ORIGIN

Serendipity was beginning to feel like it was rare she woke up on her own.

The den was empty-- no Azure, no Laurel, and only one of those was a mild surprise to her. Azure seemed mildly afraid to stick around too long but she didn't entirely blame her for it. Perhaps Dip had gotten lucky, because the only experience she had with dragons was with Dread, who was fairly nice to her. Azure had much worse experiences; with a mysterious white dragon and Raheerah in Orion.

Laurel, on the other hand, had no fear. Maybe not even a sense of what fear was. She loved the dog all the same, however-- but she couldn't help but be mildly worried that she was off somewhere else, elsewhere, doing who-knows-what with who-knows-who.

Still, she'd probably be back soon, and Dip could use the time to get to work.

Her den was nothing special but it was nice enough. There were three separate sleeping areas-- one of which Serendipity was beginning to rise from, the others were for Laurel and Azure. They were soft and smelled just a bit of ash and smoke from the forge but they were nice, lined with blankets and soft things Dip had found in nearby tunnels.

It had a forge and a stone slab as a table to work with, but Serendipity had found that she needed something stronger to hammer the shape into swords and weapons. She'd made, some time ago, an anvil similar to what Glory had had-- black obsidian with a smooth, flat surface.

When Laurel and Serendipity went to Orion to sell weapons, she'd have to spend time making another, in case anyone would want repairs. She'd like a forge there, too, but there were days that it was too hot to even have here. Spending all day in an enclosed space with a hot fire going would overheat them-- at least the den was wide and open.

Mauve fingertips grazed the gemstone top as she passed by it and moved for the stone table, stretching herself out with a low groan. Thinking of the store-- she'd have to start making things to exchange to people down there. She could start by repairing some of the swords she'd found in tunnel J, at least.

She took one of the swords lining the edges of the wall and studied it, for a moment. It didn't look or feel entirely straight and the blade was mangled with rust. It would take some work, probably, but at least she knew how to deal with it.

The first order of affairs was heading to the shallow pool of water nearby. It got smaller every day-- when it fully evaporated from the heat, Serendipity wasn't sure what she'd do with it next. She could try finding a different pond, or going into Orion where water was a little easier to come by. It didn't entirely matter right now, though.

She took a seat next to the puddle and stretched herself out, briefly, before setting a hand on the ground and quietly breathing in. There was the familiar sensation of magic rising but it came to a complete stop. It was like trying to grab something just out of reach, only a little painful once Serendipity started straining to try to grab it.

"Shit," she hissed as she withdrew her hand and shook it out, taking a moment to prepare before trying again.

Azure came in quietly, the clicks of nails on rock the only announcement of her arrival. Her corvine head was flicking this way and that, warily nervous as she so often was here, as if a dragon might just somehow be hiding in the tiny sleeping space.

Her beak was stuffed with grass and flowers, and she paced past with a brief nod to Dip. It was only after she'd deposited them on the floor at the entrance to her sleeping area that she turned and spoke, voice quiet.

"Did I hear a 'shit?' What happened?" she asked, and there was warm humor in her tone. She came back over, pacing quietly to peer, from a safe, unintrusive distance, at the slightly-rusted sword. "Oh, one of these-?" But there was interest in it; she wasn't dismissive. She still didn't quite know how swords-... well, worked. In theory, sure. Someone with arms, like Dip, picked them up and then put the pointy bit into bad things.

Like dragons.

Past that, though? How they were swung, why the rust mattered? She didn't really know. "I brought back some flowers to work on. Mind if I hang out? We can say 'ahh shit' together every time we mess up," she offered--and then, with a glance back at the bedding arrangements--"Thanks again for finding that soft stuff. It's nice not to sleep on rock again. So tell me about the--uh, 'sword' right?"

@Dip

Her ears flicked back at the clicking of nails. It was familiar; she could identify the difference between Azure's footfalls and Laurel's by now, and she slumped backwards onto one elbow to crane her fluffy head back to see the hybrid. "I fucked up a spell," she said, but she didn't sound very disheartened by it. She was grinning, in fact, so wide that her eyes were yellow slits and her cheeks caved into dimples.

She waved to the spot next to her, invitingly, and shifted to sit up straight. "C'mere. What are you gonna do with the flowers?" There was genuine interest lacing Serendipity's tone, too. She loved Azure's work-- it was delicate and pretty where Dip's work was very loud and brash and stank of brimstone at the best of times.

Genuine gratitude was still something she wasn't entirely sure how to respond to outside of "no problem," which it really wasn't. The sword, at least, she knew how to talk about. "It's a sword, yeah-- I'm gonna fix it."

She held it up-- carefully --for Azure to see, her voice going a little fond. "All this orangey-brown gunk, right, it's like, eating away at the sword really slowly, so you have to clean it off or it'll break," she explained, running her calloused fingertips along the blade. "And you see how it's not straight, it's a bit bent? It might break if you try to use it like that, too, so I have to knock the bends out of it."

