The conversation went something like this.

Skirnir: "I am not employed."

Halis: "I still am, in theory."

Skirnir: "That keeps us afloat. It does not help fund our cause."

Halis: "Our living expenses have plunged considerably."

Skirnir: "Indeed. The Storsaed's assistance will be invaluable, but we will need a different hall before long."

Halis: "And how should we go about getting a different hall? The laws here are difficult to obey if we meant to accomplish our task in anything approaching speed."

Skirnir: "True. Perhaps we might resort to different methods of obtaining money?"

Halis: "What do you suggest?"

Skirnir: "Raiding."

Halis: "Who? I can't imagine the Numan collaborators will defend their goods any less fiercely than our own people."

Skirnir: "The Inish, call them the Inish. It sounds less strange. And I do not suggest them."

Halis: "Not our own people! We seek unity, Skirnir! Unity, not anarchy."

Skirnir: "Our enemy relies on the unity of his flocks to defend himself. We must first break our people apart if we are to bring them together in a better way."

Halis: "Dare we begin this? Its repercussions could ripple out of our control."

Skirnir: "If you have a superior suggestion, make it known now."

With so few words, it was decided. If the Runes Reborn would wage war on the Wyrm once again, they must first liberate their people from its yoke. This decision brought Skirnir and Halis to Skirnir's car and down to a store some distance away.

This store's name is not important, the only thing that was important was the amount of cash on the premises. Skirnir knew it well because he was first taken there by the Storsaed. This store sold many different things, that was why it did such brisk business. It was a large store, very large for the need of holding the many things it sold. It was not the only store of its like, the corporation that owned this store had many similar stores, which also made a great deal of money. The aim of this large store was to provide many different goods in one place, reducing the amount of time spent shopping. It was a very popular concept, and had remained that way for the twenty-one years it had been in existence.

Skirnir had worked at this store at one point, when he was Schuyler, but that was only for a month and a half. He was a cashier at one of the parade of registers that stood straight and regular at one end of the store, ready to handle massive amounts of shoppers on the busiest times of the year. Schuyler, and thus Skirnir, remembered last Decimus, one of tho. He hated working there, and only thinking about his inflated wages for that day kept him from wanting to kill everyone he saw there and on the way home.

Now, he was certain he didnt want to kill anyone at all. Instead, he was going to set them free. It would frighten them, at first. People always feared change. But it was necessary and good, if for almost selfish reasons.

He stepped inside the doors of the store and surveyed the situation. Halis brushed past him, the same appraising look on her face, as her eyes went up to the rafters that told this stores history as an old warehouse during the Industrial Revoultion. She walked a full circuit around Skirnir, evaluating the area and how it would come together with their plan.

"We should seal the exits," Halis stated, stopping behind Skirnir and resting her head on his shoulder. "And end their ability to contact the outside world."

"Telephones," Skirnir clarified. "How will we block the exits?"

"The cars outside," Halis suggested. "We could block the doors with several of them."

"Moving an automobile will be difficult for me at this point. Once I am stronger, I should be able to push and pull them more easily."

"We could move them using their engines."

"We would need the keys."

"Ah. Perhaps we should make the doors unopenable?"

"How will we do that?"

Halis thought for a moment. Then, she turned and walked back to the door they came in from. Holding the automatic door shut, she blew across her palm, willing a flame to life. Then, grinding her teeth, she willed it to intensify, until the orange flicker steadied into a blue jet. Turning her palm to the door, she melted the metal of the door and the door frame until they became runny and orange. Banishing the flame, she grabbed the oozing metal and kneaded it together. That done, she blew on the metal to cool it off, which it did so instantly, shrinking and cooling to its former semi-luster. As another potential customer approached the door, the automatic door strained against Halis brief welding job, and failed to defeat it.

"Excellent," said Skirnir. "We will do that. We should obtain weapons, as well."

Halis glowed at the praise, then nodded her agreement. They proceeded to the hardware department, where both of their eyes drifted immediately to a stainless-steel rack coated with red rubber. Sitting in said rack were long-handled tools. Skirnir reached out and hefted a sledgehammer. A few experimental swings brought a satisfied if grudging approval for its construction. Halis hand fell on a fire axe. She disapproved of its weight, so she took a second.

Skirnir used his thumbnail to scrape the price tag off. "These are not perfect, but they will serve."

They returned to the front of the store. "I will gather everyones attention. That will allow you to finish sealing the exits in peace."

"How will we leave? Once we have the money, the police are sure to come soon. We cannot leave by the same way as the mortals; we will surely be spotted."

"Leave that to me." He shooed her off to begin her work. Waiting long enough for her to get a good start on welding the doors shut, Skirnir, jumped up on an unmanned lane, beside the cash register and called for everyones attention by hurling his hammer hard enough to split the roof of the store open and send plaster and steel raining down.

<(_-|-__>