  Morrocan caftan, just to give you a better mental picture. Like it matters? I'm totally not biased -cough- (guess where my mom is from? -shifty eyes-)

IC:

Issen was briefly surprised when Hysaeda held onto her hand firmly, though she welcomed it. The woman gladly followed his lead as she tried to take in every wondrous detail. She gasped and her stares lingered on some things more then others. The woman wanted to ask her partner about these items as they came, but then came a new fascination, and her mind was distracted once  more. After a while in this fashion her stride became more confident, her stance taller, though her hand still stayed on her ear, the sound still overwhelmingly loud.

Finally, they stopped in front of what appeared to be a clothing vendor. Issen's wide brown eyes looked hungrily at Hysaeda's red ones, and she laughed gleefully at his command. She was free to choose! The last time that happened...Well, she couldn't remember, and the woman doubted it mattered. However, as the woman's fingers traced  satin and silks, she knew that they wouldn't be fit for the road. Hysaeda was a traveler, right?  She needed to find clothes that were made to be worn into.

At first, Issen only was doing this with her free hand. However, frustrated at the lack of mobility of this, she gathered enough courage to remove her other hand from her ear. The woman gritted her teeth and shuddered at the sound, but her discomfort was quickly distracted from by the clothes.

She fussed to  herself as she  rummaged through the selections. Some were too short, others too long, others not the right color, others made of the wrong material...The vendor stared at her, with a look of puzzlement as Issen exclaimed in her version of the tongue several times, but he took little notice of it, simply discarding it as another foreign language; the poor man only spoke Common.

Finally, after a while of careful selection, Issen found a complete outfit. The material was sturdy, though still felt rather soft. It was a three set outfit with an over dress, an under dress, and a headscarf. The under dress was a  plain long sleeved brown dress with a scoop neck that reached to her feet, with a skirt that flowed a little in the wind. The over dress was like a vest that was just as long as its companion piece. It was rusty red with wide short sleeves. The edges were joined together from the neck down to just above her navel, where the cut opened up to reveal the brown dress underneath. Designs of flowers in the same brown as the dress were lined at the sleeve, collar, and edges. The headscarf was the same red color as the over dress.

Yes, the fashions have defiantly changed plenty. However, instead of feeling offhanded by this, the woman felt rather excited; it was rather fetching.

Issen turned around to face Hysaeda, holding the clothes in her hands.
"How's this?" she shyly asked.
A little bit uncomfortable about this little spree being on her, she added, "Are you getting anything?"
She was getting used to the market place noise, now. It at least didn't throb and pound in her ear, though it was still slightly unnerving.

[Lion]

[Cool!  XD Hysaeda's not so fancy.  He stands out like sore thumb!  You're mom's from Morocco?  That's pretty awesome.  I'm American, a mix of a bunch of different stuff!]

Hysaeda was content with just watching Issen curiously peruse the wares of the clothing vendor.  The man kept busy speaking to Hysaeda, though the Umbraeon Exile only half-listened.  He prattled on and on about the quality of his goods, and pointed and referenced towards things that Hysaeda did not care about.  The very way he was addressed made Hysaeda feel aged, though not nearly as aged as he suspected Issen truly was.  He'd learned it wasn't nice to ask a woman her age, though to him it was only a number.  Even if she might have been older than him, perhaps significantly so, the world was opening up to her and he smiled at the fascination by which she looked through the clothes.  A look of wonder; he'd almost forgotten that a person could feel that way about things.  Anything for that matter!  And for a moment, Hysaeda felt a little more alive again.

For him, his foremost expression seemed outwardly forlorn and after a few minutes of clearly talking to himself, the vendor shut his trap and just sat back, waiting for these potential customers to make their first move.  When Issen finally picked out something she liked, Hysaeda smiled widely, his eyes brightening and his expression turning upward.   "Wonderful!  Just wonderful!  You will look very good in it," he nodded in ascent.  His twisted his expression in thought for a moment and wondered if he would get anything for himself.  He'd been wearing the same clothes for a the past weeks, since he'd first entered the desert and no doubt reaching the city had given him an opportunity to acquire new supplies.

