"Come back when you actually have the money."
Rain slowed at the doorway as a man in a worn jacket stood at the counter, shoulders tight, like if he kept talking long enough the answer would change.
"I told you I'd pay later," the man snapped.
The shopkeeper didn't match his tone. He just shook his head once, calm but firm.
"And you told me that last time. I'm sorry, but I can't do that." He stepped aside instead of blocking him, giving the man space to leave without making it a show.
The man scoffed and turned sharply, nearly walking straight into Rain.
"Move," he muttered, then louder, "Get out of the way."
Rain shifted aside without reacting. The man brushed past him, shoved the door open harder than necessary, and the bell rang sharply as he stormed out.
"...Sorry about that," the shopkeeper said immediately, already reaching for a cloth like he wanted to wipe the moment out of the room.
"I hate starting a day like that. Makes the whole place feel off." He wiped the counter once, then again, then glanced up.
"Anyway. I'm Oren Valek. I run the shop." He paused, then kept going without meaning to.
"I Fix most of what comes back broken. And yeah, I talk a lot when it's slow."
Rain blinked, clearly confused."...Okay."
Oren smiled like he'd expected that exact response. "You don't talk much, huh? That's fine. Quiet customers usually either know exactly what they want or have no idea at all. We'll figure it out." He nodded toward the racks without stopping. "Are you buying or looking around?"
"Umm... Just looking around," Rain said.
"Okay," Oren replied, and kept going without losing pace. "Looking fine," he said. "No need to rush it. People grab the first thing they touch, and that's how they end up back here annoyed." He gestured toward the nearest rack. "Start here. Standard steel. It's light and easy to maintain. Cheap enough that you don't panic every time it scrapes something."
Rain stepped farther inside and picked one up, testing the weight with a short swing. The shop was bright and orderly, racks spaced instead of packed, blades sorted by length and balance rather than decoration. Nothing rare sat out in the open, but nothing looked cheap either, and everything had been kept clean enough that the metal didn't smell stale.
Oren kept talking, watching Rain's hands instead of his face. "Most of those are plain material. Some have a small mix of reinforced ore. Nothing rare. It helps the edge last longer, but it adds weight, so people notice it later. They always notice it later."
Rain lifted another blade and swung once. His brow creased slightly. "Feels heavy."
"Yeah," Oren said easily.
"That mix does that. Some people like it. Makes them feel solid. Others get tired halfway through the day and start blaming the sword instead of their arm."
Rain set it back and moved down the rack, picking up a shorter sword next. He tested it once, then again, slower the second time, and paused.
The bell chimed again as Elara stepped inside. She glanced around the shop, then spotted Rain and walked over.
"i should've guessed," she said.
Rain glanced at her. "You say that like it's strange."
"Well.. a little," she replied. "You don't usually wander."
Oren glanced between them and smiled faintly, then continued. "That one you're holding's refined steel. No rare mix. Cleaner material."
Rain tested the swing again. "It feels steadier then the one I have."
Elara leaned in slightly, watching his wrist. "You're not adjusting it."
Rain frowned. "...Yeah."
'That's usually the first thing people notice," Oren said, still talking. "When they stop fixing the blade mid-swing. Saves effort over time." He paused only long enough to catch Rain's eyes. "And if you're tired, you want fewer things fighting you."
Rain hesitated. "I don't want anything expensive."
"You're not even near expensive," Oren replied, and there was no judgment in it. "Rare material stayed out of sight. Different prices, different headaches. You don't need that." He gestured toward the blade Rain was holding. "This is a good choice for someone who actually plans to use it."
Oren tilted his head. "Oh yeah.. I didn't catch your name."
"Rain," he said. "Rain Ardent."
Oren paused mid-sentence. "...Rain?"
"Yeah." He replied
"As in rain?" Oren continued, eyes bright with honest curiosity. "Like the weather? Falling out of the sky rain?"
"That's the name," Rain said. "Yeah."
Oren chuckled, clearly amused. "Huh. That's new. Easy to remember, though." He waved it off like it didn't matter and kept going. "Alright, Rain. You've got a good eye."
Rain tested the blade once more, then nodded. "I'll take it."
Oren smiled like he'd been waiting for that and reached for wrapping cloth. "Good. Quiet decisions are usually the right ones."
While Oren wrapped Rain's blade, Elara drifted toward the far rack and picked up a narrow sword, testing it once, then again.
"This one stays stiff," she said.
"Oren glanced over. "Mixed steel. Still common material. Stiffer spine." He spoke like he was explaining it to himself as much as to her. "Good for holding position. Don't bend much when you catch weight."
Elara looked at Rain. "I wasn't planning to buy anything, but I'll take it. It's perfect for me."
Oren wrapped hers as well, then slid both bundles across the counter. "Free sharpening for a year. If something feels off, come back early. Don't wait until you hate it."
Rain and Elara nodded. "Alright."
Oren leaned on the counter again, still not finished. "And just so you know, since I'm already talking-if you're switching to something new, don't try to force it to feel right on the first day, People get weird about that. They think one swing should answer everything."
