User blog:Ihaveawiixboxds/девять

Ihawxd spent the night in Alemas's castle and left early the next morning. He picked up his horse on his way out of the kingdom and was back out in the open country before 9:00. After a short look at his map, Ihawxd decided to travel east until he reached the dot in the bottom righthand corner of the chart. The ride was essentially same as the one he had embarked upon a few days ago. The scenery was slightly less dull this time, however. It provided a few small forests in the far distance, along with mountains even further back. Ihawxd paused to gaze at the snow capped peaks every now and then. Never having learned the ways of weather, he spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out why the rocks at the top were white. The sun was descending upon these white summits when Ihawxd reached his destination. The new kingdom Ihawxd had discovered had a far lower budget than Alemas's, as was evidenced by the fact that it had no borders whatsoever. After a short ride through hilly farmland full of sheep, cows, horses and the like, Ihawxd found himself in a village. The small houses and shops were separated by small patches of grass, and the paths were paved with a thin layer of gravel. There was a joyful air about the the town. Even though the streets weren't bustling about, seemingly everyone had a smile on their face. While searching for a stable, Ihawxd found a blacksmith's shop. He decided it would be a good idea to get his rusty weapon fixed up, so he tied up Alderaan outside and entered the store.

The room was dark, lit only by a single window and a fire on the left hand side. The walls were covered with racks, overflowing with weapons. The room was cluttered with desks, also teeming with weapons. Next to the fire was a young man, probably in his early twenties, lounging in a chair. He was wearing a soot-stained white shirt and baggy cargo pants full of clips and gadgets. The man lifted his head up at the entrance of Ihawxd and swiped some of his shaggy blonde hair away from his eyes.

"Hey, uh, what can I help you with?" the man asked, sitting back again.

"Do you think you could refurbish this sword for me?" Ihawxd asked as he pulled out the rusty blade. He handed it to the man sitting in the chair who then examined it. He looked up and spoke again.

"What do you want, just sharpened? Nothing fancy?"

"Yeah, I don't really care about how it looks, I just want it to be able to protect me." Ihawxd explained. "Well, actually, the sword will never be able to protect me, because it's not sentient... But you get what I'm saying."

"Are you sure you don't want me to bling it up or anything? I can make some pretty sweet hilts..." the man persisted.

"No, seriously, I don't care what it looks like."

"Oh, come on, girls hate guys with boring swords!"

"I honestly couldn't care less."

"What if I throw in some decorations for no extra cost?"

"Why do you care so much about what my sword looks like?" The man, who had this whole time fixed his eyes upon the sword, looked up at Ihawxd.

"You see..." he began. "When I finish working on a project, I like to be able to sit back and admire it. If I just sharpen this up, it'll still look pretty freaking bland, and when I look at it, I'll think to myself 'NOW that's what I call BORING', and it won't be any fun."

"Fine, do what you want to my sword, just don't ruin its practicality."

"It's a deal." the man reached with his hand Ihawxd shook it.. "Oh, and the name's Drace, in case you were wondering."

"Alright, thanks for the help, Drace." Ihawxd turned around and was about to leave, but was instead smacked in the face by the opening of the door. A short figure, hooded and cloaked, walked in.

"Well well well, is there anything I can get for you?" the blacksmith asked, smiling and sitting up attentively. The cloaked figure sighed.

"Just give me what I came here for." a woman's voice replied.

"And what would that be?"

"You know exactly what I want."

"You take the fun out of everything." Drace rolled his eyes. "It's the bag in the corner." The cloaked navigated through the cluttered room, picked up a large leather bag in the corner, grabbed some coins from her pocket, and handed them to Drace. The blacksmith muttered something which shocked the woman so much that she snatched the money she had placed in Drace's hand right back out of it.

"You know what? You're right. So I think I'll pay you by not having you arrested for that, because I have a very strong urge to throw you in a dungeon right now." The cloaked woman briskly exited, leaving Ihaxd and Drace alone in the room.

"Gosh, those princesses are pretty freaking egotistic." Drace commented.

"That was the princess? Like, the king's daughter?" Ihawxd asked.

"Yeah, but I'd recommend staying away from her, her father's pretty protective." Drace looked around as if to continue, but realized his visitor was already gone. "Or not."