From the Ashes
Chapter 14
"You've got to be kidding me..." Nix grumbled, staring up at the pass towards the peak. "We have to get up there?"
"Yes, now stop complaining. You were the one who wanted to come along," Dust said.
Nix sighed in defeat. "Well, at least there's a path."
"As much of one as we can get," Dust stated, stepping onto the trail. "But it's not exactly a well worn road, so be careful."
"I am so glad I can fly..." Fidget said for the umpteenth time that day.
The trail started smooth but slowly wound upwards in a steep slope that had them slipping and sliding on the loose dirt. They occasionally took rests at the level areas, but soon, they were climbing once more. A few times, they actually had to climb straight up a cliff. Ginger had been terrified, but after some coaxing from Nix and Dust, she managed to scale them.
"Wow..." Ginger whispered, staring out at the land, halfway up the pass. "It's beautiful..."
"It is," Dust said. "It only gets better. Just wait until we get to the top."
Ginger nodded, smiling slightly. It seemed as though the view would be her motivation for reaching the forge. Nix just looked like he wanted to conquer the pass. Dust wanted to get this over with. He didn't mind so much as he couldn't stop thinking about Haley. Would she hate him for disappearing for a year?
They began to climb once more, Ginger occasionally glancing over her shoulder to stare out into the distance.
"Is that Aurora Village over there?" She asked, halfway up a cliff.
"Quit staring!" Nix cried from below her. "Keep climbing!"
"Oh! Right!" She went back to pulling herself up the pass.
The group continued their climb, stopping for an occasional rest. When they finally pulled themselves up the final ledge and into the forge, the first thing they saw was Matti pumping the bellows. His jaw dropped slightly and he turned around to give Haley a sharp tug on the back of her apron.
"What is it, Matti?" Haley asked just as her brother pointed towards them. She turned to look, her eyes widening when she realized they had guests. In a flash, her eyes skimmed over the newcomers but she stopped on Dust.
"Dust?" She asked, her eyes widening.
"Yeah, hello Haley." Dust said, smiling weakly.
"Where have you been?!" She cried. "You haven't contacted me at all!"
"I'm sorry, I've been...busy."
Haley made a humphing noise, her lips curled in a scowl. "You even had a receiver too."
"I might've lost that..." Dust realized, running a hand through his hair.
"Along with your hat," Haley said.
"Yeah that too..."
Haley sighed and finally put a smile on her face. "So, what are you here for?"
"Business," Dust merely said.
"Aww, I was hoping you were just coming to visit," her voice was teasing, but Dust had a feeling she was serious. "But okay. What do you need?"
"Weapons and armour."
"Marching off to war?" Haley asked, still smiling.
"No, we have a long journey and there are a lot of monsters around."
"Mm, that sounds about right. Alright, so armour and weapons for you?"
"I don't need a weapon personally. I have Ahrah. Nix came here for a sword, and I guess we all could use some armour."
"Something sturdy? Or something more suitable for travelling?"
"Travelling."
Haley nodded. "I think we can manage. But first, you guys probably had a long climb. Take some time to rest a bit. I'll get something to eat. Matti, keep working on that commission of yours!"
Matti rolled his eyes and grumbled, returning to pumping the bellows.
Haley stepped into her house, returning with a pile of snacks for them all to share. The group introduced each other and Matti finished the sword he'd been working on by the time they'd come up with exactly what they wanted to make. By that time, however, the sun was beginning to set, marking the end of Haley's work day. They'd have to stay the night. Dust had an odd feeling she'd deliberately stalled to half force them to stay longer.
Haley had a large room in her house for anybody who stayed the night while she was working on something they'd ordered. Ginger and Nix sighed in relief at the sight of the many beds, flopping down onto them and falling asleep within minutes. Dust however, had a much harder time falling asleep. Besides, he still had to arrange payment with Haley for the commissions.
Haley was outside taking inventory on her stock. She turned as Dust approached, a bright smile crossing her features.
"Hey, Dust! How are you?" She asked.
"Alright, you?" He replied.
"About the same as always." She said. "I expected you to be sleeping already."
"Everyone else is. I still have business to attend to."
Haley clicked her tongue. "Business as always. So what was it you needed to talk about?"
"You never told me how much the equipment will cost."
