"Thank you," Juhi says to Rajni.
She nods, "You're welcome." She replies.
"Those are very nice! Given the waterproofing I'd say they would be a good idea to get." Hitome says smiling. "I can take care of paying for the boots for both of us." she says to Jin
She kind of takes a step back involuntarily at Hitome's exuberant reaction to her choice in boots. Blushing a little she nods and gives her midwife a small smile, "Okay...if you want to. I got the clothes, so you can get the boots. They are pretty nice huh? I never really needed anything this fancy at home. I traveled some...but not to anywhere that I needed boots this nice." She says giving the merchant a slight shy smile and little bow.
"I think I smell breakfast," Elena says to Kama.
The furrier nods. "They are three gold a pair."
She returns the nod as she stands up and looks at Hitome, "That's such a good price too for such well made boots. I think we should get them too." She says as she gives her midwife a more relaxed looking smile. The people she had met so far were all so nice, she didn't know what she had been so worried about in the first place. She wondered if everyone that lived in this place were as nice as the ones she had already met. If they were....maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all. Plus there was the Old Fish she could go to whenever she started feeling homesick. Ieyasu-San reminded her much of the man that raised her and he had such a kind face. She knew that he was so much more than a humble servant though....but the fact that he was here now and doing something he loved for other people...that gave her hope.
Finding a place to sit down she pulls off her older boots and pulls on the new ones. She almost melts where she sits at the sheer softness and warmth of the boots, "Oooohhhh Hitome....they feel soooo nice." She stands and sort of takes a few testing steps in them, "Oh oh...it's like walking on air Hitome...okay yeah yeah yeah...I do want them...I do." She says as she throws her old boots back in their bag of holding that she has, "I'll just hold onto those in case we're somewhere gross and I don't want to get my new ones messed up." She says smiling as her mind starts wandering.
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Kama smiles. "And it sseems that the sscent doess'nt bother you today."
Getting out of bed, the hijra begins goes over to the closet to find clothing. "How are you feeling overall today?"
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Grinning Hitome turns to the furrier. "So we will take both pairs. How much do we owe you sir?"
It was good to see Jin relaxing, her smile was far more frequent and she seemed to genuinely be enjoying herself now, rather than worrying about the perceptions of the people around them.
She supposed that like herself, Hitome was just a little overwhelmed by the newness and everything of the place they were in now. Supressing a slight giggle she says to Hitome, "I believe he said they were three gold per pair. It's okay, I've been pretty distracted by everything too." Biting down on her lip to keep from laughing she just shakes her head and takes a couple of breaths. The sound of her own laugh seemed almost foreign to her, being so long since she heard it.
"I'm having a little trouble breathing and the usual aches and pains," Elena says. "Other than that, I'm doing pretty well."
Chuckling Hitome nods, taking out the gold and paying. "So anything specific you want to look for now or should we just roam around?"
She kind of shrugs as they leave the shop, "I don't really need anything else right now, so maybe we can just kind of wander around and see what they have here?"
Elena gets dressed and waits for Kama before going downstairs and joining her family.
Jin and Hitome see a group of three dwarves walking around, talking to each other as they look around the area.
Nudging Hitome slightly she gets a curious expression on her face, "Huh...I wonder if they're new too or just visiting? It seems a little odd though doesn't it? It's nice to see so many different kinds of people here though and everyone that we've met so far has been really nice. Maybe it won't be too bad after all, and at least we know each other. I think things are going to be alright." She says contemplatively as they walk through town and observe the dwarves.
The dwarves simply walk along, taking in the shops and looking at the buildings.
Shrugging slightly to herself she looks back up at Hitome, "So...where should we go next? This place is so huge, I'm almost afraid of getting lost. Maybe we should have asked for a map or something?"
As they notice the dwarves go by Hitome nods in response to Jin's question, at the same time studying them out of practiced habit.
"I do too. Whatever challenges come with the work of the Summoner houses, we can handle it." she says matching Jin's smile with one of her own.
She nods in agreement while pointing down from the shop they just exited, "Let's just continue this way for now and see what's down this way, and then if we need to we can turn around and come back. I think I saw a little temple too that I wouldn't mind checking out." She says while trying to figure out where to go.
Follow the path, Jin and Hitome end up at the town's mines. The dwarves are engaged in a conversation with a fellow dwarf.
Not really sure what to do all day before finding this common house and securing a place to stay she looks at the dwarves a bit curiously, unsure of what if anything she could really use from a mine. She didn't think that her armor could really be improved upon unless she had something magical done to it and she didn't really know where to go to see about that either. Taking a deep breath she lets it out slowly before approaching the dwarves a bit hesitantly, not wanting to disturb them if they were talking about something important.
Moving a little closer to the group she says, "Excuse me...I am sorry to interrupt you gentlemen, but we are new here and I was just wondering..." She pauses slightly as she determines the one that most likely works there and turns her head to question him directly, "If you're the blacksmith in charge here good sir....I had something I needed to ask about my armor if you're not too busy. I promise not to take up much of your time." She fumbles with her words a bit as she's still trying to get used to interacting with other people. She reminds herself silently that everyone else they've met so far has been nice to them and as helpful as possible so taking another deep breath she lets it out again slowly and tries to relax and not fidget too much as she waits to see what he says. She didn't want to be a bother, but they couldn't just keep wondering around aimlessly either. That would get rather tiring on a cold day like this and she didn't want to get sick.
"Ye kin stop with the 'good sir'," the dwarf says, approaching Jin. "Mah name is Kierk. So what is it ye want t' do t' yer armor?"
