Striking the hot steel, I took a deep breath as I watched the sparks fly and the metal bend.
I had struck too hard.
Typical. The sad part was I couldn't even blame the fact I hadn't forged anything in years… it was simply because I was annoyed. Perturbed, maybe, was a better name for my current emotional state.
"Yes. Perturbed," I told myself as I struck the steel ingot again.
This time I had struck it perfectly. It morphed at just the right amount, in just the right way. I turned the billet over and struck it again.
Another perfect motion. And then another. And another.
Although glad I had re-found my skill, and wouldn't waste the ingot I had spent two whole days making… I was also a little upset. A part of me always wished to forget how to do this, so I could learn again.
But I never forgot how to do anything.
"Even when I want to," I complained as I continued to strike the steel out into the form I wished. A long and thin tube would soon be forming.
I was the only one in the furnace building, at least for now. Renn and Lellip had helped me earlier; or rather Lellip had watched as to study, as I made the steel ingot. Her grandfather had taught her how before he passed, but had only done so a few times in front of her. She wanted to make sure she remembered it all properly.
Usually I'd never have allowed such a technique to be seen by anyone, but I didn't need to worry over Lellip.
She was made of the same stuff her grandfather had been. She'd die a long, horrid, death before telling or teaching anyone without my permission.
And Renn… well…
Even if she was able to actually remember the process, step by step, I highly doubted the need to doubt her either.
She was going to be right next to me for the foreseeable future after all. Who was she going to tell while next to me? How would she betray me, or the Society, while right within my grasp?
"And it feels good to trust people," I whispered as I performed one last strike onto the steel billet. It was starting to get too cold. I stepped over towards the medium sized furnace, and popped it open as to put the steel into the fire.
I didn't need to actually watch the steel as it heated up. I could feel the heat, and the billet itself, through the rod I held it with. A perk of being who I was, I didn't need to wear thick gloves like most did. And the metal rod I held was the kind that heated evenly, letting me know the exact temperature the steel was at.
It was hot. I could feel my skin sizzle, giving myself slight burns.
Even if I could remember how to do this without fail, my calluses always needed to be re-earned.
Glancing around the forge, I noticed the blast furnace's flames beneath its hearth. It was a strong yellow, but not as strong as it was earlier when I had entered.
I'll need to use the bellows in a bit.
A good ten minutes or so later I pulled the steel out of the fire. It was bright, and just right for me to take it to the anvil and return to forging it.
As I struck it, shaping it into the long pole I had in my mind… I wondered how long it had been since I had made something like this.
The last time had been with Nebl. He had helped me make it, too. Although he had complained the entire time. Something to do with the shape of the point… what had he not liked about it? Had it been too thick? Too wide?
"He had always been a perfectionist," I said. But that was my fault. He had a foolish teacher after all.
After enough strikes, I had to stick the steel back into the fire. This time I did stare at the steel, but not to gauge its temperature but to make sure the ever longer rod didn't touch the back of the furnace. I didn't want the tip to get too cold by touching the firebricks in the back, nor too hot by touching the bricks on the sides.
Taking a deep breath of hot hair, I noticed the smell of the steel. It was hidden behind the smell of the fires, and the soot and grime… but it was there. Hot steel smelled familiar. Reminded me of days forgotten, not just by me but the whole world.
A door opened, and I quickly moved to close the furnace's doors a little more. To keep the airflow properly tendered.
Whoever entered was wise enough to close the door behind them, and I kept my eyes on the fire as whoever it was approach.
After I was sure the fire was fine, and my steel didn't get ruined, I glanced behind me. At first I was going to chastise the one who entered after I had told them not to, since I had expected Renn, but I kept my tongue in check as I nodded to Pram and her large belly.
She said nothing. She chose to stand a few feet away, just far enough away to not be in reach of the hot flames or to bother the air that was returning to its previously still nature.
Pulling the steel out after a few moments more, I went quickly to the anvil and once again hefted the hammer.
"Making weapons Vim?" Pram asked after staring at what I was forging for a moment.
