sixthiterationlogs | Let me put myself in your shoes as a puppet loosely strung

Entry tags:

Let me put myself in your shoes as a puppet loosely strung

WHO: Kalen
WHERE: The Blacksmith
WHEN: Feb 9th
OPEN TO: OTA to anybody at or around the forge
WARNINGS: Warnings not anticipated

Blacksmiths;

As had been suggested, Kalen had found an empty house already. But likewise, it was suggested that he needed to see the forge. In the world that Kalen came from this idea of metalworking did not exist. The heat was created from a magic rune and artisans used them in the ultimate creation of their work. Even those that could not wield magic would buy from those that could and that was how many people made a living.

He did not have much of a choice in what to wear so he had the second set of magenta scrubs on under the wool peacoat and kept his hands inside the pockets. He already felt silly about this since this seems to be a common idea for other people. Thanks to that, he was being as quiet as he could and approaching the blacksmiths without his jaw hanging open.

Forge;

In fascinated silence, he inspected all parts from the crucible to the bellows. He could not guess what the latter was used for either. The only thing he somewhat recognized was the anvil but the cooling bucket was another mystery since a water rune would be used to finish.

Fire;

While Kalen had seen a wood fire before, he had not seen one glow so brightly. The level of heat coming off of it was more intense than expected too. It did not take him long to shed the wool coat. It was not so much the tools of a blacksmith but the way in which they created heat. The glow of coals used to make carbon was mesmerizing but it probably looked odd for someone to be staring into that glow of fire

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Whatever respite they had gotten from winter a couple of weeks back had been exactly that, and the cold has returned with a vengeance. The sky is thick with steel-gray clouds promising snow, and not for the first time, Karen finds herself glad she claimed a room at the inn while she could. It makes getting through the chilly season so much easier.

Shoulders hunched against the biting wind, hands deep in her pockets, she's squinting resignedly at the sky and almost doesn't see the man with her on the road. He's new, but she's behind in keeping up with everyone. Being beamed to a mountaintop and forced to watch your and your companions' worst memories can make a person a little scatter-brained.

"Hi," she huffs as she approaches, the syllable an opaque cloud in the chill air.

It's an odd place to stop for a chat and since the wind has a habit of making it feel colder than it actually is, Kalen opts for just a nod. Mostly to show he heard Karen.

He also isn't stopping, just slowing down as he continues walking in the same direction

Okay then, fair enough. It's cold out, and not exactly an ideal spot for having a conversation, even if they're already walking. Still, the records are a good excuse for not simply taking off and leaving it at that.

"You're new, yeah?" she asks, peering his way. "What's your name?"

Kalen raises an eyebrow at that but he keeps on walking while looking back over his shoulder to reply in a flat tone.

"Let's get out of the wind before we worry about introductions."

He nods toward the blacksmiths which is only nominally the out of the wind and it's only nominally warmer there if you're next to a fire but it beats being out here.

Karen hesitates a tick, debating whether to just cut bait on this one and go about her business, but then realizes her 'business' is pretty thin on the ground and she doesn't have much to do. So fine, sure; maybe this guy just isn't as used to the cold as she is and it's made him cranky. Or maybe she'll end up cutting bait after a couple of minutes anyway, but it isn't like she doesn't have the time.

"Sorry," she says as she steps under the eaves of the blacksmith's hut, "the cold doesn't bother me that much. I was just trying to be neighborly."

If by 'not as used to' you mean not tolerant to the cold at all, then yes. As far as cranky goes, unfortunately, Kalen is usually like this.

"I'm not sure why you were, but I'm Kalen. And to answer; yes, I'm new. Is it stamped on my back or something?"

"It's a small village," Karen replies with an arch of her eyebrows, an answer to both questions. "I'm Karen. I was just curious, so— I was headed to the inn and I don't want to disturb you anymore than I apparently already have, so I'll just head on that way," she adds with a flick of a finger back over her shoulder.

Kalen stared at Karen for a moment in silence.

"...did you seriously just stop me only to ask my name?"

