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Post by Guest on Jul 18, 2010 2:14:47 GMT -5
The sun shone through the curtains of Thea's window, waking her up up. Dawn. She rolled over and slammed her hand into the pillow, praying it wasn't. But it was dawn. She groaned and rolled out of bed. Her work required her to wake up early and get a start on forging metals. Business had been lacking lately and she had to put a lot of effort into her work more than ever. She let out a yawn and stretched. She changed into a modest grey gown that had a black sash that tied at the hips. It was hardly flattering but it worked well for her work. She laced up her sturdy boots and tied her curls off her face.
Yesterdays events then flooded back into her mind. She still couldn't believe the events that could happen. It felt like a distant dream. She guessed Khei was still sleeping. She opened her door and walked on the balls on her feet, very quiet. The wooden floors had a tendency to creak very loudly and she did not wish for her to wake up Khei. She made her way downstairs to the workrooms at the back of the house.
She lit the fire in the large hearth, waiting until she could get coals. She took a metal from the coals and fashioned armour by pounding the white-hot metal over a mold. When the large hammer and metal connected, the loud clangs rang out throughout the room. She hoped Khei was a hard-hearing sleeper for sure this noise could wake the dead.
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Post by Khei on Jul 29, 2010 3:08:59 GMT -5
Khei groaned as the sharp clang of the forging process rang relentlessly a her ears. After rolling over a few times, she gave in and started getting up. With a yawn and a stretch, she got fully dressed and made her way groggily downstairs, following the noise toward it's source.
She had managed to shake off the last visages of sleep by the time she had found her way to Thea's workroom. Instinctively she sniffed the air, the crisp, strong odors of hot metal, burning coal, and the salty hint of the hours upon hours of sweat from crafting and forging. Clearly Thea made adequate use of these rooms.
She poked he head in from the door and smiled cheerfully upon seeing Thea and gave a wave and nod.
"Good Morning."
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Post by Guest on Aug 13, 2010 11:21:59 GMT -5
Thea jumped when Khei walked in and greeted her. Either the clanging was really loud to hear her entrance or Khei was light on her feet. "Morning, Khei." She smiled.
She put the tools down and nearly stumbled over the long hem of her dress. It was cursed thing to wear, but protected her body from the heat or debrie that might spark off the metals.
She wiped her hands on her dress. "How did you sleep?"
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Post by Khei on Aug 20, 2010 19:36:22 GMT -5
Khei nodded with a smile.
"Better than I have in a while Thank you."
She took a look around and motioned with her hand in a circular motion.
"Um.. Did you need any help?"
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Post by Guest on Aug 21, 2010 12:46:47 GMT -5
Anthea couldn't help but give a lop-sided smile.
"I'd love some help. Though prepare for some back ache cause these metals are heavy!" She heaved the armour aside to emphasise her point.
Thea examined a new sheet of metal from the coals. Thea placed the sheet of metal onto the mold. "Coals or hammer?" she asked Khei.
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Post by Khei on Aug 23, 2010 21:03:29 GMT -5
Khei smiled and nodded.
"Some heavy lifting would do me some good I should think."
She walked up to where Thea was and looked around.
"Um.. Coals I guess.. Haven't done much smithing really so you might need to walk me through it."
She gave a light, apologetic smile. She did want to help however she could. she just didn't have much experience either.
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Post by Guest on Aug 27, 2010 7:08:36 GMT -5
Thea pointed to the coals. "I'm gonna give that armour a good hammer, then put it back into the coals. This is where you come in. You grab the fire tongs in the corner there and place it in that barrel of water next to the fire place."
She hammered the armour again and placed in the coals. Thea gave her what she hoped was an encouraging look.
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Post by Khei on Aug 29, 2010 4:08:48 GMT -5
Khei nodded, following easily enough, as she used the tongs and followed directions, placing the hot metal into the barrel of water, closing her eyes against the blast of steam that hissed from the barrel.
"Like so?"
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Post by Guest on Aug 30, 2010 8:12:35 GMT -5
"Yes," Anthea replied. She was glad Khei was a quick-learner. The work was nearly done and she would have deliver these soon. She wondered for a moment if Khei wouldn't mind joining her or if she preferred to stay here.
