An Eye for Business

[Ofuna]

    The mare's offer took him by surprise, and for the second time Ofuna was coughing up his tea. This day was certainly turning out to be interesting. At the very least he would consider her offer.

    Having regained his composure again, he looked at her with a skeptical look. "You are on odd mare you know that? You take me prisoner, take me to your home, and present a business proposal. Is this how you get customers as well?"

    He goes to take another sip of tea, but thinking about it, puts the cup back down in case there are any more surprises. "However, that doesn't mean I won't accept the offer. As for weather you can trust me, that's for you to decide. Just know I'm not some kind of bandit or thief." With that said, he glances outside the window at the rain, wondering when it's going to end.

[Ciniki]

    "Well good I'm glad you're considering my offer. Now would you like some dinner?" She asked as she stood up again and walked to the fire place. The pile of firewood was dwindled down to a stick and a piece of bark and she sighed turning to Ofuna and asking. "It looks like we have to outside and get some more. Mind lending me a hoof?" Heading to the door she put on her cloak and opens the door. "Its stored a little ways away in a storage shed." She said as she strapped on her knife just to be safe.

    Who knows what monsters were out there even in the short walk to the storage shed, but if they were going to be warm tonight or get dinner they needed to get the stored firewood. "Bring your crossbow Ofuna you never know if we're going to need it." she said. As she opened the door a crack of lightining struck and a roll of thunder roared, shaking the hut. "Welp lets go it's now or never." Stepping outside into the dark and rain she hunched her shoulder and galloped to the shed.

[Ofuna]

    Ofuna was snapped out of his reverie by the mare's comment on firewood. Looking next to the fireplace, he saw that they were, indeed, almost out. Glancing back out the window, he saw that the rain was really coming down. He stood up with a sigh and stretched from having sat for a while.

    Then walked over and grabbed his quiver from where he left it. "Yes, lets go out into the storm,where we'll have to deal with freezing rain, thunder, and any beast that might be nearby. What's the worst that could possibly happen?" He doesn't even try to mask his sarcasm.

    Remembering that he's a guest, Ofuna lets out another sigh. "If anything bad happens, I'm blaming you. After all, my day was fairly normal until you showed up." But by then, she had already walked out the door. Hesitantly, he stepped out into the rain, following the odd mare.

[Ciniki]

    She laughed while trotting through the powerful rain. The heavy drops fell like stones as the wind pushed the cold Autumn rain harder towards the ground into onto the Zebras. Her leather cloak helped absorb most of the rain drops momentum. The water collecting on the trees leaves and plopping down in larger drops was not a pleasant touch. She walked around the house to get the small cart parked around the back strapping into it and begun trudging through the quickly liquefying soil beneath her hooves. She pulled her hood over her head to protect her herself from the harsh rain. 

    Upon reaching the shed she unlocked the doors and stepped inside pulling the cart is as far as she could with her shaking out her fur and pushing off her hood. It was dark and damp but kept the wood from getting wet so it would burn. She lit a lantern hanging in the middle of the shed and moved aside to allow Ofuna into the shed with her. "Come in and get out of the rain. Grab as much wood as you can. Try to keep it as dry as possible." 

    She took off her cloak and piled wood into the cart. She only took was she was able to cover up with her cloak and pushed it back out the door. "Blow out the lantern please before you step out. Don't want the shed burning down."  

[Ofuna]

    The rain was really coming down when Ofuna stepped back outside. As such, it din't take long for him to become completely soaked. Not having a coat or jacket didn't help his situation any. So, the now soaking zebra hurried after the mare. Not wasting any time to rush inside the shed and get out of the down pour.

    "Isn't the weather just lovely today? Doesn't it just make you want to go out and take a nice, leasurly jog?" He asks acerbically in response to the mare's instructions. Though, he gets to work grabbing as much fire wood as he could and loading it into the cart. Yet, he does wonder why she didn't grab enough in the first place.

    Once the cart was filled, the mare took the cart and hurried to the hut. Which left Ofuna to close the shed and blow out the candle. Both of which, he quickly took care of. Soon he was back at the hut, helping the mare unload the cart. Hurrying so that they would be done sooner, and get out of the rain.

[Ciniki]

    When the logs were nicely stacked by the fireplace and the cart returned to the back of the house, Ciniki hung her cloak up by the door and returned to the fire place to stoke the fire. She sat down in front of it shivering and drying off as a puddle of water collected underneath where she was sitting. "Well that was really worth it" she said as she shivered in front of the fire. "Let me dry off and warm up b..b..be" She stammered before sneezing and shaking her fur out. 

    She scootched over and patted the floor beside her in front of the fire inviting Ofuna to join her and dry off. After all he didn't have a cloak to keep him dry. "Come dry off with me." She stood up and grabbed the blanket from one of the chairs in the next room wrapping in around herself. She grabbed another one for him and returned to her spot next to the fire. "Sorry about that, I'm not being a very gracious host but it's better then being trapped out there in a road block." She chuckled softly and laid down now in front of the fire. "What do you want to supper I can start cooking once I'm warmed up."

