Old New York
Amongst the bustling streets that was the ordinarily busy bazaar of the underground city of old, it's infrastructure crumbling from what had once been a wondrous sight to behold, was now where an oddity stood amidst the rushing crowd of citizens going about their shopping. The vendors were rowdy and loud to get the attention of potential customers so they could sell their wares for a good price to take home, their voices carrying farther than the idle chatter of the moving crowd that intricately moved in waves following a current that leads them to where they needed to go like it was second nature.
The process was a seamless act, done without direction or thought.
But there she stood, under the light of the rune-covered lamps that spotted the hanging strings covered in colorful cloth above all of their heads since sunlight was but a myth down in these caves. Her dark blue tresses shinning with a green hue from the yellow of the light blending into it, such is the price of magical light it would seem. Even in the crowded space, there was a small circle around her that people avoided altogether even if it was more convenient not too. Whether it was from fear or respect remained to be seen, as few would look up from the ground in their rushing past to lock gazes with the stoic female. The ones that did could see she was looking past them all and toward the more dingy area, but actually housed businesses were. Rolls of paper clutched in her hand, wrinkled from a fierce grip having crushed it before, but hers was gentle.
The words were familiar, startlingly so. Just from the looks, anyone could place it as the recruitment fliers that had been plastered around detailing the need of people unafraid of journeying to the surface and with skills that would be used to serve the group that they would be tagging along with. Toward the outside of the safety the underworld had given them for most of their lives. The papers were all the same sheet, ripped at different angles from someone having snatched it off where the man who had been putting them up tacked them to whatever he could. He had done an excellent job at that. Even more so at having to put them up in such a way, that in one particular section of the underground city, you couldn't look in any direction without seeing them.
A few surprised whispers mingled in the cacophony that was the normal noise the second her boot-clad feet started walking with purpose in a direct line toward the place specified in those fliers.
The Leaky Grove Tavern and the off-centered signed stuck out almost proudly in protest. The empty circle around her becoming a rounded diamond, people parted out of her way just from her stride and the atmosphere she projected from it despite her lips never once twitching downward in a frown.
The
Ashen Blacksmith was pissed.
What had become the general area of where her home and school resided since she appeared there with the long thought dead teen who dared to risk the outside world in order to bring back a trade that was dying within the stifled, earthen walls. Despite being an outsider, she garnered students who found her place to be their second home as well, and its surroundings had been littered with those papers. Whether it was intentional or not, the journey garnered her attention from more than just the fliers. Her newest students, bless their naiveté, had been clamoring for weeks about it in their free time. The more experienced apprentices knew better, from experience they were aware the world of the sun and the land above was not for the faint of heart or those that hadn't even the foggiest inkling of caution. The new apprentices were but baby deerlings who were stumbling around the craft they wished to learn and already planning to throw themselves to this request despite barely even understanding the concept of forging weapons, let alone how to use one in battle yet.
The second she crossed the threshold of the doorway leading in, she became both blended in and stuck out amongst the customers both drunk and soon to not be sober. Enough to warrant a double-take. The dingy watering hole for spirits and jubilation looked even more so in disrepair from how crisp and clean her clothes were, but she held no air of superiority, only the flickering licks of a fury that wasn't unlike some of the patrons felt when they came in to unwind. A few of whom had even given a nod of recognition her way if they were not holding a drink to raise in her direction as a greeting since in her time there she had garnered some reputation for her trade outside of her teaching.
Only she wasn't there to unwind like them, she had a purpose. Her blue-eyed gaze lingered around the entire interior that she could see as she scanned the room for the specific face who had inadvertently summoned her. Her ears picking up their voice before she caught sight of him despite the music playing and the murmurs of patrons talking. The minute the dark haired male was in her sight, she stopped and solely stared at him, the color of her eyes darkening slightly before she resumed walking over to his table settled in the middle of the billard hall like area in the middle of dirtied bar.
She made it to their table just as both the male she came to see, and his fairer companion had lifted their mugs to their lips for a drink. The table shook slightly as she put the rolled papers onto it, her hand forcing them completely flat against the soiled wood as she addressed the one she had seen placing those damned fliers around.
"Careful now, confidence may be the food of the wise man, but it is also the liquor of the fool. I'm not too sure of which one you may be, but you surely hold boldness in spades." The blue-haired woman says to him, her voice soft much like her features, but clear like a bell despite their surroundings and her full attention on the man known as Kraven as she looked him dead in the eye without ever losing the emotionless expression she had. The act of which warranted a few looks from those who had nodded to her, since she wasn't one to really engage directly with anyone unless prompted, but they were unaware of what was being said. Only the duo at the table could hear her clearly it would seem.
"If you were expecting my students to padden the numbers of your group, they will not be showing up no matter how long you wait." With that she lifted her hand off of the stack to rest by her hip as straightened her posture.
"Now tell me, was it foolish of you or wise, to put these so densely around my residence in particular?"
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