Could she tell already? Granted it was obvious, once you took into account who I was… but Pram shouldn't know a whole lot about me or my history. Though maybe she did. Although she hadn't inherited Nebl's love for the forge, she was still his daughter. His favorite one too.
"I am," I said plainly.
Although Pram didn't move, nor did she take in a deep breath… the air still shifted oddly. Somehow going a few degrees colder.
I quickly turned the steel around, to let it evenly adjust to the change in the air.
"What are you forging, Vim?" Pram asked again. This time her tone was cold enough to freeze the blast furnace. At least it sounded as if it could.
Glancing at the pregnant woman, I realized what she was actually speaking about.
"I'm not sure yet. I'm still finding out exactly what she's made of… this is one of those tempers, one of many. Once I know what she has within, then I will decide what to make of her," I said to her.
Pram shifted as I re-adjusted the billet once more. It was starting to look like the spear I had in my mind. A little longer than I was tall. Thin enough that I could hold it with just my thumb and palm, but thick enough that no one else could.
"Please don't make her into a warrior Vim… She's a kind girl," Pram said as I went to move it back into the furnace.
I took a small breath as the steel went into the flames. I felt a few arm hairs singe and burn off as I put it in. "Are we still talking about Renn, or are we talking about Lellip now?" I asked her.
"The woman you brought here, Vim. You already promised to never make Lellip into a warrior," she said.
I nodded. I had. To her grandfather. "Never a warrior, nor to make weapons. Yes. That is why I'm doing this, and not her," I said.
"For that I thank you… but…" Pram stepped forward, but just a single step. As if she was afraid to step into the heat. Maybe she worried for her baby.
"You need not worry Pram. I'll be making these blunt."
"Blunt…?" I could hear in her voice that she didn't understand.
I nodded as I glanced at her. "Blunt. They're for training, not for war," I said.
Pram quickly understood, but also didn't to seem too relieved over it either.
"That's how you start isn't it? To make a warrior?" Pram asked, accusing me.
"I make no one. You know that," I said to her.
"I do know that. We all do. But you can also alter a person's fate with but a single word. A single word," Pram repeated as if to make it a point. She didn't need to, I fully understood her meaning. "Please Vim, don't make her another Lilly or Yangli. It's not fair. It's not kind nor does it bring anything but death and despair and…" Pram stopped talking for a moment, sounding a little too emotional over it.
As I took the steel out and walked over to the anvil, I wondered if her father's recent death had brought forth this torrent of emotion. That mixed with her pregnancy was probably the source. Pram had always been vocal against her father's involvement with me, at least in terms of certain aspects of the Society… but she hadn't ever actually tried to stop him or me as we did what we had to.
And this wasn't even her worrying over her children, or the unborn…. This was her worrying over a woman she had only known for a few days. Less than a week.
"She grew on you that much, Pram?" I asked her as I went back to hammering out the last bit of the spear.
"She has. She's made Lellip laugh and smile. She hasn't done that since the mine's collapse," Pram said sternly.
The mine's collapse, I noted. Not her father's death.
Did she not accept his death yet?
"Renn is pretty good at making friends," I said.
"I can't force you, of course… nor can I change your mind. I know better. You're too much like my father. But if my words have any value at all, Vim… please, I beg you… don't make her into a warrior. Don't make that woman suffer. Let her be happy. Let her be," Pram said to me.
"She will become what she wishes. And if you must know… I'm not making these to see if she's destined to be a warrior, Pram. Rather the opposite," I said.
"The opposite…?" Pram's voice was soft and small, and not because I was hammering more quickly.
I nodded as the sound of someone coming down the nearby hall drew Pram's attention. A squeaky wheelbarrow was pushed into the room, full of charcoal.
"Oh no! I missed it!" Lellip cried out as she hurriedly pushed the wheelbarrow towards us. I heard Renn's hurried footsteps coming from the hallway behind her, probably carrying other supplies that Lellip thought I might have needed.
Lellip put the wheelbarrow near the furnace, and quickly checked the fuel. It must have been fine for she didn't even toss in a handful of coals. She abandoned the furnace and wheelbarrow, and hurried over to me and the anvil. She kept enough of a distance to not necessitate a yell from me, but yet close enough she could watch intently.
