Through the Mountain

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Name: Taryn Peregrine
Age: 19
Personality: A free spirit in every sense, Taryn has had a love for adventure since she was a child. She doesn't like to stay in one place for very long and loves wandering whether in town or in nature. She's very stubborn, incredibly reckless, and easy to irritate and has a tendency to lose patience with people easily and say things in a very offensive, straight forward manner. She often has a tendency get dirty, her clothes are almost constantly covered in soot, grease, and dirt from working. Despite this, Taryn is a very caring and humble person, though her kindness is subtle and nearly unnoticeable when compared to her brash exterior.

Bio: Taryn lived with her two younger sisters, father, and mother in a small, common home. Their home was located at the base of a mountain that dragons inhabited (but they inhabit many of the mountains, so unless they are hungry or their territories are disturbed, they are too common to be of any concern). The town itself was an incredibly popular trading market on a trade route that stretched across several kingdoms. Taryn's father was a blacksmith who often traveled these routes selling weapons and goods. As she got older and her two sisters were born, Taryn's father took her in as an apprentice seeing as she was the eldest of three girls. She trained under him until one day, when her father was on the road, he was killed by some highway men. Taryn, 16 at the time, took full responsibility of the household, giving her mother as much time as she needed to mourn. Her brash personality developed as a result of all this, because it was a necessity to be rude to people who were trying to take advantage of her business. It worked and the leechers that now tried to take advantage of her family's business were few and far between. Now, at 19, she has gained a good amount of experience in blacksmithing and metalworking, though she stays close to home to take care of her family despite her dreams of adventure. She not only makes tools and weapons, but she can metalwork jewelry and repair nearly anything made of metal. She has given up on romance, since she is now 3 years past the typical age that women would marry and since the idea of being tied down to someone in such a way makes her nervous.

Appearance:
steampunkredheaduniform.jpg







There's the character profile! And I added the dragons :D Idk if you want any other magic creatures, but go right ahead and add whatever you want 8D
 
(OMG I had a best friend names Taryn once and she looked JUST like that... Creepy o.o. I miss her. I think she ran away... I dunno. Oh, and your picture inspired me to try a little steam-punk so let's do that if you're otay with it?)

Name: Prince Leon Deleparte III

Age: 23

Personality: Leon can come off as a cold-hearted individual, but a life of peing hidden from the world and only given hope by his mother who is gone, his heart is softened toward those who need him. The only reason he has not left is because his hateful father has threatened to kill him if he leaves.

Bio: Since he was born into royalty, he has been depressed. He lives every day on schedule, ordered and ushed around by his father and maids and servants. He has had a spark of wild adventure that has yet to be revealed or nursed, but he has seen nothing of the world except what has been read to him from books. He quietly longs to run away from his stuffy, pompous life as he sits in his room inventing gadgets with scrap metal that he manages to sneak in at night. His best friend is a robotic rabbit which he invented when he was younger. In public, he acts like a perfect prince, knowing no one but longing for a real life. He often tends to sneak out at night so he can look up at the sky and think of his dead mother and sister, who were killed by a widespread disease two years ago, but has never been any further than the walls of the kingdom. His father is getting angry because every princess he has ever arranged a marriage with has mysteriously broken their engagement at the last moment. The king swears that if his son does not find a bride in a year, he will be forced to marry a foreign princess.

Appearance:
View attachment 11463
 
((Haha omg that is weird, it's all a coincidence I swear! xD and steampunk would be great! I love the profile too :D))

Taryn pulled up her goggles onto her forehead as the steam from the hot iron she just poured water on began to fog up headgear. She was currently forging a new weapon that she would sell in the next town over with quite a few others she managed to make in the past weeks or so. As the steam rose up, Taryn slumped in her chair and wiped some of the sweat that had accumulated off of her brow. After it cooled in the mold, she would have to pull it out and stick it back into the forge to be heated again so it was malleable and she could shape it into anything she wants. Perhaps if she had time, she would metalwork some intricate metal designs onto the hilt to make it look better. Still, she wasn't sure if she had time to solder something like that, but Taryn would figure it out.

