Librarians Need Help Too

"Oh, drat!"

Zansho looked up from the book she had been leaning over. She was seated at one of the many well polished, and very heavy wooden tables towards the back of the library; near where the older books were kept. She had been searching for some information that would help her with training; plus more techniques for use with the tanto that her father had given her. But now... well, now she was curious as to what was going on. It wasn't every day she got to hear an old person almost swear.

She quietly got up from her table and pushed her chair in, closing the book and placing it on the pile from which she had got it from that had been situated in the center of the desk. She then followed where she heard the sound coming from; several large rows of books over.

"Oh, just darn it all... this isn't going to work."

Zansho blinked and peered around the corner. The sight that met her eyes was an elderly woman, an old and likely well used feather duster in hand, attempting to climb up a rolling ladder - Zansho figured she was trying to dust the shelves and just couldn't do it. "Can... can I help you?" Her shyness was always put aside when it came to helping people in need; it was one of the few times she could be bold as brass - especially if it was an elderly person in need of assistance.

The elderly woman looked up from the ladder to Zansho; taking in the appearance of her strange dress - at least stranger than what those in the air city seemed to wear. She seemed to be thinking about the question for a moment before she than nodded. "Yes, please. You look like a brave girl; if you can do me a favor and climb up this ladder and dust all of these shelves for me I'll be sure to reward you in the end. Can you do that for me? Oh, and where are my manners, I'm Amaya."

Zansho nodded and smiled gently. "I can do that for you. My name is Zansho, Zansho Jun Chi." She took the feather duster from the woman and after she stepped aside Zansho climbed up the ladder. She could instantly see why the old woman had been attempting so hard to get up here and do this job; there was a layer of dust so thick that she could have likely written her name in it if she had half a mind to do so.

Zansho got to work on the dusting, sneezing several times at first until she figured out how to move the feather duster in such a way that the dust didn't end up blowing back into her face. The last thing she wanted to do was fall off the ladder after all; she was pretty high up, and a fall like that would likely result in an injury.

It was slow work at first since she had never done something like this - I mean really, who dusted shelves on a rolling ladder that were fifteen feet high? Librarians, apparently. Or Zansho, since she had taken up the task. But, eventually she found a way to make it all work; she got comfortable with holding onto the ladder with one hand, doing some dusting until all of the dust was gone from that area, and then pushing herself down by bracing her hand against the shelf below. Up and down the ladder she went, ensuring that every level of the shelves were dusted and clear. When she was done with one shelf she would simply move on to the next, finding the little track that the ladder rolled on to be quite helpful indeed.

Zansho ignored the sweat on her brow that had formed after a short period of time; this was a lot harder work than she had originally thought, and she found herself thinking on more than one occasion as she cleaned that she was glad she had offered her help. She couldn't see a woman as old as the librarian doing something like this, it just wasn't right. 

Shelf after shelf was completed until Zansho was finally done. She glanced to the dust caked duster and down to herself; she was likewise covered in dust, but happy to have helped. She climbed down the ladder for the final time and glanced around, wondering where the old woman could have got to. She wandered up to the front of the library, where she found her behind the circular desk. "All finished. Is there anything else you need my help with?", Zansho asked as she approached, handing over the duster when the woman reached out for it.

The elderly woman smiled kindly. "No dear, that was my chore for the day. Thank you very much for your help. I'm glad to see that there are still young people out in the world willing to offer a hand when they see someone in need. Here you go, dear.", with that said she handed over a pouch containing Zansho's pay for her job well done.

"Thanks!", Zansho said before heading out of the library and off to her parents stall to tell them what she had done.

Word Count: 888