[Polaris]

Ika quickly put Coaxcoach into a large metal trunk underneath the table. "Shhh..." he whispered to it, "I'll get you back in a few moments..." He closed the lid and motioned with his hand and the lid sealed off, leaving no opening to the trunk. Then he called to random hunks of metal he had lying around and quickly formed a hollow cylinder with a small door, just big enough for a human to squeeze through. It was placed right behind his fire stove. "Get in quickly!" Ika urged Zen, prepared to quickly seal the door, "I'll open it once they're gone."

[23]

[Polaris]

Zen's eyebrows tilted worriedly as he considered all that could happen to him while inside such a container, "What about air holes?" But he jumped as someone jostled the outside of the tent, and quickly scurried behind the counter. Tucking himself into the hole- uncomfortably so, but just managing- Zen flashed Ika a nervous thumbs up. Hopefully Ika wouldn't leave him in here to die and run off with his sword.

[24]

[Polaris]

Ika flicked a finger and metal left a small area in the top so the hole was invisible, and covered the opening. Ika went over to the table and grabbed the sword he had been working on making in the fire. He grabbed it with the prongs and stuck it into the flames. Look like an innocent smith...

[24]

[Polaris]

Two men- neither obviously a great brute or hammer wielder, strutted into the room, their sharp chins held high as glittering eyes scanned the room. Surprisingly, they held a slight resemblance to Zen in their skin tone and facial bone structure. "Did a boy come in here? About yae tall, green eyes, brown hair, green undershirt, white over shirt, dark maroon pants?" The taller of the two questioned, moving towards Ika. The other stood back, taking in the surroundings.

[25]

[Polaris]

Ika took the molten hot sword out of the fire as he turned to face the man who was advancing towards him. He held the sword in front of him, it showed he was obviously strong despite the lack of height he possessed. "Man? No, the only person who has come to see me today was the cook, who needed his pots cleaned. Sorry if I'm no help," his voice was soft, as always, but still strong.

[25]

[Polaris]

The man who stood near the entrance walked forward also, ending his movement near his cohort. He appeared more kindly inclined, and murmured under his breath something along the lines of, "Town smith... mage... kid..." and a few other things lost in the sudden outburst outside of the the tent. Another man came in with a crumpled sheet of paper and was smoothing it out carefully. He spoke in a strange language to the taller man, who nodded and followed the new man out of the tent. The shorter one complied , though it seemed he didn't understand what the other men were saying.  

[26]

[Polaris]

Ika watched as the men left, and stuck his head out of the tent, pretending to look not at them, but at the sky, which had started darkening slightly. He turned the sign over so it said CLOSED, and then returned his white haired covered head back into the warmth of his tent. He took a chain that hung from eight flap and welded them together. A flick of his wrist and the trunk popped open and so did the opening to the cylinder where Zen resided. "They're gone..." Ika said, going over to the table and placing the sword back atop it.

[26]

[Polaris]

Zen shakily un-pretzeled himself, gingerly standing up and over to his sword. "Thanks... again," he grasped the hilt, picking it up and sliding it back into its unremarkable leather sheath. "Fewh, I thought I was done for there a moment ago..." he muttered to himself. Rubbing his eyes, which had become tired of being pulled open as wide as possible, Zen started towards the door, but stopped. "So how did you get her to shut up?" he asked,"It won't start ringing again will it?"

[27]

[Polaris]

Ika shook his head, and motioned with his finger for him to come back over. "It will. I heard the men coming, and needed it to quiet down quickly... It's just calm right now. It said its brothers were close by. Do you know what that means?" Ika asked, staring down at the wood plank, because some inner voice still was convinced that Zen would be able to tell that he had been thinking about him...

[27]

[Polaris]

"She.. not it," Zen murmured, bringing the sword out again. "But brothers? What the hell?" Swords have brothers? Are swords even born for god's sake? That would be weird... Looking quizzically at Ika, Zen continued out loud, "I dunno if you're pulling my leg or what..." His face indicated skeptical opinions, which he'd mostly kept to himself.

[28]

[Polaris]

Ika looked up at Zen when he pointed out the gender fact, "I'm surprised to know you are aware of her gender... I left that part out for fear of frightening you anymore than my gift probably does..." He walked over to his bed, and sat down, "I really need to talk to her more though..." Again, he realized how odd that sounded. "Perhaps you would want an explanation before hand however..."

[28]

[Polaris]

Zen laughed, "Frighting me with a gender?" Then he paused as he picked apart that sentence, and winced inwardly, though he hoped it didn't show on his face. Zen followed Ika, and held out Coaxcoach when he mentioned speaking with her more, "Cheyeah I'd like an explanation." He was prepared to sit through such a story, after all, it was probably safer for him to remain in the tent than be outside wandering the streets where those men were bound to be looking for him.

[29]

[Polaris]

"My magic is more than just bending metal to what I please. My ears hear... well, pretty much everything... They are extremely sensitive as well, one of the reasons I don't really enjoy leaving my tent into the busy streets. Why the cook scared me when he called my name... I can hear the metal constantly clinging, and I understand it in clear words. I know what metal wants, and my power is only to give it that. It wants to be a sword, so it becomes one. Something like that... Also, that's why you may have noticed that I don't talk loudly. If I do, then it hurts my own ears..." Ika explained, hoping it would make some sense.

[29]

[Polaris]

“’Kay, so you’ve got magical ear powers? Good enough. You’ve got floaty powers too right, ‘cause I saw you do that to Coa back there…” Zen jabbed his finger over his shoulder, indicating when they’d first met and he’d barged into the tent rather rudely. “Say… can you make people float too? Can you fly?” You could practically see a flood of questions coming on- once Zen got started he didn’t stop ‘till he knew all your relatives, the first pet you had, what was under your bed five years ago and whether you preferred wool or cotton socks. ‘Course he usually knew when to shut up. Emphasis on the usually.

[30]

[Polaris]

Ika sighed. Zen was worse than the towns' people when they found out he had powers. Ika had though Zen was intelligent. "No I do not have floaty powers. No I cannot fly. My powers only concern the metal world." He rolled his eyes silently.

[30]