After deeming it was cool enough, with practice ease, the young blacksmith lifted the weapon-to-be and stuck it back into the fire only to pull it out when the iron was red hot. She laid it down on her metal slab and began striking it a mallet where she knew she could shape it. Sparks flew as the metal hit metal and the sweat began to bead on her forehead again from the heat.
 
Leon sat up in his bed after another bad dream. It was just getting light outside, but he knew his maid would be in at any moment to get him up for breakfast with his father anyways. He slid from the bed and dressed in his usual white button-up, black and grey checkered vest, brown longcoat, grey tie and white and grey pants. As he tugged on his fingerless leather gloves, something metal thumpled the back of his leg. He jumped a bit then looked down to see the small gold rabbit sitting there, looking up at him with the lit up red eyes and a metallic ear twitching squeakily. Leon smiled weakly and bent to place a drop or two of oil in the rabbit's joints so it would move more silently. He smiled and nodded gently in approval before standing and going to his bed to fix it. After a moment of contemplating whether or not to let Matilda make his bed, he finally shrugged and just walked away, slipping his socks and boots on before donning his favorite goggles. He looked himself over in the mirror for a second before his eyes wandered to the portrait by his bed. He was there, laughing and smiling with a slightly older woman and a little girl. His mother and sister before the Malaria took them away. He sighed gently and closed his eyes, imagining his mother fixing his hair before he went before his father.

He finally pushed down his emotion long enough to fix his face into the usual cold, emotionless expression before opening the door, making the maid that was about to open it from the outside jump in shock. Leon simply pushed past her, muttering coldly.

"Stay out of my way, Matilda."
 
After she had finished shaping the metal, Taryn deemed it time to sharpen the longsword she had forged. With one hand tilting the side diagonally against the grinding stone she kept in her workplace, she turned the wheel manually and more sparks began to fly as the blade was ground down to a sharp side that would slowly but surely become the blade. The heat from both the forge and the start of early summer permeated through her workplace, but the blacksmith tried not to dwell on how stifling hot it was. The smell of burning reached her nose and Taryn knew that now the blade was finally being formed.

At some point while she was working, Taryn's youngest sister, Leela, came in and watched her work. She never understood why her sisters did this when they could be out in the town with their schoolmates, but she at the same time, she recalled a time when she would do the same when her father worked. "Hey, kiddo," she mumbled to the 11-year-old with a soft smile while not taking her eyes off of her work. Finally, Taryn felt satisfied with the one end of the blade and stopped cranking the round-wheel-like stone. "So what brings you here today?" she asked casually as she waited for the dust to settle so she could begin the other side.

Her sister shifted on her feet, and with a sheepish smile that she completely inherited from their mother she looked up at her older sister. "Can I watch?" she asked, and Taryn smiled slightly. "Sure, but stay away from the forge and if anyone comes in, let me handle them okay?" she demanded. She honestly enjoyed the company. Usually when working, Taryn was by herself and it was nice to have someone's presence even if they didn't talk. Which they never did considering Taryn was always too focused on her work to do much talking.

With another wipe at her brow, she sat up in her chair and angled the other side of the sword against the stone.
 
After an awkward breakfast with his father all the way at the opposite end of the long table, Leon decided to go practice his swordsmanship. Upon entering the weaponry room, he noticed that most of his swords were dull or broken. Wonderful, he though sarcasticly, now I have to find someone to make me a new one. He sighed and wandered through, finding his favorite sword in one piece put so dull it wouldn't even cut into a log when swung full force. He mounted it in his belt and headed out to the front entrance, where two guards politely asked him to stop. After a few moments of arguing, Leon simply pushed past them and stormed out, whistling for his steed, Triumph. The huge white horse trotted around the castle and knelt beside Leon, allowing the man to mount effortlessly before it rose and galloped through the castle gates.

