Tal nodded in approval. "Silverwind, a noble name that suits a noble creature." she said admiring the hawk's feathers. What are you doing? You've been summoned by Lord Roland and you are keeping him waiting, we should go. scolded Sepia in Talina's mind. Tal rooled her eyes and looked down at her friend, "I know what I'm doing alright. The oh-so-powerful Lord can wait a few minutes. I don't care." she said grumpily before turning to the boy. "Sorry, she won't leave me alone. It's all to do with some appointment that I am going to hate going to. Has anyone ever trained you in archery before, or did you teach yourself." she said trying to change the topic, but Sepia was having no part in it. Come on, do you want to make your meeting with him even worse by arriving late and being scolded by him later? growled Sepia, pulling on Tal's patience. With a huff, "Fine, fine! Well, I suppose I must go, otherwise she'll never give me any rest. I'll be looking out for you." she said turning to leave. As she did so, Sepia walked close, pressing against her friend's legs. Thank you for doing the right thing. she said softly. Grumpily, Tal lightly pushed her away, "Be gone with you, you manipulating flea bag or I'll give you to the meat maker." grumbled Tal as she issued the false threat.

Zed nodded a thanks to her as he gazed at the wolf. It was majestic in its own way with it's fur color. He smiled. "It's fine, but I guess I wouldn't know. WIndy barely ever talks to me." That's because I prefer watching you mess up by yourself. He narrowed his eyes at his hawk for a second. "I seem to have done well enough. Though I wonder about you." He looked back at Tal. "Sort of. My dad taught both of us the basics of using weapons to see which ones we were naturally drawn to. It just turns out that I had the better aim of the family." He raised an eyebrow at the meeting, wondering what it was about. "Alright, I guess I'll see you around then."

Talina retrieved her bundle and left the area. With Sepia leading the way, the two reached the inner city. Here the crowds thinned and the going was easier. The people here was also better dressed, showing off their decorations. For as how much she didn't care about her appearance, Tal was glad that she had stopped at the fountain to clean up. Finally the two came up to a large manor with white marble walls and pillers. Grumbling to herself, Tal walked up the steps to the door and knocked. A few moments later, the butler opened the door and looked at her questioning. "My name is Talina Cornerstone, I was asked to come here by Lord Roland." she said warily. The butler eyed her for a moment before stepping back and opening the door wide. The two walked in and stopped, looking around at the large entrance hall. The butler closed the door, looking at Sepia with disgust, "I shall go tell My Lord that you have arrived." he said as he walked off, leaving the two to sulk.

Zed watched as Tal walked away with her wolf. The audience idea seemed to stick with him. That was an idea for another day though. He walked back to the delivery center, knowing that he might have ended up with a landfill of orders. Still sweet victory and something to show for it was worth that. He clutched the model in his hand, feeling the detailed engravings. After a short while he was back at the delivery center with the girl from earlier glaring at them. "You owe me. I had to cover like heck for your absence." He grinned. "Well how about I take your's and my deliveries for the rest of the day and tomorrow morning?" She sighed nodding. "It's better than nothing."

Time Jump

Tal stalked out of the manor, Sepia following close behind. "I hate when noble think they can show me off like that. It's so annoying that they think I am just here for entertainment and braging value. I have work to do for goodness sake!" she grumbled loudly as she left the inner city and headed back to her forge. Sepia trotted close behind. I'll admit that they are inconsiderate, but they really do appriciate your work. said Sepia, trying to calm her friend down. "Appreciate?" Tal snorted, "You think they give a rat's ass as to the quality of my work? Please, they only have that armor so they can show it off saying they have a full set of Cornerstone armor. What do they care if it is some of the lightest and strongest armor I've ever made!?!" she complained as she stormed through the busy marketplace where people jostled her, not making her mood any better. Finally, she broke free from the crowd and was able to walk without anyone bumping into her. By the time she reached her forge, she had calmed down and had her temper under control.