Yet, that didn't stop his hand from fingering a fine, red cotton shirt with a gold, embroidered collar.  The sleeves were cut short at the elbows and it was just his size.  It was a fine piece of craftsmanship.  And red was his father's favorite color...  He had to tear his eyes away to keep from shedding a tear.  Yet he thanked the dry heat around them for stealing the moisture from his eyes before he had to wipe them away.  He gave a trying smile at the shirt and shook his head.

"No," he shook his head.  "I think the money will best served for more pressing things.  I'm all right.  I'm more hungry and thirsty than in need of new clothes.  Maybe....maybe another time.  Let's get food.  When was the last time you ate?"  Hysaeda paid the vendor what he owed them, offering one silver bangle that the vendor looked at hungrily than nodded in ascent before shooing them away.

[Winters-Feather]

Issen smiled at Hysaeda's approval, hugging the clothes tightly to her chest. The shop vender motioned for Issen to give him the clothing so he could wrap them up and put them in a bag. Silently, the woman handed over the garments as she observed her companion eyeing a beautifully made shirt. She flew to his side, touching the material, her eyes gleaming. It would suit him well, but...He didn't want it?
Why? she thought with a puzzled expression as he spoke.

The vendor handed her back the parcel as he accepted the bangle. Issen noted that he seemed to like it, which was good; she hoped he'd keep it save. She tried to focus on Hyseada's question, but her eyes kept on trailing back to the shirt that he had refused to buy.
Maybe later? she thought.
"The last time I ate?" she repeated, trying to keep up with the man's pace.
"A thousand years," she said in a dreamy tone, "I've forgotten what food tastes like."
"It really...wasn't that bad, once I got used to it," she continued. Her pause was due to her reaching out for Hyseada's arm as they paved their way through the crowd.

Her nose began to twitch as the two approached the food vendors. She began to pick up smells of spices and sweets. Issen felt a little frustrated; some of it smelt all so familiar and yet she had forgotten the names  of things.  
I've forgotten a lot of things. How sad.
She smiled wearily and clung onto her purchases. So much food! She turned to her companion.
"What do you want to eat?" she asked, politely.
Issen decided that she'd just have anything he did.

[Lion]

Hysaeda tore his eyes away from the shirt lest he feel the overwhelming desire to buy the garb with the money that he didn't have.  No doubt the vendor would find a way to barter on the price.  But maybe...maybe he'd come back later and buy the shirt.  For now, getting something to eat sounded like the best plan.

"A thousand years, huh?" Hysaeda looked at her and grinned.  So, she wasn't bound by the mortal coil then was she?  Perhaps she really was a spirit in a more corporeal form.  His apprenticeship made him familiar with many different forms of a spiritual state.  Yet, it was always possible that he merely was trying too hard to define something that didn't need to be defined.  He wondered then if after a thousand years, she would have one hell of an appetite.

He sighed at her question, out of thought rather than exasperation. "To eat?  My, there's so much to choose from!  Back home, I would hunt and prepare food myself.  I don't really have the tools to do that here and now, but perhaps later I can show you how, if you want."  Hysaeda's eyes surveyed the vendors that each bragged of their food.  He saw the gleaming skins of cooked chickens and geese  and pigs and his stomach rumbled viciously in complaint.  "Why don't we have some duck!  Let's go!"  Hysaeda stalked off quickly, drawn by the call of his stomach.

He reached the stand and couldn't swipe the eager grin on his face.  He wiped his mouth with a free hand to clean the drool that had seeped through.  "Two please," he said to the cook, a stout woman with a burnt black face.  She smiled nodded and proceeded to hack off two large hunks of a bird that glistened with juices and steam.

[Winters-Feather]

OOC: Other random fact- I'm a vegetarian. So I really have no idea what these foods taste like lol XD

IC:

    Issen brushed a tangle of hair behind her ear as she listened to Hysaeda speak about his home land. Show her how to hunt? That sounded both brutal and exciting. She didn't recall ever having hunting before, though maybe she did. The woman knew she had been a servant, but maybe she had been a shield maiden, somehow? It was oh so long ago, it certainly was plausible.  however, she couldn't imagine how to go about this sort of thing, where he was from. Certainly it wasn't like in the desert.  If she  put it in a rose tinted light, it seemed rather romantic,  being independent and free, one with the wilderness.
"Perhaps," she agreed dreamily as she followed the man.

