Timestamp: Zi'da 62, 720 following Breaking the Ice
Weather & Calendar Entry
Weather: No specific entry. 5 trials after the end of bad snow storms.
Calendar: No specific entry.
Calendar: No specific entry.
Kain was a bit chipper now that he knew something he actually wanted to do. Clutching the slightly damp hunk of driftwood that had held Eva's rump not too many bits before, he made his way to the place Eva had shown him a few trials past. Well, as best he could, he hadn't exactly been paying perfect attention to the actual navigation of the journey they'd taken. Five wrong turns and ending up in a completely separate section of Raelia later, he found himself in front of some other completely different tool shop. He didn't bother to read the name as he ducked inside, putting on a bright smile.
"Why 'ello dere my good.." He squinted at the stout, muscular person, his face twisting as he tried to be polite but really wasn't sure of what was coming out of his mouth next, "ma'am?" The woman smiled, "Ay'm new in town, an' Ay wanna make a gif' for a frien' of mine." He set the driftwood on the counter, "Will ya 'elp me? My frien', she a real sad lassie, bu' she 'ave a good ol' 'eart. Ay ain't know da firs' ding abou' carvin' wood."
The woman smiled, "Well aren't you a nice fellow? Is she a local girl, I might know her?"
"Aye, she's local. 'er name's Curly, she works at a tavern, near da docks."
The woman cocked her head a bit, "I don't know anyone named Curly. Strange name for a local girl, but we do have all types here in Raelia." Then her face soured, "An awful lot of foreigners coming in, taking jobs, ruining our traditions, soiling our young women and men, bringing their gods here. Despicable."
Shit.
Kain hadn't been expecting anything like that, but clearly this woman was not fond of foreigners. Being a man without dignity or shame, he looked her in the eyes, "Ay promise Ay I ain' tryin' to take nuffin' or ruin nuffin', an' Ay sure as whale shite ain' soilin' nuffin. An' if da gods cared about wha' I did, I dou' Ay'd be 'ere. Dis lassie were cryin' at da beach, an' I jus' wanna cheer 'er up. I ain' got much coin, but Ay'm a good worker. Tell me wha' ya wan' in exchange for 'elpin' me out, an' Ay'll do it. No questions, no back lip, no nuffin'."
The woman looked up at him, her eyes scrutinizing. Kain was many things, good, bad, ridiculous, and much in between, but he wasn't a liar. At least not right in this moment. "Okay fine, but you do the work first, then we'll talk."
She grabbed the driftwood, setting it on a shelf behind the counter, and Kain stood up, hands on his hips, smiling, "Dank ya ma'am. I won' let ya down."
The woman chuckled, "You better not."
She walked to the corner of the shop, grabbing a broom, bringing it over and thrusting it into Kain's chest. "Sweep here and in the basement. Don't touch anything else. When you're done, come back and I'll give you your next task."
Kain smiled even more broad, "Aye, ma'am."
He gripped the straw looking around the single room shop. He picked the corner furthest from the front door, walking over to it. He stuck the broom into it, sweeping out the dust and debris from the little nook, sending it out away from the edge of the wall. He continued sweeping along the back edge of the shop, remembering how he had to do this for his eldest brother's ship often. He wasn't bullied or anything, he just was constantly challenging his brother to various feats of strength or Biqajhood, and more often than not, losing them. Once he edged the back wall, combing along the bottom of the shelves and counters, he brought it all together into a pile, placing it just behind the counter so no one would step in it. Then he proceeded to do the same for all the walls, combing into one large pile that was steadily moving closer to the door. Once the walls were done, he edged all of the other shelves and tables in the middle of the shop, eventually getting to the open areas.
Soon he had a large pile, sweeping it out into the street. And for good measure, he kicked some snow onto the pile, stepping back into the shop, cleaning his boots off first. He slipped behind the counter and continued the long process in the particularly dusty basement. His eyes burned from the dust getting in them, and he had to swat away several of those disgusting spider things from his face. After a break or so, he had the basement swept as well, returning back upstairs, offering up the broom with a slightly cracked smile.
The lady smiled, "Not bad, for an outlander."
She took the broom, putting it away, "I suppose I'll help you out, since you claim to be helping out one of our own. But you keep your nose clean, if I ever find out you're doing anything untoward, I'll deal with you myself."
She grabbed the driftwood, "Now first, tell me about this Curly. Then tell me what it is you're wanting to do."
Nodding, Kain's lips twisting into an amused grin, "Well, Curly, she works at a tavern. Iunno where, Ay dun go to taverns much. She 'as big, curly 'air, an' lots of it. All da way down 'er back. She are nice to everyone she meets, dough she a bit quiet. Da ocean make 'er sad. I dunno why. She also know da fish you all call 'Perch'. She bough' one for me."
The woman smiled, nodding, "She sounds like a good native lass. And what are you wanting to do with this wood?"
"I wanna make it look like a perch an' give it to 'er."
The woman nodded, "Alright. Tell you what, I'll sell you an old beat up woodcarving kit of mine. It's in pretty poor condition, but I assume it will be in your price range." She eyed him up and down, clearly indicating she knew him to be fairly poor, "You buy that, then I'll help you carve this into a basic semblance of a perch. You earned an easy enough lesson with your sweeping. And at least you tried to be polite, even if it's not in your nature. Better than many outlanders."
He could only chuckle at that. She'd seen right through him from the start. He pulled out his fairly small coin purse and bought the toolkit she offered him. It was in terribly poor condition, dusty and rusty. She pulled out a few tools, explaining what they were called and what they were for. "Alright, follow my directions, and go slowly. Take that carving knife there..." Under her tutelage, only occasionally interrupted by a customer, Kain carved into the soft driftwood. The wood fell away like butter, but it was no easy feat by any means. The wood was prone to overcutting, the blade biting too deep in places. The woman was patient, explaining to him when to cut away from the body, when to cut toward, and showed him the different ways to hold the carving knife.
It took several breaks, for every time a customer arrived, she doted on them. But eventually, the lump of wood looked vaguely like the chubby fish that Eva had bought for him a few trials before. The woman smiled, "Keep practicing at that and maybe you'll be good enough to not have to sweep floors anymore. Though I won't count the stars on that one." She cackled loudly and Kain laughed heartily, genuinely with her. He loved a good joke.
He held it up, moving the fish as he spoke, "I can' dank ya enough. Ya're a kind old bat, an' Ay I am in yar debt and favour. If ya ever need anyding, call on me. My ship are da Hoku La'a, tied up at da soud end of da docks."
The woman guffawed, "Get going, give that sad girl her ugly fish."
Kain nodded, smiling wide, as he turned, leaving the shop with his new toolkit and fish. He meandered for a while until he found the docks again, then from there, returned to Eva's house. He walked over, setting the carved fish on her window sill, before ducking back around and heading back to his ship. Not a bad trial, he thought to himself. Maybe this place wasn't so bad after all.