[Ofuna]

    Ofuna was happy to get back out of the rain. As he stepped back into the hut, he felt the comforting warmth of the fire. While, he continued to shiver from the rain, the heat at least helped. Upon hearing the mare's offer of heating up by the fire, he nodded and laid down in front of the comforting flames.

    He closed his eyes, and just laid there for a few minutes. Enjoying the heat of the fire. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the mare was offering him a towel. "Oh. Um...Thank you." He said, as he accepted the towel. Wrapping up in it, he glanced back out the window, at the pouring rain.

    He felt an uncomfortable silence fall upon them. "Have you been looking for somepony to help you in your hunting for a while? Considering how quickly you decided to hire me upon hearing what I do, it seems like it." Hoping this will be a decent enough ice breaker. However, he quickly goes back to being sarcastic. "Though, with a charming personality like yours, I'm surprised no one's said yes. Or did your father scare them off when you brought them home?" He raised an eyebrow in expectation of her answer.

[Ciniki]

    Looking at him as he spoke she laughed at his sarcasm. When the world is cruel why not make it funny? Ciniki shook her head in reply to his sarcasm and continued to say. "Yes I have, a lone female trader has an appearance of on easy target. They soon find out otherwise but having someone along might speed things up. Seeings as how attacks would be less frequent." The rain outside was slowing down but the sound of her growling stomach broke the pause. "Why don't I get dinner started for everyone? Would you do an get my Father? Tell him I'm starting dinner?" Pay back for his sarcastic remark. she would make him go and get her father.

    Standing up and keeping her blanket across her shoulders she made her way to the fire and set up a kettle to boil water then made her way to the counter and started to chop up some cabbage and carrots. She hummed the same tune she had hummed earlier as she worked. Paying attention to the food now instead of Ofuna. Her mind also wondered to her next destination and when she would leave. This rain needed to be over soon before anyone developed cabin fever. 

[Ofuna]

    With a sigh, Ofuna stood up from where he had been laying down. While he still wasn't dry from the quick trip outside, he was at least warm and only somewhat damp. And he could easily tell that this was he punishing him for his snark. Though, at least she still wanted to work with him.

    Usually his snarky comments make it difficult to find somepony willing to hire him. And when he gets lucky and does get hired, they get so tired of it, that they don't hire him again. Not that he minds, they tend to take the same routes over and over. Something that doesn't appeal to him very much.

    Ofuna heads to where he saw he father head off to. Which, much to his chagrin, was outside. Wanting to get back quickly, he hurried out into the rain. It didn't take him long to find her father, who looked like he was on his way back to the hut. Though, he didn't seem to be caring about the rain so much.

    Ofuna went with him back to the hut. Explaining that the mare sent him to bring her father home, since she was starting dinner. Not long after, they were stepping back inside the hut. The father seemed fine, but Ofuna was now shivering. "W-w-will that be a-all mi-mistress? O-or shall-ll I fetch your s-slippers for y-y-you as we-well?" His discomfort not doing anything to affect his sarcastic nature.

[Ciniki]

    While he was away fetching her father she put the veggies in the pot to boil and cook. She added seasoning and taste tested until it seemed fit. Just as the boys walked in she was ladling soup into bowls and setting them at the table. "Yes actually and fetch another chair for yourself." If he was going to be sarcastic she was going to throw it right back at him. All in good fun of course. 

    Laughing after she spoke she greeted her father with a hug and gave him a towel to dry off. Hopefully the rain would stop soon. The bowls of soup steamed as they sat on the counter. she poured off glasses of water for dinner deciding that they had enough tea for the day. She would have to get more when she made her way to trade. She also placed a bowl of bread rolls in the center of the tables for everyone. Beside the bread bowl she places a candle to light the area. "Where is Ofuna with that other chair? Perhaps I'm being rude to the poor thing" She looked around and shrugged before sitting back down. "I think you're being more then gracious towards him. I would've killed him where he stood." commented her father. 

[Ofuna]

    Ofuna was no stranger to having his employers get angry at him for his comments. Yet, he hasn't had anyone snark back at him. It was an interesting change. And certainly earned her a bit more of his respect. Though, he still held the opinion that she was and odd mare.

    While he didn't go to get her slippers, if she even had any, he did go to get the chair. But, once he left their presence, he realized he had no idea where they kept them. He started to look around, trying not to disturb anything he shouldn't. Finding the chairs took him longer than he intended. So, he grabbed one and carried it back to the main area.

    As he did, he heard the brief exchange of the hut's two residence. Her father's comment caused Ofuna to think that his comment about scaring the mare's potential business partners away might not be that far off. He was certainly an intimidating stallion, that much was certain.

    He trotted, casually, into the room and placed the chair at the table. "Nice little home you have. It has surprisingly good acoustics." He said as he took his seat. His comment hinting at the fact that he heard them with all the subtly of a neon sign. Though, he was honestly trying to not be rude.

