A Clobber in the Forge (Zacharyn)

[Bree]

The smile seemed to freeze in place. A chill heat seared through her from her knees up to her head, culminating where his lips had been. She was pretty sure a warrior woman wasn't supposed to go all wibbly over a pretty man. She tried to speak to say goodbye and some errant frog croaked in her throat. Clearing the frog away, she tried again. "Goodbye, Zack." Then her feet and arms betrayed her. She stretched up on tip toe, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to hers. Her lips planted a chaste but well seated kiss squarely upon his and then she let go.

When she regained mastery over her own limbs, she was halfway back to the warder hall. She was shaking all over and intended to retrieve al'Doondieb then find Pete and promptly beat him senseless.

[Zack]

As Ubriel ran away, Zacharyn walked about the forge preparing to begin work on her 'Clobber' as she had taken to calling it. As he walked out to the bellows to begin heating a piece of metal, the beet red color of his face, and the fool grin he was wearing had nothing to do with the forge...or his love of inlaying metals.

"I just might bond that girl one day." he thought to himself.

[Bree]

Nearly a week later, Ubriel opened the letter that had been delivered by the young Soldier. It was addressed in Zacharyn's blocky script and was accompanied with an orange calla lily. Ubriel frowned at the flower wondering how he had found it at this time of year. The letter read,
Ubriel,
Please meet me in the Yards at two hours past high. I have a surprise for you.
Zacharyn

Ubriel thought for a moment and then expectation sent a thrill through her. He must have finished the Clobber and Shield. She spent the hours of the morning with a smile on her face and positively beamed with delight at the anticipated meeting.

[Zack]

The light shone brightly in the early afternoon as Zacharyn finished the last polishing of Ubriel's shield. The "Clobber" had been easy enough. A small, lightweight, axe with a horn as opposed to a beard. Pulling the ensemble together was a gruesome, single helix, spike on the back. He hoped she didn't find out, but Zacharyn actually thought it was kind of bland, and he would never live it down if Bree discovered as much.

The Shield however, was beautiful in it's simplicity. It was small, but just large enough to fit over the full length of her forearm, plus a little extra room so she could buckle her axe to the inside. Slightly ovular, but mostly round in appearance. The Majority of the shield was plate steel, thin but sturdy enough to take a beating whenever it was dealt. Around the outer edge of the shield was a band of bronze. On one half of the shield, the bronze was a lighter shade of earthy orange, the other half a much darker shade. At the split in the colors on the bottom half of the shield, the lighter shade, sweeps up in the shield several inches, still slightly following the curve of the outside. At the top of the shield, is a "rusted" bronze leaf, made green with acid bath. In the dead center of the shield is a stylized peach made of the lighter bronze, and small leaf made of the same "rusted" bronze. When seen at a distance, it's kind of a peach within a peach.

Zacharyn was well pleased with his work, and had no doubt that Ubriel would love it.

[Bree]

Ubriel was stuck sweeping the floor of the library after the shelving was completed. She was there all the time and had notice many nefarious happenings. A couple of novices were studying the lists of runaways and their punishments. That could not be a good sign. Conor had inexplicably set a whole section on fire. Luckily, it had been put out before any really irreparable damage was done. And Ubriel had been there every day to shelve books that had been left out. And who got in trouble?

She had just forgotten the book was under that piece of parchment. She never would have set that mug on it if she had realized. Of course it was completely irrelevant that she had taken the book to her room without permission. It was not her intention to harm the books. Ubriel grumbled to herself as she swept the broom along the base of the shelves in the section on borderlander politics. It was very dusty indeed.

Hearing the bell ring, Ubriel scooped the dirt she had gathered into a bin and deposited the broom back in the closet. Watching carefully for any sign of the brown sister who had assigned her the chore, she stealthily but quickly made her way directly out of the library, into a stair well and out to the yards. She saw Zack standing with his back to her and ran to see what the shiny thing he was holding could be.

As she got closer, she slowed and her mouth gaped. "Zack! That is gorgeous!"