His tone was flat. It wasn't that she was disturbing him he just generally came off as hostile.

"No," Karen slowly replies, her brows pulling together. "But you seemed annoyed that I was talking to you at all, so I was trying to do the polite thing and make my exit. Which I'm going to do now." She offers a terse smile and turns back the way they'd come.

Newcomers at the blacksmith weren't unusual. Newcomers staring into the fire like it was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen, however, certainly was. Seifer had come in a little while ago and puttered about getting himself set up. Ignoring the man fussing about until it finally came to the point where he was in the way...

Well this won't do. "Hey, you're gonna cook your eyeballs starin' like that. You mind?" He's just going to slip a bar into the coals to heat up. Has a few hinges he can make to pass the time before he gets to work on his other project.

Kalen looks up quickly (his eyes do feel uncomfortable once he looked elsewhere) and hurriedly got out of Seifer's way. He was familiar with the idea of heating metal in order to work with it

"...this will sound like a stupid question, but how do you find a way to get the fire hot enough to be able to work with metal?"

Try blinking some, stare too long and the eyes get a little dry. With his tongs he reached in to adjust it enough that it was buried more in the coals, glancing over at the guy.

"Nah, not stupid. I didn't know how this stuff worked either, here." He moved over to the bellows to give it a few pumps, where the flames promptly roared brighter for a few moments. "It's in the fuel and adding air, charcoal burns even. Add more air to get more heat, see?"

Hey he gets to pretend he knows something. That's fun!

Well, Kalen opts for rubbing his eyes which makes them water so it sort of works the same? Sighing in consternation with himself, Kalen lowers his hand sounding equal parts frustrated, annoyed, and wondering.

"Which part did you not get? Shaping metal or what makes the fire."

Close enough. Just don't get soot in them that's always a bad day. The reaction is strange to him, but then again he came from having few to no life skills to trying to learn a trade. It's been frustrating feeling so far behind everyone else.

"Eh, kinda both? I know how fire works well enough, didn't know about the bellows or anything. Why?"

That's pretty much how Kalen feels. Far behind everyone else. Only for him, it's being compounded.

"Just realizing how deep our dependency is on magic."

And how thoroughly useless he feels without it.

Unofficially welcome to the "how do you function as a person?" Club.

"Ah-hah, another magic world huh? We had magic in mine, lotta our healing and medicine was wrapped up in it. Day to day shit not so much so I guess that's a small benefit at least." If Paramagic had been needed to run a stove or something he'd be in a lot of trouble.

"Takes some getting used to. What d'you wanna know?"

Kalen gave a mirthless little laugh and watched the metal heat in the fire.

"The problem is that it was day to day for me. Even if I went the day without using combat magic, there was still support magic. Heating or light or woven into clothes. The use of it wasn't just confined to spellbinders, it was bought or just used to make food that was sold."

His tone becomes a little bit more frustrated as he continues.

After a few more pokes Seifer decided it was good enough and plucked it out of the fire, moving over to start the work of hammering it out flat.

"Hyne, that sounds expansive. Far as I know," A pause while he goes for a few more whacks, turning it over to start the other side. Keep it even. "Magic doesn't do that much in my world. Suppose if it were handy we'd be usin' it just as much."

So that was going to make all of this significantly harder for this guy to learn. "Hey man," He pauses to glance up at the guy. "Relax. People here will help you out."

He's not alone. That has to count for something.

He was not sure why this guy was saying that. Briefly, he wondered if tension was showing in his demeanor but decided it shouldn't matter if it was. The statement still smacked of pity. Kalen glowered.

"I can function without magic. And if I'm in your way then tell me but don't patronize me instead."

Ah, it's going to be like that. That's fine, far more what he's used to. Everyone being nice has been weird and now here Seifer is catching himself doing the same thing. Damn these people being so contagious.

Not that it's bad but he does enjoy being an asshole when he can.

"Oh yeah? Prove it." If he's going to float there and be huffy about it Seifer's going to challenge him. Pity? Nah, understanding, but if he doesn't want that he gets it. Proving yourself is always the better way.