"Dang it," she groaned as she realized I was nearly done.
"You don't need to learn how to make spears," Pram said sternly as Renn entered the room. She was indeed carrying a box… of what looked to be towels made out of some kind of leather. Maybe Lellip thought I was going to need something to clean the steel as I forged.
I hadn't. I hadn't burnt my steel in over a hundred years. What little scale there was fell off as I hammered.
"But mom look! Ahh… he hammers like how grandpa did," Lellip complained as Renn stepped up alongside the two women. She was staring at me oddly.
"Of course he does, who do you think taught your grandfather? Really Lelli," Pram sighed at her daughter.
I smiled at that as I focused on my work as the women went to talking to one another. Their appearance saved me. Pram might not have actually been happy with my answers, but she'd not show it or say anything in front of the person in question.
As I hammered out the last bit of the first spear… I couldn't help but smile as I blocked out the female voices around me.
How familiar.
This is how it used to sound. This forge.
Nebl and I as we worked. His six daughters in the background, being noisy about one thing or another…
Between the hammer strikes, and the girls talking… I heard him in the distance. The grumpy Nebl as he complained and struggled to keep up with me. Trying his best to match my rhythm… never realizing he couldn't, not because he didn't have the strength or skill, but simply because his arms were just too thick. Too short.
"Ah look! The last strike!" Lellip shouted loudly as I brought the hammer down one last time… and finished the spear.
Or well…
"More a stick than a spear," Renn said as I and the rest studied it.
"It's for practice," Pram said proudly.
I nodded. "Yes. Not for killing," I said. I probably didn't need to say aloud that a steel stick this thick and long was just as deadly as one with a point at the end. Especially in my hands.
"We can always add a point! Let me make it, please!" Lellip hurried forward; now that I was done hammering she knew it was okay to disturb the air around me and the anvil.
"It's still hot," I warned her as I walked over to the barrel of oil. The black gunk smelled, especially since it was warm. It was a little too close to the furnaces.
"Watch, Renn! This is quenching! It can ruin all your work if you're not careful and don't do it right!" Lellip said happily, as if she had never seen it before herself.
"You temper stuff first, Renn. Usually," I reminded Lellip, by telling Renn, as I dunked the spear into the oil.
As it quenched, I smiled at Renn's odd look. She was smiling warmly, just like Pram… which was odd, since Pram was smiling thanks to seeing her daughter's happy joy. Maybe Renn was smiling because of it too.
After all what else would they be smiling like that for?
Once the steel cooled and was done, I pulled it out slowly. What little of the oil didn't sizzle off the steel dipped back into the barrel as I held the thing over it. With a small shake I got the rest off it, and then pointed the spear upward to the ceiling.
Nice and straight.
"Here!" Lellip offered a black knife. One she must have pulled out from somewhere unusual, since I hadn't seen her grab it or have it on her person earlier.
I lowered the spear and allowed her to tap the steel with her own knife. She did so lightly, and a singular pure note ran out throughout the forge.
Renn's face furrowed as her ears twitched wildly, and the sight made Lellip laugh proudly as if she had been the one to forge it.
Tapping the spear with my thumb, I nodded. Yes. She should be proud.
As should Nebl...
"Get the other ingot Lellip," I said as I went to put the spear down.
"Oh?" she froze, as did Pram.
"And your hammer," I told her with a nod.
Lellip's face erupted into a huge beam of a smile as she quickly nodded. "Yes-right-away!" she shouted, rolling the words together into one.
Pram sighed as she covered her face, and I smiled at her and Renn who stared at her oddly.
"It's not a spear, Pram. It's a stick. I promise," I said to her.
"Just… just don't say anything. And don't tell her father, please," Pram groaned.
Renn hurriedly looked around, especially at Lellip who was running full sprint into the other room. To get the other ingots and her tools. Renn looked absolutely worried as she tried to understand what was happening.
