18 Elf vs... Elven?-18

Hamish stood in the plaza outside the Association, eating a toasted fish on a stick.

"Oh, it's Hamish!" Layla said excitedly, hopping over while the others smiled and followed.

'So she's the type who's awake in an instant...' Pedro grumbled internally about "those damn morning people", but was generally in a good mood thanks to having his hangover cured.

"So first things first, lets get some weapons for you kids."

Kai glances at the sky. 'Why do I feel like that sentence has too many things wrong with it to even criticize?'

They followed the Bearkin to the blacksmith, and he paused outside of it.

"Now... since you're otherworlders, you might be unaware, but be respectful to the owner of this shop. Understand?"

They all exchanged glances. Finally Helena turned to him. "Can you... explain?"

Hamish breathed deeply, and they realized he genuinely seemed... nervous? More like he was about to see a lord than a blacksmith!

'If people feel this way about the blacksmith then wouldn't he have no business?' Pedro wondered.

"The man who owns the blacksmith is an elf. An actual elf! So... be respectful. To meet one of the ancient races is something most people can't do in their lifetime. He's faster and stronger than you think, can use magic like breathing, and is centuries old. So... be respectful."

Michael blinked his shutters, and the tiny click was about the only noise made.

"...uh. We had an elven druid among our number... with that party with the big red tiefling?"

Hamish shook his head. "No, you... agh. It's different okay? That guy was just of elvish blood and had the general appearance and was halfway between the beastkin and fae bloodlines. An actual primordial elf is... well you'll see."

Kai frowned. 'Okay... LOTS of hidden lore there. Primordial elf? Beastkin and fae bloodlines? We're beastkin and the fae once one race? Are we descended from the elves?'

He opened the door and walked in, back straight, and Helena shrugged to the rest before following, Xandra stepping in silently while Michael patted the once-again nervous Layla's back. "Don't worry, he's probably not that scary. Elves should be beautiful after all, right?"

Layla nodded as if to convince herself, while Pedro and Michael went, and Kai gently pushed her to help her take the first steps into the shop.

A table in the center of the room, racks along the walls, barrels with sheathed weapons filling them and poking out, bows and arrows along the wall to the left while all manner of large weapons like spears and halberds filled the right.

The back had a counter with a swinging door to the side to go behind it, and the counter had a display area with many smaller weapons like knives, arrow heads shining with mystical colors and luster, and a few scrolls and loops of wire.

Kai looked around curiously. "This is certainly a weapon shop... but I don't see any blacksmithing area?"

If this ancient elf is a blacksmith, where was his forge?

Hamish walked to the counter, and knocked his knuckle against the dark wood.

"Pak-pak-pak!"

"Yello."

"WHAT THE-?!"

Helena yelped as she jumped at someone suddenly standing behind them!

They turned quickly, freezing in surprise.

A sculpture.

That's the first thing their minds thought.

Hair of metal wire, dark gray steel.

Silvery skin with eyes that looked as though made of solid gold, with the iris being white gold while the "whites" of his eyes were just yellow gold.

He was slender, with a straight nose and sharp jaw, and his ears...

The elven druid from before had sharp ears, as though his ears simply had been pulled slightly longer with a sharp point to the corner, a lord-of-the-rings-style look.

This elf... his ear stuck out as a narrow triangle straight out from his head, not an extension of the ears everyone else had, but completely different, extending at least 2-3 inches from his head!

<Silver Elf Weapon Designer>

Kai remembered... 'That other guy was a <Elven Dream Druid> right? Does that mean that he was Elven, but not an actual elf? The line seems blurry, what with the name being the same, but it's so very clear they're two distinct races!'

Not just from appearance, but aura.

He felt like a sword, sharp, clean, and austere.

A statue is what they first thought he must be... because no living person should feel so absolute in focus and perfect presence.

At this moment, everyone in the party, who also had a bad impression of that elven dream druid thanks to his actions, had completely written him off as a fake elf!

"These are the otherworlders?" He spoke in a gentle voice, with a slight "shing~" to the end of his words as those a blade being unsheathed with every consonant and vowel.

Hamish nodded, sorta half-bowed.

"Yes Morain... this is a group of the otherworlders that came to Thunderclaw recently."

He looked at each of them, and smiled with a slight wit to it, as though he knew secrets none of them could, like he saw through them.

