Nomia found herself walking around towards town to the shoppes with Trav at her side. She was restless, getting the typically "itchy feet" from staying in one place for too long. It always happened. It was from feeling boxed in. This was good for her. She started bouncing a little as she walked and hummed a soft familiar toon to herself. The sun was shining brightly in her eyes and making the black of her clothes hot to the touch. She turned so she was facing Trav and walking backwards. "I'm glad you came. What exactly were we looking for? Coming here to get? What's our objective?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.


(O.O.C.- Sorry I'd been gone so long. Life got int he way. But it's calm now and I have my afternoons back so I'll hopefully be on way more than I have been. And sorry for the lackluster performance above. Kind of in the process of getting back in the saddle of the writing game.)

Walking at a comfortable pace to the town just ahead, Trav looked over to face Nomia, who by now was a few steps ahead of him.

“Well, Nihil did say that he wanted an indestructible sword that can tear into anything, right?” Trav recalled trying to come up with a response that wouldn’t be too wordy yet answered the question.

“So in order to do that, we need metal. Who other than our first objective would carry metal?” He asked while moving his pointer finger about before announcing said objective. "A metal miner or a metal monger should and someone from town is bound to know how to get the raw material around here. So…this will be like hide-and-seek in a way.” Thinking the last part more to himself, he was somewhat sure that he got his point across.

Hide and seek, Nomia liked the how that sounded just as much as she liked food. She realized she was still walking backwards and decided to fix that. She shouldn't chance any missed steps anymore. Clumseyness was like a desease that you always had to be aware of because if you decided to not pay attention to where your feet are your face might just end up against a wall. "Making swords and stuff?" She pondered aloud to Trav. "Hopefully you, sir, picked up a few things from your heritage. Because I certainly don't know what good metal looks like." She said not looking him in the eye. "I mean, I know how a good sword should feel in your hand, but definitely not..." She trailed off, realizing she was just repeating herself and wasting oxygen. "An indestructable sword sounds nice." Nomia said after a fairly decent pause. "Sounds unlikely and fictional but I guess you know what your looking for right?" She asked trying to be cheerful but couldn't resist rolling her eyes at herself for being so repetitive in her speech. As they walked she could just see the town over the hill. The place was alive with all kinds of sounds and smells and they weren't even all the way there yet! She couldn't wait to meet some other people outside the monestary. Yet, Nomia was feeling nervous and jittery about the crowd. All of those people just there, doing their thing. One could never know who was who or what they stood for or anything. You could never know if the enemy was standing right next to you buying a fruit. But then she guessed that just came with the territory, of being an assassin. You always have to watch your own back and expect the unexpected.

“How do we know life itself isn’t fictional?” It was more of a statement than a question but the thought had recently started to bother him. He considered Nomia as one of the few people he could actually say something to without feeling too weird about it, so as he quieted his voice down to where he was sure only she could hear (though there wasn’t really anyone around) he told her, “Lately, it’s been hard to think coherently because it feels like there’s something out there that can, as ridiculous as it sounds, read what I’m thinking, what everyone is thinking.” They had reached the hill at this point and as if it were the perfect opportunity for him to exaggerate his point, he pointed up to an area that possibly reached beyond the clouds, the sky itself. But he soon realized that, that had nothing to do with the question Nomia had asked. And upon that realization, Trav slowly put his arm down and continued to walk, somewhat getting ahead of Nomia.

“But I’m getting off topic. Back to your question…umm, yeah, and since it’s kinda hard to believe that we’ll get something of that quality done with what little is known, we’re gonna start off small and work our way up.” Trav rambled off as the sound of the townspeople began to get louder the closer they got.

Nomia did a double take. What was he on about? The ficionality of life? People reading his mind? She thought for a moment before speaking. Afterall he was a person she could easily read, but then most people were to her so that didn't say much. Nomia was about to make him realize this fact and how he wasn't totally, completely insane when he suddenly switched paces and answered her question. "I know what you mean, kind of. At least I think."She said second guessing herself. "About the mind reading thing." She said pointing to her temple to clarify. "So we look for metal. Any kind at first. Then we see if we can get further up on the ladder for metal quality and if we can't, we just stick with what we found?" She asked clarifying. They had entered the marketplace by now and were standing in a bunch of people's way, but she didn't care. She liked being a rebel. She grinned. This kind of stuff was always exciting.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Trav told her after she had broken down the objective. Looking at their current surrounding, he began searching for the only obvious hint that one of these merchants would perhaps be selling metal. After a period of time moving through the crowd and getting distracted by persistent salesmen, they eventually came across one that was discrete from the others. Not one to waste such an opportunity, the salesman quickly made sure to greet them.

“Good day to you! Find anything that has caught your interest?” The salesman asked them looking quite expectant.

“Depends, what kinda metal ya got to show us?” Trav asked not really making eye contact as he looked over some of what the man had out, ready to inquire him for more information.

“Well, good sir, I only have the best metal one could get in all of Lazarath. There isn’t a salesman within miles of here that has acquired what I have.” The man said as he pointed a thumb at his chest in a rather proud manner.