"A delivery to the smithing place? No problem I guess." Zed took the parcel from his boss, shoving it into his satchel. What was this about anyway? He walked out the door, reading a slip of directions to the shop. He kept walking, trying to follow the directions to a tee. He hadn't been there before despite being in this town so it might be a bit long. He looked at his hawk for a second before speaking. "See if you can find the blacksmithing store and report back 'kay?" Why? You have directions. "Uhm because it's faster." He heard Silverwind screech before flying off. After seven minutes she came back, attempting to poop on Zed. He ran to the side, getting out mostly unharmed, though his satchel would need washing. "Gee, you sure are a nice bird." After listening to the directions he started walking towards the place. He assumed that the letter would be about taxes or maybe an order of something. Or maybe it could have been an actual letter. He shrugged.

Tal grabbed another iron rod out of the fire and began to shape it. A tap here a tap there and her finished product was dropped into a nearby bucket of water with a hiss of steam. Plunging her hand in, she searched for her work, found it, and threw it in another bucket full of nails just like the one she had just made. Making nails was not glamorous work, in fact for a blacksmith, it was the most remedial work there was. But it had to be done, and there was no excuse around that. Nails were always in demand, and Tal always put aside an hour of her day into making them. She had about three more nails till she would be done. She was on her last nail when the familiar growl and Visiter reached her. Tal was so close to being finished that, instead of turning around when she heard the person enter, she stayed on her work. "I'll be there in a moment, just wait." she called as she worked on the last nail.

Zed nodded as he waited for the person to finish, though the voice seemed familiar. Where had he had he heard that before? He didn't know, but didn't care that much. After all it was just one delivery right? He stared at his bird in silence as he waited for the girl to finish what she was making. "So, got any ideas for the next competition or should we just wait for him?" Silverwind didn't answer back for a minute, just staring back before "speaking". You two haven't sparred in a long time.

Tal finished the nail and threw it in the water bucket. Fishing it out, she placed it with the others as she wiped the sweat off her face. Turning she caught a familiar face. "Ah, you again, funny that you seemed to find me before I found you." she said walking up to him. She actually grinned as she approached, not many people got that. "So what brings you here? You don't look like one to be wondering around a forge on a regular basis."

Zed chuckled, nodding. "Yeah go figure." He smiled back, in a friendly way. It was a pretty big coincidence that they had met up, but they say it's a small town. "Oh right." He opened his satchel, taking out a parcel. "It's for you." He handed it to her before closing it up again.

Tal took the parcel, not taking her eyes off the boy. "So you're a delivery boy? How do you like that job?" she asked as she opened the letter. Glancing at it, "Ah, just another order." she said casually but then her eyes grew wide as she read on, "A rather huge order. My goodness do they actually think that I do all this by myself?" she asked to herself, then looking at the boy. "Do you have any other letter like these that are being delivered to other smithys? Because if not, either someone doesn't like me or we are in for a bit of trouble." she asked, searching him with her eyes.

gotta go, be back later

"It's okay I guess. I can't say being a delivery boy is the best job in the world."Zed scratched the back of his head, his eyebrow raised when he heard of the contents of the mail. "I think I might have a few other letters like this to be delivered, but I'm not sure." He opened his bag searching inside to find three other parcels like it. "It seems like there's going to be a few others to help you out with the order then."

Tal looked at the order again. "This is not good. If those orders are as large as mine, we have a problem on our hands. Someone high up must be expecting a war." she said. "Look at this, swords, shields, arrow heads, spear heads. And once the word gets out, people will be wanting armor." she said, doing the math quickly. "I'm in for a lot of work, I'm going to need some help here and I don't even have an apprentence." She muttered, then an idea struck her. "How about it boy? You willing to help me out? I'd need you to do some leg work, running and getting things, keeping the forge fire going. I'll teach you some smithing, and if you get good I'll even let you make some arrowheads. It'll be hard work, but its rewarding." she said, slightly surprised at her offer. Usually she never asked people to help, especially a person she had only met that morning, but she was taking a shine to this boy.