The woman giggled at the man's obvious hunger and satisfaction at  the looks of the food. It smelled strong, but pleasant and arousing to her senses. Issen's eyes observed the cook with wide, bewildered eyes she accepted the food, careful not to drop it.
"Is she from where you are?" she asked Hysaeda as  she observed the steaming food. Was it safe to eat?
"Her skin is dark, like yours, except her ears aren't pointed so.."
The woman stuck out her tongue to the food, unsure how to react to it.

She drew it back with a hiss. It was rather hot! Her eyes turned towards her companions, as if searching for answers. She licked her lips. Even with that one taste she could taste the juices and the spices, and it sent a jolt to her senses, as if re awakening them from a long, long slumber.

[Lion]

[Lol.  S'all right!  It's pretty good though.]

The duck was scalding hot!  Hysaeda blew on it eagerly, his stomach tightening with very second it did not have food tumbling down into it.  One bit dripped with juice and he sucked on it until finally taking a bite.  He closed his eyes to savor the flavor, to savor the skin and he tore at it like an animal.  He never hunted ducks.  He left water fowl to be taken by those that lived in the water.  Occasionally he fished, but he couldn't be sure of the quality of fish that was sold here.  Perhaps he could show her how to fish as well!  There was an idea he could work with.

Hysaeda eyed her widely at her question.  She was referring to the vendor wasn't she?  He cast a glance back at the woman, and then remembered to pay her.  He pulled out a copper, then another with his free hand before taking a bite.    He moved off to the side, away from the counter and other customers and leaned against the enclosed the side of the stall.   "I do not think so. Essyrnians are dark-skinned.  All that time in the sun will do that to you.  As for me, I'm an Umbraeon, a dark elf.  That's why my ears are pointy.  Haven't you seen an elf before?  Are my ears so very strange to you?"  Hysaeda grinned at her in amusement, teasingly, and took another bite of the duck.

[Winters-Feather]

Issen gasped in wonder at her companion's statement as she followed his example by leaning against the wall.
"Umbraeon?,"she slowly repeated, flabbergasted. She didn't really understand the meaning of this word, but she understood that he had said another- elf.
It was true that she had forgotten that the sun could dye one's skin like that, but elves? She didn't remember ever meeting one.
Perhaps, she mused, They had only been the stuff of legends and rumors in the past. Not many traveled through these parts long ago, after all.
This almost made her glad that she had lived so long- she finally got to meet a creature out of one of her fantasies!

Realizing that she had been staring too long, Issen's face flushed.
"No...I'm sorry. I've never met an elf before and I quite like your ears," she said quite honestly. They were a bit oddly shaped, but there was something quite elegant about it. Her eyes scanned Hysaeda's actions as he ate before she, too, tried to mimic his actions.
The woman chewed her food thoughtfully, eagerly taking each bite and swallow. Issen tried to take in as much as she could from the food- it was delicious and so overwhelmingly refreshing!- but the thought of travelling with an elf was beyond her.
She was overjoyed, though she supposed she shouldn't be so surprised- after all, he seemed so startled with her. There wasn't a surplus of a thousand year old women living in tombs, after all.

[Lion]

Slowly his hunger was sated.  Hysaeda made the meat shrink with every bite and though his funds were low, he was eager to try everything each of these stalls had at least once.  He considered using the other bangle than his new companion had given him but he knew that the bracelet could be used for more important and precious things.  His mind wandered back to the shirt that he'd eyed with wonder.  No, no, no, he told himself.

Hysaeda turned and looked at her with incredulous eyes when she spoke.  He almost wanted to echo her question but knew that'd get them nowhere.  But it seemed almost beyond him that she had never met an elf before.  They were some of the oldest creatures in the land.  Well, according to the legends they were.  Umbraeons generally did not have long life expectancies so it wasn't that much of a surprise to learn that she'd never met one, and they usually didn't stray from the homelands.  But at least now there was a first for everything and he only glanced to see the wonderment in Issen's face.  He quirked a brow at her as she ate and he grinned.  She kept looking at him in that strange way and her face looked darker beneath the bronze of her skin.