"The way you do that, right--" her eyes went enormous "--you make it SUPER hot and the metal goes really soft so you can shape it. It's great." Great for someone like Serendipity, that was, who liked things like on-fire swords and bashing metal with a hammer.

Oh, she realized; It's gonna be LOUD.

Ahh, well. She could always bail once the hammering got too deafening. For now it seemed the rust was more trouble, and Azure peered over it with curiosity.

"Rust, huh? How do you even get that off? Can you, like-... Burn it off?" She turned and picked through her flowers, for a moment; some were softer, threatening to wilt soon, and she plucked these out carefully in her beak and carried them back to Dip's side, taking the gestured-to spot. "Oh, nothing new, with these. Preserve them, put them in rocks. I don't know enough other Gembound to like, give them out to? But maybe some day." There was half-indifference in it, really. She'd dreamed, at times, of selling her wares, but circumstances had dictated that no, everything would be on fire instead.

She eyed the sword sidelong, and then Dip; her friend's broadly-grinning enthusiasm was infectious and her own expression soon mirrored it as best a bird-face's could. Which-... wasn't a lot, really, but hey. It was audible in her tone, at least. "What're you gonna do with it after that?" she asked, brightly interested. For herself, Azure was content to create for creation's sake, even if she did entertain ideas of sharing her work. She suspected that Dip was much the same: enjoying the heat of the forge, the clamor of fire and steel, regardless of what came next. They both took pride in their work, for what it was worth.

"If you ever want... like, me to GLOW a sword, or charge it with zaps, let me know." An offer she'd made before, but still one she entertained a great deal. "It'd be cool. Good swords, good armor, but different Gembound could have different lights and colors and, uh. Shocks..." A short, light laugh, and she nudged at her flowers, settling in. "Oh, hey. I found... wire? Like, very very thin, bendable metal to put stuff on. You think you'd be able to make something like that? I don't know how to make metal," she added, not really considering that Dip repaired it more than made it.

Feathers fluffed a little, wings settling, the bird-hybrid content as she looked over the flowers she'd chosen to work with. But her eyes strayed up to Dip and the sword, curious enthusiasm drawing them.

Serendipity shook her head a bit, hair bouncing. "Nah, you have to wash it and then scrape it all off with a rock. It takes a long time but it makes the metal come up really nice and shiny." She lowered the sword again and placed it down in front of her, the hilt on her shoulder, in the way you probably shouldn't be holding a sword.

"Putting them in rocks is pretty, though," she said. She still had the necklace that Azure had given her, sitting in her coat pocket. "I was gonna sell some stuff for food and things to work with, you know. I could sell some of your stuff too and bring it back?"

Azure didn't want to go into Orion-- and unfortunately, Orion was right where the Seven were, and were fairly close to where the Bonebound and Sentinels were, too. Even the Kingdom of Eridanus, if anyone were even still there could come over. It was centralized, good for meeting people passing by.

Back to swords, though-- and there was a great deal more. "After that, I need to get rid of this," she tapped the wooden hilt. It was miscoloured and cracked in places, and looked like prime splinter territory. "Make a new hilt, so you can hold it without cutting yourself, and then sharpen it. You use a rock for that, too. I was thinking about putting something into the new hilt, though, so that it looks pretty? Maybe a rock or a gem." She hadn't fully thought it out, yet, but she would worry more about that when she came to it.

"After that, I'm gonna see if anyone wants it." She nodded, more to herself, but she went a little more distant as she started to think about the prospect of glow- and zap-swords. People might like those, too, and she could offer some stuff to Azure that she got for it, maybe. "Do you wanna see how this one comes up, and maybe we can glow or zap it?" She offered.

"Or-- you know, you could come with us, to Orion," she said. "If it's safe, I mean? We're gonna check it out for a while and if it's alright you could sell stuff and ask what people want, and make it for them and stuff. I don't mind asking them myself and going between you and there, though." There was a pause. Her voice was a little softer, gentle-- she knew how wary Azure could be --but there was slight concern edged to it. She wanted Azure to meet more people and have more friends, and do things. It seemed sad, to her, that she was sort of wallowing in fear of dragons and the family-who-should-not-be-named.

She blinked a little at the mention of wires, thinking. "Maybe? I haven't really heard of metal bending before unless it was-- you know, on fire, but maybe if it's really thin it could? I can try and look into it," she said. She did like tinkering and finding out how things were made. "Do you have any with you?"

Azure listened, black ear-tufts tilted toward Dip, and now and then her bright blue eyes lifted as if to assure her friend that she was still paying full attention. Between Dip's words she was nipping with beak and talons at her flower, moving the petals just so.

"I can come with you, I guess? If it turns out to be shit I can just not go back." It was good-naturedly said, perhaps in part response to Dip's cautious tone and phrasing. Just as long as no fuckin' dragons turn up,she thought. The stash of dragon-crap hanging around the exit of Monoceros had both frightened and intrigued her. A market was definitely her jam, but the dragon was most definitely not.