Zed tapped his chin thoughtfully before answering. Considering the state of the world it wasn't too far fetched, but not in a good way. He had hoped that at least it was ordered paranoia. "Seems better than running around and delivering stuff for others. I'll do it." He'd have to go back and tell his boss that he's getting a new job, but it didn't matter to him. Plus he might get to make some custom knives.

Tal once again surprised herself by sighing in relief. "Fantastic. You better go and tell your boss that you'll be working with me. I also have a spare bedroom that you can use upstairs if you need lodging. I'll take those letters for you, I know the places better than you do and I can get them to the proper people quicker than you. We can save time that way." she said holding her hand out for the letters. "Come back here as soon as you're ready to get your hands dirty." she said, grinning slightly.

"Go ahead." Zed opened his bag, taking out a stack of letters and putting it in Tal's hands. It wasn't much compared to a normal day, but he wouldn't want to spend his day giving them to people. "I will, I will." He walked out of the shop going back to the delivery center. He wondered how hard it would be to be a smithing assistant, but it would probably take more strength than speed. After a short period of time he was at the delivery center and at his boss's desk. "I quit Randy." His boss's eyes widened, probably wondering what and why. "Why would you quit? The pay is good and it's not like I make you my pack mule." Zed shrugged. "I've moved onto different things and it gives me time to help a friend." His boss sighed, nodding. "Fine, I guess I can't make you change your mind, but you aren't getting paid for the rest of day." "I understand Randy."

Tal walked out of the last forge and looked over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'll send some Iron over tomorrow. Good Luck Stefan, I'll see you around." She called to the large smith as she left his forge. Looking down at Sepia, "All this extra work that goes into making these things. We're going to have to leave today if we want to get any work done tomorrow." she said grumpily. "Come on, we might as well be ready when the kid shows up." she said laughing inwardly as she realised that he hadn't given her his name yet. Coming back to her own forge, she entered and climbed some stairs in the back. At the top of the stairs was a landing and the door to her living quarters. Entering, she headed for the small kitchen, grabbing a canvas bag as she went. She began filling it with bread and traveling meat and she put in a flask of water. Leaving the kitchen, she looked at Sepia, who was lounging on the floor, "You better go out back and get ready." she said as she smiled hearing Sepia grumbling as she got up, left the rooms, and headed to the back of the forge.

I updated the Plot, so that there is more explaination to what is really going on...How do you like it?

Zed looked at the sky as he walked back to his home to grab a few things. His boss sat well with his quitting despite the initial reaction which made him happy since it meant that there wouldn't be too much strife whenever he visits. He saw Silverwind fly overhead in silence, again not talking to him. He saw Silverwind land in his shoulder and start to groom her feathers. "Geez, no need to groom yourself that much." At least I groom myself at all. "Touche Windy." He arrived at his home to find that everyone was there.

He passed them all, ignoring his brother's snide remark. He went to his room, stuffing an extra pair of clothes and some extra knives into his bag. He looked at his bird for a second before grabbing a leather glove to wear, lest he get more talon scars. "Hey Zed, where you going?" Zed looked at his dad shrugging. "My job needs me for a while." "For what, so you can avoid competition for a while." Zed forced himself not to respond as he knew that it could spiral into an argument. He cringed as he ran out. Zed walked the rest of the way to Tal's shop, arriving a while later.

Tal was already out in front of the forge when he arrived, she was stacking large baskets and tieing the together with cord. "Ah there you are. I see you got your stuff with you. There's some stairs in the back of the forge, they lead to the living quarters upstairs. Go in and head to the door on the right. That will be your room, it has a large window facing the front so Silverwind can come and go. Once you drop your stuff off, come to the back, we've got a little job to do." she said as she picked up a bundle of baskets and took them behind the forge.

