.....
Location: Western Field City
Time: 12:00
Year: 2023
On the 16th floor of a skyscraper, in the sitting room, a man sat wearily on a sofa. He just had seven meetings and a dinner with his whole family and he was thoroughly exhausted.
This man was Ronald Hopkins. He was the same person who was vying for a governmental position. The same man who was creeped out by Xana's stare.
He sat on the sofa lifelessly and stared at the ceiling with blank eyes then, he immediately jumped up like he had remembered something.
'Ah! Darn it!', he muttered under his breath frustrated.
He just remembered the words of his grandfather at the dinner table.
His family was a very big one and they hardly had the chance to see each other together, so the old man pulled tricks and made all of his children come back with their children.
At the dinner table which was even longer than the meeting table for the warriors in the movie, Merlin[1], he met his cousins, nieces and nephews that he had not met in a very long time, some he had never even met.
All his brothers were married and some had kids, likewise some of his cousins. Another goal of his grandfather for bringing them all together was to see his great-grandchildren and torture the unmarried grandchildren.
He, Ronald, was one of the victims.
"Ronald, being a child of the Hopkins family, you have to get married quickly and give me a great-grandkid. Look at your siblings, they have made me proud", the old man said aloud.
Ronald thought in his heart, 'Many people never even meet their great-grandchildren and here you are asking for more. Oh well, it's good to live a healthy lifestyle and have those expensive supplements, you even have the cheek to wish for more of what others don't have.'
He smiled at his grandfather and nodded.
"I hope that nod of yours tells me that you will bring a fiancee back home. I'll be waiting." The old man said.
Some of Ronald's cousins snickered at him and his brothers smiled with hidden meanings. He sighed.
'Now he is contesting for a position, he definitely does not have the time to find a girlfriend.'
.....
Acorn Village (where Xana was given a new life).
At the end of a street was a small old house. The window panes were hanging loosely, the stairs were creaky and the roof was leaking. Bill led the teenagers to the veranda and Xana stared at the cobwebs by the edges of the walls.
A creaky sound signified the opening of the door and her attention was drawn to the man in the house.
He was a stout man, large eyed and red-haired. He cleared his throat and swept his gaze over the people in front of him then focused on Bill.
"Come in.", he uttered simply and turned away.
They walked in and couldn't help but sneeze at the dust that greeted them. Bill motioned for them to have seats and they did, not before hesitating.
The red-haired man was not in the sitting room so they waited.
Few minutes later, the man turned up from inside a room and took a seat.
Bill smiled at him while he nodded back.
"To what do I owe this visit?", he began.
Bill nodded at Xana and she began talking.
"Sir, I believe you are a blacksmith and I'm desperately in need of one."
Bill internally bled. 'She shouldn't have been so straightforward!'
The red-haired man turned to her and narrowed his eyes.
'Uh-oh, he does not like her already.' Bill thought.
"Straight to the point. I like that." the man said.
"Call me Old Tim. Many people think I'm crazy and eccentric, but I'm simply irritated at youngster's attitudes and I'm just looking for someone who has a similar attitude with me."
Xana nodded. "Old Tim, it's nice meeting you. I'm Deanna"
"Hmmm, strange name", Old Tim rubbed his chin. "But I like you", he said. He actually liked the calm and straightforward girl. But she was quite ugly though, he thought.
"What do you need this blacksmith for?"
"I have a series of technology that I want to create. The outer coating would be a problem so I need a blacksmith for that." Xana said.
Old Tim narrowed his eyes at her. ' Technology, that was the new term that Ronald man talked about. What makes this local bumpkin think she can do something as amazing as that?' his good view of her started to reduce.
'Some boundaries of your life are set immediately you were born. In a village like this, where does this little seed want to germinate?'
Xana immediately understood his thoughts when she looked at the minor changes in his facial expression and sighed. She did not want old-fashioned thinking like this.
She stared at Old Tim and he did the same. Invisible light rays jammed each other and spark flew.
The others seemed to be watching a mental battle. Very soon, the rays relaxed and Old Tim retracted his gaze. He turned to Bill.
"Good seedling."
Then he swept his gaze over the others.
"I presume these are your friends. Follow me."
Old Tim got up and walked to a black metal door. He opened it using a considerable amount of force and hot air greeted those at his back.
It was the man's smithy.
There were axes and hoes hung by the side and a burning furnace.
"Tell me what you need."
The next three hours were spent with Xana and Old Tim talking about metal coatings and mercenary history. Unknowingly, Old Tim was actually a well informed person. He also didn't come from Acorn village.
While they kept on with their progress, the others retreated to the living room. Max sighed and looked at the ceiling. Sam giggled and Sean smirked. It seemed like Max was definitely bragging about knowing how to handle eccentric old men.
[1] 'Merlin' is a seasonal movie set in ancient times. Soldiers had meetings discussing war tactics before war on a very long wooden table.