Zerua Unchained

Chapter Eight

  Mikaela and Orielle walk out of the Tavern and they can hear the clanging of metal. As they approach the Blacksmith, they find FRIEND hard at work on his new weapon. FRIEND looks up as he hears footsteps heading towards him and he turns to find Mikaela and Orielle approaching. Henrik looks up, feels the tension, and places his tools down carefully.

"Well, uh, I think I need to shower.." Henrik mumbles.

"Did you by chance finish my bars?" Orielle asks with anticipation.

"Oh yep, yep!" Henrik says, handing her two platinum ingots. "Well, I only have two."

"Thank you!"

"Sure!"

Henrik then walks into a small shack and closes a thatch door behind him that doesn't really prevent any sound from traveling inside.

"FRIEND, how are you doing?" Orielle asks him.

"I'm doing good," FRIEND answers.

"How is your weapon doing?" Orielle wonders, looking at his work.

"I am just finishing up the ax blade," FRIEND explains to them.

"Wow, it looks cool! Do you know how much longer it'll take?" Orielle questions. "Are you going to work on this all night?"

"Well, if Colton said we are to leave in the morning, then I will need 2-3 more hours to finish up the weapon head," FRIEND informs them.

"Colton is asking us to watch the Southern Gate tonight. So if you want to meet us over there when you're done?" Mikaela tells him.

"I can do that," FRIEND nods.

Orielle observes him carefully.

"We-uh-had a talk as a group.." she pipes up with some hesitation. "Are you okay with going to my village..?"

"Yes," FRIEND says without hesitation.

Orielle smiles.

"Well I appreciate that!" She then turns to Mikaela. "I like seeing his face! It's better than staring at a helmet."

"It's very characteristic," Mikaela agrees with a grin.

The three of them stood there staring at each other awkwardly in silence.

"Alright, well, we'll leave you be! We're going to be at the Southern Gate!" Orielle tells him.

"Will you give us just a second, Orielle?" Mikaela requests.

"Oh sure!" Orielle says. "I'll go find Henrik."

Orielle walks over to the thatch door and knocks on the handle. She hears him shuffling inside.

"J-Just a second!!" Henrik calls out in a panic.

He slowly opens the door and looks at her.

"Y-Yes?"

"Will you be able to finish my bars tonight?"Orielle asks anxiously.

"Sure. I was hoping FRIEND might be able to carry my anvil. So I should probably be able to do it.. probably not in the woods because that's dangerous, but yeah.." Henrik informs her.

"Okay, thank you!"

Orielle walks off around the corner to let Mikaela and FRIEND chat privately.

"FRIEND, I know you have to get back to your work," Mikaela says. "But, just real quick, I just wanted to say I'm sorry if it seemed like I was being inconsiderate of you earlier in the Tavern. I don't apologize for the bottle part, that was funny!"