“It’s undwarvenly, is what it is!”
“But we don’t have anything else to drink…”
“I don’t care!”
Old One Aban was incredibly angry with the assembly standing beside the wagon, his gravelly voice and the stench of Rat Weed cigar, making most of them stand a good distance away, as he bellowed his views. He yelled a lot, especially when someone said something he considered undwarven, which, surprisingly, was quite a bit. But the thing he was angry about today was a Water Distillery, that Deep had thought up in order to provide clean drinking water.
“I can stand eating herbs, but if someone ever brings up drinking water, like them, again, I’ll take them to one of the ponds and drown ‘em. Do I make myself clear?”
Corai, the metal-crafter and jeweler, stepped forward. He waved his hammer vaguely in Old One’s direction before speaking.
“And who in the ever burning, black hell of Rsisus made you the boss around here?”
“I did. You got a problem, little punk?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Well, that’s pretty obvious.”
A few of the more devout Ancestor Worshippers chuckled, more out of loyalty to Aban then true amusement, while the ones who only gave passing honors to the Ancestors remained stone-faced (which Dwarves are quite good at). Corai went a bit red in the cheeks, and came close to yelling.
“I’m not going to be bossed around by a Dwarf who’s face I can’t see! What, are so ugly you can’t take those wrappings off? You look like a damn mummy!”
“Are you done?”
“Yeah.”
A few wondered how Aban looked under the wrapping when he punched Corai in the face; some guessed he was grinning, or annoyed, or genuinely and truly angry. He broke the Smith’s nose and sent him spinning into the sodden soil. Corai stumbled to his feet, and pulled a smithing hammer from his belt. Blood streaming down his face from a twisted nose.
“What, hands broken or something, boy? Need to use a hammer to win your fights for you?”
Aban taunted him, but instead of responding, Corai ran forward, swinging the hammer and swearing incoherently. Aban sidestepped just in time to be smashed across the face with the hammer, leaving a bloody patch on the stained cloth near Aban’s cheek. Just as the two were picking themselves up, Deep stepped in between them, and promptly pushed them back down into the mud, before scolding them.
“Fighting isn’t going to help any of us-”
“I found it entertaining!”
A few seconds of awkward silence reigned beside the wagon.
"Sorry."
“Listen, I know you’re both hungry, and the last thing we all ate was a rat, and that’s making you irritated. But if we keep fighting we won’t have any energy left to survive. Now both of you morons stop fighting and get the hell back to work!”
She gave a glance behind her.
“The same goes for you!”
A little more than a few grumbles were heard, as the Dwarves stumbled back off to work. Only Aban and Corai remained, staring angrily down their noses at each other.
“Now Aban, I’ll take your word in this; I won’t build the water distillery like I wanted to. But if we start dying of thirst, I will build it, regardless of what you say or do.”
The Old One nodded, never once taking his eyes off Corai.
“Now both of you get to work.”