Waiting For Work|Haven, Ilyamen

[Kender Bard]

Ife finally arrives, two well groomed mares in tow. With a hefty pack on his back, and the saddlebags on the horses near to bulging he waves to Amaro and leads the horses over.

"I hope you haven't been waiting too long," he replies amiably.

[Northen Light36]

"Long enough," Amaro mutters, taking one of the horses and eying it over before accepting it and mounting. "Mount up and let's go. You're not the only one with places to be."

[Kender Bard]

Ife bristled but said nothing, mounting up as ordered and having his mare fall into pace behind Amaro's. It was obvious that the noble's feelings had been bruised, though.

After a long moment, he finally spoke up. "Whatever did I do to offend you, sir?"

[Northen Light36]

Amaro rides on in silence for awhile before he decides to answer. "Nothing," he replies simply. "Listen boy, I'm a merc. You pay me, I'll make sure you get where you're going with your skin intact. But I'm not here to be your new best friend." Amaro looks back at Ife. "There are six people in all of Naruta I actually like and a slightly larger group I'd pay for the chance to gut. The rest of the world I just don't give a damn about."

[Kender Bard]

Ife frowned and shifted in his saddle. "Well," he said after a moment of thought, "That's a damn shame." He bit his tongue from there. He was hoping to have a companion with which to lighten the mood of the trip for. Next time he would do his research a little more carefully. For now he simply sighed and looked off to the horizon.

[Northen Light36]

Amaro sighes mentally. He can almost hear Talon scolding him. "What made you decide to go hunting relations in Naurorod?" he asks. "You don't seem the sort who'd want to move into a clan."

[Kender Bard]

"Well, no, I don't," Ife admits, perking up at the chance to break the silence and tedium of the ride. "My grandparents were in a clan though, and the tradition of passing stories along didn't die out. I want to see what my people are like. I'm told I'm nothing like them, culturally, but I'm still curious to find out. Maybe I could even offer my services to them."

[Northen Light36]

"What services are those?" Amaro comments, with only a touch of amusement in his tone.

[Kender Bard]

"I'm a collector," Ife declares with pride. "I'm able to find things of intrinsic value and either trade or sell them for a tidy profit. If my suspicions are correct, the fire types probably have lots of heirlooms that would fetch quite a price on the market, and if they're willing to hear me, I'd be happy to appraise these things for them."

[Northen Light36]

"They might at that," Amaro agrees, although his skeptical. "A collector hmm? My brother, Talon, collects things in his spare time. But mostly junk." Amaro rolls his eyes at that.

[Kender Bard]

"Oh?" Ife murmurs, sounding interested. "Perhaps it's not so much junk. You'd be surprised at the number of things people will buy. I myself enjoy quite a large collection of items that I simply will not part with. They're exotic, sometimes beautiful, sometimes frightening. Each item has a story of its own."

[Northen Light36]

"You definatly sound like Talon," Amaro replies with a slight groan. "I'll admit though, some of his finds have sold for a decent amount. And as long as he's the one lugging around whatever rubbish he finds, I've never cared much." Well, as long as they're talking, Amaro might as well find out more about his companion. "You got any family back in Ilyamen?"

[Kender Bard]

"Mm, my grandmother is there," he said. "My parents are dead." He didn't express a great deal of emotion; the situation was an old one and he'd already gotten all his mourning done. "Ever been to Naurorod?"

[Northen Light36]

"Once," Amaro replies. "We didn't stay that long though. But I think Talon and I had been just about everywhere in Naruta by the time Talon decided to settle down."

[Kender Bard]

"Your brother and you sound very close," Ife noted with a smile. "Do you have any other family?" He gently urged his mare to come a little closer alongside Amaro's. He wasn't going to ride abreast yet, since Amaro seemed a very standoffish guy and Ife was enjoying the conversation, but he didn't want Amaro to have to strain his voice or crane his neck to carry on the conversation.