[Ciniki]

    When Ofuna returned with his chair Cinikis father said nothing and seemed uninfluenced by his comment on the acoustics. Maybe he wanted him to hear it? Meanwhile, Ciniki smiled at Ofuna and motioned for him to place his chair beside her, on the opposite side of her father. "What have you done for work before this Ofuna? Not many Zebras find themselves brave, or foolish enough to wander so far into the woods. They are usually either experienced and fear little or lost and fear greatly. I think you fall into the first category." Ciniki asked as she tried to make idle dinner chatter. 

    She leaned forward and grabbed a roll from the bowl taking a bite and chewing while awaiting his reply. If she was going to travel with this Zebra she would like to know a bit about him. After all a long travel with nothing to talk about if often quite a bore. "If the rain has stopped by tomorrow morning Ofuna we will go out and check the traps once more, gather a few things and be on the road by the next morning."

[Ofuna]

    While Ciniki's demeanor was more friendly, her father's silence was slightly unsettling to Ofuna. Yet he wasn't sure why. He certainly didn't have any reason to fear the older stallion. Perhaps it was that it seemed like, if the wanderer made one wrong move the stallion would try to kill him. Certainly something that would make anypony feel nervous.

    "I've spent the last couple of years in Equestria protecting merchants and travelers on their travels to other cities." He turned to look at the mare as he spoke. "I only recently returned to the Zebra Territories. And, as I've stated several times today, I was on my way to the nearby tribe. Finding you, or rather, getting found by you was unexpected."

    He ate a bit of the soup before he continued. "To be honest, I though of your detours and road blocks as more of an unexpected set-back than an actual problem." He paused, as if realizing the absurdity of his situation, despite his previous comments on it. "Anyway, I had figured I'd be able to make it to their camp before the rain started if I hurried. Obviously that isn't what happened."

[Ciniki]

    "Apparently not." Ciniki commented. IT had been a long day for them all and certainly and odd one. Ciniki finished off her soup and bread then stood up and placed her bowl on the counter. She started dishes and left the pot of soup over the fire in case anyone else wanted some more or for a late night snack. Maybe they would have it for breakfast. It was going to be thrown out anyway if no pony ate it. She washed the dishes for the day as she spoke. "We should probably get to bed everyone. Got a big day tomorrow preparing for our trip. We will all need to have all our energy to get everything we need done." Ciniki washed every ponies bowls once they were done. "Follow me Ofuna I'll show you were you can stay the night."

    Ciniki walked into the living room and point to the sofa weaved with thick comfortable straw and big red patterned pillows. She picked up a think blanket from the chair next to it all folded nicely and gave it to him. "Goodnight Ofuna get plenty of rest." She waved and headed off to the room and crawled into her bed beside her fathers bed. She was fast sleep in only a few minutes. 

    The next morning the sun shone brightly through the windows of the hut and the bird call was sweet and happy. Ciniki awoke and returned to the kitchen to brew a morning pot of tea. The soup was all gone and she quickly washed the pot. She placed out a bowl or berries for every pony when they woke up and a loaf of bread. Hopefully every pony would wake up soon so they could get started. She started writing out a list of things that needed to be done while she waited.

[Ofuna]

    Once he finished eating, Ofuna followed Ciniki to the room she was letting him stay in. He accepted the blanket that she offered and thanked her. Her hospitality was making him a little uncomfortable, since he didn't know how to properly thank her. Though, he figured he could work harder than he normally did, the next day.

    As the mare wished him goodnight and left to her own bed, Ofuna responded. "I expect to wake up and not find any nasty surprises in my bed that might have thought would be good for a laugh." Though, he thought that this attempted snark failed horribly. It certainly wasn't one of his better ones by any means.

    After a moment's pondering on the matter, he wandered over to the couch and laid down. It took him a little bit to get comfortable. A process which involved him moving to the floor, since he is more used to sleeping on solid ground than in a bed. When he finally did get comfortable, it didn't take him long to fall asleep.

    The sun hadn't even risen by the time Ofuna awoke. Judging by the noise in the hut, the sun wasn't the only thing that hadn't risen. Carefully and quietly, he snuck outside to watch the sunrise. The rain had long since stopped, though the ground was still wet. Looking around, Ofuna spotted a nice patch of grass to sit in. He then turned east and patiently waited for the sun to rise.

    After the sun had risen he decided to stay and observe the world around him. He lost track of time as he watched the wildlife behave with almost carefree indifference to the events unfolding in the world. It must have been a few hours by the time he got up, judging from the indent he left in the grass, he stretched due to his muscles protesting for having been sitting for so long.

    When he headed back inside, he saw that the mare was already awake. It looked like she was writing something, but what it was he couldn't tell. Probably a list of chores for them to do this day, in preparation for the hunting trip. "I didn't find a surprise when I woke up this morning and I thank you for that. Though I did find a small spot just outside the hut that's a good place to watch the sunrise." He piped up, wondering just what her reaction would be.