Something From the Heart

[Ignatius]

Aurum
Living Quarters

I smiled a little. Having been learning how to create force imbued items, as well as studding various martial arts with the Matukai holocron that I had found with Sahna, I felt like I was on cloud 9. It was a feeling that I was unable to recreate. Though, I did have a good idea for someone who wasn't as hidden from me. For some time now, I felt like there was something between us. Friendship? Yes. I felt a great attraction towards Sahna. While at first this was just because of the fact that she was a newcomer like myself to the Je'daii order, it later became that I was beginning to trust her.

She wasn't family, or a companion that I felt was always hovering over me. Yet, I felt a connection to her that was different. I wanted to do something for Sahna. Something that would be... friendly? I wasn't sure how to do this. I rarely had any friends growing up. If they were, it was just someone I talked to at school or because I saw them daily. This however, was the first time I wanted to be around someone. Kinta was a friend, an ally, and companion, but she was always around me. She was more of a sister to me. My sister was also someone who I would rather not be around, but understood the importance of.

Ever since our little adventure, I wanted to do something more with her. No. Not really a date, but just for us to learn and to do something as apprentices of the Je'daii order. It felt good. I felt good for the first time in a long time, and wanted to ride this out.

Coming to Sahna's room, as the main temple for the Je'daii was completed by now, I knocked on her door gently. Rapping my knuckles on the door to grab her attention before calling out to her.

"Sahna? Its me Ignis."

It was a little past mid-day and so if she wasn't here, she might be at the cafe, or possibly with her master Jyn Sol in the library. Either way, I was here and wanted to do something with her. Unless, that was if she wasn't here.

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

Sahna sat in her room meditating.

It had been a little while since she had venutred out with Ignis. The holocron she had brought back with her lay on a small table directly opposite where she sat cross-legged on the floor. She had begun to probe it for its knowledge, with the help of her master Jyn.

She had thought a lot about Ignis, too.

He was perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire trip. She could still feel the darkness in him, something she had accepted she might always feel. But her fear of the Imura was now completely gone. In fact, she had found herself thinking about him a great deal. Was this... what it was like to have a friend? She couldn't decide. Aranias had been her friend, along with the twins and the others she had shared Nar Shadaa's slums with. But with Ignis, it seemed almost to go a little further than that, perhaps.

She grimaced, it was difficult to reign in her thoughts. For the last hour or so she had struggled to keep her mind from wandering to one thing or another. Jyn had made it look so easy. She let out a sigh and admitted defeat, raising her hands to gently massage her montrals around her temples.

The togruta heard the sound of approaching footsteps a few moments before they stopped, replaced by a soft wrapping on her door and Ignis's voice. She tried in vain to smother the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth as she stood to open the door and let him in.

"Ignis!" She greeted, perhaps a touch more enthusiastically than she planned. Blushing, she stepped aside to allow him, if that's indeed what he wanted.

"Um... how are you?" She continued, recovering from her blunder, "what can I do for you?"

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

Sahna was happy to see me. The expressions on her face, and the... blushing? She then moved inside to let me into her place. To be honest, I had never really been in a girls room. Sure I had lived with Kinta, but she was a very simplistic person. My sister Caleo was a different matter all together. Otherwise, the only other room I entered that was considered even close to a bedroom before hand was Asha's back when I first met Sahna. I made a nervous step inwards and looked around as the door close behind me. Her soft voice asking in her timid tone what she could do for me. I snapped out of my fixated thoughts and returned my attention towards her.

"I actually wanted to show you what I made the other day."

In my left hand was a sheathed sword. The guard and pommel were rather plain looking, but also had a flair to them that really only matched myself. I smiled a little bit at my work and held it out for a moment before slowly drawing the sword. The luminescent blade shone in the light above us. The blade was very sharp, but with a little practice, I let the sword stick out just a tad and turned the grip towards her to pull the sword.

"So with our trials, we have to make something with the force. This is what I made. My Oathkeeper."

I would let her look at it and inspect the blade for herself. I knew that the blade would feel awkward in her hands as it did to Emberfall, the forge master who had aided me in the creation. It was one of the very few items that I could call my own. Sure I had a few other items, but they didn't hold all that much of value for me. This, this sword held so much, it was the start of my new life within the Je'daii Order. I wanted to share this moment with a friend within this order.

"I hope you don't mind that I came to show off a little. It just means a lot to me. I thought you might want to see it."

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

Sahna beamed as Ignis stepped into her room. For a moment he seemed to disappear into his thoughts. She closed the door behind him, idly wondering what he might be thinking about. He had done that once or twice before. It seemed that he went often into his past, as did she. Honestly it never occurred to her, the implications that would potentially accompany a man entering her room alone. For an upbringing like hers, such things were seldom considered. Ignis pulled himself from his thoughts and spoke, mentioning wanting to show her something.

"Something you made?" She asked, intrigued.

He pulled out a sword.

Sahna's eyes widened as she gazed upon the workmanship. It was... elegant. The design was relatively simple, without unnecessary bells and whistles. He drew the blade and presented her the grip. It was sharp, she could see the light bouncing off the wicked-looking edge. All in all, the blade appeared to be quite the formidable weapon. At first, she felt a pang of fear, as she always did so close to such a tool. Weapons were dangerous, they were meant to be, and she was such a frail creature. But this time, the fear subsided. Perhaps her meditations weren't quite so fruitless after all.

"Oathkeeper." She repeated softly, reaching out to take the grip and tilt the blade in both directions. Whilst by no means an expert, she had stowed away on enough smuggler ships and overheard enough talk to know what to look for at a glance in such a weapon. And by this Oathkeeper, she was impressed. Handing him back the grip, she grinned up at him,

"Of course I don't mind!" She chortled, nodding to the blade, "you ought to be proud of that, Ignis. The workmanship is excellent..." She trailed off, biting her lip, "um... wait, do the Je'Daii teach us not to be proud? I can't remember."

Her brow furrowed and she seemed to disappear into her thoughts, trying to recall the lessons she had already received. After a few moments, she gave up and shook her head, her montrals hanging over her shoulders,

"Anyway," She said, forcing herself back to the present, "I'm glad you showed it to me. It's beautiful. Maybe one day I'll get you to show me how to do something like that... although, I don't know if I could even lift something as big as a sword." She chuckled.

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

I smiled a little as I showed off my accomplishment to her. Not sure if it was good to think this, but I felt happy just from her smiling. Considering she was a young woman who was so shy around our first few encounters, and were slowly warming up to one another, it felt good to see her acting differently. However, I felt wrong for the smile was made on the account of something I had done for myself. Not for someone else, or even for her. My smile faded and I shook my head as she brought me back to the ground with the thought of us being allowed to feel pride.

"Well, yes and no. We can feel pride, and many other emotions. We just can't let the emotion cloud our judgement or become a being of only one emotion. I would explain more, but that would be a lesson for long day."

Chuckling to myself a little. Learning about how to control my own emotions so that I wouldn't explode, while Sahna was learning because she wanted to protect others. Different reasons for the same purpose. It was when she brought up that she wanted to learn how to do this. How to make something, but feared she couldn't make sword.

"You don't have to make a sword. I know that others have created items or even trinkets in the same fashion as this. They just do different things. I am sure that we could come up with something that you might like!"

Taking the blade gingerly from her so that I wouldn't injure her, or harm myself, I sheathed the weapon, and replaced the sheath on my belt with a few loops and twists. Looking as though I had done it a thousand times before. Smiling I then reached over and grabbed her hand,

"You know what? I think that the forges are cleared for today. So if you don't have anything else to do, I can so you some of the stuff we can work on? I mean, unless you have other stuff to do today. I don't want to interrupt what you are doing."

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

Sahna noticed Ignis's smile fade a little, as if some thought that did not agree with him crossed his mind. She'd seen that quite a bit from him. It was as if he had been wired to second-guess every positive moment, every joyful experience. The thought occurred to her that perhaps this was an aspect of the dark side; not a malicious desire to be evil... but merely a skepticism of the light. She still felt the dark within Ignis, although it was little more than a blip on her radar now. Was it retreating? Or was she just growing more and more accustomed to him?

He began to explain the right for them to feel pride, but stopped short, mentioning that it would be too long to explain now. To her surprise, the Togruta felt the slightest pang of disappointment; she had wanted him to go on. There was something about listening to him that she really enjoyed. Perhaps it was his experiences. Although he was still young, she saw a great deal of wisdom in Ignis. Thankfully, the disappointment didn't last long, as he chuckled and mentioned that he'd seen others craft various trinkets and items. Immediately, a thought popped into her mind; an image. It was a bird, carrying something in its talons. She shook her head slightly to rid herself of it, and focussed instead on the young man in front of her, eyes growing wide as he spoke.

He took the blade from her carefully, leaving her to once again raise her fingers to her montrals to stroke them gently. She tilted her head to one side, leaning a little more on one hip than the other. He placed the sword on his hip, fingers working expertly as if the weapon was an extension of himself, merely a part of him that his body knew as well as its own limbs.

He smiled and grabbed her hand, the gesture making her flinch in surprise. She found herself unable to stop his smile from spreading onto her own face as well, his excitement spreading to her. She shook her head at his words, biting her lip,

"No! I mean... I don't have anything else planned, well, apart from practicing meditation but to be perfectly honest with you? I'd welcome a distraction from that." She felt herself blushing as she spoke, a little more quickly than perhaps she usually did. Butterflies had sprung to life in her belly. She had yet to visit the forges, but she hadn't realised the thought of doing so would make her so nervous. Her brow furrowed for a moment, quelling whatever thought had just surfaced. Her fingers tightened around Ignis's hand and she took a step towards the door, whatever the reason for her nerves, she was eager to see the forges... and perhaps what else the Imura had made.

"Let's go!" She paused, turning towards him, "Uh... which way?"

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

Sahna was kind of surprised with my sudden grabbing of her hand. Expected. However, what surprised me was that she was excited to come with me to the forge. Even if she did feel a little nervous. All of her emotions seemed to be heightened around me. Almost as though she was actually happy. Even if she was blushing through it all. This was twice within a few moments that she had done so. Was I doing something? Letting that fade from my thoughts she walked forwards and then stopped as she then asked which direction. I smiled lightly and then pointed with my other hand to the right. Chuckling just a moment before I started walking down the hall to where it would lead.

I noticed now that we were holding hands still. I didn't know what to do. I felt almost awkward as this is not something I have really done before. I don't show emotions to others. I don't share them. Nick always told me that family can be a weakness. That it could hold me back and that is why for so long I have held myself to these strict standards. To not draw close to anyone. Only to my direct family. I pushed that thought away. Emotions were good. I just needed to know how to control and rein them in if they started to run or control me. I calmed myself as we walked. Not saying a word, but also not even looking at the togruta. Almost as though this were wrong.

I decided to finally look at her.

"Sorry, I uh... I hope you don't mind us holding hands. I just uh..."

Letting go, I let my hand drop to my side while the other came to run through my hair. Settling on the back of my head where the short trim reached the longer hair of mine. I gripped the invisible hair and then let it fall to my side.

"Not used to doing that with someone. Sorry."

I felt wrong. I felt like I was invading her space. First of all for us to share a mind back when we found the holocrons, and then she was blushing at me. Was I feeling something for her? I didn't want to even answer that, but I wanted it answered for me. I had no clue what my mind was going though, I was confused as hell. Her disappointment at me not telling her more about pride and emotions, her wanting to come with me to the forge, the blushing and just why the blushing? There was something going on.

[member="Sahna Te"]

 

[Valgærd]

Ignis chuckled at the togruta's misstep.

"Right, that way." She dipped her head as she turned to follow him, her hand still clasped in his.

The two walked in silence for a while. He had smiled at her, seeming to be genuinely enjoying himself. But now he seemed to withdraw a little, thoughts clearly running through his mind. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as they walked. Oh she would have given anything to know what he was thinking. There was a particular look she had noticed seemed to come over his face when Ignis withdrew. It wasn't quite a frown, but it was defintiely a look of... concentration, perhaps. It made her want to ask him for his thoughts, to dive into whatever topic he was debating and unravel it. She was restrained, fearful, but something about that look made her want to indulge her curiosity, rather than hang back.

He looked at her, causing her hand to momentarily tighten around him and her cheeks to go red. Had he noticed her staring? Had she been staring? She'd tried to be subtle. But instead, he dropped her hand, speaking softly. He ran his other hand through his hair, admitting perhaps a morsel of what had been going through his mind. She glanced away,

"Oh um... that's alright, I haven't either." She mumbled.

Well... that was mostly true.

A pang of sadness leapt at her from inside her chest. Her steps slowed, as if the jolt had hit her physically. Her steps slowed, her smile fading. She hadn't thought about Aranias in a while, having been so busy with things on Aurum. There had been a few moments, when she was just a young teenager, when the two of them had stayed awake together. As the oldest two of the group of scamps, they had subtly taken on the roles of mum and dad to many of the younger ones. Perhaps that was why they had grown close. She remembered one moment specifically, two nights before Aranias had... before he had died. They'd been sitting alone watching the younglings sleep. She'd seen his hand resting next to him, but as usual, had been too shy to reach out and take it.

She let out a sigh, she'd give anything to go back and change her decision.

The girl glanced sideways towards Ignis, would this be another of those moments? Would she one day look back here and regret having given in to her nerves? She drew in a breath, as if steeling herself, before reaching out her hand.

If Ignis truly didn't want to keep holding her hand, she wouldn't force him. But if he let her, she'd take his hand in hers, her slender fingers entwining with his. She glanced down a their hands, as if she didn't really believe that her hand had just done what it had done. Turning her eyes up to Ignis himself, she bit her lip,

"But..." She said quietly as they continued to walk, "I don't want to look back and wish I had."

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

When I pulled my hand from her, she seemed to stop glowing. Her smile faded and was replaced with one of guilt. Almost as though she was thinking about past things she had moved on from. Or as though she were dealing with past mistakes. With that moment, she opened up herself in a way I would have never expected from a shy, and bottled up girl like herself. She held her hand out towards me. Speaking as though we needed to live in the moment and not in the past. Looking between her bitten lip and nervous expression and her hand, my attention moved to my own. A hand that has killed people, hurt people. Left people behind. Could she be willing to really want to hold my hand? A hand that was no ready to be done?

She didn't care.

She was holding her hand out for me, and who I was in this moment. Not for who I was. Breathing in, I took her smaller hand into mine, and tightened. Looking at her with a sorrowful smile. Almost as though I were asking for forgiveness. Now that I see of what I had done to her, made her feel like it was wrong to be around me, I had to change that. I wanted to prove that I was not as dark, and as mean as I may seem.

"Then don't."

A smile, a small one, spread along my face. Letting her know that it was okay. Walking on with her, and leading her down the halls. I went to explain some, and almost felt like I needed to ask for her forgiveness.

"I have never done things like this with anyone. Showing emotions such as this or signs of affection were thought as a weakness, not as a potential strength."

Walking onward with her, it would take a bit to reach the forge. Considering it was also underground, We made our way to the elevator. Walking in, I easily press the basement button. While anyone could come here of their own accord, the forge was kind of "Hidden" to prevent others from just walking in and messing stuff up or breaking something. While on the way there, I tried my best to change the conversation to be something more light hearted.

"Do you have in mind what you might do?"

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

A mournful smile.

That was what Ignis showed her. It was a sad smile, one that seemed to almost ask forgiveness. Sahna saw a difficult past in those eyes, demons that had yet to be wrestled with, demons that perhaps had been wrestled with, but still haunted him. When he took her hand in his, she felt him extend to her the same level of trust she had extended to him. It was not as if he was the only one who knew what she might be going through, it had seemed that most people on Aurum had been broken in some way, and had come to this place to rebuild. But there was something about Ignis especially. Perhaps it was because he was one of the first people she'd met, maybe because they'd shared experiences with the holocrons... Either way, she was comfortable around him. As comfortable as she was around Jyn.

He gently took her hand in his, fingers closing around hers. Like a switch, her face lit up.

He spoke quietly as they walked, almost as if he was trying to explain himself. He said that emotions were thought of as a weakness, not a strength.

"It's alright... I haven't either."

The togruta nodded, lifting her free hand to her montrals to stroke one thoughtfully. She opened her mouth to speak, to agree that emotions were weakness, but she indulged them anyway. But something stopped her. Perhaps that was a discussion for another time. She turned her attention to their surroundings. They had entered and elevator, with Ignis pressing the button for the basement. It occurred to her just how much trust she had placed in him, and how easily it had been placed. He was strong with the dark side, a man she still had only known for a short while. Normally her instincts would have told her that letting him take her alone into a basement would be a terrible idea.

But... like it had been with Jyn, the stranger on that forgotten planet, she felt no trepidation, no fear. At his question, she glanced towards his face, away from her own thoughts,

"Actually... I uh, think I do. I think the force--" She stopped, shaking her head. That sounded silly. Who was she to assume some random thought she'd had had been the force? shuffling her feet a little she corrected herself,

"I have a little idea in mind, something with wings."

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

The time I have been spending with Sahna felt good, but awkward. Likely due to our differences and the demons we faced, but I am sure that at some point we might get past that. I trusted her, but not to the point of sharing what happened in my past as I was still dealing with the repercussions of it today, and will be for quite a while. She too, seemed to be dealing with her own fears and past. I didn't dig deeper on it as she seemed to trail off about it whenever the thought came up. Much like I have done in the past. For that, I would leave her the space and privacy that she deserved. However, I did want to dig deeper with the thought process of her and this item we would be making.

"Well there are many things that have wings. Dragons, birds, bats. Is there an avian creature that came to mind or is your sight blurry with the force?"

Yes, I knew the act of premonitions through the force. My mother had them when she was carrying me. Seeing images of my dark hair and a fire behind me. Showing how bright I would become. She had fortold that I would leave, and feared I would. My father had a few as well. Stating that he could sometimes tell when something was happening as he saw it, or could see just barely into the future. While I have never had the fortune of being able to perform this feat, I know that some people can do it naturally just by closing their eyes. Maybe she was gifted in this part of the force?

"Don't discount whatever comes to you, in whatever form it is. Doubt your doubts before yourself."

As soon as I said this, the door dinged open to reveal the walkway that would lead down the hall. The hall was much more dirty than the main floor due to the traction left by boots that had been walking in soot and metal dust for quite some time, or the walls with fingerprints and stains from various sources. Walking out, I continued with what we were talking about.

"This avian creature, Is it hanging from something, attached to a cloak or a metal band?"

There could be various places that the bird or creature could be placed. A pin, or a choker piece. maybe a ring or a necklace. It all depended upon the vision that she had of this item. Whatever it is.

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

Sahna blinked in surprise.

Ignis not only picked up on what she'd stopped herself from saying, but he seemed so completely at ease with it. It was almost as if he had expected it to happen, like force visions were something that happened. She paused, casting her mind back to the image that had popped into her head. The image had only lasted a moment before it had faded. Or maybe she'd pushed it out, not allowing herself to believe what it was. Either way, she closed her eyes, recalling what she'd seen,

"Avian. It was... a bird. But it had, kind of a flat face, if that makes any sense."

She shrugged one shoulder, feeling her face grow warm. Ignis seemed so ready to believe in what she'd seen, so willing to accept that it was the force, and not some random thought. Why was she so embarrassed to accept the same? The Imura spoke again as the doors opened, telling her not to doubt herself. She stayed standing in the elevator as Ignis stepped out, letting go of his hand. That was the second time he'd told her as much. He was like Jyn, both of them had seen something in her, something she was yet to see. As the thoughts swirled in her mind, she bit her lip, taking in a deep breath. Stepping out of the elevator into the dirty hall, she silently vowed to recall those words the next time she doubted herself. That, of course, would likely not take long.

Ignis continued, asking her more particulars about the vision. It was now that she truly began to regret discounting it so quickly. She hadn't had a chance to study it before it had vanished. Her brow furrowed as she struggled to recall the details,

"It was... hanging, like on a chain. I suppose it's a necklace of some kind. There was..." She trailed off, immediately questioning the validity of what she was about to say next. But Ignis was right, the least she could do was explore it before doubting that it was genuine. Lifting her chin, she continued, "there was something clasped in its talons. A light or... a stone perhaps; small and round."

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

I could feel how surprised she felt. My mother had taught me much, and I could get so much information from the emotions and the visual cues of people. The shock was there, and likely expected because I was much more versed in the force than she. That was not a bad thing though. I had much more time to learn, and started from a much younger age than she. I felt bad that I didn't tell her before hand, and the fact that my abilities were surprising her again and again. First time with the fire in the ruined temple, and a second time now.

"A necklace of an avian creature, and in it's talons, a gem, crystal or stone of some kind."

Opening my datapad, I searched through images of "Flat faced birds" and I started to find a few different creatures that looked more like snubbnosed bats. Not birds. However, I did find something. An owl. A creature known well for being a symbol of knowledge, and wisdom. Also of someone who took care of their time and could be considered delicate, but also a hunter. Smirking ever so much more, I presented the various search images of these owls.

"Does this look fairly close to what you were looking at? Only, as a pendant instead of an actual creature?"

Wanting to get that cleared up now, We walked up to a T-intersection and took a right. Walking a few more paces before opening the door to the left. Inside were various belt sanders, tables for working on smaller stuff like hilts and even kilns for heating up materials just a small amount. Once I closed the door, I then looked her over and explained.

"Sometimes, we dream, or have images flash in our mind. By the force, or done as a calling, investigate it further. Considering you are still new to all of this, study all you can, and even enroll to have a mentor assigned to you. Maybe then you can learn more, but for now I think we need to talk to Ember about what we can use."

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

Sahna watched as Ignis opened the datapad.

After a few moments he turned it to her, the screen showing several pictures of owls. One in particular seemed to leap out at her. The picture was a straight-on view of the creature swooping, its wings extended and talons open. Its wide, gleaming eyes were focused on its prey. It was the exact pose as the owl she'd seen in her vision, or whatever it had been.

It was perfect.

She tapped tapped the image, turning to look at Ignis directly,

"This one." She said quietly, "that pose exactly, it was um... silver I think. But its wings were definitely up like that."

She continued to ponder as they walked, her following the young man who knew exactly where they were going. She felt her heart beginning to race in her chest as her mind was spinning as she followed him. The few things Sahna had ever done for herself had been for survival and nothing more. She had fashioned shelters from disgarded parts, stitched clothes from stolen rags, she was good with her hands. But never had she done something like this, never something beautiful.

She followed Ignis into a room furnished with tools and machinery she didn't recognise. Here, the stars in her eyes dimmed somewhat. She wanted to make this thing, this beatuiful piece, but it was here, gazing at the various appliances, that she realised she didn't even know where to begin. Until, that is, she turned to face Ignis. He would help. He would always help. He closed the door behind them and explained to her about the vision she'd had. Perhaps enrolling wouldn't be a bad idea. Who knows what she might achieve if she found a capable teacher. She nodded at him, smiling,

"Ember?" She asked. At the mention of actually using the machines she ducked her head, hands moving to nervously stroke her montrals, "I'm afraid I don't know how to use much of anything in here. I don't even know what these things are called."

She took a few steps into the room, but stopped and turned back to him, a thought occurring to her,

"Did you have a vision? About that?" She raised a hand, gesturing to the sword on his hip.

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

Pointing out specifically which owl seemed to fit her, It made sense. An owl in flight. A bird in its natural habitat. The air and the sky. Clutching a gem that would be housed within it's claws would make quite the pendant. Smiling now, even as she asked who Ember was, all I could do was watch this young woman as she stood and looked around the room. This wasn't even half of what the forge had to its name. There were so many tools and benches that she had not yet seen. She didn't know what to do. Like a child in an unknown world. I would never accept it, or tell her, but she did look kind of cute in that lost state. However, I would "rescue" her from this as I reached down and grabbed her hand. Looking into her eyes. Bluer than the Circassian sea.

"As long as you don't touch anything, you will be fine. I will let you know what we need, and when we need it."

I gently squeezed her hand to let her know that I was actually here. Letting her know that I was not leaving her.

"Ember is the Vur Tepe mentor. You could say she is a teacher of mine. You will meet her soon."

Pointing to my sword, Sahna asked if I had a vision about it. I huffed quickly as I reached with my other hand to run my thumb over the surface of the pommel. Looking at it for a moment.

"I guess? Not before hand like you did. But during its creation, I did envision the shape and form that it would take. Thus making the piece much more defined and better looking."

Turning back to her. I released her hand and opened the second door the led into the blistering hot room. The furnaces were hot and prepped. Likely for highcarbon steels, or higher grade metals. Despite this, two students were in the back working on sword blanks while I walked easily over towards a workbench that had numerous tools, and blueprints and the like. Opening the drawer., I retrieved my forging hammer, and engraving tools. I knew that Sahna would not have any on her. So we would use mine. Moving over to an open anvil, I sat them down, and then reached out with my hand. Easily a bar of steel smacked into my open palm.

Setting it down, I reached for two more. Placing them before her, I then went to ask likely the hardest question for this project.

"Do you want a simple metal, or do you want a very shiny or luminescent metal?"

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

It was a little bewildering.


Only a few minutes ago Sahna had been trying to meditate, focussing on emptying herself and generally keeping her attention inward. Now she stood amongst machines she couldn’t even name, making plans to create something. But as she let out a sigh Ignis grabbed her hand, turning her attention back to him. She glanced back at him, finding a sense of relief at his presence beside her. The thought did occur to her how strange it was to find peace in those corruption-tinted eyes. Yet, there it was. She didn’t necessarily need him to tell her not to touch anything, it wasn’t in the Togruta’s nature to rush forward into things she had not yet figured out. Still, the reminder was calming.


If her heart had still been racing the squeeze of his hand around hers brought it back to normal, calming her somewhat. So, Ember had taught Ignis to some extent. She wondered what the woman would be like whom had trained the Imura. Her thoughts were interrupted as he answered her final question about the sword. He’d started creating it before he envisioned its final form. Did he know that’s what would happen? Or did it change his original plan?


“You saw that while you were making it? Wow… it’s… it’s beautiful. You have quite skilled hands.”


She breathed in awe as he released her hand and moved to a second door.


The sweltering heat hit her like a wave. The slender Togruta raised her hands to her face, her steps faltering, as she felt the sudden wall. Ignis didn’t appear to be fazed by it at all. In fact, he moved over to a work bench, paying little heed to the other two at the back of the forge. Taking a moment to overcome the heat and regain her composure, she followed him inside. She watched as he pulled out a few tools and moved them to an anvil. He opened his palm, a bar of steel suddenly smacking into it. The sudden force made Sahna flinch, and her eyes were fixed on it as he set it down. Then he asked her a question.


She took a deep breath, considering the options. She was not a particularly fancy young woman. Gleaming jewellery and fine adornments had never appealed to her. But…


“In the vision… it was silver… and it shone brightly…” She replied slowly, blushing. She kept her head down, biting her lip. “But if there’s nothing like that, simple steel would be more than sufficient.” she finished quickly.



[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

Once more I had been treated with the awe of my handiwork. Yes it was true, I seemed to have a natural talent for the forge, I guess one could say that it was aided by my ever growing skills in pyrokinesis and Fire shaping. Those did help me in creating swords, small parts of armor and even small trinkets with ease. However, learning how to swing a hammer was easier. the difference between a blacksmith and a master craftsman, was the ability to have the same powerful blows, yet garner different results every time. Ember had drilled it into my head that I was just the blacksmith. A person who had still much more to learn, and even more to create. Even then, she did say that surprises would come every so often, and learning how to continue a project around them or even straight through them is what make or break the masters of their craft.

With the question I had asked about what kind of steel she would like, I smiled brighter than the furnaces in the room. Shaking my head slightly as two of the bars lifted from the anvil and were moved back over to where they belonged. The one that I kept in my hand was made out of a metal that she might be familiar with, but would be changed up a bit. Instead of an ingot, a very small slab of a scrap sword slowly flew back over and was placed underneath the ingot.

"Sahna, I wouldn't ask if we didn't have the metals to do it. This metal here is silver. Very malleable and bright, but also can break easily. So I will forge in some spring steel to provide better durability with only a little bit of the luminescence lost."

I was really going to push it now. Breathing in, I held onto the ingot with some ease. Slowly if Sahna paid attention to the ingot, she could see it become dull and slowly gray. Eventually becoming a light black coloration before becoming orange and then redhot withing a couple moments. Setting the ingot on the anvil, I picked up my hammer and grabbed a cutting bit. Placing it onto the ingot and slammed home the cutting bit. Smacking it a few times to get the cutting piece into the metal before removing it, and reheating it the same way again to finish the cut. Placing the hot piece on the anvil, I then tossed the greyed piece back over with the rest of the ingots.

"Perks of being a manipulator of flame and heat. I don't need a forge half of the time."

Spoken like a true showoff and with a smirk on my face that was unmistakable. I took a step over to the workbench and grabbed some wires and set them down onto the anvil while I heated up the ingot once more. Deciding that this might be a good time to keep Sahna from following me by giving her a task.

"Over there is some parchment. If you can draw what you saw, then it will help with the process. And, I don't think you need to stand next to the powerhammer since I don't want to ruin your clothes. "

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

The Togruta leaned in a little closer as she watched Ignis.

He was smiling brightly, clearly in his element here, amongst the furnaces. Two of the ingots were lifted and returned to their places, leaving only one. The remaining ingot was a colour and gleam she'd seen before, but she would not have been able to name it. She'd travelled on ships carrying such metals in the cargo, but if she had learned to read by then, she hadn't cared to learn the names of the shipments with which she'd travelled.

He lightly scolded her for once again doubting when she spoke. It seemed that she would not learn that particular lesson for some time yet. He called the metal silver, and mentioned that he would forge some spring steele into it, whatever that was. She nodded,

"Spring steel..." She repeated, "Thank you, Ignis. That's really kind of you."

Her blue eyes widened as she watched what happened next. He held onto the ingot. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But after a few moments she had noticed that it had changed colour, turning duller and darker. Then once it had darkened to the point of blackness it began to glow, slowly at first but then brighter and brighter, until it was glowing bright red. He then placed something upon it and slammed the hammer down.

Sahna yelped and flinched at the first strike of the hammer. But she continued to watch as he worked, until he smirked and spoke of his pyromancy. Oh he enjoyed showing off, that much was clear, that delightful smirk that sent butterflies to flight in her stomach told Sahna as much. But as far as she was concerned, he'd earned the right to show off as much as he liked. Just as she began to notice that the smirk seemed to make her heart flutter, he distracted her with a task of her own. Eager to be busy, she nodded, shoving the thoughts aside and moving over to the parchment.

"That uh... sounds like a good idea. I'll see what I can do." she chuckled

She sat pulled up a stool and sat down, and grabbed some parchment and began to draw.

The moment she touched nib to parchment, the world around her seemed to fall away. She forgot about Ignis, about the blistering heat of the forge, about the sound of the forges at work, all of it. She recalled the image, letting everything else fall from her mind until she'd recreated it exactly as she recalled on the page before her.

Only once she was done would she look up to see what Ignis had got up to while she'd been working.

[member="Ignis Imura"]

 

[Ignatius]

Sahna was almost entranced with the work that I had been doing. She was thinking about multiple things. I wanted to reach out and feel the emotions that she felt and to get a gauge of what was going on, but she deserved privacy. Even more so with how shy and held back she was. After her confirmation to go and draw the design of what she would like, I slipped off my vest to set it off to the side. Too much clothing could catch me, or someone else on fire. Hence why some worked with tank tops, or others like myself, went shirtless many times. I easily pulled it off and sat my t-shirt with my denim vest. Rolling my neck to hear satisfied pops, I gathered up the steels and both put them into the forge. Heating both up. However, I focused in the force through the piece of silver.

Taking out the silver piece when it was at the perfect temperature, I grabbed my hammer and began to hammer down the profile of it. Cleaning it up, and creating a shorter, more longer piece rather than a tall block. Using once more my skills within pyromancy to keep the silver hot so that I required only one heat to hammer it to the profile I desired. Taking one quick look over to Sahna to see that she was still drawing. Good.

