Albin listened to what Maria had to say.
"You certainly do know how to take care of weaponry. A blacksmith or some sort of craftsman are you?"
Before Albin could open his mouth to speak, the woman spoke more.
"Out here, we must always be alert, should we not? I would rather not spend precious seconds stringing a bow if we are suddenly ambushed by a creature. It would be rather careless to allow ourselves to be so...careless. So thank you for your concern, but it is unneeded. Though...I suppose improper care could cause, rather unfortunate accident to happen during an ambush."
Albin agreed with this woman's reasoning, resulting in a slight nod from him. However, the part that he paid the most attention to was the part about improper care. Albin remembered the one time he tried to make a bow completely on his own. It snapped while he pulled on the string for the first time, hitting himself in the forehead quite hard.
"Not that it's likely. This bow is an Heirloom of house Vicariis, and isn't some weapon that would fail due to someone having it strung for awhile."
Albin thought more about heirlooms. Some nobles would occasionally bring old equipment in for minor repairs and cleaning, if they did not have someone trustworthy to do it. The heirlooms tended to be oddities, really. Worthless, ancient materials (save for the steel weaponry), but somehow better than what they had.
He watched as she nocked an arrow and fired it at the tree.
"See? As good as it was when my ancestors wielded it. Probably better, even. Oh, silly me. Where are my manners. I am Maria Vicariis, of house Vicariis. Let's hope something comes of this venture, shall we? I am quite looking forward to seeing what this expedition holds. What is your name, hmm?"
Albin began to speak. "I am Albin de Fabrica. Not a literal son of a forge, mind you. Though, it also means craftsmanship, and I most likely come from a line of craftsmen, however, that doesn't matter and I digress," he said, "I have no such idea what house Vicariis is, but that might come more from my focus on metalworking and not people."
He smiled as an idea came to his mind. As he recalled, the woman fired the arrow into the tree. Albin would do the same. However, he did not carry a bow with him (not like he knew how to use one) nor did he have arrows. He settled on the next best thing. He closed his eyes and swung around, facing the tree the woman shot at. With one fell motion, he drew his blade, and in the middle of his swing, let go of the blade.
The blade spun around and around. Albin opened his eyes. Oh. There was someone there, picking up the arrow. Albin flinched back; he messed up. As Albin turned away for one brief moment, he heard a solid thunk. He opened one eye slowly. His sword, luckily, had completely missed the man and hit the trunk of the tree instead. Albin turned back to face Maria. "Easy." Albin said. He then coughed and did not acknowledge the fact that he almost gave one of his future companions a budget lobotomy.