Chapter 175
Jay had discovered that a great way to get M'redith to do something was to just ask her. Barring that however the best way to get her to do something was to tell her that she couldn't.
At that point in the evening no one was about to tell M'redith that they couldn't go axe-throwing.
She stomped through the dark and fetid smelling alleyway as her group trailed along behind her and tried to keep up with her steady pace.
The drunks had been lucky that M'redith had been in a relatively good mood at the time of their robbery. Had someone tried to stop M'redith now they might not have lived to make it to the cart ride home.
They stomped their way through the trash littered alleyway in what felt like seconds but was surely closer to minutes. As they exited out the other side they were momentarily blinded by the bright lights that had been placed outside of some of the stores that lined the wide avenue.
“Hold up!” Aiden begged as he looked in the opposite direction that M'redith had went.
M'redith paused when she realized that her group had stopped at the end of the alleyway. With a sigh she turned and walked back to them. She didn't say anything but raised her eyebrow instead.
“Can we get slushies?” Aiden asked pathetically with a desperate looking face.
M'redith laughed. Aiden could be adorable when he wanted to be. “I am a little thirsty after our little workout session. Sure. Lets go get some slushies first.”
Aiden grinned and led them down the street to a beverage cart that had been set up a little too close to the road. Carts had to steer around it or scrape up against its side. Jay's group carefully stayed out of the road and off to the side, just in case.
A man wearing a tan scally cap and a white stained apron smiled as they approached. “Evening! Any of you gentlemen or ladies care for some refreshment! Slushies here! Three copper a piece!” he called out cheerfully to the group.
Norri grinned, “I'll pay!”
The man shrugged, he really didn't care who paid. Just so long as he got paid.
Norri seemed excited though. She didn't have a lot of experience paying for the group but now she had more copper coins than she knew what to do with thanks to her new apprenticeship. Treating her group to slushies would only cost her 12 of her copper coins, which would leave her coin pouch with a touch more room.
“Go ahead guys! Pick one out, my treat.” Norri said as she bounced on the toes of both feet, up and down, until Aiden asked her kindly to stop as it was making him dizzy. She laughed but stopped without argument.
M'redith picked out a mint lemonade slushie and Jay made a scrunched up face.
“What? You don't like slushies?” M'redith asked in shock.
Jay grinned, “Not with mint!” Jay responded.
She looked at her lemonade then back up at him and shrugged, “It's tasty, you should try it.”
Jay shook his head, “I like fruity slushies, not minty ones. Can I get a peach-strawberry please?”
The man whistled to himself as he served M'redith and Jay first before it was Aiden's turn.
“Oh. My turn? GRAPE. Grape slushie please. Can I get an extra squirt of the flavoring syrup too?” Aiden practically begged the man.
The man in the apron shrugged, “Sure, why not,” he said and took Aiden's cup back off of the counter and held it under the pump for the grape syrup. He pumped it once more and dark purple syrup squirted in to the cup of ice and grape flavoring. The new squirt of flavor mixed with the old and the man mixed it with a wooden stirrer until it had been mixed throughout the ice entirely.
“Here you are!” the man said before he turned to Norri.
“Lime!” she said simply in excitement. “Please!” she added with a slight blush on her cheeks.
The man nodded and took a fresh cup off the stack and filled it with tiny perfectly round bits of ice. A squirt of yellow looking syrup followed it and he stirred it up quickly with a fresh wooden stirrer. The others that he had used had gone up in to motes of light and disappeared after he had discarded them.
Norri took her cup and handed the man a fistful of copper coins. The man thanked her and carefully counted out the coins. After he had counted 12 he still had coins left over so continued counting until he'd counted all of the coins. 16 coins total.
“Thank you!” the man said loudly. Tips were wonderful, but not exactly common. Norri had made him a happy vendor indeed.
“You're welcome!” Norri said just as loudly as her entire group remembered to thank her for their treats.
“Thank you Norri!” Jay said in a sing song voice which prompted his other friends to say much the same.
“You're welcome!” she said again only this time to her friends.
They waved to the man in the scally cap in thanks and headed back in the direction M'redith had originally led them.
After a few minutes she had them stop in front of a wide looking building. There was an entrance on the left side of the building but was one way only. It looked like the exit was on the right side of the building. The entire thing had been painted to resemble a red barn, with white trim and a black roof.