Zed nodded to Tal, idly looking at the baskets. He nodded to her, walking to the back of the forge. He went up the stairs, silently thanking her a bit. At least he had somewhere else to be rather than living with his biggest rival. He opened the door to his room, setting his bag on the floor next to his bed and letting Silverwind onto the out the window. "Looks like for now, you can just fly around and try not to kill any small animals." I doubt I'll ever be that barbaric. He walked out of his room after Silverwind flew outside, going down the stairs and back to where Tal was.

Tal turned as he arrived, "Alright, all set? Here grab on of these baskets and come with me." she said picking one of the bundles up herself. She led him behind a shed where a very large and very dragonlike Sepia was waiting. As she began to fasten the baskets to Sepia's sides using rope, Tal explained what they were going to do. "Since there are such large orders for weapons and such, we are going to have a shortage of iron. So we need to go and get some so we don't run out of it later." she said as she finished securing the ropes. "Alright Sepia, let me up." she said as the dragon crouched, allowing for Tal to climb up and sit at the base of her neck. Tal looked over, "You coming kid?" she asked as she offered a hand down to him.

Zed grabbed the baskets, following Tal until his eyes widened to see Sepia in dragon form. Even though they were common, he didn't always see so many dragons. He did the same as Tal, making sure that the baskets would be held on Sepia's side. After that he grabbed her hand, pulling himself up onto Sepia's back. "Of course." He wondered where they would mine all that iron considering that order, but hoped that wherever it was, the supply would be plentiful.

"Alright Sepia, lets go, hold on tight kid." she said as Sepia spread her wings and rose into the sky. They flew over the other forges, making for the edge of Slverwing, was they went Tal looked over her shoulder, "We're lucky that a caravan of merchants came in last week with a large supply of Iron ore, so that will help a lot," she yelled over the wind. "But chances are that we will need more. We won't be going far, we're also lucky that Silverwing is currently floating near some very large iron mines." she called as they reached the edge of the city where the land just dropped off into nothing. Far below, the war ravaged land lay there, ready to receive the two. "Here we go! WHOOP!" Called Tal as Sepia dived, taking them closer to the ground. The wind rushed by, roaring in her ears. Tal smiled broadly, she always loved this feeling.

Slowly, Sepia leveled off and changed course slightly heading toward a series of large hills. "That's where the mines are," said Tal pointing, "That is where we will find our Iron. People have been mining the iron for a while, but it is still crude and inside the rock. Now our job is to get it out...well, my job is at least. Usually we would melt down the crude iron, and get the ore from it that way, but we don't have time for that. I'm going to use a short cut, you are simply going to gather the Iron ore I extract from the rock and put it in these baskets. Its simple enough." she said as they began to descend into a valley where they could see people moving around, transporting crude iron.

Zed felt the wind around him as Sepia rose from the ground. He turned his head as he saw Silverwing below him. He felt nostalgic of the days that he and Silverwind had flew around. He should do that again sometime. He nodded to Tal, seeing how much different Silverwing was than the land below it. They were luckily away from war after all. As the dragon dived down, he felt a rush of wind, making him grin with excitement. "Woohoo!" As they reached more level altitude he looked around. "Got it Tal." He waited for them to land as he looked downward at the valley where people were moving the iron. He wondered how much iron they were mining and whether or not it was all for the blacksmiths' big order.

The group landed softly and Tal climbed off Sepia's back, Sepia sighing with the weight releved. As they got down, a large man strode up, his huge grin could be seen for miles. "Ah Tal, great to see you again. Back for a resupply?" he boomed. Tal grinned, "Sure thing George." she said, slapping the man on the back. "This here's George, he owns and runs these mines and is a good friend of mine. George, this here's the Kid, he'll be helping me out today. We should be done by nightfall, have your workers line up their tools by then." she said. "That's how we work here. I save them the time and money by extracting the Iron ore myself and then I check over the tools and strengthen them. In return I don't pay. Its a good bit of exchange."