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Post by Thomas Springsteel on Aug 14, 2011 19:56:24 GMT -5
Thomas grunted against the weight of the Goron Hammer as he brought it down once more. A mighty clang sounded into the air and sparks flew, but none of that was alarming to Springsteel's senses. He lived in such an environment all day. At east, he did when he wasn't busy fixing things he'd broken. Sweat dripped down from his forehead but the smithy ignored it. He could wipe his brow later, right now the brunet had other things on his mind besides perspiration.
Another clang, more sparks. The heat flared up as Thomas stoked the fire at its core, nearly burning himself in the process. He mentally chided himself. Now, of all times, was not the moment to start slipping. He was almost finished! This was the first time in a long time that the Human had managed to get this far in the process without messing up. This longstanding project of his might finally, finally bear some fruit.
As long as nothing distracted him...
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Post by Rwaht on Aug 17, 2011 0:49:29 GMT -5
Ever since the old Goron had died, Rwaht found he was visiting the blacksmith's shop less and less frequently. It was the closest thing he had to a childhood home left, since he'd burned the first one. He was still fond of it, so every now and again he'd stop by, visit Thomas, and see how the place was doing. Maybe repair the Leoking. Try not to get hit in the face by a misfired piece of molten metal. If he could check either of those off of his list in one visit, he figured it was a successful trip.
He probably should've knocked, but the place still felt a little like home, so Rwaht walked on in, observing the interior of the shop fondly. It still looked mostly the way it always did, except with an excess of burn marks. Rwaht smiled, and waved towards Thomas, even though he probably couldn't see him.
"Hey there."
Oh crap he's probably going to-- |
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Post by Thomas Springsteel on Aug 17, 2011 23:55:50 GMT -5
Clang!
"Argh!"
Thump!
Smash!
"Ow!"
Crash!
Thomas dropped his hammer to the ground and clutched his left arm. When he'd turned to look at the new voice mid-swing the Human's grip on the metal work had loosened and his aim was thrown off. Striking the super-heated steel in such a way that caused it to flip up out of his grip and slice at his left arm, though any real damage was thankfully deflected by the armour he wore on it. It still causes a spasm of heat though, which was what caused Thomas' outcry before the errant piece of metal slammed into a rack of finished swords at the side wall.
Dropping the hammer to hold his nearly-burned arm had seemed like a good idea at the time. That thought only lasted until the thing slammed down onto his right foot, though. Thankfully Thomas had sturdy footwear on so he was spared losing the ability to walk to the extremely heavy Goron tool. He did hop off to the side in reaction and fall onto his backside, though. That was probably for the best considering that the broken rack at the side was was now scattering sharp blades all over the ground which clattered into the space he had been occupying a second ago.
Thomas breathed for a few seconds after everything stopped moving. The pain in his arm began to dull and his foot only had a minor throb. None of the swords had cut him this time, that was a plus. Once those few seconds were spent getting his bearings the brunet turned his head toward the entrance of the shop and got his second look at the new arrival.
"Welcome to the Springsteel Forge," he said in a practiced customer service voice to the man, a highly annoyed look on his face. "This must be your first time here since my regular customers would know to never enter without knocking first."
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Post by Rwaht on Aug 24, 2011 16:56:42 GMT -5
Rwaht winced several times as Thomas found several new, inventive ways to injure both himself and the blacksmith's shop, then went absolutely still as several pieces of metal started to fly about them, or otherwise skittering across the ground.
Okay, that was stupid, Rwaht thought, chiding himself. He knew that Thomas was ... a very unique sort of blacksmith. Rwaht laughed. It still felt weird to hear that the forge belonged to Thomas; which it did, and Rwaht didn't begrudge him that one bit. He supposed he'd never properly get over the death of that old Goron. He had made a lot of things possible, for both Rwaht and his sister.
"No, only me, Thomas," Rwaht said, waving a hand idly, "You can drop the 'nice to help you sir' voice and properly berate me for nearly killing you," Rwaht said, not entirely sure if he was joking. Or incorrect. |
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Post by Thomas Springsteel on Aug 24, 2011 17:10:05 GMT -5
"Please," the Human said as he got up, a self-depreciating smile creeping onto his face as he spoke. "I can hardly blame you for doing that every now and then when I do it to myself several times a day."
Despite the pleasantries Thomas was competent enough not to leave a piping-hot piece of metalwork just lying on the ground. Once his disorientation had passed he was back to his feet and retrieving a nearby bucket of cold water. Sadly the smithy had come to expect little fiascoes like this and usually had ways to clean up afterward on-hand when his attempts to prevent them at all inevitably failed. Thomas proceeded to use some metal tongs to pick up the object he'd been hammering moments before and drop it in the pail, releasing a huge pile of steam into the room as he did so. Rwaht would know to stand clear and Thomas' armoured footwear would protect him from the scattered blades even if he couldn't see them anymore. Having done all he could for now Springsteel ventured out of the steam toward the front of the shop. Cleaning up the mess could wait until the air had cleared back there.
"So to what do I owe the pleasure this time?" he asked, a more friendly smile and tone now presented to his favourite customer. "Come to pay my repair bills for the month?"