A sign in front stood almost as tall as Jay was and had thick black lettering on it in block letters. “Axemen” it read along the top, and underneath it a large circle had been burnt in to the wood. It took up the entire bottom half of the sign and covered it from left edge to right edge. Inside of the circle were two crossed diagonal axes.
“I'm not done yet!” Aiden complained as he stopped in front of the building and made no move to approach it.
The rest of them had just about finished and as they stood in front of the shop their cups began to dissolve in to motes of light. They rose in to the air until the motes themselves disappeared and left signs of their passing.
Aiden finished last and watched as his cup broke up in to little motes. Once they'd gone entirely M'redith led them in to the entrance door on the left end of the building.
A bell rang as they entered and rang again as they shut the door behind them. To their right was a door that led further in to the building. In front of them stood a wide counter and what looked to Jay like a cash register. The wall behind the register had a single door which led to who knows where. The wall itself was covered in various axes with price tags dangling off of each of them.
The counter itself held a number of signs and brochures. Jay picked one up and opened it. It was a chart that explained the various rental fees and weapons available for use.
M'redith waited until the door behind the counter opened and a dark haired woman entered. She wasn't smiling but greeted the group just the same.
“Welcome to Axemen, have you been here before?” she asked in a business like tone of voice.
M'redith shook her head, “We're all new and haven't thrown axes before. It looks like fun though.”
The dark haired woman nodded, “It can be. So you'll need to first decide how many stalls you want to rent. You can rent one and share it or rent four stalls so you each have one for yourself. I can also rent you a double stall that you could all share.”
M'redith looked back at her group and nodded, “We'll take the double stall.”
The dark haired woman flashed a quick smile and scribbled something down on to a form. “Ok...great. Next up. Weapons. You can use the public axes that come with the stall or you can rent one of the ones on the wall behind me.” She pointed to the wall as she spoke.
Jay examined the axes on the wall. They were, without a doubt, beautiful. Some had handles dotted with gems, others had been forged out of metals Jay was unfamiliar with. Still others appeared magical and glowed, vibrated, or even appeared to breathe – expanding and contracting repeatedly.
M'redith shook her head, “No point in going fancy, we don't even know how to throw yet.”
The other woman smiled and checked off a few boxes. “Smart. I'll mark that down. Next up – would you like to have an instructor assigned to your bays? That is not required but as none of you know what you're doing it might be a good idea. It's a bit of coin but worth it.”
Jay inspected the chart on the brochure, “I can cover the instructor if you want guys,” he offered. At 80 silver it would be far easier for him to afford than his friends.
“Great!” the woman said and finished marking her form.
Jay wasn't sure he had 80 silver on him and didn't feel like counting. “Do you have a bank draft for First K'tharkle?” he asked politely.
The woman nodded happily and ducked under the counter for a moment. When she returned she was holding a slip which she passed to Jay.
Jay quickly filled it out and before he signed it turned to his group, “I'll cover this if you guys are ok with that.”
Aiden laughed, “Oh gee, let us think about that for a moment Jay,”
Norri grinned, “Thanks Jay!”
M'redith reached over and squeezed his arm with a smile, “Thanks Jay.”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “Thank you Jay,” but he smiled when he'd finished speaking.
Axe throwing wasn't expensive really, but paying someone to teach you how to axe throw was not. 80 silver was almost a whole gold coin. It cost 40 silver to rent the double stalls. That was already 1 gold 20 silver! Thankfully they hadn't rented any of the specialty axes. Who knew what they would have cost.
To Jay the amount was negligible and wouldn't even have an effect on his overall bank balance. To his friends however, it could be a bit on the expensive side. Or so he assumed.
He handed the draft back to the woman and she nodded, “Right. You are assigned stall 9 and 10. They're about halfway down, right through that door to your right. There will be someone there to help you out.”
They thanked the woman who merely nodded in reply and left through the door to their right. They ended up in a long corridor that stretched from one end of the building to the other. Along the left wall were numerous doors with room numbers hung above them.
As they walked to their stall they could frequently make out the thunk sound of axes striking wood. Occasionally they would also hear the sound of axes hitting the floor when a throw didn't go as planned.
They went in door number 9 and closed it behind them after they had all filed in to the room.
The room had benches along the wall they had entered through and ran maybe 20 feet from entry door to back wall. Roughly halfway to the back wall a red line had been painted on to the floor. The far back wall was a large square of wood with a target painted on to it. The ceilings were twice as high as Jay was used to and magical light sources had been suspended from the high ceiling.