After a few moments of riding through town, Leon urged the horse to a stop in front of the blacksmith's cabin and dismounted, making sure he had his sword and bag of gold with him. Wordlessly he approached the side stable where he heard metal being beaten into shape and he froze. The young woman working with the metal was beautiful. Her red hair was pulled into a bun atop her head, but a few strands fell into her emerald green eyes. Leon, for just a moment, forgot why he was there. Then reality took ahold of him and shook him down to his boots, reminding him what needed to be done. He approached and started to demand the woman to help him, but he kept his mouth shut. The way she moved, her energy, even the shine in her eyes reminded him of the beautiful graces of his mother. He stood there silently, waiting to be noticed.
 
Taryn heard the sound of her front door opening but it didn't register in her mind that it was a customer because she was too focused. If she stopped grinding down the side at the wrong moment, she could chip the metal because the grinding stone was so hard. After what seemed like a few more minutes and quite a few sparks, she was finally able to stop cranking the grinder. All that was left for the sword was the polishing and finishing as well as decorating the hilt. She couldn't help but cough as the dust settled around her, she twisted her left arm to stretch it since it was tired from the cranking. Momentarily, the blacksmith envied those richer shops that can afford the fancier grinding stones that ran on their own with the steam power and gears moving it, but she shook the thought away because this was how her father had taught her and this was how she would continue to do it.

Taryn was nudged out of her thoughts at the feel of a jab to her stomach. She looked up and it was her sister, gesturing that there was someone there. As she stood up, she ruffled the little girl's hair and shooed her off to the back. Now that she was getting a good look at the man, she couldn't help but admire him. Clearly he was of high class -- very high class -- by his way of dress, but that wasn't what drew her eyes. Perhaps she had been spending too much time down at the tavern with the boys because she had the sudden urge to whistle appreciatively. She managed to refrain, but couldn't help appreciate the good looks of the fellow and messy but luscious hair. She smiled in a welcoming way, brushing yet more sweat from her brow which only managed to get some of the dust from the grinding before onto her face unknowingly. "Sorry for the wait," she said, "is there anything you need?"
 
He spoke, knowing his tone of voice was cold and pompous, but he didn't care. It was how he was told to talk to commoners by his father or else they would begin to think you were friendly and want money and attention.

"My sword is dull. I want you to sharpen it and make me a new one. Now. Money is no item."

As he spoke, his heart hurt. This young woman didn't deserve to be spoken to in such a demeaning manner, but he had to whether he wanted to or not. He held out his sword and kept his expression stony and straight as he examined her response.
 
Taryn tried not to scowl at his tone of voice. She has gotten some higher class people to come in here and she has had to deal with them quite often by now, they paid well but she didn't like the way they treated her. Her father hadn't tolerated it, and she doesn't either. "Well, how very nice to meet you too," she said instead, sarcasm just about dripping from her voice. She grabbed the sword gently and observed its dull surface. He was right. It had been worn down quite a lot, to the point where she would probably have to create a new mold to fully repair it. She slid the blade gently across her palm, not hard enough to cut but enough to test how frail the blade was by this point and whether or not it would crack if it struck a hard object. "I can repair it," she said slowly. "Two to three weeks tops. But I have a few other things to do first before I can get to it, so I hope you don't need it any time soon."

Taryn glanced back up at him. He really was very pleasing to the eyes, however, he didn't seem very pleasing to the ears with the way he spoke. As much as she would enjoy the money, she had a decent business both she and her father helped build over the years with other people that required her hand. It would be wrong to accept this job above all the others she had right now simply because of the price. She was raised better than that.
 
Leon nodded graciously but said nothing. It would be better to just pay her and leave than it would be to speak again and anger her more. He sighed a bit and left the entire bag of gold on a bench as he walked out. When he was at the entrance, he finally spoke again, his voice more tired and apologetic than cold.

"I shall be back in four weeks. More than enough time, I hope. Keep the gold, I don't care about it. It's just a thing."

