What a was a strange woman. She was short, roughly five-foot-three, and she had short black hair tied into a tight bun. She was thickly built, nothing like the fair maidens f the kingdoms. She had the muscles of a battle worn man and her palms were scarred and covered in calluses. Her expression was stern and her eyes were tired and near emotionless.
"Birgin? What brings you here?" Shayna asked as she leaned back in an old wooden chair, rickety and on the verge of falling apart. Since her home had been destroyed, she lived in one of the small rooms upstairs in the inn. The room was simple, small and square with a single shelf holding books and such, while a bed was placed against a wall, the only wall with a window. In one corner of the room was a massive bag tucked into the shadows of the room.
"And who is the stranger?" She spoke, her eyes falling, not kindly, on Tetsuno. Her eyes also dropped down to his hip, where his sword hung from a gold string.
"This is Abeza, he is here to help." Birgin spoke.
"Help? Help with what? We don't need any help from outsiders. He's in over his head." Shayna argued.
"Shayna." Birgin insisted, "he single handed lay defeated Zelden and two others."
Shayna turned to Birgin furiously. "Are you serious?! Great! You know what they'll do, right? The whole village will burn!"
"He's an Aberrant."
Shayna paused for a moment, taken aback. "Come again?"
"My name is Abeza." Tetsuno chimed in, "and I am an Aberrant. I have hunted over forty-nine beasts, three among them were dragons."
Birgin turned to Tetsuno with a look of awe. He hadn't told them about his kill count yet, though the number of people he'd killed was much higher, but he'd rather leave that out.
Shayna had nothing to say for a long moment before she walked towards Tetsuno.
"Well, Abeza," she said, stabbing a dinner to his chest, "you are neck deep now. You better not mess this up."
Tetsuno calmly looked at the woman, his deep ocean blue eyes gazing expressionlessly at her. He knew, as he saw realization cross her face, that she could see in his eyes the pain he'd been through, as well as the pain he's caused. He has treaded through an ocean of blood and corpses in his path for vengeance, and there was much more blood to come.
Shayna backed away, pale in the face. She glanced down at his blade. He could tell she was scared of him now, weary of his capabilities. He was shocked at how good the girl's senses were, seeing how young she was.
"Shayna, he's here to help, stop threatening him. He can help us better than we've ever been able to help ourselves." Birgin spoke.
"I.. yeah." Shayna answered, coming out of her stunned state. "What do you need from me?"
"You think you can get a forge going?" The old man asked.
"A forge? Why?"
Tetsuno pulled his bag over his shoulder and onto the ground with a clang as he opened it up and revealed the armor inside.
"I need this repaired." He said, handing her a shoulder pad. "Can you do it?"
Shayna observed the armor in awe. "This metal... how did you-?"
"Does it matter?" Tetsuno said sharply.
"Well, no.. I guess not, but.. I've never worked with metal like this. It would take a really high heat to be able to mend it, even then it would be difficult.. but I think I can do it."
"So long as you don't fuck up my armor." Tetsuno spoke.
"Yeah, yeah. Birgin, is the downstairs forge usable still?" Shayna asked.
"It is. They didn't ever find it, so it's in order. It isn't as nice as your father's was, but it works."
"Good. Well, I'll be taking this." Shayna shoved the shoulder plate back in the bag, closed it up, and then threw it over her shoulder. "Wow this is heavy.." she complained. "Give me a day. I will have it done, the dents aren't that bad."
Tetsuno nodded. "Thank you."
Shayna stopped beside Tetsuno, not looking at him. She was silent for a moment, but then said, "don't mention it." And walked briskly away.
"She is a strange character." Tetsuno said as soon as she was gone.
"She's been through a lot. Give her some patience." Birgin insisted. "She should be done by next morning. So take a break and do as you see fit. Just be careful."
"Yeah, I imagine the absence of those three from earlier will be noticed soon. They may attack tonight." Tetsuno agreed.
"Yeah, and they will most likely go for you." Birgin noted. "Will you be alright?"
"Trust me. I can handle myself." He said, then turned and exited the room.