Naofumi grumbled to himself while he walked down the street. 'Haven't even been in this stinking world for two days and I'm already in the dog house.'

Aloud, he asked his watcher, "So what do you suggest we do first?"

Applejack put her gauntleted hands up in a 'don't ask me' gesture. "Hey; Ah'm even newer ta this world than you're. That said, It's just you an' me, right now. Ah didn't even git no extra 'quipment."

Naofumi suddenly had a thought. "You're right. And I think I know just what to do to fix that..."

The two heroes walked into the large tented building. Within were rows upon rows of cages, most of them had monsters of some sort. Some more dangerous than others. The merchant greeted them, "Welcome to my emporium! I am Beloukas(1). Say, you must be the Shield Hero, correct?"

Naofumi put his off hand to his hip. "News travels fast here, I guess."

The slave merchant chuckled. "You don't know the half of it." Looking toward Applejack, he said, "And who's this? A trade in, perhaps?" he strode foreward. aiming to get the measure of her.

Applejack scowled at the man. "Try it and you'll have ta trade in fer new teeth, bucko. Capisce?"

"Practically the opposite." Naofumi clarified. "She's basically MY handler."

The merchant chuckled, but he turned around and they all moved on. As they proceeded inside, Applejack began to feel more and more uneasy. All of these creatures caged up, such as they were? It grated on her nerves.

Beloukas pointed out a particularly ferocious looking specimen. "I suggest one of these."

Naofumi huffed. "Showing me your finest first, knowing we can't afford -much less control- it, as yet?"

Applejack nodded in approval of Naofumi's intuition.

Naofumi stepped over to a cage containing a sickly-looking demi-human. Looking at her as well, Applejack could practically hear the numbers crunching in Naofumi's mind.

Finally he said, "I've made my decision. How much for this one?"

The merchant looked confused. "Uh, this one's not long for this world. I'd suggest another." he... well, suggested.

"How. Much?" Naofumi insisted.

Beloukas paused. He shrugged and said, "How about 50 silvers?"

Naofumi made to withdraw the amount from his coin-pouch, but Applejack said, "Bit much for a sickly demi-human, don'tcha think? 15."

The man grinned. The game was afoot. "Are you kidding? That wouldn't buy my boots! 45."

Applejack thought a moment. "You're right; Those boots do look purty ex-pen-sive. 20." she returned.

"40?" was the return.

Applejack thought for a moment, looking around the area. "40 if'n ya throw in one o' them magic ringy thingies" she said, pointing at the box of said rings.

"Deal!" Beloukas declared, laughing heartily afterward. "You drive a hard bargain. I love it!"

He laughed as he grabbed one of the rings and -not even looking at it- selected a key from his massive keyring. He seemed to know just which one to pick despite the sheer immensity of his selection.

Addressing the child, he said, "Today's your lucky day, little one. Should you survive it, that is." he said, tugging the young kit(2) to her feet with a surprising gentleness.

'Probably doesn't want to bruise the merch, I suppose.' Applejack thought to herself.

With a gesture from Beloukas and a modicum of pain, there was a mark on the girl's chest.

"This Slave Crest will ensure that she doesn't disobey your orders." he explained.

Naofumi stepped forward. "What's your name?" he demanded,

R-R-Raphtalia, master Naofumi." she replied, coughing a few times just after.

The merchant was quick to explain. "When the bond was forged, she learned his name."

"Convenient." Naofumi said curtly.

Withdrawing the decided amount from his bag, he paid the man and made to leave.

The merchant grinned. "See you soon~." he all but promised.

The next order of business was getting a proper weapon for the young kit. Thus they went toward the forge.

On the way, Raphtalia collapsed to her knees, coughing harder than before.

Naofumi scowled. "C'mon. Get up." he demanded huffily.

"Have sum c'mpassion, here, sugar-cube." Applejack admonished.

Naofumi let out a sigh. "Sorry. I've received little of that myself, as of late. You might've noticed."

"Ah understand, but jus' 'cuz ya got a bad harvest, it don't mean ya should stop workin' th' land." Putting a hand to Raphtalia's head, Applejack closed her eyes. Before her perception there was a whole grid of skills and abilities that she had. Looking around for a moment in the suspended time-space, she found a skill that would help. 'Here we go!' she thought to herself.

Returning to real time, Applejack intoned, "As source'o this power, Ah order thee: Decipher the laws o' nature to ease the aches and lessen the pains o'mah tar-get; Lay on Hands!"

A green light flowed from Raphtalia's feet to her head and vice-versa. Applejack said, "This won't cure ya o' whatever it is ya have -that ain't part of mah skill set. But it'll letcha run 'round the block a few more times at least, if'n ya catch mah drift.-"

Raphtalia got up, shakily, but hugged Applejack before running over to Naofumi's side.

With a smirk, Applejack stood up, following the two to their destination.