"Well, with all the materials and labour, it'll come out to around twenty thousand gold."
Dust expected that. The materials they were using to craft the armour and weapons were difficult to come by.
"I have some materials myself," Dust said. "Would that drop the price a bit?"
"As always," Haley said. "What do you have?"
Dust showed Haley the materials he'd collected through his travels. He had some rare materials Haley needed for other projects, so he gave them over in exchange for dropping the price. By the time they'd done haggling, the price had dropped to thirteen thousand, which was still rather steep for Dust's standards. He wouldn't have a problem paying for it, but he was determined to get the lowest price he possibly could. He enjoyed haggling anyway.
"Okay, I'll tell you what," Haley said, smiling. "I'll drop the price to ten thousand if you promise to come back more often and not disappear for a year or so."
"I...can't exactly promise that," Dust said, glancing away.
"Do you hate me that much, Dust?" Haley asked, pouting playfully.
"No, I just-"
"I'm just teasing you. Relax. I understand if you're busy. It's all right." Haley looked a little sad, but she seemed to be coming up with other things to get out of Dust before they left. "How about...you give me a hug instead?"
"A-A hug?" Dust stammered, feeling his face burn. Why would she want a hug?
"It would make up for your year-long disappearance too," she said in a slight singsong voice.
"H-Haley..." Dust felt a little awkward at that moment.
"So what do you say?" Haley asked, still looking as though she was just playfully teasing.
After another moment of confusing thoughts, Dust finally gave up. After all, it couldn't hurt.
"Fine." He said, his voice coming out stiffer than he'd intended. Did girls really make him feel that uncomfortable?
Haley grinned and hugged him, making his face burn again. Dust lived up to the deal he'd just made and hugged her back, feeling even more awkward than before. This was just way too weird. But in a strange way, he sort of...liked it.
When Haley finally broke the hug, she was still smiling. "You know," she said suddenly. "You don't look half bad without the hat."
Dust's face burned again as he glanced away, scratching the back of his neck.
Haley merely giggled. "Alright, so ten thousand for the whole deal. I'll get started at the crack of dawn. I'll need to take measurements of you and your friends so I know how big to make the armour though. It's never very good unless it's a snug fit, after all."
Dust merely nodded.
"You can head off to bed now. I still have to finish taking inventory."
"Oh, right. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work."
Haley merely laughed. "It's alright. Goodnight, Dust!"
"Goodnight, Haley."
...What had he just done?
...
Haley didn't wake them up gently the next morning.
She barged into the room, clanging a wooden spoon against a pan, shouting at the top of her lungs that she'd made breakfast and it would all be gone unless they got up now. Needless to say, Nix was in a bad mood for the next half hour. He grumbled worse than Matti as he ate his breakfast, and only recovered when he was fully awake and out in the fresh air.
Haley wasted no time getting to work. She pulled out a long measuring tape and a clipboard and began taking measurements, starting with Ginger. She measured everything from her chest, to her stomach, to the length of her arms, and width of her neck, marking down the measurements as she went. Nix came next, but seeing as he was getting a sword made for him, she did extra measurements, including making him lift some weights to test his arm strength. Nix struggled to lift the lightest weight Haley handed him, making her frown in confusion. He would need a lot more training if he was going to lift the sword he would soon be wielding. He'd only used wooden ones up until this point.
Dust tried not to feel uncomfortable as she moved onto him. She seemed to linger around him much longer than necessary, her hands brushing him slightly as she took the measurements. Dust really hoped it was just accidental. He convinced himself it was, because otherwise he would've been ready to go straight back down the mountain via the express elevator down the sheer cliff. Never in his life had he felt so...he couldn't name the feeling. It wasn't fear, but it wasn't happiness either. It was a mismatch of feelings that made him feel confused and almost sick to his stomach. He could still remember what Fidget had said about Haley liking him. By now, he knew exactly what she had been talking about. Those... 'signals' Fidget had mentioned were quite obvious now. He didn't know why he hadn't seen them before.
"Well, this might take some time." Haley said. "So either stay here until they're ready, or I'll give you a new receiver since Dust lost his."
Dust wanted to say they would just go, but he couldn't bring himself to.
"I think we'll just stay here," Ginger said.
Haley looked delighted. Dust now knew why. The blacksmith was not ready to see him leave Archer's Pass anytime soon.