"Have you really been locked away in the tomb for so long?  Is there something you're looking for?  Maybe an answer, a reason why you were locked away?  Can I help you find it?"  Hysaeda didn't know why exactly he'd asked that, but his smile had faded away and he looked at her like a lost traveling finally finding someone else in an expanse of what seemed to be nothingness.  He didn't know what it was that made him want to help her; that part of him that welcomed her company in the first place.  He was never so quick to let another follow, or to follow another for that matter.  Yet he knew he'd had his own plights were there were few that were quick to help him, that few certainly dwarfed by the others that preferred to beat and bully him as if he were the scum of the earth.  And in that he found reason plenty to offer his hand to her in aid, should she want it.

[Winters-Feather]

Issen smiled at Hysaeda's question, though did not answer for a few moments because her mouth was full. As he had wolfed down his food, she ate hers with slow caution. Each bite was a new experience, and the woman was enthralled.  Was this what it was like to eat, again? Oh, she didn't really experience hunger anymore, so perhaps not, but it was something. So when he asked, she still had a decent sized chunk of it left.
"Yes," she started to say, trying to conjure up the answer.

"Normally," she continued, as if in a dream, "I would come up with something a bit more fascinating, but since Hysaeda is to be my constant companion, I suppose I'll keep the tale as true as possible. Simply put, the prince and I were in love, but the High Priest got jealous. So when the prince died in war, he saw to it that I was buried alive to be in servitude forever. But there are some loop holes , which is why I was able to go with you."
Issen paused to to take another bite, and  took another moment to swallow properly.

She then looked up to her benefactor and frowned.
"Does that really bother you so? It's nothing you ought to trouble yourself with," she asked, rather amazed by his empathy.
"I am missing something, but not even you could find my true name, at this point of time. It's the only thing that can free me, you know. "
She smiled.
"Besides, I like Issen."
The woman paused. She was rather curious about Hyseada's background. After all, she knew almost next to nothing about him.
"Where are we off to, next?" she asked, eating the last of her duck.

[Lion]

Hysaeda stopped mid-chew when she told him her tale.  It was quick and honest and he couldn't have asked anything more of her when she finally finished.  So that was how she ended up in that tomb and for so long.  He'd heard of priests with such power but couldn't help but feel angry at the thought of abusing it simply because of jealousy.  It was a poor justification for anything, and Hysaeda looked at Issen in a brighter light.

Hysaeda smiled because it was the nice thing to do, but he frowned at the thought of not being able to help her.  So she was missing her name was it?  It was a little hard to believe that one could easily lose something as simple as a name.  But perhaps it wasn't so farfetched in her case, and Hysaeda ate the rest duck in his hand before carefully disposing the bones in a bin the vendor kept on the side of her stall.

"It doesn't bother me...but I suppose as my companion, I feel I ought to have some amount of concern for you.  Even though we just met,"  Hysaeda smiled shyly and looked around them as he continued.  "As for me, I don't know where we're going.  I came into the desert at least two months ago...  I don't know how long it's really been, time seems so irrelevant.  I came here to escape my home.  It was destroyed by someone I thought I trusted.  And there's really nothing left to return to.  I'm sorry.  I'm not trying to burden you with my troubles."

[Winters-Feather]

Issen smiled gently at Hysaeda's tale, trying not to cry as she ate the rest of her duck. Suddenly, it seemed to lose its' flavor. The woman couldn't help it; she had a natural dramatic flare and being locked up for a thousand years only seemed to amplify this trait. She was quite moved by his words, though she still was having a little trouble understanding everything.
I'm going to have to learn this modern tongue, she thought, determined, Or, at least, whatever it is most people in this world speak.

The woman thought about his words. She agreed with him about time. It meant nothing to her; she had plenty. In fact, Issen could live forever more until she discovered her true name. And his home....destroyed? She had questions, but his tale reminded her of her own...Betrayed by a trusted person doomed to forever roam...Or stay within the range of a master.
"I could've easily mistaken them for being mine," she solemnly replied, "Besides, I was the one who added to them because of the curse."

The woman's eyes followed three pale skinned travelers with oddly colored hair and spoke rapidly in Common, a even queerer thing to her ears.
"Maybe we could pass by through their country," she suggested, "What is that language that they speak? It sounds similar to what a lot of people out here are speaking in..."
Issen smiled. Yes, she was frustrated for awaken to this odd new world but she was excited about the promise it brought. Boldly, she reached out for Hysaeda's hand.
"Come!" she exclaimed, "Pro-vis-ee-ons. Pro-vin-ee-yons?"

