The Riddle of Steel (Tori)

She'd wake with a start, sitting up with a jolt and looking around. "What's wrong?!"

She'd look to her brother, worried something had happened. ~Is John okay?~

She looks at him with groggy confusion. "Are you messing with me?" there was a sense of genuine eagerness.

"You are, right?"

Without further prompting, she scoops up John and gets up with energy she had no business having. “Come on kid, we’re gonna get ready!”

She headed out of the hall, with her brother in her arms, trying to get them cleaned up as much as she could, save for dunking either of them in the frigid stream.

She would return, hair pulled back in a low braid so it would be out of her face. She’d lay her brother back down and cover him with a fur, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. “Today’s the day…” she whispers to him. “I’ll tell you all about it.”

Her face is solemn, but her eyes are alight with attention. She'd nod at his comment. "Absolutely...where are the options?"

"Drop point, sabre, full and butt..." she says quickly without thinking too hard on the matter. Her eagerness was showing. "I want a strong, multi-use blade. Skinning, hunting, shiv'ing...you know...any use."

She takes the bar and examines it, she swings it about lightly, to get a feel for the steel. She nods. "But I need to do something. I will maybe look silly to you, but it is part of my process...is that acceptable?"

She seats herself on the floor comfortably next to the fire, laying the bar across her thighs. She grips either end of it and takes in three deep breaths, closing her eyes.

Over the course of nearly ten minutes, her eyes remain closed and she breathes in and out slowly, with thought and her fingers traced the lines of the metal. She turned it over again and again in her hands tracing end to end, all around the length and width of the piece.

After the process began to slow, she returned it to her lap, and took three final, steadying breaths before her eyes opened again.

She nodded and looked up at him with a questioning expression. “This is good work…”

She grumbles. "Stop that...it was supposed to be a compliment..."

She stands up and then nods. "I am able to try what you've asked me to do.."

She nods and slides the end of the rod into the flame, guiding Beovyn to the fan the flames up and she will lay out the tools necessary for her to begin her task.

She picked up the tools with a graceful strength. She grabbed the archaic looking tongs and plucked the rod from the fire, now a hot red. With a practiced calm, she moved quickly to keep the metal moving before it cooled too much.

She moved the rod to the blacksmith’s leg and grabbed the shaping hammer.

With concise, smooth motions, she gently bent the rod over on itself and then over on itself again, taking time between the strikes, with a steady rhythm. Her face was lit by the fire and illuminated her focus.

With the last few strikes, her thoughts would turn to Beovyn. ~Stoke the fire again before I return….~ she asks, not demands.

She returns it to the fire, heating the piece again, rotating it to gain an equal temperature. She doesn't look once to Beovyn, focused instead on trying to feel the heat, watch the steel. She'd keep note of any cool spots in the metal and the forge, and adjust accordingly.

~Until the blade begins showing me it's face, it doesn't speak...~

For the first time since she closed her eyes,  she turned her attention to her teacher. "Am I doing it wrong?"