Elara smiled. "Do people actually do that?"
"All the time," Oren said.
"They walk in, swing once, and decide their whole life. Then they come back mad at me for it." He shrugged like he'd made peace with it years ago. "Anyway. Enjoy the rest of your day."
They stepped out of the shop together, the door closing behind them with a softer sound than rain expected. The street opened up immediately, pale stone stretching wide in both directions, water running in narrow channels cut cleaning into the road, catching the late light and breaking it into moving lines that followed them as they walked.
The city felt nothing like the lodge. There was space here—real space—not just a room to stand, but room to breathe. Buildings rose high without pressing in, their surfaces light instead of dark, banners hanging loose between arches, shifting gently with the wind instead of snapping. People passed by without looking twice at them, not judging, just moving like they belonged, like the streets had room for everyone and none of it needed to be earned.
Elara noticed him looking around.
'Different, right?" she said, not stopping, her hands folded loosely in front of her instead of resting near her sword.
"Yeah," Rain said. "It's... a lot."
She smiled a little at that, the kind that didn't need to be sharp or controlled.
"You should've seen me the first time I came here. I kept staring up and almost walked into someone."
Rain glanced at her. "You?"
She shrugged, light and easy. "I'm allowed to be normal sometimes."
They walked a bit farther, the sound of the shop fading behind them, and Rain found himself thinking about it without meaning to. "That guy talked a lot."
Elara laughed quietly. "A lot."
"I don't think he stopped once," Rain added.
"No, he didn't," she said, amused. "I thought he'll never stop. And you just stood there like you were confused or something."
He huffed. "Hey... I was listening."
They passed under another arch, light spilling down through the open stonework above, and Elara slowed again, this time clearly on purpose. She looked up at the way the sunlight caught along the edge of the buildings, how it reflected off the water and onto the stone walls, her expression easing in a way Rain wasn't used to seeing during training or missions, like her shoulders had dropped and stayed down.
"I like this part," she said. "When it's not loud yet. Before everyone starts rushing."
Rain watched her instead of the street. "You don't act like this back at the lodge."
She glanced at him sideways. "Like what?"
"Relaxed," he said. " You're always.. on there."
Elara made a face. "Because there's always someone watching. Or listening. Or expecting something."
"And here?"
She gestured vaguely around them, the open street, the people passing without care. "Here no one cares who I am. I can just walk."
Rain nodded slowly. "It fits you."
She stopped walking. Rain almost ran into her.
She turned to face him, brows drawn slightly together. "What?"
He hesitated, then said it anyway, simpler than before. "This. You. It fits you more than I thought."
For a second, she just stared at him, then shook her head and laughed under her breath. "You're bad at explaining things."
"I know," Rain said.
"But I get what you mean," she added, and she didn't sound annoyed. "You always think I'm just ... soldier Elara."
"Well... aren't you?" he asked.
She stepped closer as they started walking again, her shoulder brushing his for just a moment. "That's not all I am."
Rain didn't answer.
They kept moving, side by side now, their pace naturally matching, the city continuing around them in quiet motion. Somewhere behind them, the sound of the shop was gone completely, replaced by footsteps and water and distant voices, and for the first time since the fight, the world didn't feel like it was closing in.
They didn't plan to find the others. It just happened the way it did in a real city, turning a corner and seeing familiar faces where they didn't expect them.
Stephen was the first Rain noticed, sitting on the low edge of a fountain with his shield beside him, staring at the water like he'd been there a while. Mira stood a few steps away near a stall, holding a small bundle while she listened to a vendor explain something she didn't really need explained.
Elara spotted them too. "Looks like we weren't the only ones who ended up outside." Rain nodded.
Mira saw them and lifted a hand. "There you are."
"Were you looking for us?" Elara asked.
"Not really," Mira said. "But I'm not surprised you showed up here. The city pulls everyone into the same places."
Stephen looked at them. "You guys get what you were looking for?"
Rain and Elara lifted their bundle. "Yeah"
"Good." He replied.
Kai was nearby, a little off to the side, "Is that shorter?"
"Yeah," Rain replied. "It feels better."
Kai nodded once, like that was enough, and went back to checking his grip, attention already returning to the blade in his hand. Mordred's voice cut in from the side, rough but not sharp. "Took you long enough."
"It wasn't a race," Elara said.
"Clearly," Mordred replied.
Zedric showed up last, hands empty, grin already in place as he looked around the group. "Huh. Everyone's still standing. That's a good sign."
Mira shot him a look. "Don't ruin it, Zedric."
Zedric laughed softly. "Relax. I'm behaving."
They stayed there longer than any of them needed to, not because there was something to do, but because there wasn't. The square filled and emptied around them, lanterns lighting one by one as the day slipped toward evening, and for once no one felt like they had to move just to keep up.
Lin broke the quiet eventually, his voice lower than before. "So. Tomorrow."
Everyone nodded. "Yeah"
"At least today's ours," Zedric replied.
Rain looked around at the open space, the light in the water, the way the city kept moving without asking anything from them.
"Yeah," he said. "It is."