Heavenly Shae

Chapter 24: "Spreading the Wealth."

Shae took her time leaving the Inn. She first found the plate of food outside her room and with it she found her hunger, neither lasted long. Second she noticed the time of day and changed her plans. She had to find a woodworker or two, and couldn't wait until night time again. So, she asked around the Inn as she left.

Leaving with her bundle of sticks, she approached the monks. "Wise Kwan, Wise Yungfan, apologies but I have some errands to run." She presented her bundle.

"Ah, that is fine. We didn't expect to monopolize your time. Do you need a hand with anything?"

"Hmm, only if you have a plant specialist?"

Yungfan shook her head.

"Ok, see you around!"

Shae found the first carver on the next street over and approached him. "Hi, I have some golden larch from the mountain."

He waved her over and looked at the bundle. "Ugh, just sticks." He frowned. "I usually work with larger pieces, could give you a few copper, but try Denfan, on third." He pointed down the road.

She thanked him and moved on. This repeated a few times, until she almost got a sale, but was turned away again when the woman found out she had a tax receipt. "This wouldn't cover the taxes. You'll want to try the bowyer. He'd be near to the only one who can give you a solid identification."

Shae sighed heavily and moved on after thanking the woman running the shop.

The bowyer's shop was on the edge of the market district, only separated by chance of what side of the wall he was on. She had heard about him a few times, but the distance put him lower on her list. Other cons were the bandit archer's comment saying they wouldn't be good for arrows, and a few of the other merchants had said he was grumpy.

"Hello?" She called into the empty shop.

She wandered around for a few minutes, appreciating the workmanship of the bows on display. A variety of different woods in different sizes. Some had intricate carvings along them. Yet the man never showed himself. The few arrows that were on display suggested that all her sticks could make only a handful of good arrows, if someone wanted to bother with the wood at all.

Shae eventually decided to just invade his workspace.

As she pushed through the canvas covering the back room, she caught a strong smell of freshly cut wood. The dusty smell was a significant difference from the oils and lacquers in the showroom. Knocks on the doorframe with her knuckle produced a satisfyingly sharp series of cracks.

She rounded the corner and saw an older man on a sawhorse straddling a half carved bow. He was carefully inspecting it then shaving small pieces off with a drawknife. She waited at the edge of his space, giving him time to finish.

He finally stopped, slowly climbing off the bow-horse, his movements showed his age and joint pain. He looked back at her and spoke with forced enunciation, "You always waltz into where you're not wanted?"

"Not wanted? Hmmm, and here I thought this was a place of business. You would want customers, wouldn't you?"

"The shop's out front, not back here." He grumped, without looking up from servicing his tools.

"And yet, the merchant is back here, not in the shop."

"Hardly. The boy is supposed to handle the merchandise."

"Boy? The place was empty."

"Eh? Dammit." He stomped his way over to a side door and leaned out it, "Boy! Stop slacking!" No response came and he walked back to his workpiece. He looked at Shae again. "Ya want a job?"

"Working out front? No, I promised myself I would never work retail again. Too stressful."

"Shop's empty most of the day, how's that stressful?"

"Well, good shops are not usually that empty."

"Eh? What do you think you're saying about my shop?" He leaned closer and gave her a dirty look.

"Ah, so you do have some pride in your business, good!" She snarked. "I'm here because no one else in town seems to know what to do with this." She pulled her bundle off her back and opened the top revealing the tips of a few branches.

"Golden larch? Really, no one wanted it? What did ya do, half burn then rot the rest?" He waved her over to a half empty workbench. She made it there first and placed the bundle in the open area. He caught up and cleared the rest of the space off, slowly returning tools to their hangers.

Shae impatiently helped him when she spotted where a tool went. "The problem is, it's from the mountain, and so the guard gave me a tax ticket."

"Ahh, taxes. Always throwing a knot into smooth work." He looked over the branches and sticks. Grimacing slightly at the smaller pieces. Then he grew more curious at the leaves. Plucking a handful off and picking through them. "Heh, well. Ya did get lucky, if not with what ya 'spected."