Once Lellip was out of earshot, I smiled softly to Pram who was glaring at me. "Let her enjoy this, Pram. I don't have much else to give her as solace," I said gently.
Pram's glare immediately died, unable to withstand my words. She then took a deep breath and nodded.
"Okay… fine… Just this once," Pram agreed.
"Just this once," I agreed.
Renn hesitated, unsure of what to do with herself as Pram and I made a promise.
Nebl had undoubtedly taught Lellip how to forge weapons. Even if he hadn't, there was no way she wouldn't have figured it out by now anyway. The process was nearly identical to anything else you made in the forge, anyway.
But sometimes… sometimes one needed to see. To watch. To learn. Even if they already knew it.
"Come here Renn," I gestured for Renn to come over as I went to the furnace I was using. To put some more fuel in it from the wheelbarrow.
"Huh?" Renn hesitated, as she looked to Pram first.
"I need to measure you. Come here," I said.
"Measure…?" she still hesitated… until Pram took the box she carried from her, and gestured with a nod for her to hurry up.
Renn made an odd noise as she complied and hurried over to me.
After tossing some of the charcoal into the hearth of the furnace, I stood back up and studied her. She really was deceptive. Her ears made her seem almost as tall as me… yes, they were big.
Reaching out, I stopped right before touching her ears. I turned my hand around, and noticed the blisters on it. It was the hand I had been using to hold the handle of the billet.
Switching hands, I ignored Renn's weird stare as I put my hand on top of her head. I lowered her ears, as gently as I could… and she lowered them the rest herself. It seemed she was able to make them nearly go flat on top of her head. "That's how you hide them under your hat?" I asked her.
"Sometimes. It's uncomfortable to keep them like this," she said, and sounded a little odd too. As if she suddenly was itchy all over. Maybe she was.
"Hm…" I leaned back a little and studied her new appearance. With her ears lowered, she was about the height of my chin.
Once sure of her height, I reached down and grabbed her hands. I didn't worry about touching her hand with my blistered one, since she could just wipe it off later.
"Hmhm?" Renn made an odd noise as I ran my thumbs along her palms, and opened her hands up wide. I studied the shape of them, and their size… and her fingers length…
She didn't have tiny hands, but they definitely fit her size. They were probably about as big as mine had been when I was a younger child. Maybe in my teens. But her fingers were longer than mine had been then. They were nearly as long as mine were now, although much smaller in width.
"Make fists," I told her.
She did so, but slowly… as if enjoying the sudden moment.
She was. She had a weird smile on her face as she balled her fists up inside my palms.
I held her fists for a moment, and realized that her hands really were small. She'd need a spear about half the thickness of my own, and a pommel only a tad thicker than that… yet shorter in length.
Odds were her and Reatti were a little different, but it'd be close enough. Reatti was scrawny too, and about her height.
"Okay," I patted her hands in thanks as I stepped away from her.
"Huh? That's it?" Renn asked, sounding far too disappointed.
Pram giggled as she saw whatever face Renn was making, but I kept my eyes on the approaching Lellip. She was hurrying; carrying a large metal box that I could hear was full of stuff.
"Did you see that Vim?" Pram asked as her daughter hurried over to us.
"See what?" I asked.
"That lovely face," she said flatly.
"Which one? Mine? Yes it is, at the right angle," I said as I tapped my own chin.
Pram sighed and shook her head, seemingly giving up on me. "Oh well… I guess if she can make that kind of face I need not worry. Not anytime soon at least," Pram said, and then turned to go.
Watching her go, I smiled in thanks at her… odd way of approving what I was doing. If even just because I was forcing her to.
"What kind of face do I have?" Renn whispered a question to Lellip, who hesitated with a quick shake of the head.
"No idea?"
"Is it funny looking?" Renn worriedly asked further.
"What does?" Lellip asked, now sounding just as worried.
"Have fun," Pram laughed at us as she left.
"Master…" Renn complained as Lellip tried to step away from her, obviously not understanding at all what was happening.
"Vim…?" Lellip asked for help, but I knew better than to offer it. Especially since Renn was looking at me now too.
"Come on, while the fire's hot let's get to work."