Next to their stall was a second stall set up much the same. There was room and targets enough for two people to throw axes side by side at the same time, each in their own 'lane.'
A bald man with a thick black beard smiled under bushy eyebrows as they entered. “Hello newbies! Who is ready to throw some bladed weapons?”
“I AM.” M'redith said forcefully.
The man was a little taken aback by her enthusiasm but let it pass, his smile frozen on his face.
“I'm told you're all new?” the man asked carefully.
They all nodded in agreement.
“Right! Then gather round! I'm Joseph,” he said as he picked up an axe from a table along the left wall.
He showed them the axe, “First things first. These axes are SHARP. They have to be or they'll bounce right off the wooden targets. Keep this in mind at all times. Next up – we throw at the same time and retrieve at the same time. Do not walk to retrieve your axe until everyone is done throwing, ok?
Their group all nodded at the simple sounding instructions.
“Axes get stuck often. Best way to pull them out of the wood is to wiggle it back and forth by the handle – don't try to pull it straight out – it could jump out at you and cause an injury. Slow and careful like is what you're shooting for.” Joseph said. As he spoke he put the axe blade against the wall as if it had been thrown there and demonstrated the best way to pull it out.
“When you throw – you throw at the line towards the targets – you focus on what you're doing. I'm going to have you throwing two handed since you're all beginners. You hold it loose – you don't want to strangle it, you want to throw it.” Joseph displayed the axe to all four of them and showed how to hold it.
He stepped up to the red line on the floor. “Never throw the axe unless you're at the red line, got it?” Everyone nodded. “What you do is bring the axe head back and over your head,” he said as he did so. The head of the axe dropped down behind him and settled between his shoulders.
“Your hands are going to move in an arc – you're going to move your hands through the full arc – don't stop when you let go of the axe, keep going and let your arms go through the full motion.” Joe said as he stepped forward.
“Take one step forward with your dominant leg as you bring your axe forward at the same time,” Joseph said as he took a step, moved his arms in a graceful overhand motion, and released the axe.
It flew forward across his lane and buried itself blade first inches in to the wood with a solid thwock sound.
He turned to face the group. “You should let go right as the arc is about eye level for you.”
The four friends did not look confident.
“Questions?” he asked, but his instructions had been so simple that he had made it sound easy.
Everyone shook their head.
“Who wants to go,” he began but was immediately interrupted by M'redith.
“I'll go!” she said and stepped up to the red line.
Joseph laughed, “Great! Maybe pick up an axe first before moving to the throwing line though?”
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M'redith blushed and moved back over to the table along the side of the room and carefully picked up a throwing axe. It was heavy in her hands and balanced for throwing.
She held the axe in both hands and brought the head back and let it rest between her shoulders.
“Hold up,” Joseph said as he put his hands on her waist and turned her slightly to face forwards. “You want to keep your stance facing forward – as well as your shoulders. If either is tilted off center then your axe will be thrown off its intended course.”
Everyone nodded and tried to remember all of the things they needed to do.
M'redith nodded and looked very focused. With a muffled grunt she whipped her hands forwards over her head in an arc and let go of the axe. She let her arms continue to swing and continue the arc after she let go.
The axe hurled through the air and the top of the axe hit the board and stuck fast. The axe handle stuck out almost perpendicular to the board.
“Damnit,” M'redith said under her breath but Joseph picked up on it.
“It's ok! Your throw was great! It's your distance that is off. Can anyone guess why we have this line marked where it is?” Joseph asked the group with a smile.
“I have no idea,” Jay admitted, which saved the rest of the group from having to say that as well. Instead they all shrugged.
Joseph tapped the axe and held it up by the handle. He rotated it in the air using both hands as he explained. “The distance is designed to allow the axe to perform one full rotation before striking the target. Now if M'redith's throw was good, and it was, and the head of the axe struck the target, what should she do to fix it?”
He continued rotating the axe until the head pointed towards the target and stopped.
Aiden raised an eyebrow, “I think I get it!” he said in excitement.
Joseph nodded, “What do you think?”
“Well if it needs to perform one full rotation and the head struck the target then doesn't that mean that the axe rotated too much? Past the point where the blade would have struck?” Aiden asked as he worked through the motions in his head.
“Exactly!” Joseph said with excitement. “So the problem here is that M'redith's axe had too much room between her and the target which allowed the axe to over rotate. To fix this what should she do?”