By the end of the sentence he had forced his tone back into ice, then he bowed a bit and walked out.

A half hour later, hooves could be heard. Multiple horses. Four huge men slid off almost broken horses and sauntered into the shed where Taryn was working. The obvious leader sniggered.

"Well well, tiny Taryn, I am here for my... pay. Where is it?"
 
Taryn stared at the bundle, stunned. That was.. quite a lot. "... Okay," she mumbled after him as he walked out. She placed the bundle in a safe that they kept hidden in their kitchen in the back. It would stay there for a while until she could use it to go to to the market to buy much needed supplies later and hopefully be enough to keep the house running a few more months. With that, she went back to work until she heard some men come into her shop.

Taryn glanced up and scowled. "Once again, you're early this month," she said, her eyes narrowing. "I don't have the money yet." Which was true. Even with the large amount of gold the customer from before gave her, it still wouldn't be enough to satisfy them. And besides, if she gave them the money she did have, she wouldn't be able to support her family or keep the shop. "Come back next month and I'll have it paid in full, got it?" she growled at them.
 
The leader laughed deeply, shaking his head. As he spoke, two of the other men grabbed Taryn's arms and pinned her to a wall with almost inhuman force.

"No, I don't think I do 'got it', sweetheart. Maybe I need to take something else. Strip her, boys."

For a split second, these was silence as they began doin as told, then the voice came from behind them. Leon spoke in a loud, demanding voice, a hell of a lot less cold than before. He was holding a short dagger at the largest one, fire in his eyes.

"You let her go, you filthy pests. She said she had nothing for you."
 
It took Taryn a second to register what he meant by the words 'strip' and by the time it occurred to her, she had already been pinned against the wall and her jacket was being taken off, the buttons ripped as they yanked it. She closed her eyes, angry at herself for not carrying her dagger with her and even angrier that she was in a shop full of weapons that she had made and yet she couldn't grasp for any of them and defend herself. When she felt the hands at her shirt's top buttons, she squeezed her eyes shut tighter, hoping more than anything that her little sisters wouldn't see this.

At the sound of a semi-familiar voice and the feel of the pressure on her arms lessening, the blacksmith dared to open her eyes to see the aristocrat from before holding a dagger to the man. She immediately seized the opportunity and smashed her head to the one man who had her arms as hard as she could. The man fell to the ground in pain, and she turned and punched the other man right in the jaw in a place she knew would knock him out immediately. She was right, and he fell to the ground unconscious on top of the other man. Trying to gain some of her dignity, Taryn fumbled with her top to button the last few buttons and glared daggers at the largest man who still had the dagger pressed against him.

"I believe you are no longer welcome here," she spat.
 
The largest man laughed and shook his head. He was easily four times the girl's size in both height and girth. He spoke with an evil rumble that almost shook the very ground they stood on.

"You and I both know I'll be back, girlie. You have something that belongs to me."

Leon stepped up behind the man, his dagger at the man's throat, drawing a line of blood as the blade easily bit skin. Leon spoke, but it came as a growl that scared even him, although he didn't show it.

"I believe the lady said get the hell out. And I could see to it that it's done unless you savor your vocal chords, sir."

The big man's face went pale as the almost demonic voice shook through him and he held up his hands to symbolize giving up. Without a word, Leon let him go and stepped back, wiping his blade off with a hankerchief as the big man woke his friends and they scrambled out ofer each other. Leon watched them mount their old horses and gallop off as noisily and fast as possible, then he turned to Taryn and smiled weakly, gesturing to the smaller girl.

"I believe you should get her inside where she will feel safest. Four weeks, blacksmith. Have a pleasant evening."

With that he bowed and continued on his way to Triumph before mounting and leading the horse to wander off into the woods. The last place he wanted to go to was the castle, where of course his father would be waiting with empty threats and a waving sword. He sighed inwardly, loathing his home as he led Triumph deeper and deeper into the forest, looking for a place to rest and possibly sketch some.
 