He looked to Kai. "Trust what you're eyes see, that others do not."

Kai blinked. 'What?'

The only thing like that he could think of was that green pillar of light on that island-

He moved on, as Kai fell into a puzzled state.

"Follow not the wind, but the rain, and you will find the place of your awakening." He said to Pedro, leaving the parrot just as confused.

"Your strength is not you steel, but the life beating under it. Never mistake which takes priority." Michael took a ste back uncertainly, and the girls began to back away as he turned to them.

"The extreme of sound is silence." Layla blinked. 'That's... it?'

"Sometimes you have to let others suffer to truly protect them." Xandra scowled silently at the elf, annoyance at his cryptic nature in her mind.

"And... do not fear your fate child. You shall always be alongside those you love."

Helena blinked, taking a step back as fear flashed through her. "What... what is that supposed to mean?!"

Morain smiled, teeth of iron gleaming brightly. "It means what may be, is, and what is may be. It means that the impermanence of time has a vested interest in you, and as otherworlders you should never believe in coincidence, for coincidence is merely the worlds whispers."

He turned to glance at Kai. "And one who walks with spiritkin will always find themselves in exotic circumstance."

The party looked to each other, trepidation and confusion in all their eyes, as the silver elf walked to the swinging partition and pushed it open, coming behind the desk.

"I do not have any powers of prophecy, before you ask. I merely see that which you ignore."

Pedro shut his mouth he had just opened to ask that very question.

"Now, what can I get for you? Unfortunately the Association only does the credit for basic weapons, and none of you really need anything large, so..." Morain spread his hands helplessly. "You can choose one of that barrel, or let me take some measurements and give my own advice?"

Silence reigned as they all still processed what in the hell was going on, a few looking to the equally helpless Hamish.

Michael stepped forward, and the silver elf winced a bit, a somehow graceful twitch of his brows as he sucked in a slight breath, full of apologetic tone before he even spoke.

"I'm sorry, but to design weapons to be inbuilt within your frame is outside the credit the association provided, so I can only give you held weapons for now."

Michael blinked, his shutters snapping in a "click". "You can design weapons to be... built into me?"

Morain smiled slightly, tilting his head with a puzzled look. "Well yes. That is what a Warframe is meant for, to be modified and endlessly upgraded with new materials and weapons."

Michael nodded slowly, thoughts filling his head. "Well... get me a basic sword for now I guess? I dunno if size matters too mucch here..."

Morain chuckled, a sound like many soft impacts of steel being dropped on steel echoing underneath his laugh. "My dear, anyone who says size doesn't matter clearly doesn't have enough."

He turned to the side, continuing. "But unlike the size most consider with such an expression, with a weapon length matters more than width."

Helena narrowed her eyes in confusion, lifting a finger. "I... doesn't... isnt length what matters down there?"

Kai rolled his eyes at her, and Hamish laughed. "Please, you get over 3 inches of length and your already fine. It's thickness that really matters for making them feel nice and full." Hamish's words led to Layla and Helena blushing furiously while Pedro and Kai stifled laughter in the background.

"Quite, though I do wish you could be more subtle about your experiences." Morain spoke softly as he rifled through a barrel of blades, and Hamish cut his laughter as he paled slightly. "Ah... sorry. Sir."

"I am a weapon maker now Hamish, nothing more. Your fear is unwarranted."

Hamish just smiled politely without responding, and Morain sighed slightly.

Layla curiously popped her head over the edge of a barrel, looking into it and considering what was inside.

She flicked a blade with her nail, listening closely.

"Mister elf, you're kinda weird." She finally said, looking at Morain, who lifted his head with a curious expression.

"Oh?"

"How can sound be silent? See! You make sound and it's loud, not silent! It only gets silent when the sound fades away!"

Morain smiled with a knowing look, as though relishing his own mysterious tones. "How do you know the sound has faded, if the sound IS silence?"

"But... silence is the lack of sound, the opposite, not another kind of sound!"

He shrugged. "If that is what you believe."

Michael tilted his head slightly. "I do not understand."

"She is the only one who will ever need to, for now." Morain simply said, pulling out a simple unadorned two-handed blade.

"Well... the nature of how the extreme of something is simply it's opposite is something all of you could learn, but it matters little."