M'redith nodded and took a step forward.
“Exactly! Great job!” he said to everyone before he moved M'redith back a half-step. “You over-corrected a little there. There you go, perfect. Wait here,” he said as he went and retrieved her axe before he returned to her side and handed it to her handle first.
M'redith took the axe back and got back in to position. She checked her feet. Both pointed at the target, check. Her shoulders? Same. Check. The head of the axe was behind her between her shoulders and she reminded herself to relax her grip. She had been gripping the handle a bit too tightly. Finally satisfied she whipped her hands forwards in an overhand arc.
She waited until her arms were almost at eye level and released her grip. The axe rotated in the air and sped towards the target.
The axe blade buried itself a few inches in to the target, the handle almost parallel to the target this time instead of perpendicular.
“YES!” Joseph shouted with a clap before he settled himself down. “Great throw! It's always exciting to see a new thrower hit their first target! So take a look at your distance M'redith. Study it, remember it. That is your distance with a throwing axe. Looks like half a step past the red line for you. That is where you'll want to stand every time you throw two handed, ok?”
M'redith nodded and tried to burn the distance between her and the target in to her memory.
“Let's all step over to the next target while we give M'redith some time to study her ranging.” Joseph said as he guided the other three of the group over to the next lane.
That lane had a table as well, along the opposite side wall. “Who is next?” Joseph offered as he waved an axe around in the air, handle first.
Norri grinned, “I want to try!”
Joseph nodded, “Come on over. Hold it like this,” he explained before he reiterated all of the instructions he had imparted to M'redith. “Right on the red line. Centered. There you go. That is neutral position. We'll get you zeroed in once we see your throw.”
Norri nodded and Joseph handed her an axe and took a step back.
“Go ahead Norri,” Joseph said after he had made sure no one was within six feet of her.
“Gah!” she yelled as she whipped her arms over her head and let go of the axe. She stopped moving as soon as she released and the axe flew through the air in a long arc. It flew over the target as well and clattered to the floor behind it.
“Great first try. Good job staying centered!” he said as he praised Norri's attempt.
“But I didn't hit the target?” Norri said in disappointment.
“So what? You're still learning! You got some of it right and that's great! That means you remembered some of what you need to do, we can work with that. Right?” he asked Norri with a smile.
Norri nodded and grinned. She looked a lot more relaxed than when she had started and Joseph had everyone stop.
“Time to retrieve. Everyone make your hands empty. That means put down any axe you are holding.” Joseph said with a serious expression before he double checked to make sure everyone was empty handed. He motioned over at M'redith, “Let's go,” he said and walked to the target in his lane.
M'redith did the same, only in her lane, and retrieved her axe. Joseph grabbed Norri's axe and returned to her side. M'redith went back to the red line and stood slightly in front of it.
“This time I want you to think about what eye level is. Here, do some trial swings. Put your hands behind your head – I know you're not holding an axe, it's ok, you don't need one for this – there you go, now swing your arms in an overhead arc and open your hands when you think you are eye level. Just keep doing it with a pause in between tries.” Joseph said as he studied Norri and her movements.
She tried numerous times and Joseph finally stopped her.
“You're releasing too early. Trust yourself, don't let go just because you're nervous. Try again. Closer. That's a bit better. Ok, here,” he said and handed the axe to her, “let's try again.”
Joseph got M'redith's attention, “Ready to throw?” and she nodded in reply as she squared her shoulders to the target.
Norri tried to do much the same and brought her axe back. With a great deal of effort she brought her arms forwards and released. The axe flew through the air before it skittered across the floor and slid towards the rear wall.
Norri cursed under her breath and then blushed when she realized everyone had heard her.
“It's ok! You're still learning!” Joseph said encouragingly.
“SHE didn't need all this learning time!” Norri said as she motioned towards M'redith.
Joseph's face grew serious, almost cross. “Norri, don't compare yourself to M'redith – you're not up against her, you're up against you. You need to do better every time than the one before it. That is all. Focus on that, not how M'redith throws.”
Norri huffed but finally sighed and nodded.
As Norri had thrown her axe M'redith had as well, only her axe had once again buried itself almost up to the head in to the target. M'redith was a good shot it seemed as long as she got her distance right.
“Empty hands! Retrieve!” Joseph called out and this time everyone showed their hands before Norri and M'redith retrieved their weapons and returned to the throwing line.