"Khei," she started, "This load has to be delivered soon, if you want too you can come and you can see more of Baghdad."
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Post by Khei on Sept 2, 2010 21:15:58 GMT -5
Khei smiled, she made no attempt to hide her excitement when asked about tagging along.
"That sounds like a great idea! I'd love to!"
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Post by Guest on Sept 4, 2010 4:12:21 GMT -5
Thea beamed. She ditched the hammer and poured the barrel of water over the coals. She gathered the metals into a pile and it occured to her that she was had less than an hour to deliver the goods. Her mind was racing- and fretting at the same time- with what she had to do in so little time...I have to put all the heavy metals into the bags, then i have to carry them to the wagon, God, the metals are going to be heavy...then I have saddle up Razi, then I have to saddle him up to the wagon, maybe the mare could help?...then i have to change out of these rags..
Her fuddled mind continued on like this for a few more moments. She took a breath and silently cursed herself for the time constraints. The she looked to Khei. "Khei, I need your assistance. Big Time."
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Post by Khei on Sept 4, 2010 21:46:17 GMT -5
Khei smiled as Thea seemed pleased. She did her part, if only a minimal task, by returning the tongs to the barrel once Thea was done with it. She started to sense Thea's anxiety, her face melted into a look of confusion with her head cocked to one side ever so lightly, in a very cat-like manner.
When Thea turned to her and asked for her help, she resumed her smiling contentment.
"Sure thing. Whatever you need me to do. I'm only glad to help!"
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Post by Guest on Sept 5, 2010 8:07:12 GMT -5
Thea grinned with delight, hoping that it would cover her rush of emotions.
"Great, " she said quickly, "OK, well I need you to put the metals into the bags, and I'll meet you at the stables, but if you need to grab something else before we leave, go for it."
She ran out of the workroom, not waiting to hear Khei's answers. She cursed herself for her manners, but she continued running up the stairs. She skidded towards her room and ran to her drawers. She changed out of the raggedy dress and put on her more practical brown trousers, her tunic and a grey jacket. If it weren't for her long hair and feminine features, it would be easy to confuse her for a boy. She ran downstairs and made her way to the the entrance hall. She grabbed her trusty knife and slid it into the sheath at her waist. And she grabbed a sheperds sling and tied it in her hair that could easily have the pretence of being a hair decoration. The area of Baghdad they would be travelling in would hold some very unsavory characters. Better safe than sorry, she thought. She wondered if she should arm Khei... She took the little piece of parchment that held the location of the buyer. She sighed, placing the parchment into her pocket. She then went to find wherever Khei might be.
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Post by Khei on Sept 7, 2010 20:35:09 GMT -5
Khei nodded with a smile.
"Sure thi.."
She cut herself off as Thea rushed from the workroom.
I wonder what.. Ah.. that's it.. She's in a rush. Must be worried about being late.. I'd better hurry then..
She nodded at her own resolve and got to the task at hand. Carefully but quickly as she thought safe, she tucked everything into bags.. She hoped she was getting everything.. She grabbed anything that looked like it belonged with the order. She wanted to be sure she got everything and as a result, likely grabbed a few unnecessary items. After all the unnecessary items could always be returned home.
Once everything was in sacks, she hefted one bag onto her shoulders and headed to the stable where she dropped it off and headed back for another. She continued until she had moved everything to the stable. In all likelihood Thea would be there by the time she was done.
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Post by Guest on Sept 9, 2010 1:27:01 GMT -5
She found Khei in the stables. She smiled as a way of greeting. She hooked up the two horses to the wagon, threw the two saddles the horses wore used yesterday into the back of the wagon and covered the valuable metals and armour with a blanket. She didn't want the lurking eyes of thieves to see them. She hopped up on the seat. "Climb aboard, Khei," she said. "Oh, and Khei, " she added, her voice unusually neutral, "grab a weapon from back there"--she motioned with her head to the wagon--"and keep it hidden. We might run into a bit of...trouble, maybe."
She suddenly had a thought of Khei's second form. She wondered what...Her thoughts drifted, though she kept her eyes intently on Khei.
"Trouble," she repeated, thinking of the area they were about to travel to "Unsavory lot out there."
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