That was not the response Kalen expected. Still wary, arms crossed and keeping a standoffish attitude Kalen narrows his eyes at Seifer.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"If you're gonna loiter, make yourself useful. There's a bucket by the door, bring back some water."

Want to prove he can figure out how to function without any magic? Start with something menial. Sometimes doing was more self satisfying than being told what to do. Seifer wasn't going to give him any further instruction than that. Just wait to see what this guy did with his suggestion. Might blow him off, or might take the challenge out of pride. He knows he would.

Kalen raised an eyebrow at Seifer. It wasn't much of a hardship since gathering water from the stream behind the barracks was one of the things that needed to be done on a daily basis. He and the other deathseekers did it on a rotation but they all handled the upkeep.

Since Kalen did prefer being useful, he kept the same cross though notably calm, attitude and moved to pick up the pail. It was a little tricky to find where to get the water from but when Kalen returned it was with a full bucket of water.

"If you only said that to see if I would do it or not and empty this bucket on the ground I will be pissed off."

Were this Garden and Seifer playing the role of Disciplinary Committee head he might have done something that cruel, and then made him mop it. But Kalen isn't a misbehaving student, he's fresh out of the fountain and proud. So no, he's not going to do anything to humiliate him. Instead he gestures toward the half-emptied cooling trough. It needed to be kept full, so really it wasn't just busy work. Just busy work Seifer forgot to do when he came in that morning.

"Dump it in there. You wanna see how this fire works?"

Like he's just ignoring his ill-temper entirely.

As much as he showed an attitude about it, Kalen did want to learn. Without further comment, only a nod, he did as he was told and emptied the bucket into the cooling trough. That done he stands next to Seifer.

He was used to people taking his surly attitude to be confrontational. It was refreshing when someone else gave back as good but was still both unbothered by it and helpful.

Seifer was used to it, he lived with himself after all, and understood a lot of where that sort of attitude comes from. People had given up on him for his attitude. Maybe he could offer something different for someone else.

Reaching over to grab a scoop of fresh charcoal to toss into the fire he pauses. "Watch the color," As he tossed the new batch on top, with a flare of fire and the coals growing more red and darker for a moment. "You can tell how hot it is by the color, when it's orange and red it's too cool." So he moves to work the bellows, get more air flow in to encourage it to heat up. "Once the new charcoal starts burning right it'll even out and be ready for metal. Need a good bed of coals to get enough heat."

Hardly an expert on the subject there's only so much he can teach, but the fire he's learned about well enough.

Kalen nods to himself. So that is what those big bellows where used for. He had seen what the cooling trough was used for earlier.

"Like blowing on a wood fire to get it to catch."

The coals themselves had been the mysterious part. Whether or not he could function without magic, Kalen was starting to realize he had nothing useful without it. All that had left was his skill with a blade.

"So how long would it take to the make a sword?"

It might not be a helpful skill but he did not want to get rusty.

"Exactly, here you try. The new coals start goin' out give it a little air." He stepped aside to allow Kalen to take over while he went about preparing a crucible to melt down their leftover bits.

"At this forge? A while. Weapons gotta be approved by the boss. You'll have to talk to Tony if you want a blade."

He's already anticipating the disappointment, which he gets. He'd been in much the same boat. "Not much out here that's very dangerous. Still, worth askin'."

Kalen moved to take his place but kept watching the color of the coals. He grimaced at being told it would take time to get a blade.

"Well, speed is not paramount. I can wait."

He glances once at Seifer raising an eyebrow. Usually, Kalen would try to play it off as if it was no big deal. But right at this moment, for whatever reason, he chooses honesty.

"It's not other things besides us that I am worried about."

Leaving the fire under his watch Seifer went about collecting spare bits and scraps from other forging to toss into the clay crucibles he'll add to the fire once it's hot enough. Plenty of work to be doing. It'll be more than a wait if he can't convince Tony to change his mind. He's been working on it, so far not much progress had been made.