Taryn glared up at the man who thought he was so much better than her because of his size, when in reality, if it hadn't been three against one and if they hadn't surprised her like they did with their attack, the match up would be much more even. "You are all talk, you know that?" she yelled after the man. She knew he would be back, he always came back. In fact, she wasn't the only one. That man and his goons were some of the king's tax collectors. Now, Taryn has never met the king personally and she would never try and insult his majesty, but he didn't keep track of all of those who did his bidding like the man who was just in here and abused his position of money collecting to gain profit while the townspeople were helpless to do anything. Even Taryn wouldn't be able to really fight back because of the consequences of attacking a man of the state would be tremendous.

As time went on, the tax collector became more daring, using his power to demand more money from the people of the town and Taryn was no exception. She had to turn him down this time though because he came too soon. She was barely scraping by as it was and her business would sink without any money. Still, Taryn couldn't shake the feeling that the problems with the man and his goons have only just begun. Yet she wasn't afraid of him. He was weak. He was a man who used his size to intimidate people, bragged about his strength and then when someone fought back, created an unfair advantage by having his two henchmen with him. Yes, she could see right through him. The man was a coward. Too scared to actually make a proper living and too scared to fight on his own. And this time, Taryn received help.

As her savior left the shop shortly after the men, she called out to him. "I'll have it done in one week," she yelled out the door to his retreating back. She supposed she could make an exception to someone who had helped her out so. The blacksmith turned back into her shop and gave her sister a little hug who had seen the last of the conflict that had just occurred. "Shh, it's okay, Ladybug," she assured the youngest sister Leela and used the little nickname she had for her. "Just go in the back and help Ma out, okay?" Her sister nodded, with big, worried eyes, but did as she was told.

Once she was gone, Taryn let out a shaky breath and brushed her hand through her hair as she exhaled. She figured she should probably get started on that sword now, so she sat down at her stool and turned on her forge, getting out one of the molds she had made recently for longer swords. As she got back to work, the young blacksmith found her worries fading away as the night got darker and she finished what would be the new blade for the sword. She smiled, wiping some more sweat and looked outside to realize that it was much past the witching hour and that she would have to go to the next town over in the morning to get a new roller burnish to polish the sword. With a yawn and exhausted sigh, Taryn decided that her long day had been long enough and it was finally time to turn in for the night (or morning).
 
The next day, again Leon woke up before the maid could come, but this time he just stared up at the ceiling. He thought of the young blacksmith. After the maid knocked on the door, he sighed and rolled out of bed. It was shower day, so he was excited, at least a tiny bit. He let the young maid wash him, ignoring the deep blush on her cheeks when it came to washing certain areas, then he found the clothes she had laid out and dressed. He sighed as he looked himself over in the mirror, a part of him secretly screaming GET OUT OF HERE WHILE YOU CAN! But all he could do was stand there and do whatever was asked or told of him. After hours of following instructions, he finally had a moment to himself. He was beginning to descend the grand staircase to sneak out when he heard his father's booming voice.

"Son! Don your crown, we are riding through the village in search for a criminal! Someone has attacked Randon, my royal second hand! A young woman and a mysterious young man attacked him and his companions last night so he is going to lead me straight to the ruffians! We will tear apart their home and arrest or even execute them if need be!"

Leon's face drained of all of its blood and his heart stopped. The blacksmith. He tried to speak, but before he could he was dragged to the crownroom to be fitted for a crown and coat for the ride. All he could think of doing was getting free to save her. He gasped and pulled free from the woman fitting his crown, running to his room. He fell to his knees and gathered up a pen, a scroll and his golden rabbit. After scribbling something on the paper and putting it in the robot's teeth, he set it free out the window. Hopefully the directions he set in the rabbit's memory would lead it to her so it could warn her. He watched it hop away quickly.
 
