Serendipity had amassed a great many interesting things while wandering the tunnels winding along the southern quadrant. Scraps of metal, rusted weapons, old pieces of armour, but the most interesting to her was a wide, diamond-shaped scale that had a strange sigil painted on the face of it.

She had no idea what it was meant to be or what it was used for. It reminded her of one of the scales that Dread had covering his entire body-- it was tough and hard, but smooth. Whenever she had tried to put fire on it, it seemed to resist it as though it were made of water.

Perhaps it was, partially? Water extinguished flames, after all.

She took these things into her den, meticulously picking through them. She had a few things to do today, at least-- she wanted to find something to do with the scale and maybe dye it pink, and see if she could have a crack at trying to recreate a bag. More importantly-- she had to make a new knife after Azure made hers zappy. She was hesitant to use it again after that, not if she had someone to stab.

It did help that it was glowing, at least.

She preferred to find the things she'd need before hauling them to the forge in fear that she might bring too much. She'd have to focus on certain things today, decidedly, if she had a lot to do-- perhaps give the shield a miss, but find some dye to paint the shield of it.

Maybe give the back a miss, too.

... actually let's just make the knife today.

Grumbling, the child hauled up some thin pieces of scrap metal and carried them off towards Glory's forge, quietly slinking in. The forge-- as it was ever --was unbearably hot, enough that Serendipity was usually more comfortable taking her tunic and scarf off and leaving them at the cave mouth.

At least it was protected in there, and she wouldn't have to worry about the winds buffeting the delicate parts of her skin.

Unceremoniously, the scraps of metal went into the smelter to melt. It'd take a while, but hopefully not too long. Siren could probably occupy herself with something else in the meantime.

... She did want to try making another grindstone.

Serendipity had found a great many contenders for Grindstone Status. Fist-sized rocks that had been conveniently halved, smooth on one side and easy to hold on the other. All she'd have to do was breathe on it real hard and she'd probably be good to go, after sticking it in some sand and stones.

Less conveniently, however, she'd left them behind in her hideout.

She had to plan better, decidedly.

Okay. No matter. She could do it herself, surely? She knew enough magic to nail it, probably. Siren slid back out of the cave, sticking her head out the cave mouth before leaving. She hadn't felt the wind on her bare skin-- and the sand that lashed against it --since she came out of the chrysalis.

It wasn't pleasant.

Luckily for her, however, it wasn't necessarily difficult to find a fist-sized rock to try to half, either. She shuddered, furrowed her brow in a very quick measure of Concentration, and focused out onto her magicka.

The sensation of magic coursing through her was familiar and comforting enough, at least, that Serendipity was briefly distracted from the angry winds scratching up her speckled skin. There was a force of magicka, something that could have taken her off her feet if she were unprepared for it, and the fist-sized rock was cut cleanly in half.

She looked up the way, then down, and then picked up the rock-halves and skittered back into the cave before more damage had been done to her. She settled them down and took a few moments to grab one of the tools from around the cave.

The metals had melted fairly quickly-- they were only thin sheets --and were a bubbling, white-hot mess in an obsidian case. She positioned the tongs carefully, hauling it up and pouring it into a cooler case to cool and solidify. The heat against her hands was nigh unbearable, likely too much if they weren't thickly calloused.

For a split second, she thought about drinking the melted metal.

... It did look tasty.

Deciding this much would be a bad idea, Serendipity returned to her rocks and sat down while she waited for the metal to cool back down again, lifting one into her hand.

Admittedly, it did take a fair bit to stop thinking about what hot metals would taste like. She knew that when they were cool and solid that they tasted unpleasant, a bit like blood and dirt. She'd rather have stuck to cooked rats and venison.

But melted, it looked good. It didn't really smell good, but neither did rats when you cooked them and they were fine.

Physically, Serendipity had to shake her head before she lifted the rock to her mouth, smooth-face facing her lips. She spent a small moment reaching back out, tapping into her magic the way a moth's wings beat against night air, and exhaled.

It was hot, but somehow relieving. Every time she did this sort of magic she always felt unbearably hot, or perhaps that was just the forge and the lava, but it always felt good to let the hot air out. Or fire. She wasn't do good with fire but the point stood.

Although this spell, in particular, lasted for as long as she could breathe out, Serendipity hadn't quite realised how long she was doing it for until she managed to burn the tips of her fingers on her own breath.

A long exhale turned to a stifled squawk as she dropped the half-melted rock face-down in the dirt. For a moment she stared down at it, blinking and wafting her hand quickly back and forth in the air, and then she lifted it back up.

The flat-side had been coated in dirt and sand, creating a fine but uneven surface. "Yikes," Siren grumbled, and then decided that this one would just have to be a very fine whetstone. She set it down to cool with her free, unburnt hand, and turned to inspect the damage done to her fingers.

It didn't look injured, at least-- but it sure as hell did sting.

No use in crying over spilt stones and potentially permanent injury, Serendipity supposed. There was no way the iron had solidified enough to be of any use yet, and she still had half a rock to get around to. With a heavy sigh, she lifted the second in a methodical, fluid movement, and lifted this to her mouth, too.

She opened her mouth to exhale, and choked on her own tongue.

... a lot.

Having to dump the rock back down on the ground, Siren took a good few moments of loud, hacking coughs to recover her own dignity. Even when the coughing fit was over, she just lay back against the cave floor, breathing heavily and sorely missing being inside her chrysalis.

Not a good day to be a weird-looking gembound, she supposed.

Dip didn't quite bother even lifting herself back up to sit, laying flat on her back. She took an extended, long breath, and reached out for the fallen rock to lift it back in front of her face.

Magic is stupid, she recalled Azure saying as she exhaled out onto the smooth surface of the rock. There was the same sensation of relief, of cooling down just a touch, even in a hot forge, and she felt the rock beginning to melt underneath her fingers.

With a tired grumble, she stuck this right into the entrance of the cave mouth, near the wall where the dirt and rocks piled up. She kept it there for a few seconds, and then lifted it up to inspect her work. It wasn't great, and she immediately got some sand in her eyes, but it would certainly do.

Serendipity dumped the rock back down with a yawn.