Blushing slightly she lifts up the blouse just enough to reveal a well crafted chain shirt underneath, "Well....it's not bad armor or anything, and it fits well enough...it's just..." Taking another breath she tries to pull her thoughts together as she looks from Hitome to Mr. Kierk, "It's hard finding things that offer adequate protection when you have to worry about things like being able to cast spells effectively in combat. I...I don't want to distract those that I'll be fighting with by being a larger target....a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link...and I don't want to be the link that gets someone hurt....or worse. So....Mr. Kierk, I guess what I'm wondering is if there was any way you, or someone that you might know, could help me somehow figure out how to enhance my current armor so that it offers more protection?"
The dwarf inspects Jin's armor. "There's nothin' Ah kin do t' it. Ye'll have t' look up Michael. 'E's a wizard n' kin do summat with yer armor."
She nods, "Thank you, I understand. So, could you tell me where I might find this Michael?"
Kierk draws out directions on a piece of sooty paper for Jin. "Figgered it'd be better'n confusin' ye with verbal directions."
She nods, "Yes thank you. Since we only arrived this morning and are just trying to get our bearings...well...as you said, this is better since we don't know any landmarks yet." She gets quiet as she watches him draw out the little map.
As he's drawing the map she looks over at Hitome, wondering what she made of this place so far and if she needed anything for herself. With everything going on she couldn't recall if Hitome actually used armor or not. Tilting her head to the side slightly as she tries to remember she decides to just ask her instead of assuming anything.
"Hitome....was there anything you needed or would like to ask about while we're here?"
Hitome watches as Jin approaches Kierk about her armor, taking in the discussion, and proud of her for being able to address the blacksmith. "Not that I can think of. The bracers I wear provide a field around me that functions like armor, but I fight best when I have freedom to move so I've never learned to wear conventional armor. I don't really make use of weapons either." she replies. "If you want to just head to the common house and get settled in we can."
After taking the directions from Mr. Kierk and thanking him again for his time, she turns to her midwife. With a sort of shrug she says as they start heading back from the mines, "I don't know Hitome...I'd like to see and maybe visit some of the other shops and merchants here and start getting to know them. There was that place we passed....it looked like a good sized general merchandise store....I think the sign said, "Halfpocket's"...I'd like to check it out, as well as the temple we passed....but I'd like to find this Michael person first if it's alright with you and see what we can do about adding some protection to my armor. It would just make me feel better I think if I had a little more protection, especially if we're going to have to rescue someone soon. I....I don't want you or anyone worrying about me....I mean more than you would anyways as my protector and....and friend. Is that okay? Can we find this Micheal first, and then maybe visit the little Temple we saw and that shop? Then we can go by the common house and get set up and maybe get something to eat?" She asks, looking at the directions and trying to figure out where they were and which direction they needed to go. As she looks at the map she kind of sticks her tongue out a bit and bites down on it while tilting her head to the side slightly while orienting herself to their surroundings.
While giving Hitome a chance to think about what she'd like to do and answer her, she looks around and tries to take in everything around them so she has a better idea of where they are and how to get to where they need to go.
"Sure. We definitely want to enhance your armor to protect you properly, and food would definitely be a good idea at some point." Hitome agrees.
Rajni looks at Elena with a questioning glance as she sees her sister come down without Kama. The two were almost always with each other. Looking at her sister as she gets up and walks over to the stairs she asks Elena, "Is everything alright Sis? Where's Kama?" Looking up the stairs she kind of calls out, "Hey Kama...are you coming down to eat? Breakfast is ready and I helped cook it so you gotta come down and try it."
She just nods as she gets her bearings and starts heading in the direction they need to go to get to where they can find who they were looking for. Looking up at Hitome as they head towards the place he marked as "School" she says, "Okay, so maybe a couple more stops before the common house and then we can maybe try one of these other places to eat at? This place seems to have a few different choices and I like trying different things. I....I can have a pretty good appetite when I'm not sick to my stomach all the time and there were only a few places outside of Jin Zhao that I went with Yamamoto-Sensei so I can't wait to see what kinds of things they have here." She seems a little more curious and excited now that they're out and getting to meet some of the locals.
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"She's getting ready, Rajni," Elena says.
Jin sees the school in the distance.
Rajni blushes slightly, "Okay...sorry. I just didn't want it to get cold before she had a chance to try it. It's the first food that I helped mama make that I didn't burn to a crisp."
Seeing the size of the school, even from a distance is impressive. Tugging on Hitome's sleeve a bit she gestures towards it, "Look at that....it's so big." Her tone is one of awe and a little excitement as she takes it all in and quickens her pace a little.
Kama comes downstairs a moment later. "That ssmells wonderful!"
Elena takes Kama's arm as they walk into the kitchen with Rajni. "It really does."
Once the rest of her family enters the kitchen, Asha begins serving food, letting Elena and Kama get their own drinks.
Elena gets some water for herself. "What would you like, my beloved?"
Getting to the doors of the very large structure she hesitates a moment before knocking and stepping back.
"Water would be fine beloved." Kāma replies with a radiant smile.
Elena pours Kama a glass of water and sits down next to her.
A middle-aged man opens the door and glances at Jin and Hitome. "May I help you?"
She nods, "Yes Sir, Mr. Kierk down at the mines said I should talk to someone named Michael about enhancing my armor somehow?"
Rajni sits down and takes a few bites of her meal. It was good and she starts enjoying it with a little more gusto.
"Master Michael is currently in class," the man says. "He should be done in twenty minutes if you want to wait."
She nods, "Yes thank you. We're just getting familiar with the town today anyways."