When Kalen spoke up again he glanced up, raising an eyebrow. Surprising he'd come out and say it, but rather than reprimand him he just gave a nod and a grunt. "Yeah, I get that," His own paranoia about other people was far higher than his concerns of wild animals or monsters.

"Reasons Tony's so strict on the weapons, really. No shanking your neighbors rule. 'Course that's never stopped anyone. There are other ways, we got a dojo where my housemate's teachin' people to fight with a staff. You might not think it's much until you've had your skull cracked open with one. I do a little hand to hand training when I've got some spare time and I'm bored."

So there were self defense options that weren't blades. Still... He smirks. "If you're any good with a blade, maybe we'll find a way to practice anyway. Sure do miss mine." Hyne did he miss his.

Edited 2019-02-24 02:31 (UTC)

He had been taken from everything he knew, had runes suddenly stripped from him and been thrown into what essentially seemed to be a prison camp. Kalen surpassed paranoia when it really did seem like everything was out to get him. As far as why he was being so honest it was simple; removed from everything he had ever known Kalen had no choice but to be entirely upfront about at least this.

At the moment he adds one more pump of the bellows to give more oxygen to the burning coals. He glanced once at Seifer then away again.

"I've been training with a sword since I was a child. I don't know if you would count that as 'any good'."

And being a perfectionist, Kalen has not only been training but he has also made himself the best. He is not quite the best at hand to hand combat but he is no slouch either.

"I would prefer to have steel but if that is not possible right now I suppose I will have to make do with wooden practice swords."

Were this not arguably safer and further away from the horrors of recent history, Seifer might feel the same. As it was, the way he saw it he was dodging the firing squad so he had fewer complaints about this prison camp compared to what he'd be facing back home. Where everything and everyone would be out for his blood. This was a second chance, weirdly enough. It was fair, this world offered fewer reasons to hide. It had taken Seifer some time to start realizing that.

Good work. Seeing no problems he continued preparing the crucibles and getting them buried in the coals Kalen was tending to.

The comment, however, earned a barked laugh. "Good! Maybe you'll be able to keep up." Perhaps he'd finally met someone that wouldn't give him that pitying or horrified look he often received when people learned he'd been in the military since he was a child himself. Sure, he got that it was horrible, still didn't like being looked at that way. Pity always pissed him off.

Kalen might just find Seifer an interesting match, in that case. Likewise he was obsessed with being the best at what he did, and he was. His problem wasn't his skill, it was refusing to follow orders and never ask questions.

"Good, the dojo's got a few. Light for my tastes, I'm sure we can figure somethin' out."

"If you don't close your mouth, you're going to swallow a fly."

It's a warm, bemused warning from the woman currently working at the back of the smithy, pouring recently-made stakes into buckets of cold water as they sizzle and hiss. Brigitte's looking more tired lately -- a few more hollows under her eyes, her face more wan -- but she needs to get this work done before her trip down south with these stakes and poles.

But they have a new hanger-on today, and she lifts her visor, wipes away a streak of sweat from her forehead as she looks at the teenager. "You're new, right?"

Kalen didn't realize he'd had his lips parted until the woman said something about it. Hurriedly closing them (and feeling silly for doing it in the first place) he just nodded at the woman at first.

He does his best to stay out of the way, but he has to move away from being in front of the cooling barrel almost immediately which just contributes to his feeling of being underfoot.

"I suppose it's pretty obvious."

Brigitte knows that feeling, though -- she'd been constantly tripping up her father in his workshop, lurking and poking her nose into everything that she probably shouldn't -- so she's patient and understanding, where a more crotchety smith might have been more annoyed at having a spectator.

"Do you have any experience or interest in forges?" she asks; even if it's a fair guess from the boy's goggle-eyed focus that this seems new to him.

Kalen just shakes his head.

"No experience. Where I am from, heat is created very differently. Artisans use magic in order to create that heat and sustain it with their will power."

Kalen gestures at the forge itself.

"I have seen metal workers before but not like this."

And the fact that it was common for everyone else only added to Kalen's feeling of everyone exceeding him. It was not a good feeling.