Taryn woke up early morning to get started packing for her trip to the next town over. It would only take 3 days or so, 4 if she wanted to avoid travelling the trade routes at night, but she'll figure out how risky she would be feeling when she saw if she had any money left to pay for an inn overnight. Besides, she had traveled it many times before, day and night. Though there were a few close calls, she was generally okay from thieves and highway men (she was a blacksmith, she clearly knew her way around a sword).

Just as she was about to leave, Taryn heard a sound near one of her open windows. On the sill was a robotic rabbit carrying a note. Curiouser and curiouser, she thought ironically, grabbing the note from the rabbit which had hopped off as soon as the note was in her hands. Taryn was grateful that she had had a tutor as a child and knew how to read because the note held a warning that the king was coming. She didn't pay much attention to the rest of the note, the first few lines had said it all. Instead, she let out a long line of swears that would make a sailor blush and she grabbed the bag of gold and whatever money she had in her small metal safe under one of the floorboards. She didn't know who the letter was from, but she knew that no one had any reason to fake such a thing.

Quickly, she went into the backrooms and awoke her sisters and mother and helped them dress as she explained the situation as best as she could. "Go to Mrs. Neeson, and if anyone asks, Ma you're her daughter, and Leela and Mia are her grandchildren, okay?" she ordered as they nodded and she rushed them out the back. Her mother gave her a worried look as she walked out, wanting to stay but knowing that she would only be in the way. "Be safe," her mother murmured as she grabbed the girls' hands and walked off while Taryn mumbled an "I will," as she walked back in to grab her own stuff. Momentarily, Taryn thanked whatever god or force or fate was out there because she had already been planning to leave so her belongings were already packed and weapons handy.

The young blacksmith grabbed her bags and went to one of the stables in town. "I'll need a carriage and horse, Mr. White," she asked the old man who suspected nothing after years of knowing Taryn and knowing that her business sometimes required her to travel. She paid a few gold coins to the man, with a little bit extra because she wasn't quite sure as to when she could return it. She knew that after the whole thing blew over, she'd be able to return back home, though Randon would still harass her. It would probably be a while though and Taryn would stay away for a good amount of time just to be safe. At least, she knew her family was safe and that was all that mattered as she packed her stuff into the wooden carriage commonly used to move hay around farms. Either way, she had her weapons with her, and could easily carry her job on, on the move.

Taryn put on her goggles and a cloak because she could already tell that it was going to rain and she had a long road ahead of her. Snapping the reins a few times, the horse began to gallop across to the town's border.
 
Once in the royal carriage, Leon crossed his fingers in his lap, hoping she would be safe. He didn't know this woman, but he knew she had a family and no one deserved the wrath of his heartless father. He looked out the windoe, silent the entire way, barely breathing. Why was he so worried for this woman? He sighed deeply then reslized his father was watching him. He spoke, but it came as a stutter, which he then tried to cover up with a lame fake cough before trying again.

"I have no idea who would bombarde your right-hand man like these strangers did, but they will pay! Unless they fled town..."

He realized Randon was watching him as well. Of course he knew that it was Leon and the girl that mauled him, so why hadn't he ratted the prince out yet? Leon glared back at the oversized tax-man, his left hand almost caressing the hilt of his dagger. The same dagger he had used that night. Randon saw this and sat back, his face flushing a bit.

When they arrived at the abandoned house, the king began to swear. They ransacked the house and turned over everything. After about half an hour, the king looked at Leon and pushed him a bit.

"You, boy. Go to every house surrounding this one and search them! If you find the girl kill her."

With that, the king and Randon reboarded the carriage and they pulled away, leaving Leon to search houses. He went slowly from house to house, politely asking if anyone had seen the metal worker and smiled sweetly as people turned him away or answered negatively. After half the day, he got to the last house, the seamstress, Mrs. Neeson. He knocked on the door gently and removed his crown. This woman was like his mother after his real mother passed away. She took him in when he ran away and fed him and they were very close. He had too much respect for her to keep even his royal crown atop his head. He bowed his head in respect as he waited for her to answer the door.
 
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