Maybe Dip, forever the "bold" friend, could lead her where she feared to tread herself: into the terrifying world, apparently, of retail--and potential dragons.

"A gemstone hilt would look pretty!" Azure encouraged, glancing up again with wide eyes. Her imagination ran through colors: topaz, glinting fiery orange, or a deep emerald green. Maybe a black obsidian hilt! -Though, from her knowledge of obsidian that'd be pretty brittle. Still! "Oooh, have you thought about making gemstone swords-?" Azure went on, eyes widening further into near-perfect circles. Her friend loved to work with metal, but had she considered just full-on gemstone swords-? "Would that even work?" she added, as if trusting Dip's knowledge on this topic to be greater than her own (and it probably was).

Beak tipped back down to flower, and she focused on her magic, for a moment, trying to preserve the first so that it wouldn't wilt. She wasn't sure if a flower encased in gemstone even could wilt, but it was best, she thought, not to take any chances.

"Um, I don't have any with me--wire, I mean. I found some but there was this kid, she was sad so I gave her a necklace with it. I meant to look for more but I haven't had the chance," she added, which was Azure-speak for "I haven't gotten around to it yet," or maybe "I forgot." There wasn't all that much to keep her busy, after all.

She was silent for a moment while working on her flower, and then she blinked back up to Dip again. "So you scrape the metal with a rock-? Doesn't that scratch it all up?" she asked, curiously.

Dip grinned just a little wider. It'd be nice to have Azure around, and it'd be fun, and they could make things together. "We're gonna go pretty soon but we're checking the place out first," she said. "We'll probably have to clear a building out but we can take care of that if you just wanna come and sell? You can come with us and clean too, though, if you want."

She didn't mind either way-- whatever Azure was most comfortable with. She moved on, however, still petting the sword with her fingers like it were some sort of fucked up cat. "I can try and make some wire anyway but if you find any show me, yeah?" she went on. "It'd just, uhh, let me get a good image for what I'm going for. I'll see if I can make some kinda bendable metal anyway because that's probably a good starting point." And, hopefully, it wouldn't stab anyone.

Her pale eyebrows lifted a little towards the last question. She'd never thought about it extensively but she did have a basic idea of how it worked. Dip edged closer towards the bank of the puddle, towards the sand, and gestured Azure to look.

She drew one finger through the sand to make a deep line in it. "When you scratch something, right, it's because it's got a point to it, you see?" She said. "But when you get a good, flat rock, and you put it over a scratch--" Her hand flattened out and swiped it along the sand, smoothing it back out so that the line was gone. "It makes it clean, see? Because it's got this big, flat surface to it there's no points for it to scratch with, it just levels everything back out and makes it nice and smooth."

And finally-- a gemstone sword. Serendipity didn't see why it wouldn't work, really. She put the sword aside and shifted on the spot, squeezing and flexing her hands until the bones beneath them cracked. Her magic had already failed once and there was a chance this wouldn't work-- but still.

Her hands fell flat onto the ground, palms down. "I know I can make gemstone hilts," she said, breathing evenly. "I've never tried a blade before. Gimme a minute."

Magicka flared and dropped-- it came closer, this time, but not quite. It was one of the more difficult spells for her to cast, it didn't come as easily to her as fire did. She strained and tried again but nothing happened, her hands remained on warm rock and she was already out of breath.

"Just, uhh, another minute, hold on," she grumbled, half-determined to Not Fuck Up.

Azure listened a little doubtfully.

She really wasn't sure about the wisdom of taking the time, and effort, to clear out another building in Orion--not after the last time. They'd spent days making one livable, creating a home for themselves: cleaning out dust and rocks, laying rugs and blankets, glowing stones, and then that giant fuckhead dragon had roasted it all. Why go through it again..?

"Maybe you could make a place you can take with you. Somehow," she suggested, hesitant, as if worried it was rather a stupid idea. "So you can... I don't know, move it, hide it, when you aren't selling stuff. So it doesn't get burned again." She wracked her brain, for a moment. "Maybe... put everything in bags or on a thing that can move? Hang up some bright stuff to draw attention? This way you could sell in different places, too." Granted, Azure was thinking more along the lines of a big sack of stuff and some banners, but the idea, should it evolve, of "marketplace stall with tent" wasn't too far off her concept.

She listened to the explanation of a grindstone; she didn't have any experience with the stuff but it seemed to make sense, at least. She nodded along, a little dubiously.

When Dip started to struggle with her magic, Azure felt a briefly impish, playful twinge, and her friendly humor prompted her into a very small prank. She pushed up and moved to face Dip, with a "Oh, hold on, let me help."

Her intent was to form a very tiny sword--maybe an inch or two long, enough to be a tiny decoration and nothing more--as a joke. Sort of, you know, "haha I made it first, look at my sword" except it would be humorously terrible. Except... nothing happened, and she was left straining and squinting in front of Dip, who was similarly failing her magic.

Azure glanced at Dip. ...We're idiots, she thought, and then busted out laughing.