Thomas did slightly enjoy charging an exorbitant sum of the owners of his former master's unique creations. Since it would take ages for another blacksmith to even learn how the things worked let along keep them well-maintained he had a good excuse though. Time was worth rupees, after all.
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Post by Rwaht on Aug 24, 2011 17:26:30 GMT -5
Rwaht laughed and pulled a sack of rupees from his pocket, laying them down on a counter.
"Am I that predictable?" he asked, before he went over to examine some of the swords, without touching them. He grinned. "You're really getting a lot better at this, y'know. These are nice swords. I should start getting you to make the weaponry for the Sentinels. Give the Hylian blacksmiths something to worry about," Rwaht said, only half-joking. He got back to his feet and walked over to Thomas, pulling out the Leoking and presenting it for examination. The blade was nicked in a couple places.
"A couple of scratches on the blade. And I think one of the internal mechanisms might be having some trouble. I'd examine it myself, but I'm really better with the magical side of it. I think it's a technical issue." |
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Post by Thomas Springsteel on Aug 24, 2011 17:40:46 GMT -5
"That and you'd put me out of a home if you did, right?" Thomas asked jokingly. Neither man pretended their little arrangement was anything different than it was, but it wasn't just for show either. Thomas needed all the practice he could get with his master's special creations in order to keep building up his own ability to re-create the genius behind them. That was, after all, his final goal before he could be called a master blacksmith as well.
Putting that aside though Thomas hefted up the relatively young sword. The weight of it in his hands was familiar, hearkening back to the day he handed it over to Rwaht as a gift. Second best decision he had ever made, Thomas was convinced, trumped only by his decision to follow in a certain Goron's footsteps. He played with the chamber above the blade's handle, getting a feeling for its weight and movements in his hands.
"It does feel a little off," Thomas agreed, placing it back down. He'd need to examine it in the back once the air had cleared and the floor was tidy again. Luckily he was now an expert at cleaning up after himself so even that would take only a few minutes. "Best to check these things out right away before they wear on. Lucky for you I'm not wearing my usual work boots today or they wouldn't have been able to save my toes from the weight of master's hammer. You'd be helping me to a hospital instead of getting Leoking patched up."
Thomas smiled in a very transparent way. Rwaht was an observant guy; there was no way he'd missed Thomas' new footwear and how it matched the armour plating that adorned the Human's left arm. The blacksmith was practically begging him to comment on it.
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Post by Rwaht on Aug 24, 2011 17:57:59 GMT -5
Rwaht grinned, but didn't comment when Thomas mentioned their little deal. It had just sort of evolved naturally one day, and it had stuck. Besides, the Leoking was unique, and Rwaht didn't really have the time to practice his blacksmithing any more. He wouldn't admit it, but he was more than a little rusty at repairing the thing; he was coming to rely on Thomas' steadily increasing capability as a blacksmith. If the guy could only get over the clumsiness he seemed permanently afflicted with, he showed tremendous promise. Rwaht was starting to develop an eye for recognizing talent.
He laughed when Thomas all but kicked his heels like an eager kid to show their new boots off.
"They must be made of something strong," Rwaht said, laughing. "I remember how heavy that hammer is." He blinked and realized that the boots weren't really just the stuff intended for hard work, but also well-crafted armour. "So you've kept at it ... you'll complete the set one day, Thomas. Those really do look quite good," Rwaht said, feeling a strange twinge of regret that he'd all but completely abandoned the brief lessons the Goron master had given him. It had always been obvious that Rwaht was better at using steel than making it, but for some reason it seemed a little sad that he'd never really embraced the old Goron's trade, even though he owed him so much. At least Thomas had. That was something to smile about. |
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Post by Thomas Springsteel on Aug 24, 2011 18:13:06 GMT -5
"Oh yeah," Springsteel said with amusement as he hefted up one of his wide pant legs to show off the boot of what would be a full set of armour were the rest of it made yet. "At this rate it will only take me, what? Another forty, fifty years to finish the whole set?"
Thomas may have been terrible at what he did, for the most part, but he was diligent and optimistic. He neither ignored reality nor let it crush him and really that was what allowed his master to teach him without fear of wasting his time. Thomas believed both in himself and in the man who taught him. He didn't doubt that one day his hard work would pay off.
"Actually I ended up making a couple dozen pairs of these before I finished," the blacksmith admitted before dropping the modeling gag and turning back to his work area. It was about time to start clearing up back there. "The real slowdown was that it took me almost as many tries just to get them conducting the same magic wavelength as the arm piece."
Rwaht would understand what Thomas was getting at. The old Goron had a fairly special way of infusing magic or magic-adapting properties into works as he made them, as he had with the Leoking. Thomas was trying to make a full set of armour so if one piece didn't have the exact same infusion as the rest then it wouldn't work properly. Rwaht would also understand that now that Thomas had gotten it right the actual speed of development for the remaining pieces wouldn't be held back as much. Thomas he gotten his master's help with the arm, after all. Now he had proof that he could achieve the correct effect without aid. The Human could have asked his Praetor friend for help in that area as the Hybrid was indeed skilled with magic but it was something that the smithy had to achieve on his own in order to move forward.
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