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Anna ~ Don't let anyone dull your sparkle ~ & Maven's Queen
message 301:
by
Lynn
(new)
May 18, 2020 06:54PM
Dasha couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his second statement. She glanced over to where the water bucket sat and sure enough it was fuller than when she had left it and didn't look as cloudy from dust settling over it. "Wow, you really were busy while I was gone." She commented in turn. For a moment a small smile appeared on her lips, but as soon as she realized it was there she wiped it away. ". . . That was probably a good idea. It will certainly come in useful." That phrase was the closest thing to a 'thanks' that he would be getting from her.
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Jarin raised an eyebrow, barely managing to keep himself from smirking at her. At least she realized that something about him was useful. "Certainly will," he agreed. "I'm a good water carrier." He almost laughed but controlled his face. "And thank you for supper. Tastes good."
Dasha shrugged indifferently, or rather in what she hoped passed as an indifferent manner. " . . . Of course. Gotta keep you up to par if I want to get out of here." At this point he was her best and quite honestly only chance at a ticket out. "Speaking of which, how's your back feeling?" she asked before taking a bite of the meat that she had. With everything else that had happened she had nearly forgotten about it.
Jarin let out a chuckle and busied himself with chewing not much different from a dog on the bones to retrieve the last bits of meat for himself. He was glad that their bickering had ceased at least for the most part. It really pulled down on the mood, he knew. He glanced up at her and shook his head. "Nah, it's fine," he said casually. "I was able to still do chores so that means it's healing, at least."
Since Dasha had no reason to believe otherwise she took his reply at face value and simply nodded in acceptance of his answer. "Good . . . but no more swimming in the river until it's completely healed. Shouldn't of let you the first time, it's not worth the increased risk of infection." It was hard to tell what was swirling around in the constantly moving and unsettled water. One thing was for certain, it was best not to test luck.
Jarin shrugged and nodded. "Whatever you say, I suppose. No point in risking anything, especially here. But it's at least clean enough to drink." He stood, tossing his bones into the fire and swiping his hands on his shirt. "For now, I suppose we just wait. Wait until morning, anyway. You want to take first watch?"
Dasha nodded. Waiting was all they could do at this point. "Yeah, sure." She replied to Jarin's question. She certainly didn't mind taking first watch. She doubted she would get much sleep overall anyway with all that had been and was running through her head. It would be a waste to even try any time soon as she still felt wide awake.
Jarin had started feeling tired a little while ago, so he was glad when Dasha agreed to take first watch. All he needed to do was sleep for a bit and he'd be fine after. "Alright, then...I'll be right back," he said, heading out the door. He relieved himself and returned, then shot her a glance before lying down at the back of the shack where a space was cleared.
"'Night. Wake me in a few hours to switch."
"Yeah, alright." Dasha answered to his instruction to wake him up in a few hours. She doubted it would just be a few hours though as she planned on staying up as long as she possibly could, maybe then she would be able to find sleep easily. Besides, he probably needed the rest worse than her anyway- he was starting work tomorrow and she was used to running on little sleep anyway.
Jarin didn't reply and fell asleep quickly. He slept for several hours, dreamless and still. He snored softly, just lump in the dark.Eventually the night began to grow cold, but Jarin was still sweating. He shivered occasionally in his sleep and pulled his long sleeved shirt tighter around himself.
After a bit Dasha finished off the rest of her own meal and tossed the bones into the fire to lie amongst those that Jarin had tossed in earlier. She tried to plan out a list of places where she would check for work for herself tomorrow, but her mind kept drifting to other things- mainly back to the betrayal and how limited her time to find a way back could possibly be. For the most part she paid no mind to the slumbering prince, or even her duty of keeping watch for that matter. She was distracted which never really made for a good watchman.
Jarin grumbled in his sleep and tossed and turned a little into the chair nearby, causing it to scrape across the floor from his weight pushing against it. But he didn't wake, didn't stir. Meanwhile, outside in the night, a dog that looked to be a mix between a German shepherd and a collie was trotting towards the shelter that housed Jarin and Dasha. It was scraggly, thin, and bleeding from a shallow wound across its back, and it was hungry. It paused near the door, sniffing the scents of the two people, and hesitated.
The chair scraping across the floor jolted Dasha back to reality. She was quickly on her feet, large stick in hand thinking that someone had snuck in on her. A quick glance around the room confirmed that Jarin was still the only other person in the room. She breathed a sigh and lowered the large stick down from the defensive stance she held it in back down to her side. She would let the prince sleep a little longer. While she was up she figured she might as well toss a bit more on the fire. It was too cold to let it go out.
The dog watched Dasha from his place at the door, his dark fur blending in with the night outside and the wooden panels creating the walls. He smelled the food, and he was starving, having gone a few days without much to eat. The only thing that was preventing him from disappearing completely was his overpowering hunger. He stepped forward a few paces, pausing, and lowered himself. The creature knew it needed to risk the human seeing him if he were to satisfy his cravings. He slunk across the room towards the area where the food scent was the strongest--some of the fur and a smaller portion of meat leftover from the rabbits Jarin and Dasha had eaten earlier that night.
After Dasha had tossed a bit more from their stock pile of wood onto the fire she settled back in near it- back to the door, as she was not expecting anything else out of the ordinary tonight. This time however she vowed to not get as lost in her own thoughts. If that chair scooting across the floor had actually been someone else meaning harm there was a good chance that they could of both been dead by now. She couldn't let herself make such mistakes. Rather than think she forced her mind clear and instead listened intently to the sounds of the night.
Jarin was still sleeping deeply, which was hopefully a good thing since he would be needing to get up early enough for his job the next day.The dog sank his teeth into the piece and tugged it backwards, causing a stick to clatter noisily to the floor. The dog froze, then with the last of the meat in his jaws, he turned to run out of the shack.
With the clatter of the stick Dasha was once again up on her feet and turned in the direction of the noise. She had a quicker response time than the first incident with the chair. She quickly caught sight of the injured dog with the leftovers of the rabbit that would of been tomorrow mornings breakfast firmly clamped between its teeth. As it turned to run off she felt herself automatically moving forward after it. She only made it a couple strides before she jolted to a stop. It would probably be unwise to follow it. It was clearly desperate if it had snuck in here which meant it could very well be willing to fight for what it had stolen. Was it really worth the risk that she would assume if she went after it? Besides, if one desperate animal had sniffed out the leftovers of the rabbit there was a good chance that others could follow suit despite the source being gone now . . . and she really shouldn't leave the prince alone.
The dog darted away from Dasha, running down the dusty street with only a quick glance back. When the woman stopped chasing it, the dog hesitated before scooting and pulling himself underneath a boardwalk and out of sight. If he was able to get food this easily, he'd probably come back.Jarin moaned in his sleep and rolled over but otherwise didn't stir for the rest of the night.
Dasha watched as the dog dissapeared, then breathed a frustrated sigh. She was really starting to truly hate everything about this place. Perhaps tomorrow she could figure out some way to block off the doorway. At least that would greatly decrease the ease of anything or anyone wandering in. For now she settled in by the doorway with a big stick in hand. It was cooler there than by the fire, but she had to do what was necessary. Dasha stayed like this for a while- watching and listening for any signs of movement from beyond the structure until finally she felt the draw of sleep closing in on her and decided to go wake Jarin to take her place. The sun would be rising soon, and she needed to at least get a few hours of rest in. She stood and started to head over to the slumbering prince.
The prince was still sleeping deeply, huddled on the floor in a fetal position on his side. When she tapped him with the stick to wake him, Jarin swatted it away and tried curling up more tightly. Finally, however, he woke, grumbling to himself and sitting up."I'm coming, I'm coming," he said sleepily with a wide yawn. He held his hand out for the stick and went to stand near the fireplace to stay awake enough. He shivered and stirred the dwindling flames, reaching over and adding a few more pieces of fuel.
Once Jarin was awake and looked more or less like he had settled in all right to take over watch Dasha took a spot at the opposite side of the room, where the warmth of the flames only just reached. She didn't bother saying anything before she settled in, trying to get as comfortable as possible under the conditions. As she was so tired it didn't take her long to fall asleep. As sleep pulled her under any conscious thoughts she held swirled away, replaced by jumbled visions of broken gears, thieving dogs, rippling holograms, and hourglasses full of powdery brown dirt instead of golden sand.
The dog didn't return the rest of the night. Jarin shifted several times in an attempt to stay awake, and though he did, it wasn't nearly as easy for him. As a prince, he didn't have any reason to stay up and watch others. In fact, someone was always at his side guarding him, as if he could end up being murdered while he was alone.Jarin kept the fire flickering the whole rest of the night until morning crept up and sneaked into town, shining lightly down on the new buildings. Besides that, today was the day that he'd be starting his job! He felt nervous about it, but he was not going to tell Dasha such a thing.
He stretched and looked around for the meat they had left out for this morning, but found none and frowned. He shivered again and sat down by the fireplace. Maybe he had just imagined her saying something about saving the extra meat. After all, his head was still woozy from exhaustion.
Dasha slept relatively sound. Usually the slightest noise would wake her, but she was far more tired than usual. That being so she ended up sleeping a bit longer than intended. By the time she woke there was already light outside. She had intended to beat the sun awake so she could venture out and find a replacement for what the dog had stolen. That hadn't happened. Once she saw how much later it was than when she had intended to be up by she wasted no time in standing, stretching and brushing the dust that clung to her clothing away.
Jarin glanced over at the sound of Dasha waking, and watched her as she stretched and dusted herself off. He hadn't bothered to swipe away the particles of dirt, and they still clung in a thin layer to his clothes. He rubbed his jaw, smearing a little of the brown across his skin."Morning," he said, yawning and stirring the fire once more. "It's freezing..."
". . . It is," Dasha agreed, "but probably not for much longer." Soon the cold would give way to the heat that the sun brought with it. Mid afternoon would be the worst. She glanced through the door way, getting a good look at the current position of the sun. From the looks of it she guessed it would start noticeably warming up within the next half hour.
Jarin still huddled on the chair and nodded."I hope so. Meanwhile I guess there's nothing to eat...I thought we had extra meat but I guess I was dreaming that." He scratched his head and stood. "I need to get to the blacksmith soon. Don't want to keep him waiting for no reason."
Dasha chose to ignore his first statement as if she hadn't even heard it. There was no way she was going to bring up what had actually happened. She nodded in reguard to his second statement and stepped away from the door frame, glancing back to Jarin. "Yeah, that probably wouldn't give off the best impression." She agreed. She silently glanced him over from head to toe, making sure there wasn't anything that she had missed that could mark him as out of place. She came up with nothing beyond the cuff at his wrist which they could do little more than hide.
"Speaking of which, you might want to clean up a little." She commented upon spotting the smear of dirt across his jaw. She found a scrap of cloth left over from the shirt she had torn up to bandage his injuries and shook out the dust from it before dumping a bit of water onto it from the dented cup to dampen it. She then tossed it over in Jarin's direction, meaning for him to catch it and use it.
Jarin caught the wet cloth easily, but frowned and held it up. "Or I'll just make myself look muddy. Looking like I just came out of a swamp won't do much to help best impressions, either," he complained, using his hand to rub at the dirt, only smearing more across it. "We're currently in the wild west. I'll be working for a blacksmith. I'm sure he's not pristine."He gave in and wiped at his face, but it didn't do too much to help. In fact, it seemed to make it worse. Jarin watched Dasha and frowned. "I can't see if I'm making it any better or not."
Dasha headed back over to the water bucket and filled up the dented cup once more, this time so she could get a drink. "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try to look somewhat presentable." She retorted upon hearing his second argument against it. She set the cup back down and sighed upon glancing back and seeing that he had somehow managed to make it worse than before. "Its worse." She admitted, crossing over to where he stood. "Here, just let me." Before he could argue the point she took the damp scrap of cloth from him, turned it to the cleanest section she could find, and then tried wiping it away herself. While she did so she took the opportunity to bring up a reminder for the day. ". . . And be careful not to offer up too much in conversation. The less you supply, the less you have to remember later." After a few seconds she had managed to get the bulk of the dirt cleared off and didn't want to press her luck with trying to wipe off anymore. "There. Good enough." she stepped away and discarded the scrap of cloth that she had used.
Jarin almost slapped her hand away from his face, but stopped himself just in time. For some reason, there was a bit of satisfaction in the idea that Dasha, his captor, was now washing his face free of filth so he wouldn't make a fool of himself. He didn't know if he should be grateful or annoyed that she had to do something about himself in order to keep her status "up" or something, so he settled with grinning at her. Besides the washing, it felt cool on his warm face, bringing the temperature down."Yes, ma'am," he said. "I think I'll be too nervous to talk, anyway."
"Good" The less he talked the less Dasha had to worry. It still made her anxious though- sending someone untrained in how to handle situations like this in this position was against all that she had been taught and what she personally believed to be right. But it was necessary. In attempt to ease some of his nerves she decided to offer up one bit of advice. ". . . Just act like you belong and people will assume you do. After all, they have no reason to even think otherwise."
"I know, Dasha!" Jarin said, exasperated. "I realize we're in a tight situation. I might not be a bounty hunter like you, but I've at least got that through my thick head! We're sticking to the same story, and I'm not going to bring it up myself. It's no one else's business, anyway. If I stay quiet no one needs to bother me. I'll be busy."
Dasha had to remind herself to not do anything rash. She had to think before she spoke. She clenched her jaw, managing to keep her mouth shut initially. ". . . That's easy to say now, but once you're actually in the middle of it, it may prove harder than what you think." She somehow managed to keep her voice even without any rise in tone. "It can be easy to be lured into a false sense of ease when near others and forget, it's the pull of the time, and that's when costly mistakes are made . . . I am aware that I sound like a broken record but there have been men with more training than even I that have come dangerously close to destroying the fabric of time through little slip ups." Not wanting to stick around and hear any more from him that would test her patience she headed to the doorway and out it herself, planning to go out and get a start on her own job search. "I'll see you later." She said in passing without so much as a second glance back. Whatever was going to happen to him today was out of her hands now.
Jarin just decided not to say anything else. Because he was a prince instead of a bounty hunter, it must mean he didn't realize how caredul he had to be. Because he was a prince, whenever he went incognito, he had to be extremely careful what he said and how he acted. It was often better to be incognito since he wasn't well liked and, like Dasha had proven with her catching him in the first place, people wanted him dead. But he couldn't explain that to her anyway. Besides, she could only tell him so much before it wouldn't do any good. Stressing more would not fix anything and he was already nervous enough about all of this.He grunted at her and stepped outside, heading away from her in an opposite direction towards the blacksmith. Even from here, he could hear the ringing of metal on metal as the blacksmith pounded out and shaped whatever he was making.
((Were they a poor farmer family? XD I can't remember what we decided!))
((Yeah, I believe we had it to where they were on the poor side.)) Although she probably shouldn't be, Dasha was half thankful that he had the blacksmith to report to. At least that meant less time she had to be around him. Although she was trying her best to stay civil, it seemed he was excellent in finding ways to test her admittedly short patience. Though she did not have to worry about him directly for now, she doubted that she would be able to forget her worry altogether. It was best that she didn't anyway.
As she walked Dasha ran through the mental list of possible job opportunities for herself that she had compiled and tried to strategize which would be best. By the looks of this fairly run down town she already figured that a few of her top options might end up being a bust, but who knew. Maybe luck would finally be on her side for the first time in days.
((Thanks.))Jarin arrived at the blacksmith's within seconds and he paused in the low overhang as the man beat the hot metal over and over again to reshape it. When the man finished and turned to stick the metal into a bucket of water, he spotted Jarin and gave a nod, wiping his brow with a corner of his dirty apron.
By now the sun was well into its ascent into the sky and it was beginning to warm up considerably. Dasha hardly noticed though as she was far more engrossed in her thoughts. Aside from finding some sort of job so they could acquire better shelter she also had to plan on finding food again and dealing with, or better yet- preventing, that dog from returning tonight. She figured there would be plenty of time left to address the latter two concerns after she took care of the first. By the time she made it to the first buisness she planned on looking for a job in, the small town was already clearly awake and open for buisness. She knew that most people probably tried to get most things done in the morning so they wouldn't have to face the harsh afternoon heat head on as long.
((Should I narrate the blacksmith or you? I didn't want to take it over if you wanted to interact with another character instead of your own only.))
((Honestly I'm alright with whatever. If you want to write for him, go for it. If not I will gladly do it.))
((Alright then, please could you? :) Thanks!))"Hope I'm not too late," Jarin apologized, glancing around at the tools and the forge. He really had no experience in this type of thing and hoped that at least he would be able to bring some knowledge home to make Dasha happy. Then he paused, reflecting, and wondered why he felt it was even important to make her like him enough to keep from her annoying comments all the time.
"You're not." the blacksmith assured, "just couldn't sleep any longer and decided to get an earlier start than usual." He scanned Jarin over- assessing the clothing he wore to make sure there would be no immediate safety issues. In his days he had seen more than one unfortunate soul sustain burns due to ill fitting garments. He took off his thick leather gloves and set them aside to buy himself a moment to decide what to do with him. ". . .You can start with tyding up the supply cabinet." It was pretty standard to start out newbies with simple shop tasks first and then gradually work in actual metal work.
Jarin nodded, relief washing over him at the words. That was good, he thought gratefully, and even more that the man didn't seem upset with him. He waited patiently, then nodded again once the man motioned towards the supply cabinet. He was a little disappointed he wasn't getting into the real stuff right away, but it was foolish to have expected that. He was a complete beginner at this type of thing. And the man knew what he was doing. "Yes, sir," Jarin said, wincing inwardly at the title. He was used to everyone telling him that, but since he had been captured by Dasha, things had changed. It still felt weird to be constantly reminded of who he no longer was. He went to stand by the supply cabinet and opened the door, first glancing through it to see what he needed to organize.
The blacksmith watched as he headed over to the cabinet and opened the doors. He knew it was enough of a mess to keep him busy at least for a while. ". . .Just sort all the like tools together and match up any gloves you find, but check them for holes first." He further instructed as he started to pull his own current gloves back on so he could get back to work.
"And if they've got holes are you getting rid of them or patching them up?" Jarin asked, pulling out a few random items. It seemed as if some of the things, such as the unpaired gloves, had been quickly shoved in perhaps from a busy day and an exhausting night. When Jarin had been kidnapped, he had never pictured himself doing chores in the past for a blacksmith. He chuckled to himself and matched up the gloves, checking the fingers and palms for any possible holes.
"Depends on how badly damaged they are." He answered with a shrug. "Keep the ones that look like they can be patched up in a separate pile." he instructed as he once again placed the hunk of metal he had been working on before his arrival into the fire to heat up again. Soon enough the area was filled with metallic clanging again as he once again set to warping the glowing piece into the desired shape.
Jarin had never stitched anything in his entire life, but he checked each glove; the ones with the smaller holes he set to the side and the ones with a gash on one side of the palm or ones missing an entire finger he tossed to another side. He found himself in a rhythm, working along to the sound of the metallic clanging ringing sharply in his ears while he sorted the loose nails and scraps of metal that had been stashed in the back of the supply cabinet, amongst other items.
This was much how the day went- the blacksmith completing his work on his own and giving his new hire other, trivial tasks to keep him busy for now. It was important that he grow comfortable with the space before he even attempted to teach him anything. The morning soon faded into afternoon, the sun now blazing overhead. The blacksmith finished with his own current task and pulled off his thick gloves. "Alright, I guess that's about it for you today. I do have one delivery you could run yet if you feel comfortable enough doing so."
Jarin swiped several beads of sweat off his forehead, leaving a small streak of dust in its place. Everything around here seemed to have its own layer of sweat, and nothing could remove it. The dust was just part of life here. He finished what he was doing and nodded."I could do that," Jarin said willingly. "I haven't been here long but I can find my way around."
"Great." The blacksmith untied his thick apron and tossed it to the side, the back of his shirt practically wet with sweat. He crossed over to where he had a small bundle wrapped in burlap cloth. "At the other end of town across from the general store there is a fur trade and leathersmith shop." He explained, presenting the bundle to Jarin for him to take. As he handed it off the contents inside shifted and clacked together- a couple of tools he had been commissioned to repair. "You can't miss it. Take this to the owner and tell him I fixed them as well as I could without compromising the design."