"Oh?"

"See these?" He pointed out a few of the small leaves, looking nearly identical to the others. "They're seed pods, bit late in the season but who 'm I to tell trees what to do. Lookin' good too." He pinched one of the pods and bit the seed out of the inside. Humming and nodding in agreement.

"Uh, so they are edible? Good for cultivators or alchemy?"

"Eh? Nah, they're seeds. Ya plant them and get new trees."

She didn't appreciate his tone, but kept her reaction to a frown. "Just seeds then. Well that is nice, it looked like it was quite a nice tree until I bumped into it."

"Tree? Just the one?"

"Yes, alone at the bottom of a cliff, lots of other types around it though."

"Hmm, must have been getting choked out up there, desperate to spread its seed to new areas, I know that feeling." He chuckled to himself, then looked over the bundled cloth. "Ya carry it here like this? All wrapped up?"

She shook her head. "No the wrap was just when I got to town, it was loose before that."

"Heh, well the tree probably got its wish then, ya probably left a trail of seeds down the mountain."

It took half a breath before his meaning hit Shae. Then she smiled wide. "Ahh!! That is wonderful news! You think they will grow?"

"Should do. Can't rightly say how many, a'course."

"Ahh! Yes!" Shae pumped an arm and jumped up and down with a wide grin stuck on her face.

"That's a load of excitement for some seedlings. Something more to it?" The bowyer asked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yep! I was worried about the lone tree. I kind of damaged it, and was worried it would die. So, now I'm so glad to hear it'll have descendants!" She continued to bounce on her toes with joyful energy.

"Ah-huh. Worried about a tree, eh?" He looked her over again. Then cocked his head sideways, "You a cultivator?"

"Mhm, trying to be." She nodded. "Not really official yet."

"And ya been up the mountain, yea that explains it." He rolled his eyes a bit and looked the wood over again. He used a knife from his toolbelt to slice open branches in different ways, checking under the bark and the rings in the wood. "Hmmm... all by its lonesome near a cliff. Bottom or top?"

"Umm.. Oh, bottom of the cliff."

He shook his head again, disappointment clear. "Well it's no true gold, but could be a slight variant."

"Oh? What's that mean?"

"Eh, ya know how these larches work?" She shook her head. "Right, so the name isn't just from the color. Old lore says they are trying to make gold. True gold larches get it right, adding it into their leaves and bark and more in their heartwood." He tapped the rings at the center of a branch. "Gets them in trouble because gold is so heavy, but they become spirit plants and live forever, or until some cultivator wants a fancy looking wood floor."

Shae grimaced.

"Yep. So, when they don't get it right, they get a different metal. Can still be valuable, can make for interesting pieces and sometimes spirit tools if someone knows how to use the wood correctly. Rumor is they'll waste a whole tree trying to learn how to use it, and only get one good qi tool out of it." He shook his head. "Bloody shameful, that."

"Ugh, yea, I don't like the sounds of that. Do their seeds also make the same metal?"

"Nah, don't think so. But I'd guess half of what metal they get is where they are planted, what's in the soil and what-not."

"Oh! That's a lot like iron blood creeper or iron-vine, right?"

"Eh, yea, s'pose. I think these trees tend to become spirit plants more. That vine doesn't, last I heard."

"So this wood has a different metal in it?"

"Could be. Hard to tell, no color to it. So maybe a white metal. Maybe the wood is just a bit odd. Will have to test it out."

"White metal? Hmm, like aluminum or platinum? Wouldn't be lithium or sodium, not stable enough, titanium would be good too." She puzzled out while leaning in close to the branches.

"Eh? I've no idea what any of those are. We just say white metal to mean not iron or steel, else it would be rusty."

"Ah! Can you compare it to iron? Determine its properties? If it's lighter or harder?"

He shook his head, "I'm no alchemist or metals expert. Best I can do is try it out, drying and heating it should make the properties set in. Then we can see if it's any good."