She blinks, intrigued. Where Kalen might be feeling low about his inexperience with traditional smithing, Brigitte's interest is piqued instead by his mention of magic. "So you don't just... set a fire with a match or a flint? It's always magic? What's that like?"

Brig knows from firsthand experience that getting too distracted at the forge is a dreadful danger, but thankfully, her pieces of metal are already cooling and she doesn't have anything new to tend to just yet.

Kalen gave a little snort.

"What's it like? Normal. What's a match and a flint?"

It is common for people to set fire with magic but that magic may be initially created by someone else. And it is mostly only the spark that gets created. Keeping a fire going is up to the smith.

"'Normal', that's super descriptive." Brigitte's voice isn't annoyed, just gently chiding. But she's patient when she explains: "A match is like, a little stick with a bit on the end that when you strike it, it creates a spark of fire?"

She's keeping the description fairly simple and non-technical, considering his inexperience with the concept, and she's half-distracted setting her equipment aside. "And flint is a rock that you hit against metal, and that creates a spark too. Want to try?"

"Try what? Making sparks? I have seen those so I can guess how a flint would work."

Kalen did not want to give the wrong impression. And since Brigitte didn't have a hearts glass the only way he had to know what she thought about anything were her facial expressions. He kept his arms crossed and he kept the standoffish demeanor. But the tone of his voice was more friendly.

"It seems pretty obvious now that it's been pointed out."

"I can imagine it can be hard to be used to, though, if you're used to having magic doing everything." Brigitte grants him that benefit of the doubt, then rummages through some of the tabletops and buckets until she finds a fuzzy handful of leftover fabric, a flint, and piece of steel shaped into a curve -- almost like steel knuckles, easy to grip in one hand. She wipes another bead of sweat from her forehead, then hands the objects to the kid.

"If you strike that rock against the edge of the steel, you should see those sparks coming off it. The trick is to do it at the right angle that it'll catch on the thing you want to set on fire."

Kalen took the rock and the metal in either hand. He looked dubious at the process and regarded Brigitte with both eyebrows raised.

"...seriously?"

He did not wait for her reply. Feeling more than a little awkward, he first tries to bring the metal down straight. That does not really work. Next, he tries bringing the rock down onto the metal. Still nothing. Mouth twisting into a frown, he tries it from an angle this time. Finally, a single spark is thrown.

"You mean to tell me that this little spark can become a flame? It definitely does not look like much."

She offers him a wry smile as she wipes off her hands. "A lot of things don't look like much but can be pretty impressive. I'm Brigitte, by the way." The boy isn't exactly effusively friendly, but he went along with learning what he could, and that's a point in his favour: open-mindedness to the unfamiliar is particularly important here, in this village, surrounded by strange new things.

"Were you a magic-user back where you came from, then?"

Deathseekers are hard to surprise naturally and they do get some further training. Kalen might be surly but he is also very curious. At the moment he transfers both rock and metal to a place nearby.

"Kalen."

He glances back at Brigitte.

"Yes, I was."

Is? It may not really help since he can't use runes here.

"Talkative, aren't you," Brigitte remarks. But it's okay. She knows someone even more monosyllabic in the village, and it's made her accustomed to summoning up her patience, filling in those blanks, bouncing off that metaphorical brick wall.

"Look," she says after a moment, with a glance to the door. "I've got to head out and get some more wood. Promise you will not burn the place down if I leave you here?"

Kalen shot Brigitte a dirty look. And since she had already mentioned being less talkative he also gave her a rude gesture to go with it.

"I didn't plan on actually touching anything."

He wouldn't know where to start anyway.

Brigitte rolls her eyes a little, and in that moment she looks so very much like one of her older sisters; but less pissed-off, more gently exasperated.

"See that you don't," she says instead, firmly. Because she takes her work seriously, and the forge is one of the most precious places in the village to her and others -- besides, Tony would have her head if something went wrong while she left someone unsupervised here. But in response to his rude gesture, Kalen just gets a cheery wave in return, and off she goes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Let me put myself in your shoes as a puppet loosely strung

Road to the blacksmiths

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Fire

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

forge

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject