Private Notation From The Stars

[Arcturus Dinn]

He considered it for a second.​

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Then he shook his head.​

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"I'd rather have you on me than your name" he stated rather bluntly, though the deepening of his blush told more than that bluntness could. Damnit now he was the one making things worse. ​

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Thankfully she got them back on track with talks of circles, and as she spoke he craned his neck to get a look at the design. It was nice, actually really cool, and he could envision it laying along the center of her back, between her shoulder blades, just as she'd suggested. Even the circle of runes didn't look out of place.​

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He nodded to that.​

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"Very good... Yeah. I like it."​

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He didn't need to like it of course, but he did.​

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He grabbed a new sheet of parchment, and began to work on the runes themselves. They'd be similar to those on the crystal, only a certain string would be altered. After all, Ishani didn't want her blades sent to a space filled with blood did she? Nope. Not likely. ​

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Soon he was done with most of what he had to do, and it looked as though she was too. He rose up from his seat, and made his way over toward the blade which lay across the anvil. Now came some more heavy work, though not so tough on the arms and back as the hammering had been.​

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"You ready to remove the scale, and grind her down, Apprentice?" he inquired; right now, the blade looked bad. Really.... Really bad. But that was due to the oxidization. It was a necessary part of the process.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

She snickered. “I’m glad that you enjoyed our time together earlier, babe.”

He liked her design. With that part of the work done, it was time to get to the manual labor again. Approaching her blade, she made a face. “Is the scale all the… crap on it?” she asked, referring to the oxidization.

Since they were already well on their way to turning this entire process into one long dirty joke, she grinned and sat down before the grindstone. “All right, you’re the Master. Show me how to grind.”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He tried to ignore her.​

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She made it so fethin' hard.​

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But he tried.​

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So much trying.​

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He inhaled a slow breath, cleared his head of her filth, and then stepped up behind her. "So you're actually going to want to be pretty careful. It's easy to take off too much because the scale looks so thick, and it is, but you want to salvage as much of the actual metal beneath as possible, alright? That way you have more to work with when it comes time to figure out the style of edge you want. We'll draw that on once the scale is gone, and then you'll slowly apply different grits until it's ready."​

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He realized he was over talking, so he slowed down and rewound a little.​

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"Basically, for now, go easy. Just a little bit at a time..."​

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Reaching out, he powered up the machine and gave the blade its first pass through. A fair amount of the scale was removed in the process, but there was still plenty left for Ishani to work on too.​

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"Try to hold her level, or you'll end up with an uneven edge."​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

As he explained the process, she found herself growing a little anxious. She was worried that she’d screw it up—take off too much scale, and wind up ruining the thing. After all the work she’d put into hammering it out, what if it broke or something?

Ah, feth it. They’d just make a new one, right? Start over from the very beginning… oh please no.

Chewing her lip, she took hold of the blade and ran it through the machine once, using far too much care and caution. None of the scale came off. Well, that wouldn’t do. She tried again, using a little more force, then a third time, and a fourth…

Progress was slow-going, but she started to get the hang of it. Piece of oxidized metal flaked off, peeling away like the skin of a snake, or sunburned flesh regenerating layer by layer.

She lost track of time, but at some point she pulled the blade out, and saw shining metal, like silver in the sun. "Is this good enough? Or getting there?" she asked, holding it up.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Surprisingly, Arcturus didn't breathe down her neck this time.​

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He didn't try to correct her, or push her one way or another, he simply observed from a foot away and allowed her to take charge of her own blade. After a slow start she truly began to get the hang of it, seeing for herself how much pressure to apply in order to peel away at the scale while leaving the metal behind.​

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"Excellent work, Apprentice," he congratulated, once she was done removing all of the scale. There was still plenty of work to be done, of course, but seeing the blade far closely resembling the finished product was a monumental occasion.​

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"Now then, time to decide... Would you prefer a single edge, or a double edge?" He paused, realizing she might not know what he meant, and once again turned to rummage between his books. He produced one, and opened it to a page which showed a variety of different blade styles. ​

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"A single edge has only one side of it sharpened," he gestured around one length of the blade, "Double has both." Of course there were accompanying pictures. Example: Katana's were classified as a single edge, while claymores were double. "Which you decide will affect the work going forward. Don't choose single solely because you think it will be less work, that's not the case. It will be equal amounts of work in the end. Here... Take this book, read into it as much as you need. In the end you're the one who will be wielding it. The choice is yours."​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Excellent work, Apprentice. “Thanks, Master.” She blew him a kiss.

All this time, she’d been picturing a katana, with no thought given to the actual practicality of it. A double-edged sword would be better, wouldn’t it? Or at least more versatile. Not that she was some spectacular fighter… but still.

“Double-edged it is,” she said. “I need all the edge I can get. Give me the grit thingamajig and let’s get this done, before you distract me again with your beauty.”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Despite Ishani's silly response, Arcturus' actual use of the term Apprentice in that moment had been... different. More natural, less jokey. He hadn't even realized he'd said it in truth it just sort of rolled off his tongue.​

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When she made her decision, he nodded approvingly.​

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"It's much easier to stab with a double-edged sword. I approve... Hacking and slashing is all well and good, but I picture you more as the run them through type. Maybe I'm wrong."​

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Either way her decision had been made. He reached into a small basket of random tools and items which lay on a workstation near the forge, and pulled out an etching pen. It would make marks upon the blade that would not be readily removed, and that would be in their favour when it came time to hone the edges into existence. He also took up a tool which would help them mark out straight and evenly spaced lines.​

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Without thinking, he sat down on the ground and took the sword from her, beginning to make the marks for her. Then he remembered whose project it was. Oops.​

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"Alright so we're marking out the bevel lines," he explained, "Start with your center line, this'll help to make it straight and balanced in the end. Then we'll decide how we- sorry, you- want the bevels to sit. How deep into the blade dictates the angle of the bevel. You'll want it the same on both sides, and then you'll flip it over and do the same there too. Alright? If you want, you can use the pen to fill in the area you'll be grinding away too. If you need that visualization."​

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Even Arcturus needed that visualization.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"It's much easier to stab with a double-edged sword. I approve... Hacking and slashing is all well and good, but I picture you more as the run them through type. Maybe I'm wrong."

“I thought that was your job.” Smirk.

She couldn’t resist.

Okay, okay, back to business. He took the sword from her to mark the bevel lines. She didn’t expect that, but she got down from the stool and sat beside him, figuring that was the place to be. The pair of them wound up looking quite foolish, but at least they were foolish together.

“We,” she echoed him despite the correction. “Might as well be we, since I couldn’t do it without you.” She was just being sweet to him, the words didn’t really matter. Did they?

Either way, it sure was nice of him to do one whole side of the blade for her. She marked the bevel lines on the other side, just as she had seen him do. Nice and neat, or as neat as she could manage (which wasn’t as neat as him). She presented it for his inspection. “Good?”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"That and a great many other things, dear," he remarked with a smirk, happy to derail them a little in that moment. After all, he'd been behaving himself a little... And that was difficult with Ishani around. Damn distraction...​

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She joined him on the ground though, that was nice. Nobody ever joined him on the ground, they looked at him strange, they stood over him, or found a seat. They did not sit cross-legged with him on the ground. A tiny smile crept over his lips at that thought.​

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Then he handed over the sword so she could take over the task of drawing on the bevels.​

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"You're the one putting in the work, Apprentice," he reminded her, though beyond that he didn't push the whole you-we thing. Instead he watched as she took over and mirrored the bevel. Good.​

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"Yeah, that's great." It didn't have to be 10000% perfect, the belt would remove most signs of it anyway during the initial pass over.​

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Alright, up on their feet then. He stood first then offered down his hand for her.​

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"Back to the sanding belt with you, you have bevels to form."​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"Mmhm, but you've gotten especially good at thrusting. Always know the right place to strike." She grinned like an idiot—you can't say a line like that with a straight face—but blushed afterwards, as if she couldn't believe she'd actually said it.

Come on, bevel time. She took his hand and rose to her feet. Clad in protective gloves, there was no direct contact between them, but she could feel the familiar outline of his fingers through the layers of cloth.

She set to work again, sharpening the edge on one side, then the other. Again, more slow work. Progress was marked by the disappearing of the lines, wicked away by the sanding belt.

I could get into this, she thought to herself. Making things in the stifling hot forge was tiring and often tedious, but it was productive. She liked the process of making things, honing and nurturing them until they were just right. Doing it with Arcturus made it easier and certainly a bit more fun, what with all the joking around. Being carried to bed afterwards just sealed the deal.

"How will I know for sure when it's sharp enough?" she asked. "Try to cut something with it?"

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He caught sight of her blush, and a satisfied smile formed over his lips.​

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Arcturus made no response, though, because there was a certain level of focus needed for what came next. The grinding and the sanding and the honing of a blades edge, it could make or break the entire project. Something told him that Ishani would not enjoy having to start again from scratch, not least because her arms were likely still feeling like jelly.​

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Despite that she seemed to really find her groove within this process. Switching up sanding grits, the process becoming finer and finer until it was more or less buffing out the blade itself. ​

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Then she slowed, and asked her question. Arcturus smiled.​

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"Yeah, we can test it. You'll want to check its balance, too, in the process. Make sure it's not weighted poorly one way or another. Then we can test its edge, slash and stab... It looks good though, Apprentice, you've got this part of it down pat."​

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He stood up, and stretched out his back.​

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"Why, do you feel like you're ready to test its edge?"​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“Uh, sure?” She had no idea. One finger brushed lightly against the edges, protected by her gloves, but that was hardly a test. “Why not?”

Unless testing its sharpness involved not cutting an object, but a living being, in which case it was a little too early for her to want to revel in blood. But this was a Sith Academy™, so some students probably had tested their newly forged weapons on prisoners or the local wildlife. She’d even heard rumors of people tempering their blades in flesh and blood. It was up there with the stories of Maliphant binding his books in leather made from the skins of his enemies, or students performing ritual sacrifices to gain more power. Y’know, typical Sith shit.

That wasn’t for her, and not for Arcturus, as far as she knew. They were makers, not destroyers.

“If it’s unbalanced, does that mean I have to start over?” She flinched as she held up the blade, preparing for the worst, but it felt pretty balanced. Was there a test for that, too?

She rose from her seat, several joints popping as she did, and held out the blade with both hands. “Give me a staff, and I’ll look like Tania Bayern,” she muttered, forgetting momentarily that Arcturus had no idea what she was talking about. “Uh, the uh… famous Chaldean lady.”

Founder of the Order of the Mystics, a massive statue of Tania Bayern had graced the lobby of her father’s workplace, holding a sword in her left hand and a staff in her right. Years and years ago, Ishani had sat in that room, waiting for her father, and dreamed of becoming like that larger-than-life woman depicted in stone—beautiful, devout, and venerated by her people. But that was before she heard the siren call of the Force, and found the forbidden melody to her liking.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Ishani didn't seem too sure until she was up on her feet and testing the weight of the blade. "Hold it with your dominant hand, then try it with both hands," he urged her, watching as she inevitably did precisely that. Then he shook his head to her question.​

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"No, there's ways we can fix it so long as it's not drastically off. But, it looks good. Here, hand it over a second..."​

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He took the blade from her, and then held it aloft. Vertically first, he glanced along its edges. Then nodded, without comment. Then he moved it forward, down, until it lay horizontally, jutting forward as an extension of his arm. Again he studied the length of it. Checking for how straight it was, feeling its weight within his grasp.​

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"It'll be perfect once we have the guard and pommel sorted," he decided in the end. "It'll feel a little top heavy until it has those to counterweight it."​

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He passed the blade back over to her, then stepped across the room. Once he reached his destination, he pulled out a mannequin. It was made of some weird gelatinous substance - thick, it was said to mimic human flesh. As close to the real thing as one could get without, well, an actual human body.​

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"Test both edges with a slash, then run him through."​

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Him. Was it weird to refer to an inanimate object with pronouns?​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani had spent the majority of the time he was testing the blade with bated breath, caught somewhere between worry that he’d find it lacking somehow, and admiring the way he looked swinging it around. Arcturus had nice arms and shoulders…

She exhaled when he declared it fit. “Guard and pommel, okay.” She took the blade from him and approached the jelly man mannequin. As for pronouns, it had a masculine physique, didn’t it? Flat chest, at least.

Holding the blade with both hands, she slashed left, then right, then punctuated the chain of moves with thrust. A moment or two later, the mannequin fell apart in four pieces, each shoulder slapping the floor, severed head rolling off into a corner.

Ishani stared at the headless dummy, eyebrows climbing almost to her hairline. “... Oh. I didn’t know it was gonna be that sharp…”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus, too, had been more focused on wielder than blade itself... Only he wasn't admiring her shoulders.​

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When the pieces of the mannequin fell to the ground unceremoniously, he grinned and stepped toward her. Provided she was done waving the thing around of course. Then he nodded his head approvingly. "Very good, Apprentice, very good."​

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With a wave of his hand, the fallen pieces of masculine jelly drifted up through the air and seemed to fuse themselves back together around their base. Without addressing such, he turned and headed back to the grindstone.​

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"Have you given any thought to how you want to do the handle?" he inquired. "We can sandwich the tang with wood, or we can opt for more steel and wrap that with leather, perhaps?"​

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Pommel, hilt, guard. They were slowly getting there, weren't they? Then there was the etching, the further imbuement, the inlaying of the crystal, and finally the tattooing process.​

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But they had almost an entire, functioning blade now. It felt good. It felt really good.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Half afraid she’d get in trouble for dicing up Academy property, she blinked as he fused the mannequin man back together. “...Aw, I should’ve figured.”

She followed him around, a little bounce in her step, buoyed by their progress so far. It looked like they might actually finish the thing! Amazing! And it had only taken them several months of screwing around to do it!

“I didn’t think we’d ever make it this far.” She shrugged. “Steel and leather works for me.”

Pausing, she suddenly hurried forward, stepping in front of him and throwing her arms around his waist in a hug. “Have I thanked you for all this yet? If I haven’t… thanks!”

She’d arrived at the Academy with no connections that might help her progress through the ranks, no mentor to advocate on her behalf, no friends she could rely upon. Until she met Arc, her fear that this place would crush her had been very real and pressing. Now she had some hope that she could make something out of herself here, despite the brutal pitfalls of academy life and their ruthless approach to education.

After all, in spite of their doctrines of individualism and the self, not even a Sith could succeed alone.

Provided he didn't prevent her, Ishani scurried off, eager to start work on the handle, and beyond that the rest of the sword.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Frankly, Arcturus was surprised with how much progress they'd made too. It made him bristle with pride, both for himself and his student. That he'd actually been able to direct another in the construction of a blade was rather dizzying. It felt oddly euphoric. It made him want to do more...​

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Sadly he was still just a student himself.​

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When she popped up in front of him he wrapped his arms around her and held her close for a moment. "You don't need to thank me" he chuckled, with a shake of his head. "It's my pleasure. It's been surprisingly fun, hasn't it? I'll be sad when all of this is over and you go back to just calling me Arcturus." He pulled a silly face, leaned in to kiss her forehead, then watched as she bounded away to work on the next piece of the puzzle.​

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"Okay, metal... Well you'll want to take measurements of the tang," he began, before sinking into a deeper discussion about the formation of the hilt. Another piece of metal was brought forth, and the same etching pen as earlier made marks here and there upon it to try and make sense of the shape. "Now remember, since you'll be wrapping it in leather you'll want it a little smaller than you think or it won't fit comfortably in your hand with the added thickness of the wrap."​

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Again Arcturus would assist where necessary, while ensuring that Ishani did the bulk of the work. A lot more grinding and sanding went into the process, and she'd soon discover that they couldn't make use of all the fancy tools in order to smooth out the center hole through which the tang would slip. Nope, for that they'd be resorting to good old fashioned files.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“If you keep teaching me, maybe I’ll keep calling you Master,” she suggested, sticking out her tongue at the face he made. She leaned into his kiss upon her brow, her expression relaxing. “But Arcturus is such a beautiful name, and suits you so well, how could I call you anything else?...”

They moved over to the table, where she sat and followed his instructions, etching lines upon a piece of metal. When he mentioned she’d have to make it smaller than expected to be able to fit in her palm, Ishani smirked and pulled off her glove. She held up her soft little hand, with its bitten-down nails and lack of calluses, for comparison. “Hopefully not so small that it’s like a vine trying to hold up a tree,” she muttered. Obviously hyperbole, but for all that she had eagerly approached the making of the sword, the idea of actually wielding it herself hadn’t quite clicked in Ishani’s brain. She knew it was meant for her, but let’s just say that she’d believe it when she saw it.

The files gave her trouble, but she was diligent enough. Just when it seemed like the work was never going to end, the tang slid in, a perfect fit as far as she could tell. She whistled, then turned around to let Arc inspect it. This was going to be a repetitive process as they completed not just the handle, but the pommel and the guard as well. By the end of it all, when the sword was done, or at least to the point where it looked like an actual sword, she would mock-knight him with it.

“I dub thee, Sir Arcturus the… Magnificent.” Yeah, that was a good catch-all term for Arc's majesty. Pleased as she was with the weapon, her smile soon fell. “Oh feth, now we have to inscribe it, and put a crystal in it, and imbue it again…” And she was going to have to get a tattoo, which despite her grandstanding about not being afraid of pain, she didn’t like pain, remember, and wasn’t exactly looking forward to it.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Keep teaching her, eh?​

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"And what, pray tell, could I possibly teach you, Miss Sibwarra?" he inquired with a raised brow. The Forge was one thing, but outside of that? Well... Arcturus certainly didn't know what else he had to offer. Not for Ishani, at least.​

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Regardless, soon they were falling into a new groove. They made surprisingly quick work of the hilt itself, at least insofar as making its general shape. The interior hole was admittedly a little more time consuming, but she took to it like a trooper and had it done before they knew it. Next came the pommel. "Remember, hollow out a space within it that will fit your crystal" he reminded her when they came to that part, otherwise they'd have a harder time adding it in later on.​

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And then there was the guard. Another precise piece which relied upon the measurements of the tang.​

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Hours upon hours had passed that day, but in the end when all of the pieces slipped together it was well worth it. Guard, hilt, pommel. The makings of a true sword. If they were to stop there they'd have a functional blade. But they had more planned, didn't they?​

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"We can work on the leather binding for the handle later," he stated, pondering curiously what leather options he even had. Rancor, terentatek... Probably some simpler ones, too, like nerf hide. She could have her choice of them later, that was part of the finishing details after all.​

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And then she was Knighting him, and that goofy, contented smile took over his expression once again.​

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"Anyone ever tell you how silly you are?" he inquired. Then he shook his head. "Tomorrow we'll work on the etching. I think you've done more than enough for one day."​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“I asked you once if you would teach me blood magic.” It had been a shy suggestion, trying to make light of her horror at his killing of a mermaid, but why the hell not? “You said it was dangerous, as if we weren’t both students of the Dark Side.” Rolling her eyes a little, she balanced her new blade against her shoulder and met his gaze. “You’ve been a Sith far longer than I have, and you have Maliphant as your teacher. I don’t. It stands to reason that there’s a lot you could teach me that I couldn’t learn from just taking classes, Master...”

Did she think he had access to forbidden knowledge? Eh, maybe. Would be nice if he did. But there was a slight edge to her words, an underpinning of quiet desperation. She needed to get ahead; she couldn’t lag behind. Not so long as Sith teachers proved unkind, punishing failures with harsh penalties.

He called her silly for knighting him. “Is that a complaint? Here I was thinking you keep me around mainly for entertainment. Or did I not laugh you right into bed with me?”

To her admitted relief, he suggested they call it a wrap for the day. Though she hadn't felt the time pass, they'd been working for several hours. She stowed her sword somewhere safe, and followed him out of the forge’s heat.

Arcturus Dinn​