"That'll take a while, I guess. So... time to talk money?"

He frowned. "I can only give ya something for the seeds." He looked in the bundle, finding more at the bottom. "More here than I wanna plant, though. Know anyone else in town?"

"Just Auntie Mei, just outside town."

He let out a pleasant sigh, "Aaahhh! Miss Mei! Haven't seen her in years. She doing well?" He smiled broadly. The expression showed far too many wrinkles.

Shae nodded.

"That's good to hear. She's a great choice then, she can spread them out outside town, too. With her luck we'll have three true golds in the next few decades. Ha-ha ha!" His smile held. "Give her half, eh, make it two thirds, I'll try planting the rest here. Hells, ask her to come help me plant them, I could use the luck." He smirked.

Shae smirked back. "Sure thing, old dog. What are ya giving me for them?" She held out the tax receipt.

"Ugh, those things. Right, a few silver should cover the tax at least. Can't call the wood worth anything just yet."

"Oh, there's a monk in town specialized in metal! Maybe she could help?"

He shrugged. "Monk eh? Couldn't hurt, I suppose send her over. If you can."

Shae grabbed a smaller branch out of the bundle. "I'll just bring her this, that might be enough. She's pretty strong."

"Heh, strong? I could use a few strong arms around the shop?" He fished a stamp out from a drawer near the door, stamped her receipt, and marked the sale price on it.

"Oh? I'm pretty strong, you know?" She pulled up her right sleeve and struck a pose by flexing her bicep. It wasn't particularly impressive as the muscle wasn't large and her divinely cleansed white skin hid any definition that might have been there.

"Heh, sure sure. Uh, grab that long black piece and move it over to that workbench, would ya?"

"Got it!" She dashed over. Suspecting a trick, she was careful to not treat it lightly. It was a bit heavier than she expected, but had no problem moving it.

"Heh, good start. Not too heavy?" He asked with a smirk.

"No." She squinted at him. "Didn't even need my super strength!"

"Well, that's not the true test. This wood is incredibly tough. Most call it rockwood because of how hard it is to work."

"So you want some free labor cutting it down to size?"

"Heh, right track. I'll be glad to pay ya though. This project's been on the shelf for a while. Customer wanted a full longbow out of this stuff."

"Is it stiffer? Making a higher pull strength bow?"

"Ahh, so the girl shows some smarts too! Alright, how would ya like to learn to make a bow missy?"

"Call me Miss Shae, please. And you are?"

"Master Cheng, is what I'm called, Master for the craftsman side of it, not your cultivator disciple-mentor thing."

"Well, Master Cheng, I can't promise I'll be in town for long, but maybe we can rough out this piece while I'm here." Shae smiled, getting to learn and build something new was one of her favorite experiences.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the woodshop. To Shae's disappointment, almost none of it was spent carving. The old bowyer insisted on cutting off test pieces and testing the material properties of the rockwood. He did the same with the golden larch at the same time, saving a little bit of time.

The rockwood had dried out more than he expected, and he no longer felt it would make for a good bow, the wood was too brittle now. He said he could probably soak it in oil to revive it, but the customer had long since canceled the contract anyway. The results from the larch wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, at the earliest.

Realizing Shae's strength was focused on her right arm, he got her working the hand saw. They started on a few pieces, roughing out the shape of the bow with the saw, then smoothing that shape just a bit with the drawknife. Cheaper wood first that was too firm for him to work easily. Then working up to a pair of more expensive pieces. He was much more cautious and attentive when she was roughing out those.

By the time the sun was low the master crafter was very pleased about their progress. "Dang, girl. If we make this kind of progress tomorrow I'll have work for all winter."

"Tomorrow? You work me like a dog and expect me to come back for more?" She was teasing him, but she probably had a point.

"Ehh, I'll pay, I'll pay. Silver for each piece." He looked at her glare. "Okay two, three for the good pieces."

"I was kind of hoping to do more than just pull a saw all day."