Moving over to the spring steel, I grabbed it with my bare hand and placed the silver and the steel together. Both red hot, I poured a chalky oxidizer on it. The metals were so hot that the chalk started to melt into a liquid and seep in between the cracks as I wrapped the two in wire all the way up and down. Creating a "billet." I quickly moved it back into the furnace. Letting it heat up as I grabbed a waterbottle. Quenching my dry lips as I wiped the sweat from my brow. Waiting a few moments to pull it out, I moved over to a large machine.

The machine had a small opening that had a massive piston that would slam down onto the metal with hundreds to thousands of kilograms worth of force. The impacts could be powerful enough, that some metals that had a low melting point could be heated up if one was fast enough. Despite these thoughts, I slammed the pedal down on the machine to send the piston hitting home on the billet of steel and silver. Loud ping sounds rang out as time and time again it hammered the metal down. Getting to a desired length and width, I then took the cutting tool, placed it on top of the billet and let the hammer gently press it into the metal. indenting it for the fold.

Pressing the hammer down to clamp the billet on the machine itself, I grabbed my hammer with it flying across the room with force, and began to gently prod and hit the end sticking out to fold down. Unclamping it, I finished the fold completely, and then once more grabbed oxidizer to prevent the build up of air bubbles that could ruin the piece. I then began the process again of hammering it down quickly with the powerhammer to the right length and width I desired. Folding it about three more times before I felt eyes on me.

Looking around the room, then to Sahna, I noticed that she was looking at me. Smiling a little at her curiosity. I grabbed a hold of the hot billet with my bare hands and walked over to her. Keeping distance, I looked that the drawing she was was done, or at the very least near completion. Nodding my head with approval, I motioned her over. Speaking loud enough for her to hear me over the sound of the forge.

"I need you to stay back so sparks don't get on you, but I want you to meditate. Focus all of your desires and thoughts and emotions into the metal. It sounds weird, but trust me. If you are having problems finding it, feel for what the metal is. Feel the surface as its formed and how the crystalline structure takes shape in the hot state its in. This will help with the creation."

Taking that into account, I would make sure that she could do this before I started working on it again.

[member="Sahna Te"],

 

[Valgærd]

Ignis seemed to be at one with the forge.

He used his pyromancy, his control of heat and flame, in tandem with the forge itself, moving about it as an experienced dancer would a stage. He seemed definitely in his element here. The man had removed his shirt and vest, the flames from the bellows glowing upon his skin. Beads of sweat trickled down his brow. His muscles flexed as he worked, expertly bringing the hammer down upon the metal. The Togruta let out a sigh, placing her elbow on the bench and propping up her head as she watched him. Her heart was all aflutter as she watched him, causing her to blush deeply the moment she noticed it.

He glanced up and noticed her staring, offering her a smile. She instinctively returned it, before dropping her gaze and biting her lip. Had he noticed just how much she’d been staring? She shook her head of the thoughts as he came over, noticing as he approached that he was carrying searing hot metal in his bare hands. At first, she gasped, afraid of the pain it’d cause him. But he moved so naturally, holding the thing as if it was nothing, and she calmed herself down somewhat. As he reached her, still keeping something of a distance, she nodded to the metal in his hand, smirking playfully,

“You’re not done showing off, I see?” She snickered.

He glanced down at the picture. Gazing back up at him was an owl mid-pounce; wings extended, claws facing down with a smooth round stone clasped in its talons. A chain extended from the top and the owl’s eyes seemed to be looking at him. It seemed that Sahna, if not an artist herself, had at least had significant time to practice.

“Meditate on the metal?” She asked as he spoke. She paused, tilting her head to one side. It did sound a little weird, but he hadn’t led her wrong yet. “Alright, I’ll see if I can do that.”

At his behest, she slid from the stool and made her way over to him, keeping a distance as instructed. He asked her to meditate. So, clutching the drawing in her hands, she closed her eyes.

It took a few moments to get everything out of her mind, including the image of Ignis without his shirt. But after a few deep breaths and a little patience, she allowed everything to leave her but the sounds of the forge. She listened for each clang of the hammer upon the anvil, felt for the heat and the force of the metal. At first, all she could feel was Ignis, as hot and as powerful as the flames around him. But she searched past him, attempting to focus on the hot metal on which he worked. Eventually, clutching the parchment in her hands, she was able to focus on the metal itself; the ring of the hammer striking it, the scorching heat under which it was forged. She felt the shape of the metal, and the shape of the image on the parchment in her hands. It seemed that the longer Ignis would let her focus, the longer and harder she would concentrate, until her knuckles turned pale clutching the parchment.

[member="Ignis Imura"]