Private Fire and Flame

[Colette]

The wintery peaks of Eshan was a cold place offset only by the warmth of the temple that rested in its hidden beauty. The gentle whisper on the wind echoed around the small forge, bringing with it the perfect backdrop to an otherwise dreary place. During storms like this it was easy to forget the elegance of nature, to only see the isolation of the snowflakes where one could just as easily see their liberated dance across unphased glaciers.

Beautiful or not, a storm’s still a storm, and the cold was still biting. Colette adjusted her thick coat with a shudder. The forge was still warming up, the morning had only just begun. The sun was still kissing the horizon somewhere beyond the pale wall that covered the building. Colette had brought Reina here at her student’s request. Not for Eshan specifically but for the creation of something new. She wasn’t exactly a blacksmith, but there were resources at hand and she figured it was as good of a bonding moment as any for her and her apprentice.

“It’s not much right now,” Colette began and exhaled with a shiver. “But at least we know the forge will be sweltering… At some point.”

She gave the bellows another push to fan the flames of the forge just a little further and let it simmer. For a moment her eyes wandered over to the deactivated smith-unit in the corner of the room, the forge’s immortal master of none.

Rather than hang around the fire for too long, Colette would instead approach a nearby workbench.

“Got any idea how smithing works?” she asked and motioned towards the droid. “Or are we gonna have to wake that thing up?”

 

[Reina Daival]

The cold wasn't a huge bother for Reina. Not as much as one might have expected. Both from her experience being out on sea, but also because well...being an Ersansyr meant she had been diving into some pretty deep and cold aspects of the oceans she had visited. That's not to say she was not grateful for the forge as Reina rubbed her hands, holding it off towards the warmth carefully. Her eyes intensely focused on the fire as she contemplated things in her head.

"I have bits of knowledge. Mostly because I've been studying how to find weaknesses in armour."

Reina didn't elaborate on why she had been looking for weaknesses. It would be somewhat obvious to most people who knew her and her story however, considering the person who had made her what she is now basically wore a suit of armour that Reina could barely crack through. If Reina was going to be weak physically, she was at least going to find the knowledge she needed to be stronger.

"There's the quick way of having the droids do the cutting, the hammering, the forging process. Or there's the more hands on approach. Picking the metal that's going to be used. Heating it up. Hammering it into shape. Grinding off any excess material. Quenching it. It's a long process. Better to do than to say."

She said rather simply, before trying to look over the different metals to use for the blade. What did she want to use for it? It had to be something that could stand up to a lightsaber. Of course, she also hadn't fully decided on what she wanted to go with. A mace or a shield. One or the other. There wasn't much of a choice. Making a shield would be more difficult, considering she hadn't seen any examples of those being made...but it would also get her out of her comfort zone...

Colette