"That's most of the work, there. The carving is just to make it look nice." He shrugged. "But you're right, I should show you the rest. Balancing the bend takes a bit of a knack. It'll be good to see it through."

"Great!" Shae smiled. She scooped up the seeds for Auntie Mei, the branch to show Yungfan, and headed out.

Shae met the same guard on the way out of the market district, and handed him the tax receipt.

"Oh, that'll save me some paperwork, thanks!"

"Uh, no problem." Shae smiled politely.

"Hey, are you heading out with that big caravan of cultivators?"

"Uhh, I might be? Were they looking for more guards?"

"Kind of the opposite. We're spreading the word so they could take more people that needed guarding, sect cultivators, especially the local Dragons, are well known for being very protective of their caravans."

"Oh, that's nice to hear. They hadn't told me anything specific yet, but I've been busy all day, so." She shrugged.

"Ah, well the caravan leader should be gathering at the north gates already. Really you should talk to her if you want in, unless you are already recruited to the sect?"

She shook her head. "My letter delivery didn't go super smoothly, but we put on an impressive light show afterwards."

"Light show? Ah, those enlightenments? Was that you- no? You were there though? Dang, really wanted to see one of those but I was stuck here all night." He looked disappointed.

"Thanks for the heads up, I'll swing around the north side on my way back."

"Ah, well, if you're coming back late, check the Cockatrice Roost Inn. Usually where the caravan guards hang out, they'll know."

"Great!" Shae waved as she walked off.

Auntie Mei was a pleasant treat as always. Sharing a conspiratorial look with Shae when she found out who the seeds were from. "Ahh, that Cheng. Always knows what to do with good wood."

"Auntie!" Shae complained and looked upset.

"Hmm? What are you upset about, you're supposed to be too young for those jokes."

"And you're supposed to be too-" She cut herself off. Pursing her lips, and covering them with a hand.

Auntie Mei gave her an intense stare. "Would you like to finish that sentence, dear?"

"No, Auntie." Shae said from under her hand. "Master Cheng, had only good things to say about Miss Mei."

"Good, as he should." She declared and nodded.

Their visit didn't last much longer as Shae had to refuse Mei's offer of coin for the seeds since she felt the woman had already overpaid her. Then she also refused her offer of food, which she was much more hesitant to do. Mei's food was usually very good, but she wanted to make it back to the inn before sunset. Shae was able to leave on a high note when she shared the story about the never-full walnuts, she heard Mei cackling with laughter from almost a block away.

She found the caravan leader before the woman had turned in for the night. Outside the Cockatrice Roost Inn with a similar table set up as Cultivator Bai. She quickly learned the woman was named Miss Ping Ahna. She was an middle aged woman, a streak of red in her hair and a small scar on her chin. She said Shae was welcome in the caravan, so long as she could defend herself.

"Solo cultivators are expected to assist in the defense of the caravan, so you'll need a weapon. Even if you can't use it too well, that will be fine with the Dragons along."

"Ah, right. I'm new to this so keep forgetting I'll be treated differently now. Is it different for lone mortals?"

"Generally a flat fee and no weapons needed, that's what guards are for. Little fee for you too, but shouldn't lighten your pocket too much. Sect is helping offset that, just because there are fewer guards hired. Though, if you can bring some of your own food, even better."

"Speaking of mortals, have you seen a girl with green eyes, and a bow, older than me, long hair braid? Might have been acting as a courier and looking for travel to the sect?"

"No name? Hmm, well green eyes is a bit rare, but you're the first solo female on the trip, mortal or cultivator. Bit of a friendly tip there, try to make friends with the wagons, will get you better meals and maybe more comfortable bedding."

"Ah, thanks? I think I have an idea for a weapon too, I will see about it tomorrow. When are you setting off?"

"Day after tomorrow, at first light we leave the city. Feel free to catch up if you like sleeping in. We won't wait."

Shae thanked the woman again and left. She had considered staying for a meal there, but she was pretty sure there was still time for it back at her own inn.