“Really?” Trav asked raising an eyebrow as he looked up from what was displayed to the smug expression on the guy’s face. He’s either boasting because he’s desperate and the other salespeople are doing better or he seriously thinks he’s the only one around here who sells metal. Trav thought trying to get a better read on him before assuming anymore than what he had.

“Well, look around and see for yourselves.” The sales man stated, spreading his arms out as if to indicate that there indeed wasn’t another metal’s person around him.

“I see.” Was all Trav said to the man before looking over at Nomia to see if she was ready to move on. Seeing as she seemed so, they walked away from the now annoyed merchant. I’m sure he isn’t actually the only one for miles, because if he was...nah. Trav quickly pushed that thought aside as they continued browsing through the marketplace.

Could this salesman lay it on any thicker? Nomia thought. Business must be slow, why else would he be trying so hard? While Trav was looking at the metal she decided to play the prissy, annoyed girl who was just dragged on this escapade out of her own free will. She looked at her nails as if she were bored, as if she were the only one there, as if her whole body wasn't buzzing with the effect of being on a sort of mission even if it only was to buy metal for a sword. Her body was sending off a very standoffish, "don't touch me" vibe with a slouch and her arms crossed over her chest. But she was really surveying the land better, getting a feel of all of the exit ways, entry points, and most importantly the people. The people were quite interesting.

There was a couple of ladies selling different sorts of bread. Nomia quietly scoffed. Women selling the food, how typical. There were quite a few people selling all kinds of jewlery, some were selling wood or other types of work material, some were selling fruit. Speaking of fruit she was going to make the male assassin to her right buy her an apple or something. They left too early for her to have eaten. She hated going on missions with an empty stomach, too much noise and a distraction.

Trav was obviously put off by the man's charm. And was about to walk away with a very tart, "I see." She guessed the boy really knew his metal. The salesmen realized he was about to lose a good buyer, he jumped at the way Trav turned toward her in a "let's go" move. "I have necklaces here! You could get one for the lady, they make great gifts!"

Nomia rolled her eyes, but the man didn't see. "No thank you. I don't do necklaces. Thank you for the offer!" She told the man politely. She grabbed Trav's arm leading him away. She couldn't help being aggressive, it was just her nature, a side of her that if she didn't keep it in check could (and would) get away from her. She quickly let go of his arm, scolding herself mentally. "Let's try this place." She said pointing to a middle aged man with his own shop. Trav nodded in agreement and walked up to the man. Nomia took her place off to the side and let him do his thing, afterall she wasn't the one who knew about the metal.

“Not into jewelry are you?” Trav asked Nomia after she had taken them out of earshot from the previous merchant.

Looks like I might need to find something that’ll occupy her soon or she’s liable to get bored and who knows what stunt she’ll pull when that occurs. Trav thought recalling several incidents when he was apprenticed several years ago. Glancing over in the direction of said girl after she had let his arm go, his previous thought slipped by as he followed the direction she was pointing at, and went up to greet the man just a few feet away.

As he approached, Trav could see the quality this guy had for sell was better then that of the previous one’s. But it didn’t look like it would compare to what metal Nihil’s swords were made out of. Plus from how long he said they had been in his family and –in Trav’s opinion- the excellent shape they were currently in, could there be another reason to wanting a powerful sword? Besides just wanting a powerful sword?

Several minutes had passed and the salesman wasn’t all too pleased to see more browsing folk. “Are you just going to stand there and look all day or are you going to buy something?” The man asked, peeved about the browsing hobo’s and suspicious, criminal dressed like folk he had to deal with earlier that day.

One didn't have to see the look on the guy's face as his voice was clear enough for even Trav to understand that this guy was clearly in a a buy or bye mood.

Nomia was getting bored. And hungry. Sitting around watching people talk about metal was as excting as it sounded. Her stomach kept growling slowly at first but grew to a sound that she was afraid it was going to eat itself, even though that was prbably impossible. Her thoughts weren't making very much sense either. Suddenly the ladies she scoffed at earlier for selling the bread seemed highly enticing, along with the fruit sellers.

She watched as the man Trav approached just stood there behind the counter with his arms crossed moodily. He looked ticked off, but Trav was paying no mind to him. He was only looking at the metal. She wondered if it was any better than the last guy's metal. To her it all looked the same, but to Trav it could be a rainbow of possibilities, an entire world of potential. To her it was all just something shiny to look at that could be harmful if used properly.

Obviously Trav wasn't ready to buy anything just yet. He gave the man as curt nod and started to walk towards her. Nomia didn't blame the salesman for the attitude. She would hate to have to work like that, having people come up to you look around for eons and then turn around and buy anyhting. It got old.

"I want food." She stated to her taller male counterpart. She looked toward the food part and decided she wanted a roll and an apple. She walked over to the crowd and bought her food.

(A.N.-I don't know if anyone is reading these posts. But if anyone wants to join in that'd be cool! We could use someone new if any of y'all wanted to feel free but you don't have to either. Just sayin'! Happy new years!)

“Well I guess a break can- and apparently will have to do.” Trav finished his sentence off slowly seeing as Nomia had already gotten through the crowd of people to get something to eat. He didn’t think looking for metal was going to take much longer, but having another person along who volunteered her time when she could have found something else to do, well plans would just have to be rearranged. Besides, how could he have forgotten such an important aspect before leaving that morning?

Eventually catching up to where Nomia walked off too, he stopped in front of one of the bread stands and picked out a loaf before paying the vendor. Walking through the crowd for a bit looking for somewhere to sit, they eventually spotted an area with a few benches. Waiting for Nomia to take a seat first, he eventually sat down and tore off a small piece from the loaf taking a bite of it. After a few seconds of chewing, he turned to face Nomia.

“So, what are you here for? The brotherhood, I mean. If you don’t mind me asking.” He added in, guessing the question that he asked could be a sensitive subject to some depending on how much they were willing to reveal. And with this one being defensive for the most part, he wasn't expecting her to reveal much, if anything at all. He just figured getting to know someone from the same group wouldn't hurt any.

She paused mid-chew at his question. What was she going to say to him? She wasn't in the mood to tell her life story yet at the same time she didn't feel the need to hide away from him. "I just," She started then stopped again. "I came here because I thought it was something cool to do." Nomia said deciding what she was going to say. "I picked up a few hands of the trade growing up. I learned how to do some things. Then I just, found myself here." She ended motioning to he place all around them. Hopefully he wouldn't realize, she didn't exactly answer his question at all. She finished her roll and was about to make her way onto the apple. "So why are you here?" She asked him.

(Sorry for the short post.)

“As something cool to do, hmm?” Trav smiled, repeating what she had said after finishing. Nodding his head, he then pointed to himself.

“Me? I needed to find work, thought I had what it took, and somehow managed to get something. Here that is. And you might be thinking, oh why such a dangerous occupation when clearly there were much safer offers?” Although it didn’t look like she was thinking that, seeing as she herself had just said it was something cool to do, he continued on. “The answer to that my friend, is this.” He patted at his right side as if to indicate the sword that was usually there. Today however it wasn’t because he didn’t think it was necessary to bring along when one was only going to town.

“Uhh, well I meant being able to use swords. For a purpose. Not out to misuse ‘em like some crazy person would. Weapons in general…” he added now holding the loaf in his hand as he would a sword not really sure on what else to add. He eventually put it down though, figuring she got the point. Subject change, subject change. ”So! Where’d you grow up at? From what you said, it doesn’t sound like you’re from around here.” He asked hoping that she didn’t mind the topic change going back to her.

She smiled and laughed slightly at his antics. Nomia liked the way Trav had a round about way of saying how he felt, the way everything was somehow tied together. And there was the fact that he didn't push the issue, he accepted her answer. She figured she could do the same for him. "Anywhere and everywhere." She said in response to his question. She finished eating her food while Trav starred at her in confusion for a few seconds. "Mostly though, I call Italy* my home. It's where the rest of my family are." She confessed, turning slightly red.

She nodded her head at him. "Where are you from? You got itchy feet too?" Nomia asked him in regards to his need to always be doing something, like work.

* Not really sure what "Italy" was considered back in this time period. But in my defence my world history teacher was really boring. Sorry.

“Ah, a small world we must live in.” He told Nomia as he fiddled around with what was left of the loaf in his hand. After she nodded, they both then sat in silence for awhile.

It wasn’t surprising that there weren’t many merchants selling metal that day, if there weren’t many metalworkers around then there weren’t going to be many selling what they needed nearby. Meaning their time in town would soon be short lived, or so he assumed.

“Hey, we should probably keep looking awhile longer; we’ve been through quite a bit of the area so if we can’t find one in the next area we go through… then we could probably come back another day.” Trav suggested, cringing slightly at the words he spoke for he wasn’t too pleased with the thought of today’s outcome. Nodding in agreement to the suggestion, they eventually got up and walked a different way to the entrance in hopes of finding any other merchant that could have possibly been skipped. But as they got nearer, they were quickly welcomed to what was probably known as the meat section. As several feathery and furry beasts could easily be noticed seeing as they were hung up high on the ceiling of the stands by their hind legs along with sections of larger animal parts.

“So, you got a favorite color?” Trav asked Nomia, managing to avert eye contact with those being displayed to the left of her, but also keeping a look out for any chance of a lost merchant who could only find space to sell around here. A very slim chance as it looked to be.

"My favorite color is red." Nomia said after a few moments of thinking about it. "Because it's so versatile." They were already beginning to walk away towards the exit. Whent ehy walked by the dead creatures she wrinkled her nose. She knew those things had to be done, but she didn't like seeing it so out in the open. She turned to Trav to get her eyes away from it. "How about you?" Nomia was secretly glad they were leaving, she was slowly getting bored with the shoppes as there was nothing happening there. They continued walking as she waited for an answer.