Solo In Hand And Heart

[Karin]

82nd Spring 517 AV
"Speech"
"Others"

Only two days ago, the Veronica had returned to the small settlement, laden with supplies. There had been a passenger too, a newcomer to the village. Karin had watched with curiosity from a distance as the minute figures had spilled onto the beach. The newcomer had a creature with them- what Karin presumed to be a dog of some sort. Then she had work to do, and she had turned her back on the unloading and continued.

But she had ideas. And the arrival of the ship poked at her inquisitiveness. So halfway through the evening, as Syna gracefully curtseyed to the horizon and Leth's dark robes began to sweep across the sky, the Svefra woman began to gather her precious gold mizas and count them as they twinkled in refracted, orange light from the ocean. After she had finished, she placed them carefully back into her much-scuffed coin purse and tucked the whole thing into her chest, before shutting the lid tightly. It was too late to visit the Mercantile now, but tomorrow was another day.

-The next morning.

It was raining as Karin awoke, to gaze with some degree of exasperation at the pouring sheets. The drops were heavy enough to make their presence known on her wooden shingled roof, and in fact were so heavy that many of them were forcing themselves into her hut and dropping onto her. It was what had woken her up to begin with. As her stomach rumbled and her hair flapped delicately into a veritable bird's nest around her head, she briefly tied it back into a loose, low ponytail and grabbed the rough, woollen cloak from her chest, and the small purse of money that she would be needing. Despite the downpour, she was out onto the jungle beach.

It was a long walk to the Mercantile, as it was the other side of the bay. But there was one plus point- in the bell it had taken her to walk there, the belting rain had stopped, and the patchy clouds were dispersed into a glorious day. It was with sunshine warming her soggy self that she wearily climbed the steps up to the stilted shop-come-home. As she had hoped and expected, it seemed to be well-stocked, yet she approached cautiously as she had hardly visited the place.

Truthfully, she was in desperate need of waterproofs or cooler shoes, but the first glance she took informed her that the shop was empty of such items. She cursed, inwardly. But it wasn't just clothes she was looking for. Karin needed an axe.

Oh, and a bucket.

[Karin]

"Speech"
"Others"

She knew the man that sat lounging at the counter. He was the sailor she had requested to join, back in Riverfall. She seemed to recall he was named, James, but his last name evaded her. Either way, she smiled a taut smile and scanned the stacked goods carefully, looking for an axe, or a bucket.

"You're Karin, right? Is there anything I can help with?" The young woman in question startled somewhat at the voice, and began to automatically shake her head... but stopped suddenly and replied. There's no point trying to guess away, after all. "I..." She cleared her throat a few times, her voice rusty from disuse. "I'm looking for an axe. To chop trees. And a bucket... and a waterproof coat to fend off the rain, if you have such a thing."

The sailor, with his crinkling eyes and his pleasant voice smiled, and stood fluidly. She was glad she had prolonged her visit, because now the Mercantile was well-stocked. She was glad she had asked, too, because although she knew the basics of cutting a tree she didn't know which type of axe would suffice. And there were three axes, one long-handled, and two short-handled.

James picked up the first axe, the long-handled one, and hefted it. "This is a felling axe, and what you would want to chop trees down. The long handle makes it easier to swing, meaning you can put more force into it." He handed it to the nodding Svefra, he held it in both hands and felt the weight of it. "That axe is 6 silver mizas. We had a good selection of buckets until just the other day, but now I'm down to just two, over here."

The man loped to another section of the shop, and grabbed the two buckets before placing them both on the counter. "Did you want one, or two?" She thought for a moment, and decided it wouldn't hurt to have a spare. "Two, please."

"That will come to one gold miza. As for the rain gear, there is a poncho, oiled to keep the weather off. That's another gold miza. Is there anything else I can help with?"