Joseph had them continue to practice and Norri's skill level grew leaps and bounds as she began to hit the target. Joseph pushed her a little back from the red line and had her go again. This time her axe managed to cut in to the target. It wasn't buried deep, but the axe stayed where it was and didn't fall to the ground.
After a half hour of that Joseph called a halt and had the women switch off with the men. Jay and Aiden stepped forwards. Aiden turned out to be a crack shot while Jay turned out to be hopeless.
Every time he threw the axe would either bounce off of the target or overshoot it entirely. The women were cheering them on but Jay wasn't improving.
“Is he getting worse?” Norri whispered to M'redith before M'redith shushed her.
After watching Jay for a while Joseph had him stop and pulled him back a foot from the red throwing line. “You've got these long gangly arms – you should be amazing at this,” Joseph said in an effort to encourage him.
Jay sighed. He felt like if he had a copper for every thing he should be good at but wasn't he'd be even richer than he already was.
They continued to take turns throwing and retrieving their axes and Joseph watched Jay before he finally shook his head.
“I don't get it – you've got the limbs, the strength, the aim – maybe try not throwing as hard? Go a little easier on it,” Joseph suggested.
Jay tried that as Aiden hurled his own axe in to his own target next to Jay's. Jay's axe finally managed to bury itself in to the wood. Unfortunately he found it impossible to replicate.
“I've got something else I'd like you to try if you're interested. It's not something I usually bring out but I think it'd work better with you than anyone else I've ever met.” Joseph claimed.
Jay raised an eyebrow, “Why me?”
Joseph grinned, “You have long arms! It's all about leverage and you've got tons of it!”
Joseph didn't wait for an answer and left the room for a few minutes before he returned with a cloth wrapped bundle and a two foot long sealed woven canister. Joseph rapidly unrolled the bundle as he spoke.
“This,” he said as he raised a foot long flat device in front of him, “is an atlatl.”
“An at-what now?” Aiden asked in confusion before M'redith shushed him.
“Otherwise known as the spear thrower. I know, I know – you don't throw spears – but I think you should really reconsider.” Joseph explained quickly as he displayed the atlatl in his hands.
The device was roughly the size of a ruler except at one end there was a small notched cup and on the other end was a plain looking handle.
The group watched as Joseph opened the two foot long canister and pulled out an arrow. At least they thought it would be an arrow but the arrow kept going. It wasn't an arrow at all but a spear, roughly three feet long the group realized as it finally was pulled entirely free of the mysterious canister. One end of the spear was sharpened metal, the other end just rounded wood.
Joseph took the atlatl and held it by the handle. He tucked the spear's wooden end in to the cup and held them parallel over one shoulder. With a sudden whipping motion he flung his arm forward in an overhand arc.
He had been holding the atlatl in his hand and had used a finger on that same hand to hold on to the spear. As he threw he released that finger and flicked his wrist at the end of his throw, flipping the atlatl upwards.
The spear shot forward at incredible speed and buried itself in the target past the head.
“That one is going to be a real bitch to pull out,” Joseph said with a sigh before he guided the group over to the next lane. “Here, you try.”
Jay took the atlatl and held it the wrong way. Joseph carefully corrected him and explained how to use one finger to keep the spear steady so he wouldn't drop it.
Jay got the spear tucked in to the atlatl's cup. He held both using one hand and held them over his shoulder parallel to the ground. He took a step forward and whipped his arm forward.
He didn't do the flick at the end of his throw as Joseph had, he wasn't experienced enough to know that he should do so. Still, his spear shot forward and buried itself in the wood his first try.
“That was one really lucky shot lad,” Joseph said with a wide smile. “Hold here everyone,” he said and retrieved the spears, which took some doing on his part. After a lot of grunting and grumbling he returned with the two spears.
“These are good up to a few hundred feet. And you seem to be having a much easier time with it than you did with the axes. Those long arms give you a lot of leverage especially once you're holding the atlatl.” Joseph said happily. “You're the first I've had take to it to be honest with you. I'm impressed,” he said and gave Jay a nod of his head.
“Thanks! It's nice to be good at something after sucking so badly at axe throwing. I've never seen an atlatl before.” Jay explained.
Joseph shook his head, “Went out of style with the bow and arrow. It's still an amazing weapon to fight with so long as you can find a way to store the spears when out adventuring. The atlatl can just be hung from your pack, and the spear canister can be carried on your back.”
Jay nodded. “I've been thinking about learning a new ranged weapon. Maybe this is it,” he said thoughtfully.
