(Apologies for the delay. Real life happened.)
While the two were discussing their business, Xhai was browsing the weapons lined up on the back wall of the shack. His intention was to find something he could keep hidden, and then use as a surprise back-up weapon whenever his scythe wasn't an option, but so far nothing had caught his eye.
He was broken out of his musings when the shack door opened again, and a silver-haired girl with a large sword strapped to her back poked her head in inquisitively. She cast a brief glance around the shop, and her face lit up when she saw Xhai. Pulling her scarf down, she hurried over to him, not even trying to disguise the huge grin on her face. Xhai smiled back as she stopped in front of him and started bouncing on the balls of her feet, clearly excited about something.
"Hey Aaru. What's got you in such a good mood?"
The girl - Aaru - plunged a hand into a holster strapped to her thigh and produced a kunai attached to length of chain. The blade gleamed under the light, and was clearly brand-new. Xhai gave an appreciative whistle at the quality of the weapon, but something was niggling at him.
"Nice......who did you steal it from?"
Aaru's face fell, and she frantically mimed something to him, ignoring the strange looks she was getting from the other people in the room. Xhai paused for a moment while he interpreted what she was trying to tell him.
"You....bought it?"
Before Aaru could respond, another voice spoke up, seemingly from nowhere. It had a vaguely echo-y quality to it, as though the speaker was at the other end of a very long tunnel.
The weapon was indeed acquired honestly. The required coin, however...The voice trailed off in disgust, and Aaru glanced over her shoulder at the sword on her back and pouted. Xhai ran a palm over his face and sighed.
"You stole someone's wallet to pay for that, didn't you?"
Aaru at least had the decency to look somewhat ashamed, but quickly mimed something else in response. Xhai blinked.
"You're telling me you bought that thing with money you stole from a
drug dealer?"
More frantic nodding from Aaru, and the disembodied voice spoke again.
She is speaking the truth. While I still feel such an act was entirely dishonorable, at least she did not steal from an innocent. Perhaps there is hope for her yet.Aaru's gaze flickered between the sword and Xhai's stunned expression, and eventually settled for sticking her tongue out at him and looking away in an exaggerated "Hmph!" motion. Xhai rubbed the back of his neck, and shot Aaru a wry grin.
"C'mon now, I didn't mean it like that, and you know Leo doesn't approve of your....
habits. Just....make sure you get your money's worth out of that, OK?"
Aaru's head snapped back round as he said those words, and a small smile formed on her lips as she nodded her assent. Xhai turned back towards the weapon display as Aaru pulled her scarf back over her face. He was interrupted again by a sharp jab to his ribs, and looked back to find Aaru jerking a thumb towards the other occupants of the room. Both of them were staring wide-eyed at the pair.
An awkward, extended silence followed.....
(A talking sword? What the heck, right?
As an aside, I'm working on getting visual depictions of all three of my characters. I can't draw for toffee, though, so I'm using Soul Calibur III's Create-A-Character mode to do this. Unfortunately, most of the custom gear is locked away in story mode, so it'll be a while before I get everything I need.
That, and it'll be the
closest approximation I can get with what the game gives me. Still, better than nothing, right?
)