[Lion]

Hysaeda's mind did not want to linger on the events that caused him to come here, there was so much he'd lost and he knew that it was best for now to put it away somewhere safe, as he'd done many a time with any other hurt he'd endured.  He may very well be the last of his tribe, but the here and now called to him and Issen was here to help him remember that.

Yet he had barely seconds to recognize her question before she grabbed his hand and yanked him off in the direction she wanted to go.  "Provisions!?" Hysaeda yelled, confused.  Right, they needed provisions, loads and loads of water especially.  And more importantly, Hysaeda needed a bath.   When he caught up with her Hysaeda walked at her side and motioned back toward the strangers that she took notice of.

"I believe this is their country.  And if it isn't, they brought their language with them," Hysaeda guessed.  "What I mean is, they're speaking what is called Common.  It is a language shared among many nations.  It makes trade and communication a lot easier than having to translate between different tongues.  I speak it....  Would you like to learn how to speak it?"

[Winters-Feather]

Issen nodded  thoughtfully at her companions statement. It seemed very logical, to have a common tongue to use for convince sake. As a bonus, it would be the only language she would really have to learn in order to get along in this new world. Yes, she could do it.
"If you don't mind teaching me," she humbly replied.

Issen watched as the strangers slipped into the crowd and out of site. Now with nothing to be  distracted by, her eyes began to scan again the stalls. They were looking for things to travel with...So that meant food, right? The woman pointed to a near by fruit stand with an array of things she barely remembered, some she was sure she had forgotten, and others she knew she had never seen before.
"What exactly do you need to get?" she asked as she found a jeweler, who had set up shop next to a weapan store.
Maybe he didn't need the fruit...After all, he said he was a hunter; he could get his own.
He probably was also in need of new clothes, but he was so reluctant earlier... Issen frowned. She had offered to pay, after all. So what was the fuss?

[Lion]

He didn't teach many people before, so that in itself would be a new experience for him.  One that he could say he was looking forward to, even if he didn't know exactly where to start.  It sure beat the hell out of having to break apart every other word that came out of her mouth.  Hysaeda wasn't a linguist, he knew different languages, but just enough to get by.  If they could find something that could make communicating that much easier, that all the more power to it.

Hysaeda nodded and took a moment to think about her question.  He had a feeling he was going to be attached to Issen for far longer than a few days.  Not that he minded it, but he didn't know where he was going, or what they would even need.  He didn't even know how much money he had.  He had his sword on him and the ragged shirt he wore, and not much else but the water skin he'd only recently filled.   It was all so strange for the years he had all he needed from the land.  But in the desert, with opportunities for supplies so far apart, he had to think hard and fast about what to do.

"Now that we're fed, we ought to pick up some materials that'll help us when we travel.  I don't suppose you use too many weapons do you?  I think I can buy something to fashion a bow out of and they should have some arrows here.  I think we ought to have enough for that. C'mon, we have some shopping to do."  Hysaeda grinned and stepped toward the weapons vendor.  He didn't buy too many of these, and most of the better looking ones were too high priced.   The vendor was a burly man, a barrel for a stomach with a round hairy face with whiskers that stuck out in all directions.

"Whatcha need, youngin'?"

"A dagger if you got one.  Simple but functional," Hysaeda nodded, pointing to a good steel one he spotted in the back.  "And some sinew, if you have it as well, along with some reinforced wood."  The vendor had everything he asked and placed them on the counter with a nod.  He named the price, Hysaeda counted what coins he had left.  He had the last bangle and held it in his hand for a moment before handing it over to the vendor who looked at it with much confusion.  "That ought to cover it," he said before taking the things they'd bought underneath his arm.

"It's dangerous out there in the desert," he said matter-of-factly even though it was something they both already knew. "I don't think you like weapons very much.  I saw the way you looked at me when I almost pulled my sword out, but I think maybe you should learn how to at least use a dagger.  Where I come from it's important to learn how to fight, if you don't you die.  Maybe you won't die so easily, but it could be something both of us can learn how to polish up on."