Joseph looked excited, “You won't be sorry! If you want to get your own, or a canister, or replacement spears, or instruction books I know a shop that specializes in atlatl.”
M'redith raised an eyebrow, “An entire store?”
Joseph nodded and looked a little embarrassed as if he had been caught at something. “It's run by my brother but he's the honest sort, I swear! Here,” he said and took a card out, “my brother makes them himself. It's really a shame more people don't use them.”
He handed Jay the card with his brother's address on it and shrugged, “If you're not interested though that is ok. I just thought it might work better for Jay – and it looks like it does.” he said as he motioned at Jay.
“Thanks Joseph, I might just visit your brother when I get the chance.” Jay said and shook hands with Joseph.
“Well you've all got maybe ten more minutes before your session ends. Anyone else want to try the atlatl?” he asked and everyone wanted to give it a try.
They all had middling success with it except for Norri, who was barely able to generate the force to throw the spear due to her shorter arms. After they had all give it a few tries they had come to the conclusion that the atlatl was more of a 'Jay weapon.'
Jay wasn't entirely sure how to take that and shook his head with a smile.
Soon after everyone returned to throwing axes, two handed, overhead. M'redith was deadly with hers and it was enjoyable just watching her throw. Aiden and Norri both had fun throwing their axes and managed to get them in to their target more than once.
Before they knew it their session was over and it was time to go. Everyone thanked Joseph who shook their hands happily before they left the stalls they had rented.
“Come on back when you're ready and we'll show you how to throw one handed!” Joseph said with a smile as the group exited the long hallway.
M'redith eyes sparkled for a moment at the thought of hurling axes one handed at enemies. “I'll do that,” she assured him with a grin.
They exited the long hallway and Jay laughed.
“What's so funny?” Norri asked curiously as she looked around the room they were in with wonder.
“I just find it funny that we ended up in the gift shop.” Jay said with a laugh.
They were, indeed, in a gift shop. An axe throwing gift shop. There were axes. Books about axes. Wall hangings with axes on them. Sheaths for axes.
Norri went up to the front counter as something had caught her eye. A small dish was set back a bit on the counter and was full of pins.
Norri's eyes lit up and she looked over at the employee with a pleading expression. “Can I have a pin?”
The employee shrugged, “Are you a collector? Do you have any pins with you?”
Norri dug in her bag furiously as she hurriedly searched for her pins. She withdrew them in a jumble, all in one hand.
The employee at the counter shook her head, “That's awful, storing them like that. Why don't you have a folder?”
“A folder?” Norri asked. “Like a folder for paperwork?”
The employee made a tsk sound, “No. They sell folders covered in fabric. The pins go right through them and they stay in place covered in the folder for their protection. Carrying them in a pile is just...horrific,” the employee tried to explain with a shake of her head.
“So can I have one? Please?” Norri begged.
The employee nodded, “Normally you trade for your pin though, let's see what you have,” they asked before Norri lined up her pins. She had a lot thanks to the job fair they had attended at the Guild. There was the little lighthouse. And her favorite pin was the gecko from FOE. She held it in her hands and set it aside.
As the employee went through Norri's pins they suddenly stopped as they reached a single pin in the line of pins. This pin was much like the other pins but in the shape of a dagger. The dagger was not bloody, it just looked like a plain dagger.
The employee pulled her hands back as if Norri had offered her burning hot coals instead of pins. “I can't take your pins,” the employee said in a hurry and waved her hands in front of her as if to ward off evil. She pushed her dish of pins forward with a quick motion, “Go ahead, take what you want, I don't want any trouble,” she said with a shake of her head.
The employee no longer looked laid back but appeared instead wary, nervous, and somewhat frightened. She refused to engage with Norri any further.
So Norri took a small pin of two crossed axes and added it to her pile before she swept them up in to one hand and set them inside of her backpack.
“Thank you,” Norri said, confused.
The employee nodded at Norri as if Norri might hurt her. “Of course.”
Norri walked off from the front counter and rejoined her friends.
“All set Norri?” Jay asked brightly.
Norri shrugged, “I guess so. Let's go.” she said, a little down from her interaction with the employee. What was the big deal with the dagger? It looked just like a simple dagger. She was thankful now that she hadn't worn it originally when she had found it in her collection, its origin shrouded in mystery.
The four friends left the Axemen shop and gathered together next to the city street to decide what they would do next.