Entering the forge, The trio was greeted by the salesman/smith therein. "Hey! Welcome to my shop. Name's Erhard. (5) What brings you by?"

"First weapon for this one." Naofumi said, indicating Raphtalia.

Erhard looked Raphtalia over. "Hmm... How about a shortsword?"

Taking the measure of Raphtalia's arm, from her elbow to the tip of her middle finger(3) , Erhard looked in a barrel he had to the side. After a moment, he came up with a sword about the right size. "This should do it." he said, handing it to Raphtalia.

Naofumi pushed his cloak aside, revealing a balloon-like monster clinging to his side. "Slay it." he ordered. When Raphtalia hesitated, he insisted, "Come on! Kil it; Now!"

Raphtalia's Slave Crest started to activate, but Applejack knelt beside her. "Okay, sugar-cube. A bit o' motivation fer ya. Imagine that that thar monster is like a rat -one o' many-, speadin' a disease through the land. Ev'ry one ya kill makes life easier fer others. And now it's got yer master! Better git it quick-like!"

Naofumi, going along with the game, said (a little more frantically), "Raphtalia! Get this thing offa me!"

Sufficiently motivated, Raphtalia said, "I won't let you take my master from me!" She lunged forth, slashing the monster and then stabbing it, popping the creature. Applejack then pointed to a nearby training dummy. "And there's a whole mess'a them right thar!"

With her inertia going, Raphtalia slashed and stabbed in quick succession, again and again. Eventually she stopped, arms tired.

Applejack clapped and said, "Yeehaw! Now that thar's the hot ticket!"

Stepping over to the much happier-looking kit, she added, "Good job, Raphtalia! Ya saved a mess o' lives. Buuuuut...(4)"

Going over to one of the training dummies, Applejack continued, "Ya might find that ya get more of a punch if'n ya sync yer movin' an' yer breathin'. If ya breathe right..." Applejack went into a quick flurry of strikes, hitting to great effect. "Ya move right too. O'course, Ah'm a mite different. Where Ah'm from, Ah tend ta use m'ba... m'legs fer thangs like that." she said, almost kicking herself mentally for not thinking of that; being in a different form in a different world would mean different terms apply. "F'rinstance..." she added, before delivering a hard roundhouse kick to a nearby dummy, completely blowing it apart.

Naofumi whistled in appreciation. "Talk about fancy footwork." he quipped, raising his eyebrows as well.

Erhard looked at Applejack with new appreciation, thinking for a moment. "Hmm... Hold up a moment, here.." he said before going into the back room. The trio could hear the sounds of rattling armour.

"AH-HA! Here they are!" they heard before Erhard came back with what looked like a large suitcase.

"This set is what I called Showtime(6)." he said before opening the case and revealing a set of Gauntlets and Sabatons "Careful not to break 'em; they're a one of a kind set." he added. Before Naofumi he placed a large sun-shaped shield. "An' this one I called Solaris." he continued. "It can absorb energy of various kinds, from solar to kinetic to a stiff wind, if you find one that's fast enough. Then you can use it to enhance your (or your allies') defensive power... or send it right back at your enemies! These have to be my finest work." he said proudly.

Applejack made to touch the set and it disappeared before her eyes. "Great horny toads!" she exclaimed. "What happened?!"

"Your magic absorbed it and now you can call on it at any time." Naofumi explained, demonstrating. "Rather handy, that." he finished.

Just then a runner came by the door, panting for breath. "You... you two, you.... move... -hold on-" the poor guy said, trying to catch his breath. At length, he said, "Phew! You two move quickly. I had to ask around to find you."

Reaching to his side, he gave Applejack what looked like a duffflebag. "In here there's quite a number of things; Medicines, money, a holy symbol, a pocket dimension containing a shelter that you can take just about anywhere, a travel pass; suffice it to say, if you need it, it's likely there." he said.

Applejack smiled. "Well, now! Ain't that somethin'? Thanks. Ah imagine ya gotta... run along, now?" she joked.

As it happened, the man saluted and did just that.

Applejack said, "Well, Ah guess Ah'm payin' fer lunch. Y'all in fer a bite?" she queried

Naofumi nodded. "Well, you're buying, so... why not?" he then turned toward his 'partner'. "You coming, Raphtalia?" he asked.

Raphtalia was about to respond in the negative, but since her master and friend were moving along without her! She sighed and shrugged. 'Story of my life.' she thought to herself before running after them.

Author's Note

1: Yes, that is his name, apparently.
2: She is part fox, after all.
3: I'm fairly sure that longsword and katana blades are from the shoulder to the middle finger plus the pinkie finger, so for a shortsword I think that's a fair estimate, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
4: This next bit references a show and a movie. Cookie for those who can guess which.
5: Yes, that's his name.
6: Reference to Bayonetta's Scarborough Fair set.